Late Yuan Dynasty: I am the true emperor

Chapter 425: Guide to Destroying Confucius at the End of the Yuan Dynasty (Part )

Boom boom boom boom————

From the four artillery positions on Xiaogushan Mountain, 256 cannons fired in alternating waves, and dense shells rained down on the river. With so many cannons, thousands of shells could be fired in just four rounds, but the bombardment lasted for a full hour, with tens of thousands of shells fired cumulatively.

What does 90 artillery shells mean? If you put these iron balls on the scale and weigh them, they weigh more than 18 tons. kilograms of pig iron would take Luzhou Iron Works a week to produce. If it were a private ironworks in the Yuan Dynasty, it would take a year to produce so much iron. However, the output of that year was fired by four artillery regiments in just one hour.

This is not a battle with artillery, but a pure crushing of productivity!

The Yuan army's navy had never seen such a horrific way of fighting. The shells were as dense as raindrops. All the Yuan army ships that wanted to escape upstream through Xiaogushan were shot into sieves. In addition, their escape upstream was against the current and their speed was not fast. They were also blocked by continuous artillery fire. The thick smoke caused by the artillery fire covered the surface of the river like fog, making their vision unclear. The Yuan army's navy soon collided in chaos in this narrow waters.

Those who were hit by the bombardment wanted to retreat downstream, but those downstream only saw thick fog ahead and continuous artillery fire from the mountains, but could not see the tragic situation of the ships in front of them. They were still trying to escape upstream, and thus they collided with each other in a daze.

But how could the Shengwu Army Navy give up the favorable conditions created by their allies with great difficulty? They also set sail and chased after the Yuan Army Navy from downstream. Hundreds of gunboats approached the end of the Yuan Army Navy and fired wildly at a distance of more than 100 meters, especially those Franky breech-loading revolving cannons with extremely fast firing rates. Although the damage to the ships was limited, they were very useful for hitting people. Rounds of shotgun shells were fired, and blood mist immediately rose from the Yuan Army Navy's ships.

At this time, Xu Da, who was transferred to the First Front Army and served as Liao Yongan's deputy, also arrived. He ignored the artillery positions on the mountain, but commanded his soldiers to carry small fishing boats and rafts made of reeds from the villages on the shore, which were piled with firewood, grease and sulfur.

After pushing these fishing boats and rafts into the river, they were all tied into a string, with each small fishing boat towing several rafts. They were then all set on fire and released from upstream. A raging fire and poisonous smoke suddenly broke out on the surface of the river, and they crashed into the Yuan army navy that was blocked in the middle, and soon set fire to the Yuan army warships that were blocked in the river.

With flames burning the river in front, bullets raining down on their heads, and enemy troops killing them from behind, the Yuan navy, which was crowded together in the river, soon caught fire. Red light flickered in the thick smoke, and the flames were accompanied by raging smoke. There were also constant wails and screams that were not like human voices, like a scene from hell.

Sang Shijie, who was commanding the Shengwu Army navy downstream, immediately sounded the call to withdraw his troops upon seeing this situation, and stopped fighting, so as to avoid being implicated by the Yuan army's fireboats.

"Retreat, first retreat to the river mouth downstream of Mianchuan Town and block it. Don't even think about letting a single Yuan army ship escape today!"

The Shengwu Army's navy began to retreat, but the Yuan Army's situation became even more difficult. Many Yuan Army soldiers jumped into the river from the burning ships and swam to the shore, where they were immediately captured by the Shengwu Army who had been waiting on the shore. Some Yuan Army ships that had not yet caught fire, seeing that the situation was hopeless, simply sailed downstream to surrender to the Shengwu Army.

The fierce battle lasted for a whole day. Most of the Yuan army's ships sank or burned, and a small number surrendered. Only when the battlefield was cleaned up after the war, a charred corpse was found on the wreckage of Manzi Haiha's flagship. Based on the gold and silver accessories and jewel-studded knives on the charred corpse, it was confirmed that this was the body of Manzi Haiha.

In the year 4050 AD, the year 1353 in the Western calendar, on May th of the th year of Zhizheng, the cotton boat naval battle lasted a whole day and ended with the victory of the Shengwu Army Navy.

After this battle, the last organized navy of the Yuan army on the Yangtze River was completely wiped out, which completely established the dominant position of the Shengwu Army Navy on the Yangtze River!
The huge fleet of Chen Youliang in the original history had not been built at this time, and of course he would never have the chance to build it again. Lu Jin would not cause trouble for himself for no reason.
On Penglangji opposite Xiaogushan Mountain, the soldiers at the catapult position of the Yuan army witnessed this massacre-like naval battle with their own eyes. After seeing that their own navy was completely wiped out, they immediately ran away and returned to Pengze County to spread the news of the navy's defeat, causing panic among the people for a while.

