"I will pay my respects to the prince!"
Ten miles outside Jinan City, all Shandong military and political officials came to greet him.
The chief envoy to the left of Shandong was Zhang Shuye, and the chief envoy to the right was Ling Guxu.
Li Hanzhang, an old friend who went to Beijing for the Imperial Examination together with Ju Ming, had the highest official position as Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, followed by Ling Guxu as the right governor of Shandong.
Min Zishun is now the inspector-general of Henan (the next step is to be promoted to the right governor), and Bai Chongyan is the prefect of Hangzhou (the next step is to be transferred back to Kaifeng as the prefect).
The northern provinces have changed to implement a total military system.
The commander-in-chief of Shanxi is Zhang Guangdao, the commander-in-chief of Hebei is Guan Sheng, the commander-in-chief of Shandong is Deng Chun, and the commander-in-chief of Shaanxi is Yang Zhi.
These positions of commander-in-chief are all excessive. They will be transferred back to the Generalissimo's Office in the next few years and the positions of commander-in-chief will be given to other frontline generals. This will not only give them promotions, but also give other generals more room for improvement.
For example, Li Bao, after returning from Fujian, directly entered the Generalissimo's Mansion and was only sent out to command the troops during wars.
Ju Ming called several civil and military officials on board the boat. As for the other three-level officials from the provinces, prefectures and counties, they all followed him by boat to Jinan.
This place used to be called Qizhou and was promoted to Jinan Prefecture during the reign of Emperor Huizong of the Song Dynasty.
In the New Ming Dynasty, Jinan Prefecture annexed Zizhou and Dezhou, and the administrative area was much larger than before.
"Is Li Cheng still obedient?" Zhu Ming asked the military officer.
Deng Chun said: "This man is very disrespectful to his superiors, but he is very good to his soldiers. The military discipline of the troops in his hands is both good and bad."
"Good and bad?" Zhu Ming didn't understand.
Deng Chun explained: "A group of refugees and deserters were trained by him to be able to use orders and prohibitions. But last year, Shandong was short of food and occasionally defaulted on food payments. Li Chenggong led his troops to extort gentry and merchants. However, they only extorted wealthy households and did not
Don’t attack the poor people. After the food and salary were enough this year, the ministry has never violated the prohibition again.”
"You didn't punish this person? Didn't you break up his troops and mix them up?" Ju Ming asked.
Deng Chun said: "The Jin people are in the north and may fight at any time. Li Cheng's old troops are quite capable of fighting. If they are broken up and reorganized, it will weaken their fighting power. Moreover, the imperial court defaulted on food and wages first, and Li Cheng led the troops to extort wealth.
If he is behind the scenes, he will lose his morale as a soldier if he is punished like this. Therefore, I just dismissed the old and weak, leaving all the elite behind."
Ju Ming didn't express his position anymore. He was somewhat resentful of Li Cheng.
After all, in history, this guy was the first general of the Puppet Qi Dynasty, and he had been playing tricks on the Jin Kingdom.
He is a very complicated person. He loves his soldiers as much as his own son. He only eats when the soldiers have eaten. He is also hungry when the soldiers have not eaten.
He was most likely forced to rebel against the Southern Song Dynasty and looted the south of the Yangtze River in order to obtain food and grass. This was very common in the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty. A large number of miscellaneous troops lacked logistical supplies, so they could only rob, kill and steal goods, and even went to the city to force the county magistrate to provide food.
Li Cheng was classified as a "robber" by the court because he made too much trouble, was too close to the core area of the Southern Song Dynasty, and repeatedly robbed.
The above experiences are all excusable.
What is unforgivable is that after this guy rebelled against the Song Dynasty and joined the Jin Dynasty, he was too active in order to achieve meritorious service. He took the initiative to lead the Jin soldiers southward and beat a bunch of Southern Song Dynasty generals without any temper. In the end, Yue Fei had to take action to defeat him.
"Let's use it for the time being. Any further violations will be dealt with seriously," Zhu Ming asked Zhang Shuye again, "Does Shandong have enough food this year?"
Zhang Shuye replied: "It is barely enough without a war. If we go to Hebei to fight, we will have to supply food and grass from Huainan and Zhejiang. During the Song Dynasty, Shandong was exploited excessively, and there have been many wars in recent years. We need to stop the army for at least ten years."
