For thousands of years, the Kong Sheng family, which had maintained their face and dignity for eternity, was trampled to the ground and crushed deeply into the soil.
The saint makes no mistakes, the sin lies in the moment.
What Taisun said is very clear. It is also the bottom line, and above this bottom line, there will be nothing wrong with anything you do.
Tang Keke's eyes were dark, staring at the people in the Kong family headed by Kong Gongjian.
Near my ears, the explosion in the trench to the south was coming to an end.
Earthquakes and mountains shook continuously between heaven and earth. Accompanied by the night wind, the smell of gunpowder smoke emitted after the burning and explosion of gunpowder, mixed with the earthy smell that had only appeared for countless years, penetrated into people's nostrils.
Tang Keke has been studying since childhood and discerning the principles of the world, but now he has completely different feelings. The bloodline of saints is in front of him, and the wealthy compound belongs to a family of saints that has been passed down for thousands of years.
He lit a fire tonight, and even lit it in front of the saint family. Quietly, something in Tang Keke's heart and his past perceptions began to change slightly.
The people in the Kong Mansion, who were originally a little noisy, became silent amidst the flickering and roaring sounds of fires in the night, feeling the surge of soil under their feet.
That happened five miles away, but it was still so clear.
What if it happened in Confucius Mansion?
Everyone thought of this question tacitly in their minds.
At this moment, these descendants of the saint family, who had been glorious and noble for generations, finally felt the threat of blood and fire under their glory and nobleness.
Whether you can save face is no longer important.
Saving one's life seems to have become a truly important thing and a top priority.
Kong Gongjian's chest was heaving up and down, but he always felt out of breath, and his heart felt like a big stone had been pressed down on him.
No!
That's a big mountain.
Tang Keke also felt that there was a big mountain lying in front of him, but the foot of the mountain had been blown open by himself with gunpowder.
He does not need to imitate Yu Gong and spend hundreds of generations of descendants traveling to Yishan.
Because he has the most powerful gunpowder in the world and the most elite soldiers and horses in the Ming Dynasty.
Therefore, Tang Keke looked at Kong Gongjian, who had not spoken for a long time, and said again: "How strong is our army?"
Swords kill people visibly, words bite people invisibly.
If he hadn't been the designated next successor of the Confucius family, Kong Gongjian felt that he would probably vomit blood and faint for the sake of the last remaining dignity of the Confucius family.
There is a strange sweetness in the throat.
Kong Gongjian understood that it was the smell of blood.
He cupped his hands, his face looked extremely pale and without any emotion: "The officers and soldiers are strong and majestic."
Kong Gongjian felt that when he said these words, there was resistance in his throat, and there were blazing fireworks.
Tang Keke hummed twice, with a smile on his face.
Kong Gongjian glanced at the trench that had just exploded in the south, his eyelids sank slightly, he waved his arms and bent down, with the utmost etiquette: "The army has worked hard, and I don't dare to disturb you, so let's go."
Tang Keke clasped his fists and raised them randomly.
This is a response to someone who is not willing to return the favor.
Kong Gongjian didn't say anything. He closed his mouth tightly and took two steps back before turning around. He shook his head silently under the gaze of those tribesmen with angry eyes. Then, while these tribesmen were unwilling to look around, he walked alone to the high gate of Kong's mansion.
Go.
There is no way the Kong family can regain their face today, let alone how they can defeat the tens of thousands of officers and soldiers they have now.
As Kong Gongjian turned around and left, the remaining Kong family members had no choice.
Originally, they dared to roar and scold a few words, but after the roar, no one had the courage anymore.
In the end, all I could do was wave my robe silently to silently express my anger and dissatisfaction.
Tang Keke remained calm and ignored all the time, sitting back and watching the Kong family members rush over, and then watching these people leave like zombies.
Wait until the crowd is crowded under the high gate of Confucius Mansion.
Tang Keke then turned around, raised his arms, and said loudly: "Send an order to the west, follow the established military orders, and be sure to protect the saint's family before the traitors arrive."
In the darkness, under the tall door of the Confucius Mansion, it seemed that the steps were too high, and inadvertently there was a muffled sound of several people stepping on the air and falling to the ground.
…
"Hahahahahaha..."
"Tonight... hahahahaha... when... haha... when it's true..."
"Hahaha……"
A burst of bold laughter rang out from the Chinese army camp outside the Confucius Mansion, resounding through the dark night and startling a few wild birds scattered in the fields.
