I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 579 The Confucius Family in Qufu
The middle-aged scholar from the Kong family in Qufu, Shandong, was named Kong Wendian. He was of the same generation as the current Duke Yansheng, Kong Wenshao. However, he was a distant branch of the Kong family and one of the Kong family's stewards. For such confidential matters, the Kong family naturally sent their own family members.
Kong Wendian heard what Gu Zhongfu said, and after a moment's hesitation, he said, "Mr. Gu is right. That treacherous king has committed atrocities, persecuted loyal people, despised Confucianism, and insulted the saints! Without Confucianism, the moral principles would collapse, ethics would be confused, how could society be orderly, how could the country be peaceful? If he governs the country like this, how could that treacherous king last long?"

"Mr. Kong is absolutely right!" Gu Zhongfu and Hong Wendi nodded repeatedly after hearing Kong Wendian's words.

"Let's drink this cup to celebrate your words!" said Hong Wendi, picking up the glass.

The atmosphere suddenly became heated. After Kong Wendian drank a few rounds of wine, his face became more flushed and he looked more drunk.
He sighed and said, "You two may have heard this before. If we were to ask which family in the world was most severely harmed by the treacherous king, it would definitely be my Kong family!"

Then he began to talk about the Kong family's experiences in the past few years.
Kong Wendian was right. The Kong family was indeed the family that was hit hardest by Zhu Houxuan's policies in recent years, because Zhu Houxuan used the Kong family as an example while implementing his series of policies.

There was no other way. The Kong family was in Qufu, Shandong. Shandong was one of the core areas ruled by Zhu Houxuan. The Royal Group was also very powerful. The Kong family was the largest landlord in Shandong, so it was natural for them to confront each other.
In Zhu Houxuan's view, the Kong family, as the second largest family in the world, the descendants of the sage, and the cultural heritage of the world, is a typical example that must be conquered. If this example is not taken down, how can he implement his policies throughout the world?

In the eyes of the Kong family, the Kong family is the number one family in the world (they privately believe that the Kong family has always looked down on the royal Zhu family, thinking that Zhu Yuanzhang was of too poor a background to be compared with their thousand-year-old inheritance, so they ranked the royal Zhu family second, and the Zhang family of the Longhu Mountain Tianshi Dao was third). They are the descendants of saints and are the most special, so they are fearless and do not take Zhu Houchun's policies seriously at all, and oppose Zhu Houchun openly and secretly.

This made Zhu Houxuan very angry. How many teachers do you have in the Kong family? How dare you go against me like this?
So he used various means to deal with the Kong family.
Confucius is a sage worthy of respect, but his descendants are not so ambitious. The family, which has been passed down for two thousand years, has a lot of shady things going on, including bullying the people around them and doing many illegal things. However, the local officials in Qufu suppressed them for the sake of the Kong family's face (the magistrate of Qufu has always been a member of the Kong family), which made the Kong family even more rampant.

Zhu Houxuan immediately removed the Kong family's protective umbrella, exposing the Kong family's dirty deeds to the public, shocking the world.
Fortunately, the contemporary Duke Yansheng, Kong Wenshao, was relatively sober and understood that the Kong family could not withstand a series of attacks from Zhu Houxuan. He simply slid down on his knees and apologized, and went to Beijing to apologize overnight.

Zhu Houxuan spared the Kong family because of their status in the hearts of scholars. However, the Kong family had to pay all the taxes they should pay (the Kong family had a certain amount of land that was exempt from tax, and the Kong family was always exempt from corvée, but these two points were abused). The crimes of the Kong family members that had been verified must also be dealt with impartially, but not publicized.
At this point, the Kong family escaped the disaster, but they also lost face in front of the people of the world, and the Kong family members hated Zhu Houxuan deeply in private.

However, the Kong family's submission also made it easier for Zhu Houxuan's new policies to be implemented. Those who wanted to resist the new policies had to think carefully about whether their power could match that of the Kong family. Since even the Kong family had submitted, they naturally had no chance of resistance.
"What a disgrace! What a disgrace! I'm not afraid to tell you that you will laugh at me. At that time, the treacherous king sent a man named Chen Hong to Qufu. Chen Hong had no achievements and could not even recite the Analects. He was also the son of a businessman. Such an uneducated and vulgar man, with his equally uneducated businessmen, actually killed the descendants of the saint in such a blatant way. It was really an insult to the saint!" Kong Wendian said with tears in his eyes. "To be honest, even when the Mongols occupied China, my Kong family had never suffered such humiliation. The treacherous king was worse than the Mongols!" Kong Wendian said fiercely.

Kong Wendian's words made Gu Zhongfu and Hong Wending sigh repeatedly.
Gu Zhongfu sighed and said, "The greatest crime of that treacherous king is to disrespect Confucianism! I used to live in seclusion in the mountains and forests, with the breeze as my companion and the bright moon as my friend. I was free and at ease, listening to the sound of pine trees and watching the clouds roll by, forgetting the world and not being disturbed by the secular world. But after hearing what the treacherous king did, I left the mountains immediately."

"Looking at what the treacherous king has done in the past twenty years, it's fine that he is obsessed with the ways of business and industry, but he actually wants to govern the country with the ways of business and industry. This is simply unheard of and shocking. How can Confucian scholars all over the world tolerate this?" Gu Zhongfu's face showed some anger.

"Yes! Confucius is the most holy man. His virtue matches heaven and earth, and his teachings are ancient and modern. The essence of Confucianism is a good strategy for self-cultivation, family harmony, governance, and world peace. Benevolence is the foundation, righteousness is the practice, propriety is the norm, wisdom is the judgment, and trustworthiness is the foundation. This is the principle of how to behave in the world, and it is also the way to govern the country and maintain peace. Without these concepts, how can we regulate people's hearts, how can we keep the country stable, and how can we make the people live and work in peace?"

"However, the treacherous king now despises Confucianism, which means he has forgotten his roots and has lost his morals. The rise of our dynasty is due to the influence of Confucianism, and the prosperity of the country is due to the guidance of Confucianism. The holy kings of the past respected Confucianism and Taoism, so that the four seas and the world could be convinced. That treacherous king is destroying the foundation of our Ming Dynasty! It is for this reason that my brother Gu and I resolutely came out to plan this Jingnan Campaign," Hong Wendi also said.

Kong Wendian nodded repeatedly after hearing what Hong Wending said, as if intoxicated. He raised his glass and said, "You two gentlemen, you are right! Let me toast you two."

The three of them raised their glasses and drank, and the atmosphere became even more lively.
It is not quite accurate for the three of them to say that Zhu Houxuan disrespected Confucianism. Zhu Houxuan was just not close to Confucianism. On the surface, he respected the Great Sage and Confucianism, and never did anything to disrespect Confucianism on any occasion.

In fact, Zhu Houzhao also had the same attitude towards Confucianism, not close to it but respectful. But why did nothing go wrong with Zhu Houzhao, but problems arose with Zhu Houchun, making the gentry think that Zhu Houchun was "disrespecting" Confucianism?

The reason is very simple. Zhu Houzhao was not close to Confucianism, but he still had to use Confucianists because he only had Confucianists to use.
(End of this chapter)