amaotonovel Chapter 1057 The descendants of the Duke Yansheng are truly exemplary in their ability to bend and s
Chapter 1057 The descendants of the Duke Yansheng are truly exemplary in their ability to bend and s
The Duke Yansheng's family was more than just skilled at assessing situations.
When they discovered that Zhu Biao, Li Wenzhong, and even Zhu Lao Er, Zhu Lao San, and Zhu Lao Si were also in Xinghua County, Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu's attitudes immediately took a 180-degree turn.
Organizing the people to watch "The White-Haired Girl", presiding over a meeting to express grievances, and even having members of the Confucius family come forward to conduct criticism and self-criticism in front of those peasants.
We must conduct criticism and self-criticism properly!
As descendants of Confucius, the Duke Yansheng's family has a history of over a thousand years and can barely be considered a prominent family.
Therefore, it is inevitable that a few scoundrels will emerge from the clan who commit evil deeds and oppress the people.
Confucius said: "To know one's mistakes and correct them is the greatest virtue."
As the head of the Northern School of Confucius, Kong Xixue, and as the head of the Southern School of Confucius, Kong Xilu, after recognizing their mistakes, felt deeply that they had both the responsibility and obligation to expose these scoundrels who tarnished the reputation of Confucius' descendants, and the responsibility and obligation to promote their ancestors' ideal of "universal harmony".
Then, Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu honestly went to organize the people to watch "The White-Haired Girl" and to organize a meeting for the people to express their grievances. They also found a few people from the Northern and Southern schools and asked them to conduct criticism and self-criticism in front of the people of Xinghua County.
In particular, the Northern School, when conducting criticism and self-criticism, even brought up the already disgraced Kong Xida—Kong Xida received imperial favor and was appointed as the sixth-rank magistrate of Qufu, but he mingled with Zhao Liang, the former magistrate of Wenshang County. During the time when Yang Shaofeng, the emperor's son-in-law, was the magistrate of Ningyang, Kong Xida advocated for Zhao Liang and prevented the people of Wenshang County from migrating to Ningyang County.
In summary: Yang Shaofeng, the current imperial son-in-law, is a good official who wholeheartedly serves the people, while the former magistrates of Wenshang County, Zhao Liang, and Qufu County, Kong Xida, are corrupt officials who harm the people. They corrupted the atmosphere of officialdom and are despicable scoundrels and evil elements who deserve to die.
Similarly, the current emperor, the crown prince, the prince consort, and the chief minister of the cabinet are all wholeheartedly concerned for the people, and most of the civil and military officials in the court are also good. Occasionally, there are a small number of corrupt and evil elements, who must be resolutely eliminated.
Kong Xixue pointed out righteously and sternly: "Most of the gentry are bad. The people must open their eyes, see through their evil intentions, point out their evil deeds, and let them receive the punishment they deserve."
Kong Xilu also stated: "With the Emperor, the Crown Prince, and the Prince Consort standing up for the people of Xinghua County, we don't need to worry about retaliation from those evil elements. The Ming Dynasty and the Ming army are capable of protecting our safety and will definitely be able to wipe out those local tyrants and bullies."
Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu even conducted self-criticism: they had failed to manage their family well, had not adequately supervised the literary style of the literati, and had serious deficiencies in their own self-cultivation...
In any case, they are all minor mistakes that are neither serious nor fatal.
Even Yang Shaofeng couldn't help but exclaim: The descendants of the Duke Yansheng are truly exemplary in their ability to bend and stretch!
When they were in power, they disregarded everyone, overstepped their bounds in ceremonial duties, set up private courts for punishment, and even openly proclaimed the arrogant statement that "only the Zhang family of Longhu Mountain and my Kong family are the only thousand-year-old aristocratic families."
When they were forced to kneel, they were faster than anyone else and their posture was more standard than anyone else's. In order to ensure the continuation of their families, the heads of the North and South families were willing to throw their own faces to the ground and even take the lead in stomping on them.
The people of Xinghua County truly witnessed what brutality meant.
Before the grievance meeting, the Embroidered Uniform Guard would go on a rampage of arrests.
After the grievance meeting, officials from the Ministry of Justice and the Censorate from the capital would conduct a trial on the spot.
Those crimes punishable by beheading, strangulation, or slow slicing would never be sentenced to exile or imprisonment.
During trials, officials from the Ministry of Justice would publicly tell the people which article of the Ming Dynasty Code was used as the basis for the judgment. They would also tell the people that once they learned to read, they should read the Hongwu Proclamation in their homes. If officials or gentry ever oppressed the people, seized farmland, or extorted money and grain, they could simply tie them up and take them to the capital to file a complaint.
To prove that the court had not deceived the people, the officials of the Ministry of Justice repeatedly brought up Zhang Liuliu's case and had Zhang Liuliu himself explain his experiences on the way to the capital to file a complaint. The focus was on the Imperial Guards' desperate protection of Zhang Liuliu and the emperor's rewards he received after arriving in the capital.
Of course, none of these can be considered whether they are brutal or not.
What was truly brutal was that the imperial court completely disregarded the rules of "execution after autumn" and "no cheering when an official is killed." Basically, they executed the official immediately after the trial, and allowed the people to cheer loudly while the execution was taking place.
……
With Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu sharing their experiences, the grievance meeting was finally able to proceed smoothly.
This is like trying to drag a good person down with you, or persuading a technician to reform.
The people of Xinghua County didn't really believe what Yang Shaofeng said, but they were willing to believe Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu's "criticism and self-criticism".
When a descendant of a sage makes a mistake, it's more interesting to watch than when others make mistakes, and it's easier for people to believe it.
Yang Shaofeng sometimes couldn't help but complain: "They're all spoiled brats. Talking to them a thousand times is not as good as having the Kong family stand up and say a few words."
"From this point of view, Xinghua County is far inferior to Ningyang County."
"At least the people of Ningyang County don't have these bad habits."
Zhu Biao thought Yang Shaofeng was talking nonsense again.
Yes, the people of Ningyang County are not as easily fooled as the people of Xinghua County.
The key issue is that the people of Ningyang County are not as honest as the people of Xinghua County.
You can't assume I didn't know about the mess that Master Geng and Scholar Liu were brutally beaten by masked bandits from Ningyang just because I was in the capital back then.
Oh, and also, it seems that the people of Ningyang County, because of this messy matter of levirate marriage, are going to water other people's wheat fields when it's about to freeze, intending to freeze the wheat seedlings to death.
A group of bandits who fight and kill at the drop of a hat do not have the bad habits you mentioned, brother-in-law.
Zhu Biao was inwardly complaining, but on his face he said with a smile, "Brother-in-law, the matter in Xinghua County is almost resolved. Next, is it Gaoyou Prefecture's turn?"
Yang Shaofeng chuckled and said, "The next step is to directly replicate the Xinghua County model throughout the entire Yangzhou Prefecture."
"The more than 30,000 rebels who came to Xinghua before were just an appetizer."
"The real feast will have to wait until Yangzhou Prefecture and even the entire Zhili region hold a grievance meeting and self-criticism."
Zhu Biao nodded and said, "Alright, let's make the commotion even bigger."
“Once those corrupt officials and gentry all come out, the court will have a few years of peace, and Hu Weiyong will be able to get enough laborers.”
At this point, Zhu Biao pursed his lips again and said, "The second and third sons need to go to their fiefdoms as soon as possible."
Yang Shaofeng was slightly taken aback.
The conversation started with the local gentry and went straight to Zhu the Second and Third Princes taking up their fiefdoms.
No, is the thinking behind black sesame glutinous rice balls really that abrupt?