The boat on which the prince rode was naturally heavily guarded. With the painting boat as the axis, there are twelve small boats distributed on the left and right wings. The guards on the boats are all the elites of the Twelve Imperial Guards, wearing chainmail and light armor, wearing bamboo hats on their heads, coir raincoats on their shoulders, and standard forged knives on their waists. The body is slightly bloated, because there is a mechanical crossbow hidden in the wrist. With just a slight movement of the fingers, the highly poisonous crossbow arrows can be shot out of the air at lightning speed.
The old man in sackcloth, surnamed Kong, held an oil-paper umbrella. Under the cover of the rain, he pretended to glance casually at the armored guards on the boat. Although the guards were in different locations, they were looking in the same direction. Under the bamboo hat, His eyes were fierce.
The old man in sackcloth couldn't help but have a subtle feeling in his heart: he was like a lamb surrounded by wolves, going to meet the wolf king.
With his knowledge, he could naturally tell that the guards who were responsible for the defense of the Prince's Huafang were not showy, but real warriors who had stepped out of the mountains of corpses and seas of blood. Their loyalty was only dedicated to the Prince.
The old man in sackcloth stood in the rain, thinking a lot, and thought strangely in his heart: If the prince is an enemy of the emperor and gives orders to the twelve imperial guards, who will these imperial troops listen to?
Before he could think too much, he suddenly saw the escort boats surrounding the boat gradually dispersed, making way for him.
The old man in sackcloth looked up and saw Yu Qian holding the prince's jade plaque at the armrest of the boat deck, waving his hand to give orders to the imperial guards.
Just a prince's waist badge can make the twelve guards obey their orders.
The old man in sackcloth already had the answer to his hypothesis: it seemed that even the noble Emperor was slightly inferior to the Crown Prince.
At the very least, if the emperor wants to mobilize the imperial army, it is not enough to rely on his waist cards.
The top twelve guards only recognized the imperial edict and the tiger talisman.
But now it seems that the prince's waist card is more useful than the imperial edict and the tiger charm.
…
The old man in sackcloth had just walked into the painting boat. Before he could clearly see the situation inside, he heard a clang and Yu Qian closed the door from the outside. He was so surprised that the candlelight in the room flickered and almost went out.
His eagle eyes narrowed slightly, and he saw the prince Zhu Gaojie and the young master Yao Guangxiao drinking together behind the desk. The prince was drinking and the young master was drinking tea. The two were chatting happily.
Zhang Muzhi was wearing the flying fish suit given by the emperor and holding an embroidered spring knife in his hand. The powerful eagle and dog eyes and ears beside the prince put their hands on the handle of the knife and looked at the old man in linen with a murderous look in his eyes.
Zhu Gaojie raised his hand to indicate that the singers and dancers stopped one after another and left slowly through the back door.
After everyone had left, the prince drank a glass of strong wine and asked in a leisurely manner: "Who is here?"
The old man in sackcloth bowed his hands and said, "The fifty-sixth generation grandson of Confucius inherits the Southern Sect."
Zhu Gaojie glanced at the other party and asked, "Why don't you kneel down when you meet someone alone?"
The old man in sackcloth said leisurely: "Why does the inner saint need to kneel to the outer king?"
Zhu Gaojiu chuckled lightly and said: "Thankfully you are still a descendant of Confucius, and you don't even understand the direction of managing the world that Confucianism has always followed. The so-called inner sage refers to a person's perfect inner scholarly cultivation. The so-called outer king refers to the inner sage. On the basis of the realization of the inner ideal personality, the saint's kingly ideals are reflected in social life and national politics, and the saint-king ideals of governing the country and bringing peace to the world are realized."
"The Inner Sage is the basis of the Outer King, and the Outer King is the natural result of the Inner Sage. But whether it is the Inner Sage or the Outer King, they are all references to Confucian knowledge, and there is no other meaning beyond that."
"In your old man's mouth, the inner sage refers specifically to the descendants of Yan Shenggong, and the outer king refers specifically to the emperor and prince. Such a ridiculous statement, if Confucius heard it, he would be so angry that he would climb out of the coffin and beat you. .”
The eyes of the old man in sackcloth flickered: "I never thought that His Highness the Crown Prince would have such a profound opinion of my Confucian scholarship. It is really beyond my surprise."
Zhu Gaojie said calmly: "Cultivation, Qi, Zhi, Ping, self-cultivation is the foundation, and it is the key to reaching the realm of inner sage. With benevolence and wisdom, everyone is a saint. No one in this world has ever been born. He is a saint.”
Having said this, he paused, pointed at the old man in sackcloth and said with a smile: "Kong Zhu, the ancestor of your Kong family temple, is the 52nd eldest grandson of Confucius and the son of Kong Wanchun, the Holy Duke of Song Yan. The imperial court of the Southern Song Dynasty awarded Kong the palm of his hand. Kong Zhu of the family is Duke Yansheng. In the twelfth year of Chunyou in the Southern Song Dynasty, he allocated 360,000 yuan of official money to build a family temple for your Kong family."
