This is a puzzling case in the history of talent selection in China.

In the early spring of the thirtieth year of Hongwu (1392), Nanjing City was the season when green willows were like eyebrows and butterflies were flying every day. Restaurants on both sides of Qinhuai River are like forests, business travel is like weaving, and literati gather in Qinhuai, waiting for the ninth list after the founding of the Ming Dynasty.

The release date of the Ming dynasty test is scheduled for March 5.

At ten o'clock in the morning, after a burst of firecrackers, a high imperial list hung on the left side of the gate of Gongyuan on the north bank of Qinhuai River. Fifty-two Gong's were admitted to the list, and Liu, who came first, was the last. All of them were candidates from the south of the Yangtze River, but they were all unsuccessful in the north. As soon as the post was posted, there was an uproar immediately. The examiner in the north made a hullabaloo about, calling dad "criticisms", thinking that there was a ghost in this exam, because Liu Sanwu, the examiner, and Bai, the assistant examiner, were both southerners, deliberately suppressing the talents in the north, and God forbid. At that time, the irritated students smashed the hanging imperial list with a clay ball, and then rushed to the ceremony. Suddenly, the city of Nanjing was covered with large and small pieces of paper, and the streets and alleys were also talking about it. Does see things make big, he hurriedly reported the details to Zhu Yuanzhang.

Zhu Yuanzhang was furious when he read the throne, and immediately approved on the throne: "Southerners have occupied the yellow list, and they should be investigated as soon as possible." He also immediately called the examiner Liu Sanwu and asked himself. Liu Sanwu is an 85-year-old academician with a scientific name all over Jiangnan. At the age of seventy-three, he was recommended to Zhu Yuanzhang. Zhu Yuanzhang admired his foresight, so he was granted the imperial examination power in the Ming Dynasty and appointed him as the teacher of the Prince of the East Palace. Zhu Yuanzhang didn't believe such a question until today. Liu Sanwu said to him, "Your Majesty, this is not surprising. Under the cruel rule of the Yuan Dynasty, the people in the north lived in dire straits, and their culture and education were greatly destroyed. For decades, the articles on raising children are far less than those in the south. This is an accepted fact. If the North and the South are on the same list, there will inevitably be a phenomenon that the South is superior and the North is inferior. " Zhu Yuanzhang knew for a long time that Liu Sanwu was honest and frank, and said to him politely, "Just as Mr. Wang said, but that's the truth. Northerners have been oppressed for a long time and their grievances are too heavy. If they don't take the exam, I'm afraid it's hard to reassure the people. " In my opinion, it is better to choose a few celebrities among a hundred people to calm people's hearts and calm public anger. However, Liu Sanwu refused and said rudely to Zhu Yuanzhang: "The system is your own. If you change the people on the list now, wouldn't it be cheating the world? "If I have selfish behavior, I am willing to bear the crime of deceiving the monarch." Zhu Yuanzhang saw Liu Sanwu refuting himself face to face, and he didn't mean to change. He immediately ordered Liu Sanwu to be driven out of the imperial city, and also suspended Bai, the deputy examiner, and personally found Zhang Xin, the academician courtyard, and asked him to preside over the examination and report the problems in time.

However, Zhang Xin is completely on the side of Liu Sanwu. After more than 20 days of closed-door examination, he reported to Zhu Yuanzhang: "I checked it carefully and found that the scores of candidates from the north and the south really differed greatly." Even the last one, Liu, is much higher than the best in the north. Therefore, it is a consistent national system to evaluate the merits of articles and correct the name of talents. At present, northerners can only rank 53 in their papers, but the quota is limited and cannot be changed. " Zhang Xin's words put Zhu Yuanzhang in a dilemma. I think, I have been a soldier all my life, and the purpose of governing the country is to gather talents. At present, most of the mountains and rivers in the north are still unstable, and several Confucian ministers have made such mistakes. In order to stabilize the people's hearts, I had to impose the final punishment. Immediately accused Zhang Xin of saying, "Are you instructed by Liu Sanwu?" Zhang Xin retorted: "I went to the Hiram's Hospital to check the papers, but I haven't been discharged for more than 20 days. Ministers can testify, so how can I accept Liu Sanwu's rational remarks? " Zhu Yuanzhang snapped, "Your family colluded with the Liu family, and the irrefutable evidence is like a mountain. How dare you argue?" Zhang Xin is still arrogant and retorts: "I am honest for your majesty, and family affairs have nothing to do with me." Zhu Yuanzhang, angry, listened and left.

Back to * * *, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately arranged for punishments to investigate 36th and our case. The punishments first put Liu Sanwu, Bai Xindao, Zhang Xin and others in prison and tortured them to extract confessions, but there was no result, so hundreds of family members of the three parties were arrested. Under torture, they finally made a confession of more than 600 people who cheated for personal gain and reported it to Zhu Yuanzhang. With a stroke of a pen, Zhu Yuanzhang criticized Liu Sanwu, Bai Xindao as a blue party and Zhang Xin as a Hu party, and executed all Bai Xindao, Zhang Xin and more than 20 examiners in the same department in the middle of the year. Liu Sanwu was demoted from the army because of his advanced age, and all the selected palaces were deposed. Among them, the number one candidate, Chen Publishing House, was also convicted of accepting bribes, involving more than hundreds of people.

At the beginning of May, Zhu Yuanzhang personally marked 6 1 Gong family, all of whom were northerners. This is the end of the national case.

Although Zhu Yuanzhang died in the second year after the famous case of the South-North List was closed, people have always wondered who was the smuggler and who was the briber in this case, and none of the 52 Gong's in the South List were northerners, all of whom were engaged in malpractices for personal gain. Then, what kind of behavior is it that none of the 6 1 pilots in the North List are southerners? There are more than 20 college students, the loyalty of the country, all of whom are devious. What crime did they commit? These questions have been hazy for thousands of years, and it is really a confusing case. Therefore, later generations simply dubbed Zhu Yuanzhang's confused case of the North-South List.