An official was fired for buying three taels of meat. Although it seemed insignificant, all the scholars in Elephant Province were discussing this matter. There were even a large number of scholars discussing this matter on the rankings.
Under the article that published this matter, there were many voices of opposition.
The events that had happened in the past few days had changed the direction of the rankings.
A few days ago, almost everyone supported Fang Yun, but as the events in Xiang Province spread to the rankings, many people stopped supporting Fang Yun. Instead, the voices criticizing Fang Yun increased. Because the voices criticizing Fang Yun were more rational, few people refuted them even though their words were harsh.
The official, Wang Nian, went around complaining that he didn't bring any money and was only going to pay the next day. He was also very familiar with the butcher and couldn't have not paid. However, no one paid attention to him.
Everyone was only concerned that the governance of Xiang Province had become extreme, and they began to doubt Fang Yun's ability.
After that, a few incidents occurred in Xiang Province.
A few teachers from the Academy of Arts spent their own money to have a meal, and they ate in their own private time after leaving the yamen. In the end, they were reported by the county yamen as extravagant eating and drinking. They were fined their salaries and were even prepared to hand them over to the provincial yamen for punishment.
A middle-aged High Scholar who hadn't had a child for many years had a daughter. He invited his good friends to a banquet on his daughter's 100th birthday. Because it was a special occasion, he only invited two tables of people. However, because of this, he was deemed extravagant and wasteful by the yamen. He was temporarily stripped of all his duties and was awaiting punishment.
Such tiresome incidents occurred all over Xiang Prefecture, too many to mention, and became the target of ridicule. If the Sacred Academy hadn't considered that Fang Yun was the governor of two prefectures, these incidents would have been published in the Wen Pao, and the whole world would know about it.
December was coming, and every household began to prepare for the new year. In addition, the Jinshi examination was held in December every year, so High Scholars from all over the country would rush to the capital in advance. Therefore, cultural gatherings were popular everywhere, especially those to send High Scholars off.
The capital was very far from Xiang Province. Even the fastest Harlequin would take half a month to get there. Therefore, November was the peak period for sending High Scholars off to the examination.
The date of the Winter Solstice Festival was not fixed, but in order to make it easier to celebrate, Jingguo set the Winter Solstice Festival on the 15th of November. On that day, the Winter Solstice Festival would be held all over the country.
On this joyous day, a brawl between scholars occurred at one of the Winter Solstice Cultural Gathering sites in the Giant Plain Prefecture.
As soon as the incident happened, it was posted on the ranking list. The process made people dumbfounded.
It turned out that a person who went to the capital to take the imperial examinations came from a poor family. He was not good at running a business and could only earn a salary by working in the Academy of Arts. After this person passed the Imperial Examinations, he received many congratulatory gifts from his relatives in the area, which could be considered generous. But he used all his money to buy a house, so he didn't have much money left.
Going to the capital for the imperial examinations was extremely expensive. Not to mention the food and accommodation along the way, just making friends with literary friends, buying brushes, ink, paper, inkstone, and so on, would cost a lot. This person was originally planning to go to the capital after receiving the Winter Solstice Festival. But this year, the Giant Plain Prefecture canceled the Winter Solstice Festival, so he was very poor these days.
During a Winter Solstice Cultural Gathering, this person complained a little. Because he questioned Fang Yun's policies, it led to an argument. He was criticized by many scholars, and a scholar suddenly took advantage of the chaos to throw a stone at this person's head. In front of everyone, this person's head was smashed until it bled and he fainted.
This scholar held the blood-stained stone in his hand and shouted crazily. Whoever dared to question Fang Xusheng was an enemy of the entire Xiang Prefecture. Whoever dared to say that Fang Xusheng was not good at all was an animal. He also called on all scholars in Xiang Prefecture to punish the evildoers and get rid of the black sheep. They could not allow Fang Xusheng to be tarnished in the slightest.
That night, the scholar named Chai Ying set up a literary society called the 'Anti-Traitor Society'. The society's mission was to punish the evildoers and eliminate all those who attacked Fang Yun. In a short period of time, many people responded. On the first day, the society had more than a thousand people, and they were all scholars with literary positions.
