Chen Baoting was summoned, and after hearing Emperor Chongzhen's question, he responded with a serious expression: "Your Majesty, these days, after in-depth investigation, I found that this matter may have something to do with Yan Shenggong! "
Upon hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but be a little surprised, but after thinking about it, he didn't feel strange at all.
Since he began to vigorously develop natural knowledge, and even later, the imperial examination was no longer limited to the Four Books and Five Classics. In these years, the popularity of natural knowledge has faintly surpassed Confucianism. It is not surprising at all if the one with the biggest conflict of interest in these changes is Yan Shenggong!
With this thought in his mind, Emperor Chongzhen remained calm and asked immediately: "I know all the details."
"My slave obeys the order!" After hearing this, Chen Baoting quickly agreed, and then began to report to Emperor Chongzhen one by one the circumstances of Dongchang's investigation.
Just as Emperor Chongzhen himself thought, it was the situation over the years that made Duke Yan Sheng very worried and dissatisfied. Therefore, I am always looking for opportunities and want to make a difference.
But it is a pity that in these years, the Ming Dynasty has become stronger and stronger, and the prestige of Emperor Chongzhen has been at its peak. Under this background, Yan Shenggong did not dare to make any changes.
With the explosion in the princess's house, those old-fashioned Confucian scholars who had been instructed by Duke Yan Sheng finally seized the opportunity and started to stir up trouble, saying that the evil trend that had arisen in the Ming Dynasty made God angry, so they sent this disaster to warn the world!
Having said this, Chen Baoting took out a stack of memorials from his sleeves and presented them to Emperor Chongzhen with both hands. At the same time, he said: "What the slave said is all in the memorial, and there are also confessions of five of the traitors at the back!"
After hearing this, Emperor Chongzhen immediately took it and looked at it carefully again.
Things involving Yan Shenggong must not be taken lightly. After all, the name Yanshenggong has been around since the Northern Song Dynasty. There is no doubt that Yanshenggong has not failed to fall despite the changes in dynasties. It has a profound impact on the people of the Ming Dynasty.
If Yan Shenggong had been hiding nearby and making no sound, Emperor Chongzhen would not have thought of him and would not have touched him. However, now that he has jumped out, Emperor Chongzhen will never let him go. It's just that the matter is so important that it still needs to be planned in detail.
After carefully reading Chen Baoting's memorial, Emperor Chongzhen thought for a while and then issued an imperial edict for Yan Shenggong to come to Beijing to have an audience.
As soon as this decree was issued, the imperial edict rushed to Qufu, Shandong Province. What was a little different from the usual edict was that the messenger who went to announce the edict this time was from Dongchang.
Emperor Chongzhen would naturally not wait. He still had many things to be busy with. No, after putting this matter aside for the time being, he immediately held a clan meeting.
The vassal kings from all over the country had been summoned to the capital before. When they heard that the emperor was finally going to see them, they came to the Forbidden City earlier than one.
They had to be anxious. One of the emperor's princes and two vassal princes had already been sealed off to the Mughals. Where they could go next was related to their lifelong interests, and even the interests of future generations. Don't be in a hurry!
If it were in the past, Emperor Chongzhen might have used the form of a tea party. After all, this was a group of relatives, right? But now, he no longer needed to use this method to show his favor to the clan. He just summoned them in the Wenhua Hall.
Emperor Chongzhen just wants them to understand that he is the Emperor of Ming Dynasty, the supreme emperor in the world, and no matter who he is, they must listen to him!
After the ceremony, Emperor Chongzhen didn't waste any time and said to them immediately: "In May or June next year, I will send another expeditionary force to the Americas. I believe that the people you have found have inquired about the situation there. I won’t go into too much detail.”
While saying this, he was still scanning the vassal kings below, seeing their different expressions, but he ignored them and continued to say in an unquestionable tone: "Therefore, I plan to choose three vassal kings to go to the vassal first. As for the territory of the vassal state, except for a small part selected by me, you can choose other places by yourself. Whoever arrives first will choose the fertile land first."
For example, in the Panama region of later generations, there is also the very famous Brazilian iron mine. Even if it is now in the hands of the Portuguese, it will eventually be acquired by the Ming Dynasty.
Hearing Emperor Chongzhen's words, even if these vassal kings were afraid of the emperor's power and it was related to their vital interests, they couldn't help but start talking in low voices.
Seeing them talking, Emperor Chongzhen coughed, and there was a sudden silence in the Wenhua Palace. Then he said: "Go to America to become a vassal. I don't have any more requirements. As long as whoever completes the delivery with the local government first, then whoever can do so can Take a spot first.”
These vassal kings had many fiefdoms in name. If they wanted to seize another vassal, of course they couldn't take away these fiefdoms. Emperor Chongzhen's request was that they could only negotiate with the local officials to realize the cash. Now that he said this condition, it meant that whoever negotiated with the local government without bargaining and concluded the deal at once would be able to complete the preparations first and get the first place to go to America.
