jdhmnovel Chapter 270 Kong Xixue: He might have some serious illness!
Chapter 270 Kong Xixue: He might have some serious illness!
"A traitor to twenty-four dynasties, a slave to fifty-six generations."
Magistrate Yang really wanted to write this down on paper, have Chen Choulu make it into woodblock prints, print it widely, and spread it everywhere so that he could see whether Kong Kejian and his son Kong Xixue would choose to commit suicide to atone for their sins or simply swallow their pride and continue to compete with the Southern Clan for the title of Duke Yansheng.
Unfortunately, before the Hongwu Dictionary was fully compiled, these twelve comments on the Northern School could not be disseminated casually.
After all, scholars were extremely scarce in the Ming Dynasty, and compiling the Hongwu Dictionary was an incredibly complex project that required the participation of a large number of scholars.
Therefore, Magistrate Yang could only suppress his disgust and choose to release some damaging information that would successfully disgust Kong Kejian and his son Kong Xixue, but not enough to drive them completely insane.
"After the chaos that ensued after the fall of Confucius, Duke Wenxuan had no descendants. Those people in Qufu today are not descendants of Confucius at all."
"Since ancient times, there has been a saying that a loyal minister does not serve two masters. However, the Duke Yansheng was enfeoffed by three branches of the Song, Jin and pseudo-Qi respectively, which is simply laughable."
"Confucius emphasized the distinction between the Chinese and the barbarians, but I don't understand why the lineage of the Duke Yansheng didn't?"
"It is said that the Northern Sect even sent people to the Tartars to request investiture."
"It is said that there is a privately set up torture chamber and dungeon in the Duke Yansheng's mansion."
"..."
All sorts of messy rumors quickly spread, reaching the south from the north before winter even arrived, and were only getting worse.
When the news reached the capital, the scandalous affair of Kong Mo causing chaos among Kong Xixue was brought up again. The civil and military officials in the court, as well as the scholars who had been called upon by Kong Xixue to compile the "Hongwu Great Dictionary," looked at Kong Xixue with a hint of strangeness.
When Kong Xixue finally understood what was going on, he almost went crazy.
Kong Xixue couldn't understand why the earliest rumors originated in Qufu County.
Of course, these cannot be called rumors, because apart from the questionable matter of the chaos caused by the late Confucius, it is a fact that the three families of the Duke of Yansheng, who were conferred titles by the Song, Jin and pseudo-Qi dynasties, coexisted. It is also a fact that the Northern Song Dynasty sent someone to Kublai Khan to request the conferment of titles. It is also a fact that the Duke of Yansheng's mansion had a private torture chamber and dungeon.
The question is, who leaked it?
Kong Xida?
Although Kong Xida is no good, he is still a member of the Northern Sect. He shouldn't be stupid enough to hand a knife to the Southern Sect, right?
People from the Southern School?
No matter how stupid the Southern Sect was, they wouldn't go so far as to dredge up the old story of the chaos caused by the end of the Kong family. After all, the chaos caused by the end of the Kong family occurred during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Southern and Northern Sects were both descendants of Kong Renyu, the restorer of the dynasty. Dredging up the old story of the end of the Kong family would be tantamount to selling out the Southern Sect as well.
Emperor Zhu?
That's not right either. Although Emperor Zhu was dissatisfied with the Northern School, he still needed to use it to compile the "Hongwu Dictionary" and to win over the scholars of the Sixteen Prefectures of Yan and Yun in the future. It would not be in Emperor Zhu's interest to completely discredit the Northern School now.
So, who on earth could do something so heinous and utterly depraved?
After much deliberation, Kong Xixue came to realize the principle that "whoever benefits the most is the most suspicious."
Clearly, everyone's attention is now focused on the mess that happened to the Duke of Yansheng, and the bastard county magistrate who was repeatedly cursed just a few days ago is now rarely mentioned anymore.
It must be him!
Then, Kong Xixue was completely bewildered.
No, does he, surnamed Yang, have some serious illness?
Our Northern School lineage neither offended you nor Magistrate Yang. We have been peacefully compiling the "Hongwu Dictionary" in the capital. The ones who should be cursing you are the scholars from Zhejiang. Instead of causing trouble for them, you've stabbed our Northern School in the back.
You might have some serious illness!
Just as disorganized as Kong Xixue was Kong Xilu, the person in charge of the Southern Sect of Yansheng.
