Chapter 356: Will Kong Yinzhi Feel Guilty?

Even if he could solve the problems of the moment, he could not solve the problems of a lifetime. In the end, all problems would return to their starting point, and it would all be meaningless.

Moreover, he could deal with the Kong family and deal with the Prince of Lu, but he could not deal with the gentry of the entire realm. Every single scholar was doing this, and no one thought it was wrong.

Even the common people crushed at the bottom thought this way—they wanted to rise through scholarship, not overthrow those who oppressed them, but rather become oppressors themselves.

Under such circumstances, if he forcibly pushed for comprehensive equal distribution of land, no one would support him. The powerful at the top would not support him, the gentry in the middle would not support him, and even the common people at the bottom would not support him.

With everyone against him, land equalization could never be accomplished, and in the end he would only burn himself to death.

For the common people at the bottom of the Great Ming, tax dedication was even a good thing. If a village or a clan produced one person exempt from taxation, everyone in that village or clan would hand their money over to this tax-exempt person—this counted as dedicating it to him—and then rent the land back from him.

In this way, the land paid no taxes, and the gentry only collected rent, which was far lower than the taxes they would have paid to the court. It was a situation where both sides benefited.

But once natural disasters or man-made calamities struck, the court had no money for relief, and the gentry would not help the common people. The people would become refugees and die miserably.

Why did many gentry have such excellent reputations in their localities?

Because these people built bridges and repaired roads, cared for widows, widowers, orphans, and the childless, and aided the disabled, the elderly, and the young—so their reputations were very good. But in truth, they were indeed digging out the roots of the state.

When every stratum of the entire nation was engaged in this practice, no one could break this chain of interests. Even Zhu Youxiao, as Emperor, could not.

Unless there came a revolution daring to change heaven and earth, nothing could be done at all.

Even the Qing dynasty had to placate these people and stabilize such interests. Emperor Yongzheng's reforms were nothing more than making the entire population pay taxes.

The head-tax merger and the unified grain levy on officials and gentry alike—policies like these increased court revenue, but the common people at the bottom lived even more bitterly. Because besides paying land rent, they also had to pay the court's taxes. Under such circumstances, the people had no way to survive.

The reason the Qing dynasty could survive was the promotion of high-yield crops. Potatoes, corn, sweet potatoes, and the development of land in the northeast allowed less land to support more people.

You could relocate the people to the northeast, and Zhu Youxiao could do the same. But this required a long period of promotion; it was not possible for now.

Potatoes had already begun to be planted, but covering the entire north would still require more time. As for the northeast, it could not be taken for the time being, and he had no energy to wage war in the northeast and the grasslands.

The important thing was not to think about these things. What Zhu Youxiao was doing now was merely devouring a few great households to complete his primitive accumulation—the Emperor's primitive accumulation, not the state's primitive accumulation.

To truly complete the state's primitive accumulation would require far more investment, and the Shandong matter could only be brought to its current extent. The Great Ming's problem was not Shandong's problem, but the problem of the entire nation.

Zhu Youxiao stretched his body, took a sip of tea, sorted through his thoughts, and turned to look at Chen Hong, saying: "Any urgent memorials?"

These past few days, everyone had been taking action. Though Zhu Youxiao appeared very relaxed, his heart had been hanging the whole time.

With such a large operation this time, Zhu Youxiao was actually worried something might go wrong. If too great a disturbance erupted, it would only cause trouble.

After all, the situation in Shandong was rather complicated—all sorts of people were there, and even more were fishing in troubled waters. With the slightest misstep, unexpected situations could arise.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, there are no urgent memorials." Chen Hong quickly said: "On Grand Secretary Xu Xianchun's side, the Embroidered Uniform Guard has been striking out in all directions to make arrests—every branch of the Guard across the realm has been mobilized. Grand Secretary Xu is holding the line in Jining, while Grand Secretary Huang has taken men to investigate and punish officials in every quarter. All progress has been smooth."

Zhu Youxiao glanced at Chen Hong and gave a slight nod, saying: "Then we continue to wait."

Meanwhile, in the cells of the Embroidered Uniform Guard.

Xu Guangqi was interrogating Kong Yinzhi.

Calling it an interrogation was really just a conversation.

After these past few days, Kong Yinzhi's mental state had recovered.

Looking at Xu Guangqi before him, Kong Yinzhi smiled bitterly.

"Grand Secretary Xu, is there truly no turning back on this matter?" Kong Yinzhi looked at Xu Guangqi, a note of pleading in his voice: "How did it come to this?"

Xu Guangqi glanced at Kong Yinzhi and said in a gentle tone: "This time, you went too far. The most critical issue is not the reselling of grain, but that you went too far in Shandong."

"Every official in Shandong, great and small, high and low, was connected to you. Saying any more now is meaningless. All you can do is confess your crimes obediently and await His Majesty's punishment. If you try any more useless tricks, I won't be able to help you either."

