The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 181 The Court's Actions

Tu Wenfu, the eunuch in charge of the Secretariat, and his entourage arrived in Qufu. Accompanying Tu Wenfu were Zhang Tijian, the eunuch in charge of the Ministry of Horses, and Zhou Yingqiu, the head of the Ministry of Works.

Zhang Tiquan was a close confidant of Wei Zhongxian. He was also a martial artist with great skills and ruthless tactics.

In the 47th year of Wanli's reign, Wei Zhongxian came to power, and Zhang Tijian made great contributions. It is said that he killed five eunuchs in one day, which frightened Lu Shou so much that he surrendered directly and handed over the throne of the eunuch to Wei Zhongxian, although he could not escape death in the end.

This time, the imperial court sent Zhang Tijian to serve as the military supervisor of Dengzhou, in charge of the troops, money and food. In theory, all the guards, combat troops and water camp troops in Dengzhou Prefecture would be under his control.

Of course, that's just in theory.

Zhou Yingqiu was a Jinshi in the 23rd year of Wanli's reign. He remained unknown for more than ten years during the Wanli reign. After Emperor Taichang ascended the throne, he was promoted to the head of the Ministry of Works as an exception. This time, he was promoted to the military governor of Dengzhou. He and Zhang Tijian, one civil and one military, were the confidants of the emperor and eunuch Wei respectively. They were parachuted into Dengzhou at the same time, which shows that the court was already wary of Ping Liaohou.

The eldest brother Wei Zhongxian also began to be dissatisfied with this younger brother.

After all, big trees attract the wind.

When Liu Zhaosun killed Yuan Yingtai, the governor of Liaodong, the emperor remained silent and did not take action against him. However, the Kaiyuan army became more aggressive and not only established its own separatist regime in Liaodong, but also extended its influence to Shandong under the pretext of suppressing the rebellion.

During the period when the Kaiyuan Army landed in Shandong, impeachment memorials from the prefectures and counties around Jining and Linqing were continuously sent to the capital. More than a dozen officials jointly submitted a memorial, impeaching Ping Liaohou for using the name of pacifying the Wenxiang Sect to march to the Grand Canal, showing off his military power, and coveting the wealthy land of Shandong. Some even accused him of having rebellious intentions.

The emperor was furious after receiving the memorial. It would have been fine if Liu Zhaosun had just robbed some silver in Dengzhou, but he even dared to set his sights on the canal, which violated the emperor's bottom line.

Zhu Changluo usually indulged in women, but when it came to military and national affairs, he was just like his father Wanli, and would not tolerate any carelessness. What was even more terrible was that the new emperor never missed the morning court, and it was as if he was not his father's biological son.

In September, the emperor summoned General Wei Zhongxian into the palace twice, severely reprimanded the factory manager, and warned Wei Zhongxian to teach Liu Zhaosun a lesson and stop the Kaiyuan army from acting recklessly.

Wei Zhongxian originally wanted Liu Zhaosun to stay in Liaodong and serve as the Marquis of Pingliao, and send a detachment to support the Sichuan troops in suppressing the rebellion in the southwest in the future.

I didn't expect that my younger brother was so ambitious. He occupied Dengzhou without saying a word and was about to march towards Qufu. Is he planning to attack the capital next?

Wei Zhongxian was quite angry and felt that Liu Zhaosun was deliberately making things difficult for him.

After all, Wei Zhongxian was a eunuch and the emperor's man.

In the Ming Dynasty, all the power of eunuchs came from the emperor. Without the emperor's support, the eunuchs were nothing.

At present, the actions of the Kaiyuan army in Shandong have seriously threatened the imperial power.

It was time to make a decision: to follow Ping Liaohou in rebellion, or to continue serving the emperor as the Ninth Thousand Years Old. Wei Zhongxian gave the answer with practical actions.

At his suggestion, the cabinet voted to replace the military supervisor of Dengzhou to restrain the ever-expanding Kaiyuan army.

