Hundreds of Tuan Yong, wearing fat double-breasted jackets, large cotton trousers, and wrapping their heads with cloth handkerchiefs, were forming a loose column, carrying their luggage, large knives, spears, and weapons that were crudely made at first glance. The matchlock gun went straight to Qufu County. These group heroes who came from nowhere are mostly young and strong, and everyone looks cheerful and energetic. Walking in front of them, there were seven or eight strong men riding mules and horses. They did not ride well, but straightened up on the backs of the mules and horses as if to show off their riding skills. They also looked left and right and saw the Qufu City Wall in the distance. Tuan Yong, who was still training as a team in the open space outside the city, started yelling.
"God, isn't this Qufu just a county town? Why does it have such a tall city wall? It's still the strongest brick city, and it doesn't look any worse than the capital city of Daming Prefecture. Even the lives of a hundred thousand enemy troops won't be enough. Pile it on the wall?"
"This is the hometown of Kong Shenggong. If our Daming Palace was in the Song Dynasty, it would indeed be much stronger than Qufu, but now how can it be as prosperous as Qufu? Even the big and small are probably not as prosperous as Qufu."
"This Holy Duke holds such a strong city and has so many brave men. Is he planning something big?"
"Does that need to be said? The world is in chaos now. The Ming Dynasty is resurgent in the south, the Qing Dynasty is ruling the roost in the north, and the Wu and Zhou Dynasty are in the west. Only the east is missing an Eastern Emperor, and it seems that it must be Shenggong!"
"Then we have made the right decision to vote for the Holy Duke now. Once the Holy Duke ascends the throne and proclaims himself emperor, we will be regarded as the founding heroes of the country. We will no longer have to act based on the face of the county magistrate."
These turned out to be Tuanyong from Daming Prefecture in North Zhili Province, who crossed the province and came to Qufu County in Yanzhou Prefecture, Shandong Province to "vote for the Holy Duke". Listening to their words, it seems that they did not intend to defend the Qing Dynasty, but planned to help Kong Shenggong become the "Eastern Emperor"... This was to rebel!
This group of Tuan Yong from Daming Mansion walked to the gate of Ximen Zonglu Gate in Qufu while loudly discussing the rebellion. The Zonglu Gate was open generously, and the few people guarding the gate from Qufu County didn't even bother to ask. Needless to say, we all know that they must be powerful local warriors from Shandong, Henan, Huaibei, Zhili and other places who came to seek refuge with the Holy Duke. .
Although the Qing court had already issued an explicit order, it only allowed Kong Shenggong to recruit and train bravery in several state capitals in Shandong. But now the main force of the Qing army in Shandong has been transferred to Huguang, and only some of the bidders and bid raisers are still barely maintaining the dignity of the Qing Dynasty in Shandong. Under such circumstances, how could the Qing government in Shandong still have the intention to restrict Shenggong from recruiting Tuan Yong? After all, the more people the Holy Duke has, the safer they will be. If the Holy Duke really doesn’t have many people under his command, and the Ming army comes over, will they be considered as second ministers? Or should I die to repay the king in the face of danger?
They may not accept the second minister, and they may die in the face of danger... Although they are unwilling to do so, what can they do if the soldiers of tomorrow want to kill them?
Therefore, these local officials in Shandong not only ignored the constraints imposed by the Qing Dynasty on Kong Shenggong, but also opened the door to convenience. Some even took the initiative to provide food and accommodation to these foreign Tuanyong who came from afar... Of course, they secretly reported to Kong Shenggong. He plotted something evil, traveled across provinces to help the local brave, and shouted from a high place, and tens of thousands of followers sent memorials like flowing water to Jingzhao Mansion!
This is called the officialdom philosophy of "cutting the bean curd with a knife and showing both sides" - if the court wanted to investigate Kong Shenggong for treason, these people would have exposed it, so they are not accomplices. If Kong Shenggong officially raises the banner of rebellion and becomes Kong Sheng, then they have all provided support for the "holy soldiers" and can all be regarded as the founding heroes of the country.
At this time, in the Shenggong Mansion in Qufu City, Kong Yuqi, the Shenggong of Kong, was about to become "Confucian Depressed"... Can he not be depressed? He has done nothing. In the past few years, he has just worshiped puppets and clay sculptures, placing them on the stage for the Confucian disciples below to worship. All the "Shenggong Orders" issued in his name were issued by those big bosses based on Emperor Kangxi's secret edicts and had nothing to do with him.
But he is so good, why are so many people falsely accusing him of rebellion?
