King Luhuang of the Ming Dynasty: My father, Ming Taizu

After a few days of free medical consultation, Zhu Tan's reputation spread throughout Qinghe Village.

The villagers all said that the person brought by Mr. Zhu was not only skilled in medicine, but also kind-hearted, and was a rare good person.

"Mr. Zhu, you are such a good person! My father's illness has been cured by many doctors but none of them could be cured. The people you brought with you cured the disease as soon as they took action!"

"That's right! My wife had been coughing for a long time and was about to die. Thanks to Master Zhu, she can now go out to work again!"

The villagers were very grateful to Zhu Tan and called him a "living Bodhisattva".

However, he did not come here to be a living Buddha, but to expose the crimes of the Kong family and give justice to the people!
During the day, Zhu Tan asked people to treat the villagers and took the opportunity to ask them whether they had been bullied by the Kong family.

The villagers were a little hesitant at first, but under Zhu Tan's guidance, they finally opened up.

"Mr. Zhu, you don't know! The Kong family is the local tyrant of our Qinghe Village!"

"They relied on their power to force us to buy or sell our land. If we refused to sell, they would set fire to our house!"

"Also, they changed the river course without permission, causing floods in our village every year and destroying our crops!"

An old man with gray hair took out a yellowed paper from his arms with trembling hands and handed it to Zhu Tan:

"Mr. Zhu, take a look. This is the contract they forced us to sign! Five acres of good land, and they only gave us five taels of silver. Isn't this robbery?"

Zhu Tan took the contract and took a closer look. As the old man had said, the terms in the contract were extremely harsh and obviously unfair to the villagers.

"How can this be! This is simply too much!"

Zhu Tan suppressed his anger, put the contract away, comforted the old man a few words, then stood up and said goodbye.

After returning to his residence, Zhu Tan carefully studied the evidence collected from the villagers, and became more and more frightened the more he read.

The Kong family privately changed the river course, causing frequent floods downstream, but they blamed it on natural disasters.

He even took the opportunity to apply for disaster relief funds from the imperial court and enrich himself.

They also colluded with bandits and regularly came to the village to rob. The villagers dared not speak out and could only swallow their anger.

"This Kong family is truly sinful!"

This thin piece of paper carries the tearful accusations of the people of Qinghe Village and is the ironclad evidence of the Kong family's crimes!

He could no longer bear it, he had to make Kong Xianglin pay the price for his actions immediately!
He rode his horse at full speed all the way, heading straight for the Confucius Mansion.

The gatekeeper was surprised to see that it was the current King of Lu.

Scared to death.

He even forgot to report, and just knelt on the ground, shouting tremblingly: "I greet the prince!"

Zhu Tan didn't even look at them, he waved his whip and rushed straight into the Confucius Mansion.

The servants finally reacted and ran to inform the master of the house.

At this time, Kong Xianglin was "cultivating his character" in his study.

It is said to be self-cultivation, but in fact it is just drinking tea, appreciating paintings and entertaining oneself.

He had long heard that Prince Lu had been staying in Qinghe Village these days, under the pretext of understanding the people's sentiments, but in reality he was just sightseeing.

He did not take Zhu Tan seriously at all. In his opinion, although the Prince of Lu was good at fighting, he did not understand the twists and turns of officialdom.

It won't amount to anything.

"Master, Master! It's bad! His Royal Highness Prince Lu is coming with murderous intent!"

A servant rushed into the study, shouting breathlessly.

Kong Xianglin calmly put down the teacup in his hand and said slowly:
"Why are you panicking? What if the King of Lu comes? Can he eat me?"

He straightened his clothes, walked slowly out of the study and came to the hall.

He thought that Zhu Tan came this time to convey some imperial decree. Anyway, he would just deal with it on the surface and do what he had to do behind the scenes.

He is the local emperor of Shandong. A small prince of Lu can't do anything to him!
As soon as he reached the door of the hall, he saw Zhu Tan standing there angrily, and the guards behind him also had unfriendly expressions.

Kong Xianglin's heart skipped a beat, and he thought to himself, "Oh no! It seems that the King of Lu has come with bad intentions today!"

But he was a cunning old man after all, and he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he put on a flattering smile, walked quickly to Zhu Tan, bowed and said:

"I didn't know that Your Majesty was coming. I'm sorry for not welcoming you. I hope you can forgive me!"

