jdhmnovel Chapter 1062 What was his purpose in writing these ridiculous articles?
Chapter 1062 What was his purpose in writing these ridiculous articles?
When Wu Ju arrived at a village in Xinghua County, he saw an official dressed in the robes of a fourth-rank official, who was talking about the dark history of the Duke Yansheng's mansion.
"Back when the Hu Yuan dynasty invaded the south, the Duke Yansheng's mansion even bestowed upon Kublai Khan the honorific title of 'Grand Master of Confucianism'."
"Therefore, even the Duke Yansheng's mansion, which is known as the orthodox school of Confucianism in the world, is not immune to having a few scoundrels who have committed many crimes such as seizing farmland, extorting money from the people, and extracting confessions through torture."
"Fortunately, an imperial censor was dispatched to investigate and find their mistakes, and arrested and punished them."
Giving the onlookers some time to think, the fourth-rank official on stage continued, "What if there were no imperial censors sent by the court?"
"Or rather, in this case of Guo Huai, if Zhang Liuliu and others hadn't dared to tie up Guo Huai and take him to the capital to file a complaint, would the people of Xinghua County have continued to endure the exploitation by Guo Huai and his scoundrels?"
"I am here on His Highness the Crown Prince's orders to say to the people of Xinghua County: Do not be afraid of those corrupt officials. The more afraid you are, the more unscrupulous they will become."
"If you encounter corrupt officials, you should do what Zhang Liuliu did: tie them up and send them to the capital to file a complaint with the emperor."
"His Majesty also said that anyone who dares to do what Xu Er and others did, sending people to intercept and kill commoners who come to the capital to file complaints, will have their entire family killed."
"..."
Hearing what the official said, Wu Ju found it very interesting.
They dare to bring up the dark history of the Duke of Yansheng's mansion, and even claim to be acting on the orders of His Highness the Crown Prince.
This must be an official from the Court of Imperial Sacrifices?
Looking down at the two men in the audience, dressed in the robes of third-rank officials, their faces as gloomy as dog excrement, they must be the heads of the northern and southern branches of the Kong family.
As Wu Ju pondered, he approached Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu, cupped his hands in greeting, and said, "This humble official, Wu Ju, is honored by His Majesty's grace to serve as the Prefect of Yangzhou. May I ask if you two superiors are Vice Minister Kong (Left and Right)?"
Kong Xixue didn't take Wu Ju too seriously, and just gave a perfunctory "hmm".
Although they haven't officially earned the title of Duke Yansheng, Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu still hold the honorary positions of Left Vice Minister and Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites, respectively, "receiving salaries but not performing duties."
Simply put, it means taking money without doing any work.
Emperor Zhu did not assign them to manage the affairs of the Ministry of Rites, but instead allowed them to focus on compiling books.
This arrangement meant that the brothers Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu were unlikely to achieve any merit, but were very likely to be blamed for something else.
Of course, even though the positions of Left Vice Minister and Right Vice Minister of the Ministry of Rites were nominal, they were still official ranks of the third grade, which was two grades higher than the fourth grade prefect of Yangzhou.
Kong Xilu frowned slightly and tentatively asked, "Where is Prefect Wu from? And in which year did he become a Jinshi (a successful candidate in the highest imperial examinations)?"
Wu Ju cupped his hands and replied, "Reporting to Vice Minister Kong, I am from Ningyang County, Zhili Province. I passed the imperial examination in the fourth year of the Hongwu reign and was appointed as the magistrate of Huailai County."
Kong Xilu's lips twitched, and he immediately returned the greeting with a cupped hand, "So it's Prefect Wu in person."
Kong Xixue also snapped out of his daze, smiled and cupped his hands in greeting to Wu Ju, "I have long admired Prefect Wu's name. How fortunate I am to meet you today! I was just lost in thought, please forgive me, Prefect Wu."
There is an unspoken secret in officialdom—in the minds of those in power, those who passed the imperial examination in the seventh year of the Hongwu reign are not as good as those who passed the examination in the sixth year of the Hongwu reign, and those who passed the examination in the fifth year of the Hongwu reign are not as good as those who passed the examination in the fourth year of the Hongwu reign.
