Qufu, Yanshenggong Mansion.
Under the plaque of "Holy Mansion" written in gold lacquer, the once magnificent Confucius Mansion is now gloomy and gloomy. After the Wanshou Festival, it was revealed that the Confucius family and the Korean envoy Zheng Mengzhou wanted to stop studying. Everyone knew that the Confucius family would be in trouble in the future. A thick cloud immediately enveloped the Duke Yansheng's mansion, which was beaten by the emperor. In the past, the gates and courtyards were no longer accessible, and now the number of pommel horses coming and going has become increasingly rare.
However, on this day, a rare official visitor came to Yanshenggong Mansion. Kong Xixue, who was frightened at home, was overjoyed and went out to greet him personally. The two were polite at the door for a long time, and Kong Xixue then led the man to the hall for a banquet.
"Master Lu came to visit me at this time, which is really touching." Kong Xixue was almost in tears. He wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes and sighed: "Alas, a friend in need is a friend, and the sages have never deceived me... It's hard to still remember me... …”
"Hey, what did Duke Yansheng say?" The person visiting was Lu Ben, the salt transport envoy from Shandong Province. He smiled kindly and said: "The imperial court summoned the official to Beijing to report on his duties. On the way, he passed by the saint's treasure house. He should hand it over and pay his respects... I only hope that Duke Yan will not blame the official for his abruptness."
"If you don't blame, how can you blame?" Kong Xixue was very enthusiastic. Although Lu Ben was modest and said he was reporting on his duties, Kong Xixue knew that Lu Ben was about to be promoted. In the past, when Qingliu still existed in the court, this person was not very conspicuous. Now that the clear stream has dispersed, Lu Ben has become one of the few people Kong Xixue relies on in the court.
In the past, because of the empty seal case, the emperor used an excuse to purge the old scholars in the court. He actually deposed a large number of learned and talented people in the court, such as Zhan Tong and Fang Keqin, to the countryside, and even ransacked their homes and imprisoned them. Most of the princes in the court who used to be the leaders of the Ming Dynasty were wiped out overnight. Lu Benn was originally from the Qingliu family, but he was a kind-hearted person and did not criticize the new learning openly and openly. Moreover, because his hometown and the emperor belonged to Fengyang, he could barely be considered a Huaixi party member, so he was preserved.
However, Kong Xixue knew that Lu Ben actually supported Cheng Zhu's old learning in his heart. The reason why he hid in the court was just to keep him useful... There are still many such loyal and good people in the court today. After all, Neo-Confucianism has been around for hundreds of years and has its own heritage. These loyal and good people only care about themselves in the court, but also in order to one day find opportunities to rise up again, destroy new learning, and save the world...
But now, Kong Xixue already feels that the sky is falling.
He took Lu Ben's hand and cried: "Lord Lu, you don't know that the current situation in the court is really full of treacherous people, and it has reached a critical stage of life and death!"
"A few days ago, the prince and the cabinet planned to reform the imperial examination. According to the new learning initiative, all officials and minor officials in the government must be promoted through the imperial examination. Scholars can be appointed as county officials, and candidates can be appointed as government officials... Those who have been appointed as officials for three years , can you be admitted as a Jinshi. Moreover, the scientific examinations must also be divided into different categories. The household department needs to test mu calculation, the punishment department needs to test criminal law, and the eight-legged essay for saints can be reduced according to the system... This is really treasonous! The students cited in this way are still A disciple of a saint?”
"This is to revitalize hundreds of schools of thought that destroyed the country! Doesn't it mean that the calculation of land and criminal law should be changed to the agricultural and legal schools? The new way of learning is really harmful to the country and the people! If students who have passed the exam in this way are allowed to take charge of the government, our Ming Dynasty The country is in danger and is not far away."
"The knowledge of our ancestors has been mastered by ourselves!"
Kong Xixue beat his chest and stamped his feet, his face filled with grief. It seemed that the next moment he was going to crash into the saint statue enshrined in front of the hall.
But the carved beams and paintings of the Confucius Mansion, the gilt-bronze tripod in front of the statue of Confucius, and the delicacies from the mountains and seas placed under the tripod made Lu Ben couldn't help but curl his lips slightly.
