There is no such thing as the Kangxi and Qianlong eras

Chapter 463 Killing Kong

Three days later.

Zhang Tigan, the magistrate of Qufu County, and Kong Qingrong, the Duke of Yansheng, each led a large group of officials and gentry who went out of the city for ten miles to welcome the emperor.

The Han emperor personally led the expedition, and since they were very close to Jiangbei, they had heard of it.

However, the fact that the Han emperor was now personally visiting Qufu County to pay homage at the Confucius Temple in Qufu still surprised them quite a bit.

After the initial surprise came overwhelming joy.

This is the new emperor himself visiting the Duke Yansheng's residence. Such an extremely courteous reception is a tacit demonstration that the new dynasty respects the Duke Yansheng's residence and these Confucian scholars.

His Majesty the new emperor is indeed a wise ruler. He doesn't truly value those common people. In the end, to govern this country well, we still need to rely on scholars like him.

The welcoming party led by Zhang Tigan and Kong Qingrong waited on the official road ten miles outside the city before dawn, and finally saw the emperor's carriage at noon.

Looking at the magnificent and majestic imperial carriage, surrounded by the well-disciplined Han Imperial Guards, Zhang Tigan, as the magistrate of Qufu County, was naturally a former official from the capital and had certainly seen Qianlong's imperial procession before, but he was still so frightened by the imposing presence that he knelt on the ground.

"This guilty subject, Zhang Tigan, magistrate of Qufu County, pays his respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the New Han Dynasty!"

"Duke Yansheng Kong Qingrong pays his respects to His Majesty the Emperor of the New Han Dynasty!"

Upon seeing Zhang Tigan kneel, the young Kong Qingrong quickly knelt down as well, bowing and introducing himself.

Nie Yu actually stepped down directly from the imperial carriage, and the female officials and guards hurriedly brought a chair so that the emperor could have a place to sit.

Nie Yu didn't sit down, but looked at Zhang Tigan and asked, "You're the magistrate of Qufu County? I remember the magistrate of Qufu County should have the surname Kong, right?"

Zhang Tigan said, "Your Majesty, since the twenty-first year of Qianlong's reign, Bai Zhongshan, the governor of Shandong, has petitioned to abolish the position of magistrate of the Kong family county. The magistrate of Qufu County will no longer be selected from within the Kong family, but will instead be appointed by the imperial court."

Nie Yu nodded: "I see. This Shandong governor, Bai Zhongshan, is not bad after all; he did a good thing!"

Zhang Tigan didn't speak, and neither did Kong Qingrong.

Because the two of them seemed to have discerned some hidden meaning in the emperor's words.

What does it mean that Bai Zhongshan, the governor of Shandong, did a good deed?

Is it a good thing that the imperial court has abolished the hereditary title of magistrate of Qufu County held by the Kong family?

Well! It is indeed a good thing. For the imperial court, the Kong family has inherited the title of Duke Yansheng and the title of Magistrate of Qufu County, which has almost turned Qufu County into the Kong family's Lion Camel Ridge.

This would be unacceptable to any emperor. Zhu Yuanzhang, the founding emperor of the Ming Dynasty, once ordered the removal of the magistrate of Qufu County from the lineage of the Duke Yansheng and replaced it with a hereditary position held by another branch of the Confucius family, which led to a long-standing conflict of interest between the magistrate of Qufu County and the Duke Yansheng.

It can be said that if the conditions had not been unfavorable at the time, with the north just recovered and the people's hearts unsettled, making it impossible to take action against the Kong family, Zhu Yuanzhang would have really wanted to take back the position of magistrate of Qufu County.

Zhang Tigan couldn't figure it out either. Was the emperor just using this as a warning to the Kong family, or did he really have some other intention towards the Duke of Yansheng's mansion?

The atmosphere remained awkward for a moment before Emperor Nie Yu spoke first, looking at Kong Qingrong with a gentle expression and saying, "I remember you just said your name is Kong Qingrong?"

When asked about himself, Kong Qingrong quickly replied, "Your subject... Your subject is Kong Qingrong!"

Nie Yu asked again, "Did you come alone today?"

Kong Qingrong replied, “Your Majesty, besides myself, there is also the head of my Duke’s family, the Kong clan, and the stewards of the Kong family (who manage the front hall of the Confucius Temple). If Your Majesty wishes to summon them, I will have them all come to pay their respects!”

In the second year of the Chongzhen reign of the Ming Dynasty, the emperor issued an edict to the Duke Yansheng, selecting one member of his relatives to serve as the head of the clan, thus establishing the clan head's position. At the same time, an official was appointed to oversee the management of the ancestral temples and forests.

