Anti-Qing: Starting from the Jintian Uprising

Chapter 314 The Kong Family Kills the Kong Family
After Kong Xiankun sat down, Li Yi asked slowly.

"Do you know why I summoned you to Jining to see me?"

Kong Xiankun considered his words for a moment after hearing this, and then spoke.

"I think I know something."

"But please let your Majesty know!"

Li Yi nodded slightly, then began to speak.

"The main reason why I summoned your family to Jining is because Qufu Bei Kong has gone too far."

"The Qing dynasty was so heartless that it blew up the Yellow River, causing it to change its course. Tens of millions of people in Shandong, Henan, and Zhili suffered."

"I could not bear to see the people starve to death, so I personally led the army north to provide relief to the disaster area."

"In order to provide disaster relief, the money in the Tang Dynasty's treasury flowed out like water."

"People and gentry from all over the country also generously donated money and materials to the disaster area."

"It can be said that every bit of material used in the disaster area now is the result of the hard work of the people of the world."

"But even so, the Kong family still embezzled the disaster relief materials I allocated to Qufu, and even took advantage of this natural disaster to make a profit, forcing the victims into slavery and making a fortune from the national disaster!"

“It’s really outrageous!”

"But no matter how unbelievable the Confucius family is, they are still descendants of the Great Saint and Teacher."

"Therefore, I have summoned you to Jining, hoping that you can preside over the public trial and judgment of the Northern Sect of the Kong Clan."

"It will also let the world know that the descendants of the Great Sage and First Teacher are not only the greedy and cruel insects like the Northern Sect, but also the upright and wise Confucian scholars like your family who sacrifice their relatives for the greater good."

"This way, we can also protect the dignity of the Great Saint and Master."

"What do you think?"

If Li Yi wanted to kill Kong Fanhao, it was very simple. He just needed to give the order.

Any Tang army soldier could have killed Kong Fanhao.

However, Kong Fanhao was a descendant of Confucius after all, and he was fond of killing but not good at cleaning up the aftermath.

Therefore, Li Yi brought Kong Xiankun forward and prepared to let him make the murderous knife.

If Li Yi kills the descendants of Confucius, he will be blamed by people all over the world.

But if the descendants of Confucius kill the descendants of Confucius, then that would be the Kong family’s own business.

The Kong family couldn't stand Bei Kong's disgusting behavior, so they chose to kill their own relatives for the sake of justice. What does this have to do with you people in the world?
Who could raise any objection?
What are you entitled to object to?
When Kong Xiankun heard this, his heart skipped a beat.

He understood what Li Yi meant.

Do you want the title of Yanshenggong?
If you want, go and deal with the Northern Branch of the Kong Family for me.

If you get the job done, the title of Duke Yansheng will be yours.

If we don’t do well, perhaps one more person with the surname Kong will have to be punished!

After thinking this through, Kong Xiankun immediately bowed down in front of Li Yi.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I understand!"

"I will now go to Qufu, sacrifice my relatives for the greater good, and give an explanation to the people of the world and to His Majesty!"

Li Yi nodded slightly and said with a smile.

"Well, thank you for making this trip for me."

Kong Xiankun said again.

"It is our duty as subjects to share His Majesty's worries!"

Whether for the title of Duke Yansheng or for self-protection, Kong Xiankun had no great resistance to killing Kong Fanhao.

The reason is very simple, because in terms of bloodline, their Southern School is the orthodox Confucius school!
When the Jingkang Incident broke out, Emperor Gaozong went south. The eldest grandson of the eldest branch of the Kong family in Qufu chose to follow Wanyan Gou to the south of the Yangtze River to continue the Kong family temple.

Those who stayed behind were the branches of the Kong family, who were asked to look after the Confucius Mausoleum and the Confucius Temple.

But who would have thought that after the Song Dynasty, the Northern School, a bastard branch, would become the orthodox one, while their Southern School would become a vassal instead! !

This is simply unreasonable!
Now, an opportunity to help their Southern School regain its orthodox status was before them, and Kong Xiankun could not refuse it no matter what.

……

Guizhou, Xingyi Prefecture!

In late autumn, the climate in Guizhou begins to turn cooler.

The several large trees in the government office have become bare, with all the leaves having fallen off.

Zhang Xi, the prefect of Xingyi Prefecture and the governor of Guixi Road, was drinking tea and flipping through a newspaper in his hand.

This line of bold and black words appeared at the very beginning of the cover of the newspaper.

【Datang Daily】

[Extra, Extra, the king leads his troops to the disaster-stricken areas on the front line to inspect and guide the disaster relief work...]

[The Tang army advances to Dagukou, Tianjin changes hands, the Qing demons are terrified...]

It was obvious that he was reading a newspaper from the Tang Dynasty.

Zhang Xi flipped through the newspaper with a complicated expression.

Although he was unwilling to admit it, the collapse of the Qing Dynasty was almost a foregone conclusion.

All these local officials can do now is not to surrender to the enemy, that's all.

Closing the newspaper in his hand, Zhang Xi looked at a letter of surrender on the table.

This is a letter of surrender from the Tang Dynasty.

The person who wrote the letter was named Gao Xiang, an old friend of his. They were once in the same class.

Gao Xiang used to be an official in Hunan, but after the Tang Dynasty invaded Hunan, he chose to surrender.

Today, he has been promoted to the position of Deputy Director of the Ministry of the Interior, which is considered a high and powerful position.

Looking through the letter of surrender in his hand, Zhang Xi's face was full of confusion.

He was actually considering surrendering to the Tang Dynasty, but he just couldn't make up his mind.

Just as Zhang Xi was struggling, his son Zhang Zhidong walked in from outside.

