November 16, the 24th year of Chongzhen.
Zheng Chenggong arrived at the Port of Shanghai in Nanzhili and entered the port to replenish supplies.
While others were moving supplies, Zheng Chenggong took a few people to a restaurant near the dock for dinner.
After sitting down, they ordered food while chatting with the waiter.
"Has anything big happened in Nanzhili recently?" Zheng Chenggong asked.
The waiter replied: "Yes, scholars from Southern Zhili flocked north to Shandong."
"Why are they going to Shandong?"
"Go to the Confucius Mansion and cry in the temple." The waiter replied.
"Crying in the temple?" Zheng Chenggong was even more puzzled: "Why cry in the temple?"
"It's about the Yansheng Duke's business!"
"What happened to Lord Yansheng?"
Seeing the confused faces of several people, the waiter immediately realized that they were out of touch with the news.
So he took a half step forward and whispered, "You gentlemen, don't you know that Duke Yansheng was beaten to death?"
"What?" Zheng Chenggong's eyes widened. "You said Duke Yansheng was beaten to death?"
"Yes, he was beaten to death by the people of the capital. Moreover, the Three Judicial Departments determined that it was a fact that Duke Yansheng had surrendered to the enemy, so the people who beat him to death were not only not convicted, but also received rewards from the court."
"This...isn't this too outrageous?" Zheng Chenggong didn't believe it at all.
"Please wait a moment, gentlemen!" The waiter turned around, took out a report of the "Seventeenth Year of Chongzhen" from the counter and handed it to Zheng Chenggong.
The incident was recorded in detail in the court gazette.
This includes people being arrested for "spreading rumors" and students being expelled from Shuntian Prefecture for seeking explanations.
Immediately afterwards, the people surrounded the Yanshenggong Mansion to demand an explanation, and several people were beaten to death or injured.
Finally, the situation got out of control and the people rushed into the palace and beat Duke Yansheng to death.
After reading the contents of the court report, Zheng Chenggong could no longer sit still.
He is also a reader
In his heart, Confucius is like a god, towering and majestic and cannot be desecrated.
As a descendant of Confucius, Duke Yansheng also has a very high image in his mind.
Now Duke Yansheng surrendered to the enemy and was beaten to death by the people.
It completely refreshed his three views.
Could it be a false accusation? Zheng Chenggong wondered in his mind.
Then he shook his head to deny his thoughts.
The officials of the Three Judicial Departments were all scholars. They would only try to help Duke Yansheng escape punishment instead of harming him.
In other words...
Duke Yansheng did commit the crime of treason and aiding the enemy.
After expressing his emotion, Zheng Chenggong quickly finished his meal and boarded the ship again.
In early November, the fleet finally arrived in Dengzhou.
Dengzhou Governor Yuan Shu personally went to the shore to greet him: "Master Zheng, you have had a hard journey."
"Master Yuan, you are too kind. We are all working for the court, so how can we say it is hard work?"
"Lord Zheng is right," Yuan Shu smiled and welcomed Zheng Chenggong ashore.
The two exchanged pleasantries for a while, then rode side by side towards the Dengzhou government office.
On the way, Yuan Shu said to Zheng Chenggong: "Mr. Zheng has come from afar and is not familiar with the local situation. I don't know whether I should say a few words or not."
"Master Yuan, please feel free to speak."
"You know everything about Duke Yansheng, right?"
"Yes," Zheng Chenggong nodded, "Being beaten to death was really unexpected."
Yuan Shu looked around and saw that there was no one around, so he said solemnly, "This incident has caused a big stir. Scholars from all over the country have rushed to Qufu to mourn the death of Confucius. One is to remember Confucius, and the other is to express their anger at the Duke of Yansheng and the people of the Confucius Mansion for their lack of resistance and their sorrow for their misfortune."
"Lord Yuan, are you afraid that I will go to the temple to cry too?" Zheng Chenggong asked with a helpless look.
"No, no," Yuan Shu waved his hand hastily, "There are many scholars gathered in Dengzhou City. Lord Zheng's navy should try not to have any contact with them while stationed here to avoid unnecessary trouble."
"Hmm?" Zheng Chenggong was puzzled. He looked at Yuan Shu and asked again, "Did Lord Yuan say something wrong?"
"Wrong? What's wrong?" Yuan Shu was stunned by Zheng Chenggong's question.
Zheng Chenggong explained: "Dengzhou is close to the sea, far away from Qufu, and not on the road to Qufu. These scholars should go to Qufu to cry at the temple, why are they gathering in Dengzhou?"
"Ah!" Yuan Shu sighed, "This is a long story."
Looking at the nearby Dengzhou City, Zheng Chenggong urged: "Then please make your speech short, Lord Yuan!"
Zheng Chenggong's subordinates were nominally government troops, but they were pirates after all.
The military discipline is somewhat worse than that of the official army.
Although there will be no incidents of robbing people's things, we cannot guarantee that there will be no conflicts with local people.
Yuan Shu first organized his thoughts, and then said word by word: "After hearing that Duke Yansheng was killed, scholars from all over Shandong had different reactions."
"Some people think that Duke Yansheng deserved to die, some think that this was an injustice against Duke Yansheng, and some think that this was a complete conspiracy. In order to find out whether the letter was forged, some scholars gathered in Dengzhou and planned to follow the navy's warships to Liaodong to personally question the Jiannu."
"Wow!" Zheng Chenggong was a little surprised: "They are quite courageous!"
"Yes, there are also many people with integrity among scholars." Yuan Shu said with emotion.
"Haha," Zheng Chenggong chuckled, "This is not about being brave, this is about being brainless. Let's not even talk about whether they can meet the Jiannu. Even if they do, they will probably be scared to the ground before they even ask."
"And the most crucial point is that the Jiannu may not tell the truth."
"So it doesn't make any sense whether they go to Liaodong or not."
"Lord Zheng is a man of quick wit and is worthy of being a person valued by His Majesty." Yuan Shu smiled and entered Dengzhou City with Zheng Chenggong.
In the following days, Zheng Chenggong was waiting for Wang Yongji's orders.
His subordinates initially stayed around the dock, but after a while they found it boring.
Start going into the city to eat, drink and have fun.
On the evening of the fifth day of November, a dozen drunken soldiers walked out of the city arm in arm.
They took leave in advance and wanted to spend the night in the city.
But he had run out of money and had to go back to the boat to sleep before the city gates closed.
As they walked, one of them suddenly stopped.
"What's wrong?" asked the other soldiers.
"No...not full!" said the soldier, patting his stomach.
"We have spent all our money, so we have no choice but to endure not having enough to eat," said another person.
"No, my stomach will feel burning if I don't eat enough after drinking." The soldier looked around while speaking.
Others had similar thoughts and looked around.
As they looked, they found a very luxurious house not far away.
The reason why it is called luxurious is that the wall of this house is very high.
The adobe wall is about eight feet high.
At this time, there was a big rooster squatting on the courtyard wall, about to crow.
The soldiers looked at each other, then smiled at the same time and turned their eyes to the big rooster.
"Hey, hey," several people said as they walked forward, rubbing their hands, "Dinner is settled!"
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