Prime Minister.

Chapter 72, 071 [Choice]

Xue Huai recalled what he had seen and heard at the Eastern Palace a month ago.

Although the Crown Prince had subtly expressed his intention to recruit him, the Hanlin Academy had already sealed its seals on the 20th of the twelfth lunar month, and Xue Huai had not seen the Crown Prince since.

In other words, they had only met alone twice before.

Given that Xue Huai has not made a clear statement, surely the Crown Prince wouldn't do something so presumptuous and foolish?

He looked up at Jiang Li, a thought suddenly striking him. He frowned slightly and asked, "Could it be that His Highness the Crown Prince is looking for you?"

"clever."

Jiang Li's expression remained calm as she spoke slowly and deliberately: "On the eighth day, I went to the Eastern Palace to visit the Crown Prince, and he praised you highly in front of me. Putting aside our private agreement, the fact that my guards rescued you by the Nine Bend River, that I helped you out of a predicament at Taihu Tower, and that I had the Ministry of Revenue release Guangtai Money Shop are things that His Majesty and the Crown Prince cannot hide from them."

Xue Huai fell silent.

Jiang Li continued, "You've only been promoted to tutor for a short time and have only visited the Eastern Palace two or three times. The Crown Prince would definitely be too embarrassed to ask you for favors directly, since he hasn't done you any favors yet. But he knows that we have a close relationship, and most importantly, I have done you a favor, so he asked me to lend a hand."

Xue Huai calmly said, "Your Highness, could you please tell me what the Crown Prince truly desires?"

Jiang Li said, "He gave me a list and asked me to entrust you, on my behalf, to recommend the people on the list to the chief examiner when the exam papers are being graded in the spring. These candidates will use special words in special places when answering their questions, so you will be able to recognize them at a glance."

This is one of the root causes why cheating in the imperial examinations is so difficult to eradicate.

Xue Huai understood after a little thought. For example, a candidate might embed two pre-arranged words in the second and fourth sentences of the first paragraph of the essay, and then inform the examiner of this information in advance. When grading the papers, the examiner would be able to distinguish which answer sheet belonged to which candidate.

This type of cheating is almost impossible to prevent and is extremely covert. Unless the perpetrator actively exposes himself, measures such as anonymizing names and locking the premises are ineffective.

After a moment's thought, Xue Huai hesitated slightly before asking, "Why doesn't Your Highness refuse the Crown Prince?"

How to refuse?

Jiang Li chuckled self-deprecatingly and sighed, "The Crown Prince has always been very good to me, taking care of me since I was a child. This is a bond built up over time, and I cannot refuse it. Besides, he is, after all, the Crown Prince, the future emperor of Great Yan. If I offend him now, how will I survive in the future?"

In fact, Jiang Li had revealed her feelings in a similar way before.

She is the only bloodline left by the King of Qi, not a princess in the true sense. Her current noble status is mainly due to the emperor's favor.

But the emperor will eventually grow old, and the future of the Great Yan will be ruled by a new ruler.

Judging from the current situation, the Crown Prince is the most likely candidate to become that person.

If Jiang Li wants to maintain her position, she must understand how to navigate interpersonal relationships.

Xue Huai understood the intricacies of the situation, and he sighed softly, "It's all beyond our control."

Jiang Li nodded and said, "Yes, no one can do whatever they want. Even His Majesty can't do that, let alone an orphan like me who has no power but the title of princess."

Xue Huai naturally didn't believe that statement.

Many things in the past have shown that Jiang Li is extraordinary, but there is no need to argue about it now.

Xue Huai thought for a moment and asked, "What does Your Highness think I should do?"

"I suggest you accept it."

Jiang Li said earnestly, “I know you despise such corrupt practices, but the imperial examinations have never been completely clean. Even if the Crown Prince doesn’t interfere, others will try to get a share. Moreover, this is different from the corruption scandal in the Ministry of Works. Seeking a few spots in the imperial examinations is already an open secret among the officials in the court, and even His Majesty may not be unaware of it. As long as there isn’t too much trouble, such as the exam questions being leaked in advance causing a large-scale upheaval, His Majesty will not demand absolute cleanliness.”

Xue Huai understood what she meant; this matter was clearly an unspoken rule in officialdom.

The imperial examination was held every three years, with 300 people selected each time, averaging 100 people per year.

Of these, only three people in the first class and about seventy people in the second class were Jinshi graduates. They either entered the Hanlin Academy or became officials in the capital. Those who had a smooth career could become ministers of the six ministries or local governors if they could not enter the cabinet.

Even those who passed the imperial examinations, the most numerous of whom were ranked third or fourth, could only be assigned to posts outside the capital; very few could rise to the rank of third grade or higher.

In short, with over seventy spots up for grabs every three years, which faction in the government would give up this opportunity?
Although the crown prince is the heir apparent, his position is not secure, and he also needs to cultivate a sufficient number of trusted and capable advisors.

Xue Huai pondered for a moment and said, "Even if I am willing to help the Crown Prince with this matter, I am ultimately just a co-examiner. I only have the right to recommend, not the right to decide. What if Grand Secretary Sun and Vice Minister Yue do not select the paper I recommended? Wouldn't everything be in vain?"

"As I told you before, since we're going to be working together for a long time, the most important thing is to be honest with each other, so you don't need to try to get information out of me in such a roundabout way."

