Early that morning, outside the Meridian Gate, all the ministers were waiting for the Meridian Gate to open before entering the palace gate to discuss matters.
This was actually the morning after the incident predicted by Zhang Zhou.
However, because the rumor did not specify a specific day, many ministers thought it had not happened, and everyone was talking about things related to the Kong family.
Kong Hongtai is not here.
Because it was just Zhang Zhou's "prophecy", the ministers present looked nonchalant. They were still worried about it until the palace door opened and they wanted to enter in silence.
Court meeting.
At the beginning, Zhu Youtang took the initiative to open the topic and mentioned Zhang Zhou's prophecy about the Kong family.
"...I didn't take it too seriously at first. Most of the so-called providences come from the guidance of God, or they may leave some signs, and many human affairs are determined by people's hearts. How can twists and turns of right and wrong be easily understood by others? In the past, When Bingkuan prophesied, he also emphasized this point, which is that people's hearts are unpredictable."
The ministers thought to themselves, Your Majesty, you are quite open-minded. Does this mean that you do not believe in those things about ghosts and gods?
If you don’t believe it, how did Zhang Zhou get to where he is today?
Zhu Youtang said: "But since he said it, I can't pretend not to hear it, so I will tell it in advance. If this doesn't happen, he will not be killed. The Ming Dynasty will be stable and the emperor and his ministers will be in harmony, and everything will be in order." This is what I have considered."
Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, came out and said: "Your Majesty, we cannot believe these prophecies. Even if the event has not happened, we cannot say that it did not happen because the prophecy was leaked in advance. We cannot convict people for things that have not happened." .”
"That's what I mean."
Zhu Youtang seemed to want to help Kong Hongxu, the boss of the Kong family, in his words.
Some ministers who are not very smart are thinking.
Or is it that our Emperor is benevolent and righteous, so that boy Zhang Bingkuan likes to sow discord when he has nothing to do? Are you dumbfounded? After His Majesty learned about it, he did not hide it at all and told the matter. The matter was leaked in advance. No matter how stupid Kong Hongxu was, he would not Have you done something that violates the law?
Tu Fu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, came out and said, "Your Majesty, I wonder how Zhang Zhou mentioned this matter?"
This is also what the ministers present are concerned about.
Everyone knows that Zhang Zhou predicted that Kong Hongxu would commit a crime, but how he committed the crime was unknown except for those in the cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies.
Many people think that Kong Hongxu will commit adultery and robbery again, which is why the public opinion is so big this time. Even without the fermentation of this incident, many people still don’t know Kong Hongxu’s past, and it is as if it was discovered all of a sudden. settled old accounts.
Zhu Youtang said: "Bingkuan is saying that Qianyan Shenggong, the eldest son of the Kong family, will set fire to the Xuansheng Temple."
Tu Tong became a little annoyed when he heard this. He hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, such nonsense is a slander against the officials of the Ming Dynasty and should be punished!"
really.
Many ministers are thinking about it again.
Your Majesty, have you made a mistake?
Tell us about this in advance and let the Kong family be on guard so that it won't happen. Isn't Zhang Zhou's prophecy just an unfounded slander? This is a huge crime of slander!
This is in our hands!
Zhu Youtang asked calmly: "Tu Qing's family, have you ever thought that with Bingkuan's current identity and status, do you think it is necessary for him to slander a Duke Yansheng who has been deprived of his title? What good does this do to him? ?”
"Ahem..." Tu Yun suddenly felt short of breath and coughed.
Zhang Maoze, who was standing next to him, laughed and said: "Zhang Zhitai has a distinguished status now. Even if he is really slandering, he is only targeting a civilian, so he is not guilty of any crime, right?"
The ministers present heard this.
This sounds like a forced justification, but when you think about it carefully, it makes sense.
Zhang Zhou now holds so many official titles and is still controlling military affairs in the northwest. He is about to be made Duke of Lai. What's wrong with slandering an ordinary person? You, Kong Hongxu, are a commoner. It is your honor to be taken into consideration by Zhang Zhou. !
Zhu Youtang sighed and said: "I know that this damages the reputation of the Confucius family and the dignity of the literati, but Bingkuan has always been upright and outspoken. What I think is that as long as there is no such fire in Xuansheng Temple, Whether it’s Bingkuan’s unfounded slander, or whether someone restrained himself after it was made public in advance... I don’t want to pursue it. I also don’t want to change Bingkuan’s outspoken temperament because of this, what do you think?”
When the civil servants heard this theory, they felt very uncomfortable.