At the same time, the main force of the army led by Liao Yongjian and Wang Zhiyuan also arrived at the city of Pengze. The Pengze defender saw that there were as many as 50,000 to 60,000 troops outside, and the ships of the Shengwu Army on the river behind him were densely packed, so he chose to surrender very simply. Damn it, no one can stand this scene, what's the point of defending!
With the liberation of Pengze, the main forces of the army led by Liao Yongjian and Wang Zhiyuan, together with the main forces of the navy, marched non-stop towards the last target of this battle, Hukou County at the entrance of Poyang Lake. Without the obstruction of the Yuan army's navy, this offensive operation seemed to be much smoother. The actual control area of ​​the Shengwu Army finally extended to the territory of Jiangxi Province. The entire Jiangzhou City (Jiujiang) was now surrounded on three sides by the First and Fifth Front Armies, and a general attack on Jiujiang could be launched at any time!

By May 46, Chang Yuchun and Liao Yongjian had occupied Hukou and Wuyuan respectively. In the entire Southern Anhui Campaign, only three cities in Jiande Road had not yet been conquered. However, it was only a matter of time before Jiande Road was completely captured. This time, it could be regarded as a training ground for Deng Shunxing's th Army.

As the Southern Anhui Campaign continued to advance and the Fifth Front Army's offensive was unstoppable, the prefectures, counties and cities under the control of the Yuan court that had just become neighbors with Lu Jin also became panicked, especially the three routes of Wuzhou, Quzhou and Raozhou. After all, no one wanted to face Lu Jin's troops head-on.

Wuzhou Road was not so bad, as Wanhu Tao Guangyi had already secretly surrendered, so it was not difficult to take Wuzhou. However, there was also an important figure in Quzhou Road at this time. Although this person had no military influence, he still had a great influence in the scholar circle in Jiangnan. This was the Southern School of Kong!
As the news of the liberation of Wuyuan and Hukou on the front line came back, Zhan Ding, who was responsible for the specific planning of the battle, saw that the overall situation had been decided, so he immediately found Lu Jin and gave him advice.

"My lord, the Southern Anhui Campaign is nearing its end. There are only three cities in Jiande Road that have not been taken yet. If all goes well, we can hopefully end the war before June, which is much faster than our original plan."

Lu Jin nodded, "Then, do you have any plans that need to be changed?"

Zhan Ding immediately bowed and said, "My lord, I do have some ideas. After the Southern Anhui Campaign, the Fifth Front Army can rest for a while and then launch the Jinqu Campaign. Tao Guangyi, the commander of Wuzhou Road, has already secretly surrendered to you. It will not be difficult to capture Wuzhou. Then we only have to fight in Quzhou Road.

"In fact, there is also a man in Quzhou Road. If you can recruit him, you may be able to take over Jinzhou Road without spending a single soldier."

Lu Jin raised his eyebrows when he heard this and immediately asked, "Who is this person?"

"Kong Xilu!"

"This man's surname is Kong, and he is in Quzhou. If we appease him, Quzhou will surrender without a fight. Could he be the Southern Branch of the Kong Family?" Lu Jin guessed immediately.

"My lord, your guess is correct. This person is the current head of the Southern Branch of the Kong family." Zhan Ding immediately confirmed.

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin said disdainfully, "Do you want me to make Nan Kong the Duke of Yansheng so that I can win the title of orthodoxy, and then use the title of Duke of Yansheng to persuade the cities in Quzhou Road to surrender?"

"exactly."

Lu Jin's face suddenly turned serious. "Why? Can it be that my family, the Gongshu clan of the Ji clan, cannot represent the orthodoxy of China better than the Kong clan, a remnant of the Shang Dynasty?"

"This..." Zhan Ding was dumbfounded when he heard it. He just wanted to give Lu Jin an idea so that they could spend less effort on attacking the city. Unexpectedly, Lu Jin did not appreciate it. Instead, he got angry because of the name of orthodoxy. This was really true. He almost forgot about this.

However, if we really count it, the legal system passed down from the Zhou, Qin, Han and Tang dynasties was indeed established by the Zhou emperor, and the Kong family was indeed the remnants of the Shang Dynasty. In this case, the lord of the Gongshu clan who was the direct descendant of the family was indeed more upright than the lineage of Confucius.

