In the second year of Shaoxing in the Song Dynasty, on the fifth day of the second lunar month, it was three o'clock at noon!
Lin'an Prefecture (Pizhou), the main campus, swordsmen and axemen are all around, and the sound of artillery bombardment is coming!
Under the yellow sky, above the thick soil. Five to six thousand "short-haired scholars" sat on the ground, sitting in dozens of rows - yes, they were all "short-haired". "Short-haired" or "long-haired" now became the standard for distinguishing the quality of scholar-bureaucrats in occupied areas in the Northern Song Dynasty!
Although the Golden Thief was not like the later Manchus who had all people shave their heads in the ruled areas, they still actively promoted baldness. Anyone who wants to get an official position under the Kingdom of Jin has to give up three thousand worries.
If you don't shave your head bald, it means that you don't accept the rule of the Jin Kingdom. Let alone your official position, it will be difficult to save your family property...
Therefore, in the Jingdong and Hebei (parts) areas that had been ruled by gold thieves for eight or nine years, most of the scholar-bureaucrats who still looked like humans and occupied a large amount of land were bald.
And Zhao Kai's "reopening of the Song Dynasty" is not tolerant at all to such boneless scholar-bureaucrats!
Anyone whose hair was not long enough was regarded as a lackey of the gold thief... Even those scholar-bureaucrats who were born bald were regarded as lackeys of the gold thief!
It is better to take it by mistake than to let it go!
Of course, no one will lose their head just because their hair is not long enough. But those short-haired bald scholar-bureaucrats who have no serious crimes will be recorded in the book and classified as a special kind. They will not be able to serve as officials or soldiers in the government for three generations, nor will they be able to take various official studies...basically it's over!
The situation of those long-haired scholar-bureaucrats is much better. They can serve as soldiers, officials and enter official schools. Many of the long-haired scholar-bureaucrats who took refuge in time and became leaders have now passed the examination (testing as a magician) or enlisted (acting as a court official) to become an official.
However, the land of these "long-haired scholar-bureaucrats" in Hebei was still nationalized, and then distributed to the soldiers or officials, becoming their professional fields. The land that was not allocated for the time being was held by the Camp Land Department.
Only the land belonging to the families of soldiers from Hebei Province who followed Zhao Kai to reopen the Song Dynasty could become Yongye Field, but it must be directly under the names of the meritorious officials.
In short, in the process of Zhao Kai regaining the three roads of Hebei, Beijing, and Datong, the remaining local landlords, whether they had taken refuge with the gold thieves or not, became victims. The difference was only the degree of victimization.
However, the "long-haired scholar-bureaucrats" still have a way out under Zhao Kai's rule, and they will not foolishly run to Zhao Gou.
Therefore, those who sat in Lin'an Prefecture's campus to take the imperial examination with a sad face were all "short-haired" or simply bald.
I saw that they were all bare-headed and without hats. Each of them had a small table in front of him. On the table, the four treasures of the study were placed one by one, and an examination paper was unfolded on the small table.
It's called a paper, but it's actually just a clean piece of white paper. You have to copy the questions yourself.
Dozens of Lin'an Prefecture's Xiangjun were walking around the school ground holding a wooden sign with a title written on it, asking the candidates to copy down the title written on it.
There is only one title, which is about current affairs. It comes out like this: In the past, King Gou Jian of Yue was defeated by King Fu Cha of Wu.
Nowadays, the country is divided, the late emperor died for the country, rebellious ministers and traitors steal the country, they are close to the villains and stay away from the gentlemen, they violate the laws of the ancestors and kill the scholar-bureaucrats indiscriminately. Can the ambitious people in the world follow Gou Jian's example, sharpen their ambitions, eat their courage and accumulate strength to eliminate the national traitors?
Well, at first glance, the meaning is probably this: those of us who have shaved our heads are not traitors to our country and surrender to the enemy, but we are following Gou Jian's example, sharpening our will and working hard...
But upon careful analysis, this is not the case. Zhao Gou is telling everyone: You short-haired and bald guys are all in the same boat as me! At this point, the only option is to survive in death. Otherwise, when Zhao Kai's army breaks through the city, as long as there is a "capture", none of you will be able to escape!
As if to remind these "short-haired scholar-officials" that their death is coming. After these five or six thousand men sat down in the school grounds under the arrangements of the eunuchs and the swordsmen sent by the Lin'an Prefecture Yamen, the roar of cannons was heard!
This is the cavalry led by Yue Fei who have arrived outside Lin'an Prefecture City and are using camel cannons to randomly bombard the fort behind Lin'an Prefecture City... In fact, the distance is too far and they can't hit them at all. They are just scaring people.
Among the Lin'an Prefecture's Xiang troops guarding these forts, there were only a few who knew how to fire artillery. When they saw the firing on the other side, they fired the cannons indiscriminately to counterattack - the original gunners on these forts were all guards of the pro-army. They all ran away with Wanyan Yan. The reason why these cannons were not removed was that they were too crudely cast to be used and were too heavy. To use them, it is better to bring some good bronze and wait until overseas to start casting cannons again.
After these more professional gunners left, Wang Shiyong, who was in charge of the defense of Lin'an Prefecture, found a group of Xiang soldiers who "a little bit knowledgeable" about how to fire artillery... It doesn't matter if they don't hit, just don't blow up the cannon. That's fine. It's also good to listen to it and make everyone feel brave.
