Since the establishment and promotion of the imperial examination system in the Sui and Tang dynasties, this new talent selection system has become the most powerful means used by the imperial court or the king to consolidate the rule and buy the hearts of the people, and has been further carried forward in the Great Song Dynasty.

Because of this, the king of the Great Song Dynasty attached great importance to the imperial examination, and in order to prevent the situation of ranking and ranking in large quantities like the Tang Dynasty again, and each going through the back door, the Great Song Dynasty established various targeted measures early. For example, the name is confused, and the court officials are sent to the local area to preside over the most critical township examinations, so as to avoid all kinds of unnecessary suspicions.

Jiangnan is an important cultural and educational place in the Great Song Dynasty, and the township test here is the top priority, so this time the imperial court sent all the attendants of the hall and ceremonial department, and he can ensure the greatest fairness and justice by sitting here.

It's just surprising that even if there is this He Shilang in the examination room, the township test in Hangzhou is still messy, and it is a big mess, many candidates refuse to enter, and they are so noisy outside the examination room that the other examiners on the scene are scared, and they can only subconsciously turn to He Dingkun, the examiner with a higher status.

And He Dingkun really didn't disappoint everyone, he immediately stood up and said: "Colleagues, we have also heard the shouts of the candidates outside, the stakes are very high, how can we sit idly by." And go out with the official to meet them, if you can say that it is best for them to re-enter, if not, you can't let them come nonsense! ”

With the words of the backbone, the officials were really relieved, and immediately agreed to go out with him. Then, under the escort of hundreds of soldiers inside and outside, he walked out of the gate of the examination room and came to the front of those candidates who were surging with emotions.

Seeing He Dingkun appear, the candidates were noisy for a while, and countless people were shouting loudly there, wanting to express the excitement in their hearts. However, hundreds of mouths were shouting, and the sound of the scene became extremely chaotic, making it impossible to hear what was being said at all. Seeing this, He Dingkun immediately took two steps forward, raised his hand and pressed it weakly, and shouted loudly: "Candidates, please listen to the official first......

After shouting three times, the candidates finally quieted down, and then thousands of pairs of eyes fell on He Dingkun's body at the same time to see what he could say. And He Shilang was not in a hurry to speak at this moment, but first bowed to the people in front of him in a dignified manner, and then straightened up and said: "Candidates, you are all the pillars of the country in the future of my Great Song Dynasty, and today's township examination is a key step for you to embark on your career. ”

With such a low posture and words for their sake, it won the favor of many candidates at once, and the atmosphere at the scene eased a lot. Then, He Dingkun said: "In addition, the official still doesn't know why you refuse to enter the imperial examination, but are disturbing here. Please come out and explain the situation carefully. ”

This request made the candidates present hesitate for a while, this is to find a leader. But in fact, many of them were coerced into participating in this turmoil, and they did not dare to come forward, so they all looked at each other, but none of them stepped forward.

After a long while, a candidate in his thirties walked out of the crowd with his head held high, and said to He Dingkun: "Hangzhou candidate Huo Yaoguang has seen He Shilang. The reason why we are doing this disrespectful thing today is because the imperial court is too unfair to my Jiangnan candidates. They actually set the strange rule that this year they should not write in ancient Chinese, but in any vernacular language, which is really insulting and difficult for me to accept. This is a major cultural and educational event, related to my Confucianism millennium Taoism, although our candidates are soft-spoken, but also have a passion, willing to be a pioneer, persuade the court to change the evil and return to the right! ”

As soon as this one came out, other candidates also followed up, and immediately more than a dozen candidates stepped forward to support: "What Brother Huo said is very true, we really can't accept such a chaotic life of the imperial court, so we have to do this extraordinary act, even if the imperial court really wants to condemn us, we will not retreat!" ”

"We will not retreat! Don't cancel the ancient text! ”

"The ancient text of poetry is the foundation of my generation, how can it be changed at will!"

For a while, everyone shouted slogans again, and this time the shouting was much more uniform than before, and its power was even stronger, which shocked those deputy examiners and stunned them, sweating on their foreheads again, but they couldn't speak, and they could only hope for He Dingkun, the main examiner.

He Dingkun's face also became extremely solemn, and he pressed his hands again, signaling everyone to calm down first, and then said loudly: "Your thoughts and officials have already understood, and your statement is actually not wrong. To tell the truth, when the imperial court made this decision, the official also expressed his concern, feeling that this was unfair to all scholars, but this matter was the will of the imperial court, so it ......

