Kong Shangxian, the Duke of Yansheng, sighed at this time and said: "But if we don't change it, it will easily lead to death for our entire Kong family!"
After Kong Shangxian said this, all the clan members present fell silent.
"It's really the sky that has no eyes and allows the bandits to become the masters of China. That's why we, the descendants of the saints, are living such a miserable life now!"
Bang!
Kong Shangtan couldn't help but stood up and gritted his teeth and said something.
Then, he punched the table, sat back, and couldn't help but hold his head and cry.
"Let's change it."
"Those who have received destiny should be the Lord of China. Now that the emperor is the one who has received destiny, he is our father. We should consider your father's feelings. I believe our ancestors will understand us."
At this time, Kong Shanghe, a member of the Kong family, said something.
Kong Shangxian nodded, and finally made up his mind: "Then change! In addition, I will tell you that no one is allowed to tell anyone about this matter. If anyone dares to reveal the slightest bit of news, he will be beaten to death as soon as he is discovered!"
"yes!"
"Wait!"
At this time, Kong Shangtan shouted, then looked at Kong Shangxian and others, and said:
"Now because of the new gift, the servants in our mansion are becoming more and more stubborn. They refuse to serve as servants without being paid. They even run away and refuse to work for our Kong family anymore."
"And now, if we continue to show that we are so afraid of the Zhu family, we are afraid that the servants below will become even bolder!"
"So, we might as well be stronger! The Zhu family will only do nothing to us because we are descendants of saints. This will also let the people below know that above them, only the Kong family is their heaven! "
"I'm not talking nonsense. Back then, as ruthless as the great ancestor of the Zhu family, didn't he dare to do anything to the fifty-fifth ancestor (Kong Kejian) who only respected Meng Yuan but didn't give the Zhu family face?"
"And in the end, the Taizu of the current dynasty could only express his protest by appointing the fifty-sixth ancestor (Kong Xixue) as Duke Yansheng. He did not dare to do anything to our Kong family!"
Kong Shangtan continued to insist at this time, and he did not agree with the idea that because Zhu Yijun was coming to Qufu, the tablets sealed in the Yuan Dynasty in the Confucius Temple should be replaced.
at the same time.
Kong Shangli also echoed: "That's right! Not only that, when the sixty-first generation ancestor committed such a serious crime of disregarding human life, it was just to sacrifice the nobles for the people. It can be seen that no matter what happens today, the Zhu family will look at the children of the saints in the world. They will not do anything to the descendants of our saints, otherwise the Zhu family themselves will be charged with disrespecting the saints!"
The sixty-first generation ancestor mentioned by Kong Shangli refers to Kong Hongxu, the Duke of Yansheng during the Chenghua period.
During the Chenghua period, Kong Hongxu was impeached by Nanjing officials for "exceeding the palace regulations", so Emperor Chenghua ordered an imperial envoy to investigate the Kong family.
Finally, the imperial envoy sent found out that Kong Hongxu himself had raped more than 40 women and killed four innocent people with a stick.
However, in the end, Emperor Chenghua only ordered Kong Hongxu to reduce his title to a commoner, and ordered that the title of Duke Yansheng be inherited by his younger brother. He was not allowed to lose his life, and his family was not allowed to lose the title of Duke Yansheng. Naturally, it was It did not take away the Confucius' privileges in Qufu.
In short, this is equivalent to no punishment for the Kong family.
That's why Kong Shangli said that the Zhu family didn't dare do anything to the Kong family.
After Kong Shangtan and Kong Shangli both said this, Yanshenggong Kong Shangxian himself was a little shaken:
"That's right. The Zhu family are not Jurchens or Meng Yuan people. As Han people, they are not as good as the Hu people. They can't even lose face."
"Brother is right, what's more, the Fengyang Zhu family is a bandit. As the saying goes, the more people lack something, the more they want to get it. What the Zhu family lacks most is not to be a scholar-official in the world just because he is a bandit. The reason why he is recognized by the scholar-bureaucrats all over the world is because he respects Confucius and Mencius. Since he wants to respect Confucius and Mencius, he cannot not treat us descendants of saints well!"
Kong Shangtan sneered at this time and continued to persuade Kong Shangxian: "So, brother, don't change the tablets, and don't be afraid of the Zhu family emperor! If it is a Hu emperor like Meng Yuan, you have to be more careful. The Han emperor , it’s not too late to withdraw when the blame comes, maybe the emperor will be the one to tolerate it in the end, not us!”
After hearing this, Kong Shangxian still hesitated: "But I'm not afraid of ten thousand, I'm just afraid of what might happen, in case the emperor doesn't want to endure it."
"If the emperor was unwilling to endure it, he would have had an attack long ago. Does brother think that Dongchang and Jinyiwei have not let the emperor know about our Kong family?"
Kong Shangli asked at this time.
Kong Shangxian nodded when he heard what Kong Shangli said. In addition, he really didn't want to change the king's tablet to a duke's tablet, so he made up his mind: "Then let's not withdraw."
…
"We are about to arrive in Qufu. I believe you all know what kind of saintly family this Yanshenggong Mansion is."
"Today, I am calling you, but I also want to ask you, what do you think of Duke Yansheng's Mansion?"
Before Zhu Yijun arrived in Qufu, he specially summoned all the ministers in his entourage and mentioned Duke Yansheng's mansion.
Li Chengliang knew what Zhu Yijun was thinking, so he sneered and said: "Your Majesty said that he is from a saint's family, which is a bit unrealistic. In my opinion, they should be wearing the skin of a saint's family, but they are actually from a Tatar family. Who doesn’t know that the Kong family of Beizong is of Hu origin and not a descendant of a saint at all?”