In the eighth year of the reign of Emperor Yongzheng of the Qing Dynasty, forty more officials were added to the Confucius Temple, all of whom were selected from the close relatives of the Duke Yansheng.

However, the position of clan head of the Kong family existed as early as the Northern Song Dynasty. It was first established by Emperor Huizong of Song. In the first year of Hongwu, Emperor Zhu bestowed a rattan cane for managing the household, with the inscription "Imperial bestowed clan head of the Kong family" on the cane.

Apart from the Grand Master Yansheng, the clan head is generally the highest leader and manager of the family.

The selection of the clan leader was traditionally conducted by the Duke Yansheng himself, and the selection criteria were "respect for seniority and excellence in both age and virtue".

At a glance, Nie Yu spotted the Kong clan patriarch holding the imperial rattan cane.

Nie Yu laughed and said, "No need. Since everyone is here, there's no need for such trouble."

These words came out of nowhere, and Kong Qingrong hadn't yet grasped their meaning, but Zhang Tigan, who was standing next to him, suddenly realized something.

Before he could even grasp the gist of it, Nie Yu suddenly said, "Arrest them all!"

At his command, the 2000 Imperial Guards who accompanied him all rushed forward.

Before Kong Qingrong could react, two Han soldiers shoved him to the ground, knocking his hat off and revealing his still-uncut pigtail.

Haha, even the county magistrate Zhang Tigan cut off his queue, but this young Duke Yansheng, a "genuine" descendant of Confucius, is still keeping his queue.

It seems that the queue has become a symbol of orthodoxy in his mind, or perhaps he simply wants to hedge his bets and doesn't want to cut off his queue immediately and force himself onto the Han Dynasty's warship.

To be honest, they are indeed from the Kong family; even these practices are consistent with their lineage.

The same was true of Duke Yansheng Kong Yinzhi during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. When the Manchus demanded that the Duke Yansheng's family take the lead in keeping queues, the Duke Yansheng's family immediately responded. However, Duke Yansheng Kong Yinzhi alone did not do so, and even pretended to say that he was already old and did not want to leave a bad name.

The result, of course, was that the Qing court "forced" and then "forced" him to grow a queue, which was truly "regrettable"!

Kong Qingrong struggled, spitting out the pebbles and dirt from his mouth, and cried out in terror, "Your Majesty, you've been wronged! You've been wronged! I am the Duke Yansheng, a descendant of Confucius. Our Kong family truly wants to surrender to the Han Dynasty. Your Majesty's throne is still enshrined in the Confucius Temple in Qufu!"

However, it was completely useless. Those Han soldiers didn't care about the Duke Yansheng or anything like that; all they knew was that the emperor's decree was to confiscate the Duke Yansheng's mansion in Qufu.

Kong Guangbiao, the Duke of Yansheng of the Han Dynasty in Zhejiang, had already been informed by the Nanjing court and boarded an official ship to set off northward.

Nie Yu made a special trip to Qufu, not to visit the Confucius Temple, but to personally send the Confucius family of Qufu to the underworld. Let the scholars curse him; after all, what he's been doing so far—distributing land, reducing taxes, and freeing slaves—is what matters.

In the eyes of scholars, any one of these acts would be considered blatant tyranny, and their reputations would be irreparably ruined.

All 2000 Imperial Guards were mobilized, and the arrests lasted all day, almost wiping out the entire Duke Yansheng's mansion.

From the Duke Yansheng down to the clan head, elders, and gentry of the Kong clan, every single one of them was thrown into the county jail.

Within two days, the jail was overflowing with people.

Zhang Tigan, the magistrate of Qufu County, already understood what Nie Yu was up to, but he didn't dare utter a single word.

Nie Yu's plan to purge the Duke Yansheng's mansion is tantamount to "declaring war" on all scholars in the world. But scholars are generally spineless; they can kneel down, but they can't stand up straight.

If Nie Yu "declares war" on them, they might at most write an article expressing their anger, but if Nie Yu were to actually take action, they wouldn't even dare to express their anger.

Imperial power is so useful. As long as you can sit firmly on the dragon throne, you can really do whatever you want. The so-called scholar-officials are nothing but farts in the face of absolute imperial power!

Being able to be influenced by the scholar-officials basically only existed during the decline of a dynasty, or during a broken dynasty like the Jin Dynasty.

Nie Yu didn't have that much time to slowly arrest and interrogate people, so he directly arrested everyone related to the Xing Sheng Duke's Mansion based on their family genealogy and bloodline.

Even so, it took two days to finish arresting them all.