Tang Keke, who returned to the camp from outside the Confucius Mansion, was already laughing with tears in his eyes, but he was stunned and couldn't say a complete sentence.
The breath of laughter caused the candlelight between him and Zhang Zhiyuan to sway. The candlelight illuminated the two figures and kept swaying on the tent, dragging out long or short shadows.
.
Zhang Zhiyuan frowned and poured a cup of warm tea soup for Tang Keke: "Drink some tea before we talk."
Tang Keke was laughing so much that her stomach hurt. She wiped the tears squeezed out of her eyes with one hand and held the tea cup with the other.
The tears of laughter were wiped away. Tang Keke also held the tea cup to his mouth, raised his head and drank it all in one gulp. Then he took a long breath, his face full of happiness.
He put it on the teacup, clattered the table, and said with a smile on his face: "Brother Zhang, you really should go take a look and see what kind of things this so-called family of saints who have been good for thousands of years are like.
Tonight is really an unpleasant experience. Even when I was a kid, I had never been as happy as tonight when I passed the exam."
Zhang Zhiyuan snorted: "As long as there are smart people in the Kong family, they will choose what they do tonight. More than ten thousand troops are right where they are sleeping. Do they really dare not to give in? But besides that, do you and I really have the ability to do this?"
Attack this family with a knife?"
The voice of reason sounded in the big tent, and Tang Keke immediately suppressed all his smiles, and even raised his hands to rub his cheeks fiercely.
"But our plan, everything is going as expected."
Tang Keke suppressed his happy smile, his eyes flashed with maturity.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhang Zhiyuan nodded: "Not bad, with you making such a fuss tonight, the Kong family will no longer be able to stand by and watch anyway. Unless, they are serious.
I’m not prepared to lose any face at all.”
"Hmph!" Tang Keke snorted coldly, with a murderous look in his eyes: "If their family hadn't done so many unjust things, but they had a saint's memorial arch to protect them, why would we bother so much?"
"The saint is not wrong!" Zhang Zhiyuan stared at Tang Keke, reiterated what Zhu Yunxi ordered to send, and continued: "The rebellion in Shandong Road is different from that in Henan Road, but similar. The twenty-eighth year of the Ming Dynasty coincided with the founding of the People's Republic of China.
How could there be such a big rebellion in the early years? Have we really lost the support of the people? I don’t think so. It’s because these people are afraid and worried, and they feel that their interests have been harmed.”
Tang Keke sighed softly. It was probably because he had too much activity tonight. He just drank another cup of tea, and now his stomach was pounding.
Zhang Zhiyuan shook his head and said: "The Confucius Mansion occupies half of the land, and the people of half the Mansion work day and night, just for this one family. The imperial court implements reforms and divides the land into acres. How can the people of the Half Mansion still occupy half of the Mansion?
As our army marched south, Shandong Daodu Si did not come out day and night, and the Yamen of the Third Sisi did not obey the orders of the imperial court. It was because they did not know the imperial decree, or they had instructions from other families.
A rebellion shook the government and the public. Where are the rebels now and in the past?"
"I think the rebellion in Shandong Road has something to do with the Kong family!" Tang Keke angrily complained again: "Previously, His Highness just patrolled the west and encountered an ambush when he arrived at Xuzhou Prefecture. He found out that it was the White Lotus Religion.
Why..."
Tang Keke paused and looked at Zhang Zhiyuan in front of him. After turning his eyes twice, he lowered his voice and whispered: "The truth found out is that the mastermind is named Kong, and everyone respectfully calls him Mr. Kong."
Even though he had already thought about it, Zhang Zhiyuan opened his mouth silently after receiving conclusive confirmation for the first time.
"If you put it this way, then this rebellion has long been premeditated, or they have already had various considerations and plans."
Tang Keke nodded heavily: "It must be so. When they saw His Highness patrolling the west, they were afraid of finding out the real situation in the area, so they boldly planned to attack and kill His Highness.
Later, His Highness went to Henan Province to provide disaster relief and conduct an inventory of Henan Province. They began to panic, knowing that they were at the end of their rope.
So they planned the rebellions in Henan Province and Shandong Province, and the so-called people wrote to impeach and beg His Majesty to depose His Highness the Emperor."
Zhang Zhiyuan felt even more disgusted with the family surrounded by the army at this moment.
He said even more firmly: "So, this time our plan must be implemented even more. Only by surrounding the Confucius Mansion, only by forcing them and making them lose face can we force them to take the initiative to recruit traitors.
