Jingnan Strategy

Chapter 474 Cheng Huiyuan Case
"This is Duke Yansheng's Mansion. Who are you? How dare you come...ah!"

"Xichang is handling the case, everyone else, get out of here!"

On the third day after Hu Lun arrived at Yanzhou Mansion, when Zhu Gaoxu's edict in Beijing had just been issued, he had already begun to surround Yanshenggong Mansion and investigate the case.

Kong Yanjin, the fifty-ninth generation descendant of Confucius, was still practicing calligraphy in his study when he suddenly heard constant noise outside the courtyard. He frowned, put down his pen and walked out of the small courtyard. He saw dozens of people wearing black Young men in military uniforms were coming and going in Duke Yansheng's mansion, rummaging through boxes and cabinets.

He tried to stop him, but was pushed to the ground by a Baihu official from Xichang.

No matter how much he thought about it, he could never imagine that there were people in this world who dared to take action against him.

"Don't you know who I am?"

"Even if you are from Xichang, you are not allowed to come to my Yanshenggong residence without a driving license!"

Sitting on the ground, Kong Yanjin cursed at the Xichang warriors coming and going, but before he could react, a voice sounded behind him.

"Mr. Yansheng, it seems you still don't know what crime you have committed?"

Thinking of this, Hu Lun couldn't imagine what would happen when the guys at Jilin Shipyard knew about this.

"Slander?" Hu Lun really wanted to go up and kick this guy: "The draft horses from the Qingchuan Village Office have appeared at your nephew's home. Do you think this is slander?"

With just one sentence, Kong Yanjin's mind went blank. He never imagined that his nephew would attack such a person, let alone why such a person would come to serve as an official in a village.

"This...this...this...this must be...right! It must be a misunderstanding!"

A voice came from Kong Yanjin's study. Kong Yanjin was stunned for a moment, then suddenly turned around.

"Kong Sheng is your cousin, right?"

"This sentence... go ahead and talk to His Majesty!"

Hu Lun's status can be said to be second only to the royal family, and the places where Hu Lun appears often represent the occurrence of major cases.

"It's over...my wealth...is completely over..."

"Your Majesty, if the entire Confucius family is implicated, the scholars in the world will definitely be unjust. I hope your Majesty will think twice!"

"Without my letter, no one is allowed to enter or leave the Yanshenggong Mansion!"

When Hu Lun said something, Kong Yanjin couldn't help but bow and said: "He is indeed my cousin, but we rarely have contact with each other."

Kong Yanjin's words stopped abruptly. He turned to look behind him, then quickly stood up and bowed: "Uncle Mu Yang, you... why are you here too."

Kong Yanjin didn't expect that his cousin would cause such a thing. He stepped forward and bowed: "If Uncle Mu Yang is willing to resolve this misunderstanding for me, I am willing to follow Uncle Mu Yang's advice in the future."

"Come here, call Jining Guards to surround Duke Yansheng's Mansion, and surround the other branches according to the genealogy and account books."

Hu Lun looked at Kong Yanjin with a cold face. If he wasn't allowed, he would even want to chop Kong Yanjin with a knife.

When he saw two strong men walking out with a stone carving, he knew he was doomed.

"Your nephew is quite capable. He even dared to kill officials sent by the imperial court..."

"Mr. Yansheng, please go and explain yourself to Your Majesty!" Hu Lun didn't want to argue with this rotten scholar anymore. Now that he had gotten the most important thing, he could just wait for His Majesty's orders.

As long as Hu Lun is willing to help conceal it, Cheng Huiyuan's death can become an accident.

"Uncle, I found it!"

For a moment, Kong Yanjin was sweating profusely, he felt hot blood rushing to his head, his face was red, his ears were red, and he was extremely nervous.

Kong Yanjin couldn't say a complete sentence for a long time, but at this time, the warriors from Xichang found what they wanted.

Hu Lun was so angry that he laughed back: "His father was a guard of the Bohai Palace and died in the battle at Jixiguan. Moreover, two generations of his family were single generations. Are you talking about a misunderstanding?"

Not long after, Yanshenggong's mansion was surrounded by the army, and the siege of the houses of the direct descendants, collateral descendants, and in-laws of the Confucius House also began.

"Rarely communicate with each other? Not necessarily!"

"This...this...this..."

"This...this is a mistake..."

Hu Lun gave the order with a cold face. Kong Yanjin saw this and wanted to come forward to bribe him, but was stopped by the powerful man. He could only watch Hu Lun walk away.

