Chapter 179: People are murderous, and the world is turned upside down

Chapter 179: People are murderous, and the world is turned upside down

Chapter 179: People are murderous, and the world is turned upside down (Subscription required)

Lord Feng stepped out and pleaded for the people with great enthusiasm. After a long silence, an official said, "Lord Feng, regardless of whether the issue of Duke Yansheng's bloodline is true or false, the title of Duke Yansheng was conferred by His Majesty. There is no doubt about that, right?"

"That's right." Lord Feng felt something was wrong when he saw the other party suddenly bring up this topic.

The official said to the emperor: "I think it is an indisputable fact that the Yanshenggong Mansion provoked the people to revolt, and it should be severely punished."

When Lord Feng saw that he proposed severe punishments for the Yanshenggong Mansion, instead of feeling relaxed, he frowned.

However, there was no turning back. In the Great Yu Dynasty, local officials who provoked civil unrest were always punished with serious crimes. Moreover, there was no rule in this dynasty that scholars and officials would not be executed. It was not impossible that they would lose their lives for such a serious crime.

This is because our dynasty's founder seized the world through a peasant uprising, so he was extremely cautious about this.

Once this tone was set, the other officials followed suit.

The truth is, Bei Kong is not a good person and it is impossible for him to clean up this matter for them.

The officials quickly reached a consensus on this matter.

But Feng Xifeng still felt something was wrong.

After discussing Bei Kong's crime, the official said, "Your Majesty, I ask that you punish him for the crime of rioting the people."

Feng Xifeng finally understood what was wrong.

Then, the trend changed.

The topic was not how to appease the people who were causing the uprising, but how to send troops to suppress it, capture these people, and then what to do with them.

Some people suggested killing him on the spot.

Some people suggested strengthening Liaodong.

This is because these people are committing rebellion against their superiors, which is the greatest crime in the world.

In the officials' view, no matter how harsh Bei Kong was on them, it was not a reason for them to commit rebellion.

Even though the Yansheng Duke had a problem with his bloodline, he was still a member of the gentry and noble class before he was stripped of his title. Some officials even made direct remarks that were heartbreaking. What if one day, a mob attacked a prince of the royal family for similar reasons?

The principles of propriety and hierarchy are the greatest principles in the world.

While court officials were discussing this, the court received urgent news that the Golden Horde on the grassland was marching south and that the Jurchens were causing chaos in Liaodong, and border troubles had arisen again.

At this moment, everyone immediately spoke in unison.

The Yellow River flooded, and we had to provide relief to the victims. At this time, military rations were also essential. If we were to be lenient with the rioters in the Confucius Mansion and only take them as captives, the food in Taicang would not be enough to support them.

In fact, the food issue is just an excuse.

The ministers here expressed their position that Bei Kong’s crime can be punished, but the rebellious people who rebel against the superiors must not be tolerated.

This is the common interest of all gentry, nobles and even the emperor.

In short, rebellion is a crime and an unforgivable sin!
Even though Feng Xifeng argued with reason, he still could not change the will of the ministers. In the end, a resolution was passed to send troops to suppress the civil unrest in Confucius Mansion, and anyone who participated in the rebellion would be killed on the spot without any reason.

...

...

After leaving court, Feng Xifeng was distraught.

He wondered if Gongming was here, would he be able to change the decision of the ministers? He could not think of any way.

In fact, the matter of the Kong family has been settled.

This time, Beikong will no longer be able to enjoy wealth and prosperity.

After they were questioned, those lands were naturally taken back by the court, but would soon be divided up among the gentry and nobles. Of course, this process would take several years, and during this period, those people who did not rebel would be able to benefit to some extent.

After all, there are fewer people, but the land is still the same and people are still needed to cultivate it.

Improving treatment is inevitable.

As he walked on his way home, he felt extremely disappointed with the imperial court, but he didn't know how to vent his feelings. It seemed as if no one was wrong, and no one was wrong at the same time.

Not long after he returned home, someone from Yanyue Hall came to see him and said that the Prime Minister wanted to ask him to come over for a chat.

Feng Xifeng then went to Yanyue Hall.

In the past, he was quite respectful to the Prime Minister, but today, he suddenly felt less respect for him, yet he understood him very well.

"Qiu Yuan, do you feel disappointed that I passed this resolution today?" the Prime Minister said directly.

"I don't dare, my subordinates."

"Haha, I don't dare, but I really think so in my heart."