As long as the rebels come and our army puts down the rebellion in Shandong Road, we will no longer have any reason to stay in Shandong Road. By then, their predicament will be solved."
This is the real reason why Zhang Zhiyuan and Tang Keke decided to continue going south and led the army to Qufu.
Besieged Confucius' Mansion and spread fictitious military intelligence.
It was not to suppress the so-called Shandong Dao rebellion, but to force the Kong family to hand over those so-called rebels.
However, Tang Keke shook his head and said with a somewhat uncertain expression: "It's just tonight, I think things may not be that simple."
Zhang Zhiyuan's eyebrows trembled: "Why? What did you see?"
"Kong Gongjian!" Tang Keke pressed his hands on the table and looked directly at Zhang Zhiyuan: "He is really smart. Even if I slapped him in the face again and again in public and trampled on the dignity of the Kong family under my feet, he never behaved excessively.
But the more he behaves like this, the more worried I become. Maybe they will not, as we think, take the initiative to summon or contact the traitors to come to Qufu and let us eliminate them for the sake of temporary face."
"You mean, they have other means?"
Zhang Zhiyuan was a little unsure at this time. After all, this is a family of saints that has been around for thousands of years.
He belongs to the Ming Dynasty, a family highly respected by all dynasties, and the only Yanshenggong in the world.
Nowadays, after the Ming Dynasty deposed the official position of the Prime Minister, the court was run by six ministers. As the head of a family of saints, Yanshenggong, although he did not live in the capital, he naturally had a status as a disciple of scholars in the world.
This is the hidden identity of being the number one civil servant in the world.
How many people in the court have never been to Qufu, but still have a feeling of friendship for it in their hearts?
Zhang Zhiyuan didn't dare to think too much, he could only raise his eyes to look at the dark night outside the tent, and let out a soft sigh.
Tang Keke completely lost his previous good mood and whispered: "The Confucius Mansion is surrounded, and we can only do things five miles away. But they can do more things in the capital thousands of miles away.
.”
As he spoke, Tang Keke folded his hands and faced Zhang Zhiyuan: "When the time comes, I'm afraid Brother Zhang will have to suffer from the imperial court."
Zhang Zhiyuan chuckled: "This department has been ordered to quell the rebellion in Shandong Province. The enemy situation abroad will change rapidly. Even if the imperial court has accountability, it is our responsibility to file a memorial and defend ourselves afterwards. The most important task at the moment is to stop the rebellion in Shandong by any means necessary.
!”
When Zhang Zhiyuan finished speaking, Tang Keke clapped his hands and stood up to pour him a cup of tea.
The two looked at each other with smiles on their faces.
Afterwards, they raised their teacups together and drank it all in one gulp.
…
boom……
At noon, in the land of Qufu, there was a sudden roar in the wilderness, loud thunder, shaking of the earth's crust, sparks of carbide, and countless flying rocks splashing, falling into the distant fields.
It was now the time when the crops were ripe, and the people walked out of their homes one after another and went into the fields that had been watered and dried to harvest the long-awaited crops.
The flying rocks fell into the fields, and the farmers and common people who bowed their heads in shock stood up and raised their heads in worry, looking outside the Kong Mansion where there had been such a movement for half a month.
Seeing the same group of officers and soldiers, the same trenches, busy harvesting crops, and the common people who could put the rest into rice vats in their own granaries after paying the rent, they lost their panic and curiosity and bowed their heads again.
, harvesting the already heavy crops with deft hands and feet.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The Confucius Mansion, which occupies a very large area, has long been covered with yellow and gray spots on its tall white walls that were frequently refreshed.
I don’t know if it was the gunpowder explosion or why.
Every time gunpowder was detonated in the trench five miles away, countless mud chunks would splash and hit the white walls, or fall into the Kong Mansion.
In response to this, the Confucius family has changed from shock and anger on the first night to a state of silence and confirmation that everything is happening day after day.
Even the servants who used to guard the door of the mansion no longer came out in the early days. There were also patches of soil on the closed door.
The trenches were dug deeper and deeper, but the rebellion on Shandong Road seemed to have really disappeared.
According to rumors, the traitor who wanted to come to Qufu to plunder the thousand-year-old saint's family has also disappeared.