"In the twelfth year of Chunyou in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were only twenty years left before the fall of the Southern Song Dynasty. At this time, the Southern Song Dynasty was already in danger, with a continuous deficit in the national treasury, but it still spent 360,000 yuan of official money to build a family temple for your Southern Song Dynasty court. Southern Song Dynasty The imperial court has been extremely kind to you Kong, how did your ancestor Kong Zhu repay the imperial court?"
The old man in sackcloth said with a calm face and a heartbeat: "Ancestor Kong Zhu perfectly used Confucian wisdom during the change of power in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, calmly dealt with coercion and inducement, abided by loyalty, filial piety and justice, and preserved Confucian culture and inheritance. The allusion of Kong Zhu's granting the title, It has been praised by people all over the world to this day.”
Zhu Gaojie's eyes were gloomy: "Think of your mother, but you will put gold on the faces of your ancestors. You, the Kong family, lived on Song Lu and received Song's favor. When the country was in ruins, you, the Kong family, betrayed you without hesitation. Southern Song Dynasty. Just surrender. What you Kong is surrendering is still the Yuan Empire established by Kublai Khan of Mongolia! Acting like this, betraying the monarch and the nation, how is it any different from an animal?"
"If anyone in any dynasty had the experience of being reviled, yet you still confuse right and wrong and regard them as saints. What you originally learned from Confucian culture is all about disloyalty and unrighteousness!"
"Both your body and name will be destroyed, but the flow of rivers will not be destroyed forever!"
After these words, Zhu Gaojie used extremely pungent words to tear off the fig leaf from Confucianism and Kong's body, and used the tip of the knife to gouge Kong's backbone, which could be described as piercing his heart with every word.
Yu Qian and Zhang Mu were dumbfounded, and the skinny old hand of the black-clothed Prime Minister Yao Guangxiao holding the teacup was also hanging in the air, his eyes were dull and the corners of his mouth were slightly twitching.
This prince's words are truly astonishing.
The descendants of Confucianism and Confucius, who have been respected by the world for thousands of years, seem to be shameless and evil-doing insects in Zhu Gaojie's mouth. If this statement is spread, literati all over the world will criticize the old Zhu family, causing an uproar.
However, the old man in sackcloth who was scolded so much just smiled.
"Well said, very well said."
"It seems that His Highness the Prince not only has amazing achievements and opinions in our Confucian academic field, but also has a good understanding of our Confucian history."
The smile of the old man in sackcloth remained unchanged, "Since the prince knows everything, I won't talk nonsense today. Let's just discuss the matter?"
Zhu Gaojie stood up, took out the yellow-bottomed silk scarf from his sleeve, picked up the white porcelain wine pot that was warming on the stove in the corner, and leaned against the carved window.
He said calmly: "Finish your words before you finish drinking this pot of wine."
The old man in sackcloth did not waste any nonsense and said simply and neatly: "Before sunset tomorrow, each of the seventeen families in Yangzhou will send 200,000 shi of food and grass to the Yangzhou government to contribute their modest contribution to the Northern Expedition of His Majesty and His Highness."
"Two hundred thousand yuan per family is really a small amount of money."
Zhu Gaojie said calmly, "With this little sweetness, you just want to send Gu away?"
"Of course it's more than that."
The old man in sackcloth smiled and said, "Within one month, all the noble families in the southern provinces will work together to collect 50 million shi of grain and 50 million taels of silver. Don't worry, Your Highness, we will be responsible for transporting these grains to Beijing, and the transportation will cost nothing." The imperial court pays one meter per coin.”
Hearing this number, even Yao Guangxiao couldn't help but gasped: "It's really a big deal."
The logistics standard of the Ming Dynasty army is that sergeants have one liter of rice and beans per day, which is four buckets and five liters of food in a month.
Army horses are fed three liters of concentrate every day, and a bunch of licorice is the same as what a sergeant eats, because it is impossible for an army horse to be fed only grass, otherwise the horse will stop after a charge. War horses in the army need to be fed with bean cakes, wheat bran, salt and other feeds. In one month, it is almost nine buckets of grain and three stones of grass.
For an army of 10,000, the cost of war horses and pack horses is calculated as 5,000. The food for the people is 4,500 shi, and the horses’ food is 4,500 shi and 15,000 shi, which means that the monthly consumption of food and grass is 24,000 shi.
In addition, there was also the huge consumption caused by the long transportation of grain and grass. Oxen, carts and carriages all needed to be fed with grain and grass. The emperor personally drove the army to march, and the logistics line was thousands of miles long. I'm afraid he may have consumed more than what the sergeant ate during the journey.
His Majesty's Northern Expedition will consume at least 400,000 stones of food and grass. The Ministry of Industry built tens of thousands of Wugang vehicles specifically for transporting grain and grass.
Even if His Majesty the Emperor takes hundreds of thousands of soldiers to go fishing in the sea for the annual vacation, he will not be able to spend all the 50 million dan of food, let alone 50 million taels of silver.