Feng Xifeng: "Prime Minister, I understand your difficulties. If you don't punish those people severely, the officials in the court will definitely not cooperate in disaster relief and border issues, and the harm will be even greater. Even if I were the prime minister, I couldn't think of any other solution."

Prime Minister: "Whenever you do something, you can't avoid the private interests. If you don't appease these people, the victims of the Yellow River flood and the people on the border will suffer. If you let the grassland Tartars enter the pass, even more people will suffer."

At this point, he sighed: "Qiu Yuan, I am also a human being. I really didn't do well enough."

This sentence was so bitter and heavy that Feng Xifeng didn't know how to respond. He cupped his hands and said, "Prime Minister, I am willing to go to Dongshan Province to comfort the people."

The Prime Minister shook his head: "This matter was caused by your son-in-law. If you go, it will only intensify the conflict. Now for the sake of overall stability, you should not do anything."

Feng Xifeng felt a tightness in his chest.

For the sake of overall stability, the people who have been oppressed and forced to rebel can be sacrificed and not given any chance to survive.

Feng Xifeng suddenly realized that this was the way the imperial court solved grassroots problems.

Without these rioters, the problem will naturally be solved.

He couldn't help but say, "Prince, I still have something to say. The Kong family has accumulated a huge amount of money and grain over the years. If we collect it and turn it over to the public, we can actually deal with these current problems."

Prime Minister: "You said this in the court today. Did anyone pay attention to you?"

"Yuan Fu, please let me go to Zhongzhou to provide disaster relief. I can't stay in the capital now."

Prime Minister: "Qiu Yuan, listen to me. This matter is not up to you. Just stay in the capital and don't go anywhere. If something happens to you, how can I face Xu Gongming? This world can't stand any more trouble."

After he finished speaking, he served tea to the guest.

Feng Xifeng had no choice but to leave.

On the way, he met the official who had first proposed severe punishment for the Confucius family and turned his attention to the rioters.

"Duan De, don't you feel a bit uneasy when you propose to unjustly kill those civilians?" Feng Xifeng scolded.

Duan De sneered, "Master Feng, if your son-in-law hadn't brought this up, would these people be in this situation? If you want to know who harmed them, it was your son-in-law. If you want to talk about retribution, your family will suffer the retribution first."

Feng Xifeng was speechless for a moment.

Duan De's twisted logic made him not know how to refute it.

"Sir Feng, why don't you take such words to heart?" Sir Wu, the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate, came over and comforted him.

After all, he is the father-in-law of his favorite student. Lord Wu was a little worried about him today. When he heard that he had gone to Yanyue Hall, he came to look for him specially, and then saw this scene.

"Lord Wu..." Feng Xifeng was overwhelmed with emotions.

Lord Wu laughed: "This is not the place to talk."

He took Lord Feng to the Red Light Alley.

This is what Lord Wu is most dissatisfied with about the capital city: the prices are high, the quality is average, and he simply cannot find good goods with a good value for money.

It is not easy to live in the capital, as can be seen from this.

Consumption has gone up, but service has gone down. Is this fair?

After finding two singing girls to accompany him for drinking, Lord Wu said, "If I don't make Lord Feng happy today, I won't pay you."

He was the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate, in charge of monitoring public conduct and was the immediate superior of these brothels.

However, Lord Wu is a very particular person and he pays according to the market price every time he comes.

Sometimes he comes here to study the languages ​​of various countries in the Western Regions and works very hard to improve himself.

The madam next to him smiled and said, "We hope that you will come to inspect us every day and give us more advice. Logically, we should pay you."

Lord Wu laughed, "You are the only old man who can talk."

Afterwards, Lord Wu said to Lord Feng, "Brother Qiuyuan, don't take Duan De's words to heart. You have a conscience, so you are affected by his words. Is there anything wrong with the people of the Kong Mansion resisting? Who doesn't want to retaliate after being bullied? Their mistake is that their knives are not hard enough. The gentry and nobles are many and their knives are hard, so Your Majesty and the Prime Minister have to compromise. It's that simple. Whoever has the bigger fist is right."

He saw clearly.

All the things like insubordination, respect for the inferior and etiquette are based on the knife.

Without a knife, who would talk to you about etiquette and hierarchy?

The history books clearly state that the emperor is the one with the strongest army and the most powerful horses. Lord Wu added: "Now there are border troubles, floods, and many obstacles to reform. All kinds of troubles have been added together. The Prime Minister and Your Majesty are not going to remake the world. These things are all in front of us, and there are always priorities. I don't need to say these principles, you understand them. You are just too conscientious. We are all officials, what do we need conscience for..."

