"You are truly worthy of being a member of the Millennium Kneeling Clan."
Zhu Yijun said with a smile.
Kong Shangtan was not angry, and only said respectfully: "Your Majesty, although the new ritual has abolished the kneeling ceremony, as a saint's family, our Confucius family has always advocated loyalty, justice, benevolence and filial piety. Therefore, the family etiquette has always required kneeling when meeting the emperor and father. Now I When I see your father, I will naturally kneel down."
"In that case, then just kneel down."
Zhu Yijun sneered and said this immediately.
Then, Zhu Yijun asked these Kong family members again: "Your Kong family intends to rebel against the Ming Dynasty and restore the Yuan Dynasty, so you still erect the memorial tablet sealed by Meng Yuan, right?"
"Your Majesty, of course this is not the case!"
"All of this was framed by someone, and we don't know why there was such a tablet suddenly in the temple."
Kong Shangtan quickly denied it.
Kong Shangli also replied: "Yes, Your Majesty, this must be deliberately framed. We in the Kong family have always been loyal to the court. It is impossible for us to have such treacherous thoughts! Your Majesty, please tell me clearly!"
"I believe you for the time being, but what's going on with this lowering of the rank?"
Zhu Yijun took the surrender form and asked.
Kong Shangtan, Kong Shangli and others couldn't help but look at each other.
Then, Kong Shangtan kowtowed to the ground and said: "Your Majesty, I am doing this because I have to use this expedient to preserve the saint's bloodline!"
"This is the same as when our ancestors had to surrender to Meng Yuan. It was just to preserve the blood of the saints. Therefore, Taizu also showed mercy to our ancestors back then. Now I just ask your Majesty to be kind and considerate to me!"
"Your Majesty, Taizu did not consider them at that time, but issued an edict to rebuke them. And because of this, the son of Duke Yansheng at that time was allowed to inherit the title of the dynasty, and he was not allowed to directly inherit the title of Duke Yansheng of Yuanfeng. "
At this time, Bachelor Shen Li refuted Kong Shangtan's statement.
Zhu Yijun then nodded: "What Mr. Shen Ge said is very true. If other families do this to preserve their incense, it would be fine, but your family is different! You relied on loyalty and filial piety to survive in the world, and you also relied on loyalty and filial piety to gain the title of wife and son. If you cannot do this because of the kindness of the country, then what qualifications do you have to rely on the loyalty and filial piety of Kong Shengxian to receive preferential treatment from the world?"
"If we say that because our ancestors are saints, we can openly betray the country and the nation and the principles of loyalty and filial piety on the pretext of preserving the saint's bloodline, wouldn't that not encourage everyone in the world to become saints, and encourage people in the world to work hard to make their descendants Are you free to betray your country and nation, betray your loyalty and filial piety?”
"Your Majesty is saying that in my opinion, although it is important to pass on the bloodline of the sages, it is more important to pass on the knowledge of the sages!"
"If you are only willing to sell out the sage's knowledge just for the sake of spreading the sage's bloodline, this is undoubtedly putting the cart before the horse, and may even be detrimental to the spread of the sage's learning."
"As a family of a saint, the Confucius family is a descendant of a saint and has received preferential treatment from the court. It is equivalent to receiving preferential treatment from the people of the world and being supported by the people of the world. Therefore, it has the obligation to practice the teachings of the saint. If you fail to do so, it will be equivalent to betraying the people of the world!"
Wang Xijue then followed Yan and said.
Zhu Yijun nodded after hearing this: "That's exactly the reason!"
Zhu Yijun then looked at Kong Shangtan and others: "You should feel guilty for your actions, you should feel guilty for the people in the world, and you should feel guilty for your ancestor, Saint Kong."
"Yes! Your Majesty said that I feel very guilty."
Kong Shangtan admitted frankly at this time.
Kong Shangli said: "I am truly worthy of being the descendants of saints."
"I heard that your Confucius family is still using old rituals to manage your family?"
At this time, Zhu Yijun asked about Kong Shangtan and others, and after asking, he continued: "You are still binding feet, lynching people, and even prohibiting migration to other tribes?"
"Your Majesty, this is my brother's intention!"
Kong Shangtan decisively threw the blame to Kong Shangxian, who had been hanged in the temple.
"Yes, Your Majesty, I actually tried to persuade you, but he didn't listen!"
Kong Shangli also echoed.
…
After Zhu Yijun heard what these Kong family members said, he said: "The new rites have been implemented for so long, and the edicts prohibiting foot binding and private use of punishments by clans have been issued for so many years, but you, the Confucius Mansion, still turn a deaf ear to it, and you cannot say that you are a family of loyalty and filial piety. ! And you said that this was all done by Kong Shangxian, and you tried to persuade him but didn’t stop him, so why didn’t you report it to me?”
"I was confused and thought that the family scandal should not be made public, so I did not report it."
Kong Shangtan replied at this time.
Zhu Yijun said: "It's good that family scandals should not be made public, but you really just put everything on a dead man!"
"I still believe you. You should first write a self-report and write down the sins your family leader has done. You should also deeply reflect on your unfaithfulness and unfilial piety, and deeply criticize your family leader's sins. Write it now and submit it to me after you finish it!"
"yes!"
Half an hour later, Kong Shangtan and others had written their own notes and handed them over to Zhu Yijun.
After Zhu Yijun looked at them one by one, he ordered: "Hang them up too, to save the saint's face."
Zhang Jingxiu raised his hand and said yes.
Kong Shangtan was shocked after hearing this: "Your Majesty, you want us to hang ourselves?"
