I am Emperor Wanli

Chapter 439: Master, you are truly a dead tree that has come back to life!
Hai Rui rolled his eyes at Shu Youliang and was about to speak, but Shu Youliang spoke first, "Master, let's talk about whether Wang Duxian likes fish or not later. You should drink the medicine first. It's not hot anymore. It will be cold if you wait any longer."

As he spoke, Shu Youliang stood up, picked up the bowl of medicine from the desk, and brought it to Hai Rui.

Hai Rui glanced at him, smiled and shook his head, then took the bowl of medicine and gulped it down while holding his breath. When he was done, he put the bowl on the table next to him and exhaled heavily.

Shu Youliang winked at Wang Dagui and said, "Our master was born in a poor family, but he is afraid of taking medicine and thinks it is bitter, hehe."

Hai Rui did not bother with him, rolled up his sleeves and wiped his mouth, and continued: "Prince Jian learned to read at the age of five and had a photographic memory. At the age of seven, he could compose poems, which amazed the world. At the age of eighteen, he passed the imperial examination and became a Jinshi at the age of nineteen. He was very proud of his youth.

In the 33rd year of the reign of Emperor Jiajing, his son was recommended to be the director of the Nanjing Ministry of Justice, and was soon promoted to Yuanwailang. No matter how big or small the case he handled was, his judgment was fair and just, and all the parties involved were impressed.

At that time, the Zhenwu Camp in Nanjing was rioting over pay. He mounted his horse and rode alone among the troops. He unexpectedly killed several leading military officers, and then faced the angry and noisy soldiers, explained the pros and cons, and calmed the riot.

Wang Dagui listened with great interest.

While listening, Shu Youliang took out some melon seeds from his pocket and started eating them with a crunch.

Wang Dagui turned around when he heard the voice and was very surprised.

Hai Rui had long been accustomed to it, and continued: "In the 40th year of Jiajing, Zijian was transferred to Jianning as the prefect. At that time, Japanese pirates were rampant in the southeast. Several wealthy families in Jianning bribed dozens of real Japanese pirates, colluded with thousands of mountain bandits and pirates, and surrounded Jianning City.

Zijian urgently reported to the provincial capital for help while mediating with the bandits. He quickly found out the whole story and secretly bribed the wealthy families, saying that they were willing to pay them with money and grain from the government treasury in order to seek peace.

The wealthy families were greedy for the benefits, so they secretly contacted the bandits outside the city and postponed the attack on the city. Zi Jian also used a divisive strategy and deliberately spread the news that the money and food had been given to several wealthy families. The bandits outside the city were furious and withdrew their troops ten miles away, demanding that the wealthy families explain themselves.

Zijian had secretly captured those wealthy families, and then used their names to fight with the bandits outside the city to delay time. When Wang Boyu (Wang Daokun), then the deputy envoy of Fujian Province, was ordered by Tan Zili to lead troops to help, he first contacted Zijian secretly.

After receiving the letter, Zijian, in the name of those big families, made an appointment with the bandit chiefs to have a negotiation at a place 20 miles outside the city. Then he joined forces with Wang Boyu, and captured the leader first. He killed Zhen Wo and more than a dozen bandit chiefs, and then defeated the bandits.

After finishing the task, Zi Jian killed all the wealthy families and divided their property among the meritorious soldiers. However, he reported in the memorial that the wealthy families were killed by bandits and their property was looted.

Soon, the relatives of the wealthy families learned the news and contacted their relatives and friends in the local area and the capital to impeach Prince Jian. The lawsuit lasted for half a year. Fortunately, Duke Ruzhen was valued by the Crown Prince, who was the heir at the time, and was in charge of the overall situation of suppressing the Japanese in the southeast, and reported the matter to His Royal Highness.

Your Highness believes that there is nothing wrong with my recommendation, but rather that it is useful, so I will give him more important positions, and he will stand out in the suppression of Japanese pirates in the southeast and the suppression of bandits in Jiangxi, and rise to prominence. "

Hai Rui concluded: "Wang Zijian was resourceful, cunning and ruthless by nature, and acted swiftly and fiercely. At that time, someone described him as a fish being targeted by an osprey, which would almost certainly lead to its death. As it happened, his other name was Yi'e, so the name Wang Osprey became popular."

Shu Youliang spit melon seed shells into the rolled-up cloth bag on his shirt, saying non-stop, "Interesting! Interesting! Wang Yi'e sent Brother Yang to Yanzhou Prefecture two months ago to gather information secretly. It looks like the Kong family is the fish this time. Great, great! It makes everyone happy!"

Hai Rui looked at the calm Wang Dagui and remembered something. He couldn't help asking, "Dagui, you said before that your father Yan was a captain of the Rencheng Guard. Five years ago, he was framed and thrown into prison because of something he did. Fortunately, his colleagues and old friends helped him and he was spared from prison, but he died of depression."

"Yes, Hai Gong."

"Did Yan tell you what happened?"

"Yes," Wang Dagui said, "The current Duke Yansheng inherited the throne when he was young, and has stayed in the capital ever since, marrying and having children, and only returns to Qufu once a year to preside over the annual sacrifice.

Five years ago, Duke Yansheng brought his wife and two young masters back to Qufu to prepare for the sacrifice. My father was responsible for guarding the palace and patrolling everywhere. Unexpectedly, he found someone in the kitchen trying to poison the two young masters by putting drugs in the food.

My father immediately arrested the cook and servant involved in the incident and locked them up in the side courtyard of the Confucius Mansion. He would wait until the whole mansion finished offering sacrifices before the case was tried by the officials. Unexpectedly, the two men died that night. Then someone came forward and said that my father had done something wrong, but the cook and servants noticed it, so they turned against him and killed him to silence him.”

