The imperial examination system has always been an important talent selection system in ancient China. It was one of the few promotion channels for children from poor families to reach the upper class society in ancient times. It was also the only fair occasion under the inherently unequal systems of feudal society. Regardless of whether they are the fourth generation, the third prince, or the sinner, they are all treated equally under the imperial examination system.
During the Qing Dynasty, a descendant of Qin Hui passed the imperial examination and was highly regarded by Qianlong. The champion also left two lines of poems in front of Yue Fei's tomb, which were passed down as a good talk by subsequent literati.
Qin Hui, however, there are always some people who are unconvinced about this.
They believed that the traitor Qin Hui actually did nothing wrong. As a peacemaker, he also won a lot of peaceful time for the survival of the Southern Song Dynasty. The disagreement between him and Yue Fei was just a matter of different political stances, and he believed that the real murderer of Yue Fei was Gaozong Zhao Gou, and that Qin Hui was just a cover. These views may seem reasonable, but in fact they are completely wrong!
Qin Hui, as the representative of the peace faction,
kept saying that he was trying to gain time for the development of the Southern Song Dynasty, but in fact, all he did was betray his country and seek glory. Facing the iron hoofs of the Jin people, they did not think about resisting, but did things such as ceding land, paying compensation, and becoming vassal, which was a loss of power and humiliating the country. Such behavior is enough to be called a traitor. Even in order to monopolize power and please the Jin people, when he became prime minister for the second time, he vigorously squeezed out the anti-Jin warriors, causing countless unjust cases and making people all over the world complain!
Qin Hui himself betrayed his country and sought glory throughout his life, and he could be considered to have enjoyed all the glory and wealth, but the infamy after his death could not be washed away. Not only that, he also harmed his descendants. Because they often feel embarrassed and ashamed when asked about their names and ancestors.
Disaster for future generations
During the Qing Dynasty, the Qin traitor had a descendant named Qin Da Shi. He was smart and studious since he was a child. His academic performance can be said to be quite good, and as expected, he successfully won the top prize in the end. At that time, it could be said that one person had achieved enlightenment, and chickens and dogs ascended to heaven. However, this champion had a little trouble that no one knew about.
After all, he has a traitorous ancestor in his family. Doesn’t this add obstacles to his career?
In fact, after Qin Dashu became the number one scholar in high school, both the government and the public were hotly discussing him. Even the current emperor Qianlong was also very interested in it. And he deliberately dug a hole to tease Master Qin. So, he specially summoned the new top scholar and asked him, "Master Qin, who are your ancestors?"
The number one scholar responded wittily
The emperor's question frightened Master Qin. Fortunately, this new top scholar still had a few tricks up his sleeve, thinking that the emperor must have deliberately made things difficult for him. So when he heard the emperor's question, he immediately knelt down with a plop. After thinking for a moment, he shouted loudly: "One emperor, one courtier!"
If you don’t say that the number one scholar is the number one scholar after all, this answer is a perfect score. Not only did he avoid answering the question directly, but he also told Emperor Qianlong the answer tactfully. But he also distanced himself from his traitorous ancestors, which meant that as a subject of the Qing Dynasty, he would definitely be loyal to the country and the emperor. When Emperor Qianlong saw how alert he was, he was naturally filled with joy, and he kept him in high regard. After that, the champion's official career was indeed prosperous.
In fact, there is a good story about Master Qin. It is said that the Qin Dynasty scholar accidentally came to the bank of the West Lake when he was in Hangzhou, and naturally came to the tomb of Yue Wu. When I saw the traitor ancestor Qin Hui kneeling next to Yue Fei, I had mixed feelings at the time. I recited two poems on the spot: "Since the Song Dynasty, people have been ashamed to be named Hui, but I am ashamed to be named Qin when I go to the grave."