Academician Shen Li also knew what Zhu Yijun was thinking, so he followed up and said: "Your Majesty, I think what the Prime Minister said is that the imperial court now values pragmatism in scholarship. The Hanlin Academy has already verified it before. Based on the fact that Li Xueshi, who is now teaching His Royal Highness the Crown Prince, The leader also published a special article. If many Confucian officials had not objected to publicizing this matter, and His Majesty also considered that King Zhu's concurrence had caused great repercussions among the scholars, he would not have publicized it, but it does not mean that this matter was publicized. He doesn’t exist.”
"Therefore, if we really want to pay homage to Confucius, we should do so based on the facts, and we cannot allow barbarians to pretend to be descendants of Confucius in the future."
"In addition, in the opinion of a foolish minister, Confucius and Mencius can only be called sages, not saints, so those who follow cannot be called descendants of saints."
When Shen Li said this, Zhu Yijun asked: "Why?"
"Your Majesty, the sages are the sages of ancient times. They had great merits and virtues at that time, but they may or may not be available to future generations. The saints are the so-called perfect people, but in reality, the ancients had great merits and virtues. A virtuous person is not a perfect person, and regardless of his personal virtues, even his academic achievements are not completely free of disadvantages while benefiting the world."
"Therefore, they cannot be called saints, just because the common saying has become established. You can call them saints, but it must be clear that they are not real saints. Therefore, if you want to respect them as saints, you cannot respect them alone, but you must also respect them. Respect the saints and sages in the world, and avoid being so exclusive that one or two stupid people in the world only know how to respect the saints but not the emperor; and even if they respect the saints together, they should not be too respectful. It is only appropriate to give more preferential treatment in sacrifices, not because they are too respectful. Treating his heirs with care will prevent them from being arrogant and indulgent, which is not conducive to the preservation of his virtues by his heirs."
After Shen Li said this, Zhu Yijun nodded, and then asked Zhang Jingxiu: "How is the Jinyi Guard's investigation of the Kong family going?"
"Back to Your Majesty, the land rent of the Confucius Mansion is still the highest in Qufu, Shandong Province. The Confucius Mansion itself still has a temple built in honor of the memorial tablet enshrined by the Meng Yuan Dynasty. Even the sacrificial inscriptions still use the "Zhizheng" reign name. Many people in his clan say After the royal family became a bandit, they are not worthy to be included in the three great families in the world."
Zhang Jingxiu replied at this time.
After hearing this, Zhu Yijun asked: "How are the people under the Kong family in Qufu doing?"
"They were severely exploited, and the land rent was much higher. Due to clan laws, clan members under the Kong family were not allowed to move elsewhere, otherwise they would be executed if caught."
"In addition, people in the Confucius family are still required to abide by the old etiquette. Men can only read the Four Books, and women must have their feet bound. Therefore, many scholar-bureaucrats are now even more proud to marry a Confucian daughter to a Confucian man."
Zhang Jingxiu replied.
Zhu Yijun lowered his face and said: "Shen Qing is right, you cannot respect sages alone. This is the consequence of respecting sages alone!"
"Because many Confucian ministers asked Yanshenggong Mansion to give the Yanshenggong Mansion the opportunity to reform its ethics and religion, and to preserve the dignity of the saints, His Majesty did not make public some of the Yanshenggong Mansion's crimes that had long been investigated by the Jinyiwei and punish them according to the royal law. The order ordered him to reflect on himself; but unexpectedly, it only fueled his arrogance, and he is still practicing the old rituals! It has simply become the last place in the world to harbor filth and evil!"
"I believe that after taking advantage of the current noble army, the foundation of the DPRK has been based on honorable military households, and this place of filth and evil will be thoroughly cleaned to prevent the resurgence of outdated rituals, while still only seeking for the sake of our compatriots. Live like a cow and a horse from generation to generation, so that you can live a comfortable life; do not want to be a spring breeze, but work hard for the growth of all things, so that the place where the sun and moon shine will be our Han civilization, and then the world will be unified!"
Wang Xijue also explained his own point of view at this time. He could not accept the resurgence of the old rites. After all, the new rites were the hard work of him, Shen Shixing, Yu Youding and others, and they were the foundation for his Wang family to become rich in Jiangnan.
And as Wang Xijue said, Zhu Yijun's power base is no longer the scholar-bureaucrats, but a military aristocratic group composed of clan members, honorary relatives, and military households. Therefore, Zhu Yijun does not need to care about the feelings of the disciples of Confucius and Mencius, that is, some scholar-bureaucrats who respect Confucianism. And liquidate the Kong family.
What's more, in terms of thought, Zhu Yijun has actually allowed all saints to coexist for a long time. Even Wang Yangming has entered the Confucian Temple. The coexistence of all saints means that no one saint can be honored alone, and no one can take advantage of the one who is honored. Saint came to stop the emperor from doing what he wanted to do.
Zhu Yijun nodded at this time: "We can no longer tolerate the Confucius family. Since the Jinyiwei has found out that they have not made corrections as ordered, the Jinyiwei will immediately control the Qufu Confucius Sect and not give them the opportunity to cover up." Guilty! At the same time, Dongchang immediately asked the people in Kong Mansion to mobilize the people to cause trouble."
Zhang Jingxiu and Tian Yi said yes.
So, that night, Zhang Jingxiu asked his younger brother Zhang Maoxiu to take the people to Qufu in person.
(End of chapter)