Hai Rui was stunned when he heard this.

Shu Youliang cracked melon seeds even faster, staring at Wang Dagui without blinking.

Poisoning the descendants of the current Duke of Yansheng?

What a plot!

"Dagui, can you please tell me who is the mastermind behind this?"

"Before his death, Xian Yan once quietly told his students that he suspected the mastermind behind this was Kong Zhenning, the uncle of Duke Yansheng." Hai Rui frowned, stroked his beard and said, "The previous Duke Yansheng had been engaged to the daughter of Marquis Jianchang. In the 12th year of Jiajing, Marquis Jianchang was imprisoned for a crime, and in the 25th year of Jiajing, he was beheaded in Xishi."

Zhang Yanling, Marquis of Jianchang, was the younger brother of Empress Xiaokangjing Zhang, who was the empress of Emperor Hongzhi and the mother of Emperor Zhengde.

The brothers Zhang Heling and Zhang Yanling had bad character and committed many evil deeds.

After Emperor Jiajing succeeded to the throne, he quickly made examples of the two of them. When Zhang died, he killed them both with a single knife.

"Duke Yansheng insisted on marrying Ms. Zhang, and was praised by the world. Later, the late emperor granted a marriage to the legitimate son of Duke Yansheng, the current Duke Yansheng, and appointed the granddaughter of Yan Song as his match.

His brother Kong Zhenning did not want to associate with the granddaughter of a treacherous official, so he moved to Wenshang, where he was praised by the world.

Shu Youliang spit out the melon seed shells and said with a look of insight: "Master, you can only know a person's face but not his heart!"

What Hai Rui didn't know was that in normal history, during the chaos at the end of the Ming Dynasty and the Qing invasion of China, in the first year of the Shunzhi reign, Duke Yansheng Kong Yinzhi could not wait to submit his "Initial Memorial".

"All nations admire the rule of the Reform; the emperor's rule is upright, the emperor's benevolence is renewed, the people return home, the whole world celebrates. I respectfully wish that the emperor, who has inherited the throne from heaven, will pacify the people with virtue. Looking at the prosperity of the holy learning, I am afraid to be left behind; looking up to the brilliant plan of the emperor, I admire him deeply."

Then he happily became the Yansheng Duke of the Qing Dynasty.

In the second year of Shunzhi, the Qing Dynasty issued an order to shave heads. Kong Yinzhi took the lead in leading his people to shave their heads and also submitted a memorial to the Qing court.
And this Duke Yansheng, Kong Yinzhi, was the grandson of Kong Zhenning and the son of Kong Shangtan.

The contemporary Duke of Yansheng, Kong Shangxian, had two sons, Kong Yinchun and Kong Yingui, who died early for no reason. After Kong Shangxian's death, Kong Yinren succeeded him and inherited the title of Duke of Yansheng in the second year of the Tianqi reign.

Kong Yinzhi also requested the Qing court to posthumously confer the titles of Prince Taibao and Yanshenggong on Kong Zhenning and Kong Shangtan.

It's really a legacy passed down from generation to generation, they are filial sons and grandsons!

Wang Dagui said, "Mr. Hai, the real power of the Duke of Yansheng's Mansion is now in the hands of Kong Zhenning. His eldest son Kong Shangtan, the second son Kong Shangxian, and other relatives and minions are everywhere in the Kong Mansion. All the people in Shandong who do bad things under the banner of the Kong Mansion are related to him."

Shu Youliang slapped his thigh and said, "The case is solved! Duke Yansheng has no sons and no heirs. According to the clan law and etiquette, of course, the heir of old man Kong Zhenning will be the heir.

This punk wants to not only be the powerful Yansheng Duke, but also the real Yansheng Duke!"

Hai Rui's eyes flickered. "Have you told Yang Yunpeng about this?"

"Mr. Hai, my uncle knows this matter very well. He has been plotting revenge for my father and stepmother over the years. He knows Kong Zhenning's background better than anyone else.

Now he has been invited by Yang Zhongjun to be a junior officer to help handle the affairs of the Confucius Mansion."

"That's right. The Kong family can't escape this time!" Shu Youliang said with a laugh.

Hai Rui also let out a long sigh, stroked his beard and said, "Dagui, your family is well-educated, you don't deserve such a vulgar name."

"I dare not hide anything from Lord Hai. My ancestors named me Wang Fengmeng, with the courtesy name Huchen, and my younger brother Wang Fengju, with the courtesy name Aotu. But my brothers and I feel that our father's death has not been avenged, so we dare not see our ancestors, so we changed our names to Dagui and Xiaofu. We will only face the world with our correct names after our father's death."

Hai Rui recited, "'When you go up the mountain, you will meet a fierce tiger; when you go into the sea, you will meet a giant turtle. If the king survives, he will have a fish-scale knife on his waist.' You first chose these two names carefully. I have high hopes for you two brothers.

Well, if you are still willing to take me as your master, then listen to my advice and restore your reputation."

Wang Dagui was overjoyed. He stood up and knelt before Hai Rui, kowtowed three times in a row, "Disciple Wang Fengmeng, hello to my teacher!"

Hai Rui stroked his beard and laughed happily.

Shu Youliang finished cracking the melon seeds, lifted up his shirt collar, and dumped the full melon seed shells out of the window. He turned around and said with a smile, "Master, you are old enough to accept an apprentice. It's really a blessing from the dead. To celebrate, let's add two meat dishes tonight."

(End of this chapter)