Ming Dynasty: I risked my life to teach the prince, the emperor begged me not to die

Chapter 339 Three Questions and One Impeachment

On August 17, Hong Zhong returned from Chaohechuan. On the day he arrived in the capital, Emperor Hongzhi appointed him as the Censor-in-Chief of the Southeast and ordered him to take two assistant ministers of the Ministry of Revenue with him to inspect the southeast and Jiangnan without stopping.

Schools in Gyeonggi Province also began to spring up like mushrooms after a rain.

The achievements and profits made by the Zhou family in the college made many powerful people see the commercial value of the school.

Seeing that there were more and more schools teaching various skills, the two brothers Yanshenggong, who had just arrived in the capital, could no longer sit still.

At noon today, Duke Yansheng's elder brother Kong Hongxu invited the Minister of Rites Liu Xuzhong to his house.

Minister Liu bowed and asked about Duke Yansheng's health. After a few pleasantries, Kong Hongxu went straight to the point.

"Master Liu, if your Ministry of Rites does not regulate this, will the Ming Dynasty still have a future?"

"What was the purpose of studying before? To cultivate oneself, manage the family, govern the country and bring peace to the world!"

"now what?"

"All scholars are no longer obsessed with imperial examinations. After they learn to read and write, they no longer think about taking the imperial examinations to govern the country. Instead, they enroll in various art schools for the sake of petty profits, and learn unconventional things such as accounting, medicine, and architecture."

"They are no longer studying to serve the country, but for their own benefit. After they finish their studies, they can invest in business and earn considerable money."

"If such evil trends continue to grow in Ming Dynasty, will the country still have a future?"

"You are the Minister of Rites. Why don't you control this matter?"

Minister Liu had a hard time speaking out his grievances. His Ministry of Rites could not decide the thoughts of the scholars in the world. People studied for the purpose of imperial examinations or to make money. How could the Ministry of Rites decide that with just a word?

Kong Hongxu snorted, "Why not? If your Ministry of Rites takes action, shuts down all these schools, and then kills the instigators, who will be idle in the future?"

Minister Liu looked helpless. The instigator was the Zhou family. That was the Empress Dowager's younger brother. He was not stupid enough to kill anyone from the Zhou family.

"Master Kong...it's not that I don't want to, it's just that I can't do it!"

"The Ministry of Justice is the only one who can execute someone. I am the Minister of Rites and do not have the authority to do so."

How could Kong Hongxu not understand these polite words? It's not that you don't have the authority, it's that you are afraid of the Zhou family's power.

Kong Hongxu said, "But I heard that the person who first persuaded the Zhou family to open a school was a merchant and a lowly person. Since we can't kill the Zhou family, then we can kill the lowly person, right?"

Liu Xuzhong had long heard that Duke Yansheng's brother was fond of killing. After seeing and hearing this, he realized that the rumors were true. He would kill others at any time. What was the reason?

Minister Liu smiled bitterly and said, "Master Kong, this matter has no basis, and no one can kill innocent people indiscriminately. Please think twice before you act."

Kong Hongxu nodded and said to Minister Liu calmly, "Does your Ministry of Rites have jurisdiction over the newspapers in the capital?"

Minister Liu nodded: "This is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites."

Kong Hongxu said: "That's good. I may trouble you in the future. If your Ministry of Rites doesn't take action to stop this chaos, our Kong family can't do nothing!"

Minister Liu asked suspiciously, "What does Master Kong want to do?"

Kong Hongxu said: "I will trouble you again in the future, Lord Liu. I know my limits and will not embarrass you in the Ministry of Rites."

Minister Liu said awkwardly: "Master Kong, that's not right. I am also a disciple of Confucius."

"It's good for you to know."

……

Kong Hongxu sent someone to invite Chen Ce to his residence again, but Chen Ce still declined.

Chen Ce didn't want to have anything to do with Duke Yansheng. Kong Hongxu was furious when the Kong family invited Chen Ce three times in a row but Chen Ce refused three times.

So he ordered someone to send a manuscript to Shuntian Newspaper, and asked the Ministry of Rites to force Shuntian Newspaper to publish the article.

On August 18th, an article written by Kong Jia came out of nowhere and stirred up public opinion in the capital.

Wang Defa anxiously found Chen Ce with a newspaper, wiped the sweat off his head and said to Chen Ce: "Sir, something happened."

"This newspaper headline article...someone from the Ministry of Rites stepped in and forced us to add it this morning and publish it."

Chen Ce took the newspaper and looked at it carefully.

The title is "Three Questions and One Impeachment of Duke Yansheng".

Ask a reader what his purpose of reading is.

The second question is whether business is eroding the foundation of the country.

The third question is whether the imperial court should ban many schools of miscellaneous studies.

The businessman Chen Ce was impeached for giving advice to the Zhou family to open an accounting school. Is his mind pure? Is he a traitor to the country and is destroying the foundation of the country's scholars?

After three questions and one impeachment, he wrote a long and eloquent text, the most vicious of which was the last one.

Chen Ce was a merchant in the capital… In order to elevate the status of merchants, he persuaded his maternal relative Zhou to open a school to train talents for business, subvert Taizu’s foundation, and attempt to restore the social status of merchants. His intentions were so vicious and his thoughts were so sinister that they were unprecedented…

At the beginning, Zhu Yuanzhang established the class status of scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants, and severely suppressed the status of merchants in the court. The Kong family used the ancestral teachings of Taizu to publicly expose to the whole society the heinous crime of Chen Ce's violation of the ancestral teachings. Their methods were extremely vicious.

After reading the newspaper article, Chen Ce threw the newspaper aside and said to Wang Defa calmly: "It's okay, go to work."

Ah? You're still okay? The Kong family boss wants to kill you.

How dare you say so confidently that it's all right? This piece of public opinion will soon ferment, and by then, countless scholars will attack you. If the court can't withstand the pressure, you will definitely be arrested and punished.

The imperial court won’t touch the Zhou family, so why would it dare not touch you?

Yes, you have a lot of people supporting you, but facing such overwhelming public opinion, do those people still dare to support you?
Wang Defa reminded Chen Ce with cold sweat.

Chen Ce said calmly: "Go ahead, don't worry so much, it's okay."

Wang Defa: "..."

After he left, Zhu Houzhao, filled with righteous indignation, took Liu Jin to find Chen Ce and said, "Those bastards of the Kong family! How dare they write such an article?"

"Little brother, they openly want to kill you by name!"

"The Kong family is a respected family and has great influence in the Ming Dynasty. Even the imperial court dares not arrest them at will. What should we do about this matter?"

If anyone else dared to humiliate Chen Ce like this, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince would have sent someone to kill them long ago!
But he really didn't dare to do that to the people from the Kong family.

Chen Ce still shook his head calmly and said, "It won't cause any big waves. At most, someone in the court will read these articles. Not only will the scholars in the folks not follow the Kong family's public opinion to criticize me, they will even thank me."

Do you really think that every scholar's mind is so pure? What about serving the court, governing the country and the family, and pacifying the world? What a joke!
Studying can provide them with a living and bring them tangible economic benefits. This is the purpose of studying in the hearts of more people, the power of knowledge.

There is a golden house in books, which was just bullshit in the past. Do you really think that those scholars who failed the imperial examinations for decades believed this?

Now they believed it, why? Because Chen Ce gave them a way to survive, and let them see that there is a golden house in the book.

Therefore, this article is destined not to cause much waves among the people.

(End of this chapter)