Chapter 630: The Foremost Scholar Under Heaven

In the twentieth year of Chongzhen of the Great Ming, on the tenth day of the twelfth month, in Jinan Prefecture, at Crouching Tiger Mountain, the entire valley was steeped in grief and sorrow.

This was the day the coffins of Duke Yansheng Kong Yinzhi and his heir Kong Xingxie, who had died heroically defending Qufu and the Kong Forest, arrived at Crouching Tiger Mountain.

The gentry of Jinan Prefecture who had taken refuge in the valley, along with scholars who had received word early that morning and traveled from as far as Qingzhou, Laizhou, and Dengzhou Prefectures to see off the Duke and his son, had been waiting at the valley entrance since dawn, in an atmosphere of utmost solemnity.

Before the hearse and its escorting troops had even arrived, the lecturers organized by the Shandong branch of the Donglin Faction had already taken up positions every ten paces along the road inside and outside the valley gate, and begun loudly proclaiming the heroic deeds of the Duke and his son.

"Our Duke Yansheng was but a scholar, too weak to truss a chicken, yet when the barbarian caitiffs came surging in like a tide, he showed not a trace of fear. He held the walls of Qufu, directing the defense with perfect composure, and only when the city fell did he lead his troops in a breakout, finally giving his life for the nation."

"The Duke's heir truly lived up to being a descendant of the Sage and a successor of the Confucian school. Though he lacked the strength to slay the foe, he had the heart to. After Qufu fell, he still led the household retainers in street fighting against the caitiffs within the city, until he was shot dead by a volley of arrows. How heroic! How fierce!"

"Before the Duke died of his wounds, he spoke these words: 'My only wish is that the next Duke Yansheng may possess the martial valor of our ancestors, that he may don armor and take up sharp weapons, lead his men from the front, and slay the barbarian Prince Regent amid ten thousand troops.'"

"The heir's last words: 'The true-line descendant of the Sage should be chosen as the Foremost Scholar Under Heaven, should master the Six Arts, be peerless in loyalty and valor, possessing both the heart to slay the foe and the power to turn the tide! Only thus can he serve as a model for all Confucian scholars under heaven.'"

What these Donglin "lecturers" said was, of course, all true — truer than pure gold — and had already been written into the official histories.

Kong Yinzhi and Kong Xingxie, father and son, had thus earned their place in history! Not only a place in history, but also a grand and glorious funeral.

Burial in Qufu was impossible — Qufu was still in the hands of the eastern barbarians, where the tomb-raiding Ama Dorgon was busy "raising coffins and making fortunes" with his hundred thousand "grave diggers." Even if the two were buried in Qufu, they would be dug up again.

So Kong Yinzhi and Kong Xingxie would not be buried in Qufu, nor of course at Crouching Tiger Mountain in Jinan Prefecture. Their coffins were now merely touring the various parts of Shandong under Ming control, to inspire the scholars of Shandong in their will to resist the caitiffs.

As for their final resting place, it would be chosen according to their last wishes: Monkey Rock Mountain at Lüshunkou — that is, on Height 203.

The reason for burying them there was chiefly to civilize the ghosts of the eastern barbarians. Having failed in life to civilize Ama Dorgon, in death they would go underground to civilize Nurhaci and Hong Taiji!

Such a Duke Yansheng and his heir — truly they did not fail the Sage, nor fail the nation!

The only pity was that their craft of civilizing barbarians was a little lacking, and they were wiped out by the barbarians instead. This is a lesson written in blood! To civilize barbarians, moral essays alone are not enough — one must also have the means. To civilize barbarians, one must be like the great Confucians of the Sage's own generation: a height of nine chi is inborn and cannot be learned, but one can train oneself to be broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with boundless strength!

Presumably, in the future histories, all seventy-two worthies of the Confucian school will be such formidable figures!

If they took off their long robes, they would look much like the three hundred Spartans.

Just then, at the far end of the official road beyond Crouching Tiger Valley, a great white banner suddenly appeared, bearing a large black character "Kong," followed by seven or eight more white banners snapping in the wind, and then a forest of spear points flashing cold light. Only at the last did several hundred warriors in white robes and white armor, carrying eighteen-foot spears over their shoulders, come into view, escorting two oxcarts, each bearing a massive coffin.

Behind the oxcarts followed a crowd of Kong clan members in hempen mourning clothes, weeping and wailing — at their head the hot favorite for the next Duke, Kong Yinzheng.

This man wept most grievously, and his wailing was full of vigor! And he even had lines prepared!

