The Ming Dynasty: The opening scene features Zhu Di angrily accusing him of illegitimate succession.

Chapter 110 Imperial Examination Cheating

Beneath the Dragon Gate of the Imperial Examination Hall in Yingtian Prefecture, the bluestone was as clean as if it had been washed, the vermilion gate stood tall, and thousands of scholars stood before the steps.

In the early Ming Dynasty, the sons of powerful nobles born out of wedlock (because legitimate sons were granted hereditary privileges and did not need to take the exams) and students of the Hanlin Academy had a long-standing unspoken rule of "exemption from search," and search officials generally dared not offend them.

The search proceeded in an orderly manner, and the poor scholars all bowed their heads and cooperated, their clothes and utensils being examined one by one. However, when it came to Qiu Song, he was uncooperative in every way. When the search officer tried to search him, he pushed him away and shouted at him loudly.

"How dare you! I am a descendant of the Duke of Qi, a meritorious official of the Jingnan Campaign. How dare you, a lowly soldier, search me?"

The search officers were somewhat flustered and hesitated to act for a moment.

Seeing this, Qiu Song curled up a contemptuous smile. Sure enough, it was just a show. Who would really dare not give the Duke of Qi's mansion any face?

The corruption in the imperial examinations during the Ming Dynasty was as serious as in any other dynasty, second only to the Qing Dynasty. This can be seen from the North-South Examination Scandal during Zhu Yuanzhang's reign. To be precise, the North-South Examination Scandal should be called the Jiangnan Examination Corruption Scandal. This case was a complete abuse of power by Zhu Yuanzhang.

In the 27th year of the Hongwu reign, more than ten scholars from the north passed the imperial examination, and Zhu Yuanzhang did not interfere. However, three years later, when Liu Sanwu was in charge of the examination, all the candidates were from the south, and not a single person from the north passed. Ninety percent of those who passed this time came from the three provinces of Jiangsu, Jiangxi and Fujian. Jiangsu is Liu Sanwu's hometown, Jiangxi is the core area of ​​his school of thought, and Fujian is the birthplace of his school of thought.

Zhu Yuanzhang issued an edict ordering the addition of 20 scholars from the north. Liu Sanwu and others defied the edict for over a month, insisting that the northerners' exam papers were mostly incoherent and contained offensive words, and refused to comply. However, the examination avoided using taboo words based on the "Collection of Excerpts from the Great Learning" compiled under Liu Sanwu's supervision. This book only circulated within the three provinces, and scholars from other provinces had no way of knowing it. Using the so-called "offending taboo words" to eliminate scholars from other places was actually setting up an artificial threshold.

Inside the examination hall, Lin Yue held binoculars, a slight smile on his face.

"Perfect timing! I was just looking for someone to make a move." Lin Yue made a decisive move, suddenly pushing open the hall door. His scarlet robe fluttered as he rushed to the steps with lightning speed, pointing at Qiu Song and shouting sternly.

"Insolence! Who do you think you are, daring to disrespect the examination hall and bully the officials and soldiers?"

Qiu Song's smile froze instantly, and he turned to look in astonishment.

When they realized that it was Lin Yue who rushed out, they immediately realized that something was very wrong.

What does this mean? All you did was kick the clerks a couple of times, so why did you, the chief examiner of the provincial examination, rush out like that? Do you have some kind of grudge against us?

Lin Yue's eyes widened, his imposing aura unstoppable: "The imperial examination is the foundation for the Ming Dynasty to select talents, and it is the key to cultivating wise men for the country and securing its stability!"

"Relying on your father's influence, you disregard the inspectors and assault the guards. What are you trying to do? Do you think the examination hall is your home?"

"Guards! Seize this madman and search him thoroughly to see how many smuggled items he has hidden!" Lin Yue shouted angrily.

Upon hearing this, Zhao Hu immediately rushed forward and grabbed Qiu Song's arms with both hands, so tightly that Qiu Song could not move.

Qiu Song cried out and struggled, but Zhao Hu held him firmly in place. In a short while, he found a stack of silk filled with tiny characters written in small characters in the lining of Qiu Song's clothes. It was a cheat sheet of the Four Books.

"Spare me! Spare me!" Qiu Song's face turned pale, and he hurriedly leaned close to Zhao Hu's ear, begging for mercy in a low voice, "Brother, my father is Qiu Fu, the Duke of Qi. I was blind this time. Please have mercy on me and let me go. I will definitely repay you handsomely in the future!"

