Everyone knew this guy was a fake eunuch from the palace, someone who had served the Empress and Princess Xin Yue!
Who could guarantee this guy wouldn't collude with them, accepting bribes to let their clansmen pass the imperial examinations?
There was no way to guarantee this. This guy was a royalist, a eunuch, on the Empress's side!
How could a eunuch preside over the imperial examinations? He could be a supervisor, perhaps.
The Empress looked coldly at Wu Sheng, the Minister of Rites, and said, "This time, the imperial examinations are being increased, and the examination subjects are different from before. Six subjects are established: National Language, Abacus, Politics, Physics, Cultivation, and Agriculture. This is an exception. Since these subjects are different from the past, and you all have no experience and no clear understanding, how can you preside over them?"
Although she said this, the ministers below did not show the Empress any respect, and instead opposed her even more fiercely.
Wu Sheng, the Minister of Rites, advised again, "Your Majesty! It is unprecedented for someone outside the Ministry of Rites to preside over the imperial examinations. I implore Your Majesty to reconsider!"
Sun Mo, the Minister of Personnel, knelt on the ground as if his parents had died and cried out, "Your Majesty! Chu Chen was born a eunuch. How can a eunuch supervise the imperial examinations? Not to mention the Yun Yue Kingdom, even the surrounding countries have no such absurd practice. I implore Your Majesty to reconsider!"
The Minister of Revenue, with a blank expression, cupped his hands and said, "Your Majesty, are you perhaps trying to make the scholars of the world laugh at the students of the eunuch faction, and be scorned by the surrounding countries?"
An additional imperial examination was naturally good, and it was fine if the subjects were different, as it was just an extra one. However, allowing Chu Chen to preside over it instead of them was absolutely unacceptable.
The ministers, who felt their own interests were threatened, led by their respective ministers, raised a chorus of opposition.
The military officers watched the show with amusement. After all, the imperial examinations selected civil officials, and it had nothing to do with them.
As for the acting ministers who were grateful for Chu Chen's promotion, they looked at each other hesitantly, unsure whether they should voice their support for Chu Chen.
Zhang Guozhu looked around, gritted his teeth, and stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, I believe that adding imperial examinations is a great benefit to the country and the people. In the past, the imperial examinations were presided over by people from the former Prime Minister's faction, and the presiding officials were usually rotated among the six ministries. However, the talents recruited were not pillars of the state, which shows that the supervision of past examinations was flawed. The added imperial examinations this time are different from the past, with new subjects and new things, a new era and a new atmosphere. Therefore, I support Lord Chu overseeing the examinations!"
An Xian, whose educational background was not very strong, stepped forward as if he were sacrificing himself and said, "I believe this is excellent. This classification into six subjects can best detect the talents of the pillars of the state, and it also allows Your Majesty to accurately select the talents needed. As the saying goes, whoever proposes an idea should be the one to implement it. I deeply agree with this. I firmly believe that the supervision of the examinations is none other than Lord Chu!"
With two people unafraid of offending others stepping forward to support Chu Chen, the somewhat disunited Chu Faction hesitated for a moment before also stepping out to support Chu Chen.
Although the highest positions among these people were only that of a Vice Minister, they outnumbered the opponents. About one-third dared to strongly support him, making them evenly matched with the opponents.
Suddenly, in the imperial court, apart from the military officials, the civil officials were divided into three factions: the supporting Chu Faction, the opponents, and the neutral faction.
Before the Empress could speak, the former two groups turned their attention to each other and began to argue fiercely. The entire imperial court instantly turned into a marketplace, filled with endless noise.
The Empress was both pleased that some ministers dared to speak up for Chu Chen and somewhat displeased that these were all acting officials promoted by Chu Chen.
Seeing that the two factions of ministers were about to fight without her intervention,
The Empress quickly picked up the gavel and slammed it down heavily, scolding, "What do you all intend to do? Do you intend to fight in the hall?"
"Your subjects dare not!"
Startled, the two factions of ministers suppressed their anger and displeasure, and bowed in unison.
The Empress snorted coldly, her stern gaze sweeping over these ministers, and stopped on the three main opposing ministers. She asked sternly, "Since you all oppose it, then I will ask you, do you know what 'Physics' is?"
Although they had never heard of Physics, Wu Sheng could roughly deduce from the name. He calmly replied, "We have studied extensively since childhood, so naturally we know."
"Good, Chu Chen, ask Minister Wu what Physics is!"
The Empress nodded with a cold smile, signaling Chu Chen to press the attack.
Chu Chen smiled slightly, took a step forward, and said with a smile, "If that's the case, then I, an official, will ask."
"Hmph, bring it on," Wu Sheng said disdainfully.
He was just a eunuch. It was said that he had not read many books before entering the palace. The only way he had access to books was when he was sweeping the floor in the imperial library.
But that was only for half a year. Even though the imperial library was rich in scriptures, how could it compare to ministers who had studied diligently for ten years?
"Then, Minister Wu, please listen carefully." Chu Chen suppressed his smile, looking at him as if he were a country bumpkin, and said with a gentle smile, "Physics, as the name suggests, is the principle of materialism, the thorough investigation of things. This way is common in all aspects of life, and it is Physics."
"Let me ask Minister Wu a question: why is it that when you clap your hands together, if you hit them with more force and more frequently, both your palms will hurt? Why is this?"
"You also said that you hit with more force, so it naturally hurts when you are hit. Isn't this common sense?"
Wu Sheng replied coldly, becoming even more disdainful. He thought Physics had some profound meaning, but it was just this? A child knew this principle.
Chu Chen smiled slightly, unconcerned, and continued with examples, "Is that so? Has Minister Wu ever slapped someone with his hand? Both are human bodies, both are flesh and blood. Why is it that when you hit him, he hurts, and your palm also hurts?"
"Isn't that simple? Hitting someone naturally hurts, and being hit also hurts. What kind of Physics is this?"
Wu Sheng replied disdainfully, but he was becoming impatient. If Physics was just this, why would it be a separate subject?
"This statement is incorrect. This is precisely the wonder of Physics." Chu Chen shook his head, glanced at him with contempt, cupped his hands to the Empress and other ministers, and said, "When two palms strike each other, both hurt. Both hurting when hitting someone are the same principle, which is Physics, the force of action. Because there is a force of action, no matter what collides, it receives an equal amount of force, and therefore both hurt."
"???"
Force of action? What was that? Wu Sheng frowned, as did all the other ministers. They had never heard of such a term, nor had they delved into such matters.
But now that Chu Chen mentioned it, upon reflection, it seemed to be true?
"For example, if Minister Wu slaps Minister Sun with a force of ten jin. Then the place where Minister Sun is hit will suffer ten jin of damage, and the palm that Minister Wu uses to hit will also suffer ten jin of damage."
"But why don't you feel it? I know you all want to ask this. This involves another aspect of Physics, called shock absorption and distribution."
"You all know about shock absorption. Adding more layers of cloth, or wearing iron armor, can reduce the impact. The human body has internal organs that provide shock absorption, so the person hitting does not receive the same force. This also involves medicine, so I will not elaborate further."