The turmoil surrounding the imperial examinations continues, with many scholars venting their discontent. Those who failed the exams seem particularly unhappy, perhaps feeling that continuing the unrest won't do any good.

This disturbance might change their path to the imperial examinations. After all, the exams are already over, and if they don't have to retake them or undergo a reassessment, they'll have to wait another three years.

At this time, the investigation team led by Zhuo Jing and others began to organize the review of the papers and prepare to give the scholars an explanation.

Zhuo Jing felt no regret. He was an exceptionally intelligent and learned man, with profound wisdom and unwavering integrity. Although the current emperor had shown him great favor, Zhuo Jing also felt that as a subject, he should remind the emperor when he made a mistake.

In reality, the historical figure Zhuo Jing had secretly petitioned Emperor Jianwen (Zhu Yunwen) to relocate Zhu Di's fief to Nanchang, but his proposal was not adopted. After Zhu Di captured Yingtian Prefecture, the captured Zhuo Jing repeatedly refused Zhu Di's offers of recruitment and was subsequently executed along with his entire clan.

Such people are very difficult to persuade; they have their own set of values. For the sake of these values, they don't care about their own names, or even worry about implicating their families.

As the top scholar in the Jiaxu imperial examination, Zhang Xin has been reviewing examination papers these past few days. Being from Ningbo Prefecture, he is considered a member of the Zhejiang East civil service group and is part of the review team.

Looking at the exam papers in his hand, Zhang Xin felt speechless. He thought that giving thirty places to scholars from the north was far too many. The essays written by these scholars were unreadable; they were simply terrible.

“Minister Zhuo, I’m afraid this year’s imperial examination will turn out just like this.” Zhang Xin looked at Zhuo Jing and said, “Most of the scholars are saying that the imperial examination is unfair, but I think that’s just slander.”

Zhuo Jing nodded slightly, sighed, and said, "I once accompanied His Majesty to Beiping and know that the north is wild and uncivilized. I just didn't expect that after thirty years of the founding of our Great Ming Dynasty, the scholars in the north would be so ignorant!"

“Minister Ru and the two imperial sons-in-law are probably unhappy. They have done their duties diligently, but now there is much doubt about the three examiners in the court and among the people,” Zhang Xin said worriedly. “It’s no wonder His Majesty is so angry; the scholars in the north are indeed lacking in talent.”

Zhuo Jing nodded slightly, and then said, "Your Majesty is wise and insightful. I was once filled with indignation. But I thought that Your Majesty might be deceived, and that the officialdom was in uproar. I was in a difficult position to back down."

After a moment of silence, Zhang Xin said, "I have also heard that His Majesty has been very kind to scholars from the North. Now that the literary atmosphere in the North is not thriving, His Majesty has been very encouraging. But now that this has happened, I'm afraid all thirty spots will be gone."

Zhuo Jing fell silent. When the North and South lists first appeared, they were indeed puzzling and seemed completely unnecessary. Either there should have been only one list, or the exams should have been separated altogether.

But looking at it now, His Majesty's actions might actually be giving the scholars of the North a chance, and inspiring them. It's just a pity that many people don't seem to appreciate it and don't understand His Majesty's good intentions.

Others may not know much about the current emperor, but as a former confidant of the emperor, Zhuo Jing knows the current emperor very well.

Although some of the troublemakers are from the south, most of those who go to the Ministry of Rites to seek redress, block the sedan chairs of civil and military officials, or spread rumors of injustice in the court in the streets and alleys are scholars from the north.

Based on Zhuo Jing's understanding of the current emperor, these troublesome scholars from the north might harm future candidates. Now that things have escalated to this point, the court might abolish the North-South examination system and allow all scholars to be selected based on their writing, rather than on quotas or other such things.

Zhuo Jing looked at Zhang Xin and suddenly asked, "Scholar Zhang, if you were the chief examiner, how many people would you admit?"

"I'm afraid it's only twenty or thirty." Zhang Xin was somewhat uncertain and helpless. "There are only so many scholars from the north. Any more and we southern scholars will be unhappy."

Zhuo Jing said with a stern face, "This cannot be said anymore. Many of the scholars from the north are now making a fuss, saying that the three examiners intentionally favored the scholars from the south. Whether they are scholars from the south or the north, they are all scholars of our Great Ming."

Zhang Xin immediately fell silent. The North-South divide and regional discrimination were things he really couldn't discuss anymore. Ultimately, it was because of this recent scholar riot, which mostly stemmed from claims of unfairness towards northern scholars.

Zhuo Jing sighed and said, "We have finished reviewing the papers and should now report back to His Majesty."

Indeed, a report should be submitted to the Emperor. At this moment, not only the Emperor himself is waiting, but also all the civil and military officials and scholars throughout the land. The people are watching, eager to know how the court will respond to this turmoil.

This is no small matter. This year's imperial examination has caused quite a stir, something many people didn't expect.

Even Zhuo Jing himself hadn't expected to act impulsively. He could more or less guess that his career was about to undergo a major change, and perhaps he would no longer be the emperor's confidant. As for whether he would be demoted or beheaded by the emperor on some pretext, Zhuo Jing had no idea.

But Zhuo Jing couldn't care less about such things now; for him, the most important thing was to do his duty. Since he had voluntarily chosen to question this year's imperial examination and had been entrusted with the important task of reviewing it by the Emperor, now that he knew some things, it was time to report back to His Majesty and bring this matter to a complete close.

Continuing to make a fuss is not a good thing. It's time to settle things completely to avoid unrest and gossip among the people.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!