As for the High Scholar who was beaten, he reported this matter to the Giant Plain Prefecture. However, the prefectural magistrate expressed that he was in a difficult position. He only said that the magistrate would pay for the medical expenses and hoped that the matter would be settled privately.
Thus, the prefectural magistrate of Giant Plain Prefecture, Mi Jun, invited the High Scholar and Chai Ying to the prefectural magistrate's office. In front of many scholars, the two of them tried to reconcile. Who would have thought that the two of them would have a verbal conflict. In the end, Chai Ying actually punched the unlucky High Scholar, knocking him out again.
The article stated that the reason why the High Scholar who was beaten did not retaliate was because he did not want to be branded as a bully. Furthermore, the High Scholar did not want to publicize this matter, fearing that it would negatively affect Xiang Province and Fang Xusheng. The author published this article out of righteous indignation, hoping that everyone would uphold justice for the High Scholar.
At the end of the article, the author also mentioned that the Anti-Traitor Society had caught a few people who were dissatisfied with Fang Yun and did not have literary positions. They stripped them of their clothes and chopped off half of their hair before parading them through the streets.
Once this matter was revealed, the rankings exploded like a firecracker.
Fang Yun only showed his face at the Winter Solstice Cultural Gathering in Baling City. After saying a few words, he returned home to continue his cultivation.
The Winter Solstice Cultural Gathering in Baling City was not considered important, and Fang Yun did not want to waste time on it.
Fang Yun was currently writing the 'History of Ancient Demons', and his official seal was constantly emitting waves.
Fang Yun did not expect to receive so many letters in such a short period of time. He knew that something had happened and that he had to hold onto his official seal immediately.
Almost all of the letters were saying the same thing. The beating of the High Scholar had become a hot topic in the rankings and could not be taken lightly.
There were also some people who suspected that someone had done this on purpose and hoped that Fang Yun would not be careless.
At the same time, some people pointed out that someone had been deliberately targeting Fang Yun recently.
After reading this, Fang Yun smiled.
"It's time to close the net!"
After saying this, Fang Yun stood up, took out a piece of paper, and wrote down one name after another. The Juyuan Prefect Mi Jun and the Anti-Traitor Society Head Chai Ying's names were on the list. Even the Tangshan Prefect and many other officials were included.
The bright moon hung high in the sky, its moonlight cold.
The Winter Solstice Scholarly Meeting had already ended. Xiang Province's Governor Fang Shouye sat in a carriage on his way home, his brows furrowed.
Back when Fang Yun was rectifying the situation, Fang Shouye had already warned Fang Yun. However, Fang Yun did not seem to care, so Fang Shouye remained silent. Although he was Fang Yun's uncle, the gap between their statuses was growing wider and wider. He did not dare to treat himself as Fang Yun's senior.
"I'm afraid this matter will be difficult. Should I warn Fang Yun?"
Just as Fang Shouye was thinking, Fang Yun's voice sounded in his ear.
"Look at the letter I sent you. You and the Xiang Province army's generals will personally go out and invite everyone on the list to the Governor's Residence. Make preparations immediately. Do not make any mistakes!" Fang Yundao said.
Fang Shouye was stunned. Soon after, he felt a slight fluctuation in his official seal and hurriedly looked at Fang Yun's new letter. Seeing the names on it, Fang Shouye was stunned for a moment. Then, he slapped his thigh in realization.
"What a Fang Xusheng! What a Fang Zhenguo! So it was all to lure the snake out of its hole! He knows the bureaucracy very well, and even better than me! Now I can be at ease, hahaha … "
Fang Shouye finished laughing and immediately made preparations.
The next morning, the various provincial armies of Xiang Province were mobilized, 'inviting' everyone on the list onto their flood dragon carriages and 'inviting' them to Baling City as quickly as possible.
On the sixteenth of the tenth month, the news of the officials being brought to the Governor's Residence spread. Everyone was anxious and had different opinions.
On the seventeenth of the tenth month, the Governor's Residence suddenly announced that Fang Yun had uncovered the Gyeongo spies hiding in the government.
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