Ming Dynasty man

Chapter 639 Sit in front of the saint

On both sides are the statues of Min Sun, Ran Geng, Ran Yong, Zai Yu, Duan Muci, Ran Qiu, Zhong You, Yan Yan, Bu Shang, Zhuan Sun Master, You Ruo and Zhu Xi, which are called "Twelve Philosophers". ".

Li Jing and Zhu Youjian led the crowd into the Dacheng Hall, burned three sticks of incense in front of the statue of Confucius, then respectfully knelt down and solemnly performed three kneeling and nine knocking rituals, and then went to Sipei and Twelve Sages Respectfully offering incense and saluting in front of the statue.

Of course, no matter how respectful Li Jing and Zhu Youjian's etiquette is, it is extremely sloppy from the perspective of offering sacrifices to Confucius.

It's just that Li Jing seldom pays attention to those rituals.Li Jing believes that only the respect in the heart is the real respect, and only the understanding of the true meaning of Confucian thought is the real respect.

As for talking about benevolence and morality on the surface, but doing inhumane and unrighteous actions behind the scenes, it completely violated the teachings of Confucius.

After saluting, Li Jing and Zhu Youjian sat down on the futon in front of the statue of Confucius with their eyes closed.

Not long after, Ma Wu hurried into the hall with his men and a group of soldiers.After paying respects to Zhu Youjian and Li Jing, Ma Wu said: "Commander, the county magistrate of Qufu has been escorted outside the hall, and Kong Yinzhi will be there soon."

Li Jingjing nodded: "Let your people and soldiers leave the temple, don't desecrate the saint."

Hearing this, Ma Wu took a stack of account books from his subordinates, and then waved his subordinates and soldiers to leave the hall.

Handing the account book to Li Jing, Ma Wu turned around and Xiao Wu and other guards stood behind Li Jing and Zhu Youjian.

Li Jing looked back at Ma Wu, smiled and said, "Take a futon and sit next to me. What's the matter with you standing behind me and the emperor? As a bodyguard, you might have to say something about me and the emperor again."

Ma Wu shook his head and said with a smile: "I'm a rough old man, I don't know a lot of characters, how dare I sit in front of the saint like the emperor and the commander? Please forgive me."

Zhu Youjian said with a smile: "Ma Wuye, who is not afraid of heaven and earth, respects Confucius. It's really rare."

Ma Wu said with a smile: "The emperor made fun of it. Even Ma Wu is so courageous that he dare not disrespect the saint."

Li Jing shook his head with a smile, took an account book to Zhu Youjian, and opened another account book to read carefully.

Before finishing an account book, he heard footsteps coming from outside the hall, and then he heard a person shout: "Li Jing, you are so brave, you dare to sit in front of the saint."

Li Jing put down the account book, looked up at the person, and saw that the person was about 45 or [-] years old, wearing a python robe and jade belt, but exuding a refined air, Li Jing smiled, knowing that it must be Kong Yinzhi.

(Note: Before the clerical error, Kong Yanzhi should be Kong Yinzhi, and Kong Yinzhi was changed to Kong Yanzhi to avoid Yongzheng's taboo.)
Seeing Kong Yinzhi enter the hall, Li Jing slowly stood up and asked with a smile, "Can I sit here?"

Kong Yinzhi sneered and said: "This is the seat of saints. If you are so disrespectful to saints, you are really in vain as the chief assistant of the dynasty, and you are even more ashamed of the teachings of Lord Jie Huan."

Li Jing smiled and said: "You say I am ashamed of the teachings of Lord Jie Huan?"

Suddenly Li Jing's expression changed, he threw the account book in his hand at Kong Yinzhi, and sternly reprimanded: "Look at what is recorded here? You are a saint who opens his mouth and shuts his mouth. As Duke Yan, he claims to be a descendant of a saint. You have been benevolent and moral all day, and you did such a thing? Who are you ashamed of?"

Kong Yinzhi took the account book and looked it over, his face suddenly changed, and he argued: "How can I do such a thing, you are framing me."