People from the Yamen of the Third Division of Shandong Province, as well as Yanzhou Prefecture and Qufu County, all came, seeming to want to persuade the army to make some changes. They just looked at the closed door of the Confucius Mansion, and always used the excuse that the military situation was urgent and busy, but
After Zhang Zhiyuan could not be seen, he could only think of lobbying.
On the other hand, each government office was not far away from the Chinese army camp, and a small camp was built in Qufu County. The county government officials protected the important figures of each government office, and they had to look at the Chinese army camp several times every day.
Camp direction.
It seemed that he wanted to see when Zhang Zhiyuan, who was busy with military affairs all day long, would have time to see them.
No good news has ever reached Shandong Road in Yingtian City, and the rebellion that was originally disturbing seemed to have reached a deadlock.
And in Yingtian City, thousands of miles away.
The turmoil caused by the previous Emperor Lei Ting and Jin Yiwei's arrest of Xiao Ban Chaotang has just been calmed down, and the matter of Beijing inspection has been officially put on the agenda.
His Highness King Qin, who had high hopes from the emperor and was trusted by the crown prince, was busy day and night with disdain.
The voices in the court became quieter and quieter, and everyone felt in danger.
No one wants to be sent to Jinyiweizhao Prison.
These days, anyone who passes by the Jinyiwei Yamen can intuitively hear in their ears the moans and miserable screams of their former colleagues who were imprisoned in Zhao Prison.
only.
This peace will eventually be broken.
Another ten days.
During the imperial meeting in the imperial city, the emperor listened to the government at the imperial gate outside Fengtian Hall, with the crown prince standing beside him.
On a summer morning, with dew and coldness, all officials in Beijing, regardless of their rank or rank, must enter the palace to attend the court.
Starting from the Qianbu Corridor, there are flowers and willows all the way, and everything you see is dressed as an animal. However, there is a clear distinction between civil and military forces.
The civil servants lined up and walked towards the palace in order, according to the color of their clothes and beards.
The military attaches, however, lacked distinctions in rank and were in groups. If they were not in the palace, they would all be hanging around each other.
"Your Highness, will you continue your western tour this time, or will you divert your way back to Beijing? If so, when will you come back?"
The speaker was Zhang Yi, the Marquis of Heqing, and beside him were Chen Huan, the Marquis of Puding, Zhu Shou, the Marquis of Shunshang, He Rong, the Bo of Dongguan, Sang Jing, the Bo of Huixian, and others.
A few people did not speak, but looked at Du Du Tang Li, the commander of the Chinese Army Governor's Office, who was walking in front, and Chang Sen, the commander of the Forbidden Army, who was walking side by side.
When Duke Kaiguo, Duke Cao, Duke Liang, Marquis Xiping and others led their troops out, these two were the leaders of the generals in the capital.
The generals were already very close to each other, unlike the civil servants who had to keep their distance apart.
The words behind him naturally reached the ears of Tang Li and Chang Sen who were walking at the front.
Tang Li turned his head slightly and looked sideways at Chang Sen, who was leading the imperial army.
Chang Sen shook his head. Ever since his elder brother led the army south and took on the errand of being the commander of the Forbidden Army, the Chang family has become increasingly low-key in Yingtian City.
You can't be too ostentatious in the limelight, especially now that your nephew has become the grandson of the emperor who oversees the country, and you have the same power as your majesty.
He also looked sideways at Tang Li, the brother-in-law of the emperor's grandson.
All in all, the two families were originally nobles from the founding of the Ming Dynasty, and they were both royal in-laws, and now they are even more closely related.
Tang Li also shook his head. How could he know what Chang Sen didn't know?
Dongguan Bo He Rong saw that the first two people were silent, so he raised his voice and said: "The rebellion in Henan Road has been put down, but the rebellion in Shandong Road has not been put down yet. How long will it take? That Zhang Zhiyuan heard that he was a famous man under King Yan.
How can you, the little murderer, go south from the Great Wall to Shandong Road and not be able to kill?"
It looked like he was complaining about being disgusted, but no one laughed in agreement. Instead, they looked sideways at the group of civil servants on the other side with dark eyes and neat movements.
"There was no killing god in the Ming Dynasty, only generals and soldiers loyal to His Majesty."
He and Tang Li were walking in front, and Chang Sen, the commander of the imperial army who had never spoken a word, finally turned around and said something.
He Rong immediately lowered his head and smiled.
Around him, the remaining people also smiled and even laughed softly.
From time to time, he looked at the group of civil servants opposite, and his eyes became more and more profound and expectant.