So Zhan Ding hurriedly said, "I dare not, I definitely do not mean that."

Lu Jin then waved his hand and said, "Don't use the words of Confucius' lineage as the orthodox lineage in front of me in the future. If it weren't for King Wu's kindness and not exterminating the descendants of the Shang Dynasty, where would the Kong family heritage come from? Who the hell does his Kong family think they are? How dare they claim to be the orthodox lineage?"

Zhan Ding's forehead suddenly broke out in sweat, and he grimaced secretly, then he gritted his teeth and said, "Yes, I will definitely remember it. As for the matter of appeasing Nan Kong..."

Lu Jin immediately turned around and looked at him and said, "Of course we have to deal with the Kong family, but it has nothing to do with the military. The Jinqu Battle should be fought as it should be. Don't be lucky. Even a lion must use all its strength to fight a rabbit.

"Also, we are now strong in military power, so don't always think about how to save manpower. A change of dynasty only happens once every few hundred years, so this is a great opportunity to purge the old forces.

"You asked me to persuade this one to surrender today, and that one to surrender tomorrow. Persuading someone to surrender means compromise, and issuing an edict means agreeing with the interests of the old forces. If I compromise everywhere, how can I implement my nine-tier tax and various new policies?"

Zhan Ding finally understood Lu Jin's true intention and immediately bowed and said, "My lord is wise, and I am stupid. So I will go and arrange the Jinqu battle plan now?"

"Wait, although we still have to fight, the Kong family still needs to be dealt with. I don't know much about the Southern and Northern Kong families. I only know that the Southern Kong family followed Song Gaozong Zhao Gou to the south during the Jingkang Incident. What about the Northern Kong family? Also, I heard that the Northern Kong family's inheritance was interrupted for decades. There are rumors among the people that the Northern Kong family's bloodline is not upright. What's going on? Do you know the details?"

Upon hearing this, Zhan Ding hesitated and said, "I am from Taizhou, and have never been to the north, and have never been in the officialdom before, so I only have some understanding of the Southern Confucianism, and know very little about the inheritance of the Northern Confucianism."

Lu Jin immediately said, "Then call everyone who knows to tell us, Dingbang."

"Marshal." Li Dingbang immediately came in from outside to receive orders.

"Go and invite the gentlemen from the Secretariat and tell them that I have a meeting."

"Yes."

After Li Dingbang took the order and left, Lu Jin looked at Zhan Ding and said, "You also go and call Mr. Feng and Yunzhong to see if they know." "Yes."

After a while, a group of civil and military officials arrived, and Lu Jincai asked, "The Southern Anhui Campaign is about to end, and the next step is to fight Wuzhou Road and Quzhou Road. Guoqi just mentioned Nankong in Quzhou Road and suggested that I be prepared to deal with Nankong.

"But I am not very clear about the lineage of the Northern and Southern branches of the Kong family. Gentlemen, if anyone knows the details, please tell me."

Upon hearing this, Wang Guangyang immediately saluted and said, "I do know a thing or two, and I would like to explain it to you, my lord."

"Sir, please speak."

Wang Guangyang then said, "The Kong family originally had only one lineage, and their ancestral home was in Qubu, Lu. The earliest worship of Confucius can be traced back to Duke Ai of Lu during the Spring and Autumn Period. At that time..."

"Stop, I know who Confucius is. I just want to know how the Southern School and the Northern School separated, and their subsequent inheritance." Lu Jin interrupted immediately.

“Yes.” Wang Guangyang then began to talk about the Kong family’s migration to the south during the Song Dynasty.

The specific situation is similar to what Lu Jin knows, but it is even more complicated.

After the Jingkang Incident, the Northern Song Dynasty fell and Zhao Gou fled south. He urgently issued an edict ordering the 48th Duke of Yansheng, Kong Duanyou, to go south with ancestral tablets, wooden statues symbolizing orthodoxy, and some members of the Kong family. The Southern Song court then built a new ancestral temple for Kong Duanyou in Quzhou, allowing him to settle down in Quzhou and still be named Duke of Yansheng.

But the Jin Dynasty was not idle either. In order to compete with the Southern Song Dynasty for legitimacy, they found Kong Duancao, the second son of the Kong family who was also the 48th generation and the younger brother of Kong Duanyou, and made him the Yansheng Duke of the Jin Dynasty, and kept him in Qubu.

