Bringing the Railway to Daming

Cheng Gongdao and Hui Tiancheng both entered officialdom during the Hongwu reign, and it could even be said that Zhu Yuanzhang promoted them to their current positions. Therefore, their reverence for Zhu Yuanzhang was deeply ingrained.

The two men, who were kneeling upright, were so frightened by Zhu Yuanzhang's stern shout that they both kowtowed to the ground.

"It was my oversight, Your Majesty! Please forgive me!" Cheng Gongdao came to his senses and decisively admitted his mistake.

Hui Tiancheng also admitted his mistake, but then couldn't help but say, "Your Majesty, the people of the Kong family are, after all, descendants of sages. Kong Ne is the Duke Yansheng of the court and the head of the civil officials. In addition, many fields in Qufu are the sacrificial fields and school fields of the Kong family. The magistrate of Qufu is also from a branch of the Kong family. In the past, we have really been unable to interfere in the affairs of Qufu."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Just because it's difficult to intervene doesn't mean you should ignore it. Or perhaps, in your heart, is Qufu truly the Qufu of the Confucius family, and not the Qufu of our Great Ming Dynasty?!"

Hui Tiancheng realized he had misspoke and quickly kowtowed again, "Your humble servant had no such intention!"

Zhu Yuanzhang, not wanting to waste any more breath on the two men, said directly, "I'll give you one month to investigate all the crimes committed by the Kong family. If, after one month, I find out that the Kong family has committed any crimes that I haven't uncovered, then I'll have you questioning them!"

A month sounds like a long time, but the two of them don't even know what exactly the Confucius family did to offend Zhu Yuanzhang. How can they be confident that they can get things done?

But since Zhu Yuanzhang had already said so, they had no choice but to agree.

He had no choice but to agree.

Zhu Yuanzhang then dismissed the two men, and Li Gui was responsible for seeing them out.

Upon reaching the courtyard gate, Cheng Gongdao asked, "May I ask, Your Excellency, what exactly happened to the Emperor Emeritus in Qufu that caused him to be so angry as to target the Confucius Mansion?"

Li Gui was instructed by Zhu Yuanzhang to tell the two some things. After all, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to investigate the many crimes involved in the Kong family, not just to make things difficult for the two.

Li Gui said, "Then there were many things that happened. It all started when the Emperor Emeritus entered Qufu incognito..."

Immediately, Li Gui recounted the events that Zhu Yuanzhang had encountered since entering Qufu.

Although Li Gui didn't explain in detail, Cheng Gongdao and Hui Tiancheng still broke out in a cold sweat as they listened, thinking to themselves: No wonder the Emperor was so angry, the Kong family is really courting death.

If the two of them didn't know where the bottom line was in their investigation of the Kong family's crimes, they now knew—just as Zhu Yuanzhang said, they wouldn't stop until they had thoroughly investigated the Kong family!
A decade or so ago, the imperial court might have been concerned that exposing the various crimes and scandals of the Confucius family would provoke criticism from scholars across the country, even hurting the hearts of Confucian scholars and hindering national stability.

However, over the past decade or so, the imperial court has been promoting and developing science, which has led to the decline of Confucianism. Some young officials today even regard science as worthless and discard Confucianism.

In this situation, even if the imperial court established the Confucius Mansion, it would not cause much controversy, and many people might even applaud it.

The two also thought about it more deeply and believed that Zhu Yuanzhang might have come to Qufu specifically to investigate the scandals and illegal activities of the Confucius Mansion, with the aim of destroying the "Duke Yansheng" brand of Confucianism that had been built up since the Tang Dynasty, so as to suppress Confucianism and make way for the development of science.

Therefore, after Cheng Gongdao and Hui Tiancheng left the courtyard, with the cooperation of the Imperial Guards, they launched a full-scale investigation into the illegal activities and immoral acts of the Kong family members…

···
Confucius Mansion.

In a lavishly decorated courtyard, Kong Gongzhe, who was forced to stay in the mansion, was playing "blind man's bluff" with three maids.