But this is different from before.
At first, Zhang Zhou said that an earthquake would happen and when the Tatars would invade the country. Everyone laughed at him, thinking that Zhang Zhou was challenging the intelligence of the Ming Dynasty's monarchs and looking for trouble.
But now...
Zhang Zhou suddenly said that Kong Hongxu might set fire to Xuansheng Temple. The first thought of everyone was not that this was nonsense, but that it was about to happen. Everyone wanted to see how it would turn out and whether Zhang Zhou would really be hit. And I wanted to see how the emperor handled the matter afterwards.
In other words, every minister was already inclined to believe Zhang Zhou's prophecy.
Not only the ministers, but also the ordinary people who knew about this matter, and even the ordinary literati who highly respected the Confucian family, only raised a few questions and did not even attack Zhang Zhou.
Because...Zhang Zhou's mouth was indeed open. It was unusual for Zhang Zhou to slander a Yanshenggong who had been deprived of his title. Everyone also felt that Zhang Zhou had no need to make trouble for himself.
"Your Majesty is wise."
As soon as Zhang Mao saw that the civil servants did not want to take the lead, he came out to take the lead, which could be regarded as setting a tone for Wu Xun's side.
Suppressing the Confucian family also indirectly affects the status of civil servants in the court. This is a good thing for our oppressed Wu Xun.
Zhang Zhou is simply doing things on behalf of our Wu Xun. If we don’t come out to support him at this time, who will?
Zhu Youtang said with a complaining look on his face: "Actually, I also feel that Bingkuan's thinking on this matter is not thorough. He is a Confucian scholar and the number one scholar in the Ming Dynasty. Wouldn't he be an enemy of the scholars in the world?"
All the ministers present were grim-faced. Only Xie Qian couldn't help laughing, but he didn't laugh out loud.
Is Zhang Zhou afraid of becoming enemies with scholars?
If that boy was a fearful master, he would not have asked Zhu Feng to treat the little princess in Nanjing from the beginning!
Before and after he entered the court, he would not talk about God's will every day, frighten the emperor into a daze, and play against us every day.
But think about it again, if Zhang Zhou was just like us civil servants and was on the same side as us civil servants, the emperor would not have such trust in him... From the perspective of the king's strategy, the emperor originally wanted to see each other among his ministers. There is a desire for you to compete with me.
There was none before, but now that Zhang Zhou is here, the emperor really treats him as a treasure!
"But I have thought about it again. Since he is willing to say it, he must put the stability of the Ming Dynasty first. Otherwise, it will cause trouble for himself and bring unrest to the court. Why should he say it in advance? He doesn't It seems like he has some bad intentions, otherwise he can just pretend that there is no such thing."
Zhu Youtang's every word seemed to be penetrating deeply.
Even though many ministers present were angry at Zhang Zhou for slandering the Kong family, after hearing the emperor's words, they became even more angry.
What do you think... Zhang Zhou has no reason to do this?
What is he planning?
If Zhang Zhou were at the scene at this moment, he might tell the ministers present that I wanted to wait and watch the excitement afterwards, but if I didn't tell him in advance, how could I bribe Li Dongyang and turn the incident of Kong Hongxu's arson into a solid case? In history, Kong Hongxu set the fire. In the end, the matter was settled.
It is precisely because of Zhang's presence that Kong Hongxu cannot escape the crime of arson.
Zhu Youtang said: "Well, you don't have to worry about these matters anymore. Let the past be in the past. Now let's start discussing court affairs..."
Only Li Dongyang and others understood that the emperor felt that things were stable.
There is no need to talk now, we have to settle the accounts with Kong Hongxu later.
The emperor made a clean choice for himself, as if he was more considerate of the Kong family, putting himself on the moral high ground first, and then... just waiting to see the Kong family's jokes.
…
…
Kong Hongtai was in the capital and learned about what the emperor said in the court from the ministers who had left the palace.
The person who told him was Tu Jun who was leaving the palace and preparing to return to the official office.
Although it seems... things have come to an end.
But as a client of the Kong family, Kong Hongtai could clearly feel that the biggest problem was that even if the emperor had told the matter in advance, it seemed that it was too late to stop his eldest brother from burning his ancestral temple.
"Dongzhuang, your majesty has already said that someone will be sent to inform brother Yu Ling in advance. Besides, these are just Zhang Zhou's words out of thin air. Who in the world would believe it?"
Tu Yu comforted him with a smile.
In order to comfort Kong Hongtai, he lied.
