You can't only love the Qing Dynasty when you're eating the fruits of others' labor.

Chapter 393 The Duke Yansheng might be Ao Bai's son~
Yanzhou Prefecture.

Seeing the billowing smoke rising in the distance, the defenders quickly lit their three-barreled guns as a warning.

"Enemy attack!"

"Quickly, close the city gates and raise the drawbridge."

Amidst the dull drumbeats, Green Standard Army soldiers swiftly scaled the city walls, removed the cannon covers, loaded gunpowder, and prepared for battle.

The prefect of Yanzhou was covered in sweat.

"Whose soldiers are those outside?"

"I do not know."

The prefect stood at the crenellation of the city wall and peered through his binoculars.

suddenly~
His lens captured a black dragon flag with gold thread embroidery around the edges, and when he turned the lens, he saw a bright yellow flag with black embroidery of the character "Chiang".

"That is the Grand Secretary."

Zhou Peigong appeared behind him without him noticing.

The prefect of Yanzhou scrambled to his feet, shouting, "Quickly, everyone lay down your weapons, open the city gates, lower the drawbridge, and prepare to welcome the emperor!"

……

outside the city.

The cavalrymen lined up, gazing at the city walls.

Jiang Qingyun removed his face mask and spat out a mouthful of saliva containing a high concentration of dust.

"Here comes the water!"

The guards handed over the gourd.

Rinse your mouth and wash your face in one go.

In just seven days, the 7-strong army marched from the capital to Yanzhou. Such a marching speed would have earned the Duke of Yansheng a reward of 50 acres of land.

The city gate slowly opened.

Zhou Peigong and the prefect of Yanzhou went out of the city together, running all the way to greet the emperor.

This scene may seem comical, but it is the norm in officialdom.

Zhou Peigong preemptively reported this loudly.

"Your Excellency, I have been ordered to station myself in Qufu to thoroughly investigate the truth behind the case of the brother killing the brother."

"On the second day after I arrived in Qufu, the perpetrator Kong Qingsheng suddenly hanged himself. That night, my residence suddenly caught fire, but fortunately the guards fought bravely, and I was able to escape in a sorry state. I am guilty, and I have failed the court's expectations. I beg the Grand Secretary to punish me."

The atmosphere instantly turned icy.

Jiang Qingyun was also stunned. It was expected that the Duke Yansheng would outwardly comply but inwardly defy him, but he really did not expect that the Duke Yansheng would dare to burn the imperial envoy. He seriously underestimated the martial prowess of the Duke Yansheng's family.

However, this gave him the perfect opportunity to lash out.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, the Prime Minister gathered his inner energy and uttered the strongest voice of the empire.

"Qufu has rebelled!"

"Order the three armies: target—Qufu, prepare to quell the rebellion."

Zhou Peigong heard a thud behind him, turned around and saw that the prefect of Yanzhou had fainted on the spot.

……

50 miles.

The cavalry marched for half a day and arrived outside Qufu.

More than a dozen captains knelt down in unison before the Grand Secretary's warhorse.

"The soldiers of the Banner Guard are willing to be the vanguard, and the soldiers of the Banner Guard are willing to sign a military pledge to massacre Qufu before sunset, leaving no chickens or dogs alive."

Seeing the flag guards' murderous aura and their ruthlessness, Jiang Qingyun raised his whip with satisfaction.

"The bravery and loyalty of the Banner Guard are commendable, which greatly pleases me. Order the entire army to set up camp on the spot. We await further orders regarding when to attack the city."

"As ordered."

Outside Qufu city, people shout and horses neigh.

Inside Qufu, chaos erupted at the Duke Yansheng's residence.

A servant rushed into the mansion, disregarding etiquette, and shouted, "It's terrible! The imperial army is here!"

"How many people came?"

"Several tens of thousands of soldiers."

"Oh no, oh no, they've come to interrogate us."

Who will lead the troops?

"The banner is Chiang."

The Grand Secretary has come in person!

This matter is unlikely to end well.

Outside the city, the drums beat loudly, and Duke Yansheng Kong Xingxie trembled with fear, his ears ringing incessantly.

Suddenly, he shouted, "Shut up! I'll go and apologize with a bundle of thorns on my back!"

"Bearing thorns to plead guilty" means carrying a bundle of thorns on your bare chest to beg for forgiveness from the other party.

