614 [Bullying the Master and Destroying the Ancestor]
How much land did the Kong family in Qufu have?
First, let’s talk about the sacrificial fields, which were given by emperors of all dynasties and did not require any taxes to be paid to the court.
In the Song Dynasty, 200 hectares of land were granted, in the Jin Dynasty, 400 hectares of land were granted, and in the Yuan Dynasty, 50 hectares of land were granted. The Confucius family received a total of 650 hectares of sacrificial land.
Let’s not mention these for the time being and treat them as all lost in the war. We only count the land acquired by the Confucius family in the Ming Dynasty: Zhu Yuanzhang granted 2,000 hectares of land, Zhu Di granted 73 hectares of land, and subsequent emperors successively granted hundreds of hectares of land.
In the mid-term, the sacrificial field area is approximately more than 2,500 hectares.
Please note that these are large hectares, one hectare is equal to 300 acres!
Therefore, the Kong family's non-taxable land exceeds 750,000 acres.
In addition, all the children of the Kong family in Qufu, as long as they are registered, do not need to pay the poll tax or perform corvee service.
The imperial court also granted a large number of tenants to the Confucius family, including temple households, ritual students, music and dance students, cleaning households, etc. These people did not have to pay poll tax or perform corvee labor.
…
Court meeting, court meeting.
Officials of seventh grade and above can serve as court officials.
Yan Song, the Secretary of the Ministry of Household Affairs, said: "According to Qingtian's knowledge, in addition to more than 700,000 acres of sacrificial land, the Kong family in Qufu also has more than 3 million acres of private land. These more than 3 million acres of private land only pay a small amount of tax every year.
, almost negligible. The various branches of the Kong family in Qufu, combined, have millions of acres of private land, and these private lands also escape taxes in large numbers."
Yan Yishou, the Secretary of the Ministry of Punishment, was originally from the Yang Party, but now he has completely turned to Wang Yuan. He went out and said: "The children of the Kong family in Qufu often do illegal things. They kill domestic slaves, kill Lehu, bully and dominate the market, and use money to buy power.
Selling, plundering, loan sharking, hiding people's land, hiding people's households, taking good girls as concubines... there are many crimes, too numerous to mention, that the people dare not retaliate, and the officials dare not pursue them. The Kong family in Qufu hides filth and evil!
"
The faces of the civil servants were ugly. The descendants of Saint Confucius had done so many bad things, and every scholar felt very embarrassed.
Luo Qinshun, the Minister of Rites, strode out with a wat tablet in his hand and said: "Someone has reported that Duke Yan Shenggong Kong Wenshao, emperors in the past have presided over the Spring and Autumn Festivals, but they did not observe etiquette. During the fast, they also drank alcohol and were close to women."
As soon as this statement came out, the court was in an uproar.
This sentence should be interpreted from two aspects. First, Duke Yan Sheng made sacrifices on behalf of the emperor, and failure to observe the rituals can be called "disloyal"; second, Duke Yan Sheng sacrificed his ancestor Confucius, and failure to observe courtesy could be called "unfilial".
The contemporary Yan Shenggong is actually an unfaithful and unfilial man. Coupled with the previous charges, the Kong family can be called unfaithful, unfilial, unkind, and unjust!
To be honest, these are nothing, the Kong family can do more daring things.
Historically, Emperor Jiajing deprived Confucius of his title and titles of his disciples, and only respected them as their ancestors and sages. The Confucius family felt so embarrassed that they did not obey the imperial decrees and did not use any of the titles given by the emperor of the Ming Dynasty.
The title of the previous emperor is enshrined in the Confucius Temple.
Strictly speaking, this operation is considered a "major crime of treason" and is suspected of "anti-Ming restoration".