Kong Yinzhi fell silent for a moment, then said: "Then what crimes does Grand Secretary Xu want us to confess?"

Glancing at Kong Yinzhi, Xu Guangqi naturally heard the insincerity in the other's tone, and also the resentment.

But Xu Guangqi could not concern himself with that now. He did not want to waste words with Kong Yinzhi either, and directly took a written confession and placed it before Kong Yinzhi.

Xu Guangqi said directly: "Take a look. If you find no problem with it, then sign and seal it."

At this point, saying anything was useless. Obediently confessing was the best way out. Though Kong Yinzhi harbored resentment in his heart, he also understood that matters had truly reached this point.

He was now held here and could not get out at all. Everyone who had come with him had been arrested—one could say the Kong family had lost its backbone.

Even if word reached Qufu, it would be useless.

Moreover, His Majesty had made up his mind this time, and no one could change His Majesty's decision.

Suppressing the unwillingness in his heart, Kong Yinzhi reached out and picked up the confession Xu Guangqi had prepared, reading through it quickly.

In this confession, Xu Guangqi had written the charges very clearly: colluding with local officials, reselling disaster-relief grain, failing to discipline subordinates, and selling grain to the Wenxiang sect.

Every item and every count was written out clearly. Of course, this was only what could be put on paper. Matters like the Kong family bribing officials great and small throughout Shandong were not mentioned on it.

Kong Yinzhi raised his head and looked at Xu Guangqi, saying: "If I sign this confession, what will become of our Kong family?"

"They won't kill you, and they won't send you into military exile." Xu Guangqi said.

Xu Guangqi knew His Majesty's intentions well enough—nothing more than wanting to strip the Kong family of its standing. At this critical juncture, this was as far as it could go.

If they truly executed the entire Kong family, that would be impossible. The matter was too great; no one could bear that weight.

But those in the Kong family involved in illegal matters would still be dealt with. Those implicated in deaths, those implicated in lawsuits—they would certainly be punished.

But those were all from the middle and lower ranks; they would not touch the top tier like Kong Yinzhi, since many of those deeds were not committed by them.

As for how to deal with them later, that was a matter for the future—to be handled after the storm had passed.

But this time, the Kong family would likely not retain much of their wealth and land. For a great clan like the Kong family, many people would probably be unable to survive, and what they might do was anyone's guess.

But in Xu Guangqi's view, these people probably could not do much of anything. His Majesty would not allow them to run free, giving them time or opportunity to do anything.

Around the Kong family, there were surely Embroidered Uniform Guard agents everywhere. The Kong family would be watched relentlessly, and at the slightest misstep they would find trouble.

Listening to Xu Guangqi's words, Kong Yinzhi's face showed a self-deprecating smile.

In his heart, Kong Yinzhi understood that these words were something only Xu Guangqi dared to say, and only he would say them to him. If it were anyone else, they would never say such things to him, nor would they dare.

In truth, Xu Guangqi simply did not want matters to become troublesome. If Kong Yinzhi refused to confess, it would also become very troublesome.

Picking up the brush to sign his name and pressing his fingerprint, Kong Yinzhi pushed the confession back to Xu Guangqi and said to him: "Grand Secretary Xu, the document is here."

"Go back and wait." Xu Guangqi nodded and said: "I will deliver the confession to His Majesty."

After saying this, Xu Guangqi took the confession and went directly to see Zhu Youxiao.

But Xu Guangqi was disappointed—he never got to see Zhu Youxiao at all, and the confession was submitted by Chen Hong on his behalf.

Zhu Youxiao looked at the confession in his hands, his expression neither pleased nor angered.

After a long moment, Zhu Youxiao set down the confession and let out a soft sigh, saying, "Alright, since they've already confessed their crimes, let it be. Have the Embroidered Uniform Guard escort them back to Qufu."

"Yes, Your Majesty." Chen Hong quickly acknowledged with a reverent tone.

Though Zhu Youxiao wanted to kill them, he could not do it here. If they died in Jining, the blame would surely fall on his own shoulders.

But neither would Zhu Youxiao let them return to Qufu—a Kong family scattered like loose sand was the kind of Kong family that served him best.

Moreover, in Zhu Youxiao's mind, it was time for the Kong family to split apart.

A family this large—how could it not be divided?

If Kong Yinzhi and the others lived, then the Kong family would be hard to split. This time, he was going to tear the Kong family apart.

So Zhu Youxiao said to Chen Hong, "Do you think Kong Yinzhi feels guilt in his heart?"

Hearing Zhu Youxiao's words, Chen Hong quickly replied, "The descendant of the Sage Kong has done things that wronged Your Majesty and wronged the court—surely he must be burning with shame and indignation. If it were this servant, this servant fears he would be so ashamed he would take his own life, unable to face living in this world any longer."