Hu Quan (1102-1180), Zibangheng, Zhao Tang'an, a native of Ji'an, Jiangxi, a politician and literary scholar of the Southern Song Dynasty, and also one of the five loyal sections of Luling, although together with Li Gang, Zhao Ding, and Li Guang were known as the four famous ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty, but compared to these three, Hu Quan was more famous because of his fairness and outspokenness, and at the age of thirty-six he was not afraid of authority to beg for Qin Hui and beg to beg for Qin Hui faction, but he was still driven out of the imperial court by Qin Jia, and finally exiled all the way to Jiyang Army (present-day Yacheng, Hainan), and did not return to the imperial court until he was sixty years old, Later, at the age of more than sixty years in Sheyang Lake, he repelled the invasion of the Jin people, was promoted to a bachelor of Duanmingdian , returned to Luling at the age of 78, and died soon after, and six years after his death, Emperor Xiaozong of Song posthumously gave him the title Zhongjian.
The writing is outstanding and the test is out
The magnificent hall was solemn, Emperor Gaozong of Song sat on the top of the court, under the wide steps, the candidates lowered their heads to hold pens, and the ink flowed on the paper with a slight sound, mixed with the footsteps of the inspector and the examiner, echoing in the hall. This is the scene during the imperial examination in the Song Dynasty, where every three years a group of names hanging in front of the hall of the Ministry of Ceremonies stands out, and among them, some names will continue to be praised or spurned in the following thousand years of history. The imperial examination in the second year of Jianyan (1128) was no exception, among the answer sheets of those candidates, there was an answer sheet surprisingly thick, and Emperor Gaozong of Song picked up the answer sheet unexpectedly, but unexpectedly, the weak and absurd emperor frowned rarely, and even the hand that turned the page slowed down, as if the King Kang, who dared to go to Jinying alone as a hostage, returned to the Southern Song court. The officials waiting for the emperor's selection position on the side were suddenly a little overwhelmed, and could only stand quietly with their heads bowed. The water vapor in the tea bowl on the table gradually dissipated, so it was rated as a champion, Song Gaozong put down this answer sheet, and the official of the Ministry of Rites hurriedly took the answer sheet, placed it above the other answer sheets, and bowed away. Song Gaozong picked up the tea bowl that had already cooled down, and the collision with the table top when he put it down was a little dull.
After listening to the description of this small official, the examiners looked at each other, and their eyes were a little surprised, so they picked up this answer sheet and looked at the sharp words that directly stated the current affairs, these people knew very well that if he really let him end the imperial examination as a champion, then the hypocritical masks on the faces of those big people in the dynasty would probably not be long to wear, so they lowered the candidate's ranking to the second and fifth place in the second rank, and remembered the name written in correct block letters, Hu Quan.
Awe-inspiring righteousness begs Qin Juniper
After the exam, it stands to reason that the second place in the second class was definitely a good ranking, but Hu Quan was still not able to stay in the capital, but returned to his hometown of Fuzhou, next to Ji'an, to serve as a military judge. While such an arrangement was a normal appointment, it was difficult to wonder whether there was a deeper reason in the circumstances of the time. Because Jiangxi was not peaceful at that time, Jin Bing was hunting Empress Dowager Longyou there, and those who made such arrangements in the dynasty may also be hoping to hear the news that Hu Quan was mistakenly killed by Jin Bing one day. But just as they were celebrating their crowns, Hu Quan stopped in Ganzhou, and in the face of the Jin Dynasty soldiers who frightened the imperial court, Hu Quan began to recruit militia locally, and it was undoubtedly unreasonable to use militia to fend off the invincible Jin soldiers, and some officials in Ganzhou were already packing up their belongings and preparing to flee. But in Hu Quan's eyes, this is not an impossible thing, first of all, Empress Dowager Longyou is not a decisive key person who must be arrested, and secondly, the Jin soldiers go deep alone, although the Song Dynasty is forced by the Jin Dynasty to deter and dare not oppose it, but the desire to fight must not be so strong. So, amid the neat shouts of the stragglers, the golden soldiers stopped their galloping horses' hooves far away, and then left north. When the news reached the capital, the imperial court was greatly surprised and directly promoted him from the ninth rank to the sixth rank Chengzhilang.