This is not a random fabrication. The father of Zhang Dai, a scholar in the late Ming Dynasty, once served as a chief historian in the Prince of Lu's palace. Zhang Dai paid homage to Confucius Temple in the second year of Chongzhen, but he could not find the tablet of the "Holy Master" (conferred by Jiajing). He could only find
The tablet of "Dacheng Supreme Saint Wenxuan King" (conferred by Chengzong of the Yuan Dynasty). The tablets of Confucius' disciples also follow the titles of the Yuan Dynasty, and will definitely not use the titles of the Ming Dynasty.
The original text of Zhang Dai's account is: "Every Ming Dynasty title in the (Confucius) temple was left unused, in order to see how great it was."
Zhang Dai communicated with the disciples of the Confucius family and was even more angry: "The Confucius family said that there are only three families in the world: my family is Jiangxi Zhang and Fengyang Zhu. Jiangxi Zhang is Taoist morale. Fengyang Zhu is the outbreak family and Xiaojia.
gas."
Awesome?
It can be seen from this that the term "nouveau riche" already existed in the late Ming Dynasty, and the Zhu family in Fengyang was the largest nouveau riche.
…
After finishing talking about the things committed by the Kong family, Zhu Zaiyi suddenly spoke: "Let us all discuss how to deal with the Kong family in Qufu."
Liang Cai, the left minister of the Ministry of Punishment, first said: "I believe that since I am a descendant of Confucius, I should give priority to admonishment and restraint. I will order Yanshenggong to shut up and reflect on his mistakes, and he will be fined three years' salary and take away a thousand acres of his sacrificial land. As for those who committed human murders,
All the children of the Kong family will be punished by a judge."
Chen Yong, the imperial censor of Zuodu, said: "As long as he drank alcohol and had sex with women during the Spring and Autumn Festival, he should not continue to be a sage. What kind of sage does he have? He has no king and no father, he is unfaithful and unfilial!"
"
Luo Qin responded: "Kong Zhide (Kong Wenshao) is really not suitable to be the Duke of Yansheng anymore. He should be deprived of his title and take away his position. When his eldest son reaches adulthood, he will be granted the title of Duke of Yansheng. During the Spring and Autumn Festival, the Kong clan will be appointed as his deputy.
.”
Liang Cai retorted: "Your Majesty, the emperor should be kind, how can he be demoted and win titles for minor mistakes? This chills the hearts of the world."
He Tang, the Minister of Rites, suddenly sneered: "Did you accept the money from the Confucius family and actually speak for Confucius Wenshao in a confusing way? During the period of worshiping Confucius on behalf of the emperor, you dared to drink alcohol and touch women. Do you think this is a minor offense? I dare to ask Liang Shilang,
What do you think is a big mistake?"
Liang Cai was furious: "Let's just discuss the matter and say something. Why do you want to taint my innocence?"
Liang Cai is an upright official and cannot tolerate being accused of accepting bribes.
Zhu Zaiyi frowned and suddenly asked Wang Yuan: "What does Mr. Wang say?"
Wang Yuan said: "Your Majesty, please go to the King of Confucius."
"No!"
More than 30 people jumped out in an instant, most of whom were experts in science and education. As long as they can keep the title of Confucius King, even if they are demoted and released, they can still become famous all over the world and be respected by countless scholars.
Wang Yuan held the wat as if holding a sword, turned around and pointed at the opponents: "To borrow from Zhang Bingyong's (Zhang Cong) memorial, you are all rebellious ministers and traitors, and Confucianism is rebellious! Whoever is determined to oppose, stand up today.
"
More than thirty civil servants came out of the queue, looking at Wang Yuan with their heads held high, looking like a brave man who sacrificed his life for righteousness.
Wang Yuan turned around and said to Zhu Zaiyu: "Your Majesty, Zhang Bingyong made it very clear in his memorials. Confucius wrote "Spring and Autumn", and the first book was "The First Month of the Spring King" to honor the king of Zhou. Mencius also said: "Confucius wrote
"Spring and Autumn", "The rebellious ministers and traitors are afraid". This shows the heart of Confucius. In the eyes of Confucius, whoever dares to claim the king indiscriminately is a rebellious minister and traitor. Later Confucian disciples did not abide by the teacher's name, and Confucius even treated Confucius as a tyrant!"
