Volume 3: Confrontation! The Run of Civilization Chapter 446: Saint is still a saint
What did you say? That old guy Kong Shangxian actually died at the gate of Tongzhou City? "
"Yes, Your Majesty. I don't know what to say about this matter."
"Are you sure you died of anger, and not one of your men acting on his own initiative?"
"Your Majesty, even though everyone with a discerning eye knows that the Kong family is about to fall, this man is still the head of the civil officials. Without the emperor's order, how dare I do such a thing? Kong Shangxian was indeed furious after hearing what he read in the newspaper this morning."
"Hmph! This guy got it easy." He stood up, put his hands behind his back and walked a few steps quickly, then waved his hands irritably: "Forget it, forget it, it's a good thing he didn't die at the gate of Beijing, otherwise I would be under a lot of pressure. Hurry up and tell the Ministry of Rites about the pension and condolences. All the necessary procedures must be followed."
"Yes, I accept your order."
Watching Tian Ergeng hurriedly leave, Zhu Youdong sat back in his chair and let out a deep breath.
I started to learn by myself sixteen years ago and became independent. I made money, vaccinated, introduced improved breeds, published newspapers and captured public opinion, made more money, established a new army, eliminated wild boars, supervised the country, expanded the army, fought foreign wars, carried out economic reforms, ascended the throne... After so many years, it was finally time to make a move on my thinking.
Therefore, although it seemed that he was targeting the termites that were parasitic on the most vulnerable part of the brain of the Ming Dynasty, his cut was still very smooth and easy. But who knows how much preparation to appear so at ease.
In general, the process of attacking the Kong family seemed very clear and smooth when it came to executing it step by step because he and Zhang Shize had planned it repeatedly for many years.
But now there is a problem: the current Duke of Yansheng, Kong Shangxian, has died on the way to Beijing, in Tongzhou, the southern gate of Beijing.
There is no doubt that some civil servants who have been in a state of panic recently will definitely take this opportunity to launch the greatest counterattack. And according to the common Chinese mentality that death is the greatest, as long as the Confucius Mansion spreads the news that the old master died on the way to Beijing in Qufu and Shandong with a little bit of spice, even though the common people who were bullied by the Confucius Mansion on weekdays, except for a few who have blood feuds, it is estimated that a lot of people will sigh and say "forget it".
This is the Chinese, strictly speaking, the Chinese after the rise of Neo-Confucianism: repaying evil with kindness has actually become a virtue, and after the story of Zigong redeeming others was banned with the rise of Confucianism, it has become the norm in society that the powerful only enjoy rights and not fulfill their obligations, and ordinary people only fulfill their obligations and not enjoy rights - if this trend continues, if there is no Li Zicheng in the Ming Dynasty, there will be Wang Zicheng or Liu Zicheng.
So, after patting the armrest of the chair for a long time, Zhu Youdong finally made up his mind.
"Shize, don't stop the steps that have been arranged. Even if people say that I am not kind and am not polite to the dead, I accept it. If anything goes wrong, I will take full responsibility."
"Your Majesty! How can a minister let Your Majesty bear the infamy? Please rest assured, Your Majesty, I know what to do."
…
On August 3, Kong Shangxian died, and the news reached the palace that afternoon.
But on August 4, Zhang Shize, who was unmoved, still instructed the Yenching Daily to take the lead, and the other five major newspapers followed suit, publishing a series of reports on the many bad deeds of the Kong family in Qufu, including bullying men and women, exploiting the villagers, reselling people, seizing land, and oppressing local officials.
After so many articles came out, by mid-to-late August, public opinion across the country exploded.
As the saying goes, the masters are among the common people. In fact, after such a long period of preparation, the smart people in the middle and lower classes of the Ming Dynasty have long seen the problem. Perhaps because of their level, they still can't fully understand Zhu Youdong's layout and the significance behind the overthrow of the Kong family. But there is no doubt that everyone knows that the Kong family is doomed.
But no matter how much preparation was made, when so many evil deeds of the Kong family were revealed, the gentry and ordinary people of the Ming Dynasty fell silent collectively.
