Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 666: Three Mountains in the Northwest

Dengwen Drum Court was located in front of the Meridian Gate of the Imperial Palace.

The legendary Dengwen Drum did exist, but beating the drum did not immediately allow one to go to the Golden Palace and meet the emperor.

Those who came out after hearing the drumbeats were officials from the Dengwen Drum Court. They would receive the visitors, write down what the drumbeater said, and then report it to the emperor. It would be up to the emperor to decide whether to meet the visitor or not, and how to deal with the situation.

So, it is actually equivalent to a highest-level petition office.

However, since it is the last resort for people who are desperate to report to the emperor directly, no one would do it easily. Therefore, once the drum sounds, it will inevitably attract attention from all parties.

This is exactly what Guo Yuxiu was thinking.

"My reputation should be known throughout the city by now. When the drum is struck to attract officials from all sides to watch, we will speak out loudly about the injustice we have encountered."

As Guo Yuxiu walked, he whispered instructions to his two subordinates.

"Great!" The two soldiers were very excited.

This moment has finally come.

Guo Yuxiu had a crazy idea to take part in the imperial examination in order to build up momentum for herself.

But she didn't expect the effect to be so good. Not only people in the court noticed it, people in the market noticed it, and even scholars and Confucian scholars from all sides noticed it.

This time, as long as she speaks out her family’s injustice in public and the news cannot be blocked, she will have a chance to seek justice.

As Guo Yuxiu thought about it, his steps became faster and faster.

Under the drum pavilion, the big drum is clearly visible.

As long as you walk over, grab the drumstick, and beat it hard, the officials from the three departments and six ministries who are walking around will hear the sound and come to watch. At that time...

Suddenly, a person appeared in front of him and stood straight in front of Guo Yuxiu.

If he took one more step forward, Guo Yuxiu's nose would be crooked.

Guo Yuxiu stopped in a hurry, looked up, and was immediately stunned. Left Counselor Yang Yuan?

Yang Yuan rushed to the palace to ask for permission.

All right, if you can't come to an agreement on the result of Miss Guo's exam, then go ahead and compete. But the problem is that the exam is tomorrow!

You can either let her take the test first, or even if she finishes it, you can argue over the result and declare it illegal, and then cancel her score.

But you can’t stop people from taking the exam just because you guys are arguing.

The current laws of the Song Dynasty regarding imperial examinations do not contain any explicit stipulation that women are not allowed to apply for the examinations.

But time is urgent, and only the government can issue a special order.

Otherwise, if two assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites had a fight, wouldn't it be pointless to go to the Ministry of Rites to complain?
As a result, when he arrived at the palace gate, Yang Yuan found Guo Yuxiu.

"Miss Guo, what are you doing?"

"Ah, Yang Jianyi."

Guo Yuxiu calmed down and bowed to Yang Yuan, saying, "The Ministry of Rites still has no answer on whether the student can take the exam.

The students had no choice but to beat the drum and file a complaint with the emperor."

Yang Yuan shook his head and said, "It's not easy to file a lawsuit. If you lose the lawsuit, you will be punished.

Don't worry, I will handle this matter. I will go to the palace now. Please wait for my news."

"No, no, no."

Guo Yuxiu hurriedly tried to stop her. Her purpose was to build momentum and then file a complaint. She didn't care whether she passed the exam or not.

If you can make a big deal out of it right now, why bother taking the exam?

Guo Yuxiu hurriedly said sincerely: "Yang Jianyi has done so much for me. How dare I bother you again and again?"

Guo Yuxiu said with a guilty look on his face: "I have also heard that the two assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites are deadlocked over this. We cannot let Yang Jianyi make things difficult for me. Let me beat the drum and file a complaint with the emperor."

"That's not necessary. As a counselor, I have to take care of this kind of thing."

Yang Yuan ordered, "Da Zhuang, take two people with you to accompany Miss Guo. I will go to the palace and will be out soon."

"Yes." Da Zhuang agreed and stood in front of Guo Yuxiu with two followers.

These two followers were not ordinary government servants, but "Tongzhou" spies trained by Old Man Song.

The best ones among them will be selected to be Yang Yuan's personal guards.

Guo Yuxiu only needed to look at the two guards standing there, with their postures as steady as a mountain and their demeanor as calm and composed, to know that they were very skilled.