Kong Gongzhe blindfolded himself with a black cloth, while three young maids, in the prime of their youth, wore exceptionally light clothing. However, their feet were chained together with iron chains as thick as fingers, allowing them to move only in small steps, and each movement made a sound.

Kong Gongzhe said he did this because he felt from a young age that the game of "blind man's bluff" was unfair, and that making the person hiding wear shackles would make it fair.

At this moment, Kong Gongzhe said with a lewd expression, "Are all three little beauties hiding? I'm going to start touching them now."

"You all have to do your best to hide, otherwise if I touch you, you'll get whipped, hehe."

After saying that, Kong Gongzhe began to wander around and explore.

This is his bedroom. Although it is not small, he knows its layout and furnishings by heart, not to mention that he often plays the game of "blind man's bluff" here.

The three maids were all here for the first time and were terrified. They watched as Kong Gongzhe approached, wanting to move but worried about making a sound. They were helpless and extremely frightened.

One of the maids, seeing that Kong Gongzhe's dirty hands were about to touch her face, quickly ducked down and rushed to the other side.

"Haha, there really is a little beauty!" Kong Gongzhe laughed and followed the sound.

The maid, wearing anklets and in a panic, was no match for Kong Gongzhe and was quickly caught.

"Little beauty, you're quite the runner! Alright, I'll reward you with a few more lashes."

After saying this, Kong Gongzhe took out the leather whip that was placed on the table and lashed it across the little maid.

"what!"

The little maid screamed in pain.

Kong Gongzhe became even more excited upon hearing this, and kept cracking his whip.

The other two maids were trembling in the corner, too afraid to do anything.

Just as the maid had been whipped more than a dozen times, her body covered in bruises and her once light clothes were torn to shreds, leaving her barely clothed, shouts suddenly came from outside.

"Hey, what are you soldiers doing barging into the mansion?!"

"Ordered to arrest the criminal Kong Gongzhe? Where are the others?"

"Stop wasting words with this man, go straight into the house and search!"

Kong Gongzhe was stunned when he heard this.

He thought to himself, "Are they going to arrest me?"

How can it be? !
boom!
The door was pushed open, and the soldiers frowned as they saw the situation inside. Their eyes then locked onto the only man who had been in the room.

"You are Kong Gongzhe?"

Kong Gongzhe snapped out of his daze and immediately shouted, "My father is the Duke Yansheng, and my ancestor is Confucius. You dare to touch me?"

"I'm going to mess with you!"

The leading officer stepped forward and kicked Kong Gongzhe to the ground, saying, "Tie this man up and take him away! Also, take away the three women in this house, who should be considered witnesses to Kong Gongzhe's crime!"

Even after Kong Gongzhe was tied up, he continued to shout.

"How dare you kidnap me! You're all dead! My father is the Duke Yansheng; he'll definitely impeach your master!"

The officer sneered, "Impose a document on our master? Do you know where your father is now? He's in the peony garden in the manor."

After saying this, the officer carried Kong Gongzhe to the peony garden.

A group of soldiers were already digging something, while Kong Ne, held captive by two soldiers, watched from the sidelines, his face ashen. On the open ground nearby, three corpses lay scattered.

Seeing this, Kong Gongzhe finally became frightened and cried out to Kong Ne, "Father, save me!"

Kong Ne looked over upon hearing the sound, pointed at Kong Gongzhe, and angrily said, "Save you? You beast! Look at what you've done! For what you've committed, you deserve to die ten times over!"

Hearing Kong Ne say this, Kong Gongzhe panicked completely and cried, "Father, it's just that a few maids died from playing with them. What kind of serious crime is that? You also killed two maids when you were young, and nothing happened to you then."

Kong Ne was shocked to learn that Kong Gongzhe knew about this matter and even brought it up at this time.

The officers and soldiers present all looked at Kong Ne, the current Duke Yansheng. (End of Chapter)