Daming Yuanfu

Chapter 2329 Fengshan (Twenty-six) Kong Family Qufu

Although the emperor spoke these words while standing on the second floor of the imperial carriage, they were unobstructed and soon spread throughout the entire entourage. Many people could not help but discuss them in twos and threes.

Gao Youshi's contributions over the years are indeed great, and no one dares to open their eyes and lie to deny this. Moreover, it has been a habit in China since ancient times to exaggerate when praising others. The most famous one is probably Xie Lingyun's "There is only one stone of talent in the world, and Cao Zijian alone has eight buckets."

Therefore, the emperor's exaggeration and pragmatism with "I owe three-tenths of the credit for what I have today to me, two-tenths to my ministers, and the remaining half to you" may seem shocking, but in fact, the "three-tenths", "two-tenths", or even "the remaining half" do not need to be taken too seriously, because they are just expressing the emperor's mood rather than being definite.

However, this sentence cannot be underestimated, because the real key to this sentence is not how great Gao Youshi's contribution is or how much he contributes to the achievements of the Wanli Dynasty, but the mood of the emperor when he said this - in other words, what was the mood of the emperor when he said this, and why did he say it loudly in public.

  In short, why did the emperor praise Gao Youshi's contributions in public?

You know, the emperor has been traveling south for a long time, and he will soon offer sacrifices to Confucius, then perform Fengshan, and finally visit the Xiaoling Mausoleum in Nanjing. This trip is not just for sightseeing, but has clear and important political implications. It is hard to say that the emperor has no political motives for suddenly praising Gao Shishi.

The emperor was a middle-aged emperor who had ruled the country for thirty years. His words and deeds would never be without purpose, and most of the officials accompanying him were old hands in the officialdom. They would never be naive enough to think that the emperor was just bragging on impulse.

Gao Youshi has made great contributions in both civil and military affairs over the years. He is now the Prime Minister of the Cabinet and the Minister of Revenue. His power is so great that he has even been given the title of Grand Tutor. The only higher title is the Grand Master, which is usually not given to living people. Considering that Gao Youshi has made great contributions, but he is still less than 40 years old, the title of Grand Master cannot be given casually now, otherwise the next step...

So the officials quickly came to the conclusion that the emperor could only be planning to promote Yuanfu to a higher rank if he could personally build momentum like this. Yuanfu had skipped the title of earl and was promoted to the rank of Marquis of Nanning. Judging from the emperor's behavior, he should have conferred the title of Duke on Yuanfu somewhere during his trip south.

Officials of the neutral faction were relatively calm about this. Although the title of Duke was the highest "title" for officials in the Ming Dynasty, the court was very cautious in giving it to officials other than those who "founded the country" and "pacified the rebellion". To be precise, after "founding the country" and "pacifying the rebellion", only Emperor Yingzong Zhu Qizhen conferred the title of Duke Zhongguo on Shi Heng, who had military merit in the "Dou Men Incident", and Emperor Xianzong conferred the title of Duke Baoguo on Zhu Yong.

However, the neutral faction did not mind this, because in their opinion, Gao Youshi's contributions were much greater than those of Shi Heng and Zhu Yong, and even compared to most of the dukes of the founding and pacifying dynasties. If one had to say, perhaps only King Zhongshan Xu Da could compete with Gao Youshi's achievements. It's just that one of them was a meritorious official during the period of establishing the country, and the other was a meritorious official during the period of defending the country. This kind of comparison is the most difficult, so it's better not to compare.

In any case, the neutral officials took a tacit attitude towards the political signal released by the emperor - if you don’t say you want to confer a title, I won’t persuade you; if you say you want to confer a title, I won’t remonstrate with you either.

The officials of the School of Mind were not so calm. Although they were not overwhelmed, they were at least dejected.

In their view, Gao Youshi's current position is already firmly established. Ever since Lord Shen went south to prepare for the inspection, Lord Zhao did not dare to compete with Gao Yuanfu at all, and was nicknamed "Lord Weiwei" by the people in Beijing. In addition, Lord Zhou, who had long been regarded as Gao Yuanfu's yes-man, the current cabinet is basically a one-man show by Gao Yuanfu.

Under such circumstances, if Gao Yuanfu was promoted to Duke again, he would be the highest official in the country, the pinnacle of both officialdom and honor! Thinking of this, almost all officials from the School of Mind secretly regretted: If they had known that they would have tried their best to stop Gao Youshi from becoming a duke, after all, a military official could not interfere in the central government. Just like Wang Wenchenggong, once he was awarded the title of Xinjianbo, he lost the opportunity to enter the central government and died of illness a few years later.

The other two civil officials who were given titles, Wang Ji and Wang Yue, the former only became the Minister of War even though he participated in the coup, and the latter died in office in Ganzhou. In short, the "three kings" who were given titles by civil officials were unable to enter the central government, which seemed to have become a kind of "precedent".

