In front of Qufu City, the gate is open. Ming soldiers wearing mandarin duck war jackets are dignified and majestic, holding long guns, standing in front of the city gate, and they are heavily guarded.
The red official robes that are rarely seen on weekdays are now appearing in groups here. What is even more unexpected is that the three leaders are all wearing dragon robes, and they are one of the few vassal kings in the Ming Dynasty.
Behind them, a large number of domineering and smug young people were whispering to each other and chattering.
These smug young people all come from the Kong clan in Qufu City.
The Kong family is one of the top overlords in Qufu.
Although there are still three vassal princes here, in terms of power, these three vassal princes can only eat and drink and sleep when they are full. Although the court has no money, it will not treat contemporary princes like him badly. .
In terms of power, these three kings are completely incomparable to the Kong family in Qufu. The Kong family is the real "vassal king" in Qufu.
Qufu has been reserved for the Confucius family for generations, and Yanshenggong's wealth is even more astonishing. The Confucius Temple alone has hundreds of thousands of acres of land. In addition, over the past hundred years, the Kong family has used many means to control more than 100,000 hectares of land?
Throughout Shandong...
No, in the entire Ming Dynasty!
The Kong family is one of the leading landowners.
Therefore, the young people born in the Kong family are extremely proud and complacent. They claim to be descendants of saints. In private, even the royal family members will secretly curse them as 'nouveau riche' and look down upon them at all.
In front of these young people, there was a man wearing a felt hat and wrapping his head tightly, not wanting to be seen, and feeling depressed.
He was supported by someone and stood in front of the tower, with deep regret in his eyes.
He is the contemporary Yanshenggong, Kong Yinzhi.
Because the imperial court has not issued an imperial edict to depose Duke Yansheng, Kong Yinzhi is still Duke Yansheng of Ming Dynasty... Not only that, there are two other 'imperial edicts' in his family, respectively from Dashun and Qing Dynasty.
He has now reached the highest achievement that the ancestors of the Kong family have never reached.
At the same time, he was named the Duke of Yansheng of three political powers!
It is precisely because of this supreme achievement that Kong Yinzhi is also heartbroken.
Some people are alive, but he is dead.
This sentence can fully describe Kong Yinzhi's current state.
Among those who had the same idea as Kong Yinzhi, there were also the King of De, Zhu Youjue, and the King of Heng, Zhu Youtiao. They were all in low spirits. Only the King of Lu, Zhu Yihai, was smiling slightly and his face was full of spring breeze.
"I'm coming!"
Suddenly, a fast rider came from a distance to report. After hearing the news, Zhu Yihai smiled brightly and immediately rushed forward. He smiled at the surrendered dogs and ministers around him and said: "Everyone, hurry up. Come with me to meet His Majesty Sejong!"
At this thought, the smiles of King Heng, King De and Duke Yansheng all froze, and they could only bite the bullet and lead the honor guard to the direction of Zhu Houcong to greet Zhu Houcong's king driving the dragon.
After seeing Zhu Houcong's Long Hu and the majestic Ming army accompanying him, Lu King Zhu Yihai couldn't help but sigh, with a flash of envy in his eyes: "What a great soldier of tomorrow, I am invincible in the world!"
However, this touch of envy was fleeting. King Lu Zhu Yihai immediately kept this idea deep in his heart, and then he bowed with utmost respect, kowtowed three times and bowed nine times, and knelt down before Zhu Houcong's driving and said:
"Zhu Yihai of Lu Fan, together with Heng Fan and De Fan, pays homage to His Majesty Emperor Sejongsu and wishes His Majesty the best!"
King Heng and King De quickly imitated King Zhu Yihai of Lu and knelt down to greet him.
As the three kings knelt down like this, the officials and disciples of the Kong family who followed naturally stopped standing and saluted Zhu Houcong one after another, but they did not kowtow three times and bow nine times: "I respectfully ask Your Majesty, Holy Bow. !”
Zhu Houcong, who was slender and handsome, lifted the curtain, wore a black gold dragon robe and stepped down step by step. He looked around and knelt down like ears of wheat blown by the wind. The vassal kings and ministers nodded: "I'm in peace."
After hearing Zhu Houcong's response, the ministers dared to stand up.
After the ministers stood up, Zhu Houcong did not talk to these ministers, but said to Lu Bing and Yu Dayou beside him: "Garrison in Qufu, change the defense, and let the soldiers in Qufu rest."
"The last general takes command!"
"I will obey His Majesty's decree!"
Yu Dayou and Lu Bing took orders one after another, and the accompanying sergeants and royal guards began to mobilize.
Facing Zhu Houcong's move, everyone was unexpected, but no one dared to say anything.
After all, their Duke Yan Sheng, King De and King Heng had bad moral conduct and did not stand on the moral high ground this time.
The reason why Zhu Houcong asked his soldiers to change the defense of Qufu was naturally to prepare for the next big event.