Li Jing sneered: "Really? You mean you didn't do these things? Then let me ask you, who did these things?"

Kong Yinzhi said angrily: "Li Jing, since you came to power, you have excluded and suppressed scholars, and criticized Confucianism in newspapers, and now you are fabricating crimes to frame me. What is your intention?"

Li Jing shook his head and sneered: "Kong Yinzhi, I really admire you. At this time, you still haven't pleaded guilty, and you don't think about it. If I don't have any evidence, how can I send someone to arrest you?"

Suddenly, Li Jing shouted: "Come on!"

Xiao Wu turned around and came in front of Li Jing, bowed and said, "Yes! May I ask what you want from the commander-in-chief."

"Bring up the magistrate of Qufu." Li Jing said in a deep voice.

Xiao Wu turned around and turned to the outside of the hall, shouting loudly: "Bring the county magistrate of Qufu in!"

Immediately, two guards outside the hall escorted the magistrate of Qufu in.

Kong Yinen, the magistrate of Qufu County, a member of the Kong clan, brother of the Kong Yinzhi clan, won the imperial examination in the 40th year of Wanli. After that, he went to Beijing to participate in the examination four times but failed to pass the examination, so he gave up participating in the examination. In the second year of Chongzhen, he was passed by Kong Yinzhi He was recommended as the chief book of Qufu County. In the sixth year of Chongzhen, he was recommended by Kong Yinzhi as the magistrate of Qufu County.

(Note: Before the Ming Dynasty, the county magistrate of Qufu was held concurrently by Yan Shenggong, which was a hereditary official position. After the seventh year of Hongwu in the Ming Dynasty, it was changed to a secular official position. Yan Shenggong selected Jinshi, Juren or Gongsheng from the Kong clan to serve as the county magistrate of Qufu. The grade is the sixth grade.

In addition, the magistrate of Qufu County belongs to the county magistrate, who cannot be promoted or transferred, there is no serious crime, and he is not allowed to participate in the revolution. Therefore, the term of office is relatively long. Generally, the term of a county magistrate is three years, and at most two terms must be transferred to another office. Generally more than ten years. )
Kong Yinen is nearly sixty years old, although he is not young, but his movements are extremely nimble. When he entered the Dacheng Hall, he saw a person standing awe-inspiringly opposite Kong Yinzhi. He looked at Kong Yinzhi coldly, knowing that it must be Li Jing, so he went quickly After two steps, he knelt down on the ground with a plop, kowtowed and shouted: "The next official, Kong Yinen, sees Mr. Shoufu!"

Li Jing looked at Kong Yinen and sneered: "Kong Yinen, you should be a good county magistrate. The Yanzhou government allocated a total of [-] shi for disaster relief in Qufu. Let me ask you, where did the [-] shi of the food go?"

Kong Yinen heard the sweat dripping from his forehead, kowtowed and said: "Your official should be damned, please be merciful."

Li Jing snorted: "You are a sensible person, and you know that sophistry is useless, but what did you do earlier? Why didn't you plead guilty when the Metropolitan Procuratorate sent people down? Do you think you are from the Kong family, Yan Yan? If you were recommended by the Holy Duke, others would not dare to touch you?
That's right, there is the big tree of Yan Shenggong to shield you from the wind and rain. You don't even pay attention to the orders of the Shandong Chief Envoy, and you don't even pay attention to the prefect of Yanzhou. You think you just need to hug Yan Shenggong's thigh , no one can touch you.right? "

"The lower officials deserve to die, the lower officials deserve to die." Kong Yinen kowtowed.

Shaking his head lightly, Li Jing looked at Kong Yinen silently and said, "I really don't understand what you think, 7 shi of grain is worth at least 3000 taels of silver, but you only got [-] shi of grain and [-] taels of silver. Benefits. You risked your life but didn’t even get [-]% of the benefits, are you a pig? You can’t even settle such a simple account?”

