A high class but not a high class

Author: Silent

A high class but not a high class

Early that morning, outside the Meridian Gate, all the ministers were waiting for the Meridian Gate to open before entering the palace gate to discuss matters.

This was actually the morning after the incident predicted by Zhang Zhou.

However, because the rumor did not specify a specific day, many ministers thought it had not happened, and everyone was talking about things related to the Kong family.

Kong Hongtai is not here.

Because it was just Zhang Zhou's "prophecy", the ministers present looked nonchalant. They were still worried about it until the palace door opened and they wanted to enter in silence.

Court meeting.

At the beginning, Zhu Youtang took the initiative to open the topic and mentioned Zhang Zhou's prophecy about the Kong family.

"...I didn't take it too seriously at first. Most of the so-called providences come from the guidance of God, or they may leave some signs, and many human affairs are determined by people's hearts. How can twists and turns of right and wrong be easily understood by others? In the past, When Bingkuan prophesied, he also emphasized this point, which is that people's hearts are unpredictable."

The ministers thought to themselves, Your Majesty, you are quite open-minded. Does this mean that you do not believe in those things about ghosts and gods?

If you don’t believe it, how did Zhang Zhou get to where he is today?

Zhu Youtang said: "But since he said it, I can't pretend not to hear it, so I will tell it in advance. If this doesn't happen, he will not be killed. The Ming Dynasty will be stable and the emperor and his ministers will be in harmony, and everything will be in order." This is what I have considered."

Xu Qiong, the Minister of Rites, came out and said: "Your Majesty, we cannot believe these prophecies. Even if the event has not happened, we cannot say that it did not happen because the prophecy was leaked in advance. We cannot convict people for things that have not happened." .”

"That's what I mean."

Zhu Youtang seemed to want to help Kong Hongxu, the boss of the Kong family, in his words.

Some ministers who are not very smart are thinking.

Or is it that our Emperor is benevolent and righteous, so that boy Zhang Bingkuan likes to sow discord when he has nothing to do? Are you dumbfounded? After His Majesty learned about it, he did not hide it at all and told the matter. The matter was leaked in advance. No matter how stupid Kong Hongxu was, he would not Have you done something that violates the law?

Tu Fu, the Minister of Civil Affairs, came out and said, "Your Majesty, I wonder how Zhang Zhou mentioned this matter?"

This is also what the ministers present are concerned about.

Everyone knows that Zhang Zhou predicted that Kong Hongxu would commit a crime, but how he committed the crime was unknown except for those in the cabinet and the Supervisor of Ceremonies.

Many people think that Kong Hongxu will commit adultery and robbery again, which is why the public opinion is so big this time. Even without the fermentation of this incident, many people still don’t know Kong Hongxu’s past, and it is as if it was discovered all of a sudden. settled old accounts.

Zhu Youtang said: "Bingkuan is saying that Qianyan Shenggong, the eldest son of the Kong family, will set fire to the Xuansheng Temple."

Tu Tong became a little annoyed when he heard this. He hurriedly said: "Your Majesty, such nonsense is a slander against the officials of the Ming Dynasty and should be punished!"

really.

Many ministers are thinking about it again.

Your Majesty, have you made a mistake?

Tell us about this in advance and let the Kong family be on guard so that it won't happen. Isn't Zhang Zhou's prophecy just an unfounded slander? This is a huge crime of slander!

This is in our hands!

Zhu Youtang asked calmly: "Tu Qing's family, have you ever thought that with Bingkuan's current identity and status, do you think it is necessary for him to slander a Duke Yansheng who has been deprived of his title? What good does this do to him? ?”

"Ahem..." Tu Yun suddenly felt short of breath and coughed.

Zhang Maoze, who was standing next to him, laughed and said: "Zhang Zhitai has a distinguished status now. Even if he is really slandering, he is only targeting a civilian, so he is not guilty of any crime, right?"

The ministers present heard this.

This sounds like a forced justification, but when you think about it carefully, it makes sense.

Zhang Zhou now holds so many official titles and is still controlling military affairs in the northwest. He is about to be made Duke of Lai. What's wrong with slandering an ordinary person? You, Kong Hongxu, are a commoner. It is your honor to be taken into consideration by Zhang Zhou. !

Zhu Youtang sighed and said: "I know that this damages the reputation of the Confucius family and the dignity of the literati, but Bingkuan has always been upright and outspoken. What I think is that as long as there is no such fire in Xuansheng Temple, Whether it’s Bingkuan’s unfounded slander, or whether someone restrained himself after it was made public in advance... I don’t want to pursue it. I also don’t want to change Bingkuan’s outspoken temperament because of this, what do you think?”

When the civil servants heard this theory, they felt very uncomfortable.

But this is different from before.

At first, Zhang Zhou said that an earthquake would happen and when the Tatars would invade the country. Everyone laughed at him, thinking that Zhang Zhou was challenging the intelligence of the Ming Dynasty's monarchs and looking for trouble.

But now...

Zhang Zhou suddenly said that Kong Hongxu might set fire to Xuansheng Temple. The first thought of everyone was not that this was nonsense, but that it was about to happen. Everyone wanted to see how it would turn out and whether Zhang Zhou would really be hit. And I wanted to see how the emperor handled the matter afterwards.

In other words, every minister was already inclined to believe Zhang Zhou's prophecy.

