Chapter 45: Zhu Yunxi, the great grandson of Ming Dynasty
"Mr. Yansheng, I'll come back to you next time when I'm short of money and spend it!"
Yang Feng sat high on a bullock cart and waved goodbye to Yan Shenggong who was smiling behind him.
"Well done, Ambassador, but I won't be useful in the future. Feel free to come to Kong. You and I are like brothers!"
The latter also had to show his generosity without tears.
Behind Yang Feng's ox cart, there are various types of vehicles as far as the eye can see, including ox carts, horse-drawn carriages and even handcarts, all of which are filled with grain. This is because Yan Shenggong took the initiative to show his loyalty to the Ming Emperor.
Donate to His Majesty the Emperor to comfort the nearby guards.
Yanzhou escort.
Ren Chengwei.
Jining left back.
The closest military households in Yanzhou and Jining Sanwei have one soldier and two shi of rice.
In fact, it’s just two stones for a family, but it’s not all rice. In fact, most of it is millet and even some wheat.
As for Yang Feng's ox cart, of course it cannot be grain. They are all wooden boxes. As for what is inside the boxes, it is not convenient to disclose it. Anyway, the cart cannot be moved by horses, so oxen must be used.
The wheels covered with wood and angle iron made two obvious ruts.
"Well said, what is the most important thing between brothers?"
Yang Feng shouted.
"Loyalty!"
Yan Shenggong cried out.
"Yes, loyalty, sharing blessings, hahahaha..."
Yang Feng smiled proudly.
Then the people in Qufu silently watched their performance. It must be said that this scene shocked them greatly. The long motorcade began to move forward under the spotlight.
"Ambassador Yang, I have thanked you on behalf of the Yanzhou guards, but I am still very curious, how did you and Yan Shenggong become good brothers?"
Hu Bingzhong said with a smile.
Of course he is in a good mood now. Not only has this matter been successfully resolved, but he has also brought back more than 30,000 shi of food to the military households in Yanzhou Sanwei.
Getting two stones of grain is definitely worth celebrating, and he will also be respected by the military households. As for how much Yang Feng extorted from the Kong family, it has nothing to do with him. He can just report it later. How to deal with it is Zhu Yuanzhang's business, but His Majesty the Emperor
I definitely won't care...
It’s not like Yang Feng is missing anything. Everyone has a share, so why should he take care of it?
But he still wanted to find out what Yang Feng's secret was. As a smart man, he had already seen from the process of Yang Feng blackmailing Kong Ne that there was something wrong in the latter's heart.
There is obviously something wrong with this!
"I'm also very curious. It is said that your emperor captured Quzhou very early and treated the Kong family in Quzhou with great courtesy. Why didn't he choose the Kong family in Quzhou and instead kept Duke Yansheng? He couldn't have known who the talent was.
It’s a genuine one, right? Even in terms of direct heirs, it’s obvious that Kong Duanyou’s lineage is more qualified.”
Yang Feng said.
As for what he wants from Kong Ne, he has basically figured it out.
The latter does not need to admit anything, this kind of flattering attitude toward him is already equivalent to admission.
As for the Kong family's sacrificial land that he wanted to find out, it was indeed forged by the Kong family later. The Kong family currently owns more than 900 hectares of land during the Yuan Dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang did not receive any additional reward, but only recognized the sacrificial land they had during the Yuan Dynasty.
The so-called two thousand hectares of land granted later should be the rewards from the emperors later, plus their own annexation, and then forged the statement of Zhu Yuanzhang's reward to get tax exemption. In the middle and late Ming Dynasty, all the land owned by wealthy families in various places was a confused account, and it was not
Give them the Kong family a share.
Even if the court officials knew about it, they would pretend not to know because of the reputation of the Kong family. Besides, the magistrate of Qufu County originally belonged to the Kong family.
It's impossible to report it.
As for the emperor...
Among the emperors in the middle and late Ming Dynasty, a few could know everything their ancestors did.
"How can we guess the divine will?"
Hu Bingzhong said with a smile.
"Isn't it because the Quzhou Kong family didn't give him enough face back then?"
Yang Feng said.
Zhu Yuanzhang had already captured Quzhou before he was crowned King of Wu.
Moreover, he also ordered Wang Kai, the local official appointed by him, to rebuild the family temple of the Confucius family in Quzhou. It was obvious that he was going to erect this memorial tablet, but in the end nothing was done about it. Even the doctor of the Five Classics of the Confucius family in Quzhou was still in the Hongzhi period. It was just sealed.
From this point of view, there is really no explanation except that the Quzhou Kong family did not like him back then.
It is possible that the Kong family in Quzhou looked down on him at that time. Firstly, he was still a minister of the Song Dynasty at that time. Even if they wanted to restore Duke Yansheng, they would still go to Han Lin'er, the emperor of the Song Dynasty. Secondly, there was a lot of chaos at that time, and there were many rogues like him. , even in comparison, Zhang Shicheng is more reliable. What's more, there is no need to place a bet early in troubled times. Anyway, it is impossible for him to kill the Quzhou Kong family, so there is no need to rush to flatter him. The Quzhou Kong family is still very proud. He's so delicate, otherwise he wouldn't have bothered to take over Yan Shenggong from the Mongols.
In this way, it would be difficult for Zhu Yuanzhang to have a good impression of them.
"Ambassador, what does Yan Shenggong do?"
Hu Bingzhong said with a smile.
"Of course I'm trying to win over you Confucian scholars. If I offer a memorial tablet, you can sing my praises. What a bargain."