Kong Xingxie still adhered to his previous ideas.

Speed ​​is an attitude!

Attitude is everything!
As for right or wrong, that's secondary.

outside the city.

The central command tent has not yet been set up.

Jiang Qingyun was inspecting the military camp when he came to a corner and suddenly asked in a low voice, "Pei Gong, do you think that fire was purely accidental or was it a premeditated act?"

Without hesitation, Zhou Peigong knelt down.

"Please forgive me, Grand Secretary; it was actually a corrupt official who started the fire."

"you?"

"Yes, the Confucius family is really troublesome because they carry the banner of the sage. The corrupt official had no choice but to resort to this tactic. No one else knows about this matter."

Jiang Qingyun stopped.

"You're incredibly bold."

"We beg the imperial court to punish him."

Just then, a guard came to report: "Reporting to the Grand Secretary, the Duke of Yansheng has come to apologize with a bundle of thorns on his back."

"bring it here."

"Yes."

Kong Xingxie, dressed in coarse cloth trousers, bare-chested and carrying a bundle of firewood, looked terrified and walked unsteadily, crawling on his knees from a distance of more than ten feet.

"I am guilty. I have failed the Grand Secretary, I have failed my ancestors, and I have failed the Imperial Envoy."

Jiang Qingyun remained silent, watching the show with his hands behind his back.

Kong Xingxie wept bitterly and swore an oath to the heavens.

“I swear to the Sage that if I am even slightly involved in that fire, and if the Confucius Forest is destroyed by heavenly fire, may the entire Confucius clan suffer a terrible death. I beg the Grand Secretary to see this clearly.”

……

The central command tent has been set up.

"No one may be more than 10 zhang away."

"As ordered."

With tears streaming down his face, Kong Xingxie entered the tent and saw that only the Grand Secretary was inside. Instantly, a glimmer of hope rose in his heart.

"Duke Yansheng, please sit."

"The sinner dares not."

"Burning the imperial envoy is unheard of and appalling. This case must be thoroughly investigated, thoroughly investigated, and the people must be given an explanation. No matter who is involved, no one should be spared."

Kong Xingxie was secretly delighted and was about to say something to express his loyalty when he was terrified by the next sentence.

"I brought troops to Qufu not for the arson case, but for another case. Someone in Qufu has reported to the court that your bloodline is questionable and that you may not be a direct descendant of the Duke Yansheng."

“Slander, this is slander.”

"Where's the evidence?"

"what?"

"How can you prove that you are a direct descendant of the sage, and not Ao Bai's bastard?"

Who is Ao Bai?

"According to the Ministry of War's archives, the year he entered the pass, Ao Bai led his army through Qufu and entered the mansion to talk with your father for a quarter of an hour. A quarter of an hour is enough time to do a lot of things."

Kong Xingxie trembled all over.

"Your Excellency, this is a fabricated charge. I am more wronged than Dou E."

Jiang Qingyun waved his hand.

“I don’t want to hear that, I only want to see the evidence.”

What evidence does the Prime Minister need?

"You have to prove that your father is your father."

Kong Xingxie was struck dumb; he realized he had fallen into a huge conspiracy.

Jiang Qingyun stood up and slowly paced around.

"As everyone knows, I revere Confucius and have always been committed to the revival of Confucianism, that is, to the restoration of fundamentalist Confucian thought. By the way, do you know what fundamentalism is?"

Kong Xingxie seemed to have sensed a pattern, but it was very faint.

He pondered for a moment, then tentatively replied, "The Grand Secretary is a great Confucian scholar of our time. Whatever the Grand Secretary says is fundamentalism, then that is fundamentalism."

The initial attempt to test the waters yielded remarkable results.

Jiang Qingyun nodded with satisfaction, his gaze kind, but his tone remained cold.

"I have studied the teachings of Confucius and Mencius for 27 years and come up with eight words."

"Which eight characters?"

"Completely distorted, utter nonsense."

"What does the Grand Secretary mean?"

"Confucius was good, and Mencius was good too, but a small group of people later frantically distorted the thoughts of Confucius and Mencius. They talked nonsense, they made far-fetched connections, and they changed the brilliant thoughts of Confucius and Mencius beyond recognition!"

Jiang Qingyun stared intently at Kong Xingxie.

Four words popped into Kong Xingxie's mind: "The true intentions are revealed when the map is unrolled!"

(End of this chapter)