The Punishment Hall was like a sharp sword hanging over the heads of all humans.
On the tenth day of the third month, the Punishment Hall's members were dispatched all over the Saint Origin World.
It was like rain falling into a pond, causing ripples.
The Punishment Hall's deterrence was too great. Many people fell silent even when they knew that someone had been arrested.
At first, there were only a few people who responded to the announcement. Some people were arrested for preventing women from participating in the imperial examinations.
That night, Fang Yun announced the Holy Decree.
The moment they heard the words "Holy Decree", many scholars trembled.
Normally, the Holy Decree referred to the Saints. However, if the Half-saint announced the Holy Decree, it meant that something big was going to happen.
The Punishment Hall was like a sharp sword, while the Holy Decree was like thunder.
A large number of scholars entered the announcement and browsed through the contents of the Holy Decree.
Many people felt cold just by reading the beginning. After reading the whole thing, they had mixed feelings.
There were thousands of names listed in the Holy Decree.
The first was Gyeongo's Minister of Rites, Hao Wenyi. He was extremely famous in Gyeongo and had students all over the world. Now that he was being escorted to the Notre-Dame, he would be stripped of his position and stripped of his talents! Executed!
This scholar's crime was not only to prevent women from participating in the imperial examinations. He also used his status to send a letter in the name of Gyeongo's Minister of Rites, ordering all women in Gyeongo not to participate in the imperial examinations. He also requested all government offices to ban women from entering the examination grounds.
He was the first Grand Scholar in the history of the human race who was deprived of his talent and sentenced to death by the Saint Academy for not being a traitor.
At first, the scholars sympathized with him when they saw his sentence. However, after seeing his actions, many people did not know whether they should sympathize with him or not.
Indeed, Fang Yun's proposal for both men and women to participate in the imperial examinations was very radical. Many people opposed it.
However, Fang Yun was a Half-saint!
The Holy Decree of the Half-saint in history was either withdrawn or amended. However, it had never been denied by the Notre-Dame!
The Holy Decree was the highest law of the human race. No one could openly defy it.
Hao Wenyi preventing women from participating in the imperial examinations was not a big deal. However, he called all scholars in Gyeongo to oppose the Holy Decree! This was the battle against Half-saint!
Back then, the most outrageous thing that Fang Yun had done was to go against the Punishment Hall. Furthermore, he had done it as Xusheng. In the end, he had accepted his punishment.
No matter how arrogant Fang Yun had been during the Battle of the Divine Path, he had not reprimanded the Zong Saint.
If there was a problem with the imperial edict, they could oppose it. They could dismiss the officials and boycott the examination. They could also gather the scholars to protest. They could even surround the Notre-Dame!
However, a grand scholar openly went against the imperial edict. This was the same as going against a Notre-Dame!
None of the Saints could protect him!
Now, although many Gyeongo people sympathized with Hao Wenyi, they didn't think that the Punishment Hall had done anything wrong. It could even be said that the Punishment Hall had been merciful this time because they hadn't implicated Hao Wenyi.
Other than Hao Wenyi, who was stripped of his literary position, talent, and sentenced to death, the other scholars were not sentenced to death, nor were they stripped of their talent.
The remaining scholars received different punishments. Most of them were banished to the ancient lands, exiled for ten years, imprisoned for three years, and so on.
Ji Quan was imprisoned for three years for obstructing women from participating in the imperial examinations.
He was not allowed to leave home for three years. Once he left home, it was equivalent to defying the Punishment Hall's orders. The Punishment Hall could directly execute him.
At the end of the imperial edict, there was an extremely eye-catching explanation.
This was only the first batch of names.
There would be other lists released one after another.
Soon, some Gyeongo scholars analyzed this imperial edict and published an article.
The article analyzed that the Punishment Hall only dared to arrest those who used forceful means to obstruct women from participating in the examinations. They didn't arrest those who verbally objected or advocated against the same examination. They also didn't arrest anyone who protested in Kongcheng or at the foot of Mount Fufeng.
In the end, the article called for scholars to give up obstructing women and instead protest at the foot of Mount Fufeng. They wanted the Notre-Dame to abolish the same examination.
Thus, many scholars responded, especially those who lived closer to Kongcheng. They began to travel to Kongcheng.
The next day, the second batch of names was released.
In the end, not only did the imperial edict fail to shut the mouths of the scholars, it even caused an extremely strong backlash.
Many people began to protest and oppose with all their might.
A new wave of opposition to the same examination and criticism of Fang Yun and Kong Sheng once again swept over everything.
Apart from a few scholars, the majority of scholars looked on coldly, neither opposing nor supporting.
Everyone thought that Fang Wei would quietly wait until the fifteenth of March to pass the first imperial examination that he presided over.
In the end, just as the imperial edict was released on the eleventh of March, Fang Yun once again posted on the imperial edict that night.
The Imperial Edict of Approval.
The scholars on the imperial edict once again exploded.
For the entire night, the most frequently used phrase of the scholars of the Human Race was, "Isn't it good to be a Half-saint?"
Many people didn't sleep well that night. They were worried about the Human Race, worried about Fang Yun, worried about Confucianism, worried about the examination, worried about their own futures. They welcomed the morning with red eyes. Before they could eat breakfast, they received a message and hurriedly went to look at the imperial edict.
On the morning of the twelfth of March, Fang Yun approved another saint!
This time, it was the Mencius Criticism.
"My heart is tired." This became the most frequent response on the imperial edict.
After the scholars finished reading the Mencius Criticism, they were already mentally prepared. They were sure that Fang Yun would choose another quasi-saint tomorrow morning. They just had to wait.
In the end, just after noon, when many people were taking an afternoon nap, the indignant howls of the scholars came from all over the Human Race.
"Crazy!"
"I don't want to live anymore!"
"Life is so hard!"
"I don't want to be a scholar anymore. It's too tiring, really too tiring!"
This was because Fang Yun had criticized Zeng Zi, Xun Zi, Zi Si, and Yan Zi in succession in the afternoon. He didn't follow the usual routine at all.
Soon, many scholars who had been watching coldly from the sidelines began to reply.
"This holy month has arrived. The road is too rugged and bumpy. Everyone, please hold the carriage properly!"
"The imperial edict!"
"This year's scholars are so miserable. Both men and women are probably stunned. Take a guess, will these holy edicts appear on the examination papers? "
"Although Fang Sheng's content is very reasonable, but … I can't calm down to study it now. Can anyone tell me why?"
"Hello everyone, I have been cultivating in seclusion in the Zhenyu Sea for a year and have just come out. May I ask, did I calculate the time wrongly? Was I in seclusion for a hundred years?"
On the 13th of March, Fang Yun continued to criticize the saints. Now, it was Half-saint's turn. He wrote one every two hours.
"My son was foaming at the mouth just now. He said that he will never take the imperial edict again! In the past, their teachers would guess the questions before the exam. This year, their teachers went crazy … "
"Is Fang Sheng treating the imperial edict as a waste paper basket in his study?"
"I can't take it anymore. I have a feeling that if I don't vent, I will also go crazy!"
"Heavens, what happened? My literary palace was just formed last year. What if it collapses in a few days?"
"Last night, all the scholars in the city ran to the Literary Institute to hold a literary conference. The topic of the conference was how to ensure that one's literary courage doesn't collapse in such a crazy period!"
On the 14th of March, an unprecedented essay appeared out of nowhere.
The Sage of Criticism.
The author of the essay was a young Grand Scholar.
The entire human race was shocked. At the same time, they were filled with admiration. This was because only great scholars could criticize saints. A mere Grand Scholar would definitely die after criticizing.
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