Since then, the Kong family was divided into the north and the south. The two brothers, Kong Duanyou and Kong Duancao, were respectively the Duke of Yansheng of the Northern Dynasty and the Southern Dynasty, and each of them passed down the throne for several generations.

The inheritance of Southern Kong is relatively clear. The ancestor of Southern Kong, Kong Duanyou, is undoubtedly the legitimate eldest son, while Kong Duancao of the North is only the second son.

After that, the Southern Kong lineage was passed down for five generations from Kong Duanyou onwards. When it came to the 53rd generation Kong Zhu, the Southern Song Dynasty was destroyed by the Yuan Dynasty. At that time, Kublai Khan summoned Kong Zhu to Dadu, wanting him to inherit the title of Yansheng Duke, but Kong Zhu refused to obey the order, saying that his ancestral tomb was in Quzhou and he had to stay in Quzhou to observe mourning. He could give the title to the Northern Sect and told them not to look for our family in the future.

Kublai Khan did not make things difficult for him and let him go back, then appointed Beizong as Duke Yansheng. Nanzong lost his title from then on and became an ordinary country gentleman, only lecturing in Quzhou and mixing with scholars. He also had a reputation for "giving up his title to observe filial piety".

Moreover, Nan Kong's family tradition was relatively good. He established private schools in Quzhou and preached Confucianism in a popular way, focusing on practicality. This laid the foundation for the later spread of Zhu Xi's Neo-Confucianism and Wang Yangming's School of Mind in the south.

After hearing this, Lu Jin asked again, "So Nan Kong is the direct descendant of Confucius?"

Wang Guangyang thought for a moment and said, "That's not the case, because Kong Zhu, the one who 'gave up his title to observe mourning' in Nan Kong, died without any heirs, so the line was passed on to a branch of the family. Now the current head of Nan Kong, Kong Xilu, is a branch of Kong Zhu. To be precise, the direct descendant of Confucius has died out."

Lu Jin's eyes suddenly lit up when he heard that. It would be great if there was no heir. It would be even better if there were no descendants and even the side branches died out completely!

So he asked again, "What about the Northern Sect? Didn't the Jin Dynasty establish a Yansheng Duke? Logically, the Northern Sect should have had a Yansheng Duke, so why did Kublai Khan establish another one, Kong Zhu?

"Also, I heard folklore that the Northern Sect's bloodline is not genuine. What does this mean?"

Wang Guangyang explained again.

“This matter is still related to the fall of the Jin Dynasty. As I said just now, when the Jin Dynasty and the Southern Song Dynasty coexisted, a Yansheng Duke was appointed in each of the north and south, which means that there were already two Yansheng Dukes at that time.

"When the Jin Dynasty was destroyed by the Yuan Dynasty, the Northern Sect established by the Jin Dynasty had been passed down to the 51st generation, Kong Yuancuo. At that time, Kong Yuancuo was captured by the Mongols and taken to Bianjing. Later, because Kong Yuancuo was detained in Bianjing for a long time, there was no one to worship at the Confucius Temple in Qubu. Gradually, the worship was replaced by his cousin Kong Yuanyong.

"Later, in order to control Shandong, the Mongols conferred the title of Duke of Yansheng on Kong Yuanyong, who was serving as the acting priest. Thus, there were three Dukes of Yansheng, Kong Yuanyong conferred by the Mongols, Kong Yuancuo conferred by the Jin Dynasty, and Kong Wanchun conferred by the Southern Song Dynasty, all coexisting in the world."

"My goodness, this is quite confusing. What happens next? It is impossible for the Northern Sect to keep two Yansheng Dukes forever, right?" Lu Jin immediately complained.

Wang Guangyang nodded, "Indeed, he didn't stay for long. Kong Yuanyong, who was appointed by the Mongols, died in battle soon afterwards, so the title of Northern Clan was passed to his son Kong Zhiquan. However, Kong Yuanyong's lineage was only a side branch after all, and appointing him as the Duke of Yansheng was not enough to resist the public's criticism. So after the Mongols took full control of Shandong, they appointed Kong Yuancuo as the Duke of Yansheng again, and the Kong Yuanyong lineage was directly abolished."

Lu Jin was even more puzzled when he heard this, "So the Northern Sect is not broken, isn't it? It has returned to Kong Yuancuo's branch from the side branch. How can you say that the inheritance is broken?"

