Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 110 Lingchi execution, Yan Shenggong was shocked! (First order)
After reading the letter, Zhu Houcong could not help but realize through this incident how much the Northern Kong family despised the Ming royal family and how much they looked down on the Ming royal family's origin.

Now that Zhu Houcong is the emperor of the Zhu family, he relies on this status to exercise power over the world.

natural.

He would not let this matter go.

Bang!
"Inverted!"

"This has been disloyal to the Emperor for a long time!"

Zhu Houcong therefore slammed the table on the spot and yelled at the Prime Minister and the eunuchs of the Imperial Household Department in the imperial study.

Liang Chu and Gu Dayong did not know what the secret report contained.

But they knew that this matter must be very serious, so much so that they hardly even dared to breathe and could only crawl on the ground.

"Who hasn't been upright for a long time?"

"Is it the Kong family?"

"Although I have heard for a long time that the Northern Clan Kong family misses Qian Yuan, the Northern Clan Kong family should not do this openly. Could it be that they said something treasonous behind his back and were caught by your Majesty's spies?"

Liang Chu and Gu Dayong were both muttering to themselves at this time.

Simultaneously.

They couldn't help but feel fortunate that they had not married into the Kong family or had any other interactions with the Kong family in their early years. They were also fortunate that the Kong family was closer to the Qingliu and Zhang families, and deliberately kept a distance from people like them who had a bad reputation in the Zhengde Dynasty.

Because they can feel it.

The emperor was really angry.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have such a ferocious look.

Zhu Houcong also looked at Liang Chu at this time and said, "I know that his Confucian school does not respect the heaven and often does things that deceive the heaven, but I didn't expect that they would dare to deceive the heaven like this!"

"Decree that the Kong family has been plotting against the law, disrespecting the emperor, and bullying the royal family. They have committed the ten unforgivable crimes and are not included in the eight deliberations. Order the Jinyiwei to arrest Kong Wenli who has entered the capital and put him in prison immediately!"

"Remove the title of Duke Yansheng Kong Wenshao, and order the Imperial Guards to arrest him immediately, bring him to the capital, and execute him by slow slicing!"

"Order the Shandong officials to escort all the Northern Sect Kong family members to the capital to be punished!"

Zhu Houcong therefore issued a strict order.

As soon as Kong Wenshao arrived in Tongzhou, he was surrounded by the Jinyiwei who were waiting there in advance, and the imperial edict was read to him.

After hearing the imperial edict, Kong Wenshao was shocked and shuddered with fear.

"Lingchi death?"

Wang An, a Jinyiwei officer who arrived here, immediately waved his hand and ordered his Jinyiwei captain to arrest Kong Wenshao.

The guards around Kong Wenshao all avoided him and did not dare to fight with the Jinyiwei.

Kong Wenshao did not resist, but asked Wang An at this time: "Why did the emperor do this? How could he do this? How could he kill me and even cut me up? How could he do this?"

Kong Wenshao really didn't understand.

In his opinion.

The emperor is the ruler of the world. If he wants to maintain his rule and prevent people from rebelling against him, and if he wants to live a stable life above everyone else, he should not overturn his table.

After all, if the emperor wants to live a stable life as an emperor, he needs to promote Confucianism, and if he promotes Confucianism, he should not be too harsh on the descendants of saints like him.

There is precedent for this.

It wasn't Kong Wenshao's imagination.

because.

His father owed so many lives, but he was only ordered to give the title to his uncle, and there was no other punishment.

and so.

Kong Wenshao always felt that the Emperor Zhu Ming would be kind enough to his Kong family because of his humble background.

Even though he did some things that went against Tian Gang like his father.

This also made him realize that the royal family like Zhu Ming, who came from a commoner background, needed the nobles of his Kong family more, rather than his Kong family needing the protection of the Zhu family more.

It is precisely because of this understanding that Kong Wenshao has dared to act recklessly in the local area these days.

In Kong Wenshao's opinion, his Kong family can overturn the table of the Zhu family, but the Zhu family should not dare to overturn the table of his Kong family.

But Zhu Houcong happened to overthrow it now.

This made Kong Wenshao very confused and frightened at the same time.

of course.

If Zhu Houcong wanted to be a traditional conservative emperor, he would only be willing to keep the interior weak and the exterior weak, keep the people ignorant and weak, and let the entire Chinese civilization continue to not expand or progress, and only practice the art of ruling to the extreme internally.

Zhu Houcong had to be like a traditional emperor and be tolerant of the Kong family. But what Kong Wenshao didn't know was that Zhu Houcong was not a traditional emperor.