"Mr. Yan Shenggong... Mr. Yan Shenggong put aside his grief for the time being." Lu Ben advised. He helped Kong Xixue, who was almost crying, back to the chair, and then sighed heavily. "Hey, what can we do? The country is in ruins, and Song Lian and Liu Bowen have switched to a new school to please Your Majesty. Your Majesty is so happy with his achievements that he is willing to engage in military affairs... But after all, Your Majesty is in charge of the power of the world, so what can we, my ministers, do?"
"Sigh. It's just dormant for the time being. So what can we do? Lord Yan Sheng will listen to the advice of his subordinates, teach his children behind closed doors, and pass on the holy knowledge... When the holy king is born one day, you and I will use our old bodies to assist That’s the Holy Lord…sigh.”
"It's just that I don't know if I should wait until the Year of the Monkey and the Year of the Horse?"
Lu Ben sighed repeatedly.
Kong Xixue's face turned green after hearing this. Hibernating for now? How to hibernate? Today, His Majesty has always been in good health. He usually helps the plow in the fields, and can plow more than ten acres in one breath without even breathing. The sinews and muscles that have been trained by fighting in the world are simply stronger than an ox. How can I imitate Sima Yi and stay dormant for a while? The Zhu family does not have hereditary headaches!
Even if there is a real possibility, Prince Zhu Biao is also a dragon and a tiger. And he is still in his prime, so he can live another fifty or sixty years at least. The father and son of the Zhu family have a long life, and Kong Xixue is absolutely no match for him. It is he, Kong Xixue, who has started to maintain his health from today, and will live another hundred and eighty years, but now the Kong family is in danger. If the Kong family falls, even if you are alive, what will be the benefit? All the wealth and honor have vanished, so why should I use my old bones as legs of clay?
"Lord Lu, I don't know. I, the Kong family, may not be able to survive that time!" Kong Xixue cried. "A few days ago, His Majesty sent people to take back my position as the magistrate of Qufu County of the Confucian family, and sent people south to Quzhou to order the Nanzong of Quzhou to worship the ancestor Master Kong. In the past few days, the new commander of the Jinyi Guards, Jiang Ying, is a new official. He took office three times and put this fire on the head of my Kong family."
"The belongings of my Kong family have been plundered by those wolf-like and tiger-like hawks and dogs... Farming and studying the family heirloom. My Kong family has been farming and studying the family heirloom for generations, and even a few acres of the fields passed down by our ancestors have been taken away..."
"Don't talk about lying dormant...I'm afraid that in a few days, Jiang Gu will be framed and arrested for me. If all the princes in the court don't rise up now, my Kong family will be turned into powder."
Kong Xixue was so heartbroken that his last sentence was no longer high-sounding. How could Lu Ben not know? Duke Yan Sheng acted like this just because he hoped that the remaining members of the Qing Dynasty would continue to criticize the new learning and give a chance to the prosperity of the Confucius family.
After all, Kong Xixue's memorial during the Wanshou Festival had completely pushed the Yanshenggong Mansion to the opposite side of the new learning. Now that the two sides are fighting to the death, Kong Xixue can no longer be like him, Lu Ben, who doesn't show his attitude and just buries his head and lives. Duke Yansheng's Mansion has now been completely bound to Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism.
If the new learning does not fail, the Confucius Mansion will not survive.
No matter how high-sounding he said it, in fact, he, Yan Shenggong, just couldn't bear to part with the glory and wealth he had enjoyed for a lifetime.
"Don't be impatient, Lord Yan. As the saying goes: 'The country will be immoral and defeated, but Heaven will first send out disasters to warn them, but they don't know how to reflect on themselves, and then send out strange things to warn them. If they don't know how to change, they will be hurt and defeated. Seeing the benevolence of Heaven's heart and loving others, one wishes to stop the chaos.'"
Naturally, Lu Ben would not agree to Yan Shenggong's intention to mobilize Qingliu to fight for the Kong family, but he still smiled kindly and comforted Kong Xixue. "The new learning is going against the grain, and I think it will arouse the wrath of heaven. If one or two disasters occur in the imperial capital, do you know that your majesty will not suddenly wake up and abandon the new learning and go to Cheng Zhuye?"
"In this way, we will be able to achieve good results if we continue to obey nature and respond to circumstances, and bring order to things. Alas... I really don't know when this warning from heaven will appear in this world!"
(End of chapter)