"You have committed unfaithful and unfilial acts, and even failed to report them when you saw your head of the family committing unfaithful and unfilial acts. Shouldn't you feel very guilty now and feel that you have failed your ancestors and my father-in-law? Don't you? Should I hang myself at this time to save respect for Confucianism?"
Zhu Yijun asked.
Kong Shangtan and Kong Shangli were stunned after hearing this.
At this moment, Kong Shangtan had an idea and cried: "Your Majesty, I am not actually a descendant of a saint at all. I am actually just a vassaled Tatar. The blood flowing in my body is the blood of the Mongols. Now, I am They are just pretending to be the descendants of saints. I am certainly guilty and have deceived Your Majesty and the previous emperors for many years, but in this case, there is no need for me to honor Confucianism founded by my ancestors, but to hang myself to apologize for loyalty and filial piety, Your Majesty!"
"You, how shameless are you! In order to survive, you even deny your own ancestors."
Shen Li couldn't help scolding him at this time.
Zhu Yijun waved his hand to stop Shen Li and said: "In that case, you should write another self-statement. In the self-statement, you should clearly state the arguments that you are not the descendants of Confucius. Let me believe it and the world will believe it. In this way, I will Then we can consider not letting you hang yourself for loyalty and filial piety."
"Yes, I am willing to write."
Kong Shangtan agreed.
Kong Shangli also followed suit and said, "I am also willing!"
"There are still ministers!"
"I am also willing!"
…
At that time, many adult men who were direct descendants of the Confucius family actively expressed their willingness to write self-reports proving that they were not descendants of Confucius.
In order to survive, these people do not want to recognize Confucius as their ancestor at this moment.
Only a few Kong family members were crying there, cursing how these people didn't even recognize their ancestors and chose to hang themselves.
After another half an hour, it was getting dark.
In the huge Confucius Temple, there are many torches, as bright as day, and many soldiers standing there, but it is extremely quiet.
At this time, Kong Shangtan and others also wrote their own statements admitting that they were not descendants of Confucius.
Zhu Yijun looked at these autobiography one by one, and then said: "Since he is not a descendant of Confucius, but a Mongolian, then he has committed the crime of deceiving the emperor, directly defrauding the emperor, destroying his family, and destroying his family pedigree! He also printed the family's ancestral lineage. All the books and editions were burned!"
After Zhu Yijun gave the order, Kong Shangtan and others were quite shocked after hearing this.
"Zhu Yijun, you!"
Kong Shantan even shouted out of control at this moment.
Zhu Yijun pointed at Kong Shangtan: "This barbarian doesn't follow Han etiquette and dares to call me by my name. It is really treasonous and unethical. Five horses will cut the body into pieces! The rest are still arrogant."
"yes!"
Kong Shantan was stunned and was dragged down.
When Kong Shangli and others heard what Zhu Yijun did, they did not dare to be like Kong Shangtan, who showed the anger in his heart because he was tricked by Zhu Yijun, so he had to suppress it in his heart and let Jin Yiwei drag him down.
Not long after.
Kong Shangtan, Kong Shangli and others were executed.
Here, Shen Li took the initiative to say to Zhu Yijun: "Your Majesty, although Kong Shangtan, Kong Shangli and others have claimed that they are of Mongolian and Yuan Tatar descent, they cannot be completely believed in their words. After all, hundreds of years have passed, and many things have happened. It’s hard to prove things; otherwise, do we really have to admit that Confucius had no descendants?”
"Yes, Your Majesty, the Quzhou Kong family has no heirs, and it was the Beizong Kong family who continued the incense through their adopted children. If now, the Beizong Kong family is really not the successor of Confucius, wouldn't it really mean that Confucius has no descendants? Later, this may be difficult for Confucian scholars in the world to accept!"
Wang Xijue also started talking. He was also a little reluctant to see Confucius end up with no future.
Zhu Yijun said: "They admitted it themselves, what can I do?"
Then, Zhu Yijun said: "However, what Mr. Shen Ge said is reasonable. It is difficult to verify this matter. What's more, it is not because of these people that all the Kong people in Qufu have become Mongolians and their Han registrations cannot be expelled." .”
"Let's do this. The Kong family of the Northern Sect will continue to destroy the family records and genealogy books. All the Kong families who are still in Qufu will be merged into the Kong family of the Southern Sect. The same is true for the genealogy books. The imperial court will only temporarily recognize the Kong family of the Southern Sect as the descendants of Kong Sheng. But because the research is unclear, and to avoid having any descendants of saints who would not hesitate to bring shame to their ancestors for the sake of family wealth, we will not grant the title again."
"In the future, the Confucius Temple and the Confucius Mansion were under the direct control of the Imperial Academy, and the Confucius Temple was changed to the Temple of the Chinese Saints. It was dedicated to worshiping saints who had made great contributions to the progress of Chinese civilization. Not only Confucius was honored, but the sacrifices were also performed by officials sent by the imperial court. The land of the Confucius Mansion was divided The property of the people who cultivated the land in the government will be deemed as unfavorable property and will be confiscated and sent to the customs."
"In addition, all the old rites and clan traditions in this mansion have been destroyed!"
"According to the order!"
…
"The fields are divided, the fields are divided, we don't have to bear the anger of the government!"
"As expected, your Majesty is here, and our life will be much easier!"
After Zhu Yijun issued this decree, the ordinary Kong people in Qufu were so happy that they rushed to tell each other.
Therefore, after Zhu Yijun left Qufu, many ordinary people in Qufu came to see him off. (End of chapter)
