In the fourth year of Hongwu's reign in the Ming Dynasty, the admission list for the first Enke Examination of the Ming Dynasty was released.

The entire Yingtian Mansion in the capital was filled with joy. Firecrackers were heard exploding from time to time, and government officials beat gongs while reading the names of successful candidates.

"Mr. Chen from Jiaxing ranked seventh among the top two. Congratulations. You are very successful."

"Congratulations, congratulations..."

In front of an inn, a government official came to announce the good news.

The successful scholar came out with a handsome face and was throwing money and coins around.

The crowd gathered around in circles.

At this time, in the crowd, Liu Bowen and his son Liu Lian were visiting privately incognito.

Liu Bowen looked at the excitement with a smile and stroked his long beard.

"Lian'er, look, look, it's so lively. Enke is on the list. I haven't seen it in twenty years."

"Such a lively thing, it's worth coming to see it in person."

"When your father and I were selected, we were more impressive than that kid."

"I threw away more than thirty taels of silver in one day."

"The building is almost collapsed."

"Come on, let's go to the Imperial College to say hello to Song Lian and the others."

Imperial College, Liu Bowen came here to congratulate him, but unfortunately Song Lian was not there. Liu Bowen looked through the examination papers of the candidates with great interest.

Now that the lists are all down, Liu Bowen naturally has nothing to look at when he looks at these papers.

However, after Liu Bowen kept flipping through the papers, he suddenly frowned and realized something was wrong.

He immediately said to the Imperial College official standing behind him:

"Where are the ages and birthplaces of these candidates for official service? Show them to me."

"Zhongcheng, according to the law, all those materials should be sealed."

"I want to see it, take it out quickly."

"yes."

After a while, after the materials were brought over, Liu Bowen looked through them one by one, his face getting more and more ugly.

Liu Bowen stood up without saying a word.

"Lian'er, go home!"

"Yes, father, what's wrong? Are you feeling uncomfortable?"

"I feel uncomfortable everywhere."

"There's going to be trouble, there's going to be trouble."

"Father?"

As soon as Liu Bowen walked out of the door, Song Lian, the chief official of the Imperial Academy and the chief examiner of this imperial examination, came tremblingly.

Yes, this Song Lian was the former teacher of Prince Zhu Biao. Later, Wang Ming scolded him in public as an old and sour scholar who misled his disciples.

"Mr. Liu, I heard you are here."

Song Lian bowed his hands to Liu Bowen.

Liu Bowen didn't give Song Lian a good look and said in a deep voice.

"My Master Song, my Master Song, you, what do you want me to say about you?"

"What's wrong?" Song Lian asked doubtfully.

"Didn't you see anything wrong before you opened the rankings?"

"What's wrong?" Song Lian thought for a while, but he really couldn't figure it out.

Liu Bowen shook his head. Sure enough, King Ming once criticized Song Lian for being pedantic and mediocre. Now it seems that he was absolutely right.

"The thirty-six Jinshi you admitted are all from the south!"

"And most of them are from Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Anhui."

"How can northern students be willing to do so?"

"Do I only have half of the Ming Dynasty!?"

When Song Lian heard this, he was suddenly confused and his body swayed. Liu Lian, who was just beside him, helped him.

…

"During the exam, your name, place of origin, and age are all stored in one place."

"It is blocked by the invigilator to prevent favoritism and malpractice."

"We just rely on the paper to choose, choose the best, choose the best..."

Liu Bowen sighed.

"It's too late to say anything now. Just prepare for trouble."

As soon as Song Lian heard this, his dull mind suddenly went crazy.

The cold and clever man grabbed Liu Bowen's sleeve with tears streaming down his face.

"Liu, Mr. Liu, please, please, please, for the sake of our many years of friendship, please help me."

Liu Bowen tugged on his sleeve but did not pull it back for a moment, which shows how strong Song Lian's grip was at this time.

"Song Lian, it's now this time, how can I help you?"

"Liu, Mr. Liu, no, no, but, but I really don't dare to practice favoritism, I really don't dare..."

"Brother Song, after so many years of friendship, I believe you won't do it, but the emperor won't believe it!"

"Those northern students who failed the exam will not believe it even more."

"Then, what should we do... Liu, Brother Liu, I, I'm not afraid of death."

"Think about it. Just because Ma Sandao, who majored in engineering, stole some stones and wood from Juxiantang, the emperor cut off his head and buried it on the jade steps of Juxiantang.

"I, I have made such a big mistake, can the emperor tolerate me?"

"I, I have lived to such an old age, actually, no, I am not afraid of death anymore."

"But, I, I don't want to cut off my head, stuff it into a cage and parade it around, and I don't want my name to be stained for the rest of my life."

"I and my descendants can't even hold their heads high, and they will never be able to enter the officialdom."

After listening to Song Lian's complaints, Liu Bowen also felt sad and thought about something.

"In this situation, your only chance of survival is to find the queen and the prince."

"Ah, this, the queen, the prince? Yes, yes, yes... Liu Gong, thank you, thank you very much, I, I will go find the queen now."

Song Lian left in a hurry and asked to see the queen.

Liu Bowen, who stayed where he was, sighed again and went home.

On the way, Liu Bowen thought of something again and muttered to himself.

"If such a big thing happens, even the queen and the prince together may not be able to persuade the emperor."

"The emperor's temper is becoming more and more unpredictable."

"That Masandao was a hero who fought bloody battles at Poyang Lake. His only two sons died there."

"However, the emperor still did not miss his old feelings and killed him."

"Why? Isn't it to deter those military generals from being arrogant and corrupt and perverting the law?"

"Then Ma San Da Dao is indeed guilty, but the crime does not lead to death!"

"It's so chilling for the emperor to do that."

"Song Lian has committed such a serious crime. Even if the queen and prince plead for mercy, they may not be able to persuade the emperor."

"Unless, unless..."

Liu Bowen suddenly thought of a name, a name that was becoming more and more low-key in court but became more and more high-profile among the people because they made too much money.

"Prince Ming, only Prince Ming can absolutely persuade the emperor, only he can."

"However, King Ming is now keeping a low profile and is only focused on making money to prepare for the conquest of overseas feudal countries."

"Snow salt, fragrant jade, fragrant water, which one is not a business that can make you a lot of money every day and make you rich enough to rival the country?"

"King Ming has great wisdom and knows not to eat alone, so he takes the initiative to hand over 30% of the income to the emperor's private treasury every year."

"If this were not the case, Hubu would definitely have trouble with Tiantian and Prince Ming."

"Lü Chang even told me in front of me that if King Ming hadn't taken the initiative to give the emperor 30% of the income, he, the Minister of Household Affairs, would have had to fight for the land in front of King Ming to seize these three businesses."

"Prince Ming will soon go overseas and be crowned the true vassal king. Is he willing to get involved in such troubled waters?"

Liu Bowen gritted his teeth and thought again.

"Such a big disaster happened in the first imperial examination of the Ming Dynasty. If it is not handled well, the whole court of the Ming Dynasty will definitely be in turmoil. I am afraid that no one in the Imperial College will survive. There will also be those northern candidates who will cause trouble after they fail.

Scholars..."

"No, I have to go to Prince Ming. Only he can persuade the Emperor now. We must not let this matter get bigger."
Chapter completed!