"Son greets father!" When Zhang Xi saw that it was his son coming, he put down the letter in his hand and looked up and said.

"Get up!"

"Why did Xiaoda think of coming to your father's place today? What's the matter?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhidong did not beat around the bush with his father and spoke directly.

"Father, I heard that Uncle Gao sent you a letter. Is this true?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Xi was stunned at first, then nodded and said.

“This is indeed true.”

"Brother Gao sent me a letter of persuasion, trying to persuade me to surrender to the Tang Kingdom."

"I am a little undecided now, Xiaoda, what do you think?"

Zhang Xi had originally planned to summon his son, who was known for his intelligence, to ask for advice. Now that Zhang Zhidong himself had come, it was just the right time.

This saves him from sending someone else on a special trip!
Zhang Zhidong heard this and spoke.

"In reply to father's words, I think surrendering to the Tang Dynasty may be the best choice for us now."

"Did Dad read today's newspaper?"

Zhang Xi nodded, picked up the Tang Daily at hand and showed it to Zhang Zhidong, indicating that he had already read it.

Seeing this, Zhang Zhidong continued.

"The Qing government blew up the Yellow River levee and used water to drive away the troops, which already lost the support of the people. Now, even Tianjin has been occupied by the Tang army. Its destruction may only take a moment."

"And now the general trend of the world is mainly divided into three parts."

"The first is the Tang Dynasty in the south, the second is the Taiping rebels in Guanzhong and Henan, and the third is the Qing Dynasty which is about to fall."

"Among the three, the Manchus were on the verge of collapse and blew up the Yellow River, causing the collapse of their legitimacy; while the Taiping rebels believed in Western cults, combined politics and religion to govern the country, and treated the gentry poorly, which was unpopular and ultimately not the right path."

"Only the king of the Tang Dynasty treated the wise and the virtuous with respect, opened up the imperial examination system, attached importance to education, lived a simple life, was kind, and was victorious in all the wars he fought. He can be said to be a model of a wise and holy ruler."

"If my son's prediction is correct, there is a high probability that the world will belong to the Tang Dynasty."

"If we surrender now, we may be rewarded with the merit of following the dragon."

"Otherwise, once the Tang Dynasty sends troops to Guizhou, Guizhou alone will be unable to resist the Tang army."

"By then, I'm afraid we will become prisoners..."

Listening to his son's analysis, Zhang Xi's expression was moved.

Taking a deep breath, Zhang Yan finally made a decision.

"What my son said makes sense."

"I will write back to Brother Gao and ask him to help us make connections in the Tang Dynasty so that we can join the alliance..."

Upon hearing this, Zhang Zhidong bowed immediately.

"Father is wise!"

……

Japan, Edo!
Liang Geng, Tang Dynasty's ambassador to Japan and one of the two deputy directors of the Department of Foreign Affairs, is meeting with Abe Masahiro, one of the current elders of the Tokugawa shogunate, in the embassy.

After arriving in Japan, Liang Geng immediately contacted the Tokugawa shogunate.

They demanded that the Tokugawa shogunate open its market to the Tang Dynasty, and that the Tang Dynasty receive the same treatment as the Eight-Nation Alliance.

After some consideration, the shogunate agreed to all of the Tang Dynasty's conditions.

The reason why I agreed so readily is very simple.

The Tokugawa Shogunate bullies the weak and fears the strong!

The shogunate knew that the reason the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded Japan was that they were beaten by the Tang Dynasty and then came to Japan to seek compensation.

The shogunate couldn’t even defeat the Eight-Nation Alliance which had been defeated by the Tang Dynasty once, so how could it be a match for the Tang Dynasty?

Therefore, in order to avoid further disputes with the Tang Dynasty that would affect the rule of the shogunate.

The shogunate readily agreed to the Tang Dynasty's requests for the shogunate to open up trade, divide concessions, establish embassies, and exercise extraterritoriality, among other conditions.

The only condition proposed by the shogunate was that it wanted to send more envoys to the Tang Dynasty to learn about military, culture, commerce, industry and other aspects from the Tang Dynasty in order to enrich the country and strengthen the military.

Moreover, he also wanted to purchase arms from the Tang Dynasty, hire instructors, and train a new shogunate army.

What the two sides are arguing about now is precisely the relevant content in this regard.

On the tatami was a fine sandalwood table, on which were placed several exquisite teacups and tea sets.

Next to the wooden table was a stove with a teapot on it, still bubbling with steam.

Several beautiful maids in kimonos were making tea and serving.

After the tea was brewed, Masahiro Abe served the tea with both hands and spoke in Chinese with a slight accent.

"Mr. Liang, please have some tea!"

"This is the finest tea in Japan, and even the Emperor only has a certain quota of it every year."

“I hope you enjoy it!”

Although he was both the daimyo of Fukuyama Domain in Bingo and one of the elder councilors of the shogunate, he could not muster any arrogance in front of Liang Geng, the envoy from the Tang Dynasty, and he behaved very humblely from beginning to end.

The Japanese as a nation are very abstract.

When facing the weak, they will display all kinds of cruelty and viciousness, which is three times worse than that of a wolf.

But in front of a strong person, they are more docile than a dog and allow the strong person to do whatever they want.

Moreover, he always has a restless heart that is rebellious to the Lord and wants to overthrow his superiors.

Liang Geng took the teacup, took a sip carefully, and showed enjoyment on his face.

“Good tea!”

"This tea tastes clear and transparent, with a delicate fragrance. It tastes light at first, then sweet, and has a long-lasting fragrance that is very memorable."

“Great tea indeed!!”

(End of this chapter)