This matter is no longer something that even I find difficult, but something that even His Majesty finds difficult.

"Your Majesty, Duke Yan Sheng's Mansion is a saint after all, so you shouldn't take it lightly!"

In early October, the news that Cheng Huiyuan was killed quickly spread throughout the temple, and the Yanshenggong Mansion was surrounded by Hu Lun's troops, and the news that the direct descendants, collateral descendants, and in-laws of the Confucius Mansion were surrounded also quickly spread.

Kong Yanjin still doesn't think the death of Cheng Huiyuan is a big deal. After all, he was just a small official. There were hundreds of thousands of small officials like him in the Ming Dynasty.

As Hu Lun's back disappeared, Kong Yanjin seemed to have been drained of all his strength and collapsed on the ground, as if he had lost his energy.

"Isn't it a misunderstanding?" Kong Yanjin saw Hu Lun's smile and immediately realized something was wrong.

"Your Majesty, this matter should only focus on the culprit, and should not affect the entire Confucius family!"

In terms of seniority, Cheng Huiyuan's father could be said to be older than Hu Lun. As a result, now the only child of the Cheng family is gone. God knows what kind of trouble those guys back then will cause.

"When this cousin attacked Cheng Huiyuan, didn't he know what his background was?"

Hu Lun gritted his teeth and said this, and Kong Yanjin's first reaction was to retort: ​​"Impossible, this must be a mistake. How could my kind-hearted nephew do such a heinous thing? Someone must have slandered him. !”

"Misunderstanding?" Hu Lun smiled. He really admired Kong Yanjin's face.

When he saw Hu Lun, Kong Yanjin could no longer be arrogant.

Hundreds of officials knelt in the square in front of Wuying Hall, constantly making excuses for the Confucian government.

Facing their words, Zhu Gaoxu in Wuying Hall turned a deaf ear.

In the shade of Wuyingmen, there were two guys who came to watch the show. Apart from Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui, there were probably no one else who could watch the show in the palace.

"Boss, do you think His Majesty really wants to involve the entire Kong family?"

Sitting on the mat in the shade of the corridor, Zhu Gaosui looked at the crying civil servants in the distance and couldn't help but ask Zhu Gaochi beside him.

In this regard, Zhu Gaochi also had a somewhat complicated expression. Like Zhu Yunwen, he relied more on Confucianism. If it were him, even if such a thing happened, it would not implicate the entire Kong family. At most, he would deal with the person named Kong Sheng.

It's just that the person in the position now is not him, but his younger brother, Zhu Gaoxu, who always likes to make things bigger.

"It's probably hanging..."

After pondering for a moment, Zhu Gaochi expressed his opinion.

In response, Zhu Gaosui clicked his tongue a few times, and then asked: "Do you think dad will agree?"

"They should be almost at Xifengkou now. They can be back in three or four days at most."

"I don't know, the old man probably won't care about this." Zhu Gaochi shook his head.

"Then..." Before Zhu Gaosui could continue to ask, he heard the sound of rapid footsteps behind him.

The two of them turned around and saw hundreds of military attachés walking into the corridor of Wuyingmen in a menacing manner.

"His Royal Highness the King of Han, His Highness the King of Zhao..."

The military attachés didn't look good, but they still bowed to the two of them as they passed by.

Zhu Gaochi and Zhu Gaosui were stunned by this scene. A glance revealed that none of the military attachés were lower than the third rank.

Regardless of whether they have real power or casual rank, they can dispatch so many high-ranking and third-grade military officers, and they are all military attachés in their forties, so it is no small matter if you think about it.

"What are you..."

Zhu Gaochi could still calm down a little and couldn't help but ask, but he soon realized that Cheng Huiyuan's background was already known to everyone, and these people were probably here to help.

"Crying injustice!"

Among the crowd, Changchun Hou Xu Sheng, who had just returned to Beijing from the southwest to report on his work, explained to Zhu Gaochi.

In this team, Zhu Gaochi also saw Chen Chang, the Marquis of Zhaozhou, as well as Li Chi, Li He and other distinguished officials from the Bohai line.

Among this group of people, there are seven people who have been knighted. The rest, even if they have not been knighted, are basically third-grade or above and have martial arts honors.

Watching them leave, Zhu Gaochi immediately realized something was wrong.

