"What?" Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help being shocked when he heard the report, "The Confucius family in Qufu rebelled?"
To be honest, he never imagined that the Kong family might rebel!
However, Wang Chengen hurriedly entered and said that Wang Erbiao had sent someone back to report that three of the Dongchang servants had been killed by the Kong family.
However, even after hearing this report, Emperor Chongzhen still didn't believe it. After thinking about it for a moment, he could understand that it was probably because Dongchang's subordinate Cha Kong's methods went too far and caused public outrage.
However, no matter what, killing officials is tantamount to rebellion. This is theoretically correct!
However, the Ming Dynasty actually has precedents for this kind of situation. Generally speaking, it will not harm the nine tribes, and at most it will punish the person involved.
For example, in the Suzhou civil uprising, it was said that the people of Suzhou were angry that the eunuchs sent by Emperor Wanli had oppressed them too much, so they besieged the government office, killed several officials, and even almost killed the eunuch. When local officials were sent to send troops, they would rather leave without sending troops to suppress the situation.
In the end, the result of that incident was that only the few who led the trouble were killed, and nothing happened to the others. Moreover, those who were killed became righteous men.
Now, it is the Kong family in Qufu who are causing trouble. The impact of this kind of thing is probably greater than that of the Suzhou civil uprising. If it is not handled well, it may trigger strong opposition from Ming scholars.
For this reason, Emperor Chongzhen immediately summoned the cabinet and the six ministries and nine ministers. Of course, Duke Xingguo could not escape, and they all went to the Wenhua Hall to discuss the matter.
Dongchang's urgent report was quickly read by many senior officials of the Ming Dynasty. Emperor Chongzhen asked seriously: "How do you think this matter should be handled?"
As he spoke, he looked at Zhang Mingwei.
However, before Zhang Mingwei could speak, the Minister of the Ministry of Punishment glanced at Wang Chengen, the eunuch in charge of the ceremony and the admiral of the East Factory, and immediately said: "Your Majesty, this matter concerns Duke Yan of Qufu. Don't make a big deal!"
"Yes, Your Majesty, you must be cautious when it comes to the Holy Duke Yan of Qufu!" The chief minister of the cabinet also immediately went out to report, "Isn't the Yushi Zuodu also in Shandong? Now that something big has happened, he will surely report it. Ben, why don’t you see what he has to say?”
Zuo Maodi, as the imperial envoy, arrived in Shandong half a month ago and began to urge the local government to implement the new policies.
As soon as he finished speaking, there were hurried footsteps outside the palace, and then a chamberlain reported urgently at the door of the palace: "Zuo Maodi, the governor of Shandong and the censor of Zuodu, has sent an urgent message of 800 miles!"
If you really say Cao Cao, Cao Cao will be there.
Therefore, Zuo Maodi's emergency report was immediately handed over to the emperor.
After Emperor Chongzhen read it in a hurry, he immediately asked someone to show it to Zhang Mingwei. At the same time, he said to the group of ministers who were very concerned about him: "Zuo Qing's memorial said that the Dongchang slaves oppressed good people in Shandong and committed all kinds of evil, which led to the emergence of people all over Shandong. There were many civil unrests. Not only were three Dongchang slaves killed, but also a subordinate sent by Zuo Maodi to supervise the New Deal was killed. If the subordinates from other places to supervise the New Deal hadn't escaped quickly, he would probably have been killed. More people will die. Now, more than 100,000 people have become ordinary people and have surrounded Yanzhou Prefecture, demanding that the imperial court dispose of the East Factory, withdraw those sent by the imperial court, and restore the peace of the past in Lu."
After a pause, he added seriously: "Zuo Qing mobilized the local army to guard Yanzhou City, but the local army stopped obeying other orders and said that they could not attack innocent people."
The prefectural city where Qufu is located is Yanzhou Prefecture.
In the emergency report, Zuo Maodi also made it clear that the matter about the Dongchang fanmen was only reported by the officials below and was the reason for the civil uprising. However, the specific situation in Shandong was now in chaos and he could not verify it. .
After Emperor Chongzhen briefly introduced the situation, Zhang Mingwei had already read the memorial sent by Zuo Maodi. Then, he handed the memorial to Du Yinxi, the chief minister of the cabinet behind him, frowning and thinking about this. matter.
When Emperor Chongzhen saw this, he immediately asked him: "Sir, how should we deal with this matter?"
Wang Chengen's face has always been a little ugly. He didn't expect that when he sent Wang Erbiao to investigate this matter, he actually dug a huge hole!
He knew very well in his heart that the original purpose of the emperor was just to give Yan Shenggong a warning and find out the matter of the Kong family's private land being used as a sacrificial field. At most, he would punish the Qufu County Magistrate. If he really wanted to beat up the Kong family in Qufu It is definitely unrealistic to call for death and destroy Duke Yansheng.
Moreover, everyone knows that no matter who rebels, it is impossible for the Qufu Kong family to rebel. There has never been such a precedent. Duke Yan of Qufu was quite "good" in all dynasties, so how could he rebel?
Now the matter has become so big that it has even triggered a civil commotion, and it has become difficult to deal with. This hole is really too big!
