No.
The incident involving Gu Yong had just happened a few days ago, and he had managed to suppress Gu Yong's prestige among the people with great difficulty. If he were to openly investigate the imperial examination cheating case now, wouldn't he be humiliating himself and making Gu Yong appear a lot more innocent?
Tutor Lin was the emperor's tutor, so he naturally knew that Gu Yong had always been wary of Gu Yong's prestige.
Civil officials and military officers have always been at odds with each other. Imperial Tutor Lin himself did not have much good feelings towards Gu Yong, but in the face of great events, he still advised the emperor, "Your Majesty, listen to this old minister's advice. The pillars of the country, the pillars of the country, the pillars selected in the imperial examinations every year are to support the court in the future. If they start to decay here, the court will be in danger in the future!"
When he was young, the emperor was willing to listen to the tutor in everything.
But he is now in his thirties and almost forty, an age when he is stubborn and self-willed, so naturally his ideas about what others advise him are different from before.
"So what Grand Master means is that I, as the emperor, will be trampled underfoot by others?"
The emperor said this in a cold voice, and then continued: "There is no guarantee that this was not done deliberately by Gu Yong in order to clear himself. If I let someone conduct a thorough investigation, wouldn't that be exactly what he wants?" Tutor Lin is one of his own, so the emperor naturally doesn't need to hide anything when talking to him.
"But Your Majesty, if this is true, then we must investigate it thoroughly. If Marquis Gu can do this in the imperial examination, then his power must have been beyond our imagination. We must investigate it, Your Majesty!"
The emperor, however, felt a headache after hearing this. Firstly, he knew clearly who leaked the exam questions every year. Secondly, Gu Yong was a military commander who stayed outside the Great Wall all year round.
It is possible that he leaked military secrets, but it is also possible that the Grand Tutor could leak the imperial examination questions.
"Grandmaster, there is no need to talk about this matter. The incident with Yang Zhengwen has already happened. If there are still problems in the imperial examination, it will only make people think that the court is incompetent." The emperor waved his hand and said, "Anyway, it's not the Spring Examination. If these candidates this year don't have real ability, they can all be sent to the local areas and not be entrusted with important tasks."
Master Lin wanted to say something, but the emperor waved him away, "Okay, Master, I don't want to be involved in this matter anymore, please leave."
Tutor Lin refused to leave. After all, he was an old minister and the emperor could not drive him away. "Okay, Tutor, if you want to stay here, you can stay." After saying this, he waved his robe and left.
Only Master Lin was left standing in the imperial garden. No matter how the eunuchs and palace maids around him tried to persuade him, he remained unmoved.
——
Back Garden of Guhou Mansion
Gu Yong was drinking wine and tea with his staff when he heard someone next to him talking about this incident. "Teacher Lin stayed in the Imperial Garden in the hot summer for a whole afternoon. When he was sent back, he was so exhausted from the heat that he couldn't even open his eyes."
Gu Yong shook his head. "I heard from my father that Master Lin is stubborn and dares to pull anyone's beard. It's true. Send someone to get some good lotus seeds from the storehouse to calm Master Lin down."
The people around laughed when they heard this, "Those who know this will think that you care about the old master and comfort him, while those who don't will think that you are deliberately trying to make Taifu Lin feel cold."
Gu Yong smiled, "What's wrong with lotus seeds? Eating them in the summer can help relieve heat and relieve the heat. If I really gave him something expensive, I'm afraid he would be restless."
The staff naturally understood the deep meaning of this, "Teacher Lin was against the Marquis in the court a few days ago, but the Marquis didn't care about him?" At that time in the court, the man surnamed Lin wanted to send all of Marquis Gu's party to jail by the neck.
Gu Yong smiled softly, "He is just a fool."
"What about the Marquis?" the aide asked again, "Are you really going to ignore this imperial examination?"
Gu Yong was holding a wine glass in his hand and was about to speak when the little boy at the door threw it to him anxiously. Before he could even catch his breath, he started saying, "It's terrible. Someone, someone is filing a complaint with the emperor!" The current emperor has been on the throne for more than twenty years, and the number of complaints to the emperor is probably less than ten times.
Not to mention the common people in the capital, even many dignitaries went to watch, for fear that their own playboys would force others to the point of filing a complaint with the emperor, even at the cost of their lives!
You know, this kind of imperial complaint can only be made a few times a year, but if it happens, who wouldn’t have their family exterminated? ! After all, the person who filed the complaint risked their life, and the emperor had to give an explanation to the people of the world no matter what, otherwise, wouldn’t this imperial complaint that was so unpopular in the world be just a decoration? Gu Yong said: "There are many people who are more anxious than me."
Having said that, he also stood up.
——
The person who filed the complaint was naturally Ah Xiu. Many people looked at Ah Xiu, a weak woman, and advised her, "Girl, the government office of the capital is all here, why are you going to file a complaint? With your frail body, I'm afraid you can't take a few blows."
In recent years, there have been people who died after filing a complaint with the emperor. After all, thirty lashes of the cane would harden a man's bones, and after a year or two of recuperation, he would be full of energy again.
But for a frail woman like Ah Xiu, going there would be risking her life.
Ah Xiu gritted her teeth and said, "If the capital of Gyeonggi Province is fair, it wouldn't be holding my husband captive now." As she said this, she was about to go and beat the drum.
