Rule over Ming Dynasty

Xu Hong is no longer the slightly reckless young man he used to be. Now he has dark skin and deep eyes, and looks like a mature and steady young official.

He was originally an ordinary candidate for the imperial examination in Guangdong, but was accidentally involved in the Qian family's massacre. Thanks to his sense of justice, he actually won the beauty in that incident.

He was a Jinshi in the third year of Hongzhi, and performed well in the Xiaochuanlu examination. He also made remarkable achievements during his tenure in the Ministry of War. He was then sent to Jiangnan by the emperor to participate in promoting the order to abolish silver.

Later, he returned to Beijing and was promoted to Vice Minister of the Ministry of War due to his merits. Because of his outstanding performance at the highest meeting, he was sent to Shandong by the emperor at the end of last year and became the Governor-General of Shandong, the ruling party.

"Sir, what happened?"

"Assemble five thousand soldiers and go rescue the Imperial Envoy!"

Shandong guerrilla general Qi Jingtong asked solemnly when he saw Xu Hong's serious expression. Xu Hong put away the urgent letter and gave orders in a murderous manner.

The Minister of Justice Song Cheng is not only an important official of the country, but also a treasure of the Ming Dynasty.

This time he came to Shandong under the imperial order. If something happened to Song Cheng in his jurisdiction, not only would the court blame him, but he would also become a national sinner.

What's more, over the years, he has wanted to serve the court and repay the emperor's kindness. Naturally, he does not want to disappoint the emperor, and he does not want to see the Ming Dynasty lose an important official.

The military situation was urgent. When Xu Hong learned that Song Cheng was in danger, he quickly assembled 5,000 elite troops and headed directly to the destination.

At dusk, the setting sun is like blood.

The leading cavalry had already reached an ancient mountain gate. This area belonged to the Kong family.

The Kong family is a thousand-year-old family with a superior status. They have a guard team composed of Kong's descendants and servants. They are usually responsible for maintaining order in the Kong family's private property. Today, they have imposed martial law in the area to ensure that sacrificial activities can proceed smoothly.

The leader of the guard, a muscular man with a face full of flesh, held a long knife in his hand and led a group of men to guard the sentry post. He shouted loudly: "This is the private land of the Kong family. Outsiders are not allowed to enter without permission!"

"Are you blind? I am Shandong guerrilla general Qi Jingtong. Get out of the way immediately!" Shandong guerrilla general Qi Jingtong looked at the Kong family guards who were blocking their way and shouted angrily.

Kong Wenyong was proud of his noble bloodline and didn't take Qi Jingtong seriously at all: "A little guerrilla general dares to act wildly here, it's really a joke, go back to where you came from!"

"This guerrilla general has come here on the orders of the governor. You'd better get out of the way immediately, otherwise don't blame me for being rude!" Qi Jingtong frowned and threatened in a deep voice.

Kong Wenyong was unmoved and snorted coldly: "Humph, what is the governor's order? I don't know! Without the permission of the Kong family, no one is allowed to enter the holy land!"

However, his eyes were on top of his head, so he didn't notice the livid face of Xu Hong behind him.

As time was running out and he didn't know what was going on inside, Xu Hong's eyes became stern and he waved his hand and ordered, "Charge! Anyone who stands in our way will be killed without mercy!"

Compared with offending the Kong family, he now cares more about Song Cheng's safety and the interests of the Ming Dynasty court.

With his order, guerrilla general Qi Jingtong led the elite cavalry and rushed directly towards the defense line of the Kong family guard like an arrow.

However, the maintenance team members seemed to have been prepared and quickly formed a barbarian defense line. They actually used the mountain terrain here to attack the army with rolling stones and logs, while arrows were shot down from above.

"kill!"

Qi Jingtong was an outstanding student at the Military Academy in the eighth year of Hongzhi. He had always had a heart to defend his country. At this moment, he tightly grasped the hilt of the sword and personally led his troops to charge forward.

Unlike the scholars in the world who revere the holy land, his ancestors were all soldiers of the Ming Dynasty. The only idea in their hearts was to defend their country, and he was also a war machine that obeyed military orders.

For a time, the sound of war drums shook the sky.

"Damn it! They are serious. Let's fight this bunch of soldiers!" The young man from the Kong family looked at the Ming cavalry rushing up and wielding their butcher knives, but he realized it belatedly and became furious.

Originally, they relied on their status and the fact that today was a special day, so they dared to be so arrogant.