The lord and the feudal lords have to weigh the gains and losses among them. Therefore, after hearing what Emperor Chongzhen said, they immediately started making calculations in their minds.
At this moment, Emperor Chongzhen suddenly said to them again: "I also received news. Duke Yan Sheng heard that there are many natives in the Americas who have not yet been educated, so he intends to go to the Americas to educate them. I don't know whether this is true or not. , I have sent people to ask Duke Yan to come to the capital. If this is really the case, I believe Duke Yan will definitely choose the first three vassals to teach him first."
As soon as this news came out, all the feudal kings were taken aback. They didn't expect that Yan Shenggong was so outstanding that he would go to America to educate the natives. If this is really the case, it would be great if you could educate them first in your own vassal country!
As for whether this news is true or not, although they have never heard of it before, since the emperor said it himself, there must be some basis for it, and there should be no falsehood!
With this in mind, King Lu stood up first and immediately saluted Emperor Chongzhen and said: "Your Majesty, Wei Chen is willing to accept the price offered by the local government and will never bargain. Wei Chen is willing to travel across the ocean to conquer America!"
The feudal king's decision to settle matters outside the feudal clan is basically a certainty and irreversible. In this case, there are many benefits to being the first to become a vassal, so King Lu no longer cares about the money.
He knew how to settle this account, and other feudal kings also knew how to settle accounts, and they all immediately stepped forward to grab their spots. Suddenly, the Wenhua Hall was very lively.
In the end, Emperor Chongzhen finalized the three vassal kings including King Lu, and asked them to quickly hand over and recruit subjects who volunteered to go to America, and prepare before the army expedition in May or June next year.
As these vassal kings dispersed, the breaking news that Duke Yansheng volunteered to go to America to teach the natives also spread. This was all the talk in the streets and alleys.
………………
Besides, after receiving the imperial edict, Yanshenggong, accompanied by the wolf-like tiger-like Dongchang fanmen, immediately rushed to the capital to have an audience.
At this time, Duke Yansheng, due to the butterfly effect, Kong Yanzhi, who originally died of illness in 1647, was still alive.
In the original history, in September 1644, when the Manchus entered the country, Kong Yanzhi wrote a "Preliminary Admission Statement" to the Manchus, expressing his willingness to surrender to the Manchus. In 1645, after the Manchu Qing Dynasty issued the order to shave their heads, he led the tribe to take the lead in shaving their heads and presented the "Head-Shaving Memorial" to the Manchu Qing Dynasty.
It can be seen from this that there is not a single hard bone in Kong Yanzhi's body. The current emperor sent people from Dongchang to convey the decree. He had something in his heart. To be honest, it was impossible not to panic!
Today's emperor is no better than other emperors. While on the throne, he has solved several major treason cases, which were crimes against the nine clans. If it was reasonable to say that Shanxi merchants were treasonous at first, then Qian Qianyi's major treason case was not mentioned by others. At least in Kong Yanzhi's view, Qian Qianyi would never dare to rebel based on his original intention. The reason why it was determined to be treason in the end was because the emperor used heavy codes.
If the emperor finds out about his affairs, and with the emperor's current power, if he goes into a rage, even if he is not charged with such a serious crime as treason, it will still be unbearable!
Thinking of this, it can be said that Kong Yanzhi was worried all the way.
But after so many years of inheritance, scholars all over the world regard themselves as disciples of Confucius. I believe that the emperor will not go too far, right?
Kong Yanzhi comforted himself, but at the same time he was worried that the emperor Lei Ting would be furious. Along the way, I didn’t know how many times I woke up from nightmares in the middle of the night.
On this day, he finally arrived in the capital and stayed at the post station to wait for the emperor's summons. Feeling uneasy, he sent his servants to the streets to inquire about the situation.
As a result, what he never expected was that in the streets, alleys, restaurants and teahouses of the capital, people were praising the contemporary Duke Yan, who was worthy of being a descendant of Confucius. He was actually willing to educate the native Americans. This was really amazing!
Kong Yanzhi couldn't help but be stunned when he heard his servant's report. When did he make this decision?
"Master, I also heard that many Confucian scholars were saying that they were moved by the master's broad mind and wanted to follow him to educate the American natives!" The servant said in an excited tone, "Sir, you But it was so tightly concealed, there was no news at all at home. Fortunately, the feudal king heard the news and spread it out."
"..." Kong Yanzhi was dumbfounded, shouting in his heart, who is cheating me? Only a ghost wants to go to a wild land!
After waiting for a long time, when he came to his senses, he suddenly understood that, needless to say, no one else would make this decision for him except the current emperor.
At this moment, Kong Yanzhi's mind was extremely clear. Even though he did it secretly, the emperor should still know about it. Otherwise, the messenger would not be from Dongchang. The emperor has clearly told himself that he must submit a letter to go to America to educate the natives. If not, he will be held accountable for what he has done!