Sure enough, upon seeing their arrival, the civil servants who had been crying shut their mouths, while Chen Chang and Xu Sheng were the first to kneel down.

After they knelt down, the other military attachés knelt down one after another. Everyone raised their hands and bowed, and shouted grievances as agreed.

"Your Majesty, Cheng Huiyuan's matter is truly unjust. If the Confucian government is not severely punished, how will the world view honest officials, the imperial court, and the Ming Dynasty!!"

As people who can usually sing military songs in unison, the military attaches at this moment sang in unison with loud voices.

Although their number was only a quarter of the civil servants, when they actually shouted, their voices were several times louder than those of the previous civil servants, and their voices echoed throughout Wuyingdian Square.

They kept shouting grievances, and even Zhu Gaoxu in the palace felt irritated, not to mention the hundreds of civil servants beside them.

"Your Majesty, Confucius is a descendant of a saint..."

"Your Majesty, regarding Cheng Huiyuan..."

For a moment, the two parties seemed to be competing to see who had the loudest voice. It seemed that whoever had the louder voice would be justified.

The two parties gradually became angry as they shouted, and in the end it was not clear who made the move first. In short, the scene suddenly became chaotic.

"It's over, Third Brother, let's go away, don't get involved!"

When Zhu Gaochi saw that the verbal dispute between civil and military officials turned into a fistfight, he immediately pulled Zhu Gaosui to stay away.

The scene of the fighting between the two sides was very chaotic. The military attaches of the Bohai faction were generally around forty-five to sixty years old, and their number was only one-quarter of the civilian officials.

Since the imperial examinations in the early Ming Dynasty required school riding, archery, and kicking, when the two sides first started fighting, the civil servants still had the upper hand.

But as the military attachés reacted and began to form a formation, they immediately used the wat tablets in their hands as weapons and fired their bows left and right at the civilian officials.

Hundreds of civilian officials were divided and surrounded by hundreds of military attachés, and they were beaten indiscriminately. The entire Wuyingdian Square seemed to have become a gladiatorial arena.

If the wat board is broken, use the belt; if the belt is broken, use fists or teeth.

Gradually, the civil servants in the square began to shout to the palace gate and the Han general at the palace gate.

"What are you doing standing there?"

"Why don't you come quickly...hey!"

Before he finished speaking, a censor was punched in the face by Xu Sheng.

The two sides gradually changed from fighting each other to an organized beating of civilian officials by military attachés. The Han generals standing at the gate of the palace watched with no intention of taking action.

In the Wuying Hall, Yi Shiha stood at the window and looked at this scene in shock: "Your Majesty, if you don't go out, I'm afraid someone will die." "These tough guys..."

Putting down his ink pen, Zhu Gaoxu complained and stood up.

Although he was complaining, judging from the fact that he sat still for a long time, he still favored his own people in his heart.

When he walked to the gate of Wuying Hall, Zhu Gaoxu saw hundreds of military attachés forming military formations and chasing hundreds of civilian officials in the entire square. The ground was littered with broken Hut boards and belts, trampled black gauze hats and incomplete Official robe.

"Clean whip!"

Zhu Gaoxu spoke to the Han generals at the palace gate. After hearing this, the two Han generals immediately took off the net whips from their waists, stepped forward to the stage and waved the net whips.

"Snapped!"

The explosion of the whip in the air spread throughout the square, but except for a few people who stopped, the rest were still chasing after them, or running for their lives.

It wasn't until a few people stopped and woke up most of the people that they stopped unilaterally beating them.

"His Majesty……"

The ministers who were fighting a second ago didn't care about their embarrassed appearance, and knelt down with bruises and swollen faces to bow.

"Fight, why don't you fight?!"

Zhu Gaoxu walked down the third high platform of Wuying Hall and came to the second high platform to look at everyone.

"What do you think this is? Caishikou?"

He scolded everyone, and everyone lowered their heads.

"Especially you, Xu Sheng!"

Zhu Gaoxu suddenly called Xu Sheng's name, and Xu Sheng shrank in fright.

"The whip has been used for three rounds, but your fist can still be used for five rounds. Why can't I see your strength during the fight?!"

Zhu Gaoxu scolded him with a cold face. When Xu Sheng heard this, he immediately bowed and said:
"Your Highness, they were the first to bully us..."

When Xu Sheng said these words, many civil servants glared at him, but he still said shamelessly:
"They saw you coming out, so they pretended to be chased and beaten by us. In fact, they were the ones beating us before."

