These letters were all written by the contemporary Yanshenggong Kong Yinzhi to Kong Dazheng.
As soon as Zhang Mingwei read the content of the letter, he immediately understood what Kong Yinzhi was thinking.
Because Zhang Mingwei is not only promoting new learning, but most importantly, he is attacking the feudal king.
Logically speaking, the vassal kings are all the biological sons of the emperors of the past dynasties, and they are hereditary. As long as the Ming Dynasty is immortal, the vassal kings will have no worries.
However, as soon as Zhang Mingwei came to power, all the vassal prince's lands were returned to the imperial court, and the vassal prince himself wanted to leave the vassal overseas. In other words, at least in Kong Yinzhi's letter, he felt that the vassal king had been exiled.
If the vassal king is like this, what about Yan Shenggong?
Duke Yan Sheng was also hereditary, just like a vassal king. You, Duke Xingguo, are provoking the vassal king today. Will you be provoking him, Duke Yansheng, tomorrow?
In particular, the promotion of new learning will definitely have an impact on Confucianism.
These two factors combined, according to the words in the letter, to prepare for a rainy day. In order to prevent Duke Xingguo from moving him to Duke Yansheng in the future, he ordered his nephew in the capital to act according to the opportunity.
There are three letters in total about this. According to the different timelines, the concern for the future of the Kong family is getting stronger and stronger. One of the letters even expressed concern about Duke Xingguo's large-scale land conversion.
After seeing this letter, Zhang Mingwei remembered it.
Today's Yanshenggong, apart from the statue of the vassal king, is more like a chieftain.
Because the county magistrate of the Kong family land is also hereditary from the Kong family. In other words, the Kong family is almost the descendants of the Tusi Emperor, no different from the Tusi.
Seeing Duke Xingguo attack vassal kings and chieftains similar to the Kong family on such a large scale, it would be strange if he, Duke Yansheng, was not worried.
There is also a letter in which Kong Yinzhi explained to Kong Dazheng how to operate in the capital and convert the private fields of the Kong family into sacrificial fields.
Seeing this, Zhang Mingwei could only say that human greed is unlimited.
Whether people in ancient times had money or not, the symbol of wealth was the amount of grain fields.
According to a statistics at the end of the Qing Dynasty, the richest people in the Manchu Qing Dynasty were the twelve major political figures? Hereditary. At the beginning, it was a race to enclose land? After nearly three hundred years of accumulation, the grain fields were the largest.
Among the twelve major princes, Prince Gong has the most grain fields, with one million acres.
However, compared with the Confucian family in Qufu, these hereditary lords of the Manchu Qing Dynasty pale into insignificance.
The Kong family in Qufu has a total of 1.2 million acres of grain fields? This is more than the grain fields enclosed by the princes of the Qing Dynasty.
In addition, the Kong family's grain fields are divided into private fields and sacrificial fields. The so-called sacrificial field means that the harvest from the grain fields is used to maintain the Confucius Temple, and there is no need to pay taxes to the court. As the name suggests, private land is the Kong family's own grain land, which requires paying taxes to the court.
The greed of human nature is reflected here. The local officials in Qufu are from the Confucius family, and all the people in Qufu are tenants of the Confucius family. Not satisfied with this, you still want to change all private fields into sacrificial fields? Don’t want to pay? Tax.
At this time in the late Ming Dynasty, although the Kong family's grain fields were not as large as those in the late Qing Dynasty? 1.2 million acres of grain fields, the Kong family's grain fields had expanded to two neighboring provinces. How much land does the feudal king have? But there is no dispute.
If the New Deal is to be implemented in Shandong? It would be strange not to touch the Kong family!
After reading these letters? Zhang Mingwei couldn't help but sneer.
For the Ming Dynasty, Confucianism can exist, but the Confucian family must be overthrown!
After thinking for a long time, Zhang Mingwei had an idea in his mind.
The next day, Zhang Mingwei led Jin Yiwei directly into the Hubu Yamen and sealed up all the records related to the Kong family's grain fields in Qufu over the years.
Zhang Mingwei was in charge and all other irrelevant people were kicked out. No one knew what Jin Yiwei was doing. Even if the Secretary of the Ministry of Finance came over, he was blocked from the door. If nothing else, Zhang Mingwei didn’t want him to know in advance as the Minister of Revenue was also a scholar before the matter was finalized.
It can be seen from the files of the Ministry of Household Affairs that the scale of the Kong family’s grain fields has been expanding. In other words, it is not just the contemporary Yanshenggong who secretly converts private fields into sacrificial fields. All previous generations of Yanshenggong have also done this to a greater or lesser extent.
Moreover, previous tax collections from Qufu can also prove that the taxes collected by the imperial court were pitifully small and did not even match the recorded number of private fields.
No one has ever cared about these things. The special target is the Confucius family in Qufu, and no scholar dares to check or look it up. Most of them turn one eye or close one eye. Because this kind of tax evasion is not unique to the Kong family, but a common phenomenon. Who would offend Duke Yan for this?
However, it is estimated that no one in the past generations of Yan Shenggong thought that one day in the future, there would be a person who would not look down on the Kong family and would take action against the Kong family. Otherwise, at least the books will definitely do better!