Zhu Tan didn't say anything, but just looked at him coldly, his eyes as sharp as an eagle's, as if he could see through all the conspiracies and tricks in his heart.

Kong Xianglin felt uneasy when he looked at him, and the smile on his face was a little hard to maintain. He laughed dryly and asked:

"I wonder what brings you here today, Your Majesty?"

"What are you doing?"

Zhu Tan suddenly sneered, grabbed Kong Xianglin by the collar, and lifted him up like a chicken, "Kong Xianglin, you are so brave!"

Kong Xianglin was startled by this sudden action, and before he could react, he was slapped hard in the face.

"Snapped!"

Zhu Tan used all his strength to slap Kong Xianglin, causing him to see stars, bleed at the corners of his mouth, and become completely stunned.

He covered his burning cheeks, looked at Zhu Tan in disbelief, and was speechless for a long time.

His Kong family has been a family of nobles for generations, how could they have ever suffered such a great humiliation? !

The anger burned in my chest, almost bursting out.

But as a man who has been immersed in officialdom for many years, he knows very well that it is not appropriate to confront Zhu Tan head-on at this moment.

He suppressed the burning sensation on his face and spoke slowly, his voice trembling slightly:
"Your Highness, you...what do you mean? I have done nothing wrong, why..."

"No offense?" Zhu Tan laughed in anger and threw Kong Xianglin to the ground. "Kong Xianglin, you are so bold! You privately changed the river course, causing the people downstream to lose their homes and lives. You still have the nerve to say that you have not offended anyone?"

Kong Xianglin was knocked unconscious by the fall, and he felt even more frightened.

He didn't expect that Zhu Tan would know about this!

He did this secretly, thinking it was flawless, how could it be possible...

"Your Majesty, you... you must have believed the slander of this villain!"

Kong Xianglin struggled to get up from the ground, pointed at the guards behind Zhu Tan, and shouted in a timid voice:
"They are all crude warriors who don't know what's right and are deliberately slandering me!"

After that, he straightened his back, put on a dignified look, and said with deep sorrow:

"Your Majesty, you are a royal noble, you should govern the country with benevolence and justice. As a scholar, I have always abided by the rules of propriety. You attacked me without knowing right or wrong. Isn't that chilling to the hearts of scholars all over the world?!"

He just didn't believe that Zhu Tan would dare to do anything to him just because he brought out the golden signboard of "scholar"!
Who in Shandong doesn't know that the Kong family is a scholarly family and a role model for scholars?
Even the governor had to be polite and respectful to him!
"student?"

Zhu Tan seemed to have heard something funny and burst into laughter, his laughter full of disdain and ridicule:
"Kong Xianglin, you have the nerve to call yourself a scholar? Look at all the good things you have done, which one is something a scholar should do?!"

He suddenly stopped smiling, his eyes fell on Kong Xianglin like a knife, and he said word by word:

"I think you have forgotten that when I attacked Japan, I killed all of them without leaving a single one alive! For a hypocritical hypocrite like you, I would think the knife is dirty even if I chop off your head!"

Kong Xianglin was frightened by Zhu Tan's aura and involuntarily took a few steps back, his face turning even paler.

Only then did he remember that the Prince of Lu in front of him was not some pampered dandy, but a ruthless character who had actually fought on the battlefield and killed people!

"Your Highness, please calm down..." Kong Xianglin's voice was trembling. He tried to stay calm and defend himself, "Those are all false accusations. Someone deliberately framed me..."

"False accusation?" Zhu Tan sneered, took out a stack of papers from his arms, and threw them hard on Kong Xianglin's face:

"Look for yourself, what is this?!"

Kong Xianglin hurriedly picked up the papers on the ground and took a look at them. His face turned pale instantly. These papers were the evidence of all his crimes over the years!

"This this……"

Kong Xianglin's hands holding the paper trembled constantly, his lips quivered, but he could not speak.

"What, you have nothing to say?"

Zhu Tan pressed on step by step, with a cold light flashing in his eyes:

"Kong Xianglin, I will give you a chance because your ancestors have done good deeds. If you confess yourself, you may get a quick death!"

"Your Majesty, this...this is all a false accusation!"

Kong Xianglin suddenly fell to his knees, crying and complaining:

"I am innocent! My family has been loyal for generations, how could I do such a thing? Someone must have framed me!"

"Framing?"

Zhu Tan looked down at him, his eyes full of mockery:
"Kong Xianglin, at this point, are you still going to quibble? Do you think that without solid evidence, I will come to you?"