"Enough, have I asked you this?!"

Zhu Gaoxu scolded, and Xu Sheng could only lower his head helplessly.

However, Chen Chang heard what Zhu Gaoxu meant and immediately stood up and bowed:
"Your Majesty, we are just complaining about Cheng Huiyuan."

"The Cheng family is a single generation of two generations. His father died in a bloody battle at Jixiguan. Originally, he could have succeeded in becoming a fourth-grade official, but he did not. Instead, he wanted to serve his family and country by relying on the imperial examination."

"He has served in Qingchuan Village for two years. No one in the surrounding area knows his reputation, and he is also actively preparing for the imperial examination."

"If he can pass the imperial examination for high school, then our Ming Dynasty will definitely produce an upright official."

"Now, this upright official has been plotted to kill, and the Cheng family has been extinct, leaving Cheng's mother alone and helpless. Your Majesty..."

Chen Chang spoke eloquently and did not use his status as a military attache to whitewash anything, but said that Cheng Huiyuan would be an upright official in the future.

As a result, many civil servants who were interceding for the Confucius family looked ugly.

When an honest official was killed, and these people protected the Confucius family, wouldn't that mean they were corrupt officials?

This Chen Chang is indeed sharp-tongued and sharp-tongued!

Everyone was so angry that their teeth ached, but there was nothing they could do against Chen Chang.

"That's enough. I've already made a decision on this matter. You guys should pick up the things in the square and get out of the palace!"

Zhu Gaoxu scolded everyone in a deep voice, turned around and walked back to Wuying Hall.

Seeing this, the civil servants immediately became anxious, and the emperor only listened to what the military attachés said and did not listen to them at all.

"Your Majesty, I do not support Kong Sheng, and I believe that Kong Sheng should be dealt with in accordance with the law. However, I also believe that the Kong family cannot be severely punished."

"Your Majesty, the existence of the Confucius Mansion can make it easier for the court to govern the world. Overthrowing it and starting over will only cause problems with the existing system, which is completely outweighing the gains."

In the eyes of officials, the performance of Confucianism in this era is definitely not backward, and is even somewhat advanced.

I have to say, what they said makes sense.

The reason why the Confucian family can always live comfortably is precisely because of the advanced nature of Confucianism.

The Confucian family represents the saints. They are not the same sect as Confucianism, but Confucianism needs them, and they can use Confucianism to help the imperial power.

Because of this particularity, as long as the rulers are still the feudal class, they will definitely be used.

Even bourgeois rulers hope to make full use of them.

In later generations, they were overthrown because they encountered the political consciousness of atheists.

If Zhu Gaoxu was a qualified feudal ruler, he would also make good use of the Kong family, but he was not.

Since he promoted the industrial revolution, he was already ready to transform from a feudal ruler.

Moreover, in his opinion, the people did not need to be fooled at all, as long as they were given a good life, Zhu Gaoxu did not think that anyone would want to rebel.

By overthrowing a Confucius family, the burden of the entire Shandong will be greatly reduced, and the court will also be able to obtain a lot of farmland, allowing the people to live a more comfortable life.

There are not many opportunities like this, and this is one right now.

"You keep saying that you follow the law, so let me ask you, what is the punishment for private killing of officials in the "Daming Code: Official Code" and "Criminal Code"?

Zhu Gaoxu stopped and turned around to question the officials, but the officials hesitated and couldn't explain clearly.

At this time, it was Xu Sheng who stretched out his neck and said loudly: "According to the "Legal Code", officials are not allowed to impose exorbitant taxes, but the people are not allowed to resist the taxes. Those who resist the taxes will use their property to offset the taxes. In addition, if the tax resisters beat the officials, all their property will be confiscated in accordance with the law. Three thousand miles away."

"According to the "Criminal Code", if someone kills an official privately, regardless of clan, official, or common people, the principal offender will be Ling Chi, and the accomplice will be cut in half, and the three members of the family will be disgraced!"

Xu Sheng came prepared, and the civil servants looked at him even more unkindly.

Just facing this unkind gaze, he was like a peacock with its wings spread, deliberately standing up straight for fear that others would not see him.

"Have I asked you?" Zhu Gaoxu scolded with a cold face:

"What kind of government affairs are you messing around with as a military attaché? There are so many officials from the Six Ministries and Six Sections of the Metropolitan Procuratorate here. Do they still need your reminder?!"