Wang Chengen is a little worried that this matter may affect him.
Thinking of this, he was very concerned about Duke Xingguo's opinion, because he knew that Duke Xingguo's attitude should be the most important opinion that the emperor would refer to as to how to deal with it.
In fact, he was not the only one to understand this. Everyone in the hall also understood how this matter would be handled in the end, and Duke Xingguo's opinion was the most important. Unless Duke Xingguo is not here, Emperor Chongzhen will listen to their opinions.
Therefore, almost everyone in the hall focused their attention on him after hearing Emperor Chongzhen ask Duke Xingguo.
Zhang Mingwei frowned when he heard the question and said: "Your Majesty, judging from the two memorials, the chaos in Shandong is most likely caused by a large-scale civil uprising against the New Deal triggered by the Cha Kong family of the Dongchang fan! The reason why it happened In this way, it is because of the New Deal in Shandong that unlike several other places, the local forces were purged by bandits and then a large army was stationed, so such a civil uprising occurred."
He did not say whether the specific behavior of Dongchang Fanyi was excessive, but directly analyzed the entire incident.
Du Yinxi originally wanted to speak, but after hearing his words, he fell silent.
As high-ranking officials in the Ming Dynasty, their perspective on things is of course different from that of ordinary people. Based on the events in Shandong, he basically felt that the Duke's analysis was reasonable.
Otherwise, if it was just the Dongchang fanmen who oppressed good people and caused public outrage, why did other places where the Dongchang fanmen were not present also launch civil uprisings in response, and even kill officials who were supervising the New Deal?
However, although these senior officials of the Ming Dynasty, including Du Yinxi, recognized Xing Guogong's analysis, this civil uprising involved the Confucian family in Qufu, and even used the Confucian family as the trigger. Compared with Suzhou's that year, Civil uprisings are much more difficult.
While they were thinking about this matter, they heard Duke Xing Guo say again: "If things in Shandong are not handled well, then the imperial court's new policies in other places will probably encounter obstacles, and even places where they are already being implemented may also encounter obstacles. There will be a backlash.”
The meaning of these words is obvious. The Duke's intention should be to be tough and not to affect the court's new policies.
In fact, this is what Zhang Mingwei meant. The imperial court's new policy is mainly to solve the problem of land annexation. Naturally, it also means urging the payment of taxes, measuring the land, and identifying hidden households hidden among local powerful families.
It can be said that these new policies have all touched the interests of local powerful people. It would be strange if they were implemented smoothly without any disturbance.
It's just that in the previous places where the New Deal was implemented, local powerful people were repaired by bandits, and the elite army of the imperial court led by Zhang Mingwei was stationed. The local powerful people were powerless, so there was no trouble.
Emperor Chongzhen obviously heard what Zhang Mingwei meant, so he confirmed to him: "Sir, do you mean to send troops to suppress it?"
"That's right!" Zhang Mingwei nodded immediately after hearing this, "If the imperial court gives in this time, other provinces will follow suit, and local governments will blackmail the imperial court and determine how to implement the New Deal in the future. Such signs must not happen!"
After a pause, Zhang Mingwei emphasized: "Now there are just signs of peace in the world. The good situation is hard-won and must not be chaotic again!"
When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he said without hesitation: "Sir, what you said makes sense. The Ming Dynasty must never be in chaos again! Whoever dares to launch a civil uprising, thinking that the law does not punish the people, and blackmailing the court, I will never tolerate it!"
After expressing his attitude, he did not ask other people's opinions, but directly asked: "My lords, who is willing to lead troops to Shandong to quell the chaos?"
Upon hearing this, everyone turned their attention to Duke Xingguo. The meaning was very clear. They thought Duke Xingguo was the most suitable.
First, the New Deal was proposed by Duke Xingguo.
Second, Duke Xingguo led the troops to fight, and his achievements were obvious to all.
Third, in terms of prestige, Duke Xingguo’s prestige is higher than anyone else present.
In short, the people here, or the entire court, are the most suitable candidates for Xing Guogong.
When Emperor Chongzhen saw them like this, he actually had the same idea as them. He just thought that Duke Xingguo had only returned to Beijing a few months ago and would be too tired if he had to lead troops on an expedition again.
And in his eyes, the steam engine is also very important. If possible, he really hoped that Zhang Mingwei would put down other things and build this steam engine first.
But now that he saw that his ministers were all looking at Zhang Mingwei, he didn't think much about it and asked Zhang Mingwei: "Sir, do you have time to go to Lu Di?"
Zhang Mingwei had actually thought about it before he asked, and immediately replied: "No problem, the army just returned in triumph and was resting outside the capital city, and the troops are all ready."
After a pause, he added: "We can take this opportunity to reorganize the local health office and show it to other places. If you want to launch a popular uprising to resist the new policies of the imperial court, the imperial court will never tolerate it!"
Everyone knows that this matter in Shandong will definitely not get around the Kong family in Qufu. This is a thorny issue that is really difficult for others to handle.
Emperor Chongzhen was overjoyed when he heard Zhang Mingwei agreed without hesitation. He believes that if Zhang Mingwei takes action, he will definitely succeed immediately!