Feng Xifeng's mouth twitched, and he thought, "Your logic is even more crooked than Duan De's."

But what Old Wu said is indeed right. Ultimately, it comes down to a question of who holds the knife.

The government troops could not deal with the enemy and could not solve the flood. The emperor and the prime minister could not be enemies with the gentry and nobles. So they would naturally deal with whoever was easiest to deal with.

Lord Wu was drunk and continued, "In my opinion, there is no right or wrong in this world. If there is anything wrong, it is the heaven and earth that are wrong. They insist on letting wolves eat sheep and sheep eat grass, the strong bully the weak, and the weak bully the weaker. Just like we always say that the people of the world are all under heaven, but don't the people themselves bully the weaker people? Families with more people will bully those with fewer people, and villages with more people will bully villages with fewer people. Even if I am a father and have power and influence, I still have the final say at home and pay attention to respect and inferiority. Heaven and earth have made us like this, what else can we do?"

Feng Xifeng was also drunk, and couldn't help but said, "Master Wu, I usually thought you were unlearned and unskilled, but I didn't expect you to be able to express such profound insights."

Lord Wu's face immediately turned dark and he asked, "Old Feng, can you speak?"

Can the second-class Jinshi look down on the third-class Jinshi?
I am your senior in the imperial examination!
After Lord Feng finished speaking, he felt that he had said something wrong and smiled awkwardly.

Wine and sex are indeed good things, they can make people forget their worries.

After returning home and wearing off the alcohol, Lord Feng still wrote a serious letter to Xu Qing, telling him about the court's decision and possible subsequent developments.

He did not offer any advice and told Xu Qing what he knew truthfully.

After this experience, he indeed discovered that he was still just a scholar who only knew how to talk about war on paper and had not experienced the real test of blood and fire.

In the past, Xu Qing protected him too well.

He didn't encounter any setbacks in Nanzhili, and he really thought that he could handle everything in the world by chatting and laughing. It was still a problem of overestimating his abilities.

He couldn't help but feel sad for his son-in-law. It had been so difficult for this child along the way.

Then, Lord Feng attended the court meeting today.

A small meeting of this level could only be attended by important officials of the court and senior eunuchs of the inner court, except for the Six Departments' Secretaries. Lord Wu was not qualified.

Of course, as the Six Departments Censor, Lord Feng does not have the power to make decisions, but he can provide suggestions.

Early in the morning, Lord Feng, as the Censor of the Military Department, received a hint from the Prime Minister and recommended Lord Wu, his drinking buddy from last night, to inspect Liaodong as the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate.

After all, in the eyes of the court and the public, Lord Wu has a rich resume, is a typical man who knows military affairs, and has experience as a local administrator, so maintaining the people's safety is no problem for him.

Such a person, who is also the Right Censor-in-Chief of the Inspectorate, is just right to inspect Liaodong and stabilize the situation in the Northeast at this time.

...

...

Lord Wu comforted Lord Feng last night, and then cried this afternoon.

The decision had already been made from above to send him on an inspection tour of Liaodong.

No, how come he became a recognized person who knows military affairs?

Mr. Wu’s professional ability does not include knowledge of military affairs.

"Gongming, save me!" Lord Wu wrote a letter overnight and sent it urgently over a distance of 800 miles.

He heard that the Jurchens who roamed the Baishan and Heishui in Liaodong were particularly brutal, and that there was a Seven Killing Demon Palace outside the Great Wall. The demon lord in the palace had great magical powers and was extremely difficult to provoke.

As for those Jurchen shamans, they are also very powerful.

In terms of danger, it is no less dangerous than places like Lingnan. Lord Wu really wanted to cry but had no tears.

But there is really no way to shirk this matter.

Judging from his resume and rank, Lord Wu is the most suitable person to inspect Liaodong.

No one is more suitable than him to go.

In the officialdom, those who are capable should work harder.

Even in the eyes of his good brother, Minister Zhang, Old Wu was going there to gild his reputation. As long as he returned safely and had more experience, he might be able to become an official in one of the six ministries in the future as a third-class Jinshi.

For Lord Wu, if he does this well, it will be a gilded achievement, but if he does it poorly, it will be a death sentence.

Others may not know how much he weighs, but he doesn't?
Without Gongming, how could he have achieved all those achievements before?

And when he heard that it was Feng Xifeng who recommended him, Old Wu almost got blood boiling.

