Kong Duanyou was furious: "Foolish! My Kong family is descended from the blood of a sage, how can we commit such a heinous act of annihilation!"

Kong Duanyou thought that Kong Duancao's threat to kill Xu Asan's entire family yesterday was just an expression of anger, but he didn't expect him to actually do it.

Kong Duancao, however, was unconvinced. He said with a smug look on his face, "Brother, my Kong family is naturally of the bloodline of the sage. Which Confucian scholar in the world does not regard my Kong family as a sacred lineage? In this world, the fate of the imperial family changes every year. Before, there was the Tang Dynasty, and now there is the Song Dynasty. If the Song Dynasty had not relied on my Confucianism to establish itself, I'm afraid those military men and soldiers would have wiped out the Zhao family long ago. Back then, Zhao Pu said that he governed the country with half of the Analects, which shows that my Confucianism has a great grace to restore the Zhao family's country. Even the current emperor has some respect for my Kong family's sacred lineage. Otherwise, which Confucian scholar in the world would serve him?"

Kong Duanyou said, "These are turbulent times. Today, one incident after another has been reported to be happening to my Kong family. I am worried that someone in the court is trying to harm my Kong family."

"Brother, are you talking about that newly appointed Hanlin Academician, that brat Shi Xun?" Kong Duancao chuckled. "He's just a clown. Brother, don't take him to heart. I'll send a letter to the senior officials in the court right now, and all the ministers will jointly submit a petition to force the emperor to kill that brat Shi Xun and rectify his transgressions!"

Kong Duanyou seemed to know everything. He probably didn't know about the Imperial Academy students' incident, since it had only happened recently, and the Imperial City Guard had suppressed the matter and prevented it from escalating.

Kong Duanyou said with concern, “His Majesty Emperor Renzong has conferred the title of Duke Yansheng upon our Kong family. We are here to inherit the ways of the sages and it is not appropriate for us to interfere in the affairs of the court.”

“Brother, you are foolish. The sage said that a gentleman should cultivate himself, regulate his family, govern the state, and bring peace to the world. Our Confucius family upholds the sage's way. If we are content with this and disregard the common people, how can we face our ancestor Confucius?”

His words were spoken with such righteous indignation that those who didn't know him might have thought he was some great man.

But it was precisely this Kong Duancao who, in orthodox history, stayed in Qufu after the Jurchens took control of the Central Plains and served as their lackey.

After his younger brother said that, Kong Duanyou felt that there seemed to be some truth to it.

He was the Duke Yansheng, a title bestowed upon him by Emperor Renzong. As a descendant of a sage, he held the reins of the sacred way, and all scholars in the land respected him greatly. Even the prime minister of the court would bow to him.

Therefore, we should take the well-being of all people as our responsibility.

However, upon further reflection, he realized that the affairs of the court were complicated and that it was best for the Kong family not to get involved. So he gave Kong Duancao a few warnings but didn't take them too seriously.

In the past few days, the official gazette of the Song Dynasty has been running wild, showing a tendency to completely unleash its power. A series of comments about Xu Asan and Kong Xiang have gradually appeared in the most prominent positions in the gazette, and it can be said that they have been blasting Kong Xiang to smithereens.

All the scholars in the world were Confucian scholars. After meeting the sage, they were publicly insulted in this way. How could they sit still? Public opinion was in an uproar. They wished they could grow wings and fly to the capital to see the emperor and order the Song Dynasty's official gazette to immediately stop this treasonous behavior.

They certainly didn't have wings, so they began attacking the branches of the Song Dynasty Gazette in various prefectures and counties. These Confucian scholars gathered in groups of three or five at the branches of the Song Dynasty Gazette, surrounding them completely. Some of them were so agitated that they simply rushed in and smashed things. Some staff members of the Gazette were also injured.

Such incidents occurred in various places within a few days. As a result, all the Imperial Guards in various places were mobilized to arrest the Confucian scholars who besieged the Dibao newspaper offices.

A Confucian scholar shouted in the street: "We are not afraid of death, and we are determined to eliminate the treacherous minister Shi Xun of the Great Song Dynasty!"

In just a few days, at least a thousand people were arrested and imprisoned in every state and county jail!

The incident escalated rapidly, and panic began to spread.

The court and the public were shaken. Countless memorials flew to the two prefectures and the palace, demanding the immediate restoration of the old system of the Song Dynasty's official gazette, the removal of Shi Ziming from his position as a Hanlin scholar, and his exile to Danzhou.

At the morning court session that day, all the ministers began to criticize Shi Ziming, calling him a treacherous minister who brought disaster to the country and the people, ranking him alongside Cai Jing, Tong Guan and others. He had already aroused public resentment and must be exiled to Danzhou immediately!

Their reasoning was that Shi Ziming was distorting the truth, slandering the sages, undermining the foundation of the nation, and poisoning the country.

Some ministers were even more vehement, submitting a memorial suggesting that Shi Ziming be beheaded and his head displayed to the public as a warning to others.

The emperor, his face grim, listened to the ministers below chatter on and on. After a moment of silence, he spoke up: "Who gave them the audacity to attack my Great Song Imperial Gazette?"

The ministers could sense the intense killing intent in the emperor's words, and their hearts tightened, but they were not afraid because, apart from a few of the emperor's lackeys, almost all the ministers opposed the Song Dynasty's official gazette being so reckless.

The ministers thought to themselves: Who gave them the audacity? Of course, it was the people of the world!

"Wang Boyan, tell me, who exactly gave them the audacity?"

Wang Boyan was called upon and reluctantly stepped forward, saying, "Your Majesty, Confucian scholars study the teachings of the sages. Since Shi Ziming took charge of the Song Dynasty's official gazette, he has often insulted the sages. This is a disastrous statement for the country. Confucian scholars are also doing this for Your Majesty's sake and for the sake of the nation."

Zhao Huan stood up abruptly, slammed the memorial that a minister had just handed him onto Wang Boyan's face, and roared, "You're a prime minister for nothing!"

"I'm asking who gave them the audacity! I'm the one who ordered the Imperial Gazette to continue; who gave them the courage to defy me!"

The court officials remained silent. Everyone could feel that the emperor was truly enraged. At this moment, the emperor was like a volcano about to erupt, just like when he killed people directly in the court.

"Is there no one to answer my question? In your eyes, are those Confucian scholars' actions for the sake of my country and its people?"

The emperor glanced at them and asked, "Yang Shi, come here and tell me, how is smashing my official gazette considered as acting in the best interests of my country?"

Hanlin Academician Yang Shi said, "Your Majesty, the Great Song Dynasty governs the country according to the way of the sages. This is the foundation of the country, and the foundation of the country cannot be shaken."

"Then what is the way of the sage? Is smashing and destroying the way of the sage?"

“Your Majesty, Shi Ziming has insulted the sage’s teachings. As a Confucian scholar and a disciple of the sage, this is an act of upholding righteousness and defending the Way! Mencius said, ‘Life is what I desire, and I will give up my life for righteousness!’”

Zhao Huan nodded and smiled. When the emperor smiled like that, the ministers would not think that the emperor was happy. When the emperor smiled like that, it meant that he was about to kill someone.

The Emperor said, "Grand Secretary Yang, come here. I have a letter here that Kong Duancao entrusted to deliver to you."

The eunuch on the side quickly went down and gave the letter to Yang Shi.

"Scholar Yang, why don't you read this letter aloud so we can hear it?"

Upon receiving the letter, Yang Shi opened it and immediately turned pale. He knelt down on the ground, pleading, "Your Majesty, spare my life! This sinful subject was unaware of the truth; it was Kong Duancao who did this on his own!"