北边的这些邻居们休养生息的能力很出色，稍微给他们点喘息的空间，他们就可以组织出来一支彪悍的骑兵。扰边、劫掠，这也是他们习惯的事情。一旦遇到了自然灾害，或者是察觉到了中原王朝比较虚弱，那就会骑着战马举起弯刀。
本来还是想要继续坐龙椅的，但是朱允煐忽然间意识到了不对劲，他的皇爷爷抢先一步。
An awkward Zhu Yunying reverted to his old ways, with the Emperor sitting on the dragon throne and him merely standing beside him. The entire court was used to this; it was just a matter of title, as it had always been the same. The only difference was whether he was the Emperor or the Crown Prince before; the so-called "observation of the government" was merely nominal.
After all, back then, many matters were handled by the Crown Prince and then submitted to the Emperor for review.
Sitting on the dragon throne, listening to various reports, Old Zhu suddenly revealed his true intentions: "I've been going back to my hometown these past few days and looking around. Our capital is great; there are quite a few wealthy families here now."
This is the truth. As the hometown of an emperor, it must have been a place of clean governance and simple, honest people. No one would dare to misbehave there. Perhaps even a frail old man was someone who once urinated and played in the mud with Emperor Zhu. Moreover, given the strong sense of community in those times, everyone knew that Emperor Zhu paid immense attention to his hometown.
Even the successor emperors dared not be careless and were bound to pay close attention to their homeland.
Old Zhu slowly began to speak, continuing, "We were fortunate to have met good people before, which is why our parents were able to have a place to be buried after they died. We thought that Qufu was home to the descendants of sages, but look at what these descendants of sages have done! Ordinary people have become their tenants, and not only have the common people had no land to cultivate, but how much land have they seized through trickery and force?"
Kong Ne continued trembling, while Old Zhu continued, "If someone from Qufu has no place to bury their parents and brothers after they die, I wonder if a kind person will be able to give them a piece of land. We think it's a bit difficult. The Kong family has taken all the land; what kind of land could they possibly give them? This is a matter of life and death. If they were to become monks in a temple, that would be alright, at least they'd be alive. But if they don't have our willpower, wouldn't they be forced to their deaths?!"
This time, not only Kong Ne, but all the civil and military officials knelt down to apologize, including Zhu Yunying.
Old Zhu continued angrily, "Kong Ne, we originally thought that since you are descendants of Confucius, we would give you some face, not for the sake of others, but for the sake of Confucius and all scholars in the world! Look at what you have done! Confucius was the King of Literature, and so are you!"
At this moment, Zhu Yunying quickly said, "Grandfather, Confucius was the Prince of Wenxuan, a title conferred by the previous dynasty. Now, we cannot depose him. The Hall for worshipping Confucius can be established with the standards for a prince."
Old Zhu snorted coldly, then shouted, "The main hall of the Confucius Temple?! We can't argue with you because you're the emperor, otherwise we'd just tear the entire Confucius Temple down!"
Kong Ne was on the verge of tears; the Confucius Temple's status had been suddenly downgraded. Previously, the entire Confucius Temple was of princely caliber, but now only the main hall dedicated to Confucius was considered a true Confucius Temple.
Zhu Yunying then continued, "The Confucius Temple now has many items that exceed the prescribed standards, and all the excess items have been sent to the Prince of Lu's residence."
Old Zhu was somewhat displeased and asked, "The title of Prince of Lu is currently vacant, which is also inappropriate."
Zhu Yunying quickly replied, "My tenth uncle was enfeoffed in the eighteenth year of the Hongwu reign, but at that time, the state of our Great Ming Dynasty was..."
“We built him a princely residence in the thirteenth year of Hongwu’s reign, and that residence is sufficient for him!” Old Zhu rebuked again, saying to Zhu Yunying, “Destroy all the overstepping objects in the Confucian Temple!”
Seeing that Old Zhu gave him a wink, Zhu Yunying immediately understood.
It's not necessarily true that the Lu Prince's Mansion is incredibly magnificent now. After all, there were so many princely mansions during the Ming Dynasty, as Zhu Yuanzhang's sons were all enfeoffed as princes in various regions. At that time, the Ming Dynasty was not particularly powerful, and many areas were still in a period of recuperation and development.
Zhu Yunying bestowed some overstepping items from the Confucius Temple upon the Prince of Lu's residence, essentially as a gift to Zhu Zhaohui, the Prince of Lu's heir. After all, the Confucius Temple had been a princely residence since the Yuan Dynasty, and it contained many valuable items. However, Zhu Yunying's intentions were also clear: to protect Zhu Zhaohui.
After all, everyone knew that the Kong family's misfortune was likely due to the Emperor's intentions. However, everyone knew that it was Zhu Zhaohui, the heir apparent of the Prince of Lu, who had taken the lead. Now, Zhu Yunying was directly rewarding Zhu Zhaohui, which was far too blatant.
Even as emperor, Zhu Yunying needed to put on a show. This way, with a little pretense, many people would reluctantly accept it. The message was that the Kong family members were of questionable character and had nothing to do with the current emperor.
At this point, Old Zhu continued, "Many members of the Kong clan are of questionable character. The Ministry of Personnel, the Ministry of Justice, the Court of State Ceremonies, and the Court of Judicial Review should send people to investigate. Do not worry about the legacy of Confucius. What the Kong clan has done is disgracing Confucius. By getting rid of those scum, we are also protecting Confucius's reputation."
Since Old Zhu has said so, it seems that for the Confucius family of Qufu, it's almost a catastrophe, if not annihilation.
And then came the real highlight. Old Zhu continued, "The land we bestow upon those who worship Confucius is, as is customary, exempt from taxes. However, the land that the Confucius clan has seized through trickery and coercion over the years is now subject to taxation. All their illegal acts will be investigated."
Well, this can be considered a devastating blow to many members of the Kong clan, as their privileges have been completely wiped out. After all, without the privilege of not paying taxes, they are almost no different from ordinary landlords.
Moreover, it seems that the land they have seized through trickery and coercion over the years will be confiscated by the imperial court or returned to the farmers. This has left many members of the Kong clan without their very means of survival.
Zhu Yunying didn't care about the survival of the Kong clan. He knew that even if they took away the land, the Kong clan would still find a way to survive. But for the farmers who were dependent on the Kong clan, their survival was uncertain.
Kong Ne wanted to object, but his own record was not clean, and his title of Duke Yansheng was likely to be revoked. The title would very likely be given to the true direct descendants of Confucius, and would have no bearing on him, a member of a collateral branch.
Furthermore, look at the retired emperor and the current emperor of the Ming Dynasty; aren't they both strong-willed? The Ming Dynasty is currently militarily strong. If Kong Ne dares to do anything now, the next moment will be the Ming Dynasty's elite troops surrounding Qufu.
Kong Ne had no doubt that the Ming Dynasty emperor was capable of such actions, especially given the emperor's constant dissemination of rumors among the common people and scholars during this period. The Kong family's reputation was now utterly ruined.
This is not because the emperors of the Ming Dynasty did not treat the descendants of Confucius well; it is simply that the Confucius clan members disregarded the legacy of their ancestors and acted lawlessly on their own. All of this is entirely their own fault.
Zhu Yunying was actually touched. He could have handled these matters himself, but Old Zhu came to court without even informing him, personally deciding to deal with them. Ultimately, he didn't want his son, Zhu Yunying, to bear any blame.
Good deeds, Xiao Zhu will do them. Bad reputation, Lao Zhu will bear it all!
There's really no reasoning with this; it's just that Old Zhu is so protective of his own!
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