Chapter 369: The Northern Branch of the Kong Family, Reviled by All

In a place like Yuelai Tower, two young scholars eating and drinking there was hardly anything out of the ordinary.

The two scholars sitting by the window drew little attention; everyone else carried on eating and drinking, and the atmosphere seemed perfectly harmonious.

Both scholars were in their twenties. One had a refined, handsome face and a rather slender build, wearing a blue long robe. A folding fan lay beside the table, and his speech was elegant and cultured.

The young scholar sitting across from him was somewhat stout, wearing a pale green long robe. His face was square and dignified, with heavy eyebrows, a straight nose, and a well-proportioned mouth, giving an impression of great seriousness and gravity.

The two sat there drinking and conversing, and the mood between them was quite congenial.

Just then, the square-faced scholar suddenly slammed the table hard and shot to his feet.

The slam startled everyone.

All eyes turned involuntarily toward them, watching the two scholars with some hesitation and a touch of worry—what was going on? Why had they suddenly kicked up a fuss?

"You're talking nonsense! How could the Kong family do such a thing?" the square-faced scholar roared.

"Me, talking nonsense?" The slender scholar seemed unimpressed, not even bothering to rise from his seat. He curled his lips and said, "Who in all of Jining doesn't know about this? Go out and ask around—it's already spread everywhere. People just don't say it openly out of respect for the Sage's reputation."

"Look at what the Kong family has done—selling disaster-relief grain to the rebellious Wenxiang sect. Is that what they ought to be doing?"

"Not only have they left the common people without food, starving them, making them believe the court's relief efforts have failed, making them think it's the officials who drove the people to revolt—they've also stockpiled all that military grain for the rebels. What is this? This is the crime of treason!"

"For such a crime, execution is the only way to appease the people's outrage; execution is the only way to settle the matter! His Majesty merely stripped the Duke Yansheng of his title—that is already leniency beyond the law, already a concession to the Duke Yansheng's face. But what did the Kong family do?"

"They colluded with those rebels and simply ran off to their side. Look at that manifesto—is that something they should have written?"

The square-faced young man seemed thoroughly incensed, and said angrily, "The situation is unclear right now—how can you say such things? The Duke Yansheng may well have been taken by force. Some things are done against one's will."

"Taken by force?" The slender young man gave a cold laugh, his tone dripping with contempt. "Confucius spoke of attaining benevolence, Mencius spoke of attaining righteousness. Even if he was taken by force, does that mean he must do whatever they tell him? Where has the integrity of a scholar gone?"

"They are descendants of the Kong family! Facing such a situation, shouldn't they emulate Wen Tianxiang? Shouldn't it be 'Since ancient times, who has not died? Leave a loyal heart to shine in the annals of history'? How could they yield to bandits? And with such conduct, they still dare call themselves descendants of the Duke Yansheng?! Besides, I've heard they weren't taken away at all—they were received and escorted out."

"They are descendants of Confucius the Sage—how can you be like this? You should show them leniency," the square-faced young man said.

"Nonsense!"

Upon hearing this, the slender young man also sprang to his feet and slammed the table hard.

The bowls and dishes on the table clattered loudly in an instant, and several fell to the ground, smashing with a crackling crash.

The slender young man paid it no heed at all, and said angrily, "If it were some trivial matter, perhaps some leniency could be shown. But this concerns the great principles of integrity and righteousness—how can it be forgiven on such grounds? Have you read yourself into idiocy?"

"Even if descendants of Confucius the Sage did such a thing, they should not receive leniency. On the contrary, precisely because they are descendants of the Sage, doing such a thing makes them all the more contemptible. For you to say such words shows that our paths differ. Since our paths differ, we cannot work together."

The slender young man took a silver ingot from his sleeve and slammed it onto the table, then said, "I won't eat a single bite of your food or drink a single drop of your wine—from this day forth, I sever ties with you!"

Having said this, the slender scholar turned and strode out, his steps quick and his tread utterly resolute.

The square-faced young man sat slumped in his chair, his face ashen.

After a long while, he let out a sigh and slowly lamented, "How did it come to this? How did it come to this!"

Just then, a man beside them also stood up. Looking at the square-faced scholar, he said slowly, "You've got it wrong. The current line of the Duke Yansheng is merely the Northern Branch of the Kong family. Who are they? Nothing but puppets installed by the Tartars."

"Back then, the orthodox line of the Duke Yansheng lay with the Southern Branch of the Kong family—they were the Kong family that followed the former Song dynasty. When the Tartars came, they were forced under duress to yield the title of Duke Yansheng. Those were the true Confucians of us Han people."

"Now the Northern Branch's line of Duke Yansheng bows and scrapes, fawning on their masters with servile faces—it's no surprise at all that they would do such a thing!"

Everyone was stunned and quickly turned to look at the speaker.

He was a middle-aged man in his fifties, neither stout nor thin, neither tall nor short, but with a very stern countenance. From his dress, he too appeared to be a scholar.

After hearing his words, the square-faced young man was briefly taken aback, then rose to his feet with a delighted expression and bowed, saying, "What you say, sir, makes sense. I humbly accept your instruction."