Jiang Li rolled her eyes at Xue Huai and said frankly, "A poem about plum blossoms has made you famous. Even if the chief examiner and the vice president don't care about your mentor, Minister Shen, they still have to consider the public's opinion of you. As long as the paper you recommended is not problematic, they generally won't reject it without reason. Otherwise, if you are indignant and write a poem after leaving the examination hall that is full of veiled criticism, and then it is sung by all the courtesans in the capital, how will Minister Sun ever be able to face people again?" Xue Huai couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.

Jiang Li knew this wasn't enough to convince Xue Huai, so she added, "Based on my understanding of the Crown Prince, he won't place all his hopes on you. He must have other plans, but he hasn't told me explicitly. Xue Huai, the reason I suggest you do as I say isn't entirely for my own benefit; this matter will also be good for you."

"I see."

Xue Huai calmly said, "Although this matter was handled by Your Highness, as long as those candidates pass the imperial examinations and become officials, they will eventually gravitate towards the Crown Prince, and at that time the Crown Prince will naturally be grateful for my help."

Jiang Li nodded and said, "That's how it is. Have you thought it through?"

Xue Huai replied noncommittally, "Your Highness, could you tell me which names are on the list? I promise I won't leak it."

"Of course I believe you."

Without hesitation, Jiang Li named five people and then briefly introduced their identities and backgrounds.

Xue Huai said with an ambiguous meaning, "The nephew of the Shanxi Provincial Governor, the eldest grandson of the Huguang Provincial Surveillance Commissioner, the clansman of the Minister of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, and the younger generation of the wife's family of the Junior Grand Master of the Court of Imperial Sacrifices, are truly a gathering of heroes, all of whom have great backgrounds. The only one without any obvious official connections, Zhou Jishan, is a talented scholar who has become quite famous in the literary circles of the North in recent years."

Jiang Li did not urge him. She knew that Xue Huai would find it difficult to accept such a thing, let alone break his own principles.

After a moment, Xue Huai suddenly changed the subject and asked, "Your Highness, do you have connections within the Jing'an Division?"

Since Jiang Li said they should be honest with each other, he naturally wouldn't hold back.

Jiang Li was slightly taken aback, a bad premonition rising in her heart. She hesitated and said, "There are some, but they are not high-ranking officials of the Jing'an Division. I don't want to attract Han Qian's attention. He is a vicious dog that doesn't bark but is particularly insidious. What do you want to do? I have to make it clear in advance. You can refuse to help the Crown Prince, but don't act impulsively. This is not like a case of the Ministry of Works. You can't afford the consequences."

"Your Highness has misunderstood."

Xue Huai smiled and said, "I just wanted to ask if the mastermind behind Gu Heng has been found out yet?"

"No."

Jiang Li breathed a sigh of relief and slowly said, "As far as I know, this matter will most likely be dropped, because it seems to involve the harem."

Upon hearing this, Xue Huai did not press the matter further.

"Regarding the imperial examinations..."

He thought for a moment and then said, "What is Your Highness's view on the concept of fairness?"

"I know what you're trying to say, but let me be frank: true fairness has never existed anywhere in history."

Jiang Li's expression was quite serious at this moment. She said earnestly, "Take yourself for example. Without His Majesty's favor and your father's legacy, could you have become the youngest third-place scholar in the history of the Great Yan? In just one year, you went from a student to one of the top three scholars, completing the path that most scholars take decades to achieve. Is that fair to them?"

Xue Huai remained silent.

At this moment, he couldn't help but recall the glorious years of his past life.

In his previous life, he was born into an ordinary family. His parents gave him enough love and respect, but they couldn't help him in his career. What truly changed his destiny was the college entrance examination.

He was glad that this was a relatively fair competition, and he earned his ticket through his own efforts, which allowed him to realize his ambitions step by step.

Perhaps, as Jiang Li said, absolute fairness is impossible in human society. However, Xue Huai always felt that the bottom line for some things in the world cannot be too low.

With this in mind, he looked directly into Jiang Li's eyes and said, "It's not fair, but at least my answer sheet is fine, and my essay and policy proposal are worthy of the third-place ranking."

Jiang Li sighed softly, "Since that's the case, why are you so troubled? I've read the articles of these five people. Zhou Jishan's talent is well-deserved, and the other four are not bad either. They all have more than ten years of experience, which shows that they have put in a lot of hard work."

"I wasn't struggling with it, I was just thinking about a question."

Xue Huai remained calm and spoke in the simplest of words: "To give an example, imagine I am grading papers right now. There are ten papers in front of me, five of which are from candidates recommended by the Crown Prince, and the other five belong to impoverished scholars without official connections. Judging from the answers themselves, the impoverished scholars have answered better. So how should I choose?"

“If I follow the Crown Prince’s wishes and select those five daughters of officials, it means that I will have to reject the other five poor scholars.”

"For me, it was just a simple stroke of the pen. But for those five people, they carried the hopes of their entire families and clans, studied hard with the support of their parents and siblings, and came all the way from a poor little place to the bustling capital. But just because of my simple decision, all their efforts will be in vain, and three years of expectations will turn into nothing."

"This is not just their three years, it is their life."

"Your Highness, what do you think I should do?"

(End of this chapter)