  This is good, because he did not stop the emperor at the beginning, Gao Youshi was able to continue to assist in the cabinet with the title of civil official, and later after some things, he became the chief minister. Now it is even better, the title of Marquis is not enough for him, the emperor wants to give him the title of Duke!

What the hell is this! If this continues, all officials in the world will run to the side of the practical school!

Humph, what kind of practical school is this? Isn't it just a way of making money under the guise of enriching the country and strengthening the army? Look at the examination items in various places nowadays: how many acres of wasteland have been reclaimed in a certain place, how many refugees and refugees have been registered, and how many taels of tax have been paid this year; or how many new factories and mines have been opened in a certain place, how many new merchants have arrived, and how many taels of tax have been paid this year...

The worst thing is that since last year, Gao Youshi, with his high position as Prime Minister and local official, has forced through a system called "Silver for Diligence and Integrity", under which this "Silver for Diligence and Integrity" is distributed to officials across the country according to their test results.

  Gao Youshi had the nerve to say that this was because "the country is getting richer and the salaries of officials are too low, so we need to pay them according to their performance and give them preferential treatment as appropriate to encourage them." This is simply shameless, the worst kind of shamelessness! If this continues, the country will no longer be a country!

Unfortunately, the emperor was too deeply deceived by Gao Youshi. Even when the officials of the School of Mind came up with the "Ten Evils" to impeach him, the emperor remained unmoved. Not only did he personally refute many people with red ink, but later he even kept the documents in his pocket and did not issue them. Instead, he immediately promoted this system.

What are the "ten evils" that the School of Mind has accused Gao Youshi of? They are: greed for money and goods, competing with the people for profits, bad conduct, eager for quick success, violating ancient teachings, neglecting education, changing laws and disrupting the norm, making friends with merchants, being rude in governing, and seeking fame and empty talk. In short, he is extremely bad.

  But such a "ten evil" person is now being conferred the title of Duke. The morals of the world are really going downhill, which makes the officials of the Xinxue School feel sad and angry. They all want to punish the traitor... What, he has made great contributions? That's a disguise, a traitor pretending to be loyal!

But that's all these people are like. What's the use of punishing traitors? The imperial guards accompanying the emperor were all established by Gao Youshi. What can they use to punish them? Verbal criticism? It has long been proven that it is useless!

In contrast to the anguish of the officials of the School of Mind, the officials of the School of Practical Learning were naturally celebrating. Fang Congzhe, the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, suddenly became a hot commodity, and many officials came to him under various pretexts to inquire about the news. Ye Xianggao, the Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Personnel, was no less popular, and was also almost "surrounded" by people, all of whom came to ask if there was any inside information and whether the Prime Minister was really going to be awarded the title of Duke.

Not only the two of them, but even Li Tingji, the left assistant minister of the Ministry of Works, who had almost nothing to do with personnel appointments and dismissals, was also in the spotlight because he was one of Gao Youshi's "three direct disciples." Some came to ask for information, some came to establish connections, and in short, he was so annoyed by seeing so many people that he felt that the muscles on his face became stiff because he had to keep smiling all the time.

Fortunately, Qufu was not far away, and they were finally rescued when the emperor arrived in Qufu. Now it was the turn of the Qufu County Magistrate who had just welcomed the emperor to be busy. After meeting the emperor, he had to take the emperor to Qufu County, and then quickly ran to the Yanshenggong Mansion to wait for the emperor to come again.

The identity of Duke Yansheng Kong Shangxian was rather special. Since he represented the Great Sage and Teacher to some extent, he did not have to go to the border to welcome the Holy Master, but instead waited at the gate of the Confucius Mansion to welcome the Holy Master.

Kong Shangxian, the Duke of Yansheng of this generation, whose courtesy name is Xiangzhi and pseudonym is Longyu, is the 64th generation grandson of Confucius. His figure is particularly eye-catching in the welcoming team, not only because he stands in the "C position", but also because the Duke of Yansheng's clothing is unique. Kong Shangxian was born in the 23rd year of Jiajing, and now he is nearly 70 years old, with traces of time engraved on his face. Although he is the Duke of Yansheng and comes from the most respected family among scholars, his eyes that have experienced vicissitudes of life reveal an imperceptible sharpness and shrewdness, but not much literary air.

Kong Shangxian wore a cloud-winged five-beam crown, a red silk robe, and Confucius shoes. This outfit was the unique court dress of the Ming Dynasty Yansheng Duke, which was luxurious yet solemn.

Unlike the local officials in Shandong, Dongchang and even Qufu who were all terrified, Kong Shangxian had a faint smile on his face and was not at all nervous. If Gao Youshi's dragon robe was given to him, others would probably think he was a minister. But behind his smile, there seemed to be a subtle shrewdness and arrogance, which coincided with the bad reputation of the successive generations of Yanshenggong.

