Zhu Youxiao directly ordered the eunuchs around him: "Take him away and make him shut up."
"Your Majesty!" Kong Yinzhi wanted to say something, but in this chaotic moment he had already forgotten the teachings of his ancestors and his father's instructions, and his mind was blank.
Soon, Kong Yinzhi was taken out.
Zhu Youxiao sighed, gently picked up the tea and took a sip. He glanced at Chen Hong who brought the tea and said, "Tell me, how can these people never be satisfied? I've given them so much, but they still want to fight and grab it. Don't they understand that they can only take what I give them? If they take what I don't give them, I will not only chop off their hands, but also their heads!"
After hearing this, Chen Hong quickly said, "Since ancient times, people are always greedy. Your Majesty, there is no need to bother with them. Heaven will take away those who are so greedy. Besides, Duke Yansheng is a descendant of Confucius. I think he will be very ashamed after today."
Zhu Youxiao glanced at Chen Hong and said, "Shame and anger? To what extent?"
"I think he would commit suicide out of fear of punishment." Chen Hong thought for a moment and said softly, "After all, he has done something so unfair to the Emperor and the Ming Dynasty. If he still has a conscience, he would be too ashamed to face the Emperor."
Zhu Youxiao sighed, shook his head helplessly, and finally said with a wry smile: "I hope he still has such a conscience."
Zhu Youxiao put down the teacup in his hand and said, "Okay, no need to talk about him. Let's go see Xu Guangqi and others."
At this time, Xu Guangqi and others were already waiting outside.
When Zhu Youxiao walked over, Xu Guangqi and others looked a little nervous.
In fact, they had just heard some things. From the atmosphere in the palace, they could sense that the situation here was not very good. They also knew about the arrival of the Duke of Yansheng.
Your Majesty just summoned Duke Yansheng, and the atmosphere is so bad now, which shows that the summons was not very smooth.
Zhu Youxiao looked at Xu Guangqi and the others and said slowly, "No need to be polite. My dear ministers, please take a seat."
After Xu Guangqi and others sat down, Zhu Youxiao sighed and asked Chen Hong to serve tea.
After Chen Hong brought the tea, Zhu Youxiao said, "I called you all here today because I have something to discuss with you."
Upon hearing this, Xu Guangqi and others immediately sat up straight and waited for their emperor to speak.
Glancing at Xu Guangqi and the others, Zhu Youxiao said directly, "We have been in Jining for some time now. I think you all have a good idea of the situation in Jining and Shandong."
"Of the relief grain sent by the imperial court, not much remained in Shandong. I'm sure you all know what's happening here. On the surface, the Lu Palace and Qufu appear to be prosperous and righteous, but in reality, they're seizing farmland, forcing women into prostitution, embezzling and selling relief grain, and colluding with the White Lotus rebels, wreaking havoc on the region."
When Xu Guangqi and others heard what Zhu Youxiao said, their hearts trembled.
They also knew that His Majesty was really angry this time.
What on earth did Duke Yansheng say that could have angered His Majesty to this extent?
You have to know that this is the Yanshenggong Mansion, and everyone knows that they can't collude with the White Lotus Sect to rebel. Of course, other things are definitely there.
The Kong family had always had a bad reputation, having been dealt with during the reign of Emperor Wanli. The Kong family head of that generation would often travel to the capital under the guise of paying homage to the emperor, using the imperial post stations and employing imperial personnel. He would always purchase large quantities of goods, receive free food and lodging at the imperial post stations, and then return to the capital to sell the goods, making a fortune.
Zhang Juzheng at the time could no longer stand it and severely punished the Kong family, placing strict restrictions on their visits to the capital. From that time on, the Kong family's reputation was not very good.
They all knew about the situation in Shandong, and they were all officials of Shandong, but they did not have the courage of Zhang Juzheng. Even Zhang Juzheng only restricted and punished the Kong family, and did not dare to do anything.
But now what His Majesty said doesn't seem like just restrictions and punishments, it seems like he's going to start a war!
So Xu Guangqi and others were a little surprised and were thinking quickly about what they should do.
The calmest one was British Duke Zhang Weixian.
Zhang Weixian felt that this matter had nothing to do with him. What did the Kong family's affairs have to do with his own Zhang family?
He didn't care whether Yanshenggong lived or died. As a Duke of Ying, he couldn't get too close to them. Of course, he couldn't express his opposition to something that would offend others.
As for Xu Guangqi, he also disdained the Kong family, who were now Catholics. Recently, Xu Guangqi began to think that what Zhu Youxiao said made sense, and he was not interested in the Kong family anyway.
Huang Kezun now believed in Xunzi and practiced both propriety and law, so he would not offend His Majesty for this matter. As for offending the Kong family for His Majesty, it seemed that it was not worth it.
I've been pushing both etiquette and law lately, and I've already offended quite a few people. If I do this again, I'm afraid I'll offend even more people. What will I do then? Wouldn't I be unable to survive?
So Huang Kezun made up his mind not to express his opinion or say anything, just talking about the New Year, Your Majesty, you are right.
Huang Kezun recently conducted some research, particularly on the successive cabinet ministers of the Ming Dynasty. He discovered something quite interesting: the predecessors known as the "Three Paper-Made Grand Secretaries" and "Six Clay-Sculpted Ministers" weren't as simple as the legend suggested, and were worthy of emulation. Judging from the current situation, if he emulated them, perhaps he could go further. Otherwise, his path would be narrowed, and things would become more difficult.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
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