Sign in: The female supporting character in the book disrupted the heroine's glory

Chapter 542: History Books of the Previous Dynasty

imperial study room

There were a lot of files piled on the imperial desk. Today, the emperor finally finished reading the papers of candidates who had taken the provincial examinations in various provinces.

He stroked his beard and his eyes fell on Jiang Youzhen's name.

This kid is really talented. At least among so many candidates, he thinks Jiang Youzhen is the undisputed first.

There was a hint of a smile on his face, but when he thought of the rumors, his expression darkened again.

He is talented and resourceful, but too ambitious. He has already mixed up with the princes before even entering the court. I'm afraid he is not an easy person to deal with.

However, he also admires ambitious people, as these are often the ones who have the ability.

If such a person uses it well, it will be like a sharp blade, and as long as it is held in the hand, it will be invincible. But it is also a double-edged sword, which can easily hurt oneself.

He was not so anxious originally, but after the imperial teacher's fable came out, the emperor became more and more anxious.

The emperor couldn't sleep or eat well when he thought that someone was secretly coveting his throne.

Who could it be? Could it be Prince Yu who was far away in Yun Province? Or his own son? Or a court official?

Because the previous emperor's throne was indeed obtained in an ignominious way, the emperor always felt that some of the court officials would covet his throne.

After all, the Zhao family seized their kingdom from the Ma family, so there's no guarantee that someone won't have the same idea.

However, the imperial teacher said that the Emperor's Star was looming and it was difficult to determine its position, which made the emperor even more anxious.

Zhou Zhong, who was serving on the side, saw that the emperor seemed to be in deep thought, so he turned his head and found that he was staring at a pile of files on the table.

He was illiterate and didn't know who it belonged to, but his instinct was that it must belong to Jiang Youzhen.

He had heard of this man's name many times, and the princes often mentioned him. Although he had not yet entered the government, he had the illusion that he was a senior official in the court.

"Zhou Zhong!" the emperor suddenly shouted.

Zhou Zhong was startled, and hurriedly stepped forward with his back bent, saying, "Your Majesty, I am here!"

"Send the message to Qian Songyun, the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Academy."

"As you wish!" Zhou Zhong calculated the time and realized that he would be dismissed from his post soon, so he quickly accepted the order and asked a eunuch to pass on the message.

Qian Songyun quickly entered the imperial study. The emperor had not summoned him for a long time. He was still wondering what was going on, but suddenly he remembered that he was taking the imperial examination during this period, and he couldn't help but have a vague guess in his mind.

"Your Majesty, I, Qian Songyun, the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Academy, pay my respects to His Majesty. May Your Majesty be well!"

"Qian Aiqing, please stand up!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Qian Songyun lowered his head and looked at the pattern on the carpet in front of him, guessing the emperor's intention. There was a vacancy in the Hanlin Academy this year, did the emperor have a candidate in mind?

"At the beginning of this year, I ordered you to compile the history of the previous dynasties. How is the progress? It just so happens that there is a grand banquet for the Empress Dowager this year, so I plan to have the Hanlin Academy compile the "Universiade Code"."

Qian Songyun was sweating when he heard this. Compiling the history of the previous dynasties was a tough job. If it was the history of the current dynasty, there would naturally be a lot of records to find, but many of the history of the previous dynasties were lost, and some should be written and some should not be written. It was difficult to find the right balance.

"Your Majesty, we are compiling it intensively, but many of the history books of the previous dynasties have been lost, and even the records have many gaps. We need to find a lot of information and distinguish between true and false. It is a tedious task."

Qian Songyun never mentioned the compilation of the Code, as that was a much larger project and the current number of staff in the Hanlin Academy was definitely not enough.

"Your Majesty, our Hanlin Academy has not had a vacancy for several years. This year, it has been closed for three years. Some of the previous Jinshi have gone to the six ministries, and some have been sent out. There are not many left."

Qian Songyun said this and glanced at the emperor cautiously.

The emperor frowned immediately. "After the officials of the Hanlin Academy were dismissed, there were always many officials retained. Why do you keep saying that there are not enough people?"

Qian Songyun complained in his heart, wasn't it because you had taken drastic measures before, uncovering a lot of corruption in the past two years and implicating many officials?

The Hanlin Academy is a government office with little money. Although one is a close minister to the emperor and has a bright future, those with extraordinary family backgrounds can do without it, as they cannot live on such a small salary anyway.

But who among those students from poor families, or even those from relatively well-off families, wouldn’t want to get a good job?

Don't say that only Hanlin scholars can enter the cabinet. After serving as an official for a few years, the situation in the court is so divided and undercurrents are surging. Who would dare to enter the cabinet without a backer?

The cabinet is good, but without some background, you can't even get in.

"It's because I'm incompetent. Many people have indeed been sent out to other places in the past two years, and many officials also want to leave Beijing to take up positions and govern the local areas."

Isn't it? Those wealthy prefectures and cities have been vacated with so many lucrative positions because of the emperor's generous gesture in the past two years? A clean prefecture for three years can earn 100,000 silver coins. Aren't they scrambling to get there?

The emperor's face darkened. "You always have many excuses for the tasks I asked you to do. If you can't be a good university scholar, someone else will take the position, and you should also leave the capital and find a job!"

Qian Songyun knelt down hurriedly and said in a fearful tone: "Your Majesty, please calm down. I failed to help you solve your problems, and I deserve death!"

"However, after this palace examination, there will definitely be a group of students who will be admitted to the Imperial Academy. I will definitely finish compiling the history book as soon as possible."

"Hmph!" The emperor snorted coldly. Qian Songyun has now become a veteran. What kind of people are these in the court?

The officials who had made great contributions with his father are now old, and there are no talented young people in the court.

The emperor's eyes swept over Jiang Youzhen's name again and he made up his mind.

"You can put aside the compilation of the history books of the previous dynasties for now. The compilation of the ceremonial code is the most important thing. You should compile the ceremonial code first."

"I obey your command!" Qian Songyun breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that being called here like this was not a good thing.

Just as he was leaving the imperial study, his eyes swept across the files on the emperor's desk. Were those the files of candidates taking exams from various provinces?

With some guesses in mind, he left the imperial study.

Three days passed in a flash for other people, but for those candidates, it was simply torture.

After Jiang Youzhen finished the exam, he didn't feel any discomfort, just a little tired.

She was the first one to hand in her paper and is currently waiting to be released. A batch will only be released when there are 20 people.

"What? Dare you bring cheat sheets?"

Jiang Youzhen was following the officers to a place where he wanted to rest when he heard a loud shout not far away.

When Jiang Youzhen heard about the cheat sheet, he was shocked. Who is so brave? He is already a juren, isn't he destroying his future?

"No! I didn't. How could I have brought cheat sheets with me? I don't know how this cheat sheet got on my robe. It wasn't written by me."

"This is your outer garment. If you didn't write it, who wrote it? Could it be that someone else wrote it on you? Who are you trying to fool?"

"What's going on? No loud noises are allowed in the examination room!" The chief examiner, Minister of Rites Luo Chengyi, asked sternly.