Because besides the two points of the three branches of the Yansheng Duke and the appointment of Kublai Khan as the emperor, the remaining points of contention, which were directed at the Northern Branch, were also directed at the Southern Branch.
Unlike Kong Xixue, who nearly went mad after the chaos, Kong Xilu simply continued to focus on compiling the "Hongwu Encyclopedia" after the chaos, as if the Southern Sect was not among the unlucky ones who were stabbed this time.
In response to the questioning from the elders of the Southern School, Kong Xilu replied with only one sentence: The trouble was caused by the Northern School. The most important thing for the Southern School right now is to complete the Hongwu Encyclopedia. As for what Kong Xixue of the Northern School should do, that has nothing to do with the Southern School. The Southern School will absolutely not meddle, nor will it be distracted by such trivial matters.
Of course, not getting involved does not mean not expressing an opinion or taking any action. After all, this involves the issue of Confucius's misconduct and touches on the problem of the Southern School's lineage. The Southern School should still make its due statement.
To demonstrate the Southern Sect's stance, Kong Xilu wrote a memorial directly to Emperor Zhu, stating that the Southern Sect was completely unaware of the Northern Sect's troubles and that it was unjustly blamed for being implicated by the Northern Sect. He hoped that Emperor Zhu would send someone to investigate the truth.
As for the petty affair between Magistrate Yang and the Northern Sect, and the sudden move by the Zhejiang East Group to smear Magistrate Yang, Kong Xilu didn't utter a single word.
Kong Xilu had already made up his mind. Even if Magistrate Yang came forward and admitted that he was the one who did it, the Southern Sect would pretend not to see or hear it.
……
"It feels so good."
Emperor Zhu hid in the Kunning Palace and said to Empress Ma with a smug look on his face, "People like Kong Kejian and his son Kong Xixue need someone unreasonable to deal with them."
"You have no idea, girl, the look on Kong Xixue's face when he came to us crying today, tsk tsk."
Empress Ma pondered for a long time, her face full of confusion.
Why did things turn out like this?
The group of gentry from eastern Zhejiang were the ones who criticized Magistrate Yang, but in the end, it was the Northern Branch of the Duke Yansheng's Mansion who suffered, and even the Southern Branch of the Duke Yansheng's Mansion was going to suffer as well.
While pondering this in her mind, Empress Ma asked, "Did Kong Xixue come to you crying?"
Emperor Zhu nodded and said, "Isn't he here to complain? That guy was crying his eyes out, it was heartbreaking to hear and tearful to see. It's a pity that Kong Xixue doesn't have any evidence to prove that the rumor was spread by that bastard, otherwise, I'm afraid we would have stood up for Kong Xixue."
Empress Ma chuckled and then looked at Emperor Zhu, asking, "It's almost winter now, Jin'er and Yu'er's wedding must be coming soon, right?"
Emperor Zhu paused slightly, then replied, "Indeed, it will be soon. If nothing unexpected happens, that scoundrel should arrive in the capital in another three to five days. Then we can begin the betrothal, name-asking, and auspicious date selection processes. As for the auspicious date selection and setting the wedding date..."
Before Emperor Zhu could finish speaking, Empress Ma frowned and said, "Letting him come to the capital to get married has offended so many gentry and scholars, and even dragged the Duke of Yansheng's family into this mess. If he rashly comes to the capital..."
Empress Ma was quite worried that Magistrate Yang would be beaten to death after arriving in the capital.
However, Emperor Zhu chuckled and said, "It's alright. Your son-in-law is very afraid of his life, and we have arranged many people around him, even a thousand-household garrison. No one can easily hurt him."
"As for the fact that both the Southern and Northern sects are causing him trouble at the same time..."
"Well, never mind. Anyway, with me as the emperor, I won't let your son-in-law suffer any losses."
As Emperor Zhu finished speaking, Empress Ma raised her eyebrows and looked at him, saying, "Now you've become my son-in-law again, but not the good son-in-law you had in mind?"
Emperor Zhu was slightly taken aback at first, then chuckled and said nonchalantly, "It's all the same, they're all my son-in-law anyway."
After saying that, Emperor Zhu chuckled and said, "Actually, we're curious about one thing right now: how long can those people from the Northern Sect endure this? And will they start fighting with the gentry from Zhejiang?"