"Your Majesty, I am sorry for being rude..." Xu Sheng bowed in return, but there was no apology in his words.

The faces of the civil servants were not good-looking either. It was obvious that they all heard what the emperor said.

What the military attachés knew, how could they, the civil servants, not know?
"Following the law means following the law. Whether it is the clan, officials, or common people, anyone who dares to kill officials privately under my rule will only be punished according to the law!"

Zhu Gaoxu spoke loudly. He originally designed this law to punish the vassal kings. He even felt that after this law was promulgated during the Hongxi period, the first person to violate the law was either the King of Qi or the King of Min. However, It turned out to be someone from the Kong family.

In this regard, Zhu Gaoxu can only say that this is an unintentional intervention.

The bullet originally aimed at the vassal king was jumped out by Kong Mansion to catch it.

"Your Majesty, can't you..."

"enough!"

Song Li, the Minister of Rites, bowed in embarrassment, but Zhu Gaoxu directly scolded: "I don't want to say the same thing a second time. I have already issued an order regarding the Confucius Mansion. If anyone dares to come to the Wuying Palace Square to kneel and say that the Confucius Mansion is not guilty, then I will shoot him to death with my own hands!”

"People in the Confucius family are not guilty of killing officials privately, so as the emperor, do I also have the right to shoot innocent officials at will?"

"If not, does that mean that Confucius is the emperor and I am just a false emperor?"

"If there is, then will future emperors be able to kill their ministers without any reason?"

Zhu Gaoxu asked Song Li, but Song Li did not dare to respond.

If Zhu Di said this, the officials would not take it seriously, but if Zhu Gaoxu said it, the officials would really not dare to come, because the Hongxi Emperor really dared to do this.

In other words, if the officials started this way, then according to Zhu Gaoxu's idea, in the future, the emperor would not even need to catch any officials who opposed the imperial power, and would just kill them.

The officials don't want the Confucius Mansion to fall, but they don't want them to fall even more.

Therefore, they could only watch Zhu Gaoxu walk away in a hurry. Finally, they had no choice but to pick up the official robes, wat boards, and black gauze hats on the ground, and left Wuyingdian Square in embarrassment.

After they left, the military attachés also left Wuyingdian Square with pride.

After dinner, they jokingly called this incident the "Battle of Wuying Hall", and they were quite proud of their words.

As they left one after another, Zhu Gaosui and Zhu Gaochi, who had watched the show for a long time, also clicked their tongues and left the outer court.

At the same time, Zhu Gaoxu, who returned to Wuying Hall and sat down, let out a breath of bad breath.

He sat down here, and Yishiha stepped forward and poured him a cup of tea.

Zhu Gaoxu took a sip and moistened his throat before speaking:

"You write a handwritten note to my father on my behalf, asking him not to interfere in this matter. I dare to do this, so naturally I have my own plans."

"In addition, give an order to Hu Lun. If the troops are insufficient, the troops and horses of Shandong and Henan can be under his control."

"Send someone close to him to tell him that the future of the people of Shandong will depend on how well he handles this case."

Putting down the tea, Zhu Gaoxu glanced at Yi Shiha. When Yi Shiha heard the words, cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

"Your Highness, do you really want to wipe out the entire Kong family?"

"Is it possible to keep them to sing operas?" Zhu Gaoxu asked back and was disappointed.

Seeing this, Shiha returned the favor and soon sent someone to send the order to Qufu.

It was already two days after the news arrived in Qufu. Hu Lun, who received the order, didn't look good. Especially after hearing the words conveyed by the eunuch of Wuying Palace, he couldn't help but feel uneasy.

After thinking about it, he turned around and ordered to the three commanders beside him:

"I am ordering that all direct descendants, collateral descendants, and in-laws of the Confucius family, who can find evidence, will be included in this case."

"If you can't find any evidence, you have to dig deep into the ground to find it for me!"

"Your Majesty, take your orders!" Hearing this, the three commanders felt their hearts tighten.

Hu Lun's meaning is very obvious, that is, as long as it is related to the Confucius family, no matter what the relationship is, it is best to get involved.

You must know that the Kong family has been entrenched in Shandong, Henan, and Huaibei for many years, and its relationships are intertwined. If you want to pull it out in one fell swoop, the scale will probably be no less than the cases of Jie Jin and Ji Gang.

More importantly, the important result this time is not whether it is correct or not, but whether it is clean enough...

(End of this chapter)