Liu Zhaosun knew nothing about the incident in the capital. Pei Dahu had not returned yet, and he suspected that the three guards had been captured by the Jinyiwei.

~~~~~
Liu Zhaosun did not know Tu Wenfu and had no impression of him. He only knew that this eunuch was difficult to deal with.

Historically, Tu Wenfu was Wei Zhongxian's confidant, and was later promoted to the eunuch in charge of ceremonies. After Wei Zhongxian's downfall, he was exiled to Nanjing by Chongzhen to live in seclusion. He was one of the few bigwigs in the eunuch party who was able to survive.

Tu Wenfu introduced Zhang Tiqian and Zhou Yingqiu to Kang Yingqian. After a few pleasantries, Eunuch Tu pulled Kang Jianjun aside and whispered:

"Inspector Kang, the civil officials regard Liaodong as a land of wolves. It is truly remarkable that General Kang has been able to hold on here. To be honest, the emperor has said that General Kang has made outstanding contributions and has always wanted to transfer you back to the capital to be a chief official, so that you won't suffer in that bitter cold place."

Kang Yinggan chuckled. Of course he didn't believe this nonsense. What he had done in Liaodong over the years with Liu Zhaosun was enough to deserve being beheaded ten times.

"Your Majesty's grace is immense, and I am deeply grateful. However, I am incompetent and unlearned. Compared to the other ministers, I am like a bright fire compared to the sun and moon. Moreover, I am old and cannot travel far. I will just linger here and wait for death! I am grateful for your kindness, Eunuch Tu."

Seeing that Kang Yingqian failed to be bribed and was determined to stay with Liu Zhaosun, Tu Wenfu's face suddenly changed and he said coldly:

"We came to Qufu only to announce the emperor's decree. Eunuch Zhang and Lord Zhou are both his majesty's men. They were ordered to come to Shandong to thoroughly investigate the murder of Duke Yansheng. They will be stationed in Dengzhou in the future to assist the Marquis of Ping Liao."

Kang Yingqian knew that these two gentlemen were not easy to deal with, so he thought about how to deal with them and nodded with a smile.

"Don't worry, Eunuch Tu. Marquis Ping Liao and I will do our utmost to cooperate with the Military Supervisor and the Military Preparations Commissioner, and ensure that they do not suffer any injustice."

~~~~~
On November 18, the first year of Taichang, at the Qufu County Government Office.

Tu Wenfu slowly unfolded the imperial edict, and Ping Liaohou led a group of civil and military officials to burn incense and receive it.

Emperor Fengtian Chengyun
The edict said:

Rewarding meritorious service is a hallmark of the imperial court; a high-ranking marquis is a testament to the talents of those who are pillars of strength. You, Liu Zhaosun, Marquis of Ping Liao, have served the Liaodong region with distinction, conquering the Liaodong region and the Communists. You have long served in Kaiyuan, providing support for the region's defense; upon ascending Qi and Lu, you have purged the rebels! As a token of my great grace, I bestow upon you a reward of 10,000 taels of silver, provide relief to the three armies, and appoint you, Marquis of Ping Liao, Junior Tutor to the Crown Prince, Commander-in-Chief of Dengzhou, and assume responsibility for the defense of Dengzhou. This is my imperial decree! October 6, the second year of the Taichang reign.

Marquis Ping Liao took the imperial edict and kowtowed to thank the emperor for his grace.

Tu Wenfu quickly stepped forward to help Liu Zhaosun up, looked him up and down, and said with a smile:
"General Liu has been promoted to a higher rank, congratulations! The Military Governor and the Military Supervisor have just arrived, so I hope General Liu will take good care of them."

Liu Zhaosun heard the hidden meaning in the old eunuch's words and said with a smile, "Very good, very good. As long as you stay on my territory, I will guarantee the safety of the two adults."

This sounded very wrong. Tu Wenfu knew how Yuan Yingtai died. He suppressed his anger and exchanged a few words with Liu Zhaosun.

That day, Liu Zhaosun asked Tu Wenfu to stay in Qufu for a few days, but the old eunuch repeatedly declined and said sarcastically:
"Forget it, forget it. Qufu has just been ravaged by the White Lotus. Even the Duke of Yan was murdered by the treacherous people. My life is worthless and not as strong as Confucius. Let's go back first."

