Chapter 599: People Sit at Home, and the Pot Comes From the Sky

Yudie used her skillful brush to remove the disguise of the man named Zhang Xiang.

Then she showed the finished portrait to Ning Chen.

"Are you sure he looks like this?"

Yudie smiled, "I'm only 70% to 80% sure."

Ning Chen smiled and said, "70% to 80%, that's enough!"

Just then, Cui Yukang came back.

Ning Chen saw that his face was not right and asked, "Didn't they catch the people?"

Cui Yukang leaned over, "Your Majesty, Wang Bo and Li Jue are dead."

"Dead? How did they die?"

"Poisoned, the murderer is two candidates in the same inn, one is Jiang Wanzhou and the other is Zhou Anshi."

"The four of them drank together at night, and Wang Bo and Li Jue died of poisoning afterwards."

Ning Chen's eyes flashed, he just heard these two names from Li Gui, both of them are popular candidates for this high school.

"Where is the murderer?"

"In the Jingji government office, Shen Wanzhou and Zhou Anshi live in the same room, and arsenic was found in their room."

Ning Chen was silent.

He suddenly looked at Li Gui and sneered, "Your employer has started to kill people to silence them. If Cui Yukang doesn't bring you to the palace, you will end up like Wang Bo and Li Jue."

Li Gui's face was pale, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Cui Yukang, take him to the Ministry of Justice, hand him over to Lord Li, and explain the reason to him."

"I obey your order!"

Ning Chen sighed. This was no longer a simple killing to silence people, but taking the opportunity to get rid of the popular candidates for high school.

Someone is killing the future pillars of Daxuan.

I didn't expect that three people died before the Spring Examination began.

Ning Chen rubbed his eyebrows. If he guessed correctly, those censors and imperial censors would definitely impeach him for this matter in the court tomorrow.

The next day, in the court, the censors and imperial censors really started to impeach Ning Chen for this matter.

But these people can't do anything to Ning Chen?

Everyone is used to the censors and imperial censors impeaching Ning Chen.

But the appearance of one person forced Emperor Xuan to pay attention to him.

That was the current Taiwei.

In fact, this Taiwei was quite miserable.

The Taiwei was in a high position and was responsible for the military affairs of the Great Xuan, which was equivalent to the modern prime minister.

The reason why Taiwei was miserable was that he was now sidelined.

Taiwei was one of the regents left by the late emperor to Emperor Xuan.

But this Taiwei had been arrogant for a while. When Emperor Xuan ascended the throne, his foundation was unstable. He often sang against Emperor Xuan by relying on his status as a regent.

In the end, Emperor Xuan and General Chen joined forces to directly sideline Taiwei.

Fortunately, Emperor Xuan was not a bloodthirsty emperor, and Taiwei was the regent left by the late emperor.

Therefore, Emperor Xuan just sidelined him and did not give him any power, so he just let him hold an empty position.

The salary was still paid, but he was not allowed to interfere in state affairs.

Taiwei also knew that the general situation was over, so he simply stayed at home sick all year round. I will not interfere in state affairs, and I will not resign.

To put it bluntly, he still couldn't bear to give up the black gauze hat on his head... Although he had no real power, his connections were still there.

As long as he was in this position, he could pave the way for the younger generation of the clan.

After General Chen lost a leg, the Taiwei was secretly happy for a long time, thinking that his chance had come.

But he didn't expect that Ning Chen would appear.

Emperor Xuan handed over the military and political power to Ning Chen again.

Although the Taiwei was depressed, he had no choice, so he continued to pretend to be sick every day and stayed at home.

There was another reason why Emperor Xuan let the Taiwei hold an empty position.

That is, the Taiwei's family was the head of the northern gentry.

These gentry controlled the economy of the north... If the Taiwei was pushed into a corner, there would definitely be a big mess in the north.

Moreover, the Taiwei was not without merit.

After Emperor Xuan ascended the throne and established a solid foundation, the first national policy he promulgated was to treat the aristocratic families and the dignitaries equally and all had to pay taxes.

Therefore, the treasury of the Great Xuan was so abundant.

The Taiwei made an indelible contribution to the implementation of this policy.

Without his nod, the noble families and dignitaries in the north would not agree.

Emperor Xuan had no better way to deal with these noble families, because they were too far-reaching.

These noble families were deeply rooted, not only controlling the economy, but also had many of their people in the court.

Once these people were moved, the local economy would collapse, and the people would not be able to make a living. At that time, they could only send troops to suppress them, resulting in constant civil unrest, a deficit in the treasury, a continuous decline in national strength, and the enemy taking advantage of the opportunity to enter.

Therefore, as long as the general did not make trouble, Emperor Xuan would keep him.

And the general also knew why Emperor Xuan kept him? Although he had no real power, as long as he was in this position, he could continue to pave the way for the younger generation and strengthen the family.

This was also the reason why Emperor Xuan asked Ning Chen to preside over the Spring Examination this year.

In the past, the high school students were all children of noble families, which would lead to the growing strength of the noble families.

It was too difficult for ordinary people to open a corner of the Heavenly Palace, let alone enter the Heavenly Palace.

The reason why the Taiwei came to court today was to appeal for injustice, because Zhou Anshi, one of the murderers, was his clansman, and a direct descendant.

Ning Chen presided over this spring examination, and the city defense army of his age was responsible for the safety of the capital... Now that three candidates have died, he cannot escape the blame.

Therefore, Ning Chen was inexplicably fined a year's salary and 30 strokes of the cane.

Moreover, if there is another death, Ning Chen's status as the chief examiner will be deprived.

Emperor Xuan had no choice but to shut up those censors.

Ning Chen was sitting at home, but the pot came from the sky.

He didn't know about this until Eunuch Quan came to Ning Mansion with an imperial edict of reprimand.

Ning Chen looked at Eunuch Quan in silence, feeling extremely aggrieved.

He presided over the Spring Examination, but did not get any benefits. He was inexplicably fined a year's salary and was beaten.

"I don't accept it, I want to protest!"

Eunuch Quan looked at him with a smile, "Okay, I'll take you to the palace to meet the emperor, and you can protest in front of His Majesty."

Ning Chen rolled his eyes. He didn't dare to go... If he went, maybe the thirty boards would become real.

Eunuch Quan said: "Your Majesty is sometimes helpless."

Ning Chen nodded slightly.

I feel that being an emperor is so tiring, reading endless memorials, dealing with endless state affairs, and maintaining the balance of power among all parties.

But these aristocratic families are really disgusting...He really wants to learn from Huang Chao and slaughter all these people.

But this is only a temporary solution.

When the old aristocratic families fall, new aristocratic families will appear.

Aristocratic families cannot be eliminated.

Moreover, with his current status, the Ning family will become a noble family in the future.

These noble families will be dealt with in the future.

The most important thing at present is that no more candidates can die.

Emperor Xuan said that if another candidate dies, the position of the chief examiner will be dismissed.

He is really a living father. It would be strange if he didn't die after saying that?

However, he is not greedy for the position of chief examiner, but he is unwilling to give up.

He didn't get any benefits and was fined for one year. It's too unfair.

He wants to continue to be the chief examiner, select a few good seedlings, and cultivate his own network.

And he can't let the enemy get what they want.