If I force my way through, they will stop me, right?
Yang Yuan had already gone to ask for my approval, but I insisted on beating the drum to report my case, which would inevitably arouse his suspicion. At that time...

Thinking of this, Guo Yuxiu had to give up his plan to beat the drum to promote the event today.

This will only delay the time for her to redress her grievances, and there is still a chance.

When going to take the exam and when finishing the exam, there would always be huge crowds of people in front of the Imperial Examination Hall, among whom were many powerful and influential people. Scholars in particular liked to speak up for justice and discuss state affairs publicly, and the same would happen when their voices became known.

There were four guards around Yang Yuan. He left two behind and took the other two with him to continue walking towards the palace gate.

As Yang Yuan walked, he ordered, "I will go into the palace in a while. Keep an eye on Miss Guo."

Yang Yuan was stopped by Guo Yuxiu on his way to the yamen to file a complaint. Now he wants to stand up for Guo Yuxiu, but Guo Yuxiu chooses to file a complaint to the emperor?

Yang Yuan immediately had doubts in his heart, but it was hard to guess what this girl's motives were, so he asked someone to keep an eye on her first.

Yang Yuan is now the Imperial Counselor, a "hui'er", a professional troll, so naturally he has the right to meet the emperor.

When the news was reported to the palace, Zhao Yuan was a little surprised.

However, all along, every time Yang Yuan made a proposal, it was in line with his wishes. He was very fond of this minister. Zhao Yuan put down the medicine bowl and ordered: "Quickly summon him to the palace."

Yang Yuan was brought into the palace and met Zhao Yuan. When he told her what happened, Zhao Yuan frowned.

Although he wanted to cultivate Yang Yuan and didn't want Yang Yuan to become "hated by everyone", he also didn't want Yang Yuan to be so low-key.

Is it really necessary to rush to the palace to see the emperor just because a woman wants to take the imperial examination?
There are so many countries to deal with, is this considered a big deal?
However, when Yang Yuan mentioned that the reason he had to go to the palace to see the emperor was because the two assistant ministers of the Ministry of Rites were arguing over this matter and many great scholars in Lin'an had come out to express their opinions, Zhao Yuan suddenly became alert.

"Neo-Confucianism? Humph! The study of life and death? Humph! Cultivating the body and mind to achieve sainthood? Humph!"

Zhao Yuan hummed three times in a row, which confused Yang Yuan.

He had never seen the official so excited.

Zhao Yuan said angrily: "Neo-Confucianism is boastful and empty, it is just empty talk and has no value! Compared with Shuxue, it is far from it. No, it is like heaven and earth. It is nothing but a pseudo-learning that deceives the world and steals the reputation!"

It turns out that this official is also a fan of Shuxue.

There were three major schools of thought in the Song Dynasty: Luo School (Neo-Confucianism), New School and Shu School.

Zhao Yuan highly praised Shu learning, but what he despised the most was Neo-Confucianism. To say he despised it was an understatement. This emperor simply hated Neo-Confucianism with all his heart.

The political councilor Chen Junqing knew this best, because Chen Junqing believed in Shu learning and he was once Zhao Yuan's teacher.

Zhao Yuan wrote a handwritten letter: "Mr. Yang, you did the right thing. Take my handwritten letter and let the officials solve the problem of this girl surnamed Guo applying for the exam on the spot. We can't let their important affairs be delayed because of their debate."

"The minister obeys the order."

Yang Yuan held the emperor's handwritten edict and withdrew.

"Come here, there will be a discussion at the Songdu Academy in two days, and there will be a lecture at the Wansong Academy in three days. Send someone to write down the speeches of the celebrities attending the meeting. I want to see it."

Because of this incident, Zhao Yuan remembered it.

He deeply hated Neo-Confucianism, but since he ascended the throne, he did not think of paying attention to this academic discipline for a while.

As soon as Yang Yuan said this today, Zhao Yuan had the idea of ​​rectifying academic studies. Neo-Confucianism, a pseudo-learning that harms people, should be rejected and not used.

However, the emperor must be cautious in everything he says and does, so he wants to first see what the great scholars of the time think.

When Yang Yuan left the palace, Guo Yuxiu was being closely protected by his four guards.