As he spoke, he hurriedly pulled out a heavy gold ingot from his pocket and stuffed it into Zhao Hu's hand.

Zhao Hu took the gold and weighed it in his hand.

Seeing this, Qiu Song breathed a sigh of relief and secretly rejoiced.

Luckily, this man was greedy; otherwise, if he had fallen into the hands of that mad dog Lin Yue, he would have certainly met a bad end.

Qiu Song was of mediocre learning and would not have passed the provincial examination without cheating. He had no choice but to take the risk, as he was still very afraid of Lin Yue's reputation.

Zhao Hu suddenly turned around, carrying the gold and the smuggling tape, and rushed to Lin Yue, shouting loudly.

"My lord! This man claims to be the illegitimate son of the Duke of Qi. He not only assaulted officials and soldiers and smuggled goods, but he also tried to bribe me with this gold to let him go!"

Having said that, he held the gold high in the air.

Qiu Song's relief froze instantly, all color drained from his face, and he felt as if he had been struck by lightning.

Lin Yue took the gold, snorted coldly, and shouted loudly: "The laws of the Ming Dynasty clearly stipulate that those who cheat in the imperial examinations shall be disqualified, flogged, and exiled; those who offer or accept bribes, or beat officials and soldiers, shall be punished even more severely and sentenced to death by hanging!"

The imperial examination is a place to select talents for the country. How can we allow you sons of the powerful and wealthy to bully others and engage in corrupt practices?

If you are not punished today, how can we rectify the atmosphere of the imperial examinations? How can we comfort the hearts of scholars from humble backgrounds?

Qiu Song became increasingly frightened as he listened, his whole body trembling uncontrollably, his teeth chattering, and he couldn't utter a single word.

A person's reputation is like a tree's shadow. Lin Yuelin, who was known for his outspoken criticism of the emperor and his ruthless attacks on corrupt officials, might actually have been beheaded.

Lin Yue shouted sternly, "Guards! Immediately seize this traitor who offered bribes and send him to the Ministry of Justice for imprisonment. Punish him severely according to the law, without any leniency!"

Seeing the soldiers approaching from both sides, his legs went weak and he collapsed to the ground. Qiu Song was about to beg for mercy when Zhao Hu slapped him twice.

Lin Yue looked around, stood in front of the crowd, and spoke loudly.

"I am a Hanlin Academician, Left Spring Palace Grand Academician, and Grand Secretary of the Cabinet. I am the chief examiner and supervisor for the provincial examination in Yingtian Prefecture."

"Listen, students! This imperial examination is personally ordered by His Majesty to select the most outstanding talents for the Great Ming Dynasty!"

"Emperor Taizu Gao established the laws for the imperial examinations, which were extremely fair and just. Regardless of rank or social status, all candidates were treated equally, and no one was allowed to be tainted by personal favors."

"Today, anyone entering the examination hall with even a single piece of paper or writing, impersonating someone else, or bribing officials will, upon discovery, be immediately disqualified from the examination, arrested, and punished by the Ministry of Justice according to the law. The punishments range from caning and exile to strangulation with reprieve!"

His gaze swept over the entire group of people present: "Don't say you weren't warned!"

At the Dragon Gate of the Examination Hall, most of the scholars stood silently, or bowed their heads to pack their bags, without making any unusual moves.

However, at the back of the crowd, seven or eight people looked flustered, exchanged glances, and quietly retreated, turning around and walking out of the examination hall, seemingly abandoning the exam on the spot.

Lin Yue immediately noticed something was wrong and gave the order.

"Halt! Trying to run? Zhao Hu, lead your men and capture all those scholars who left. Don't let a single one escape!"

Zhao Hu responded to the order and led a dozen or so officers and soldiers forward. Before long, they stopped all those who wanted to leave and brought them back to the steps.

"Search!" Lin Yue said coldly.

The officers and soldiers immediately set to work, searching through the clothes and utensils, and soon they had the results.

Three scholars from Jiangnan had silk cheat sheets hidden in the lining of their clothes; two students from the Imperial Academy had rolled-up paper strips hidden in their ink boxes; and a local student had a hollow pen holder with bamboo slips filled with writing inside. All six had cheat sheets, confirming the cheating.

Lin Yue stepped forward, took the smuggled items presented by the clerk, examined them one by one, and immediately became solemn.