"Brother Sage! You died a heroic death, a brave death, worthy of a descendant of the Sage, a true model for the Confucian school! I, Kong Yinzheng, swear that I will slay Dorgon with my own hands and avenge you, venerable one! I will surely civilize all the eastern barbarian caitiffs into Confucian gentlemen, and fulfill your dying wish!"

And indeed, this crude fellow was quite good at reading the times — rough on the outside, but shrewd within!

In truth, that day when Shi Kefa invited Kong Yinzhi to sample the red-crowned crane poison wine, he had not been drunk at all — he had only feigned drunkenness. That he could recite only half the Analects did not mean he was slow-witted; it was because, born into this age of chaos and war, he had never put much effort into the Analects, having devoted all his energy to spear, staff, and bow.

Moreover, over the past two or three years Kong Yinzhi had repeatedly sent him out of Qufu on "adventures," and he had always returned safe and sound — which shows how clever he was.

That day, the moment he saw Shi Kefa's expression, he knew Kong Yinzhi was doomed — and whether he himself lived or died would depend entirely on his performance.

So he performed with all his might: after gorging himself on food and drink, he pretended to be drunk!

Later, when Shi Kefa pressed wine on him, and Kong Yinzhi adamantly refused to drink, and Huang Degong pinched Kong Yinzhi's nose and poured the wine down his throat, and Kong Yinzhi, after drinking the red-crowned crane poison, howled miserably but could not die (this red-crowned crane poison was indeed counterfeit), and finally Huang Degong had no choice but to run him through with a sword — all of this he knew. He was, in effect, an eyewitness to a murder!

Yet he lay perfectly still, feigning sleep, until Huang Degong's personal guards came in and cleaned up the scene of the killing. Only then did he wake with a yawn and learn the tragic news that Duke Yansheng Kong Yinzhi, overcome with shame, had taken poison and died.

Because his performance had been so good, Shi Kefa recommended him as a candidate for the next Duke Yansheng.

What? The Duke Yansheng is chosen by election?

In the past it was not by election but by hereditary succession. But starting with the next holder, the Duke Yansheng would have to be selected. Not by election, but chosen by the Ming Emperor from among the young and able-bodied descendants of the Kong line — one who could serve as a model for all Confucian scholars under heaven.

In addition, the Duke Yansheng would receive the title "Foremost Scholar Under Heaven," symbolizing that he was the exemplar and model for all scholars in the realm.

And the term shi originally meant "one who undertakes affairs" — only one who could handle affairs for a lord (a feudal prince, a minister, or a grand officer) could be called a shi.

One without the ability to handle affairs could not be called a shi.

And what the Sage Confucius did in his day, apart from propagating his political ideals and seeking his great Dao (neither of which succeeded), was "education without class distinction" — that is, he was willing to train commoners into shi, men who could handle affairs for feudal princes, ministers, and grand officers.

Such shi could not be men who only knew eight-legged essays. In the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, what feudal prince, minister, or grand officer would spend money keeping a batch of pedantic scholars who could only write eight-legged essays?

Those shi of commoner origin, to find employment with the feudal princes, ministers, and grand officers, had to know how to cut people down, how to collect debts, and how to shoot a bow!

If the several hundred thousand xiucai of the Ming could all be skilled at cutting people down and shooting bows (or firing matchlocks), the eastern barbarians and the roving bandits would no longer be a problem.

So he needed a Duke Yansheng like Kong Yinzheng — one who rather resembled the Sage Confucius — to serve as the model for all Confucian scholars under heaven!

As for whether several hundred thousand people-skilled-in-cutting would become an even bigger problem, Zhu Cilang was not worrying about that now. As a sovereign in an age of chaos, he had no time for the idle concerns of a sovereign in a golden age!

The things he had to worry about now were two: first, how to civilize the eastern barbarians; second, how to swallow up the strength of the four great warlords here in Shandong!

After the Battle of Turtle Mountain and Dorgon's seizure of Qufu, the matter of civilizing the eastern barbarians would evidently have to be postponed. But the opportunity to swallow up the Shandong warlords had arrived.

While Dorgon occupied Qufu and happily dug up graves and seized their treasures, Zhu Cilang led his forces back to Crouching Tiger Mountain City in Jinan Prefecture, where he both saw to the funeral rites for Kong Yinzhi and Kong Xingxie and began planning the reorganization of the various Shandong armies.

Since the Shandong armies had been soundly thrashed by Dorgon, it showed they still lacked a certain something and must continue to improve — they absolutely had to improve into a model central army!

(End of Chapter)