However, the scale of this suddenly appearing army was beyond their imagination, and the other side resorted to knife-wielding, which made them realize that the other side was not those officers and soldiers who bullied the weak and feared the strong, but a Ming army that was decisive and ruthless.

puff!puff!puff!
The cavalry in front were knocked down by the rolling stones, and the cavalry rushing up from behind were no longer merciful and directly slaughtered the members of the escort team indiscriminately.

For a moment, the blood dyed the steep hillside red, and the Kong family’s children and servants fell into a pool of blood.

Qi Jingtong jumped on his horse and killed a member of the Kong family who was holding a bow and arrow with one sword, and then he went straight to Kong Wenyong, scaring him so much that he fell to the ground in horror.

"Misunderstanding! General, please spare my life!" Kong Wenyong was frightened by this sudden change and his face turned pale, but he kept begging for mercy.

Although his name contained the word "yong" and he was extremely arrogant just now, he was ultimately a weakling. Now seeing Qi Jingtong pointing the tip of his knife at him, he no longer had the arrogance brought by the blood of a saint, and knelt down as if he had no spine.

At this moment, he did not feel ashamed at all. After all, his ancestors had kneeled down to the Mongols of the Yuan Dynasty, and later they lived their lives on their knees. This was a fine tradition of their family.

The Kong family members were frightened by this sudden change. Some of them dropped their weapons, some knelt down and begged for mercy, and some took the opportunity to escape.

"Capture him!" Xu Hong rode his horse to catch up and captured Kong Wenyong in a very rational manner.

Kong Wenyong was so scared at this moment, but his face showed a very happy expression. After all, he had temporarily saved his life from Qi Jingtong's knife.

Since the cavalry led by Qi Jingtong had already drawn their knives, the Kong family members behind them no longer dared to stop them, and they also knew what had happened at the Confucius Temple.

The core members of their Kong family disobeyed the imperial order and even killed a captain of the Jinyi Guards who was on duty according to the order. Now that the imperial envoy has summoned the troops, who dares to stop them?
In front of the Confucius Temple, the atmosphere seems very depressing.

Although the Minister of Justice Song Cheng was a civil servant, he was a first-rank official of the Ming Dynasty after all, and he was also the world-renowned Song Justice. Naturally, no one dared to do anything to him.

Although the Kong family considers themselves to be descendants of saints and are accustomed to being local tyrants in Qufu, they also believe that the court needs the "certification" of their Kong family, so they dare to be so arrogant.

But if they were really asked to rebel, they simply wouldn't have the courage to do so.

In fact, they are born to be only supporting players. Not to mention that they do not have the strength to rebel, and the current Ming Dynasty is at its most prosperous period.

Even though they had always criticized Emperor Hongzhi as a tyrant and an unfilial emperor, no one dared to deny that the Ming Dynasty was now powerful, even surpassing the most powerful period of Emperor Taizong. Even though they had tens of thousands of Confucius' descendants and a large number of serfs, they dared to rebel now, and were destroyed by the surrounding local troops before they could even leave Shandong.

The current officials of the Ming Dynasty are all very pragmatic and tough. Once the Kong family gives them the opportunity to make achievements, those people will no longer care about their status as descendants of saints and will definitely kill them as soon as possible.

That's right, even though they were facing a weak civil servant, no one dared to touch Song Cheng, and they even had to serve him respectfully.

"I'm sorry for being late, Your Excellency the Imperial Envoy!" Xu Hong couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief when he saw that Song Cheng was safe and sound.

Although Song Cheng was not harassed by Kong, he was in a bad mood at the moment. He pointed at Lu Song lying on the ground and said, "Captain Lu was loyal to his heart, but he was killed by the villain. Let's bury his body first!"

Lu Song was wearing a majestic Douyu costume, and the embroidered spring knife in his hand fell aside. The blood flowing from his head had dried up, and corpse spots had appeared on his face.

The dignified Jinyi Guard Captain had a bright future, and might even become the commander of the Jinyi Guard in the future, but now he died tragically in Shandong, which is a pity.

"As you command!" Xu Hong responded, and then he noticed that a captain of the Jinyi Guards had died here. He also understood why Song Cheng had led his troops here himself.

Although as the Governor of Shandong he had long been aware of the Kong family's arrogance, he had not expected them to be so lawless and even kill the emperor's personal guards at will.

If this matter is dealt with severely, the entire Kong family will be in trouble, and they may even be charged with treason.

"Misunderstanding, it's all a misunderstanding!" Kong Chengxiao stood up again and still wanted to explain to calm things down.

Xu Honggang turned around to face the children of the Kong family and waved his hand.