Hu Quan, who returned to the capital, was placed in the court, and finally deeply felt what kind of chaotic imperial court this was, the lord and faction headed by Qin Hui wantonly suppressed other loyal officials, and those capable ministers who were regarded as a great disaster by the Jin State and had no choice would be exiled or imprisoned one by one by the Southern Song court, and the darkness he wrote in the answer sheet hit him even heavier, Hu Quan walked back and forth on the court road with a straight face day after day, and the anger in his heart also accumulated, just waiting for an opportunity, The long-sleeved dances of those in high positions will be completely exposed. Such an opportunity would always come, and in the eighth year of Shaoxing (1138), Qin Hui sent Wang Lun to envoy Jin Guo to discuss peace. At this time, Yue Fei was fighting to kill the enemy on the front line of the Northern Dynasty, and Kaifeng, the former capital of the Northern Song Dynasty, was already close at hand, and successive successive successes fell in the hearts of the courtiers of this partial court, and many people were waiting for the day when the whole territory would be restored and Bianjing would return. Hu Quan was undoubtedly one of these people, so the anger in his heart finally gushed out, and he wrote "Emperor Gaozong's Seal at Noon" overnight, bluntly saying that he should kill the Qin Hui faction so as not to stop the general trend of restoration. As soon as this piece was written, his words resounded in Lin'an along the praise of ten thousand people, and the true face of Qin Huan's weakness and meticulous was revealed. After Hu Quan took the lead, the anger of many courtiers was also vented, and one after another, there was a great momentum to drive Qin Hui and his faction to extinction.
Kneeling statue of Qin Juniper
It's just a pity that behind such a large-scale discussion, there is no doubt that Qin Hui can decide, and the reason why Qin Hui did this is mainly the approval of Song Gaozong. Therefore, Qin Huan, who was reviled by thousands of people, was still sitting in his palatial mansion, but Hu Quan, who set off the people's heart, had been expelled from Lin'an and walked on the road of exile. This walk, that is, ten years and thousands of miles, originally Hu Quan was only demoted to Guangxi, but during this period of debasement, Hu Quan did not compromise with Qin Hui and his faction, although during this time, Qin Huan's power has become more and more powerful, after forcibly killing Yue Fei to give up all the results of the Northern Expedition that hundreds of thousands of soldiers fought for in seven years, the Lord and faction represented by Qin Hui have covered the sky with one hand in the imperial court, in this case, it is certainly an unwise choice to continue to oppose Qin Juniper, There were also many friends who had stood beside him and denounced Qin Hui and now succumbed under Qin Hui's power. But Hu Quan seemed to be completely unaware of all this, and he still scolded Qin Hui with his outstanding literary brilliance, just like he had done in front of him. Hu Quan naturally does not know that in such an environment, no matter how much criticism of Qin Hui will no longer be of any use, he will continue to lead the Southern Song Dynasty to become a hotbed of the Jin Dynasty, in addition, his own future will also be greatly affected, and even his life may not be guaranteed. But he still does this, he still calls for light in the boundless darkness, no matter whether there is anyone around him to support him, he always insists on his beliefs, there must always be someone who adheres to the right path, and someone must let future generations know that Qin Huan's voice is by no means the voice of the Southern Song Dynasty. But the price to be paid for such a call is also obvious, Hu Quan was degraded again and again, until he was relegated to Hainan Cliff City, and after that, there was only a vicissitudes of the sea.
Heart with the people, upright and balanced
Hu Quan was not the only one who was demoted to Hainan, in fact, all the four famous ministers of the Southern Song Dynasty had the experience of being demoted to Hainan, and Zhao Ding was demoted to Yacheng like Hu Quan. It's just that when Hu Quan came to Yacheng, Zhao Ding had already gone on a hunger strike. Hu Quan is more miserable than the other three, who just live here and their actions are not regulated, while Hu Quan is in charge of this, and all his actions are controlled by local officials. So Hu Quan's life suddenly became difficult, and the shadows of coconut trees in the distance became an unreachable existence. But even in such a harsh environment, Hu Quan did not give up his life, and the first thing he did was to move into the home where Zhao Ding once lived, and named it Shengde Hall, the victim is a person with great virtue, then the victim is naturally a person with bad morality. Hu Quan once again expressed his disgust and mockery of Qin Huan, even if those officials around him could be instructed by Qin Hui to end his life in this border town at any time.
