The Kong family in Qufu was a Duke Yansheng conferred by the Mongols, and it was quite reasonable to do things for the Mongols.
However, the Mongols had long been beaten away. The Ming Dynasty's Duke Yansheng was personally canonized by Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang.
At first, Kong Zhu, Duke of Yansheng, was unwilling to do anything for the Mongols, but he still took the initiative to resign from the position of Duke of Yansheng. But why, when the Mongols returned to Mobei, the Kong family of Qufu secretly colluded with them.
This is very abnormal!
Moreover, it can be seen from the letters that the Mongols seemed to have some secret about Yanshenggong, so that he did not dare to refuse and could only shirk it.
What is the secret?
Bei Lin saw the other party's doubts and said: "Jin Yiwei is still investigating the reason. That old boy Kong Yanjin is also a difficult master. He even confessed to peeking at the widow taking a bath, but he refused to confess these letters.
Question!"
Kong Mingbo asked: "What...explanation?"
Bei Lin said: "Oh, you don't know yet, that Kong Yanjin from Qufu has long been arrested by Jin Yiwei and sent to Zhao Prison, and is under trial."
Kong Mingbo:......
That Kong Yanjin of Qufu, you said it so easily, he is the current Duke Yansheng!
Was he kidnapped by Jin Yiwei?
Are you still going to be imprisoned in Zhao Prison for interrogation?
What's going on...
Bei Lin added: "Actually, the emperor ordered me to come to Quzhou because he wanted you to help figure out what mysteries are in these letters. What secrets do the Mongols hold about Yan Shenggong?"
Kong Mingbo nodded and said: "The common people will do their best!"
"In that case, I won't bother you any more."
Beilin saluted the wooden statue of Confucius and his wife, then turned and left.
Uncle Kong Ming hurriedly said: "Your Excellency, you have come a long way to have dinner and stay one night before leaving!"
"I won't eat anymore!"
Beilin returned to the yard, mounted her horse, and said, "The emperor has said that he will give you three days to think about it. I will stay at the inn in the county. After you have thought about it, come to me. I will leave in three days." After saying that, he turned around and left with the people.
Uncle Kong Ming was still standing dumbly in the wind, feeling a little confused.
"Father, what's wrong with you?"
"It's okay, it's okay. As a father, I just... feel a little confused..."
"What happened? Does Qufu want us to hand over the icon again?"
"No, you... forget it, you go find the family tree first."
"Which dynasty does father want?"
Uncle Kong Ming thought for a while and said: "Find out all the diaries and miscellaneous notes of the branches and descendants of the Song Dynasty!"
"Yes!"
Uncle Kong Ming didn't have much hope of returning to Qufu to succeed Duke Yan, because there was already Duke Yan in Qufu. Even if he committed something and was arrested by the Jinyi Guards, the tens of thousands of Kong family members in Qufu would be nowhere to be found.
Give birth to an heir.
It should be said that those letters were all written by the former Yan Shenggong, and they did not promise anything, so they are not considered treason.
However, the most strange thing is what kind of secrets are hidden behind these letters?
Uncle Kong Ming came to the study and looked up the genealogy one by one.
During the Jingkang Incident, the Jin army went south, Emperor Gaozong Zhao Jiu founded the Southern Song Dynasty, and then Kong Duanyou, the Duke of Yansheng, was determined to follow the Southern Song Dynasty to defend half of the country, so he took the regular wooden statues of Confucius and Qiguan's wife to build the Confucius family temple in Quzhou, Zhejiang, which was dedicated to Confucius.
Shi Nanzong.
When Kong Duanyou was crossing south, he decided to let his younger brother Kong Duancao take care of the Confucius Temple. In order to emphasize the legitimacy of taking over the Central Plains, the Jin Dynasty named Kong Duanyou's younger brother Kong Duancao the Duke of Yansheng and asked him to preside over the Confucius Temple in Qufu, Shandong.
The sacrifice is for the Northern Sect of the Kong family.