At this time, after Zhang Mingwei obtained these information, he took these information and the letters found from Kong Dazheng's mansion into the palace. He first went to see Emperor Chongzhen and brought the information about the Kong family in Qufu and the few letters. I showed him the letter together.
Before Emperor Chongzhen, he only had an official impression of the number of grain fields of the Kong family. To be honest, he didn't think much of it.
But when he saw the letter and the information about the Kong family, he couldn't help but feel angry.
It turns out that the Kong family's grain field registration at the Ministry of Household Affairs is far smaller than the actual number of grain fields of the Kong family. Not to mention that a large number of the sacrificial fields are actually the proceeds of the Kong family's private operations.
What is this? This is a moth!
Emperor Chongzhen was angry at that time. He took pictures of these letters and said to Zhang Mingwei: "Sir, look, after the saints, with the blood of saints, they can do such dirty things. They are greedy and greedy!"
"Such a saint's bloodline, let the world's scholars see it, don't be ashamed! There are also servile servants who have changed dynasties in the past..." Emperor Chongzhen said angrily, "You are right, Confucianism can exist, but the Confucian family must be overthrown!"
If Emperor Chongzhen was concerned about the influence of Ming scholars regarding his attitude toward the Confucius family before, at this moment, he didn't care at all.
The Kong family must be defeated!
No matter how big the Kong family is, can they surpass the imperial power?
However, before taking action against the Kong family, we still have to convince the civil officials, because this matter must be done by the civil officials.
Therefore, at Zhang Mingwei's suggestion, Emperor Chongzhen immediately convened a meeting of the Supervisor of Ceremonies and the Six Ministries and Nine Ministers of the Cabinet. The location was still in the Wenhua Hall.
When these civil servants saw Emperor Chongzhen's face, they knew that today's meeting would not be easy.
Sure enough, Emperor Chongzhen pointed the finger directly at the Confucius family in Qufu from the very beginning. He did not say how the contemporary Duke Yan was doing, but directly how the Confucius family was doing!
Distribute all relevant information, put it on the table, and make it public, including those letters.
It can be said that a complete chain of evidence was placed in front of the top officials of the Ming Dynasty.
Seeing this situation, Wang Chengen added insult to injury and said to them: "We here in Dongchang heard that there were many illegal things committed by the Kong family in Qufu, and some people were complaining about injustice. Therefore, our family has sent officers to Qufu. We believe that they will definitely do it. More illegal things of the Kong family will be discovered!"
Although there had been rumors about Yan Shenggong's property in the previous meeting, it had at least been discussed. However, there was no such momentum of shouting and killing the Kong family before.
From this point of view, Emperor Chongzhen was determined to deal with the Kong family.
Regarding this, these civil servants in the Wenhua Hall had mixed feelings in their hearts.
In fact, the imperial power did not have no restrictions on the Kong family.
Originally, Duke Yansheng and the magistrate of Qufu were hereditary from the Kong family. This situation began in the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, due to historical reasons, there were two Yan Sheng Gong. When they merged, the other one became the hereditary magistrate of Qufu County.
However, during the Hongwu period, Zhu Yuanzhang made adjustments. The position of county magistrate is no longer hereditary to a certain family, but one is selected from the Kong clan to be the county magistrate. From a family's hereditary to a family's hereditary.
This situation is actually similar. In Qufu, the Kong family is the emperor of the country. It is not surprising that various problems arise from this.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen looked at them and said with a serious expression: "The new policy in Shandong must be dealt with by the vassal king, and the Kong family must also deal with it. Do you have any objections to this?"
After the civil servants below looked at each other, Du Yinxi finally said: "Your Majesty, if the problems that arise in Qufu violate the laws of the Ming Dynasty, the imperial court will deal with them according to the laws. I believe that all scholars in the world will have no objection."
After a pause, he glanced at Zhang Mingwei, and then told Emperor Chongzhen: "Even if the conduct of contemporary Duke Yansheng is problematic, if the court wants to replace Duke Yansheng, I think it is not impossible. However, Yansheng I think it is not appropriate to touch the title of Duke."
Although Emperor Chongzhen did not say this openly, the people in the hall understood what the emperor meant. And they also knew that this must be what Duke Xingguo meant.
Therefore, Du Yinxi said this.
At this time, Emperor Chongzhen was actually very disgusted with the Kong family. After hearing this, I frowned and wanted to say it again.
When Zhang Mingwei saw this situation, he quickly said to Du Yinxi: "You are right, we must act according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty."
After finishing speaking, he turned to look at Emperor Chongzhen, naturally turning his back to the others. I saw him winking at Emperor Chongzhen, and then said loudly: "Your Majesty, I think it is best to follow the wishes of the chief minister. I suggest that the left governor censor be sent to Shandong to preside over the new policy, and to supervise the illegal affairs of the Confucius family. In addition, Jinyiwei and Dongchang can send people there. If necessary, the prisoner can also be brought to the Third Hall of the Capital for trial!"
His intention is to proceed step by step. This kind of thing is meant to cause a big fuss, make it known to everyone in the world, and pull the Kong family down from the altar. Next, if we deal with the hereditary title issue of Yan Shenggong, the resistance will be much smaller.
