Su Yonglin gave an order, and guards outside the palace came forward to capture Kong Zheng and drag him out of the meeting hall.
Only then did Kong Zheng react and shouted at the top of his lungs.
"Your Majesty! I am wronged! Your Majesty! The Kong family is wronged! There is no such thing! The Kong family will not rebel, Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Your Majesty, spare your life, Your Majesty!!!"
Kong Zheng's face was covered with tears and snot, his face was distorted, and he almost shouted a dolphin sound at the top of his voice.
He kept struggling, struggling desperately, punching and kicking the guards who came to capture him, but he was still dragged away by the strong guards.
What Su Yonglin has decided will never be changed.
Of course, it’s not like no one interceded for him.
The Shandong bosses present were horrified when they saw Kong Zheng's downfall, and they quickly knelt down and made a request to Su Yonglin.
"Your Majesty! The Kong family has been favored by the country and will never do anything rebellious! Your Majesty, please be careful!"
"Your Majesty, Kong Butang has been working conscientiously as an official for two years. He has not committed any violations of law or discipline and is very loyal to Your Majesty. There must be a misunderstanding about this matter!"
"Your Majesty, please forgive Kong Butang for his oversight. He... is a descendant of the Kong family after all!"
Cao Kai, Zhou Jiang and Chen Jichang, the three leaders of the Shandong faction, knelt on the ground to excuse Kong Zheng, hoping that Su Yonglin would not kill him but "clearly observe" that there must be some "misunderstanding" in this.
Su Yonglin smiled instead of getting angry.
"Misunderstanding? What is a misunderstanding? Tell me what is a misunderstanding? What is the misunderstanding about hiding armor and crossbows at home?"
"When the salt-making factory was sealed, there were actually private soldiers armed with weapons attacking judicial officials in the factory. Is this a misunderstanding? What misunderstanding? Can you explain it to me?"
"Obviously? What you mean is that I failed to observe, and I was wrong in this matter, right? What you said is the right one, right?"
Su Yonglin's barrage of questions left the three of them speechless.
The three of them wanted to say something, but in the face of this solid evidence, they couldn't even make excuses, let alone the courage to attack Su Yonglin directly.
Selling illicit salt and hiding ordnance at home were basically crimes committed by the whole family in any dynasty and were not subject to discussion.
But……
That is the Qufu Kong family after all!
The family that inherits the legacy of Saint Kong from the year before last!
Even if His Majesty reformed the imperial examination, then...it would still be the Kong family after all! Even during the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism were all in parallel, but they never belittled the status of Confucius!
But now the emperor actually wants to kill people and destroy the Kong family!
This is terrible isn't it?
Although he was very scared, Cao Kai decided to speak up and fight for Kong.
"Your Majesty, the Kong family has indeed committed a crime, but the Kong family in Qufu is not an ordinary family after all. It worships Confucius and is a direct descendant of Kong Sheng. The hope of scholars in the world suddenly shatters the Kong family, which may cause fear among scholars in the world. I hope your majesty will think again!"
Seeing Cao Kai speak, Zhou Jiang was also scared, but decided to speak up.
"Your Majesty, emperors of all dynasties have been ennobling and honoring Confucius for thousands of years. This has been the case for thousands of years. Sudden changes and the destruction of the Confucius family will have a huge impact on the people of the world. I am afraid it will affect the stability of the Ming Dynasty. Please also ask Your Majesty, please think twice!"
When Chen Jichang saw that the other two people had made comments, he also had to express his position.
"Your Majesty, although the Kong family has indeed committed a crime, it is enough for Your Majesty to deprive them of their official positions and titles, and it is also possible to seize their land and property. However, the Kong family cannot be destroyed. Their status in the hearts of the people of the world is really extraordinary, Your Majesty!"
The three of them expressed their opinions together, hoping that Su Yonglin could change his handling methods and forgive Kong.
The reason is simply that it will frighten the people of the world, thus affecting the stability of the Ming Dynasty, or even causing turmoil.