Apart from other things, the Yuan Dynasty emperors did not like Confucianism very much, and allocated very little land to the Yanshenggong Mansion. When Zhu Yuanzhang founded the country, he directly gave 10,000 acres: considering Zhu Yuanzhang's stingy personality, this was already a great gift. Later, successive emperors followed the Zhu family's stingy nature and successively granted more land, but only 50,000 to 60,000 acres.
But how much land does the Kong family actually control now? The data submitted by the Shandong Provincial Government is no less than 1.2 million mu!
This is just the land. As for the fact that the Kong family, with Qufu as the center, basically monopolized the catering, entertainment, and transportation industries in Qufu and even Yanzhou Prefecture, and extended its tentacles to all the prefectures in Shandong, that goes without saying.
During this expansion process, the Kong family initially considered themselves descendants of saints and had to maintain their dignity. However, in recent decades, especially after Zhang Juzheng's death, they have been unscrupulous and even full of evil. It is easy to obtain evidence for such a reckless behavior. Under the command of Zhang Shize, the six major newspapers not only reported the evil deeds of the Kong family, but also arranged for many victims to come forward and tell their stories, and attached various evidences issued by local officials and Jinyiwei...
So, after these articles were published, naturally no one dared to stand up to defend the Kong family. But people inevitably had many questions in their minds, the two biggest of which were: First, what was the court doing earlier? Wasn't Taizu wise and powerful? Why did the Northern School show such poor integrity? Why didn't they support the Southern School when the country was founded? Second, the Kong family completely deviated from the words of the saints. Are the words and deeds of the saints really worthy of worship ?
As for the first question, Zhu Youdong knew it in his heart but it was not easy to explain it publicly in the newspaper.
Zhu's founding of the country was the only case in Chinese history where the south unified the north (not counting the formal unification of the Nanjing government of the Republic of China). Before that, southern China had only been conquered by the Mongols for more than 80 years, and during that period, the south had the lowest political and social status, was the most economically exploited, and resisted most resolutely and fiercely. Therefore, when Zhu started his army, southerners accounted for the vast majority of the court. At the same time, northern China at that time had been under the rule of a foreign race for more than 200 years since 1127, and had a great distance from the south psychologically and culturally. Therefore, trying every possible way to unite the northerners was what Zhu had to do at the time. On the one hand, the admission of Jinshi was divided into the north and south lists, and on the other hand, the inheritance of the Yanshenggong Mansion by the Northern Sect was retained.
Everyone understands the truth, but they can't speak openly. Zhu Youdong had no choice but to mobilize Tian Ergeng's Jinyiwei to spread such explanations in teahouses and taverns everywhere, and then wait for time to slowly ferment.
As for the second question, as a time traveler, Zhu Youdong certainly knows that reform is like crossing a river by feeling the stones, and must not be too radical. China has been immersed in Confucianism for nearly two thousand years, so how can it be abandoned? Besides, no matter how big and numerous the problems of Confucianism are, it is still extremely useful for the stability of the country and the cohesion of the nation.
Therefore, Zhu Youdong's way of dealing with this issue is to guide people in the newspapers: There is nothing wrong with the saints. If you look at the original Analects that were unearthed recently, you will find that many of the saints' ideas are actually very appealing to everyone. It is only because the corrupt scholars of all generations have deliberately replaced the saints' ideas and concepts that Confucianism has changed its flavor.
Therefore, Confucianism needs to be rectified, but the status of the saints cannot be shaken in the slightest.
As for the issue of the Confucius Mansion.
On September 1, the second year of the Tianqi reign, Zhu Youdong issued an order to instruct the five departments of the East Factory, the Embroidered Uniform Guard, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Rites, and the Metropolitan Procuratorate to form a joint task force to thoroughly investigate the bloodline issues of the descendants of the Confucius family and all illegal issues in the past fifty years. The task force will set up special offices in Qufu and Yanzhou Prefecture, allowing all victims to come and file complaints!
At the same time, a team of Jinyiwei arrived in Quzhou City and escorted the patriarch of Nankong to Qufu in the north.