That day, Eunuch Tu took the young eunuch back to the capital to report. Liu Zhaosun was angry and did not send anyone to see him off.

~~~~~
Over the next few days, Kang Yingqian and County Magistrate Jiang Zheng were busy entertaining the newly arrived military supervisor and military governor. They spent money at brothels and taverns, clearly documenting all the public funds spent on food and drink.

However, like Tu Wenfu, Zhou Yingqiu and Zhang Tiqian were also unmoved. They refused to accept money or women. Kang Yingqian initially thought that the other party was interested in a homosexual relationship, so he spent two thousand taels to hire a teenage singer. As a result, he was scolded by Zhou Yingqiu - the other party was not interested in that.

Kang Yingqian reported his setback to Ping Liaohou. Liu Zhaosun was young and hot-headed after all, and soon lost interest in bribing the two men after being treated so coldly.

Zhou Yingqiu and Zhang Tiquan were not idle. As soon as they settled down, they sent their trusted personal soldiers to investigate the four cities of Qufu.

Zhou Yingqiu and Zhang Tiquan planned to go to the Confucius Mansion and Confucius Forest to check, maybe they could find some clues about the murder of Duke Yansheng there.

Of course, nothing was gained. Seeing that bribery failed, Kang Yingqian sent someone to accompany Eunuch Zhang and Lord Zhou to secretly monitor their every move.

~~~~~~
Civil officials had emptied the Confucius Mansion of everything except the two stone lions at the gate, which were too heavy to move. Liu Zhaosun did not leave any of the tens of thousands of cultural relics, treasures, calligraphy and paintings, and antiques in the Confucius Mansion to Duke Yansheng, and all were shipped back to Wendeng.

Kong Lin's fate was even worse.

Since the Qin and Han dynasties, scholars and poets throughout history have planted trees in the Confucius Forest to commemorate the sage, including fine woods such as pine, nanmu, and teak. Rulers of all dynasties have taken protective measures for the Confucius Forest. During the Qing Dynasty, to demonstrate its fine tradition of respecting Confucianism, the Qing Dynasty built a wall around the Confucius Forest and stationed troops there.

Anyone who dared to enter the Confucius Forest would be beaten with a stick at the very least, or beheaded at the worst.

Under the protection of emperors of all dynasties, Confucius Forest is full of towering trees and vast expanse, with extremely rich forest resources.

Good quality wood was an extremely scarce resource in the Ming Dynasty and was especially needed for the construction of the imperial palace.

Most of the imperial palace buildings were made of earth and wood, which were extremely prone to fire. Since the Ming Dynasty, there have been numerous records of palaces being burned down. Of course, many of them were man-made disasters.

In the 35th year of the Yongle reign (the second year after the capital was moved to Beijing), a fire broke out in the Fengtian Hall, spreading to the Jinshen Hall and the Huagai Hall, reducing the three main halls to ash. In the summer of the th year of the Jiajing reign, another fire broke out in the three main halls. The fire spread along the east and west corridors of the three main halls and reached outside the Meridian Gate. In the th year of the Wanli reign, the fire not only destroyed the three main halls but also the Qianqing Palace and Kunning Palace, leaving the central section of the Forbidden City in ruins. The reconstruction of these palaces took years, and was completed in the th year of the Tianqi reign.

Wudang Mountain was built in the early Ming Dynasty. One hundred thousand soldiers and civilians were mobilized to cut down countless fine trees. Emperor Jiajing believed in Taoism and built Taoist temples in various places.

The nanmu resources in North China were quickly exhausted, followed by those in Huguang and Jiangnan.

Finally, the emperor had no choice but to send people to Yunnan, Guizhou and other places to cut down trees. However, because the mountains where nanmu trees grow are high and the water is deep, the cost of cutting down trees is very high. (Note 1)

The historical records record the officials who collected wood in the Ming Dynasty as follows:
The officials who collected wood had to sleep in the open air, living in the mountains day and night, for a period of up to a year and a half. (Note 2)

Of course, even so, no one dared to attack the Confucius Cemetery in Qufu.

