Chapter 2583
Tao Hongfang and others took a carriage into the city early in the morning and went all the way to the gate of Shi Diwen's official residence. As soon as they got off the carriage, the concierge took the initiative to greet them, and he was much more enthusiastic than before. Bai Letong laughed at himself: "It seems that we come here so often that even the concierge here is already familiar with us."
The concierge welcomes and delivers guests every day, and is naturally very sharp. When he heard this, he immediately took the initiative to answer: "I have received orders from Master Shi, and I am here to wait for the arrival of several adults."
Bai Letong asked curiously: "Master Shi knows that we are coming?"
Tao Hongfang said: "Letong, you are really confused. Shi Chengwu was here yesterday!"
Bai Letong slapped his forehead and said, "I've forgotten about this!"
Although Shi Chengwu did not listen to their meeting with Dai Yingda in the study yesterday, Li Fa deliberately left Shi Chengwu behind after the banquet. Obviously, he was also one of the insiders of the matter.
As for the results of the talks, most of them have been reported to Shi Diwen through Shi Chengwu. Shi Diwen knew the temperament of several of them, and it was not difficult to calculate that they would probably come to him to ask for an explanation the next day, so he made arrangements in advance.
When I saw Shi Diwen again, it was no different from the previous scenes. He was still sitting behind the huge nanmu desk reviewing documents. Seeing Bai Letong and others come in, he just nodded slightly, raised his finger to the chairs in the room, and motioned for them to sit down first.
Although Bai Letong and others came to investigate, they did not dare to show disrespect in front of Shi Diwen, so they sat down and waited patiently for Shi Diwen to finish the work at hand.
After waiting for a cup of tea, Shi Diwen finally finished the work at hand, called the secretary in, and asked him to take out the reviewed documents.
Shi Diwen took off the glasses on the bridge of his nose, rubbed his eyes that were a little sore from reading for a long time, and said in a deep voice: "Yesterday, Cheng Wu came back and gave me a brief summary of your meeting with Dai Yingda. It sounds like you The differences between us are not small. I think with your tempers, you probably won’t just swallow it. You will definitely come to me for an explanation... I guess my guess is correct, right?”
Bai Letong said: "Uncle Shi is well informed. We do have some differences with Dai Yingda, so we came here to ask uncle for advice."
Shi Diwen said: "Tell me, do you have any questions you need me to answer?"
Bai Letong exchanged glances with the other two people before continuing: "Yesterday, Dai Yingda said that he would ask the juniors to take care of the Dai family's children in this provincial examination to ensure that they can pass smoothly. The juniors suspected that he had already bribed the rural pilots. Other officials committed fraud during the exam! I hope Uncle Shi can immediately order a thorough investigation of the matter and arrest and investigate the individuals involved to correct the situation!”
Shi Diwen nodded, indicating that he understood his request, then turned to the other two people and asked: "Do you have any other requests?"
Tao Hongfang said: "The imperial examination is related to the development of the country. I hope Uncle Shi can find out the truth to ensure that students taking the provincial examination can have a fair examination environment!"
Ning Zijing said: "Regardless of whether the children of the Dai family have real abilities, but the officials of the township examination office cooperated with the candidates to cheat. I think this is an unacceptable situation in any case. Our country has always attached great importance to culture and education, and I think the executive committee does not want to see it. This is an extremely unreasonable and illegal situation.”
The three of them had already agreed on the same message before they came. They wanted to express their attitude to Shi Diwen face to face, exert pressure, and leave no room for concessions. Of course, what they did was actually a helpless move because they had no other choice. They were not sure whether Shi Diwen would respond to their request. In short, they would give it a try first.
Shi Diwen said: "Before I answer you, I would like to ask you a question first. What is the purpose of continuing the previous dynasty's practice of holding imperial examinations?" Of course, this question did not stump Bai Letong, who immediately responded loudly. Said: "There are two purposes. One is to select talents for the country through examinations, and the other is to stabilize people's hearts so that people will not have no way to serve the country!"
Dai Yingda mentioned during the interview yesterday that he hoped Bai Letong would be open-minded and not leave the children of the Dai family without a way to serve the country. However, what Dai Yingda said about "there is no way to serve the country" and what Bai Letong said at this time are obviously not the same thing.
Shi Diwen nodded and continued to ask Bai Letong: "Which purpose do you think is more important?"
Bai Letong hesitated for a moment before responding: "These two purposes are important regardless of their priority!"
Shi Diwen smiled and said: "Okay, then what are the standards for talents? Is the imperial examination the only channel for selecting talents?"
Bai Letong was not a rigid and dogmatic old-timer. When he heard this, he responded: "The so-called talents are those who are useful to the country. As for the imperial examination, it is just a threshold set to select people with a certain cultural foundation from the people. Of course it is not the only channel. Many officials in our country did not obtain the opportunity to enter the official position through the imperial examination, but they are certainly considered talents.”
Shi Diwen said: "You just understand the truth. The purpose of our rural examination is to select talents, but not all talents can get the opportunity to show their talents in this way..."
"But if someone cheats in this process, especially relevant officials, it will inevitably damage the credibility of this selection model!" Bai Letong was a little anxious. Before Shi Diwen could finish speaking, he immediately retorted: "If Without credibility, people will not trust the fairness and impartiality of the imperial examination model in the future. Will it hinder our country from selecting talents from the private sector? ”
Shi Diwen said: "Don't be anxious, listen to what I have to say first."
Bai Letong's face turned red, he raised his hands and apologized: "I'm so rude, I hope Uncle Shi won't blame you!"
Shi Diwen said: "What you said makes sense, but have you ever thought that if some influential people are allowed to pass the imperial examination and be selected as alternate officials in our country, this will not affect the public's view of the country." The perception of the imperial examination will actually strengthen the credibility of this model.”
Bai Letong shook his head and said: "I'm sorry, I cannot agree with this statement. I think that once the rural examination fraud is exposed, it will only become a scandal with great influence and will not have any positive effects."
Shi Diwen also shook his head and said: "Xiaobai, your view is too one-sided. Some things are not as simple as you think."
Bai Letong was naturally dissatisfied and immediately argued: "Uncle Shi, the students and family members of the township examination officials, as well as the children of Yangzhou salt merchants, even if these people pass the examination and get honors, how can they prove to the public the credibility of the township examination? ”
Shi Diwen said: "Are they considered influential people? I shouldn't have said such a thing, right?"
When Bai Letong heard that Shi Diwen seemed to have something to say, he was immediately confused. In addition to these people, are there other special people who want to participate in this provincial examination?
(End of chapter)