After leaving the main hall, Wang Chengen wiped his sweat and looked back with lingering fear.
"Oh, I just saw the emperor was as happy as a child, and I thought I could fool him."
"Who knew it still wouldn't work."
After a moment of silence, he suddenly turned around and said to the young eunuch beside him:
"Go to the Imperial Workshop and grab someone at random, then give them a severe beating."
He added in his mind, "If I don't do this, it will be difficult to explain to the emperor."
After saying all this, he turned back again and sighed:
"Your Majesty has indeed become much wiser. If things continue like this, our Great Ming Dynasty might really be able to be revived."
A few days later.
Several more scholars from the capital sought out Shi Kefa.
However, this time, the expressions on their faces were somewhat strange.
"Young Master Shi, the situation seems rather dire."
Shi Kefa seemed completely unsurprised.
"From what you're saying, it seems the young emperor is determined to protect that Master Gao to the death."
"Heh, what kind of scheme has the imperial court been up to lately?"
After exchanging glances, the group of men took out a book from their pockets and handed it to Shi Kefa.
"Take a look for yourself."
Shi Kefa snorted coldly and casually took it.
"It was nothing more than the emperor finding a few poor scholars to write a few articles praising that so-called Master Gao."
He didn't seem to care much about the book itself.
He just felt that these scholars in front of him were a bit too timid.
"If you want to persuade the emperor to repent and reform, how can you be so frightened by a little setback?"
"I want to see what's written on this!"
But when he opened the book, he burst out laughing.
"Haha, could this young emperor have been fooled? The articles in this book were all written by ancient people."
"It's not a recent work at all!"
But as he looked at it, the expression on his face gradually became strange.
After a long while, he put down his book, frowned, and said:
"Where did the young emperor get this book? Is he trying to emulate Crown Prince Zhaoming?"
Prince Zhaoming was a figure from the Northern and Southern Dynasties period. He organized the compilation of the Zhaoming Anthology.
Later emperors liked to showcase their civil administration by compiling books.
The root of the problem lies with him.
"Although this book, Guwen Guanzhi, is not large in size, it is precisely because of this that it can be widely circulated throughout the world."
Although Shi Kefa was dissatisfied, he had to admit it at this point.
"From now on, any scholar who wants to take the imperial examination will likely have to rely on this book."
"The young emperor's move was truly impressive!"
He sighed with emotion.
"Now that this book has that sorcerer's name on it, how am I supposed to move it to him?"
Shi Kefa pointed to the three words "Master Gao" on the book, a hint of helplessness in his eyes.
The scholars who had just entered also nodded quickly.
“Young Master Shi, you are right. Since this book has spread, there are not many people in the capital who still criticize Master Gao.”
"Furthermore, it seems that the imperial court has received a lot more silver in the past few days."
"The Ministry of Works has sent out a large number of Gao Gong pens to scholars in the capital."
"Although this Gao Gong brush is not as good as a calligraphy brush, people are bound to be indebted to those who accept gifts, and these people are even more so..."
Shi Kefa understood what he meant and sighed deeply.
But he quickly rallied.
"Hmph, the emperor himself would never have thought of such methods."
"It must be that Master Gao who bewitched His Majesty!"
By this time, Shi Kefa no longer dared to call Gao Qingyun a demon.
After much deliberation, he decided to temporarily cease his efforts.
“This Master Gao is not easy to deal with, so I will keep a low profile for a while.”
"After I pass the imperial examination next year, I will personally explain the pros and cons to His Majesty!"
Hearing this, the scholars breathed a sigh of relief.
Although they sided with Shi Kefa, they were also afraid that continuing down this path would anger the imperial court.
Arresting them all at once would be counterproductive.
"What Young Master Shi says is very true. We scholars should first enter the court as officials before we can assist the emperor."
While the group was discussing, they suddenly heard a commotion outside.
The scholars were shocked, thinking that the imperial court had actually sent someone.
They rushed out, trying to distance themselves from Shi Kefa.
However, they had only run a few steps when they realized they had made a mistake.
It turned out that soldiers had indeed come from outside, but they were not there to capture them.
Instead, it was Li Ruolian's troops who came here to tidy up the barracks.
Since he led his troops back to the capital and easily dealt with Wei Zhongxian's forces, his prestige has reached a new level.
To curry favor with him, the Ministry of War simply allowed him to lead troops and garrison here.
This place was originally the barracks of the Jingjun (a type of military unit), so the Ministry of War's arrangement wasn't a big problem.
However, upon seeing this, the scholars all showed expressions of intense indignation.
"Hmph! These brutes, now it's their turn to be so arrogant!"
"How dare they try to take our house!"
"That's right, only we scholars are the pillars of the Ming Dynasty. What are these military men worth!"
Shi Kefa came out last, and upon hearing this, a hint of displeasure appeared on his face.
He said quickly:
"Li Ruolian had just won a battle not long ago and driven out the Jurchens."
"He has rendered great service to the court, and you should not speak ill of him behind his back."
For some reason, Shi Kefa felt an itch to bite whenever he heard the name of the Jurchens, as if he had a deep-seated hatred for them.
Therefore, he naturally felt a certain fondness for Li Ruolian.
Those scholars, upon hearing this, were instead dissatisfied.
They were all inwardly furious, thinking, "You, Shi Kefa, how dare you speak up for Li Ruolian?"
"We only showed you some respect because of your Donglin Party background, and even went to great lengths for you in Beijing. Is this how you treat us?"
After exchanging a glance, they both understood each other's thoughts.
"Shi Kefa has always been a suicidal person. We had long planned to find an opportunity to distance ourselves from him so as not to be implicated by him."
"Isn't now a perfect opportunity?"
So the group shook their heads and said:
"Since you put it that way, Young Master Shi, then we'll take our leave now!"
After saying that, the group joined hands and quickly walked out.
Shi Kefa watched their retreating figures for a long time without saying a word.
However, all of this was observed by the soldiers nearby.
Someone immediately ran out and told Li Ruolian what had happened.
Upon hearing this, Li Ruolian immediately became interested in Shi Kefa.
He rushed over immediately and bowed to Shi Kefa, saying:
"Young sir, may I ask your name?"
Seeing Li Ruolian's politeness, Shi Kefa felt even more favorably toward him.
"General Li, I am Shi Kefa, a scholar from the capital."
Although Shi Kefa was born in Yuzhou, his ancestors were military households of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, so his place of origin was in the capital.
Even the imperial examinations were held in Beizhili.
Shi Kefa said, "General Li's crushing defeat of the Jurchens this time has truly wiped away the shame of the disastrous defeat at Guangning!"
Li Ruolian blushed slightly after hearing this.
After hesitating for a moment, he made no attempt to hide anything.
“Master Shi, please don’t say that. I didn’t actually fight the Jurchens when I left the pass this time.”
"Instead, the Jurchens retreated voluntarily."
"To be honest, this was all thanks to His Majesty's brilliant strategy."
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