"This is..." He looked up and glanced at the six people below the steps, "These are the provincial examination questions that I, Hu Shidu, and Wang Bianxiu drafted. Where did you obtain them?"

It turned out that the smuggled items were not ordinary excerpts of classical texts, but rather a large portion of them were the key points of the Four Books and policy essay questions for this provincial examination, which were exactly the same as the direction that Lin Yue and others had decided on.

"How dare you!" Lin Yue was furious when he saw the others remain silent.

"Cheating in the examination hall is a serious crime, yet they dared to collude with insiders and outsiders to steal exam questions. Today, I will thoroughly investigate this matter!"

He turned to Zhao Hu and said sternly, "Arrest these six men and keep them under strict guard!"

The scholars were in an uproar upon seeing this. Wang Zhongshou, who was about to enter, frowned and whispered to Wang Zhi, who was in the same row, "The fact that the exam questions have been leaked to this extent is truly shocking."

Wang Zhi's face turned ashen. He gripped the examination basket tightly and said angrily, "These scoundrels have ruined the talent selection ceremony and deserve severe punishment!"

Wang Zhongshou nodded and said in a deep voice, "Fortunately, Lord Lin is here, otherwise our ten years of hard study would have been in vain."

In fact, Wang Zhongshou's worries were somewhat excessive. While cheating in the imperial examinations was rampant, it hadn't reached the level of the Qing Dynasty. Cheators would only occupy relatively low rankings, and those with real ability would still stand out.

At the Dragon Gate of the Imperial Examination Hall, the scholars lined up in order to receive the examination questions, but the empty seats in front of the steps were barely visible, a far cry from the previous scene of full houses.

Lin Yue's gaze swept over the empty seats, his expression displeased.

He found so many people absent from the exam after a strict inspection; he must have something to hide. He must be dealt with severely!

So he instructed Zhao Hu: "Go and count how many people are absent from the provincial examination in Yingtian Prefecture this time."

Zhao Hu accepted the order and left. He returned shortly afterward, cupping his hands in a salute and reporting back: "My lord, a total of 3,260 candidates applied for the examination this time. 2,773 actually attended, and 487 were absent."

According to past practice, the number of absentees for the provincial examination in Yingtian Prefecture was usually around three hundred, but this time it was slightly higher.

Upon hearing this, Lin Yue pondered for a moment, then turned to Hu Guang and Wang Da beside him and said, "Hu Shidu and Wang Bianxiu, the frequent cheating incidents in this provincial examination, with Qiu Song and others colluding and scholars from Jiangnan even holding the exam questions, are by no means accidental."

Among these nearly five hundred absentees, many must have failed to report in advance and abandoned the exam at the last minute. They were probably afraid of the strict checks just now and dared not enter the examination room. I suspect they are inextricably linked to cheating.

Hu Guang and Wang Da exchanged a glance, both feeling a sense of unease. What did Lin Yue mean by those words?

Could it be that...?

Hu Guang frowned slightly, but before he could speak, Lin Yue continued, "The imperial examination is the foundation for the Ming Dynasty to recruit talent, and the most important thing is to ensure fairness, impartiality, and transparency!"

If cheating is tolerated, scholars from humble backgrounds will never have a chance to rise in society, and the court's talent selection will become meaningless. These candidates who register for the exam but fail to show up without a valid reason not only waste the court's resources in setting up examination venues and allocating officials, but may also be slippery fish in cheating rings.

He said firmly, "In my opinion, the authorities should be ordered to interrogate each of these candidates who are absent from the exam!"

If there is no evidence of cheating, they should still be criticized and warned not to give up on the examinations in the future. If cheating is involved, they should be severely punished!

Upon hearing this, Wang Da looked shocked and couldn't help but ask, "Does Scholar Lin mean to arrest and interrogate all those who missed the exam?"

"Is this...is this too harsh?"

Seeing this, Hu Guang quickly smoothed things over: "Editor Wang, don't be anxious. Scholar Lin is probably worried that the cheating case will implicate too many people; he doesn't really want to arrest anyone. He's just sending people to inquire about the reasons for the absences and to investigate any irregularities."

"No." Lin Yue raised his hand to interrupt, his tone resolute. "I mean exactly what Scholar Wang said. I will immediately send men to arrest all those who are absent from the exam and interrogate them thoroughly!"

He glanced at the two men with his sharp eyes and said, "Just think about it, those cheat sheets we smuggled in actually contained the exam questions we had prepared!"

