Since the establishment and promotion of the imperial examination system in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, this brand-new talent selection system has become the most powerful means for the court or kings to consolidate their rule and win over people's hearts, and it was further developed in the Song Dynasty.
Because of this, the kings of the Song Dynasty paid even more attention to the imperial examinations. In order to prevent a large number of pre-determined rankings and backdoors from happening again like in the Tang Dynasty, the Song Dynasty established various targeted measures early on. For example, hiding names, or sending court officials to local areas to preside over the most critical rural examinations to avoid all kinds of unnecessary suspicions.
Jiangnan was an important cultural and educational center of the Song Dynasty, and the rural examination here was a top priority. Therefore, this time the imperial court sent all the dignitary ministers from the Ministry of Rites to come here, so that he could ensure the greatest fairness and impartiality by sitting here.
What was unexpected was that even with He Shilang in the examination room, there was still chaos in the provincial examination in Hangzhou, and it was a big chaos. Many candidates refused to enter the examination room, and they were so noisy outside the examination room that the other examiners present were disturbed. I was so frightened that I subconsciously turned to the higher-status examiner He Dingkun for help.
As expected, He Dingkun did not disappoint everyone. He immediately stood up and said: "Dear colleagues, we have also heard the shouts of the candidates outside. This matter is so important that we cannot just sit idly by and ignore it. Please go out with me to see you. It would be best if they can be persuaded to re-enter, but if not, we cannot let them do whatever they want!"
With the words from the backbone, the officials were really relieved and immediately agreed to go out with him. Then, under the protection of hundreds of soldiers inside and outside, he walked out of the examination room gate and came to the excited candidates.
Seeing He Dingkun's appearance, the candidates made a lot of noise again. Countless people were shouting something loudly, trying to express their excitement. However, with hundreds of thousands of mouths shouting, the sound at the scene became extremely chaotic, making it impossible to hear what was being said. Seeing this, He Dingkun immediately took two steps forward, raised his hand and pressed it, and shouted loudly: "All candidates, please listen to what I have to say first..."
After shouting this three times, all the candidates finally calmed down, and then thousands of pairs of eyes fell on He Dingkun at the same time to see what he could say. But He Shilang was not in a hurry to speak at this moment. Instead, he bowed and saluted to the people in front of him. Then he straightened up and said: "Dear candidates, you are the future pillars of our Song Dynasty, and today's provincial examination This is a crucial step for you to embark on your official career. I hope that you will put important things first in everything, do not do anything that will harm your own future, disrupt the laws of the court, and do not make things difficult for me anymore."
Such a low profile and words that were considerate of them immediately won the favor of many candidates, and the atmosphere at the scene relaxed a lot. Then, He Dingkun said: "In addition, I still don't know why you are unwilling to attend the imperial examination, but are causing trouble here. Please come out and explain the situation carefully to one of the candidates."
This request made the candidates present hesitate for a while, as they wanted to find a leader. But in fact, many of them were coerced into participating in this turmoil, and they didn't dare to come forward, so they all looked at each other, but no one came forward.
After a while, an examinee in his thirties walked out of the crowd with his head held high and shouted at He Dingkun.
Shi Li said: "Hangzhou candidate Huo Yaoguang has met He Shilang. The reason why we did this disrespectful thing today is because the imperial court was too unfair to me, a Jiangnan candidate. They actually decided that this year no essays should be written in classical Chinese. The weird rules for writing articles in vernacular are really degrading to politeness and difficult for us to accept. This is a major cultural and educational matter, related to the thousand-year tradition of Confucianism. Although we, the candidates, are light-hearted, we are also passionate and willing to be pioneers. Encourage the imperial court to correct its evil ways!"
As soon as this person spoke out, other candidates also followed suit. Immediately, more than a dozen candidates stood up and came forward to support: "Brother Huo is right. We really cannot accept such a chaotic order from the imperial court, so we can't do it." If we don't do this extraordinary thing, even if the court really wants to convict us, we will not retreat!"
"We will not retreat! Ancient texts must not be cancelled!"
"The ancient text of poetry is the foundation of our generation, how can we change it at will!"
For a moment, everyone shouted slogans again, and this time the shouts were much more uniform than before, and their power was also more powerful, which shocked the deputy examiners. , sweat broke out on his forehead again, but he was speechless. He could only place his hope in the examiner He Dingkun.
He Dingkun's face also became extremely solemn. He pressed his hands again to signal everyone to calm down, and then said loudly: "I already understand what you are thinking, and what you said is actually not wrong. To be honest, at the time When the imperial court made this decision, I also expressed concerns, feeling that this was unfair to all scholars, but this matter was the decree of the imperial court, so...