The Kong family has been cultivating in Qufu for hundreds of years. The officers and soldiers here are more like private soldiers of the Kong family than Ming troops. Moreover, the Kong family also has servants and farmers. If they really want to, it will not be a problem to pull out an army of 20,000 to 30,000 people. .
Therefore, taking control of Qufu was tantamount to cutting off the last source of support for the Kong family, which was rebellion.
And the Kong family still didn't know what happened... In other words, they couldn't believe what Zhu Houcong was thinking.
Seeing that the defense change went smoothly, Zhu Houcong did not continue to pay attention to this point. Instead, he turned his head and looked at the proud King of Lu Zhu Yihai, and immediately said: "You are the King of Lu?"
"Your Majesty, the young king is Lu Fan." Zhu Yihai was somewhat respectful.
Zhu Houcong did not waste any more nonsense and asked directly to Zhu Yihai: "Let me ask you, do you dare to mount your horse to lead the troops and dismount your horse to pacify the people, just like the vassal kings in the Hongwu Dynasty, guarding the territory for our Ming Dynasty?"
Hearing Zhu Houcong's words, Zhu Yihai was stunned, his eyes immediately burned with blazing fire, and a catalyst called ambition began to hatch.
For a vassal king who wanted to do something great, Emperor Yongle's policies were too cruel.
Zhu Yihai said sonorously: "Xiao Wang is willing!"
Zhu Houcong continued to ask: "If the vassal was moved to Nuergandusi, to Mongolia, to Korea, or even to Japan, would you be willing?"
After hearing Zhu Houcong's words, Zhu Yihai hesitated for a moment, his ambition swallowed up his worries, and he immediately nodded and said: "If Your Majesty wants to let Xiao Wang go to the front line against Jiannu, Xiao Wang is willing to go!"
"good."
Zhu Houcong nodded, then smiled and said: "Go to Beijing from now on and tell Emperor Chongzhen what you think, and he will arrange it for you."
When Zhu Yihai heard this, he was extremely happy. He immediately bowed and said, "Thank you, Your Majesty. Long live Your Majesty!"
Although the place he went to was most likely a bitter and cold place on the frontier, Zhu Yihai just enjoyed the feeling of having power!
But the eyes of King Heng and King De were full of fear. They were afraid that Zhu Houcong would let them do this and leave the border area to control the powerful vassal king.
Just kidding, how much do they weigh? Wouldn't it be better to go to the border and be eaten even to the bones?
In Shandong, in such a safe place, the city of Jinan will be breached once. The previous generation of King De was arrested and sent to study abroad. Doesn't going to the border mean that generations of people have to study abroad?
Seeing the horrified looks in their eyes, Zhu Houcong was very disgusted: "Are you worthy of leaving the town?"
Yes.
If these two losers leave the border area, they will definitely destroy the Ming Dynasty's territory!
"Pass the decree to abolish De Fan and Heng Fan, and confiscate all the jewels in the two vassals' houses. Lu Bing, you will personally lead the Jin Yiwei to handle this matter! If anyone blocks it, order Generals Zhang and Wang to divide into two teams each. Here you go!" Zhu Houcong said coldly.
From the initial unfamiliarity, Lu Bing had already gained experience by searching homes. He immediately nodded and immediately took Jin Yiwei to prepare to go to Qingzhou and Jinan.
"It is entirely up to Emperor Taizu Gao to decide how to deal with the common people from De and Heng to Beijing!"
When King De and Zhu Youqi heard this, their legs went weak instantly, and they even cried bitterly on the spot regardless of their image.
During this time, they inquired about the fate of the Qin and Jin vassals, and felt that they were in danger.
Zhu Houcong would not pay attention to the two of them, but continued to look at Yan Shenggong Kong Yinzhi, which made Kong Yinzhi's scalp numb.
The Kong family members around him were already overjoyed, and their eyes were full of greed. They were waiting for Zhu Houcong to question Kong Yinzhi, without any intention of excusing Kong Yinzhi.
After all, in their minds, whenever Yanshenggong makes a mistake and is deposed, the position of Yanshenggong will be deposed from this lineage and transferred to another lineage.
Therefore, when Kong Yinzhi made a mistake, not only did they not feel sad, they even felt unusually excited... Of course, they still had to look crying on the surface.
"Mr. Yansheng, do you know your sin?"
Zhu Houcong looked at Kong Yinzhi calmly and said to Kong Yinzhi: "People of the Kong family, do you know your guilt?"
"The guilty minister knows his guilt!"
Kong Yinzhi knelt on the ground, kowtowed tremblingly: "I... I have dynasty for three and four years, Qin and Chu. I am ashamed of my ancestors and your majesty. I..."
Hearing Kong Yinzhi's words, Zhu Houcong slammed the book in his hand on his face and angrily shouted: "You really deserve to die! But what you said is just a point of your damnation!"
"I am asking, are you, the Kong clan members, aware of your sins?!"
He came here today to start a war, not for a mere Yanshenggong Kong Yinzhi.
But to purge the entire Yanshenggong Kong family!
It’s time for the saint’s legacy to end.