This was no ordinary cheating; it must have been a conspiracy between those inside and outside the examination hall, with someone leaking the questions in advance.

Those who skipped the exam must have had accomplices. If we don't thoroughly investigate and find out who's behind it, what will we say when His Majesty blames us?

"If His Majesty suspects us of leaking the exam questions, what should we do then?"

"Today I am determined to investigate this matter thoroughly, to uncover the cheating scandal in the provincial examination, to expose those who colluded with the outside world, and to restore true fairness and justice to the thousands of scholars of the Ming Dynasty!"

This will also clear our names!

After he finished speaking, the hall fell silent for a moment.

Hu Guang frowned deeply and remained silent with his head bowed.

As I said before, Hu Guang is only in his early thirties, an age when he is eager to make progress. However, in the blink of an eye, his thoughts have been in turmoil.

When he looked up again, all the hesitation between his brows had vanished. He bowed deeply to Lin Yue and said loudly.

"In the past, Zuo Xiong of the Eastern Han Dynasty reformed the system, limiting the number of years for talent testing and strictly investigating the abuses of the recommendation system. Only then did the whole country become respectful and no one dared to disobey. In the Sui Dynasty, Niu Hong established the imperial examination system, breaking the monopoly of the aristocratic families in the Wei and Jin Dynasties, and only then could talented people from poor families enter the court. During the Tianbao era of the Tang Dynasty, Yang Wan vehemently denounced the disaster of cheating in the imperial examinations, saying that the abuses in the selection of officials were so harmful to education and morality that nothing could be worse."

It is evident that throughout history, talented individuals have been the backbone of a nation, and the imperial examination system is the bridge to selecting talent. If the examination process is not fair, the path to virtue will be blocked, treacherous officials will fill the court, and the nation will be in danger!

After speaking, Hu Guang stood up and bowed deeply to Lin Yue: "Scholar Lin's words are all words of utmost concern for the country and the people!"

I wholeheartedly agree!

Lin Yue nodded and continued, "The disaster of the Northern and Southern Examinations in the thirtieth year of Hongwu is a lesson not far off. Liu San and his generation, based on their own academic friendships, blinded the public's will to accept all the scholars from the south, which chilled the hearts of scholars from the north and almost shook the foundation of the country."

This matter is even worse than what happened back then.

"Exactly!" Hu Guang immediately echoed, "If the examination system is unfair, then scholars from poor families will never have a chance to rise in the ranks. If cheating is rampant, then the court's efforts to select talent will be nothing but empty words."

The exam questions have been leaked before they were even published. If this is not thoroughly investigated, it will become a major threat in the future, betraying His Majesty's desire for talented individuals and blocking the path for the poor scholars of the land!

Upon seeing this, Lin Yue immediately took out a gilded gold plaque from his bosom.

This gold medal was personally bestowed by Zhu Di. He raised his hand and handed the gold medal to Zhao Hu, and ordered in a deep voice: "Take this medal and go to the Yingtian Prefecture government office immediately."

The magistrate, Shi Jin, was ordered to immediately gather the yamen runners and, according to the list of candidates for this provincial examination, arrest all the candidates who were absent from the examination, ensuring that no one escaped.

After being brought to justice, each individual will be interrogated to determine the reason for their absence from the exam. Anyone found to be involved in fraudulent activities will be immediately arrested and reported. Anyone found to have shown favoritism or allowed such actions to go unpunished will be punished as an accomplice to cheating!

Zhao Hu accepted the gold medal with both hands, bowed deeply, clasped his hands in a fist salute, and said loudly, "Your subordinate obeys! I will not fail in your trust!"

After saying that, he turned around and strode out of the examination hall.

After the three drumbeats, the Dragon Gate was locked, and the gates of the examination cells were closed one after another.

Inside the examination hall, the air was filled with the fragrance of ink, and only the sound of pens falling on paper could be heard. There was no noise at all. The provincial examination of Yingtian Prefecture was finally able to proceed in an orderly manner. According to the established regulations of the Ming Dynasty, the chief examiner and the supervising officials were not allowed to leave the examination hall from the day they entered the examination hall until the examination papers were reviewed and the results were filled in. This was called "locking the hall".

As the chief examiner, Lin Yue naturally could not leave the examination hall, so he decided to submit a memorial to Zhu Di, explaining the advantages and disadvantages.

Lin Yue sat alone in the supervisor's hall, lit a candle, ground ink, and began to write swiftly.