Chapter 343: The Realm of the Great Ming Bears the Surname Zhu

Zhu Youxiao directly ordered the eunuchs beside him, "Take him away and make him shut up."

"Your Majesty!" Kong Yinzhi still wanted to say something, but in this chaotic moment he had long since cast aside the teachings of his ancestors and the instructions of his elders—his mind was a complete blank.

Soon, Kong Yinzhi was escorted out.

Zhu Youxiao let out a sigh, gently picked up his tea and took a sip, then glanced at Chen Hong, who had brought the tea, and said, "Tell me, why can't people ever be content? We give them so much, and still they fight, still they snatch. Don't they understand? Only what I give them can they take; what I don't give them, if they take it, I won't just chop off their hands—I'll cut off their heads too!"

Hearing this, Chen Hong hastily said, "Since ancient times, greed knows no bounds—a snake trying to swallow an elephant. Your Majesty need not stoop to their level. People this insatiably avaricious, Heaven will take care of them. Besides, the Duke Yansheng is a descendant of Confucius himself; surely after today he will be deeply ashamed and indignant."

Zhu Youxiao shot Chen Hong a look and said, "Ashamed and indignant? Ashamed to what degree?"

"I imagine he should commit suicide out of guilt." Chen Hong thought for a moment, then said in a soft tone, "After all, he has done such a thing against Your Majesty, done such a thing against the Great Ming. If he has even a shred of conscience left, he should be too ashamed to face Your Majesty."

Zhu Youxiao sighed, shook his head with some helplessness, and finally said with a bitter smile, "Let's hope he still has that much conscience."

With that, Zhu Youxiao set down his teacup and said, "Enough, no more talk of him. Let's go see Xu Guangqi and the others."

At this moment, Xu Guangqi and the others were already waiting outside.

When Zhu Youxiao walked over, the expressions on Xu Guangqi and the others' faces were somewhat uneasy.

In fact, they had already heard some things just now. From the atmosphere in the palace, one could also sense that things here were not going well. They all knew that the Duke Yansheng had arrived.

His Majesty had just summoned the Duke Yansheng, and now the atmosphere was so bad—clearly the audience had not gone smoothly.

Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi and the others and said slowly, "No need for formalities. All of you, be seated."

After Xu Guangqi and the others sat down, Zhu Youxiao sighed and gestured for Chen Hong to serve tea.

Only after Chen Hong had brought the tea did Zhu Youxiao speak: "I've called you all here today because there is a matter I wish to discuss with you."

Hearing this, Xu Guangqi and the others immediately sat up straight and waited for His Majesty to state the matter.

Sweeping his gaze over Xu Guangqi and the others, Zhu Youxiao said directly, "We've been in Jining for some days now. What the situation is in Jining, what the situation is in Shandong—I think you all have a clear picture in your minds."

"The disaster relief grain sent down by the court—by the time it reaches Shandong, not much remains. As for what's happening here in Shandong, surely you all know by now. The Prince of Lu's mansion and Qufu put on a glorious front of benevolence and righteousness, but in reality they seize farmland, force good women into prostitution, embezzle and sell disaster relief grain, and collude with the White Lotus rebels to wreak havoc across the region."

Hearing Zhu Youxiao say this, Xu Guangqi and the others felt a tremor in their hearts.

They knew that His Majesty was truly angry this time.

What on earth had the Duke Yansheng said to make His Majesty this furious?

After all, that was the Duke Yansheng's mansion—everyone knew they couldn't possibly have colluded with the White Lotus to rebel. Of course, the other offenses certainly did exist.

The Kong family's reputation had never been particularly good; they had been dealt with once during the Wanli era. The head of the Kong family in that generation always came to the capital under the pretext of paying homage to the Emperor, using the court's relay stations and the court's personnel. Every time, he would purchase a huge quantity of goods, eat and stay for free at the court's relay stations, then sell the goods in the capital, making a tidy profit from it.

Zhang Juzheng at the time could no longer tolerate it, severely punished the Kong family, and imposed strict restrictions on their trips to the capital for homage. From that time on, the Kong family's reputation had not been good.

They all knew the situation in Shandong—they were all officials of Shandong—but they simply lacked Zhang Juzheng's courage. Even Zhang Juzheng had only restricted and punished the Kong family; he hadn't dared to go further.

But now His Majesty's words didn't sound like mere restriction and punishment—this was the rhythm of a major crackdown!

So Xu Guangqi and the others were somewhat startled, while rapidly thinking about what they should do.

The calmest of them all was the Duke of Ying, Zhang Weixian.

This matter, Zhang Weixian felt, had nothing to do with him. What did the Kong family's affairs have to do with his Zhang family?

Whether the Duke Yansheng lived or died, he didn't care. He was the Duke of Ying—he inherently couldn't get too close to them. Of course, openly taking a stance to oppose them, that kind of offense-courting business, he couldn't do either.

As for Xu Guangqi, he himself held the Kong family in contempt—the man was now a Catholic convert. Lately, Xu Guangqi had come to feel that Zhu Youxiao made sense; either way, he had no fondness for the Kong family.

As for Huang Kezuan, he now believed in Xunzi and practiced the dual approach of ritual and law—either way, he wouldn't offend His Majesty over this matter. As for offending the Kong family for His Majesty's sake, that hardly seemed worth it either.

He had already offended quite a few people with his recent promotion of ritual and law in tandem. If he stirred up this matter too, he feared he would offend even more people. What would he do then? Wouldn't that make it impossible for him to survive?

So Huang Kezuan made up his mind inwardly: don't take a stance, don't say anything, just speak pleasantries—"Your Majesty is absolutely right."