After Kong Wenshao asked this in front of the Jinyiwei, he could not help crying in fear, and continued: "He can't do this. It will make the people of the world uneasy, and it will also make him uneasy!"

"Isn't it said that he is wise, calm, and mature beyond his years?"

"Didn't they issue a special decree for me to go to the capital to accompany the emperor to the Imperial Academy?"

"He is the emperor. He should consider the long-term stability of the Ming Dynasty! He shouldn't be so willful!"

Kong Wenshao had now become a loyal minister of the Ming Dynasty. After being put into heavy shackles and locked in a prison van, he endured the pain brought by the shackles and spoke painfully all the way.

……

Saying.

Because Kong Wenshao's younger brother Kong Wenli arrived in Beijing ahead of time.

Therefore, the court officials learned through Kong Wenli what Zhu Houcong had secretly ordered Shu Sheng and Cai Tianyou to do in Shandong.

Naturally, these court officials quickly realized that the emperor wanted to strike at the Kong family and had no intention of letting them go just because they were a family of saints.

The Kong family is a local tyrant. Attacking the Kong family means attacking the local tyrants, which means that the emperor wants to attack the local tyrants.

Therefore, many court officials soon realized that the emperor's attitude was completely inconsistent with their own desire to tolerate local powerful people.

In addition, Kong Wenli invested money in the operation, so many civil servants were ordered to impeach Shu Sheng and Cai Tianyou for their reckless behavior in Shandong, and even directly criticized them for not letting the Kong family off.

And now.

Zhu Houcong also issued an order to execute Kong Wenshao by slow slicing and arrest the entire Northern Kong family.

Naturally, the government and the public were shocked.

But because everyone knew that the Kong family had indeed committed a crime with solid evidence, no one dared to force the emperor to abdicate directly, and only came to see the Prime Minister Liang Chu first.

"Yuan Fu, the Kong family is the descendant of a saint after all. If you punish them too harshly, it will go against the principle of respecting teachers and valuing education!"

Minister of Rites Mao Cheng said.

Liang Chu, who had read Shu Sheng's secret report in front of the emperor, sighed, "We have to be strict! According to the report of Shu Sheng, the deputy envoy of the Military Preparations Department, Kong not only plotted rebellion, but also wanted to enslave and kill the royal family. They have no loyalty to the emperor at all!"

"Why does this Shu guy report everything?!"

"He also holds the secret decree to arrest the inspector!"

"Prince, how can the cabinet allow the emperor to give him such power? How can the governors of various places control the local bureaucrats?!"

At this time, Chief Censor Zhang Zan also began to question.

then.

He added: "I think that the incident of Wang Yangming being attacked on his boat should be regarded as a punishment from heaven, as Duke Yansheng said! After all, Wang Yangming did go too far in Lianghuai, and it would be bad for no one to pursue it further! There is no need to really ask for the right and wrong of things, we should always weigh the pros and cons!"

"Yes!"

"Besides, the Kong family has deep roots in Shandong, and all taxes and grain depend on their support. It would be better to persuade Your Majesty to tell the outside world that it was a punishment from heaven."

Assistant Minister Zhu Xizhou followed suit.

"The Prime Minister should also advise Your Majesty to be patient for the sake of the country. It is better to attribute some things to God's punishment than to delve into the crime!"

The Minister He Mengchun also suggested that Liang Chulai should be raised.

Liang Chu could not help but ask in a deep voice: "So, what you mean is that even though His Majesty has suffered the injustice from the Kong family, you still want to continue to respect them, and even let the victimized officials suffer for no reason?"

"The Book of Shangshu says: 'If you have patience, you will be able to help others; if you have tolerance, your virtue will be great. Your Majesty is the Son of Heaven. You should be a benevolent ruler. You should be patient with what you cannot tolerate, and you should be cautious with punishment."

Minister of Rites Mao Cheng said at this time.

Liang Chu said solemnly: "As a king, you should be patient, but you should not be patient for the sake of villains, and even lose your integrity for this!"

"You have turned black into white. Since ancient times, only treacherous ministers have forced the people of the world to mistake a deer for a horse. No loyal ministers have forced Your Majesty and the people of the world to mistake a deer for a horse!"

After that.

Liang Chu waved his sleeves.

"What Yuanfu means is that we are treacherous ministers?"

He Mengchun asked.

"It's hard to tell!"

"If the emperor humiliates me, I will die. If Your Majesty is allowed to suffer such an injustice, I will die!"

"Otherwise, whoever tries to force me to do this will be the first to be identified as a traitor and punished for treason!"

Liang Chu said sternly.

(End of this chapter)