Qi Jingtong personally led his troops to surround the place and captured all the thugs who had just taken action, and the core members of the Kong family were not allowed to leave.

"If you want to accuse someone, you can always find a pretext. Xuan Sheng is the master of famous religions for all ages, revered by generations. Don't you discourage scholars all over the world by treating the direct descendants of the sage in this way?" Kong Hongchu shouted unwillingly after being arrested.

When things came to this point, he had no choice but to keep silent and deny the crimes the court had accused him of, and not admit the evil things he had done, so that he could have a glimmer of hope.

Song Cheng had already made up his mind, so he gave the order, "Since Kong Hongxu has repeatedly claimed that he was wronged, I will grant his wish today. Come, follow me to open the coffin and examine the body!"

"No!" Kong Hongchu blurted out.

Huh?
When Kong Chengxiao and others heard this, they couldn't help but look at Kong Hongxu with suspicion, who had a panicked face.

Kong Hongchu winked at Kong Chengxiao and the others frantically, but Kong Chengxiao and the others were not stupid, and they had the answer in their hearts in an instant. However, when they saw Qi Jingtong leading the soldiers to look at them covetously, they couldn't help but feel bitter.

Seeing that he did not receive support from Kong Chengxiao and other elders, Kong Hongchu had no choice but to bite the bullet and say, "My brother has been buried. It is inappropriate for Lord Song to open the coffin and examine the body now!"

"Kong Hongchu" Xu Hong already understood what was going on and asked directly.

"No... I didn't do anything so cruel!" Kong Hongchu quickly shook his head and denied it.

Song Cheng understood everything from Kong Hongchu's reaction, and said calmly: "Opening the coffin for an autopsy is not to discuss with you, but to find out who is afraid of killing the Duke of Ming Dynasty, and the court wants to give the truth to all people in the world!"

The Kong family naturally wanted to cover up everything, but from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, it was destined to not allow such a matter to remain an unsolved case, but to get to the bottom of it.

In the face of absolute power, the Kong family did not have the courage to obstruct it at all.

What's more, they first obstructed the Jinyi Guards from arresting people, and then their sons beat the Jinyi Guards to death with sticks. Now, their entire Kong family will face the emperor's wrath. Why should they obstruct the court's investigation into the cause of death of the duke?
The moment Kong Hongtai's coffin was opened, a strong stench of corpse hit his nose, and this stench was mixed with a smell of medicine.

Kong Hongxu and Kong Wenshi were brought to the grave. When they smelled the odor, they both had an ominous premonition in their hearts.

In full view of everyone, Song Cheng carefully examined Kong Hongtai's body, then took out a silver needle and gently pierced Kong Hongtai's throat.

In just a moment, the silver needle turned black. Song Cheng's face became solemn, and he showed the blackened silver needle in his hand to the elders of the Kong family.

"Hongtai was really poisoned to death!"

"Even if Hongtai died of poisoning, we cannot conclude that it was done by Hongchu and Wenshi!"

"Yes, this only proves that Hongtai died a violent death, but this case still needs to be investigated carefully!"

……

Although they already knew that Kong Hongtai was poisoned to death, they still wanted to protect Kong Hongtai and Kong Wenshi, and they wanted to preserve the integrity of their Kong family.

Song Cheng ignored these voices and looked at Kong Wenshi past Kong Hongchu and said, "Kong Wenshi, are you going to recruit now? Or are you going to come back to Beijing with me to recruit later?"

"I... I confess!" Kong Wenshi's psychological defenses were broken, and he immediately knelt on the ground weakly and confessed.

He has been under a lot of pressure these days. Although he is not a man of high moral character and has a cold-blooded side, anyone who kills his father will feel guilty.

He hated himself for being seduced by Liu's body, hated himself for believing his uncle's lies, and hated himself even more for having personally delivered the poison to his father's bedside.

Now facing the world-famous Song Qingtian, watching Song Qingtian easily know the truth, he knew that it would be of no use even if he did not admit it.

"It's over. This time it's...really over!"

When Kong Hongchu saw Kong Wenshi confessing, he fell to the ground, muttering in a daze.

The situation now is completely different from what it was back then. Not to mention that his father-in-law has been dead for many years, even if his father-in-law were still alive, he would no longer be able to save him.

He has completely messed up this time. Not only will he be unable to regain the position of Duke Shengyan, but the entire Kong family will be disgraced, and it may even be the beginning of their decline.

That night, Song Cheng sorted out the case of the previous Yansheng Duke Kong Hongtai. Because the matter involved serious matters, he only reported the case to the emperor and handed it over to the emperor to make the final decision. (End of this chapter)