He kicked Kong Xianglin in the chest fiercely, knocking him to the ground, and roared:
"I'm telling you, I never follow any rules when doing things! I don't believe in any bullshit evidence! I only believe in my own eyes and my own judgment!"

After that, he no longer paid attention to Kong Xianglin who was lying limp on the ground, and turned to the guards behind him and said:

"Search for me! Turn this Kong Mansion upside down for me! Don't let go of any clues!"

"Yes!" The guards responded loudly and rushed into the Confucius Mansion like wolves and tigers.

Kong Xianglin lay on the ground, looking at the scene, his eyes filled with despair.

The guards roughly broke open the study door, and dust flew in the sunlight.

This room, which used to be filled with the fragrance of books, was now filled with a disgusting smell of decay.

"My lord, I found it!"

A guard shouted excitedly, holding a locked wooden box in his hand.

Zhu Tan took the box and threw it on the table. The heavy wooden box hit the table with a dull sound.

He reached out to unlock the lock and opened the box, only to see neatly stacked stacks of letters inside.

Zhu Tan randomly picked one out, unfolded it and read it carefully. The more he read, the tighter his brows furrowed.
After reading to the end, he slammed the letter in his hand onto the table, his anger almost bursting from his eyes.

"What a courageous Kong Xianglin!"

Zhu Tan said this through gritted teeth, his tone filled with chilling coldness.

These letters are all ironclad evidence of Kong Xianglin’s collusion with officials from all sides, corruption and abuse of power, and even cruelty to the people!

This old guy appears to be a righteous man on the surface, but he actually does so many thieves and prostitutes behind the scenes!

"Someone, bring this old thing back to the palace for me!"

Zhu Tan waved his hand and gave the order coldly.

……

After returning to the palace, Zhu Tan immediately ordered the butler:

"Go, invite all the noble families and officials in Shandong City to the palace! Tell them that I will host a banquet in the palace tonight to entertain you all!"

The butler was stunned for a moment, then asked hesitantly:
"My Lord, this... everyone?"

Zhu Tan glanced at him and said in a bad tone:

"What? Don't you understand what I'm saying? Everyone! No one can be left behind!"

"I understand. I'll do it right away."

The butler didn't dare to say anything more and quickly bowed and left.

……

When the news reached every household, it immediately caused a commotion.

"What? His Royal Highness Prince Lu is going to hold a banquet? And he invited everyone?"

"What is the intention of His Highness Prince Lu? He threatened us one moment, and now he is inviting us to a banquet. What is he trying to do?"

"Go! Of course I have to go! His Royal Highness Prince Lu has personally ordered it, who dares not go? Isn't that obviously not giving His Royal Highness face?"

"Ah, this Prince Lu is really troublesome. We officials are tormented by him all day long and we can't even eat a peaceful meal!"

Although they complained, none of these officials and gentry dared to actually not attend the banquet.

As night fell and the lights came on, the Prince of Lu's mansion was brightly lit and bustling with activity.

Officials and gentry from all walks of life arrived at the gate of the palace early, bringing with them their carefully prepared gifts.

Exchange pleasantries and inquire about news.

"Sir Wang, what do you think His Royal Highness Prince Lu is doing tonight?"

"Who knows? We, as his subjects, cannot guess what His Royal Highness Prince Lu is thinking!"

"Well, I think it's probably about the new policy again..."

Just as everyone was talking, the gate of the palace slowly opened, and the butler walked out with a team of guards.

"My Lords, please follow me into the palace."

With a nervous mood, everyone filed in, led by the butler.

After passing through several courtyards, everyone arrived at the front hall of the palace.

The banquet had already been set up in the front hall, with all kinds of fine wine and delicious food.

However, no one dared to pick up their chopsticks at this moment. Everyone's eyes were focused on a figure kneeling on the ground in the center of the front hall.

That person was none other than Kong Xianglin!

At this moment, Kong Xianglin had long lost his former glory. His clothes were disheveled and his hair was messy.

His face was full of fear and despair. Where was the trace of his former elegance and erudition?
Everyone was stunned when they saw this, and were secretly shocked.

What on earth is His Royal Highness Prince Lu trying to do?
In the midst of everyone's shock.

Zhu Tan walked slowly from the backyard to the door.

He smiled slightly, as if he was harmless.

"Everyone, you're all here."

"What are you standing there for? Come in and have dinner." (End of this chapter)