bookcurios Chapter 237: Bad Luck
Chapter 237: Bad Luck
Strangely enough, Cao Shuqing was really as the monk had said, suffering from bad luck.
In five years, he took part in the college entrance examination three more times.
But I failed every time.
The first time, he suddenly fell ill with diarrhea and was so exhausted that he didn’t even have the strength to hold a pen. He didn’t even know what he answered.
The second time, when he walked into the examination room, a tile fell from the eaves and knocked him down on the spot. Although he did not have to pay for medical treatment and medicine, he still missed the examination.
The third time, he was assigned to the old number. Although the candidates around him were grinding their teeth and farting, talking and cursing in their sleep at night, it was a pleasant surprise for him. The exam went smoothly and he answered the questions well, but when the results were announced, he was still not on the list.
He couldn't accept this result, so he applied for a review of the papers.
The files could not be checked casually. The perpetrator had to be beaten with ten boards or pay a fine of fifty taels of silver first.
Otherwise, if everyone goes to investigate, won’t things get out of hand?
If it is verified that there are indeed errors or omissions, the fine will be returned and the person who was beaten with a stick will be compensated with fifty taels of silver.
After the Yan family stopped supporting him, how could he get the money to pay the fine? So he accepted ten beatings.
However, Cao Shuqing's examination revealed that a large area of his test paper was blurred, as if the ink had been smeared by water, and the handwriting on it could not be seen clearly. How could the examiner give him any grade?
Cao Shuqing was extremely unwilling to accept this and believed that it was due to improper management of the examination institute.
But he forgot that he was not the powerful Shangshu Cao in his previous life. No one spoiled him. Why other people's papers were not bad, but his was? It must be his problem.
He was kicked out.
The pain in his butt wasn't a big deal; what was more important was that he had failed again.
If he were to start over again, would he have to wait until he was nineteen to become a scholar, just like in his previous life?
There are still four years left. How should he get through it?
A lot of things have happened in the court over the past five years.
First, two years ago, Qi State invaded, and the garrisoned General Zhongping suffered a series of defeats. The military supervisor found out that General Zhongping had lied about the number of heads he had taken to get air force pay for five years, and he had also misappropriated military equipment and food and resold them to enrich himself.
Moreover, it was sold to Qi State, so that when the army was about to fight, Qi State used the military equipment and food purchased from Shang State to defeat Shang State.
Such a big thing was naturally reported to the court.
The amount of money he embezzled and resold was a staggering amount.
Even though this General Zhongping was planted by Prince An, he could not be saved.
Now that General Tadahira has been beheaded, the big question becomes who will go to fight in the war.
So someone requested that General Guimian, the former northern border commander stationed in Qingzhou, be appointed as the general.
The emperor was at a loss as to what to do and had no one to turn to, so he issued an imperial decree to transfer the Ghost-faced General Pei Mingqiu to the Northern Border Army.
No one dared to tamper with the food, fodder and military equipment allocated this time.
Of course, it's not that Prince An didn't want to make some moves, but in the past two years, many great scholars who would rather live in seclusion in the countryside than enter officialdom have actually entered officialdom. They have broad vision and lofty ambitions, and are a breath of fresh air in the court.
Although the emperor disliked those upright officials and found them annoying, in his eyes, he was the ruler of a country, with supreme wisdom and decisiveness, and those civil servants were just a bunch of corrupt scholars who could only quibble over words, and they called themselves frank and honest admonishers, and they would always point out the current ills, but he would not listen to a word they said.
This is also the reason why the great scholars in the past would rather live in seclusion than enter officialdom.
There were many ministers on the ship of the Prince of Shang'an, so the Qingliu was weak.
But the emperor was conceited and concerned about his reputation. It was unheard of during the time of the previous emperor that these world-famous scholars entered officialdom at the same time. They were all attracted by his wise ruler, and it made him feel proud.
The joining of these great scholars enabled them to compete with Prince An's men.
Even if Prince An wanted to do something, he had to worry about being caught by them. Therefore, the atmosphere in the court became slightly better.
But the emperor's health was getting worse.
He ascended the throne at the age of only eight and was originally weak. After he took power at the age of fifteen and held great power, he got rid of the eldest princess and became obsessed with sex. He selected batches of beauties after batches, and in order to balance the court, he also took many of the ministers' daughters into the harem.
He is only twenty-five, but he already looks old.
This is all thanks to the good doctors and medicine in the palace. If it were an ordinary family, I'm afraid they would have met their grandmother long ago.
It took General Guimian a year and a half to repel the Qi army. But although Qi retreated, it still stationed troops on the border, and the 300,000 northern border troops could not move rashly.
After a stalemate of half a year, Qi State could no longer hold on and handed in a letter of credence, hoping to sign a non-aggression agreement with Shang State.
Shang Guo was naturally willing to do so.
But since it was Qi State that initiated the provocation and sought peace first, it was natural for Qi State to send envoys to the capital of Shang State to sign the contract.
So, General Ghost Face personally led 5,000 elite cavalry to escort the envoys of Qi State to the capital to sign the peace treaty.
Almost at the same time, there was a rumor in the capital that the eldest princess was wrongly accused, and her son had found evidence and was now returning to the capital to overturn the case for the eldest princess.
People on the streets began to talk about the princess's contribution to the Shang Kingdom. At that time, the country was weak and the ruler was young, and the government was in chaos. It was the princess who worked tirelessly day and night to assist the young ruler in handling government affairs, so that the chaotic government could be clear. The policies issued by the princess were also beneficial to the country and the people.
When Qi invaded, no military general dared to fight and no civil official dared to remonstrate. Qi almost reached the heartland of Shang and lost cities one after another.
If the eldest princess had not come to the battlefield and turned the tide, the Shang Kingdom might have been destroyed by the Qi Kingdom long ago.
After ten years of fighting, Shang recovered its lost territory, and the enemy dared not invade. When the young master was fifteen years old, she immediately handed over the military power and government power, and lived in the Princess's Mansion. If she had any other intentions, as long as she did not hand over the power, the entire Shang Kingdom would be hers. Why would she do this again?
Obviously, she was a loyal and devoted great contributor who could make great contributions to the country through both literary and military means, and she was the princess who had made outstanding contributions. However, in the end, she was slandered for treason.
Injustice!
There are also rumors that the late emperor left a will that allowed the eldest princess to ascend the throne. It was because the eldest princess, out of consideration for the relationship between her and her brother, gave up the throne and was unjustly killed. The emperor should redress the injustice of the eldest princess. Otherwise, it would inevitably chill the hearts of loyal ministers.
It is also said that the eldest princess had the right of inheritance, but she gave it to her younger brother. The emperor has no son so far, so the kingdom of Shang should return to the eldest princess's son to be legitimate. Otherwise, how can we comfort the soul of the eldest princess who was wrongly killed?
The princess had made great contributions, but she ended up in such a miserable way. The emperor must admit his mistakes and issue an edict of apology, otherwise, the people of the world will not agree.
……
The news spread more and more, and when the emperor learned about it, he was furious.
When the eldest princess was still alive, he was in a constant state of panic. Even though the eldest princess stayed in the princess's mansion and did not care about state affairs, he was often awakened by nightmares. So he decided to get rid of her as soon as possible.
It was indeed so. On the day when the princess and her entire family were executed, he slept soundly. It was as if the knife hanging over his head had finally fallen off, and he could sleep peacefully.
Now, the eldest princess's son suddenly appeared.