"...It's unjust, it's unjust, our ancestors are above us. The unworthy descendant Kong Yuqi is unjustly accused of rebelling. Rebellion will destroy the nine tribes! The Kong family has been passed down for so many generations, and now it is going to perish in my hands. Ancestor, what do I do?"
In a main hall of the Confucius Institute in Qufu, Kong Yuqi was kneeling in front of a full-length portrait of the saint named Confucius, complaining to his ancestors with runny nose and tears.
The only person beside him was Huang Zhisheng, Kong Yuqi's only confidant... Fortunately, Huang Zhisheng had informed Kong Shenggong, otherwise he would not have known that there were so many people behind his back telling him that he was going to rebel.
This false accusation of rebellion is so wicked!
"Brother-in-law, what do you think I should do? Should I give the emperor a note?"
He complained to his ancestors for a long time, but his ancestors ignored him, so Kong Yuqi had no choice but to seek help from Huang Zhisheng.
Huang Zhisheng is now his brother-in-law. But he is not his biological brother-in-law, but his cousin-in-law. Huang Zhisheng actually has a wife and children in his hometown in Guangdong, but they did not follow him to the north. So Huang Zhisheng was single for a while. Although he had a good relationship with the widowed girls of Monk Zhixin, he couldn't marry them after all. So Kong Yuqi, who wanted to win over him, asked the clan to choose a beautiful girl who was sixteen or seventeen years old to marry Huang Zhisheng - that girl was really fair-skinned, beautiful and long-legged, a standard Shandong beauty, and she was also well-educated and courteous. ...This person named Huang is really cheap!
Huang Zhisheng frowned, with a look of sorrow on his face, "It's obvious that there are no tigers in the city; but three people's words turned into tigers... Not to mention that when the Holy Duke called out today, more than 100,000 people jumped up and followed. Today's Shandong All the officials in the province are Confucianists, and everyone looks up to the Holy Duke as his horse. What is the use of the Holy Duke's manifesto at this time?"
"No, it's useless? Then, then I should..." Kong Yuqi burst into tears of sadness, "Should I tie myself in front of the emperor and let him do whatever he wants?"
Huang Zhisheng shook his head and said with a smile: "That's not necessary. Shenggong only needs to sit in the palace, and I and other bosses will handle the big things."
"Just sit still?" Kong Yuqi looked at Huang Zhisheng with some uncertainty.
Huang Zhisheng nodded: "Yes, just sit still. I and other bosses will deal with it, so you don't have to worry about mundane matters."
"Then, then I will just sit and wait for death..." Kong Yuqi said in an inaudible voice.
Huang Zhisheng bowed to Kong Yuqi and said, "Students receive the holy decree!"
After bowing, he turned around and walked out of the lobby, then left the heavily guarded Konglin and returned to the Shenggong Mansion next to Konglin.
In the lobby of the Shenggong Mansion, the four big bosses including Xiong Cilu, Zhou Peigong, Zhang Ying, and Fu Honglie had already been waiting a little impatiently.
The selection of this Confucian boss has been adjusted twice in the past few years, and Mingzhu and Li Guangdi were adjusted out. Then Xiong Ci came in as the chief boss, and Fu Honglie, the stupid servant of the Qing Dynasty, also joined the bureau and became the boss in charge of military affairs.
This time the five big guys gathered in Qufu, obviously to discuss some important matter. The four people waiting inside the Shenggong Mansion saw Huang Zhisheng coming, and they all started asking questions.
"Where's the Holy Duke?"
"Brother Zhi Sheng, is the Holy Duke still unwilling to take matters seriously?"
Huang Zhisheng nodded and said with a smile: "King Su, of course, we should take care of things... We, the bosses, have to be more patient."
As he spoke, he sat down by himself, picked up a bowl of still hot tea on the coffee table and took a sip, then turned his attention to Zhou Peigong - in the top five, Xiong Cilu was responsible for deception. In the imperial court, Huang Zhisheng was responsible for coaxing the Holy Duke, Zhang Ying was the chief steward, Fu Honglie was in charge of regiment training, and Zhou Peigong was the "chief rebel" and was responsible for making suggestions.
Zhou Peigong had long been confident and said with a smile: "I will write a book in the name of the Holy Duke and postpone the appointment of governor of Shandong and admiral of military affairs!"
Xiong Cilu frowned: "What did you push for? When did Shenggong become the governor of Shandong and the admiral of military affairs? How can you push for such a job?"
Zhou Peigong smiled and said: "The Holy Duke feels that the imperial court wants him to be the governor of Shandong and the admiral of military affairs...so he should be polite first!"