Su Yonglin expressed his confusion about this.
"Everyone in the world... I have a question that has been in my mind for a long time. I have always been puzzled. Can you answer it for me?"
The three of them raised their heads and looked at Su Yonglin with trepidation.
"In your mind, who are the people of the world? Do you mean the scholars in the world, or just all the people in the world?"
When Su Yonglin asked this question, many officials, including the three of them, had different ideas.
But these are the only three people who need to answer.
The three of them looked at me, and I looked at you, and then they gave an answer together.
"Of course all the people in the world..."
"Are many people in the world literate?"
"this……"
The three of them were stunned by Su Yonglin's question.
"If the people in the world are illiterate, how do they know how high the status of Saint Kong is? How do they know what Saint Kong means? They don't even know the words and have never read a book. What influence does Saint Kong have on them? Will they be frightened by the collapse of the Kong family? Will there be unrest? Can you explain it to me? "
Su Yonglin sneered and looked at the three people with dull faces.
The three of them were speechless.
"Can't you answer that? That's it. You all admit that Sage Kong has little influence on the people of the world. The people who have the greatest influence on them are the officials closest to them, or their masters, who are in no way comparable to Sage Kong. If they come together, what influence will they have?
What you call people of the world are actually all scholars, people who have read Confucian classics and claim to be disciples of saints. These people are what you call people of the world. How many people are there in this group? How many people are there in the world? "
Su Yonglin sneered and said: "Let me tell you, there are only a million scholars who are familiar with Confucian classics, but how many people are there in the world? Sixty million! Tell me, which one is more, one million scholars or 60 million common people? ?”
When Cao Kai heard that something was wrong with what Su Yonglin said, he became anxious and quickly defended himself.
"But Your Majesty, those ignorant people who are illiterate cannot govern the world. Only literate scholars can govern the world. Therefore, in all dynasties, scholars have always been valued! Your Majesty, please be careful! Otherwise, the hearts of the scholars in the world will be unstable, and the Ming Dynasty may be unstable. There is going to be a big disaster!"
"I don't understand what big trouble is coming."
Su Yonglin smiled and looked at Yelu Chenghui: "Chenghui, tell me, what big disaster is coming? Why can't I figure it out?"
Yelu Chenghui's expression did not change and he was very respectful.
"Reply to Your Majesty, I don't know."
"Oh, then Yuanyi, tell me, what big disaster is coming?"
"Back to your majesty, your majesty is so majestic that the Ming Dynasty has abundant military supplies and a great reputation. No one in the world knows about it, and no one knows about it. I don't know where the trouble lies."
Yelu Yuanyi was also very calm.
Su Yonglin nodded and asked Huo Jianbai again.
"Huo Qing, tell me, what big disaster is coming?"
Huo Jianbai smiled slightly.
"The Ming Dynasty is prosperous under your Majesty's rule. There are no troubles that I can't see, but isn't the trouble of these homeless dogs right in front of you?"
"Hahahahahaha!"
Su Yonglin patted Huo Jianbai's shoulder and agreed with his statement.
Cao Kai, who was kneeling on the ground, was furious. Seeing the gloating behavior of the foreign clan and the Yanyun clan, old and new hatreds surged into his heart. Anger arose in his heart, and he took out a knife from his arms. Fold the paper and hold it up with both hands.
"Your Majesty! Your Majesty, Cao Kai, impeach Huo Jianbai, the right minister of the Shangshu, Han Xianling, the right minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Yelu Yixian, the minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, Yelu Yixing, the minister of the Ministry of Finance, Sun Yixin, the minister of the Shangshu Province, and Yelu Hudugu, the minister of the Shangshu Province!"
One stone stirred up a thousand ripples, and the Yanyun and Foreign clan officials who had just been gloating about the misfortune changed their expressions. They were shocked when they looked at Cao Kai who was kneeling on the ground and holding up a stack of paper with both hands.