But this is the only thing Hu Quan can do in this situation, after moving into Shengde Hall, Hu Quan began to focus on educating the people of this remote town, for this he specially established a college called Yixian Zheng to teach personally, at first no one came, the local people knew that this was a person who was degraded, and they tried to stay away from him to avoid disaster, but as the tide rose and fell again and again, people gradually felt his sincerity in the process of getting along with him. The people may be ignorant, but in terms of distinguishing between loyalty and goodness, they are no worse than those high-ranking officials who are high school juniors, so finally the first person entered Hu Quan's academy, and then two or three, until the entire academy was full. When there was no need to go out to sea to fish, the local people were willing to sit in this academy, and for a while, the trend of reading swept through this wild place in the eyes of the world. In this way, Hu Quan lived safely in this remote small space, this stay, is thirteen years, counting the previous ten years, it has been twenty-three years of spring and autumn flowing, Hu Quan still did not say a soft word, he just looked at the direction of Lin'an strongly, until the thirty-second year of Shaoxing (1162), after the accession of Song Xiaozong, Hu Quan was able to be used again, at this time he was already a sixty-year-old man, the scorching sun and wind and sand sharpened his skin with the same as the beach under his feet, But he still set out on his way to the capital to help the country that had exiled him.
Earnestly as old Gray hair first
Hu Quan, who returned to the imperial court, immediately gained the trust of Song Xiaozong and the court ministers, and everyone knew how the old man in front of him, who was already a little stubborn, firmly resisted Qin Hui in the past few decades, no one would doubt the loyalty proved by such a long time, so it was completely different from the last time he stood here, every suggestion he made would be seriously considered by everyone, in the face of such respect, Hu Quan did not let them down, since Hu Quan arrived, The imperial court, which was originally shrouded by the lord and faction, gradually squeezed into the figure of the main war faction, and it was precisely because of this that Song Xiaozong, who was determined to regain the Central Plains, was able to launch the Longxing Northern Expedition. When the Northern Expedition encountered obstacles, Hu Quan generously made ten words of congratulations, and everyone in the dynasty heard it with enthusiasm, and the gilded pillar standing in the hall once again saw the boiling of hundreds of officials. But in the face of the absolute strength gap, no amount of determination could bring final victory, and three months later, the Northern Expedition finally failed. The defeated army began to retreat from Fuli, and until the end, only the general Chen Min stationed in Gaoyou was still insisting on resisting, but Li Bao, the general who was supposed to go to support Gaoyou, could not hold on, and Hu Quan could not bear such a defeat, so he impeached Li Bao and asked to send troops, and personally led troops to Sheyang Lake to support Chen Min. At that time, it was already a harsh winter, and it coincided with heavy snowfall, and the route to aid Gaoyou had been frozen by ice and snow, and the soldiers had already been affected by the defeat. Hu Quan looked at the scene in front of him, quietly picked up a soldier's hammer, walked to the frozen river, and hit the ice surface one by one. He was always a pure person, when Wen Chen he played alone, only he thought he should write such a note to express his opposition, when leading the army, he broke the ice alone, just he thought that he should block the golden people at Sheyang Lake, just for the pure faith in his heart, although alone, despite gray hair. The soldiers of the Southern Song Dynasty had not seen the commander walking in front of them for a long time, and the already blurred figures of the Shaoxing period suddenly appeared in front of them again, and together with the white hair, gradually melted into the heavy snow. Shang Wu's spirit returned to their blood again, so everyone stepped forward and forcibly opened a road that was passable, and then broke through the golden soldiers, slowing down the defeat of the Southern Song Dynasty, and Hu Quan defeated the golden people again, but different from the intimidation of his youth, this time it was a real military achievement.
Statue of Hu Quan
Hu Quan, who returned victorious, was even more convincing to everyone, and this old minister who had gained both civility and military did not lie on the merit book, but left the capital again to personally manage the prefecture and county, but as an old man who was nearly seventy years old, such hard work made his health deteriorate, and Hu Quan also knew that he was about to run out of oil, so when he was seventy-one years old, after returning to Beijing for the last time to confront Song Xiaozongce, he proposed to pay his respects. But Song Xiaozong did not agree, Hu Quan had to retreat to the second place, to concentrate on the study of literature, in the last years of his life, this old man who came out of literature, finally returned to literature, he once again edited and supplemented the content of the lecture in Yacheng, making the context of Confucianism more far-reaching. In the seventh year of Chunxi (1180), Hu Quan was finally honored as a bachelor of the Senior Palace, and died in May of the same year at the age of seventy-eight, and six years later, Emperor Xiaozong of Song posthumously bestowed the title Zhongjian. This pure man has been lost in the dust of history, but his spirit will still shine on this ancient land, and pure people, even if they are difficult in their pursuit, will eventually adhere to the right path they believe in.