However, Old Wu also understood that personnel matters of this level would definitely not be decided by Old Feng. If he came, Old Feng would be just a mouthpiece.

He remembered that the Prime Minister deliberately asked Lord Feng to go to Yanyue Hall yesterday. No matter what they talked about in there, today Feng Xifeng recommended him, and everyone would understand that this was the Prime Minister's intention.

It is true that the Prime Minister used him, and it is even more true that he used Xu Gongming.

...

...

The head of the Lu family met Xu Qing, but he didn't expect that the head of the Zhu family was also there, which made him feel a little embarrassed.

After all, when the four major families met privately, the Zhu family had quite a few opinions about Xu Qing.

Unexpectedly, Lao Zhu and Xu Qing are now chatting and laughing, as if they are old friends.

When Old Zhu saw the head of the Lu family coming, he was slightly embarrassed at first, then smiled and said, "Brother Lu, what do you want to see Xu Jieyuan for?"

The head of the Lu family said, "I am here to deliver a letter on behalf of the Tianshi Mansion of Longhu Mountain."

Old Zhu said "Oh" and said to Xu Qing: "Xu Jieyuan, let's talk about this deal first. If there are any good things in the future, don't forget me, Old Zhu."

The head of the Lu family was not curious. He greeted Xu Qing directly, left the letter from the old master and left.

Xu Qing opened the letter.
"Luotian Grand Ceremony, you must come."

Below the text is a portrait of a Taoist holding a baby with his eyes closed.

Xu Qing remembered that his uncle Li Gongyi once said that he was a blind man and was given to his uncle to raise after the Xu family was wiped out.

"Is it a coincidence, or do you really know about this?"

Xu Qing thought about it carefully and felt that someone like the old Taoist priest would not draw this for no reason.

"It seems that we have to go to this Luotian Grand Ceremony."

Xu Qing thought so in his mind, but did not reply directly.

He also had to wait and see how the imperial court would deal with the Confucius Mansion incident next.

Ten days later, he received the letters from Lord Wu and his father-in-law.

In the current situation, the matter with Wei Yuan, the disciple of the master of Chaotian Temple, was just a trivial matter. Xu Qing dealt with it briefly and after realizing that the other party had the intention of seizing the position of Duke of Wei, he did not have any further in-depth discussion.

He still needs to continue observing Wei Yuan's abilities and thoughts. This matter is just a casual chess piece and cannot be used for the time being.

To be honest, he had anticipated the court's decision.

But the fact that the resolution was passed unanimously still surprised Xu Qing a little.

Perhaps these people in high positions really don't care about the lower classes at all.

Liu Xuande once said that every time he rebelled against Cao, his plans would succeed.

If he does not fight for the people's support that the court does not want, someone else will.

"Sir, I investigated the mine and found that the Great Zen Temple actually has similar mineral veins. It turns out that the bronze men in the Great Zen Temple use this kind of ore. Those bronze men were originally mechanical puppets, but under the effect of these ores, they can actually fight like living people." Su Lianqing lived up to Xu Qing's trust and found clues about the mine. She paused and said, "In addition, I found one more thing. After the Yellow River flood, the Great Zen Temple rescued a large number of victims and settled them down. And it seems that they were well prepared."

Xu Qing: "So they knew the Yellow River would flood at this time?"

"It should be, otherwise the action wouldn't be so quick. And after I investigated, I found that Dachan Temple had issued a warning earlier, saying that there would be a flood this year, but not many people believed it."

Xu Qing immediately understood that this was Xiong Chan's plan.

The earth emits murderous intent, dragons and snakes rise from the land.

People are murderous, and the world is turned upside down!

Monks rebelling is not a new thing. Before the establishment of this dynasty, there was a rebellion by Monk Peng, who was also a martial arts master at the time. The "Xuan Gong Yao Jue" he left behind was a martial arts classic that once caused bloodshed in the martial arts world.

A murderous intent was brewing in his heart, and he asked Su Lianqing to bring paper, pen and ink, and wrote with great speed.
"Hair is like leeks, it grows back after being cut; head is like a chicken, it crows again after being cut; officials need not be feared, but the common people should never be looked down upon."

A murderous intent in humanity was brewing.

Dragons fight in the wild, their blood is black and yellow!

This is also an opportunity for Xu Qing to transform from a weapon at the heart of the imperial court to a knife-wielding man.

In this incident, Xu Qing had already seen the weakness of the Prime Minister and the Emperor.

But that's it!

(End of this chapter)