The Ming Dynasty: The most ruthless imperial grandson, Old Zhu begged me not to kill him.

Chapter 227 The Kong family enters the court

Many contents in the Four Books and Five Classics require special explanation and annotation. Otherwise, even if you memorize the contents countless times, you will not be able to achieve a good ranking in the imperial examinations. This is also an important method for them to control the selection process.

Without a good lineage, how could one possibly pass the imperial examinations and become an official?

An elder of the Kong family frowned.

"I don't think things are that serious. On the contrary, His Highness the Crown Prince has enabled more people to learn to read in this way, and there will be even more Confucian scholars in the future. This is a good thing for us!"

"I think it's better if we..."

"Let's seize this opportunity to push things along and support the Crown Prince of the Ming Dynasty. Perhaps we can even use this chance to reclaim the title of Duke Yansheng from our Kong family!"

Hearing this, everyone felt a surge of excitement.

The Kong family's lineage of titles at the Yansheng Palace has a long history. Regardless of the dynasty, whether it is prosperous or declining, it has no impact on the Kong family. Even during the Yuan Dynasty, the number of deaths among the people of the world was irrelevant to them. The Kong family remained high and mighty behind closed doors.

Anyone who dares to touch the Confucius family is making an enemy of all scholars in the world.

However, after the Ming Dynasty was established, Zhu Yuanzhang did not like the Kong family. Although the Song Dynasty was weak, it was very good to scholars.

After the Yuan people entered the Central Plains, this family of saints not only did not resist, but instead submitted a letter of surrender, which was truly despicable.

Although Liu Bowen earnestly requested Zhu Yuanzhang to bestow the title of Duke Yansheng upon a new ruler in order to win over the hearts of scholars throughout the land.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang hesitated to make a decision, leaving the matter unresolved.

This caused great concern among the Kong family.

An elder stepped forward and said, "It is indeed a good thing to strengthen our Confucian tradition, but I am worried that it will lead to enlightenment!"

"The people of the world can be made to follow a path, but they cannot be made to understand it. If all the people could understand reason, it would probably not be so easy to control them!"

"Instead of warning His Highness the current Crown Prince, shouldn't we just tell His Highness the Crown Prince that the Crown Prince is still young, and that this person is too bloodthirsty, which goes against the way of the sages!"

After this discussion, the matter was basically settled.

The Kong family today is far less powerful than it once was.

Since the Confucian family split into the Northern Confucian and Southern Confucian families, its legitimacy has been highly controversial. In addition to the Confucian family, new families of sages, such as the Mencius family, the Zhu family, and the Cheng family, have begun to rise. These four families that have produced sages represent the scholars of the world.

The fact that the Kong family had existed for a longer period of time made them very frustrated.

One cake was enough for their family, but now there are three more mouths to feed, so it seems this matter needs to be brought forward.

The oldest member of the family made the final decision: "In that case, let the current head of the family go to Yingtian Prefecture, at least to sound out what these people are saying!"

"It would be troublesome if the Kong family did nothing after such an incident!"

At the same time, the Meng, Cheng, and Zhu families, who also represented us scholars, began to take action.

Zhu Xiong Ying never expected that simply publishing a newspaper would cause such a huge chain reaction.

at this time.

Zhu Xiong Ying had no time to deal with these things. Guo Huan's case had not yet been fully investigated, and far too many officials had been arrested. Crown Prince Zhu Biao was somewhat worried: "Xiong Ying, do you think this matter can be put to rest?"

"Now that so many officials have been arrested, if this continues, it will definitely affect the operation of our Great Ming Dynasty. Losing so many officials at once will leave many positions vacant, which is a devastating blow to any dynasty!"

Zhu Xiong Ying shook her head: "Father."

I know what you're thinking. You're worried that if this matter continues to escalate, it will weaken the very foundation of our Ming Dynasty, but we have no other choice now!

"With these people around, our Great Ming is merely drinking poison to quench its thirst. These people are parasites of our Great Ming, and keeping them around is of no use. Our Great Ming has never lacked people who want to become officials!"

"Grandfather has gone to great lengths to save this grain, but even so, Guo Huan and his gang still managed to take it. If Grandfather knew about this, he would be furious!"

"Father, you might let these officials go, but with Grandfather's personality, he would never let him go; he would kill even more!"

"Moreover, since these people have committed crimes, they must be severely punished. I will not pardon them. As for those who have committed minor crimes, let them go to the border areas to spread education!"

"If they do well, perhaps I can pardon their crimes!"

At this moment, Zhu Xiong Ying suddenly seemed to remember something and said with a smile, "Father."

Since officials cannot supervise them and so many people have been killed, it will definitely cause panic among the people. It is better to guide than to suppress this matter.

So I thought I'd try to smooth things over!

Zhu Biao was extremely curious about what kind of tricks this kid had up his sleeve. In the past, he had mainly suppressed such matters, as the saying goes, "A son should not speak of his father's mistakes, nor should a subject speak of his ruler's mistakes."

Zhu Xiong Ying wanted to guide him, and Crown Prince Zhu Biao was very curious about what method he would use.

If this matter is not handled properly, it could leave a bad impression on the people.

Moreover, it would damage the face of the imperial court.

Soon, almost everyone involved in the matter was arrested.

A message spread from Yingtian Prefecture to all parts of the country.

Zhu Xiong Ying decided to try and convict these officials in front of the entire Yingtian Prefecture.

These words caused an uproar throughout the court and the public.

For the people of the Ming Dynasty, this was indeed a novel thing. In the past, officials would publicly try criminals, and the court would usually cover these things up to prevent damage to its reputation.

This time, His Highness the Crown Prince actually intends to try these people in front of the common people.

These people have more expectations in their hearts.

At this moment, a carriage returned to Yingtian Prefecture. Inside the carriage were Zhu Yuanzhang, Jiang Huan, and others in disguise.

Looking at the Yingtian Prefecture before him, Zhu Yuanzhang was filled with emotion.

It has been some time since I left Yingtian Prefecture. I wonder how well Zhu Xiong Ying is doing as regent.

The most bewildered person was Xu Yungong. He was doing a good job in the Five Military Commands, but inexplicably his father summoned him to Zhu Yuanzhang's side.

Normally nothing would have happened, but Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly said he was coming back with several guards, which startled him.

Zhu Yuanzhang didn't have many people around him, so if something went wrong, he would be in big trouble.

During this time, Xu Yungong didn't dare to sleep at all. He stayed by the carriage, keeping a watchful eye on his surroundings, afraid that something might happen.

Zhu Yuanzhang lifted the curtain of the carriage and was very surprised to see many people outside holding a piece of paper and reading it.

(End of this chapter)