"But since you have this request, I cannot ignore it, so I will write a letter with you today, urging the court to take back the order. I believe that in addition to me in Hangzhou, there are many candidates from all over the south of the Yangtze River who will also be dissatisfied because of this. As long as everyone If we are united enough, the imperial court will always realize its mistake and change back to the original imperial examination."
When he said this, he immediately won applause from the candidates again, but the deputy examiners were dumbfounded. They really didn't expect it. They thought that the examiner was here to persuade everyone not to cause trouble. But now, luckily, he was actually persuaded by the candidates and became their supporter. What should they do now
Before these officials could come up with a countermeasure, He Dingkun looked at them again and said loudly: "My colleagues, you, like me, gained fame and fortune from the imperial examination, and you can be regarded as the predecessors of these candidates. . Do you have the heart to see them ruin their futures because of the mistakes of the imperial court, and are you willing to let my thousand-year tradition of Confucianism be cut off because of the mistakes of some people?"
With such a big label slapped down, not to mention these local officials who were only fifth or sixth grade, even the senior officials in the court could not withstand the pressure. They immediately expressed their opinions: "We... I will do my best." I will work hard to seek justice for the candidates."
"That's good, then I would like to ask you all to come to the court with me." He Dingkun immediately made a decision: "By the way, there are also many officials in Hangzhou city. We also need to obtain their support, and The same goes for the people in the city. Come on, let's go to the government office to see the magistrate and let him make the decision for everyone."
At this point, anyone who is not too stupid can see that there is a big problem with all this, and the examiner He Dingkun is even more problematic. What did he do
What the examiner should do to stabilize the discipline in the examination room is to constantly stir up the emotions of the candidates and tie everyone into his own carriage to challenge the new imperial examination system established by the imperial court.
But by this time, the examiners had no choice. Because the candidates in front of them have been completely incited by He Dingkun. If they dare to object again, they may be beaten to death by these energetic and excited candidates on the spot. And judging from this situation, even if they die, they will not have a good reputation, so they might as well pretend to be confused and follow them to make things worse.
So soon, with the joint efforts of everyone, the atmosphere in the examination room was pushed to the highest point, with countless people shouting there: "We want the court to take back its life! Let's go, let's go see the prefect, see Transfer envoy, let the court know our wishes!"
Amid the shouts, everyone turned around, and under the leadership of officials headed by He Dingkun, they walked out along the long street again, heading straight towards the prefect's Yamen in the city. When they passed by the examinees who had just been knocked down by them, they all showed disdain. They passed by these seriously injured people who made no movement, and even the examiners turned a blind eye to them.
In the face of what they thought was great justice, the deaths and injuries of some small people were no longer important. Even if all these dozen candidates died, it would be as unworthy of mention as the death of a cat or dog.
As they continued to move forward, the momentum grew stronger and stronger, immediately shaking the entire city of Hangzhou. The people who were already concerned about the rural examination were even more curious when they saw this. They watched along the road and asked about the causes and consequences.
I don’t know why, but during such a commotion, hundreds of people joined the procession along the road. When they arrived in front of the Hangzhou Magistrate’s Office an hour later, the procession had actually reached 100,000 people. An astonishing number of five thousand. As a result, the officials in the government were naturally stunned. While they hurriedly sent people to ask for help from the military camp stationed in Hangzhou, they had no choice but to go out and see what happened to these guys who suddenly gathered. What's the appeal
Dai Quan, the prefect, came out of the mansion worriedly. Looking at the huge crowd, his legs were a little weak, and he didn't even know what to say when he opened his mouth. It wasn't until someone from the head of the crowd strode out and gave him a slight salute that he saw clearly how this person looked and dressed, and then asked curiously: "Servant He, why are you among them?"
"Prefect Dai, I was inspired by the candidates to speak for them..." He Dingkun repeated what he had just said, and then looked at the local officials in front of him: "You are also taking the imperial examination. Born, please put the overall situation first, express your position with us, and persuade the court to take back the order."
"This..." Dai Quan was stunned on the spot. He had already seen through the other party's intention at once, but he really didn't want to wade into this muddy water. After all, he and the imperial examination couldn't get the eight poles, so there was really no need to take the risk with them. confluence. What's more, he also knew very well that doing so would be an enemy of Sun Tu, Sun Taiwei, because the proposal to abandon ancient prose came from Sun Taiwei.
Immediately, something clicked in his heart, and he understood the hidden truth. It was obvious that all this was a conspiracy. He Dingkun, the examiner, should be the mastermind behind the changes in Hangzhou!