With that, the square-faced young man also turned and headed downstairs.

The middle-aged man nodded with a satisfied expression and followed him down as well.

Though this scene had taken place at Yuelai Tower, word of it soon spread abroad.

And so it sparked a broad and heated debate: should the Kong family's conduct be dealt with leniently or not?

Among the common folk, the two sides argued fiercely. One side said the Kong family had been seized by bandits and was deserving of pardon; the other said the Kong family was utterly unforgivable.

Those who thought they could be forgiven gave as their reason that the Duke Yansheng's line of the Kong family were descendants of Confucius and had been taken by bandits. Under such circumstances, many things were not within their power to decide—so why could they not be forgiven?

The other side held that being seized by bandits was no excuse for submission. Where was the backbone of a scholar? And all the more so for being descendants of Confucius.

As the argument raged on, both sides dredged up the matter of the Northern Branch of the Kong family, heaping fierce criticism upon this Northern Branch that had fawned on the Jin and Yuan dynasties, declaring that the Northern Branch was servile and sycophantic, utterly devoid of integrity, unworthy of being representatives of the scholarly class.

For a time, the uproar could be said to have turned the heavens upside down, with tremendous momentum.

Soon the hardline faction gained the upper hand—after all, those who shouted their slogans louder and carried more righteous indignation held the advantage, and they also had a greater rallying effect.

For a time, the Northern Branch of the Kong family could be said to be reviled by everyone.

Within the imperial residence.

Zhu Youxiao sat on the dragon throne, listening to Chen Hong's report.

At the more impassioned points, Chen Hong gestured with his hands, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

Zhu Youxiao knew, however, that Chen Hong was merely putting on a show for his benefit. Still, he found it amusing and wanted to watch, so he played along with Chen Hong, listening with a smile as the eunuch spoke.

As for the matter of the Northern Branch of the Kong family, Zhu Youxiao had long since made up his mind. This time, he would beat them all down completely, leaving not a shred of room for recovery.

The matter of the Southern Branch of the Kong family could also be brought to the table now.

As for why he would support the Southern Branch rather than utterly destroy the Kong family—the reason was simple: no, it couldn't be done.

Once there was no leader, the scholars would panic and their hearts would be thrown into chaos. That would not do. He could not allow such a situation to arise—he had to give these scholars a leader.

For them, it didn't matter who served as that ancestral tablet—as long as there was someone to fill the role. Only then could they be made to abandon the Northern Branch and switch their allegiance wholly to the Southern Branch.

At the same time, he could use this opportunity to have the Southern Branch put forward some of Confucius's theories as the orthodox Confucian doctrine. For instance, the theories of Xunzi that he had long wanted to promote—with the Southern Branch's help, the difficulty of promoting them would be greatly reduced.

He could also eliminate the Northern Branch—this clan power that had entrenched itself for centuries could serve precisely as sustenance for strengthening his nation.

It could be said to kill two birds with one stone, which was why Zhu Youxiao had released such news.

What the founding emperor had failed to accomplish in his day, Zhu Youxiao could now achieve. After all, this was no longer the era of the Great Ming's founding.

When the Great Ming was founded, it had absorbed much of the Mongol Yuan's power, and the founding emperor's ranks had contained many who had surrendered from the Yuan. If he had not accepted the Northern Branch, it would likely have been very difficult to win the support of the northern scholars of that time.

One must understand that by then, the north was no longer Han territory, nor was it Ming territory.

That era had witnessed the fall of the Northern Song, the rule of the Liao, the rise of the Jin, and the occupation of the Yuan—the entire north was utterly different from the south. To achieve a solid and stable unification required not only military force but, more than anything, the unification of people's hearts.

And at that time, the Northern Branch of the Kong family bore exactly that responsibility and mission.

In fact, the approach of Emperor Taizu, Zhu Yuanzhang, was later proven to be correct.

But now, things are different.

After more than two hundred years of development and integration, the entire north already belonged to Great Ming. Zhu Youxiao had no need to worry about the problem of division, and could deal with the Northern Branch of the Kong family boldly and without restraint.

As for supporting the Southern Branch of the Kong family, there was no pressure either. After all, in the current court, officials from Jiangnan were very numerous, and Jiangnan scholars occupied a very large share of power in the court. Zhu Youxiao would also gain the support of these people.

Toppling the Kong family in Shandong, obtaining money and land, and incidentally giving a boost to the Southern Branch of the Kong family to use them to propagate his own theories — that should be enough, one could say it killed two birds with one stone.

Incidentally, it could also soothe people's hearts, drawing scholars to rally under the banner of the Southern Branch of the Kong family, and providing a theoretical support for Huang Kezuan and others in the court — one could call it killing three birds with one stone.

Only after Chen Hong finished speaking did Zhu Youxiao withdraw his thoughts, though the smile on his face never faded.

He looked at Chen Hong and said: "Immediately have the news spread. Not just Jining — it must spread throughout all of Shandong, reach the capital, reach Jiangnan. Let everyone know!"