The emperor only said to tell the matter in advance, but he did not tell Zhang Zhou the prophecy of the incident on which day it would happen, nor did he say that he would send someone to notify the Kong family.
Tu Jie himself felt that Zhang Zhou could not hit people's hearts so accurately. Coupled with the emperor's attitude of wanting to calm the matter, Tu Jie was already telling Kong Hongtai "good news".
Not only to stabilize Kong Hongtai, but also to get gifts from Kong Hongtai... In order to ensure that Kong Hongxu's son Kong Wenshao could inherit the title of Duke Yansheng, the Kong family gave very generous gifts to court officials when Kong Hongtai came to Beijing this time. .
Moreover, this kind of gift is almost like a gift from a friend, and neither the emperor nor the court will investigate it.
Tu Yu himself liked to give gifts to Li Guang. Of course he felt that such gifts were fair and honest, and the more the merrier.
Kong Hongtai asked eagerly: "As for the report I gave to Your Majesty earlier, does Your Majesty have any... reply?"
"Have you played before?"
Tu Yu frowned.
Kong Hongtai nodded and said that this was the case.
In order to explain the "innocence" of the Kong family to the emperor, Kong Hongtai worked hard. What he was afraid of was not that his brother committed a crime, but that after his brother committed a crime, the Kong family would regard him as an accomplice and accomplice. The attitude of the Confucian family is to clarify its relationship with this matter.
"Then I don't know." Tu Yu said, "Otherwise, you can ask the cabinet department, and when you have time, ask Binzhi. Or the bank..."
Kong Hongtai originally relied heavily on Tu Jian.
Now he knew that the original Minister of the Ministry of Personnel could not help at all in this matter. This was obviously beyond the scope of the ability of the Minister of the Ministry of Personnel.
…
…
The entrance to Zhang Zhou's mansion.
At this time, the plaque on Zhang Mansion had been changed, and it was now "Shang Shu Mansion".
Zhang Zhou would not have been so high-profile originally, because he got the position of minister after going to the northwest and winning the Battle of Weininghai. However, the plaque was sent by Dongchang, and the Zhang family had to hang it.
In the past two days, Jiang Dezhong came here when he had nothing to do and wanted to visit the house.
Because the emperor had an order, officials were not allowed to go to Zhang Zhou's house to cause trouble, and even asked Dongchang and Jinyiwei to drive people away at the door... Usually there were no other people waiting to cause trouble.
But Jiang Dezhong took advantage of the fact that he was not an official and was Zhang Zhou's father-in-law, so he came to give gifts or something, but every time he was politely blocked by the Jin Yiwei people.
Master Zhang Xian’s father-in-law... I’m afraid it would be inappropriate to directly criticize someone without looking at the monk’s face or the Buddha’s face.
As long as they didn't let the old man in, they would just turn a blind eye to Jiang Dezhong who came to bother him for nothing.
Jiang Dezhong came here again that day, saying that he wanted someone from the Zhang family to send him a letter... Zhang Zhou was in the northwest, and not anyone who wanted to write to him could do so, unless he used the name of a "family letter"
, bring the letter over...
No surprise.
Even if he didn't intend to enter the mansion and disturb the Zhang family, Jin Yiwei still didn't intend to send him even a letter.
"Mr. Jiang, please forgive me. This is the order of the Governor of Dongchang. If we violate the prohibition, I'm afraid our job will not be guaranteed." The guard in Jinyi politely made a gesture of invitation, which means that you can stay where you want to cool off. Don't
Interrupting our errands.
"You won't even hand in the letter? This is for my little girl..."
Jiang Dezhong was very angry.
Just as he was about to leave in depression, he saw a carriage stop, and a man got out of the carriage and approached, as if he also wanted to enter the mansion.
Even after delivering the greeting card, Jin Yiwei was very polite: "Mr. Zhang is not here, so no one is allowed to bother me."
The visitor was none other than Kong Hongtai.
He had no way to ask for help, so he could only think of coming to Zhang Zhou's house to try his luck. Maybe someone close to Zhang Zhou could give him "some advice"?
What a coincidence... there is actually someone close to Zhang Zhou next to him.
Jiang Dezhong had always been very interested in the officials who came to visit Zhang Mansion, especially when he saw the luxurious carriage Kong Hongtai was riding, his interest doubled. He walked over and asked: "This... is also here to see my virtuous son-in-law.
?”
When Kong Hongtai heard this, he immediately felt impressed by the old man next to him with a philistine smile.
It really took no effort to find the place after breaking through the iron shoes. Just when I was looking for someone around Zhang Zhou to give some advice, I saw a big living person.
