Here in Qufu, the Kong family has the most prominent surname, and those with other non-Kong surnames are basically tenants of the Kong family.
People with the surname Kong are divided into two types: inner hole and outer hole; the so-called inner hole refers to the direct lineage of the Kong family and belongs to the real Kong family;
The so-called outer Kongs are those who sold themselves to the Kong family and changed their surname to Kong.
Before the Ming Dynasty, the Kong family could go out to serve as officials, so during the Yuan Dynasty, there were many Kong family members in the court.
However, after the founding of the Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yuanzhang raised the rank of Duke Yansheng from the third rank to the first rank, but he no longer allowed the Kong family to directly enter the court as officials. Qufu was under the management of Duke Yansheng.
During the Jiajing period, due to the intrigues within the Kong family, all the dirty things in Qufu were revealed and brought to the side of Emperor Jiajing.
Therefore, Emperor Jiajing took back the power of Qufu County Magistrate from Duke Yansheng, and prepared to appoint officials from the imperial court to manage it.
However, the court officials refused and convinced Emperor Jiajing that the Qufu County Magistrate should be selected from the direct lineage of the Kong family.
Therefore, the county magistrate of Qufu, from the Song Dynasty until the abolition of the county magistrate in the Republic of China, has always been held by the surname Kong. It can be said that this is the only one in the world.
The power of the Kong family in Qufu is definitely as big as the sky! Like the chieftains in the southwest, they are the local emperors!
Logically speaking, it would be extremely difficult to capture the leader named Kong in a place like this. In terms of numbers alone, not to mention two thousand cavalry, even if there were twice as many, it would be impossible to form a strength advantage.
If Liu Wenxiu led two thousand cavalry troops to arrest people in the chieftain's territory, it would definitely be dangerous and he might not be able to succeed.
However, in Qufu, these people with the surname Kong can usually bully people with other surnames in Qufu, and even those from their own clan, there is no problem at all.
However, facing the soldiers who have been fighting for many years, the momentum alone can scare them, so why do they even think about uniting to resist?
After the imperial edict was read out, Liu Wenxiu's men began to enforce martial law throughout the city. The Kong family were just fish on the knife board, ready to be slaughtered by others!
Emperor Chongzhen's decree was actually not as serious as outsiders imagined, and it did not kill the nine tribes. Otherwise, Liu Wenxiu's two thousand troops would not be enough.
Instead, they arrested the Kong family and brought them to Beijing for trial. They confiscated the Kong family and escorted their gold and silver property to Beijing.
That's it, this class of people who usually belong to the people in Qufu are in bad luck.
Groups of soldiers knocked on the door one by one to verify their identity. They were directly related to the Kong family. They were immediately driven out and put under centralized custody. All property was confiscated.
Liu Wenxiu's men were already familiar with this kind of thing of attacking local tyrants, and their eyes were very poisonous. They could find out where the property was stored without interrogating them. Then, they would interrogate the Kong family again and find out more.
property.
Suddenly, everyone in the direct line of the Kong family was crying for their father and mother, and under the tactics of Liu Wenxiu's men, they confessed one after another.
To a certain extent, this in Qufu is a bit similar to Li Zicheng's pursuit of stolen property and stipends after he entered the capital, but it was just a smaller one and no lives were lost.
People with the surname Waikong, as well as people with the surname Wai, were feeling uneasy while hiding at home, and at the same time they were also very emotional.
They never imagined that the direct lineage of the Kong family, which is like heaven, would actually be here today!
Looking at things like this, I'm afraid it would be difficult not to die! Otherwise, as a descendant of Confucius, it is absolutely impossible to receive such treatment.
Just as they were thinking about it, on the second day, Liu Wenxiu had already freed up some manpower and started knocking on their door.
This shocked them, and they thought they were going to be implicated by the Kong family. But when they opened the door cautiously, they found that these wolf-like soldiers came to the door, just asking if they had any grievances, and whether they had been oppressed by the Kong family. If so,
, you can take this opportunity to speak out, and the court will make the decision for them.
There is a saying that goes very well: if a tree falls, the hozen will scatter!
The immediate family members of the Kong family were ransacked and everyone was arrested. It was obvious that it was over. In other words, there was no need to fear revenge from the Kong family afterwards.
So, if there is any grudge or hatred, it all breaks out.
Some people even coveted the Kong family's land, etc. Even if they didn't have it, they would boldly make up some stories to see if they could make any profit from it.
Liu Wenxiu had no intention of becoming a judge, so he recorded all of this in accordance with Emperor Chongzhen's order.
Here in Qufu, the "pursuit of stolen goods to support payment" and collecting illegal activities of the Kong family lasted for three full days.
During these three days, the state capital heard the news and sent people to see the situation. However, the work here was carried out according to orders or carried out by regular cavalry troops, and there was no civilian official. Therefore, the state capital also
He didn't dare to move forward, lest the court would think he was in collusion with the Kong family.