"But since you have this demand, this official cannot ignore it, so I will write with you today and urge the court to retract the order. I believe that in addition to my Hangzhou, there are many candidates in all parts of Jiangnan who will also be dissatisfied with this, as long as everyone is united enough, the imperial court will always know its mistake and change back to the original imperial examination. ”

As soon as he said this, he immediately won the applause of the candidates again, and the deputy examiners were dumbfounded. They really didn't expect it, they thought that the examiner was out to persuade everyone not to make trouble, but now it's good, he was actually persuaded by the candidates upside down, and actually became their supporter. What should they do now?

Before this cadre official could come up with a countermeasure, He Dingkun looked at them again and said loudly: "Colleagues, you are also like me, you have won fame and success from the imperial examination room, and you can be regarded as the predecessors of these candidates. Can you bear to watch them lose their future because of the mistakes of the imperial court, and are you willing to let my thousand-year-old Confucian Taoist system be cut off because of the mistakes of some people? ”

With such a big hat buttoned down, not to mention these local officials who only have five or six grades, even the high-ranking officials in the court can't withstand the pressure, and they suddenly said: "I'll wait...... We should do our part to get justice for the candidates. ”

"Well said, then please join me in the court." He Dingkun immediately made a decision: "By the way, there are many officials in Hangzhou City, we also have to enlist their support, and the people in the city are the same." Let's go, let's go to the government to meet the prefect and let him make decisions for everyone. ”

Now, as long as people who are not too stupid can see that there is something wrong with all this, this examiner He Dingkun is even more problematic. What he is doing to stabilize the discipline of the examination room is to constantly stir up the emotions of the candidates and tie everyone to his carriage to challenge the new imperial examination system of the imperial court.

But by this time, the examiners had no choice. Because the candidates in front of them have been completely instigated by He Dingkun, if they dare to oppose again, I am afraid that they will be killed on the spot by this group of candidates who are full of blood and excitement. And judging from this posture, even if they die, they won't have a good reputation, so it's better to pretend to be confused and follow them to make things bigger.

So soon, with the joint efforts of everyone, the atmosphere in the examination room was pushed to the highest point, and countless people shouted there: "Let the court take back its fate!" Let's go, let's go to meet the prefect and the transfer envoy in person, so that the court will know our wishes! ”

In the shouting, everyone turned around, and under the leadership of the officials headed by He Dingkun, they walked out along the long street again, heading straight for the prefect's yamen in the city. When they passed by the candidates who had just been knocked down by them, they all showed disdain, and in the midst of the babbling, they passed by these seriously injured people who did not move, and even those examiners turned a blind eye to this.

In the face of what they thought was righteousness, the deaths and injuries of some little people were no longer important, even if these dozen candidates were all dead, it would be like the death of a cat or dog, not worth mentioning.

And as they continued to move forward, the momentum became bigger and bigger, and immediately shook the entire city of Hangzhou. Seeing this, the people who were already concerned about this township test were even more curious, and they watched along the road, and at the same time inquired about the causes and consequences.

I don't know why, in such a commotion, hundreds of thousands of people joined the procession along the road, and by the time they arrived in front of the Hangzhou prefect's yamen an hour later, the procession had reached an astonishing 5,000. In this way, they naturally stunned the officials and others in the official mansion, and on the one hand, they hurriedly sent people to the military camp stationed in Hangzhou to ask for help, and on the other hand, they could only go out to see what these guys who suddenly gathered had what they wanted.

The prefect Dai Quan walked out of the mansion with a worried heart, looking at the 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 one of the people in the crowd strode out and saluted him that he saw this person's appearance clearly, and then asked curiously: "He Shilang, why are you in it?" ”

"Governor Dai, this official was also inspired by the candidates to speak for them......" As he spoke, He Dingkun repeated what he had just said, and then looked at the local officials in front of him: "You are also from the imperial examination, please take the overall situation first, make a stand with us and others, and persuade the imperial court to withdraw the order." ”

"This ......" Dai Quan was stunned on the spot, he had already seen through the other party's intentions, but he really didn't want to wade into this troubled water, after all, he and the imperial examination couldn't beat the eight poles, so there was really no need to risk merging with them. What's more, he also knew very well that to do so was to be the enemy of Sun Tu and Sun Taiwei, because the proposal to abandon the ancient text originally came from Sun Taiwei.

Immediately, his heart was racing again, and he had already understood the hidden truth, it was obvious that all this was a deliberate plan, and He Dingkun, the main examiner, should be the mastermind of this change in Hangzhou!