After the arrest, a public trial was immediately held so that the people of Qufu County could judge and punish the suspects themselves.

Those found to have no major criminal record can save their lives. Those with a long history of misconduct will be executed without hesitation.

The public trial lasted for almost a week. There were simply too many members of the Kong family, from the direct relatives of the Duke of Yansheng's mansion to the servants and servants. In such a large Kong family, there were hardly any good people.

That's for sure. After hundreds of years of revelry, the dynasty fell but they didn't. With this continuous inheritance, even if there were truly good people, they would all be corrupted.

It should be said that many members of the Kong family were actually "good people." However, their ideology had become distorted. In their view, anyone who was a citizen of Qufu, or even someone who wasn't, should be born to be a slave to the Kong family.

The seven-day intensive public trial exhausted the officials of Qufu County, but what they found was truly shocking.

Even Zhang Tigan, the magistrate of Qufu County, never imagined that the seemingly respectable Duke Yansheng's mansion had harbored such outrageous corruption within.

After reviewing the materials, Nie Yu nearly lost his composure: "Are you sure this Duke Yansheng is only 15 years old this year?"

Zhang Tigan said, "He is indeed 15 years old, and he inherited the title eight years ago."

Nie Yu was silent for a moment, then shook his head: "Then it's not surprising, then it's not surprising!"

Zhang Tigan asked, "Your Majesty, how should we deal with the Duke Yansheng?"

Nie Yu said, "He is no longer the Duke Yansheng. My Duke Yansheng has just set off from Zhejiang and is on his way to Qufu. As for this villain who impersonated the Duke Yansheng and has murdered many people, let him be executed according to the law!"

After saying that, he paused, then looked at the list of other members of the Kong family on the table: "These criminals from the Kong family will all be punished according to the law. Those who commit serious crimes will be executed, while those who commit minor crimes will be demoted to laborers and sent to fight alongside the army."

With just a few simple sentences, the Northern Branch of the Qufu Clan was completely eradicated, and Duke Yansheng Kong Qingrong was stripped of his title and beheaded.

At least two-thirds of the remaining members of the Northern Clan and their servants must be killed, and the remaining third will be spared the death penalty but will not escape punishment.

On the day of the execution, almost the entire county's population came; they had all been oppressed by the Duke of Yansheng's mansion.

The Qing government only stripped the Kong family of their hereditary right to be the magistrate of Qufu County, but the Kong family had been rooted in Qufu County for more than 600 years and had long since turned Qufu County into their fiefdom.

Nine out of ten people in the county are surnamed Kong, not because they have any blood relation with the Kong family, but because they were forcibly changed their surname and became tenants of the Kong family.

The power of life and death rested entirely with the magistrate of Qufu County, who dared not interfere.

As the Duke of Yansheng, Kong Qingrong was the first to be dragged up and beheaded.

Kong Qingrong, who was only 15 years old this year, was in a daze until his death. He had only beaten and killed a few disobedient servants, so why was he being punished and executed?
Moreover, why do the people of Quhuang County hate the Kong family so much?

The Kong family has been so good to the people of Qufu County!
Even if they couldn't pay the land rent, they were allowed to sell their children, and the government officials rarely beat or killed their tenants.

These lowly lackeys and scoundrels, why don't they know how to be grateful?

Zhang Tigan was appointed by the emperor as the executioner, and the expression on his face was almost worse than crying.

If he were to execute the Duke Yansheng in this round, even if he was the former Duke Yansheng (the emperor had already abolished the Northern lineage title and replaced it with the Southern lineage title), his reputation among scholars would probably be completely ruined.

In the future, scholars across the land will certainly not dare to criticize the emperor, but they will definitely be able to verbally abuse him mercilessly.

However, on second thought, since he had taken such a big blame for the emperor, the emperor would certainly not kick him while he was down.

His sensitive status as a demoted official should not affect his promotion in the new dynasty. In fact, if the emperor wanted to express his determination to settle scores, he could at least rise rapidly in rank.

After a brief consideration, I realized I couldn't refuse either way, so I decided to do it!
Zhang Tigan glanced at the sun and the time, gritted his teeth, and threw down the execution warrant: "Execute!"

Upon receiving the order, the executioner spat a mouthful of strong liquor onto the executioner's blade, and then chopped down on Kong Qingrong's neck.

A fine head fell into the basket in front of him, and the headless corpse knelt on the ground, still spitting blood.

"it is good!"

The onlookers erupted in cheers.

With Kong Qingrong dead, the mountain that had weighed on their heads for hundreds of years collapsed as well.

(End of this chapter)