Hearing that Li Jing knew exactly how much money he had been greedy for, the sweat dripped from Kong Yinen's forehead, and he kowtowed like garlic, and kept saying: "My lord, please forgive me."

Li Jing sneered: "Forgive me? If I spare you, how can I be worthy of the people of Qufu? Kong Yinen, let me tell you this, your life will definitely not be saved. If you don't want to suffer, you should take it to your heart's content. Make things clear."

When Kong Yinen heard the words, he raised his eyes to look at Kong Yinzhi.

When Li Jing saw it, he sneered and said, "Don't look at him, he can't protect himself, so don't think that he will intercede for you."

Kong Yinzhi suddenly laughed and said: "Li Jing, I am Yan Shenggong, who was ordered by the late emperor, and his rank is still higher than yours. What right do you have to investigate and prosecute me?"

"Hahaha!" Li Jing laughed loudly when he heard the words, turned to look at Zhu Youjian and said, "Your Majesty, he said that I have no right to investigate him."

Zhu Youjian smiled after hearing this, and stood up slowly: "Kong Yinzhi, let alone you, even if King Fu broke the law, Duke Xingguo would still bring him to justice. Are you higher than King Fu?"

"Emperor, Your Majesty?" Kong Yinzhi asked suspiciously when he saw it.

"It's me." Zhu Youjian said.

Looking down at his clothes, Zhu Youjian smiled and said, "It doesn't look like it?"

Kong Yinzhi heard the words without any hesitation, and hurriedly knelt down: "My minister Kong Yinzhi sees my emperor long live."

Zhu Youjian shook his head: "Kong Yinzhi, do you know that in order to raise this batch of food relief, all the money in the treasury was spent, and the country didn't even have money to use soldiers. After you became a saint in vain, you actually died in the country's crisis international embezzlement of relief food."

Kong Yinzhi hurriedly said: "Report to the emperor, I really didn't embezzle the relief food, I really don't know about it."

Li Jingwen said to Kong Yinen: "Kong Yinen, let me ask you, where is the fifty thousand shi of grain now? Don't tell me you don't know."

"Yes, in Confucius's mansion." Kong Yinen said hurriedly.

Li Jing turned his head to look at Kong Yinzhi and smiled, "Kong Yinzhi, what else do you have to say?"

Kong Yinzhi shook his head and said: "Being in the Confucius Mansion doesn't mean that I did this. Kong Yinen, I ask you, did I ask you for the fifty thousand shi of grain?"

"No, the housekeeper in the mansion asked for it from me." Kong Yinen said hurriedly.

"Master Li, did you hear that? It's the housekeeper in my mansion who is colluding with Kong Yinen and embezzling disaster supplies, which has nothing to do with me." Kong Yinzhi smiled.

Li Jing smiled and said: "It means that all these things were done by the housekeeper in your house, you don't know about it, do you?"

"Exactly!" Kong Yinzhi said.

Li Jingjing nodded, and said to Ma Wu: "Send someone to arrest the butler of the Confucian Mansion."

"Yes!" Ma Wu replied.

Seeing that Ma Wu was about to leave the palace, Li Jing said again: "Wait a minute, since we are going to the Confucian Mansion to arrest people, we should also arrest all the children of the Confucian Mansion who committed crimes. Yes, save talking nonsense with them."

"Master Li, what did my disciples of the Confucian family do and you want to arrest him?" Kong Yinzhi shouted in a hurry when he heard the words.

Li Jing smiled and said: "Anyway, you don't know, just watch."

After a pause, Li Jing said again: "Originally, I planned that after you recruited, I would not pursue the trivial matters of the children in your clan, but since you don't know the fun, then don't blame me for being rude. "

Kong Yinzhi opened his mouth when he heard the words, but was speechless for a while.

The perpetrators of the Confucian Mansion had long been under the surveillance of Ma Wu's subordinates. After Li Jing came, Ma Wu ordered people to closely monitor these people. Jumping up and down, in a short while, more than [-] Confucian children were arrested and returned.

(End of this chapter)