My Daming New Empire

Page 575

Feng Xiaonian was full of ambition when he set off from the capital, but when more and more people were implicated in the Shandong case, he felt frightened.

It can't be blamed for his timidity. No one can take it calmly when more than two hundred officials in Shandong have been arrested.

These officials include officials from nearly half of the counties in Shandong, and most of them are chief officials.

Now that half of the government offices in Shandong are almost paralyzed, Meng Ying, Marquis of Baoding, saw that something was wrong and released some county magistrates who did not make serious mistakes, and let them take the blame and make meritorious service.

Although the imperial court wants to govern the officials in a clear and clear manner, but they can't arrest all the officials, so who will do the work!

And those officials who were arrested were also very relaxed. When they arrested one or two, they were still very worried, but as more and more people were arrested, their hearts became more at ease.

The more accomplices there are, the more difficult it is to deal with them severely.

When Meng Ying instructed to release some officials who were innocent and had no obvious mistakes, they all thought that the court had retreated.

Even if they were not released, many people congratulated each other in prison.

Although they were locked up, it was impossible for them to be locked up like ordinary people and not given food or drink.

Except that they have no freedom and need to be questioned, they still enjoy the privileges of officials.

Neither Meng Ying nor Feng Xiaonian, who specifically arrested people, would be too harsh on them, and no one knew what the higher-ups wanted to do this time.

When the emperor and His Highness Taisun did not give direct orders, they should leave a line for others so that they can meet in the future.

So in general, this case was handled with a lot of thunder and little rain.It seems that many people were arrested, but except for a few who were obviously at fault, the others were released again.

But just as Shandong officials were celebrating with each other, a news quickly spread throughout Shandong.

The second batch of Jinyiwei from the capital, officials from the Ministry of Punishment, arrived in Yanzhou directly along the canal, and arrested two offshoots of the Kong family.

When the news came out, the whole Shandong was in an uproar.Your Majesty, what exactly do you want to do?

Ever since Zhu Yuanzhang promoted them from the third rank in the Yuan Dynasty to the first rank in order to show their superiority to the Confucian family, and listed them as the first rank of civil servants, the status of the Confucian family has skyrocketed like a rocket in this kind of preferential treatment.

Today's officials go to Shandong to serve as officials, who should not first come to the Confucian mansion to pay homage to Confucius, because no one listens to what he says in Shandong.

Even the last time because of the Confucian Mansion's book, Meng Yuan was listed as the main dynasty, which angered the emperor.The emperor just cut off the title of Lord Yansheng, and did not lose the offerings from the Confucian Mansion.

The crime that time was much greater than it is now!Why are you arresting people this time?

Although most people don't know that what they are arresting is only a side branch, but in their view, the Confucian family is a family.

The second batch of officials, led by Yu Qian, the right deputy capital, departed from Yingtianfu at the end of the first lunar month, directly arrived at Jining in the south of Shandong via the canal, and then landed until they arrived at Qufu.

When they left the capital, the news of Zhu Zhanji's supervision of the country had not yet been finalized.

When he received an order to lead a team to Shandong to arrest the two offshoots of the Kong family, and to go on a tour in Shandong to reassure the people, publicize the imperial policy, and divide the relationship between Confucius and the Kong family, he wanted to disobey orders. .

Although he cares about the people, he has always spoken out for the people during his tenure, and distributed countless lands to the poor villagers.

But this time he directly targeted the family of his spiritual idol Confucius!

It's just that Zhu Zhanji gave him very strict terms in the warrant. If he doesn't come, he will resign.

Although Yu Qian couldn't deal with the Kong family, he was even more reluctant to bear his official position.So I had no choice but to pack my bags and came to Shandong with a team of more than 200 governors.

The boat they took was a riverboat from the First Fleet, and the journey was uninterrupted, and the trackers from all over the place were well-prepared. As a result, it only took four days to arrive in Jining, and he couldn't wait for it.

When he went ashore in Jining, he was entertained by Zhao Huai, the prefect of Jining. Only then did he know that a navy had sued General Kong's mansion.

Zhao Huai and Yu Qian were Jinshi in the same period. They have known each other for many years and have a close relationship.Yu Qian approached him as soon as he arrived in Shandong, and also wanted to learn more about Shandong from him.

Zhao Huai also made no secrets, and specially set up a banquet to entertain Yu Qian, and invited him into the inner room after the meal, and the two had a long talk alone.

Hearing the news, he couldn't believe his ears. "How could this saint's family dig up other people's ancestral graves and not collect the bones?"

Zhao Huai shook his head and smiled wryly: "If you don't come to Shandong to be an official, you really don't know about this sage's family... Sigh... don't mention it."