"Old gentleman, who are you and Zhang Zhitai?"
"He is my son-in-law, and my daughter is his first wife."
In order to show his identity, Jiang Dezhong certainly had to explain this.
If it's a side house, I'd be embarrassed to mention it.
Kong Hongtai said in awe, "I wonder what I call you, old gentleman?"
"The surname is Jiang." Jiang Dezhong was arrogant.
He obviously regarded Kong Hongtai as an official who curry favor with the powerful.
Kong Hongtai said: "Old sir, I have encountered something at home, and Zhang Zhitai must come forward to help. Do you think..."
"Oh, is there something wrong? It's a pity that he is not at home. He went to the northwest to lead troops. Dongchang and Jinyiwei have also given instructions not to let anyone in to disturb him? If you have something to do, you can tell me.
See if I can help you unblock it."
Jiang Dezhong is simply causing trouble for himself.
He knew that he had no ability to help others, but in order to make more friends with powerful people, he did not hesitate to show off in front of the Zhang family.
He was also thinking about how he had seen a plain-looking man before, and when he opened his mouth, he thought he was some sort of father-in-law.
I have even met the famous Marquis Weining and the British Duke... I, Mr. Jiang, am also a scene person, so who is afraid of whom?
Kong Hongtai looked confused: "My Kong family encountered something urgent. It was because Zhang Zhitai detected a celestial secret and said that a disaster would happen to my brother."
"Kong family? Where's the Kong family?" Jiang Dezhong's eyes widened.
Kong Hongtai said: "Qufu."
When Jiang Dezhong heard this, he immediately put away his arrogance. Not to mention anything else, he himself was also a scholar. Of course he regarded himself as a scholar. He said: "The Kong family in Qufu is a high-ranking family and a model for scholars in the world, especially
He is from the lineage of Yan Shenggong, one of the best scholars in our Ming Dynasty. I wonder...how do you call him?"
Kong Hongtai cupped his hands and said: "The person I am called Dongzhuang is... the current Duke Yansheng."
"puff!"
Jiang Dezhong originally wanted to show off in front of Zhang's house, but when he heard this, his legs almost went weak.
When he first met Wang Yue, he didn't think anything of it. After all, he was a scholar and he didn't have much to do with Wu Xun himself.
But if Yan Shenggong...
This is a role model for scholars, and can even be said to be the idol of scholars. He almost gave Kong Hongtai a beating.
"Then... your Kong family's affairs... I... am old... can't bear it, please forgive me... cough cough cough..."
Jiang Dezhong originally had the attitude that doing less is worse than doing more, but now that he knew it was the Kong family who came to ask Zhang Zhou for help, he asked himself that he was unable to help, so he staggered and tried to escape.
The Jin Yiwei who was watching the excitement also found it interesting. A small flag on duty was still shouting: "Old Zunjun, why don't you sit at the door?"
This means that if you are allowed to run away without any trouble, do you really know that there will be a big shot at this door that you cannot afford to offend? Will Yan Shenggong scare you away?
Kong Hongtai saw this posture.
Am I so terrible?
Run away when you see me?
Could it be that... Zhang Zhou's old father-in-law learned from Zhang Zhou that our Kong family was going to be in trouble, so he wanted to sever ties with us?
This is important news.
It seems that things...are really irreversible.
…
…
Kong Hongtai returned to his mansion in a hurry.
He immediately called his nephew Kong Wenshao over.
"Uncle, you are so anxious, but the marriage has already been settled?" Kong Wenshao was young, like a young man who was inexperienced in the world, and had no idea of the dangers of this world.
Kong Hongtai said: "Nephew, there are rumors outside that your father will set fire to Xuansheng Temple."
Kong Wenshao said angrily: "They are all villains talking nonsense."
Kong Hongtai sighed: "If everyone agrees, even explanations will be in vain. The most important thing is to see the results. Regardless of whether this will happen to your father, you and I must do something in advance to reduce the impact of this matter."
"What's the matter?" Kong Wenshao asked, blinking his big innocent eyes.
Kong Hongtai said: "Pack your things and come with me to kneel in front of the palace gate."
"What...what is this for?"
Kong Wenshao was unhappy when he heard that, someone else made something out of nothing, so we, the uncle and nephew, are going to kneel down?
"It is not only to plead guilty because something really happened, but also to let the court punish the slanderer because it did not happen. It shows the attitude of you and me, and it is also the attitude of the Kong family. We must go quickly... without delay."