Zhang Cong, a master of etiquette who majored in "Book of Rites", actually used "Spring and Autumn" as an example when he proposed to cut off the title of Confucius.
"Spring and Autumn" begins: the first month of the first year of the Spring King.
Just six words set the tone for the entire book. Confucius respected the king of Zhou, and the other kings were all rebellious officials and traitors.
What do future generations want to do? They actually made Confucius king!
Zhang Cong's article is so powerful. Anyone who dares to object to the removal of the prince of Confucius is a bastard who deceives his master and destroys his ancestors. He, the one who proposed to remove the prince of Confucius, is actually a good person who brings order to the chaos.
It's a pity that even though the hats are fastened well, there are still many iron-headed children.
Wang Yuan said to the more than thirty civil servants: "Anyone who can understand can go back to class by himself!"
More than ten people retreated in an instant, but there were still twenty-one people who were determined to protect Confucius's title.
Wang Yuan bowed his head and said: "Your Majesty, these Confucians are rebellious and have evil intentions. They want to put Confucius in an unjust place. Please cut down his reputation!"
All officials were shocked.
Not jail, not demoted, not dismissed, not exiled...but deprived of honors.
Zhu Zaiyi also felt that it was too serious, so he smoothed things over and said, "Mr. Wang, the court only insists on its own opinions. There is no need to take away their honors."
Wang Yuan said: "Your Majesty, it is a great crime to deceive the master and destroy the ancestors, not to mention that it is Confucius who deceived him. What is the use of keeping such evil disciples to tarnish the Confucian school? If it is an unintentional mistake, then they will not practice the Spring and Autumn Annals
"? Even if they don't study "Spring and Autumn", someone has explained the truth clearly, but they still insist on their own opinions. Such Confucian scholars are either too bad or too stupid!"
The cabinet minister Wang Hong also came out: "Your Majesty, please take away the honors of these people to rectify Confucianism!"
The cabinet and the leaders of the six ministries looked at each other, not knowing how to express their opinions. After Zhang Cong took the hat, they also agreed to deprive Confucius of the title, and they could not stand the stubborn people. But even if they objected, at most they would be dismissed from office, and it would be unreasonable to deprive them of their honors.
Too much.
Wang Yuan said again: "Your Majesty, as a disciple of Confucianism, he deceived his master and destroyed his ancestors, but he still did not take away his fame and honor. Then, as disciples of the emperor, how should we be punished for treason and rebellion?"
The expressions of all the ministers changed. Suddenly, dozens of officials shouted in unison: "Your Majesty, please take away the honors of these people!"
The twenty-one stubborn people were pale at this moment, their legs were trembling and they couldn't speak.
They were just seeking fame, and maybe they thought they were righteous, even if they were demoted to county magistrates, they were not afraid, but they never thought that they would be deprived of their fame.
Zhu Zaiyi could only say: "All of them will be revoked."
"His Majesty!"
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They knelt on the ground, some of them collapsed, and some were even trembling with fear.
After all, Zhu Zaiyi relented and said to the twenty-one guys: "After you return to your hometown, you will be able to think about your mistakes behind closed doors. If you reflect thoroughly, you can go to the imperial examination again. Let's start with the children."
This is not to kill them with a stick, allowing them to start over again, and it will certainly not harm their descendants.
If Tang Bohu had been treated like this back then, he would probably be able to wake up laughing even when he fell asleep.
"Thank you, Your Majesty!" Those guys seemed to have come back to their senses and hurriedly kowtowed to Zhu Zaikun.
All civil and military officials shouted that the emperor was wise and sincerely believed that Zhu Zaiyi was a kind and kind king.
Those who opposed the reform hated and feared Wang Yuan in their hearts. After this incident, they did not dare to speak out, for fear that their fame would be lost.
Is Wang Yuan going too far?
Not too much!
Because he is the defender of Confucius, no one can use this matter to scold him for excluding dissidents.