However, when the sound of cannons entered Lin'an Fucheng, reached the university grounds, and reached the ears of Zhao Gou, who was personally supervising the exam, and the five or six thousand "short-haired judges" who were taking the exam below, everyone was so frightened that their faces turned pale.
This is not an imperial examination, it is clearly a test that will lead to hell!
The red scarf thieves, no, it’s the imperial soldiers who are launching cannons to attack the city... They will soon attack!
At that time, Zhao Gou will be a traitor and pseudo-official, and these people will be a traitor and pseudo-official. No one will end well.
So...this Jinshi is absolutely unlucky!
Scholars have very active minds. It is difficult to pass the Jinshi exam! Isn’t it easy to fail?
Isn’t it okay to just write randomly?
Soon there were a few people who were busy writing and scribbling out strategies. Then they got up and wanted to hand in their papers and leave.
Zhao Gou saw at a glance that someone had finished writing... He wrote very quickly! This shows that there is great knowledge!
"Sir Kang, ask someone to bring me the papers. As soon as those talented people are called, I will review the papers immediately. If you have talent, you can put it to great use right away."
"Official...isn't this against the rules?" The person who spoke was the examiner this time, Shangshu Zuopushe and his servant Zheng Yinian.
"Rules?" Zhao Gou's face suddenly turned gloomy.
Zheng Yinian shuddered when he saw his cold eyes, "Official, it's the veteran who remembered it wrong. You can prevent candidates from cheating by marking the exam in front of you, and you can avoid giving or receiving privately. It's so wise."
Zhao Gou snorted: "Of course I am wise enough. Zhao Kai and Zhao Huan were able to become emperors by carving up the civil and military power of the Song Dynasty. I am the only one who built a foundation from scratch. I can only hate..."
It’s so shameful that the tools for entrepreneurship are damaged!
Just as he was resenting this, several short-haired men had already been pushed up by two axemen, and a small yellow door was opening the way in front.
"The officials have already brought it. This is their paper."
That Xiao Huangmen was Zhao Gou's confidant... Zhao Gou originally looked down upon these people who had no roots. But after returning from the Battle of Yangshan, he began to have a common language with these people, so he continued to expand his team of eunuchs. Counting himself, there were hundreds of eunuchs in the palace!
Zhao Gou took the papers and started to read them. He couldn't help but frown as soon as he saw them. What was written? That makes no sense!
He changed it and looked at it again, but it still didn't make sense. It was not as good as the previous one. There were actually a lot of typos... Gou Jian's "Jian" was even spelled wrong, making it "mean"!
What does this mean?
Could it be that "Zhao Gou is cheap"?
"Hmph!" Zhao Gou gritted his teeth, and then looked at the short-haired scholar-bureaucrats fiercely. One of them had a pale face and was about to pee with fear. He was probably the one who wrote "Goujian"!
"Okay! Well written!" Zhao Gou nodded, "You are all educated, you are all Jinshi, and you are all appointed as secretaries and editors!"
What?
Does this mean he becomes an official by becoming a Jinshi?
Several new scholars were dumbfounded. They were not that knowledgeable! They are not worthy of becoming a Jinshi! They have to go back and study hard...
But there is no use being modest now. Zhao Gou has prepared four-piece official suits for them - a green robe, a black gauze hat, a wooden belt, and a short knife!
"In the official family, I am a scholar and cannot use martial arts. What do I need a knife for?" The pale-faced guy just now saw the knife. How could he dare to take it? Push it out quickly!
Zhao Gou said coldly: "You are now a minister of the emperor, and you have the responsibility to defend the land! Follow me to the city to defend against the enemy later!"
What?
Defend the enemy?
Is this a Jinshi?
This is basically being a groomsman!
"I, I don't dare..." The guy knelt down in front of Zhao Gou.
How could Zhao Gou let him go? He shouted at an axe-wielder: "Then behead this rebellious minister!"
Beheaded?
The swordsman and the rebellious minister were both stunned.
They originally thought that Zhao Gou was a good official who valued civility over military affairs and did not kill scholar-bureaucrats. Why are you like Zhao Kai now?
"Kill!" Zhao Gou roared angrily, with a murderous look on his face - he was the "King of Gold" who killed many tigers in Goryeo, so fierce!
The axe-hand was immediately frightened, and regardless of whether he was a civil servant or not, he swung his sword and struck it down... Poor the unlucky new scholar, he lost his head inexplicably and didn't even scream. ——Actually, he was not the one who wrote "goujian", and the one who wrote "goujian" did not mean to ridicule Zhao Gou. He really made a typo!
The candidates in the school were all stunned when they witnessed this scene.
what 's wrong?
Should you be beheaded if you don't do well in the exam? Did the Song Dynasty still have such rules?
That's not possible. You have to take the exam well, no matter what, you have to save your life, right?
At this time, Zhao Gou had already opened his throat and spoke: "Fellow candidates! The country is in trouble today. The rebel troops have arrived outside Lin'an City. I know that you are all with me, so I held the imperial examination in advance... .. As long as those who come to take the exam today, regardless of whether they can read or not, will get a Jinshi for each one! I will give you a Jinshi and an official position. You must also defend the city with me and repel the red scarf thieves outside the city! I and You share the world!"