Since Liu Zhaosun killed Duke Yansheng, I believe Duke Yansheng would have no objection to chopping off some wood for him at the same time.

The soldiers cut the giant tree into pieces, hid them in the food and fodder shipped to Wendeng, and secretly transported them to Weihaiwei Port.

These high-quality timbers will be transported by ship to Pi Island in Korea, providing the most core materials for Ping Liaohou's shipbuilding business.

The stone tablets in the Confucius Forest are even more priceless. There are many authentic works of calligraphers from past dynasties in the forest of tablets. Under the advice of expert Qiao Yiqi, Liu Zhaosun arranged for the Industry and Commerce Bureau to smuggle these stone tablets to the south through the Liaodong Trading Company and sell them to wealthy people in Jiangsu, Zhejiang and Fujian in exchange for tea and silk.

Liu Zhaosun was finally able to pay back the eight thousand taels of silver that he owed to Qiao Dazui.

Qiao Yiqi roughly estimated that even at the current lowest market price, more than 500 Tang and Song dynasty steles would have to be sold for at least 500,000 silver coins.

In addition to the three million taels of silver and tens of thousands of antiques seized from the Confucius Mansion.

It is no exaggeration to say that Marquis Ping Liao is now as rich as a country.

The Kaiyuan army did not participate in the grave digging and tomb robbing, not because Ping Liaohou was unwilling, but because of limited transportation capacity and could not move so many things.

Tomb robbing was basically done spontaneously by the surrounding tenants.

Of course, Ping Liaohou provided these angry tenants with the tools to commit the crime and the necessary technology to divide the gold and determine the burial site.

The tools are innocent, the technology is innocent.

The Kong family of Qufu has bullied and exploited the surrounding tenant farmers for generations, regardless of the lives of the people, sucking their blood and marrow from their bones, and grabbing huge wealth.

Now, it's time to repay.

This is what is meant by "taking from the people and giving back to the people".

Not only that.

Ping Liaohou also announced that the rent for the 300,000 acres of land around Confucius's mausoleum would not have to be paid this year and next year.

Considering that it will be difficult to find a descendant of Confucius to inherit the title of Duke Yansheng in the short term, the Confucius Forest in Qufu will become an ownerless land in the short term.

Whether it was logging or tomb robbing, as long as they dug above Confucius' head, it would be a capital crime. The tenants knew this very well, so they naturally stood on the side of Ping Liaohou.

Zhou Yingqiu searched everywhere and went to great lengths to find a tenant who was willing to report Ping Liaohou.

Lord Zhou rewarded the man with one hundred taels of silver, arranged for the tenant to stay in the Qufu prison, and sent servants to protect him closely.

The next day, before they could even give their confessions, the two servants and the tenant farmer died suddenly in prison.

Ping Liaohou handed over more than 30 members of the Wenxiang Sect and blamed them for the crimes of felling trees and robbing tombs.

Almost at the same time as the tenants betrayed Liu Zhaosun, public opinion in the surrounding areas of Qufu was in turmoil. Thousands of tenants blocked the gate of the county town, blocking the road and preventing people from leaving the city. They said they wanted to avenge Duke Yansheng and go to the capital to file a complaint.

When things developed to this point, the military supervisor and the military governor finally realized the seriousness of the situation. Liu Zhaosun's strength had far exceeded their expectations.

The emperor gave them the imperial sword, but they didn't dare to use it.

The only thing to consider now is survival.

For now, we can only deal with the Confucius Mansion tragedy hastily, otherwise, another civil uprising will occur.

Zhang Jianjun and Zhou Yingqiu knew that Liu Zhaosun was behind all this. They were angry but helpless. The soldiers of Qufu Garrison were useless, and the soldiers of Yanzhou were no match for the Kaiyuan Army. After thinking it over, the two men had to close the case hastily and not investigate further.

Notes:

1: The timber harvesting began when Emperor Chengzu renovated the Beijing Palace (during the Wanli reign). Construction of the three palaces began, and nanmu wood was harvested from Huguang, Sichuan, and Guizhou. — "Ming History: Food and Goods Records"

2: Guangzhiyi: Provinces in the South of the Yangtze River

(End of this chapter)