Not only the ministers, but also the ordinary people who knew about this matter, and even the ordinary literati who highly respected the Confucian family, only raised a few questions and did not even attack Zhang Zhou.

Because...Zhang Zhou's mouth was indeed open. It was unusual for Zhang Zhou to slander a Yanshenggong who had been deprived of his title. Everyone also felt that Zhang Zhou had no need to make trouble for himself.

"Your Majesty is wise."

As soon as Zhang Mao saw that the civil servants did not want to take the lead, he came out to take the lead, which could be regarded as setting a tone for Wu Xun's side.

Suppressing the Confucian family also indirectly affects the status of civil servants in the court. This is a good thing for our oppressed Wu Xun.

Zhang Zhou is simply doing things on behalf of our Wu Xun. If we don’t come out to support him at this time, who will?

Zhu Youtang said with a complaining look on his face: "Actually, I also feel that Bingkuan's thinking on this matter is not thorough. He is a Confucian scholar and the number one scholar in the Ming Dynasty. Wouldn't he be an enemy of the scholars in the world?"

All the ministers present were grim-faced. Only Xie Qian couldn't help laughing, but he didn't laugh out loud.

Is Zhang Zhou afraid of becoming enemies with scholars?

If that boy was a fearful master, he would not have asked Zhu Feng to treat the little princess in Nanjing from the beginning!

Before and after he entered the court, he would not talk about God's will every day, frighten the emperor into a daze, and play against us every day.

But think about it again, if Zhang Zhou was just like us civil servants and was on the same side as us civil servants, the emperor would not have such trust in him... From the perspective of the king's strategy, the emperor originally wanted to see each other among his ministers. There is a desire for you to compete with me.

There was none before, but now that Zhang Zhou is here, the emperor really treats him as a treasure!

"But I have thought about it again. Since he is willing to say it, he must put the stability of the Ming Dynasty first. Otherwise, it will cause trouble for himself and bring unrest to the court. Why should he say it in advance? He doesn't It seems like he has some bad intentions, otherwise he can just pretend that there is no such thing."

Zhu Youtang's every word seemed to be penetrating deeply.

Even though many ministers present were angry at Zhang Zhou for slandering the Kong family, after hearing the emperor's words, they became even more angry.

What do you think... Zhang Zhou has no reason to do this?

What is he planning?

If Zhang Zhou were at the scene at this moment, he might tell the ministers present that I wanted to wait and watch the excitement afterwards, but if I didn't tell him in advance, how could I bribe Li Dongyang and turn the incident of Kong Hongxu's arson into a solid case? In history, Kong Hongxu set the fire. In the end, the matter was settled.

It is precisely because of Zhang's presence that Kong Hongxu cannot escape the crime of arson.

Zhu Youtang said: "Well, you don't have to worry about these matters anymore. Let the past be in the past. Now let's start discussing court affairs..."

Only Li Dongyang and others understood that the emperor felt that things were stable.

There is no need to talk now, we have to settle the accounts with Kong Hongxu later.

The emperor made a clean choice for himself, as if he was more considerate of the Kong family, putting himself on the moral high ground first, and then... just waiting to see the Kong family's jokes.

…

…

Kong Hongtai was in the capital and learned about what the emperor said in the court from the ministers who had left the palace.

The person who told him was Tu Jun who was leaving the palace and preparing to return to the official office.

Although it seems... things have come to an end.

But as a client of the Kong family, Kong Hongtai could clearly feel that the biggest problem was that even if the emperor had told the matter in advance, it seemed that it was too late to stop his eldest brother from burning his ancestral temple.

"Dongzhuang, your majesty has already said that someone will be sent to inform brother Yu Ling in advance. Besides, these are just Zhang Zhou's words out of thin air. Who in the world would believe it?"

Tu Yu comforted him with a smile.

In order to comfort Kong Hongtai, he lied.

The emperor only said to tell the matter in advance, but he did not tell Zhang Zhou the prophecy of the incident on which day it would happen, nor did he say that he would send someone to notify the Kong family.

Tu Jie himself felt that Zhang Zhou could not hit people's hearts so accurately. Coupled with the emperor's attitude of wanting to calm the matter, Tu Jie was already telling Kong Hongtai "good news".

Not only to stabilize Kong Hongtai, but also to get gifts from Kong Hongtai... In order to ensure that Kong Hongxu's son Kong Wenshao could inherit the title of Duke Yansheng, the Kong family gave very generous gifts to court officials when Kong Hongtai came to Beijing this time. .

Moreover, this kind of gift is almost like a gift from a friend, and neither the emperor nor the court will investigate it.

Tu Yu himself liked to give gifts to Li Guang. Of course he felt that such gifts were fair and honest, and the more the merrier.

Kong Hongtai asked eagerly: "As for the report I gave to Your Majesty earlier, does Your Majesty have any... reply?"

"Have you played before?"

Tu Yu frowned.

Kong Hongtai nodded and said that this was the case.

In order to explain the "innocence" of the Kong family to the emperor, Kong Hongtai worked hard. What he was afraid of was not that his brother committed a crime, but that after his brother committed a crime, the Kong family would regard him as an accomplice and accomplice. The attitude of the Confucian family is to clarify its relationship with this matter.

"Then I don't know." Tu Yu said, "Otherwise, you can ask the cabinet department, and when you have time, ask Binzhi. Or the bank..."

Kong Hongtai originally relied heavily on Tu Jian.
To be continued...