"Jiangnan is already in His Majesty's pocket, do you still need to win over the Confucian scholars from Jiangnan?"
"Ah, I understand, the Confucian scholars from the south of the Yangtze River are no longer valuable to win over, but the Confucian scholars from the north are still valuable to him. Using Confucius from the north as the Holy Duke is tantamount to telling the Confucian scholars from the north that he values the Confucian scholars from the north, so there is no need to worry. He would emphasize the south over the north, so the gentry in the north, especially Shandong, could welcome Master Wang.
understood!"
"Well, I didn't say anything. It was all the ambassador's guess."
"Naughty!"
Yang Feng said with a smile.
This is a reasonable explanation.
It can be seen from the North and South lists that Zhu Yuanzhang really wanted a bowl of water to equalize the North and the South.
This is indeed a reasonable disposition for the king of a country, and he originally ruled the north from the south. The northern gentry has not been ruled by a Han monarch for hundreds of years. In their view, Zhu Yuanzhang represents the southerners. If they continue to use the Quzhou Confucius family as their Yanshenggong will make the northern gentry resist him even more. In the final analysis, he will still subdue the northern gentry. So by appointing Beikong as Yanshenggong, he can show the northern gentry that he will not value the south over the north, and then the northern gentry will not Will resist him.
At this moment, a cavalryman came galloping in front and stopped next to them...
"Chang Shi, Commander Xu, please return quickly."
He saluted and said.
"What happened?"
Hu Bingzhong said.
"The edict to appoint the emperor's grandson has arrived."
said the cavalryman.
Yang Feng and Hu Bingzhong looked at each other...
"Hurry up, this is a big deal!"
Yang Feng said.
Then he jumped off the bullock cart and ran towards Yanzhou City.
Later, Hu Bingzhong arranged transportation and urged his horse to catch up. Soon he overtook Yang Feng. However, as a civil servant, he was obviously not suitable for riding a horse and running wildly. The horse he was riding was not a good BMW horse, so he just maintained a normal speed. Riding on foot, the two of them actually maintained about the same speed. Hu Bingzhong just watched Yang Feng's running all the way. In the end, it took the two of them just over half an hour to reach Yanzhou. After all, it was only a little over ten kilometers away. It was obvious that Yang Feng was fine. Appeared with him at the Yanzhou Guard's official office.
A group of officials from Yanzhou have gathered, including the commanders of Yanzhou Guards and Rencheng Guards. Commanders, commanders, and commanders are all called commanders.
In addition, there are the right chief historian of the palace and several other subordinate officials.
On the table between them, there was the imperial edict that was announced to the world in an urgent way. Yang Feng simply walked over and picked it up...
"So, your third emperor's grandson is now the emperor's grandson?"
Amid the scoldings of the officials, he looked at the edict and took a deep breath.
The original history was rewritten again, and this time Zhu Yuanzhang's choice was Zhu Yunxi.
This choice is normal after all. After all, he already knows that Zhu Yunwen is useless. Whether he loses to a vassal king with all the power of the world or the possibility of killing his uncle, this is enough for Zhu Yuanzhang to abandon him, but it is not possible to choose Zhu Di.
If it complies with the rules he set, then Zhu Yunxi can only be chosen.
"Your Majesty is wise, and heirs cannot be deposed."
Hu Bingzhong said obviously very pleased.
According to Confucian standard etiquette, Zhu Yunwen's succession order is indeed lower than Zhu Yunxi's, because his mother was supported by a concubine, and according to Confucian etiquette, even if a concubine was established, the son of the deceased principal wife will be higher in the succession order even if he is younger.
The son who was getting upright in the side room.
The direct descendant is higher than the direct descendant, regardless of age.
Other officials also expressed their approval. Civil servants were satisfied that Zhu Yuanzhang abided by Confucian etiquette, and military generals were satisfied that Zhu Yuanzhang was of the Chang Yuchun line.
"But, how will Lan Yu arrange it?"
Yang Feng suddenly said with a confused look on his face.
"Well, I still have something to do, so I'll take my leave first!"
You Changshi, who was still reading the edict together, was so frightened that he quickly ran away.
Hu Bingzhong looked at him melancholy, and then hurriedly prepared to slip away together, but was a step too late and was grabbed by Yang Feng.
"Hu Changshi, you haven't answered me yet?"
Yang Feng said dissatisfied.
"Ambassador Yang, I don't understand what you are talking about at all. I really have important things to do, so I won't accompany you. This is the official office of Commander Xu, and I don't make the final decision."
Hu Bingzhong struggled and said at the same time.
Speaking of which, he was really anxious and started to sweat on his face.
Then Yang Feng's eyes immediately turned to Commander Xu. The latter did not react immediately, but those who could be commanders were not fools after all, and he quickly understood why these civil servants ran away.
"I'm going to welcome the grain transport team, but Xu Changshi is here to take charge."
He also ran away as quickly as possible.
Then all the remaining civil servants and generals fled with various excuses. Only Yang Feng and Hu Bingzhong, who was caught by him, were left in the lobby. Yang Feng looked at Hu Bingzhong very innocently and blinked his eyes full of curiosity.
Hu Bingzhong looked at him with tears in his eyes, but then he showed a look of determination. The next moment they closed their eyes and fell straight towards the stone floor...
"Do you think you can still run away after I asked this question?"
Looking at Hu Changshi who was pretending to be unconscious despite the pain, Yang Feng said sinisterly with an evil smile on his face.