Lately Huang Kezuan had done some research, especially on the successive Grand Secretaries of the Ming dynasty. He had discovered something rather interesting: those predecessors known as the "Three Paper-Mache Grand Secretaries and Six Clay-Molded Ministers" were apparently not as simple as legend made them out to be—and were worth learning from. Looking at the current situation, if he emulated them, he might be able to walk a longer road; otherwise, the path would narrow and things would become difficult to manage.

Zhu Youxiao paid no mind to what these three were mulling over, and continued: "Just now the Duke Yansheng came and we discussed the situation in Shandong. The Duke Yansheng said he is willing to offer his entire family fortune to me, so that I may use it to relieve the people of Shandong. What do you all think of this?"

All three men present were shrewd operators—the moment they heard this, they instantly understood why His Majesty was so angry.

Offering his entire family fortune to His Majesty—wasn't that going a bit too far?

Where does that leave Your Majesty, Duke Yansheng? Would His Majesty want your family fortune? What do you take His Majesty for?

Moreover, this time the mistake was clearly on your family's side, and you still dare to pressure His Majesty like this? Is His Majesty someone you can pressure?

If His Majesty were an easygoing sort, perhaps it might have been let go. But the current His Majesty is young and hot-blooded—since his ascension, no one has dared to pressure him like this.

Those people who knelt before the Meridian Gate—where are they all now?

A mere Qufu Kong family dares to pull this trick? Do they really think His Majesty's blade has lost its edge?

Your Kong family has the status it has today—isn't it just because you have a good ancestor?

When all is well, naturally everyone holds you up and worships you like a spirit tablet. But you should have the self-awareness of a spirit tablet. Now you actually dare to do something like this?

This spirit tablet seems to have lost its self-awareness.

Hearing Zhu Youxiao ask them what should be done, Xu Guangqi and the other two exchanged glances, all somewhat hesitant.

But all three of them also knew that if they didn't say something about this matter, it wouldn't pass with His Majesty.

So Zhang Weixian spoke first. He stood up and said, "Your Majesty, your minister believes this matter is inappropriate."

"Is that so? Let's hear it." Zhu Youxiao looked at Zhang Weixian and said.

"I report to Your Majesty: though all under heaven is the king's land, and all who dwell upon it are the king's subjects, a minister's family property is still a minister's family property. If it can be casually offered up, it may well lead to forcible confiscation of family wealth. Then local officials would act recklessly, damaging Your Majesty's reputation."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Zhang Weixian, nodded, and said, "The Duke of Ying speaks sense. Be seated."

After the Duke of Ying sat down, Xu Guangqi also stood and said, "Your Majesty, your minister also believes this matter is inappropriate. The Kong family of Qufu are descendants of Confucius himself—this is a grave matter. Accepting their family wealth would surely invite criticism; the gain would not outweigh the loss."

"Grand Secretary Xu speaks correctly. Be seated." Zhu Youxiao said to Xu Guangqi with a smile.

After Xu Guangqi sat down, Zhu Youxiao turned his gaze to Huang Kezuan.

Huang Kezuan naturally could not remain seated, so he too stood up and said with a respectful demeanor, "Your Majesty, your minister also believes this action is inappropriate. The reasons have already been stated by the two gentlemen before me, so I shall not belabor them."

"What I wish to address is the Kong family's crimes." Huang Kezuan said with a grave expression: "Your minister believes there must be a thorough investigation. No matter who in the Kong family is implicated, all must be severely punished—otherwise the people's anger cannot be appeased, and the people's hearts cannot be settled. Even the Duke Yansheng's mansion cannot be spared or ignored."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Huang Kezuan, nodded lightly, and said with a smile, "Be seated."

The three men had seemingly said something, but in truth it was as if they had said nothing at all. They were not offering Zhu Youxiao advice—they were merely declaring their own positions.

Zhu Youxiao understood their stance—in plain terms, they would not interfere and would not oppose.

Huang Kezuan even indicated that if His Majesty wanted to deal with the Kong family, he would still be willing to lend some effort.

But under such circumstances, Zhu Youxiao simply could not let Huang Kezuan exert himself—otherwise, what was the point of him keeping so many people around?

"I am somewhat tired today; you may all return as well." Zhu Youxiao looked at the three of them, Xu Guangqi included, and waved his hand as he spoke.

"Then we shall take our leave." Xu Guangqi and the others quickly rose to their feet and bowed as they spoke.

Only after they had exited through the doorway did Xu Guangqi and the other two all appear to let out a breath of relief.

Xu Guangqi glanced at Zhang Weixian and the others, and with a calm expression said, "Gentlemen, let us not speak of today's matters outside, shall we?"

Zhang Weixian and Huang Kezuan exchanged a look.

Though Xu Guangqi's words were not particularly polite, the two of them understood what he meant, and so they nodded simultaneously.

Since he had gotten the two to state their positions, Xu Guangqi no longer concealed anything, and said directly with a smile: "This matter is very serious; His Majesty likely cannot swallow this grievance. You two are both veteran ministers of the court—surely I need not spell out what to do?"

"Rest assured, Grand Secretary Xu, we naturally know what to do." A harmless smile hung on Zhang Weixian's face, yet a trace of ruthlessness flashed in his eyes as he said: "This realm of Great Ming belongs to the surname Zhu. If anyone wishes to change that surname, they must first ask the blades in our hands. Our ancestors could follow the Founding Emperor in conquering the realm back then, so we can naturally also protect the current His Majesty and guard the realm of Great Ming!"