Among the Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) over the years, those from other places could not compare with those from Ningyang County and Fengyang County.
If one were to compare the Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) from Ningyang and Fengyang counties, the Jinshi from Ningyang, especially those from the fourth year of the Hongwu reign, would probably rank higher in the eyes of Emperor Zhu than those from Fengyang.
Because the batch of Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) from Ningyang County in the fourth year of the Hongwu reign were truly monstrous—some dared to lead the yamen (government office) to the prefecture to snatch people, some dared to submit memorials to Yang Dianfeng (a local tyrant) to compete for the title of Fangwu (local specialties), and some even dared to lead eight hundred Mongolian herdsmen to the grasslands to fight the Mongol Yuan dynasty to the death.
The key point is that they actually won the battle against Yang the Madman for the title of Fangwu.
The one who led eight hundred Mongolian herdsmen to the grasslands to fight Hu Yuan to the death has now transformed into the legitimate Krupp.
And those commoners who led their constables to the government office to fight for relocation—in the case of officials in Jiangnan, such crimes would probably be capital offenses. Even if they were lucky enough to escape punishment, they would at least end up working in shackles.
These officials from Ningyang County were fine; they were only scolded by Emperor Zhu for being "audacious," "a good-for-nothing," "so old and still so ignorant," and "acting like children." They were only fined three months' salary and that was the end of it.
As for this man named Wu Ju in front of us...
He had done things like leading yamen runners to the mansion to snatch people.
He also tried to steal the title of Fangwu from Yang Dianfeng.
He also secretly recruited laborers from Korea.
He was also involved in leading the Mongols under his rule to the grasslands to fight Hu Yuan to the death.
Unfortunately, Huailai is not as convenient for crossing the border as Qian'an County was back then.
Wu Ju had just led the Mongols out of the pass when Xu Da sent men to intercept them and bring them back.
Otherwise, it would be hard to say whether the title of Krupp would belong to Li Mingchen or Wu Ju.
Of course, these are not the key issues.
The real problem is that Wu Ju, Li Mingchen, and other Jinshi (successful candidates in the highest imperial examinations) from Ningyang County in the fourth year of the Hongwu reign were all taught by Yang Dianfeng and were also the Crown Prince's favorites.
Regardless of whether they are county magistrates of the seventh rank or prefects of the fourth rank, they should not be treated as ordinary county magistrates or prefects.
Kong Xilu forced a smile and said to Wu Ju, "Prefect Wu, when you came to Xinghua, did you pay your respects to His Highness the Crown Prince and His Highness the Imperial Son-in-Law?"
Wu Ju's mind raced, and he smiled and said, "To be honest, Minister Kong, I have already paid my respects to His Highness the Crown Prince and the Master, but I accidentally said a few wrong things and was scolded quite a bit by the Master."
Before Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu could ask, Wu Ju said to himself, "I have recruited a few craftsmen from Ningyang County and am going to steal some local products from Yangzhou Prefecture. I am also going to ask His Highness the Crown Prince and the Grand Master for 100,000 laborers."
Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu were completely dumbfounded.
They abducted craftsmen from Ningyang County.
To snatch the title of Fangwu from Yang Dianfeng's hands.
We need to ask His Highness the Crown Prince and Yang the Madman for another 100,000 laborers.
Any one of these three things, taken out individually, would be terrifying enough.
The Yangzhou prefect named Wu Ju in front of us actually did all of these things?
But then, upon further reflection, Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu felt that something was amiss.
What kind of relationship do the two of us have with Prefect Wu?
No.
Is it possible that Prefect Wu might side with either of them?
impossible.
So, what is the purpose of him spouting all this nonsense?
What else does he intend to get from the two of them?
Just as Kong Xixue and Kong Xilu were pondering this, the official on the stage finished speaking and stepped off the stage.
"Eh?"
"Wu Ju?"
Wang Qiong asked with a smile, "So you've been transferred to be the prefect of Yangzhou?"
Wu Ju hurriedly cupped his hands and bowed: "This student greets Wang Sheren... no, Wang Sheren has now been promoted to Junior Chamberlain?"