Yu Qian wondered: "Could it be that the Kong family's family style is corrupt?"

Zhao Huai shook his head and said: "It's not a bad family tradition, but the Confucian family has a great career and a rank of title. In this Shandong area, it is really like an earth king, so it's natural to act a bit ostentatiously. Boyi knows that this Who is the biggest landlord in Shandong?"

Yu Qian is not mediocre to be able to be the deputy censor of the right capital, but after hearing the meaning of Zhao Huai's words, he already guessed that there might be a real problem with the Confucian mansion.

But this was very different from the Confucian mansion he had in mind, and he couldn't help being shocked by the news.

In his opinion, after this sage, there should be heirs of poems and books.

After becoming a saint, you should cherish your feathers, how could you indulge your clansmen and tarnish the name of your ancestors!

Yu Qian's mind was tossed for a while, and then he calmed down a little. He said with a long bow: "Brother Ke Yong, Brother Yu has been wandering around the south for these years, and he is not very familiar with the people in Shandong. I am really uneasy in my heart, and I still hope that my virtuous brother will teach me."

Yu Qian, as the Deputy Youdu Censor of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, is still a Beijing official even though he is one level higher than Zhao Huai, the magistrate.

But this mission made him really nervous. He didn't have the slightest airs in front of this friend who had been an official in Shandong for six years.

Since Zhao Huai was willing to tell Yu Qian about this, he naturally wanted to maintain this relationship. He personally held the pot and poured tea for Yu Qian, and then said: "This Confucian mansion has been sealed since Song Zhihe. For Yan Shenggong, he has gone through three dynasties so far, and his family has been passed down for nearly 400 years. For 400 years, even a big tree will inevitably have dead branches, let alone a big family?

My younger brother came to Shandong six years ago to be an official. From the very beginning, he offended the Confucian government. In the first three years, he only got a middle-lower official approval. He wasted six years in this prefect. "

Yu Qian was shocked, and said in amazement: "This Confucian mansion can really influence the magistrate of a place?"

"Not only... come to Shandong to be an official, but don't go to Jinan Mansion, you must first go to Qufu to worship and vote..."

Zhao Huai lowered his voice and said: "This Confucian mansion encloses land in the name of offering sacrifices to land. Not only in Yanzhou, Qufu, but also in all parts of Shandong, there are lands under the name of Confucian mansion. Jining has the benefit of the canal. Confucian mansion How can I let it go, the biggest landlord in Jining is the Kong family."

Yu Qian had already noticed at this time that Zhao Huai was afraid that he had deep grievances with the Kong family, so he belittled the Confucius family a lot in his words.

However, a mansion of Duke Yansheng with only a false title is still expelled from the rank, but it can force a magistrate to complain to the sky.As soon as Yu Qian arrived in Shandong, he could feel the power of Yanshenggong Mansion.

He asked again: "Since Yanshenggong's mansion is the largest landlord in Jining, now that Yanshenggong is expelled, who is the name of this land?"

Zhao Huai smiled wryly and said, "Shandong has measured the land since the fifth year of Hongwu, and Shandong has never measured the land in the past 50 years! In the second year of Yongle, the emperor ordered Shandong to clear the land, but he just used the past data to prevaricate. In the past. Not only that, there have been many natural and man-made disasters in Shandong these years, and the imperial court has provided food exemptions and relief over the years, and most of them fell into the pockets of the Kong family."

Yu Qian said with some displeasure: "Brother Ke Yong, you have grievances with the Kong family, and I am naturally on your side. But now that I am entrusted with the emperor's life, I must first be fair in this matter before it can be reversed."

Zhao Huai was not annoyed when he saw Yu Qian was suspicious, he just smiled wryly and said, "Brother Boyi, when you go to Yanzhou tomorrow, you can check it out slowly. The key is whether the emperor really intends to go to war."

This was a heartfelt remark, Yu Qian regretted his unkind tone just now, cupped his fists and said, "Brother Yu was really surprised, I didn't expect that this family of saints would be like this."

Zhao Huai didn't want to say any more. When Yu Qian saw and heard more, he would naturally know the truth.

"This sage is a sage, and his descendants are descendants. They should not be confused." Zhao Huai clasped his fists and said, "Brother Boyi is exhausted. Please take a good rest today. When you return, I will celebrate your achievements."

On the second day, Yu Qian and his party of hundreds of people separated in Jining to spread the emperor's favor according to three routes.

In Taisun's will, spreading the emperor's grace and letting the people of Shandong know about the imperial court's immigration policy and food subsidy policy is more important than arresting the two side branches of the Confucian government.