Ming Dynasty: My Father Zhang Juzheng

Chapter 180 Kong Family
Zhang Yunxiu looked at the poetry on the scroll with a gloomy face and his eyes flickering.

Han San, who was standing by, didn't know what was inside, but judging from Zhang Yunxiu's expression, this thing was probably not what the young master wanted.

He complained endlessly in his heart.

I should have opened it and taken a look to see which famous artist it was.

"Go, call Song Ming for me." After a few seconds of silence, Zhang Yunxiu closed the scroll and returned to the main seat.

Han San followed his promise and walked in with a man dressed as a pale scholar. Zhang Yunxiu took a glance and secretly clicked his tongue: I thought he was a great knight, but he turned out to be a pale scholar.

"Song Ming meets Zhang Sicheng." Song Ming was the first to bow with his fists clasped.

"Are you the timely rain from Shandong?" Zhang Yunxiu asked with a smile.

"I don't deserve the title of timely rain, but I am kind-hearted and can't bear to see people in trouble, so I was generous." Song Ming was very humble when he spoke, but there was a strong sense of arrogance in his bones.

"Not like."

"Not like anything?"

"You don't look like a chivalrous hero, but more like a failed scholar." Zhang Yunxiu teased with a smile.

Song Ming followed with a smile. He lowered his head and glanced at his own attire, then asked, "What does Zhang Sicheng think I should look like?"

"I thought a hero would be big and strong, with a dark face and a beard. If you were seen on the street dressed like this today, I wouldn't be able to recognize you."

Song Ming stroked his long beard lightly and laughed out loud.

Han San, who was standing by, saw that he was so arrogant and couldn't help but yelled, "What are you laughing at? If you have anything to say, please report it to the young master immediately, so that we don't have to make a second trip."

"No hurry." Zhang Yunxiu waved his hand to interrupt Han San, then grabbed the scroll on his left hand and raised it, asking Song Ming, "You came to see me, didn't you want to talk about the things in it?"

"Yes." Song Ming nodded in acknowledgement.

"Did you write this?" Zhang Yunxiu asked again.

"No."

Song Ming shook his head.

"Who wrote that?"

"People of the world."

The two pointed at the scroll and argued about what they wrote. Han San, who was standing by, had no idea what they were talking about and was scratching his head anxiously, not knowing what to say.

"People of the world?" Zhang Yunxiu murmured, his eyes suddenly flashing with coldness, and he sneered at Song Ming, "Sit down, I want to see who these people of the world are!"

Song Ming bowed, sat on his left, and then recounted an old story that happened four months ago.

The richest person in Shandong is the descendant of Confucius, Duke Yansheng, who lives in Qufu. In every dynasty, the descendants of Confucius have been treated with great favor, and have been granted the title of Duke, and have been supported by the court.

He also enjoys the admiration of scholars all over the world.

The lineage of Duke Yansheng has reached this generation, already the sixty-fourth, and his name is Kong Shangxian.

Ever since Confucius was listed as the "Great Sage and Teacher" and enshrined in the Confucian Temple, the Kong family has taken root in Qufu for more than a thousand years.

They not only owned a large number of tenants and a vast amount of land.

It is also possible to exempt land acquisition taxes.

As a result, many people living nearby chose to entrust their land to the Kong family and then pay the money to the family themselves.

With this method, the imperial court could not control it even if it wanted to.

Four months ago, Song Ming passed by Qufu and saw a group of hundreds of people kneeling crookedly at the gate of the county government office. They were all dressed in ordinary clothes, with tears in their eyes, kneeling and bowing to the county government office.

When the officers at the door saw this, they not only ignored him, but also picked up water and fire sticks to beat him.

Poor people, they were all unarmed farmers, how could they dare to fight against the officials? Soon, the people who came to ask for mercy were beaten and wailed, and fled away in panic.

Song Ming, who was watching from the side, was furious. He grabbed an old man covered in bruises and asked, "Old man, what is your grievance? Why did the government not only ignore you, but beat you up?"

The old man looked aggrieved and just told everything.

He was originally a farmer in Qufu, but because he was concerned about the heavy taxes imposed by the imperial court, he deposited his land with the Kong family. All along, he not only paid money to the Kong family, but also had to help them farm the land.

However, compared with the tax revenue from the imperial court, this grievance was nothing.

But recently the Kong family turned against them and insisted that their land belonged to them.

Three generations of his family worked hard to get a dozen acres of land, but someone took it away with just a word.

Who can agree to this?
So he invited farmers who had the same experience to come to the county government to ask for help.

It’s a pity that they still underestimated the shamelessness of the Kong family.

The magistrate of Qufu County was also a member of the Kong family. Not only did he not see their grievances, he also accused them of being treacherous and wanted to sentence them to exile.

After hearing this, Song Ming's cheeks flushed red, and his anger was as fierce as a cooked cow.

He gnashed his teeth and could not help cursing, "Thinking back to the time when Confucius traveled around the countries, he was as frightened as a dog that had lost its home. I never thought that his descendants, who have received so much grace from heaven, are still not satisfied and are even thinking of exploiting the people."

"Father, we'll take over your job!"

The old man looked grateful, but suddenly became worried and said, "Master, we can see that you are dressed very well. But no matter how powerful you are, can you be more powerful than the Kong family? Even the emperor has to give face to the Kong family."

"You don't have to worry about this. Since we said we would take care of it, we will do it!"

Seeing him like this, the old man knew that he had met a good person, so he cried and bowed. Song Ming hurriedly helped the old man up, gave him a few instructions, and then left angrily and rushed to the capital at night.

He knew very well that only the Prime Minister could take care of this matter.

Now that the Prime Minister is seriously ill, he has to settle for the next best thing and go find the Prime Minister's son.

After hearing this, Zhang Yunxiu's blood rushed to his head and his chest was filled with anger.

He stamped his feet and cursed, "What a Kong family! Is this the role model for scholars in the world? On the surface, they talk about benevolence and morality, but in fact, they are full of thieves and prostitutes!"

Han San was not as angry as Zhang Yunxiu.

Coming from a low-income family, he was no stranger to such things. There were so many injustices and unreasonable things in this world, so did he have to intervene when he saw them?
If this were true, he would be hated to death.

Han San lowered his head and pondered for a moment, then looked cautious and reminded: "Sir, I think there is something fishy about this matter."

"What's so strange?" Zhang Yunxiu asked coldly.

Han San was stung by Zhang Yunxiu's indifference, and could only bite the bullet and say: "These common people resisted the imperial law and secretly deposited their land in the name of others. Now they have such a disaster, so they can't blame others."

"You say they deserve it?" Zhang Yunxiu asked.

Han San lowered his head and said nothing.

Song Ming, who had been silent on the side, suddenly interrupted and said, "Zhang Sicheng, the annexation of land is only one of the crimes of the Kong family. The laws that his family has violated are too numerous to list, and some people have thought of suing him before."

“It’s a pity that nothing came of it.”

(End of this chapter)