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "I have received the imperial edict from His Majesty. I will now send you to go through the formalities for taking the exam in Lin'an. Let's go to Lin'an Prefecture now."

Guo Yuxiu felt at a loss whether to laugh or cry after hearing this. This person was too enthusiastic...which was not good either.

But her excuse was to take part in the test, so there was no reason to object.

Guo Yuxiu had no choice but to pretend to be overjoyed, thanked Yang Yuan, and went with him to Lin'an Prefecture.

When Mr. Qiao heard that Yang Yuan was coming, his eyelids twitched and he hurried out of the house to greet him.

Upon learning that the purpose was to send someone to take the exam and that there was an imperial decree from the Emperor, Mr. Qiao heaved a sigh of relief and personally accompanied Yang Yuan and Guo Yuxiu to handle the relevant formalities.

Ya Shi Song checked Guo Yuxiu's credentials and official documents and issued her an admission ticket.

Yang Yuan said to Guo Yuxiu, "Because of the young lady's affairs, there have been many discussions in the court and the public recently, and there have been constant disturbances. However, don't worry, just go to the exam with peace of mind. The four of you..."

Yang Yuan looked at his four guards and said sternly, "From now on, protect Miss Guo closely until the exam is completed to prevent anyone from doing anything bad to Miss Guo."

As Yang Yuan spoke, he glanced meaningfully at a guard.

On the way here, Yang Yuan had already given him some instructions, so he naturally knew what to do.

"Yang Jianyi, there is no need for that, Yang..."

Guo Yuxiu held Erkang's hand, but Yang Yuan had already turned around and returned to the signing room with Qiao Zhen.

One of Yang Yuan's guards said with a smile, "Miss, don't worry. During your exam, the four of us will accompany you to protect you. We will definitely not allow anyone to interfere with your exam."

Yang Yuan and Qiao Zhen returned to the signing room. Qiao Zhen was frightened by Yang Yuan's sudden appearance.

Now that I know it's just such a small matter and it has been done, I feel relieved.

Mr. Qiao said with a smile: "It's rare for Yang Jianyi to come back to my Lin'an Prefecture, so don't rush to leave. Qiao will call a few colleagues over, and we will have a few drinks tonight?"

Yang Yuan said, "No hurry, no hurry. Song Yashi, show me the calendar of Miss Guo that you just wrote down."

Guo Yuxiu's official certificate is only evidence that she has obtained the status of a Tongsheng. It contains her name, place of origin, the time when she obtained the Tongsheng qualification, etc. It is relatively simple.

But her residence permit is equivalent to a household registration certificate, so she remembers it in great detail.

Because Yang Yuan personally sent the person here, Song Yashi thought that Yang Yuan knew the details of Miss Guo. So when he saw the "passing", although he was quite surprised, he didn't say anything.

When Yang Yuan asked this question, he felt something was wrong. Could it be that Yang Jianyi was also not aware of Miss Guo's background?
Because Guo Yuxiu was specifically conducting cross-nationality reference, the information copied down by Song Yasi was particularly detailed.

Yang Yuan took Guo Yuxiu's information and looked at it carefully.

His ancestral home is Longgan (Jingning, Gansu), and he currently lives in Jinzhou (Ankang, Shaanxi).

Guo Yuxiu's three generations of ancestors are: great-grandfather Guo Cheng, formerly the defense historian of Xiongzhou, deceased; grandfather Guo Hao, Inspector of the Imperial Guards, General Manager and Pacifier of Jin, Fang, Kai and Da states, governor of Jinzhou, deceased; father Guo Huai, formerly the General Manager and Pacifier of Kaizhou, deceased.

Yang Yuan felt that there was something fishy going on. He pointed at the book and asked in surprise, "This Miss Guo is a daughter of a general?"

When Yang Yuan was looking at the record, Qiao Zhen was standing next to him and saw it clearly.

He was originally an official of the Transportation Bureau and was familiar with most of the important officials from all over the Song Dynasty.

Hearing Yang Yuan's surprised tone, he couldn't help but say one more thing: "My Great Song Western Army has three commanders from Sichuan and Shaanxi, they are Wu, Yang, and Guo.

According to this calendar, this Miss Guo Yuxiu should be the granddaughter of Marshal Guo. How come you don't know this, Yang Jianyi?"

(End of this chapter)