Wang Guangyang explained again, "That's because Kong Yuancuo himself died without an heir, so he passed the title to his cousin Kong Zhen. But Kong Zhen's mother had remarried before and had no children. When she came back, she brought a child and said it was Kong's son. Therefore, the people of the Northern Kong Clan suspected that Kong Zhen was not of Kong blood."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin immediately sneered. The Northern Branch of the Kong family was indeed worthy of its reputation. For the sake of power, they would kneel down and lick the invaders without any scruples. Of course, when they were fighting for the title of Duke Yansheng among themselves, they would use any means necessary. It was likely that the rumor that Kong Zhen was a bastard was spread by the Northern Kong family themselves.

Wang Guangyang continued, "Later, because Kong Zhen's bloodline could not convince the people, the title of Duke Yansheng was directly abolished by Emperor Xianzong of Yuan at that time, causing the title of the Northern Clan to remain vacant for decades. This is the origin of what the Lord said, that the Northern Kong lineage was cut off from inheritance."

Upon hearing this, Lu Jin frowned and said, "Wait a minute, who is Emperor Xianzong of Yuan? Why haven't I heard of an Emperor Xianzong before?"

Although Lu Jin was not a major student of history, he had some impression of the temple names of several emperors of the Yuan Dynasty. However, the word "Xianzong" was very unfamiliar to him, and he could not think of where Xianzong came from no matter how hard he racked his brains.

Qin Conglong at the side interrupted and said, "Emperor Xianzong of the Yuan Dynasty was Mongke Khan. After Kublai Khan established the Yuan Dynasty, he posthumously conferred titles on three generations of emperors. Genghis Khan, who founded the Mongol Empire, was posthumously named Emperor Taizu of the Yuan Dynasty. Emperor Taizu's fourth son, Tolui, was posthumously named Emperor Ruizong of the Yuan Dynasty. Emperor Ruizong's eldest son, Mongke, was posthumously named Emperor Xianzong of the Yuan Dynasty. Then there was Kublai Khan, the founder of the Yuan Dynasty. They are the ones worshipped in the Imperial Ancestral Temple in Dadu today."

Lu Jin suddenly realized, "So it was Mongke who was posthumously conferred the title. I was wondering where the Xianzong came from."

When later generations talked about the history of the Yuan Dynasty, most of them started from the establishment of the Yuan Dynasty by Kublai Khan. After all, before that it was only the Mongolian Empire. Lu Jin was not really clear about the temple names of several emperors posthumously conferred by Kublai Khan.

After figuring out the relationship, Lu Jin continued to ask, "Chaozong continued to talk about the Northern Branch of the Kong family. How did the title continue after it was abolished by Mengge for decades?"

Wang Guangyang said immediately, "Mongke never inherited the title of the Northern Clan until his death. The Northern Clan's title was inherited after Emperor Taizu established the Yuan Dynasty. It was precisely because the title of Duke Yansheng of the Northern Clan was vacant at that time that Emperor Taizu wanted Kong Zhu of the Southern Clan to return to the Northern Clan to inherit the title. However, Kong Zhu refused to obey the order and gave up the title to the Northern Clan. Emperor Taizu had no choice but to appoint Kong Zhi, the 53rd generation of the Northern Clan, as Duke Yansheng.

"In addition to the rumors about the Northern Clan's tainted bloodline, in addition to the decades of vacancies in the middle, there was also a rumor during the reign of Emperor Renzong of the Yuan Dynasty that the Yuan court dismissed Kong Sicheng, a descendant of Kong Zhi, from his title and replaced him with Kong Sihui as Duke of Yansheng. However, the origins of Kong Sihui's father, Kong Huan, were unknown, so there was a rumor among the people that in order to control the Northern Clan, the Yuan captives gave birth to a Mongolian child to inherit the title of Duke of Yansheng.
"But it's hard to tell whether this is true or not. After all, it happened a long time ago. The current Duke of the Northern Sect of the Kong family is Kong Kejian, who is said to be the 55th generation descendant."

After listening to this, Lu Jin finally understood the origin and inheritance of the Southern and Northern schools, and so he concluded.

"That is to say, regardless of whether the Northern Sect member is a bastard of the Tartars or not, the direct line of the Northern Sect, Kong Yuancuo, has already died out, and the title has long been in the hands of a branch that came from nowhere, is that right?"

"That's true." Wang Guangyang nodded immediately.

"Then the direct line of the Nan Clan has been extinct since Kong Zhu's generation. Now the Nan Clan not only has no title, but even the position of the head of the family has been passed on to a side branch. Is that right or not?"

"That's right." Wang Guangyang nodded again.

Lu Jin laughed when he heard this. Both the northern and southern clans have no descendants. How can you still have the nerve to inherit the title?
(End of this chapter)