Kong Maojie had been cracking down on the Confucian scholars' attempts to prevent judicial officers from confiscating the Kong family's homes. It was he who arrested all the Confucian scholars and threw them into prison.
But this Confucian scholar caught more and more people.
The more he arrests, the more people come, the more he strikes, the less the people who come are afraid of him. More and more Confucian scholars point at Kong Maojie’s nose and scold him for not respecting the saint. One day he will be punished. God's punishment.
Kong Maojie no longer believed in God since he almost starved to death. He only believed in Su Yonglin, and he did not believe in retribution. The spiritual attacks of these Confucian scholars were of no use to him, but the behavior of these Confucian scholars obstructing official duties made him very unhappy.
At first there were fifty people, then one hundred, then one hundred and fifty, and now two hundred.
In order to prepare for the imperial examination in the fifth year of Hongwu, many candidates are now studying in Zhongdu.
When the imperial examination was restructured in the fifth year of Hongwu's reign, the content of the examination would be completely different from that of the second year of Hongwu. Therefore, many Confucian families in Shandong opposed the reform of the imperial examination and at the same time sent their children to Zhongdu.
There is no way. Currently, there are only cram schools in China that provide tutoring for the innovative content of the imperial examination.
Therefore, these families asked their children who passed the selection exam but failed the final exam in the second year of Hongwu to review their old lessons and learn new content for the imperial examination in Zhongdu, so as not to fail in competition with other candidates.
As a result, there are now a large number of candidates from all over the country gathered in Zhongdu. They are basically students who passed the selection exams from various places in the second year of Hongwu but failed to pass the final exam.
According to the regulations of the imperial examination, they were qualified to take the examination held in Zhongdu without having to take the local selection examination in the next year. Therefore, they did not stay in their hometowns, but gathered in Zhongdu to prepare for the examination.
Among them, Shandong has the largest number of students, and the number of Confucian scholars is of course also very large.
They were shocked when the news of the anti-corruption case in Shandong came earlier. They wrote to their hometowns one after another to ask for the news. Now that the news has not been received, they are horrified to see that the Kong family has been attacked, and the emperor even wants to erase the existence of the Kong family. .
In shock, quite a few of these Shandong Confucian scholars were furious.
Speaking of which, Kong was quite good to these Shandong Confucian students living in Zhongdu preparing for the exam. He helped them introduce teachers, prepared reliable teaching materials for them, and encouraged them to work hard to beat the candidates from other regions.
They believe that the Confucian scholars in Shandong have strong learning ability and will be able to kill those barbarians.
Because of this relationship, the Confucian scholars were very grateful to the Kong family. Now that the Kong family encountered a disaster, some passionate people wanted to stand up to protect the Kong family. Some even shouted slogans swearing to live and die with the Kong family and rushed to the scene. Confronted with the government at the gate of Confucius' residence.
Then they were all arrested.
The other Confucian scholars had some considerations, but seeing that the emperor did not give any further orders to attack and did not attack the identity of the students they were most concerned about, they became bolder.
They all felt that if they could charge hard and save Kong at this time, becoming famous in the future would not be a dream.
Even if the Kong family is doomed, they have the reputation of being "upright" and fighting for the Kong family without fear of government attacks, which will also be good for their future career.
With various considerations in mind, batches of Shandong Confucian scholars forcibly endured their fears, opposed Kong Maojie, the famous ghost in Zhongdu, and were then thrown into prison.
Obviously, Zhongdu Gui Jianchou is not easy to get along with.
But no further blow would frighten them, it would only embolden them and keep them going.
So within a few days, these Confucian scholars began to protest at the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of Law and the Yamen Gate of Dali Temple.
They sat down in groups in groups to protest at the gates of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, the Ministry of Justice and the Dali Temple. They shouted opposition slogans, demanding that the Third Division be released, that the Third Division review the handling of Kong, and that the Third Division pay attention to Kong's role in history. historical status.
The Kong family may not look so inconspicuous, but they worship Saint Kong!
Without Confucius, the country would not be a country!
This is the slogan of the most radical group of them.
Time passed slowly, and by mid-June, Su Yonglin still had no order to severely punish these Confucian students.
At this moment, the Third Division launched an action against the Confucian students in Zhongdu - not for the matter they were protesting against, but for the follow-up interrogation of Shandong's criminal family.
If they have children in Zhongdu, these children will also be dealt with and need to be sent to Jishi Prefecture together.
The Third Division was so busy that they couldn't care about it for a while, but now news finally came from Shandong, saying that the trial of the case was almost complete and the escort operation could begin.
As a result, personnel from the Third Division of Zhongdu also started screening, arresting, and further escorting Shandong Confucian scholars in Zhongdu.
As the operation progressed, news that a large number of families in Shandong had been convicted and destroyed spread among the Confucian scholars in Shandong, completely igniting the uneasiness and fear in the hearts of a large number of Confucian scholars.
They kept watching their friends being taken away by officials from the Third Division, never to return. They were terrified. It was about their personal interests, the safety of their hometown, and their parents and relatives. How could they sit still?
So they went a step further and sent representatives to break into Sansi's office and demand an explanation from Sansi to let them know how their family was doing.
It's fine if nothing happens, but if something happens, you must ask clearly what the crime is and why it should be dealt with so harshly.
Why was he exiled to Jishi Prefecture and not allowed to return without pardon?
They continued to obstruct judicial officials from handling their official duties, to the point where groups of people confronted judicial officials, and a very small number of individuals fought with judicial officials and violently resisted.
When things progressed to this point, Kong Maojie, who was well aware of Su Yonglin's purpose, finally relaxed and nodded in the face of more than a dozen ugly-looking subordinates.
"Okay, they beat people and violently resist the law. Things are completely different at this point. Everyone, don't be patient anymore. Count them all. Arrest them all. If the Zhongdu Prison is overrun, use the military barracks outside the city!"
"Censor, do you really want to do this?"
A subordinate asked doubtfully: "This matter is of great importance. Do you want to ask for your Majesty's instructions?"
"No, I will bear all the responsibilities."
Kong Maojie waved his hand: "Those who resist arrest are allowed to use force. As long as they can't be beaten to death, they will be beaten to death! Remember, there is only one purpose, and that is not to let anyone go!"
"Here!"
The subordinates took the order one after another and rushed out of the Metropolitan Procuratorate with murderous intent. After all, many of the Imperial Censors of the Metropolitan Procuratorate were transferred from the army and received formal military training from the Ming army. When it comes to fighting, these Confucian scholars are really no match.
Like Kong Maojie, Shen Ge, Minister of the Ministry of Law, and Jiang Chengyue, Minister of Dali Temple, simultaneously issued orders allowing judicial officers to arrest Confucian scholars who violently resisted the law.
But in fact, all commands point to a goal.
All Confucian scholars who participated in the protest, or other local officials with impure thoughts, were arrested.
Then uproot it.
Su Yonglin wanted to destroy the foundation of Confucianism in Shandong in one fell swoop, reshape Shandong, and then completely remove the influence of Confucianism on the Ming Dynasty.
They don't want to exaggerate this matter into burning books and humiliating scholars for the second time. Su Yonglin will not give them a chance to turn over.
They will forever become the dust of history in the bitter cold years of Jishi Prefecture, and will never be able to return to the mainstream view.
In the future, if the Ming Empire further marches westward and expands its territory, they will also follow the army to places farther west. They may even be lucky enough to go to Suiye City, the birthplace of the poet Li Bai, to pay homage to the traces left by Li Bai.