However, no matter what, the news that the Kong family was ransacked quickly began to spread in the surrounding area, which made people very emotional. I didn’t expect that the Kong family could collapse!
Of course, there are also some literati who have a headache and want to come here to petition. They feel that the court cannot treat saints and sages in this way.
Regarding this, Liu Wenxiu's people didn't say anything at all, they just beat him up and then arrested him together with the Kong family.
Three days later, the seal was posted, and the army took the stolen property and escorted the Kong family on their way.
The queue stretched so long that it was several times larger than when they arrived. Liu Wenxiu was filled with emotion. So many squires, even vassals, had their homes confiscated, but the Kong family was the richest!
It would be impossible for such a huge team to go all the way north to the capital without attracting attention.
Especially when passing through big cities, there are even more people watching.
"Wow, are all these cars filled with gold, silver and jewelry? There are so many!"
"Don't even think about whose family this belongs to! How can it not be rich?"
"That's true. Who among the Kong family in Qufu can be as rich as them?"
"Now it's good, the court is rich again!"
"This really brings down the Kong family and makes them rich... the court, haha!"
"..."
Compared with ordinary people, the focus of discussions among scholars and officials is different.
"It's true that Mr. Yan Sheng has something he can't think of. He insists on interfering with the royal family's affairs. Is this something he can do? Look, even the saint can't save him in the future!"
"Can't you see? He may have the intention to instigate trouble, but he would only touch royal matters after his brain was kicked by a donkey? He is obviously dragged down!"
"Anyway, he is still the initiator. The Kong family is doomed!"
"It's so pitiful. Duke Yansheng was obviously wronged, but now he has brought down the entire clan. The emperor's punishment is really too severe!"
"Yes, after a saint, you don't look at the monk's face or the Buddha's face. The emperor must give the saint some face no matter what. Killing the entire clan in this way is really embarrassing for us scholars!"
"Yes, look at the old and weak people in the team, they are really pitiful. This is the Saint Queen!"
"..."
As the team escorted by Liu Wenxiu went further north, more and more scholars sympathized with the Kong family.
Because they all know that the Kong family is unlucky and does things improperly. However, if the Kong family wants to gather people to rebel, it is definitely impossible!
As a result, some scholars began to spontaneously send off the team. They even saw the miserable appearance of the Kong family and wanted to make it easier for them.
Under normal circumstances, they would bribe the escorting soldiers, or intercede with the leading military commander, so as to give the prisoner preferential treatment, and there would be no problem in recovering in the capital.
However, when they tried to do this, they discovered that this cavalry army was actually a bandit recruited by the imperial court. They were no match for the local gentry. It could even be said that those who were born as bandits naturally had no good impression of the local gentry.
.
Those who talked about favors had no place to talk; those who wanted to bribe were almost considered as accomplices, so they had no choice but to give up.
However, no matter what, this is the blood of Saint Kong. As a Confucian child, how can we watch the Confucian family in Qufu being executed by the imperial court?
Therefore, many literati began to call their friends and make appointments with fellow-minded people to follow the escort team to Beijing.
There are so many scholars in the world, and even if only one out of ten people does this, the number of people gathered along the way cannot be underestimated.
Fortunately, these are all literati. If they were warriors, they would definitely have to send additional troops.
People are bolder when they are in numbers, this is still the same even if they have been taught a lesson.
The literati who followed the team were quite stubborn and would accept death. They believed that it was absolutely impossible for Yan Shenggong to gather a crowd to rebel. The emperor's treatment was too severe, so they held up placards to cry out for the Kong family.
The status of the Confucius family in Qufu in the minds of literati was revealed at this time.
Along the way, there were more and more similar people, and some even rushed to the capital in advance to ask the princes of the capital to redress their grievances for the submission of the Confucius family.
The officials in the court, including the chief minister He Fengsheng and others, of course knew it very well. If they didn't do something and just watched the Kong family in Qufu being destroyed by the emperor, then they would definitely be stabbed in the back by the scholars all over the world.
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As far as their true intentions are concerned, they also want to help the Queen of Saints.
If it can be proven that it was not Duke Yan Sheng who ordered the emperor to abdicate because he shouted that De was unworthy of the throne, and they actually believed that it was not the order from Duke Yan Sheng, then this matter would be much easier to handle.
However, the literati who caused trouble were all imprisoned in the prisons of Dongchang and Jinyiwei instead of in the prison of the Ministry of Punishment, and they were unable to interrogate and change their confessions.
All the civil servants had no choice but to find another way.
Fortunately, half a month has passed and the emperor should have become more rational.
I believe that so many scholars escorted Yan Shenggong's family to Beijing, and the matter of calling out Yan Shenggong's grievances also reached the emperor.
The emperor cannot govern the world without literati. Taking advantage of the opportunity of Yan Shenggong being escorted to the capital, he must fight for the blood of Kong Sheng at any cost to avoid losing his name in the history books.
Respecting teachers and teaching, how can we ignore it!
As a result, a massive movement to protect Confucius broke out as Kong Yinzhi's family was escorted to Beijing.