Kong Yinzhi, the magistrate of Qufu County, stood beside Kong Shangxian. He was wearing a sixth-rank official robe and an official hat, and his face was equally calm. Someone might ask, isn't the county magistrate a seventh-rank official? Why is this person wearing a sixth-rank official robe?

Because he was the magistrate of Qufu County and a member of the Kong family. In the seventh year of Emperor Yizong of the Tang Dynasty, which was 866 AD, the emperor appointed Confucius' th-generation grandson, Kong Xu, as the magistrate of Qufu County. Later, it became a convention that the direct descendants of Confucius were basically appointed as county magistrates.

During the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song, the emperor named Confucius' eldest descendant Yansheng Duke, so the magistrate of Qufu County was concurrently appointed by Yansheng Duke. Later, dynasties changed, and the emperors changed one after another during the Jin, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, but Yansheng Duke remained the magistrate of Qufu County and was still appointed by the emperor.

However, there were some differences in the Ming Dynasty. The status of Yanshenggong was extremely high. He was not only a first-rank official, but also the head of civil servants in terms of ceremony.

How high was this position? Gao Youshi, as the chief minister of the cabinet, had to walk around the palace on his own, but Duke Yansheng could ride a horse in the palace. When he went to the capital, the emperor would personally inquire about him and send people to bring him food and drinks.

However, it would be inappropriate for Duke Yansheng to concurrently serve as a minor county magistrate, given his high status. Therefore, an imperial decree was issued that Duke Yansheng would no longer concurrently serve as Qufu county magistrate, but the Kong family would still select someone to serve as Qufu county magistrate. This Qufu county magistrate was also different from other county magistrates in other places. He was a sixth-rank official, different from the seventh-rank county magistrates in other places, which also highlighted his unique status.

The fact that a local official had always been held by a member of the same family actually made the emperor feel uneasy. In addition, there were often incompetent people in the Kong family, so the emperor had considered not allowing members of the Kong family to continue serving as magistrates of Qufu County.

For example, during the reign of Emperor Jiajing, the county magistrate of the Kong family was not competent and acted recklessly, causing chaos in the local area. An official impeached this person, and Emperor Jiajing wanted to take this opportunity to stop the Kong family from inheriting the position of county magistrate. However, as soon as Emperor Jiajing expressed his idea, the ministers of the court surprisingly opposed it, saying that this was the ancestral system, which was related to the views of scholars all over the world and must not be violated. Seeing that there was so much resistance and that it was not directly linked to the Great Ceremony Debate, Emperor Jiajing had no choice but to give up and replace the original county magistrate with a member of the Kong family.

When the emperor's carriage slowly drove into Qufu City, the people on both sides of the street knelt down and shouted "Long live the emperor". When the emperor's carriage arrived outside the Confucius Mansion, Duke Yansheng Kong Shangxian and Qufu County Magistrate Kong Yinzhi also led the officials and gentry to kneel down and greet the emperor with the most respectful attitude.

Zhu Yijun, accompanied by Gao Youshi, stepped down from the imperial carriage. He was wearing a navy blue shirt, a leather belt around his waist, and a square scarf on his head. This simple scholar's attire showed his humility and respect. Of course, no one would mistake his identity - looking at the posture of being surrounded by stars, accompanied by a minister wearing a bright red silk dragon robe, who else could it be but the emperor?

Zhu Yijun's eyes swept through the crowd and finally fixed on Kong Shangxian. He nodded slightly to show his respect for this descendant of Confucius. Kong Shangxian felt the emperor's gaze, he stood up, took a step forward, bowed deeply to Zhu Yijun, and then said: "Your Majesty, I, the Duke of Yansheng, Kong Shangxian, respectfully welcome your majesty. Your Majesty is in Qufu today. If the great sage teacher knew about this, he would be deeply gratified and happy to see the holy king."

Zhu Yijun smiled and helped Kong Shangxian up. His eyes were full of gentleness and kindness. "Duke Yansheng, there is no need to be so polite. I came here to pay homage to the most holy teacher and to express my respect for my religion. I remember that Duke Yansheng had refused to go to Beijing to mourn his grandmother. I was deeply moved by his filial piety and I remember it clearly today."

When Kong Shangxian heard this, a complex emotion surged in his heart. He didn't know whether the emperor's words were an affirmation of his family tradition and respect for him as a person, or a sarcastic rebuke to him for his refusal to go to Beijing in the first place.

However, he was not afraid, and just replied respectfully: "Your Majesty, you are too kind. I am just doing my duty as a descendant."

Zhu Yijun smiled, seemingly without any other intention, and nodded, saying, "Then let's go to the Confucius Temple first."

"I obey your order. Please allow me to lead the way, Your Majesty." Kong Shangxian bowed.

"Please, Mr. Yansheng."

  In a solemn and harmonious atmosphere, Zhu Yijun, led by Kong Shangxian and Kong Yinzhi, and accompanied by a large group of officials, slowly moved towards the Confucius Temple.
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