"Who is your husband?"
"My husband is Yang Zhengwen from a few days ago," Ah Xiu said, "My husband and I are both from farming families. Yes, his cousin is about to marry into the Gu Marquis's mansion, but we are both honest people, and Gu Marquis is also loyal. But just because of his prominent status, others said that my husband cheated, and my husband cheated, and he didn't even have the slightest chance to defend himself."
Ah Xiu said, "I just want the emperor to carefully examine this case. You can't just let my husband's efforts of more than ten years go to waste without asking any questions!"
Having said that, he reached out to beat the drum regardless of everyone's attempts to stop him.
"Wait a minute!" Someone took the drum from behind her and said, "You shouldn't play it. Let me do it."
Ah Xiu went to see the man, but found that he was an old man with white hair, "Grandpa, you——"
"I am Yang Zhengwen's teacher..." He was about to take the drumstick from Ah Xiu's hand. Ah Xiu shook her head, "Grandpa, you are so old, I'm afraid you can't take a few hits, let me do it."
The old man seemed to have a bad temper. Seeing that he couldn't get through with Ah Xiu, he wanted to forcefully snatch it away, "Why are you being beaten up when you haven't even married yet? Once a teacher, always a father, so naturally I should be the one knocking."
The two people fought as if they were fighting over some treasure.
A group of people came over from behind, including one wearing an official robe. When they saw the old gentleman, they respectfully called him "Teacher," "Teacher, let me do it."
"Why, you dare to snatch from me?"
The Minister of Justice said hurriedly, "Of course I dare not. But teacher, etiquette and law cannot be abolished. Who would dare to hit you with a stick of your status? The imperial petition is the last way out for the people who have nowhere else to go. You must not let it cease to exist because of your momentary anger."
The old man thought for a long time, and finally handed him the drumstick with dissatisfaction, "Thirty lashes, are you okay with that?"
The Minister of Justice took off his official robe and said, "Teacher, don't forget, when I first entered the academy, I was beaten by the teacher a lot, but I can stand it."
The old man smiled and said, "You were still young then, but now you are this old. I don't know if you can stand up after being beaten with thirty sticks."
Seeing that several people were about to take the beating for her without saying anything, Ah Xiu hurried forward and said, "Sir, you don't know us at all, how can you——"
"Since Yang Zhengwen is studying at Yuelu Academy, he is my junior fellow apprentice." The Minister of Justice glanced at Ah Xiu, obviously knowing her identity, "Since you haven't married yet, it's not your place to be beaten with the board anyway." After saying that, he pushed Ah Xiu away and lay on the stool himself.
When the few people who were originally going to carry out the execution saw that it was the Minister of Justice Li Xiuhe, Lord Li, they were at a loss as to what to do when they were holding the board.
The Ministry of Justice, that's their own boss! Li Xiuhe said, "Beat him. Beat him with the same force as in the past when you gave him thirty lashes." He glanced at the people around him, "The people are watching. If anyone dares to bend the law for personal gain, I will be the first one to not show mercy!"
He was an upright official on weekdays, so the yamen runners dared not disobey his orders.
The men standing on both sides raised their boards and started beating him. For a while, there was the sound of flesh hitting boards, which could be heard by the people from a distance. The incident of Yang Zhengwen originally involved Gu Yong, which made people think that a relative of Gu Hou was taking advantage of his reputation to commit corruption for personal gain.
But now, seeing that Ah Xiu, a weak woman, had nowhere else to go and was about to file a complaint to the emperor, so many scholars came out in waves to support Yang Zhengwen.
If the person is corrupt, uneducated and unskillful, why would the president of Yuelu Academy be willing to come?
“How outrageous!”
The emperor threw the memorial to the ground. "A minister of the Ministry of Justice actually took off his robes to file a complaint. Doesn't it make the court look filthy?"
Taifu Lin beside him sighed and said, "Your Majesty, now is not the time to worry about whether Lord Li's behavior is in accordance with the rules. The people are most easily instigated. Now that something like this has happened, if someone with ulterior motives plots against them, I'm afraid the court will be unstable. The only thing to do now is to retry Yang Zhengwen's case as soon as possible!"
Although Taifu Lin did not like Marquis Gu, he did not want talented people to be buried, and he was even more unwilling to see the imperial examination system decline.
The emperor is now in danger. If he doesn't want to review the case, the people outside may not agree. You know, water can carry a boat, but it can also capsize it.
After Li Xiuhe was beaten with a stick, the morning court finally began. During the court session, the emperor ordered Gu Yong to work with the imperial tutor Lin Taifu to investigate the case of academic fraud in detail.
"The Emperor has appointed me and the Grand Tutor to investigate this case in detail. I hope the Grand Tutor will give me more advice."
After the court session, Gu Yong bowed to Grand Tutor Lin. But the old man had the old habit of being aloof as a civil servant, and just glanced at him, "It's just an investigation. Lord Gu and I have different ideas and cannot make plans together."
Gu Yong smiled lightly, but he wasn't angry.
"If I were the Marquis, this old man would have lost several teeth, and he would be so arrogant now?" Some subordinates were not happy with this. Gu Yong said lightly, "It's good that the old man is so arrogant." Otherwise, how can this fraud case be investigated clearly?
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