Chapter 268: The model of scholars

On the border of Shandong, a four-wheeled carriage escorted by dozens of fully armed knights was on its way.

In the carriage, Zhang Jie leaned against a soft cushion, holding an ancient copy of Han Dynasty literature

that he had copied from the home of a local tyrant who resisted firmly, reading with great interest.

These rare books were regarded by those landlords and wealthy people as treasures to maintain their family status, and they were absolutely unwilling to show them to outsiders.

They didn't understand human speech, so Zhang Jie could only invite them to listen to the criticism of weapons.

At that moment, Zhang Jie deeply realized what is meant by

the weapon of criticism cannot replace the criticism of weapons.

But Wang Lun, who was sitting beside him, didn't have his leisure.

At this time, the forehead of the head of Liang Shan's civil officials was seeping with beads of cold sweat,

and he didn't even notice that the headscarf he usually kept neat and meticulous was crooked.

After a long while, Wang Lun, whose heart was hard to calm down, asked nervously:

"My Lord, are we really going to take the Kong family as our target?

That is the blood descendant of the Kong Sage, representing the scholars of the world!"

At this time, if someone could observe the direction of Zhang Jie's group from the sky,

they would find that their destination was exactly Qufu, Shandong!

Zhang Jie, who finished reading a page, pinched his fingers to turn the page and chuckled:

"Zhengdao, what we are doing is a great event to change the world, not a simple change of dynasty.

If the Kong family is the model for the scholars of the world, then I will let them truly be a model!"

Then he comforted the panicked Wang Lun: "Zhengdao, you are the first civil official under my command,

why fear a mere Kong family like a tiger?"

"My Lord is joking."

Wang Lun couldn't help but smile bitterly upon hearing this.

Although with Liang Shan sweeping the entire Qingzhou, his status as the chief strategist and military advisor had risen,

and he was no longer the failed scholar who was ridiculed in the past, but what is the Kong family?

That is the descendant of the Kong Sage, Kong Qiu, of whom it is said "Heaven did not give birth to Zhongni, the long night has lasted for ages"!

In the eyes of the scholars of the world, in terms of bloodline alone, I'm afraid even the Zhao family is not as noble as the Kong family.

Seeing that Wang Lun still couldn't let go, Zhang Jie could only sigh at the status of Confucius,

which, since Emperor Wu of Han dismissed the hundred schools and respected only Confucianism,

had long been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people after thousands of years of continuous propaganda by successive dynasties.

Along with it, his descendants also became noble people born with sacredness.

However, Zhang Jie was not too anxious; he couldn't evaluate what Confucius was like,

after all, the real Confucius had been dead for thousands of years,

and his thoughts, after the "Six Classics Annotate Me, I Annotate the Six Classics" of generations of scholars,

had long been unrecognizable.

Take the most widely circulated "Three Bonds and Five Constants," the three bonds "ruler-ruler, minister-minister, father-father, son-son."

"Analects of Confucius, Yan Yuan" records: "Duke Jing of Qi asked Confucius about government,

Confucius replied: 'Let the ruler be a ruler, the minister be a minister, the father be a father, the son be a son.'"

Confucius meant that the ruler should act like a ruler, the minister should act like a minister,

the father should act like a father, and the son should act like a son.

Specifically, the ruler should set an example and practice benevolent government, and the minister will loyally assist.

The father fulfills the responsibility of raising and educating, and the son will be filial.

The son should also be filial to the father after receiving the father's raising and education.

This kind of thought emphasizes the respective ethical obligations of each social role,

and the premise of having rights is to fulfill the obligations that should be fulfilled,

rather than unilaterally requiring the party with lower status to obey unconditionally.

Dong Zhongshu of the Han Dynasty developed this concept into the "Three Bonds" system,

namely "the ruler is the bond for the minister, the father is the bond for the son, the husband is the bond for the wife,"

incorporating it into the "Three Bonds and Five Constants" system, becoming the core criterion of feudal ethics.

It caused the two-way obligation relationship of Confucius's original intention to gradually evolve into a one-way obedience relationship emphasizing hierarchy.

And then there are those descendants who enjoyed his legacy for dozens of generations, most of whom are not good things.

It's one thing to engage in feudal systems and private kingdoms in Qufu, and even the county magistrate must be a member of the Kong family.

The most criticized thing is that these guys' posture is too soft,

in short, there are no bones in their knees.

The iron-boned Yansheng Duke, who repairs surrender letters to persuade people to be loyal.

A two-faced minister of twenty-six dynasties, a house slave of seventy-six generations.

These guys without kneecaps, when the Mongols came, they knelt to the Mongol Khan;

when the Manchu Qing entered the pass, they immediately knelt under Dorgon's whip;

even when the island nation people, whose lives were not very good recently, invaded comprehensively,

they even bowed to the portrait of the island nation's Emperor, which is comparable to Puyi who recognized a thief as his father.

He believed that the soft-kneed Yansheng Duke would definitely know the current affairs and be a hero this time, kneeling under his whip.

This was the confidence given to him by generations of Yansheng Dukes with their specific actions!

Outside the Qufu county town, a group of old gentlemen with gray beards, wrinkles on their faces enough to pinch a fly to death, and walking unsteadily,

but dressed in silk and satin, were standing at the city gate under the leadership of a middle-aged man wearing a high crown and broad belt,

dressed as a pre-Qin philosopher, waiting.

"These Liang Shan bandits are so arrogant, actually making us wait here for so long!"

An old man sweating profusely said very dissatisfiedly.

"Exactly, exactly!"

Everyone was indignant.

With their status, there was only the share of others waiting for them,

where was the reason for them to wait for others for so long?

The middle-aged man listened to the words full of contempt in everyone's tone and couldn't help but remind:

"The soldiers under the Benevolent King are incomparably brave, and in a short time, they have conquered half of the Great Song's northern territory,

and in the future, it is not known if they will change the dynasty and establish a new one.

You all should not offend the Benevolent King because of some verbal disputes."

This made the crowd who were originally cursing and swearing close their mouths.

They were venerable local gentry and noble families, and even the Great Song imperial court had to give them some face,

but the Benevolent King held the handle of the knife in his hand,

and those proud soldiers under his command would not care about their reputation and status.

"But, but even so, the Benevolent King should not formulate evil policies like 'gentry and commoners serve and pay taxes together,'

'fire loss returns to the public,' and 'spreading the poll tax into the land'!"

A local gentry beat his chest and stamped his feet, looking heartbroken.

"Exactly, we scholars contribute to the imperial court, and enjoying a little privilege is what we should do.

The Great Song Taizu once said 'the Great Song shares the world with scholar-officials.'"

Others expressed their agreement with this.

Fire loss returning to the public is fine, after all, it targets the clerks who collect taxes indiscriminately, and it has little to do with them.

And maybe they could even gain some benefits from it and pay less tax.

But these "gentry and commoners serve and pay taxes together" and "spreading the poll tax into the land" were digging up their lifeblood!

Studying to pass the imperial examination, besides becoming an official in the imperial court,

isn't the most important thing not having to perform corvée labor and being tax-exempt on land?

Once these policies come down, what is the difference between these gentry masters and those mud-legged people who face the yellow earth,

back to the sky, and beg for food in the mud?

Besides, without the privilege of tax exemption, how can their family of dozens live?

Thinking that the number of maids in their homes would change from dozens to a few, they felt heartbroken.

White silver, handed over to the imperial court, isn't this a sin?! ===== CHAPTER 269 =====