Kong Duanyou and Kong Duancao are the forty-seventh generation descendants of Confucius. There are detailed records in the genealogy, so there should be no mistakes.
Later, when Mongolia rose up and occupied Qufu, the Yanshenggong granted by the Jin Dynasty was passed on to Kong Yuancuo, and he also fled to Kaifeng with the Jin Dynasty. The Mongols themselves granted the title of Yanshenggong Kong Yuanyong.
Kong Yuancuo and Kong Yuanyong are also recorded in detail in the genealogy.
After the fall of the Jin Dynasty, Kong Yuancuo was captured by the Mongols, and he fought with Kong Yuanyong for the position of Duke Yansheng, which led to internal competition for power within Beikong. The Mongols were so annoyed that they simply abolished the title of Duke Yansheng.
.
However, this move undoubtedly stirred up a hornet's nest.
When all the scholars in the world look at it, Duke Yan Shenggong has been deposed. Is this a big deal?
So many people gathered to make trouble and demanded that the imperial court restore the title of Duke Yansheng.
At this time, Kublai Khan discovered that the Kong family in Quzhou had another Yanshenggong, Kong Zhu, the ancestor of Kong Mingbo. At this time, the Southern Song Dynasty had been destroyed, but Kong Zhu refused to the court on the grounds that he had been in the south for several generations and wanted to guard his ancestral graves.
After the canonization, the Mongols re-canonized a Yanshenggong Kong Zhiquan.
Kong Zhiquan is the son of Kong Yuanyong and the nephew of Kong Yuancuo, so it is reasonable for him to inherit the title of Duke of Yansheng.
Kong Mingbo has read this record several times and can almost recite it by heart, but he is still concentrating on searching for information.
Suddenly, Uncle Kong Ming was stunned.
In a record compiled by the Kong family, I found a passage: "In the fourth year of Shaoxi's reign in the Song Dynasty, Kong Yuanyong gave birth to his son Kong Zhiquan, who died young at the age of six."
He even suspected that he had seen it wrong, so he hurriedly took a closer look, and sure enough it was recorded that Kong Zhiquan died at the age of six.
Since he died at the age of six, who will succeed him?
Uncle Kong Ming searched around frantically, looking through all the genealogy and records of various descendants of the Kong family, looking for clues.
…………
Three days later, Beilin was ready to set off.
This is how he behaves. He agreed to wait for you for three days. If you don't come, I won't be able to find you.
However, just when he came to the door of the inn and was about to go downstairs, he saw a man kneeling at the door, it was Uncle Kong Ming.
Beside him were two tightly packed packages.
"Mr. Kong, why do you..."
Bei Lin hurriedly stepped forward and helped him up.
Kong Mingbo's eyes were red and he said: "Sir, please take me to the capital. I have important matters and need to see the emperor immediately!"
Beilin burst into laughter and asked, "Have you thought about it clearly?"
Uncle Kong Ming nodded heavily and said: "I have already considered it very clearly. The title of Duke Yansheng must not fall into the hands of foreigners!"
Now, it's Beilin's turn to be confused. What's going on?
Kong Mingbo immediately said: "The Duke Yansheng who was canonized by the Mongols was not a descendant of the Kong family, but... a Mongolian!"
"What did you say?"
Bei Lin was shocked. Is Duke Yan Shenggong of Qufu a Mongolian?
How is it possible...
However, it seems that this can explain what those letters are about.
Only then did Kong Mingbo tell the truth about the information he had found in recent days. Back then, Kong Zhu flatly refused to be canonized. In order to fool the world, the Mongols had a Mongolian named Kong Zhiquan change his name to inherit the title of Duke Yansheng.<
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Under the protection of the imperial court, Qufu Yanshenggong multiplied and continued to spread its branches and leaves. Today, there are tens of thousands of clan members.
After Emperor Taizu Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he did not know the secret behind it and continued to confer him the title of Duke Yansheng until today.