Only then can you regain your strength.”
"It will be easier if we destroy the Jin Kingdom." Ju Ming said.
Zhang Shuye was hesitant to speak, but finally couldn't help but speak: "The former Duke Yansheng also came to visit this time, and he is on the boat behind him now. It has been more than a year since the founding of the Ming Dynasty, but I have not yet given the title to the Kong family.
Sir, there has been no response to my previous request for a seal."
"It's almost time, let them wait," Zhu Ming said.
The father and son had long discussed matters concerning the Kong family, and had also learned in detail about the situation of the Kong family in the Northern Song Dynasty. They decided to wait for a year and a half before talking about it.
The attitude of the Northern Song Dynasty towards the Confucius was to give preferential treatment while taking precautions, and their status was far inferior to that of the Ming and Qing dynasties.
Usually, their treatment is as follows: they are granted the title of Holy Duke, initially appointed as a ninth-grade Beijing official, initially awarded as a state magistrate, county lieutenant or county administrator, and can be promoted normally based on political performance.
Moreover, since Yingzong of the Song Dynasty, Yanshenggong could not serve as the magistrate of Xianyuan (Qufu). Even during the Zhezong period, Yanshenggong was changed to Fengshenggong, dedicated to worshiping Confucius Temple, and only sent salary officials but not errands, further weakening Confucius.
family influence.
This is the Northern Song Dynasty court's precaution against the Confucius family and to prevent the Confucius family from monopolizing control of Xianyuan (Qufu).
But after Song Huizong succeeded to the throne, all kinds of restrictions were broken. Not only was the title of Yan Shenggong restored, he could also serve as the magistrate of Xianyuan County. I don't know what this faint king was thinking.
Zhang Shuye said in a low voice: "Your Highness, the old and new dynasties have changed, the doctrines of various schools are confused, and the minds of scholars are uncertain. We should canonize the Kong family as soon as possible. Even if we want to suppress them, we should give a clear explanation."
Ju Ming smiled and asked: "How should Zhang Gong treat the Kong family?"
Zhang Shuye said: "Restore the treatment to the Zhezong Dynasty. That is, Yanshenggong was changed to Fengshenggong, and he was awarded the ninth rank of Beijing official to worship Confucius full-time. He was not allowed to hold other official positions. He could not be dispatched by the chief secretary or the county captain.
Give it, otherwise Xianyuan County will be ruled by the Kong family sooner or later."
"A good idea," Ju Ming said approvingly. "Do officials at all levels in Shandong, as well as civil servants, have any objections to this?"
Zhang Shuye asked in confusion: "What objections can officials and scholars have to the imperial decree?"
Zhu Ming suddenly realized that it turned out that the father and son were overthinking it.
Before Confucianism became completely dogmatic, scholars did not have such unlimited admiration for Confucius.
This situation was most obvious in the Zhezong Dynasty. They were not even willing to give them the official positions of chief registrar and county captain. They just went to worship Confucius. Of course, this also proves that the Confucius family is not very disciplined. They have no regard for Xianyuan County.
The degree of control has become serious enough to alarm the court.
Ju Ming asked again: "What title does Confucius have now?"
Zhang Shuye replied: "The Most Holy King Wenxuan."
Ju Ming asked again: "What is the title of Emperor Zhou?"
Zhang Shuye said: "King Zhou."
Ju Ming asked again: "Is Confucius a minister of Zhou?"
"Of course." Zhang Shuye said.
Zhu Ming sighed: "Promoting Confucius as King Wenxuan and making the king and his ministers treat each other as equals is really setting Confucius up for disloyalty! If I want to restore Confucius' innocence, can I cut off his title as king?"
Zhang Shuye was stunned and praised: "It should be so."
When Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty consecrated Mount Tai, he planned to confer the title of Emperor on Confucius. At that time, ministers strongly opposed it on the grounds that the Emperor of Zhou was only the King of Zhou, and it was too arrogant for Confucius to proclaim himself emperor.
Zhu Ming asked again: "Is there a statue of Confucius in the Xianyuan Confucius Temple?"