Zhu Gaojie asked with great interest: "You said you asked them to give you food and money, and they just gave it? Are the people in the south just listening to you?"
The old man in sackcloth smiled and nodded: "Yes, I will give it to them as I say."
Use the calmest tone and speak the most arrogant words.
It was as if he was the emperor of the south.
This is indeed the case. The influence of Kong's Southern Sect in the entire south goes beyond wealth and power. What's more, relying on the golden sign of "the most holy teacher and queen" brings an influence that is quite similar to religious belief.
Among all the officials in the court, how many of them did not come from Confucianism? How many people who came from Confucianism in the imperial examination dare to refute the face of the most holy teacher?
Under this monopoly of institutional discourse power that has lasted for thousands of years, Kong has long become a towering tree that has never fallen down in the changing feudal dynasties, with roots covering every inch of soil and absorbing nutrients.
Zhu Gaojie's tone was also very calm: "What do you want?"
It's impossible for the other party to offer such good conditions just to let him let go of the Yangzhou Seventeenth Family. The Yangzhou Seventeen Family can be called a strong one in southern Zhili, but looking at the entire south, in the eyes of the Southern Confucius Sect, what does the Yangzhou Seventeen Family mean?
With a position like Kong's, it is no longer possible for him to show up easily, because once he takes action, the impact will not only be the tide on the surface, but also the undercurrent surging underwater. A dynasty would never tolerate such a huge thousand-year-old family threatening its rule.
If Kong wants to last for a long time, it is not to show off his power all the time, but to make it transparent and reduce its sense of existence, so that no one notices that under the calm water, there is a lake with the same volume as the lake hidden under it. Shadow beast.
The fact that the old man in sackcloth can come forward shows that the pressure brought by Zhu Gaojie in the south has already made Kong feel a little breathless.
The emperor's southern tour was to consolidate his power.
Zhu Gaojiu's southern tour was to destroy the foundation of the family.
This is the biggest problem that scares Kong.
Facing Zhu Gaojie's question, the old man in sackcloth said slowly: "I only have one request, and that is -"
"Your Highness will never set foot in the South again in this lifetime."
Boom!
Thunder and lightning suddenly surged outside, illuminating the canal at night like daylight. After a flash of light, the thunder came like thousands of troops fighting, and like the waves of the vast sea, they overlapped and almost shattered the sky.
The patter of light rain was infinitely amplified after the thunder, and it crashed like a dragon king turning over. The noisy heavy rain was extremely loud in the quiet room.
On the calm canal, the water is rushing endlessly, and the comfortable boat is swinging on the water, maybe it will turn over in the next moment.
The Forbidden General who was guarding outside the house couldn't help shouting inside: "Prince, the rain is too heavy. It is too dangerous for the boat to float on the canal. Please let our boat dock quickly!"
Zhu Gaojie responded in a deep voice: "Pass on Gu's orders. Don't make a sound. Don't touch any boat without permission. Also, no one is allowed within a hundred steps!"
"promise!"
The general of the Forbidden Army received the order and took a small boat to convey the order to the ships guarding the boat.
"The Crown Prince has an order. No one is allowed within a hundred steps. Without the Crown Prince's order, no one can touch any boat!"
"Got the order!"
…
…
Inside the ship, Zhu Gaojie's eyes flashed with a cold and gloomy light: "Can I understand that you are threatening me?"
The old man in sackcloth lowered his head slightly: "I don't dare."
During the decades he had been in charge of the Kong family, he had seen Taizu wipe out the world with the four major Hongwu crimes, and the Fengtian Palace was filled with blood.
We have also seen that Emperor Jianwen cut down the vassal vassals when he first came to the throne. The vassal kings of Jiuzhou were in turmoil and the world was in turmoil.
I have also seen that today, His Majesty uses the power of one place to fight against thirteen provinces. Suddenly, a madman sharpens his sword at night, and the emperor's star flutters high, causing the world to change its master but not Zhu.
But in the eyes of this old man in sackcloth, everything was nothing, and it was a common wave in the cycle of the dynasty. No matter how many people died, they could not die on Kong's head. Only the appearance of one person gave him an urgent sense of crisis.
——Zhu Gaojie.
From being an unpopular King of Qi, to later conquering the north and south to secure the military power of the Ming Dynasty, the three huge northeastern provinces only listened to his orders. He is changing the situation of this dynasty step by step, with countless dead bones under his feet. The influence he brings has surpassed the current His Majesty.
If it were just like this, it wouldn't scare Kong.
What really frightened him was that after Zhu Gaojie came to power, he was destroying the foundation of the family bit by bit. He changed the administration of officials and the tax system. He used two knives called taxes and officials to invisibly destroy the monopoly of aristocratic families.
But now, this man has revealed his true ambition.
He came to the south and blatantly wanted to knock down the proud head of the family.
Or bow your head.
Or die.
(End of chapter)