Zhang Shuye replied: "There is no statue, but there is a portrait carved on a wooden board. According to the Kong family, this portrait has been carved for more than a hundred years and is a copy of the sword portrait painted by Wu Daozi in the Tang Dynasty."
"It was copied from a portrait in the Tang Dynasty, so how do you know it is the true face of Confucius?" Zhu Ming said, "Scholars all over the world worship Confucius, and Confucius temples must not enshrine statues or portraits. Who knows who the painting is? From now on,
Only the God of Confucius (tablet) is allowed to be worshiped in the Confucius Temple.”
"It should be so." Zhang Shuye couldn't find any reason to refute this.
"You are the Chief Envoy of Shandong. Please inform the court about this matter," Zhu Ming said. "The Holy Saint King Wenxuan will be changed to the Holy Master from now on. From now on, the name of Yan Sheng Gong will be changed to Feng Sheng Gong. You can only sacrifice to others."
Actual duties. Brother Ling Gu, you also signed the memorial together."
"yes!"
Zhang Shuye and Linggu Xu responded in unison.
Immediately, Zhang Shuye said again: "If Confucius removes his royal title, the titles of the other two people should also be removed."
Ju Ming asked: "Which two?"
Zhang Shuye replied: "One is Jiang Taigong in the Martial Arts Temple, and the other is Wang Linchuan (Wang Anshi) in the Confucian Temple. Confucius lost his royal title, but the two of them have royal titles. This really shouldn't happen."
Ju Ming thought carefully and said: "These two should be demoted to dukes. Wang Linchuan's ranking in the Confucian Temple should also be moved back. You and I should write them in the memorial together. Don't be afraid of offending anyone."
In fact, regarding the matter of sacrifice, the father and son planned to destroy the Kingdom of Jin before talking about it.
Because the emperors of the Northern Song Dynasty were canonizing gods wantonly, there were a lot of legal gods in the country. There were ten or twenty gods of the sea alone, and merchants and fishermen often worshiped them repeatedly for fear of accidentally offending someone.
Zhu Yuanzhang gave an example of how to do it specifically, which was to canonize some gods and ban all other gods.
Of course, Ju Ming has no control over what the future emperor will do.
For example, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered that only Confucius be worshiped in Qufu. As a result, only a few decades later, Confucius temples were built all over the country. The emperors of the Ming Dynasty did not care about the ancestral laws.
Ju Ming then said: "You will write another memorial to the court, please change Xianyuan County back to Qufu County."
"yes!"
Zhang Shuye made Gu and Xu respond again.
This bad name was changed when Emperor Zhenzong of the Song Dynasty was enshrining Mount Tai. He thought it was the hometown of the Yellow Emperor, so he changed its name to "Xianyuan". He even forcibly moved Qufu County and the people inside and outside the city collectively to the birthplace of the Yellow Emperor, Shouqiu, which wasted money and had no practical effect.
value.
The fleet arrived at Jinan Fucheng. After entering through Shuimen, Ju Ming went straight to the hotel to stay.
Officials at all levels were ordered to disperse and do whatever they were supposed to do. Only Yanshenggong Kong Duanyou was summoned.
Kong Duanyou was brought into the hotel by the prince's guards. He felt a little uneasy because the situation was too strange and he thought it was the Kong family that had offended the Ming Dynasty.
Before the separation of the Northern and Southern Confucian families, the Qufu Confucian family still had basic ethics.
When the new Ming Dynasty was established, Kong Duanyou did not present the watch immediately, but was still waiting to see the small court in the southeast.
It wasn't until last year, when Li Bao captured Hangzhou, that Kong Duanyou formally presented himself as a vassal, but the Ming court never gave any attitude.
He, Yanshenggong, has not yet been recognized by the new dynasty, and even Confucius does not dare to worship him this year.
By the way, the Confucius Temple in Qufu during the Northern Song Dynasty was often unable to offer sacrifices on time. Because Duke Yansheng might be an official elsewhere and could not leave the place of office at will, it would be difficult to offer sacrifices without the chief priest.
Confucius in the Northern Song Dynasty was so miserable that even the great sacrifices at Qufu Confucius Temple were interrupted from time to time.
"Your Majesty, Kong Duanyou, pays homage to His Highness the Crown Prince!"
"Sir, please sit down."
This chapter has been completed!