Bringing the Railway to Daming

Kong Ne actually had a general understanding of the affairs of his two legitimate sons.

For this reason, he had always disliked his eldest son, Kong Gongjian, who had homosexual tendencies. If it weren't for the rules of the court, he wouldn't have wanted the position of Duke Yansheng to fall into the hands of his eldest son in the future.

He doted on his second son because he felt that Kong Gongzhe not only had a normal sexual orientation, but was also more like him inside and out.

But he never expected that Kong Gongzhe, who didn't seem stupid in the past, would become so foolish when faced with a problem, and actually revealed his secret. As the eldest son of the Kong family, he had been honored and pampered since childhood, and naturally he had been unrestrained. In his youth, he thought that killing a few maids was no big deal, just like Kong Gongzhe said.

However, in recent years, the laws of the Ming Dynasty have become increasingly strict and detailed, and the punishments for the powerful and wealthy have become increasingly severe.

Although most of the servants in his household were from tenant farmers or were even born into the household, they were all considered to be employed by his family and thus good citizens under the latest Ming Dynasty law.

That being said, even official slaves provided by the imperial court could not be arbitrarily killed or abused by their masters. If such matters were exposed and serious, they would also be punished for violating the law.

Moreover, the imperial court first sent the emperor's personal guards to surround the Confucius Mansion, and now it has discovered the crimes committed by Kong Gongzhe, clearly indicating that it intends to punish the Confucius Mansion.

At this time, only he, as the Duke Yansheng, could possibly save the Kong family and its members, such as Kong Gongzhe, who had committed crimes.

Kong Gongzhe has mindlessly exposed the things he did one or two decades ago. This is not only dragging him down with him, but it could even be said that he is dragging the entire Kong family down with him.
Coming to his senses, Kong Ne, filled with fear and rage, could no longer maintain the demeanor of the Duke Yansheng. He rushed directly to the bound Kong Gongzhe and slapped him repeatedly across the face.

"You beast, I'll teach you to spout nonsense! You killed a maid yourself, and now you're framing me? You're utterly depraved, worse than a beast! You deserve to die!"

Later in the story, Kong Ne actually tried to snatch a knife from a nearby soldier and stab his rebellious son Kong Gongzhe to death on the spot.

However, he was too clumsy and not only failed to grab the knife, but the soldier also kicked him to the ground.

When he got up again, he was covered in mud and his hair was disheveled. He looked utterly disheveled and no longer had the demeanor that the Duke Yansheng should have.

Kong Ne didn't care about anything else. He grabbed a rather large pebble from beside the flowerbed and rushed forward again, wanting to beat Kong Gongzhe to death.

Only then did the nearby officers realize what was happening and hurriedly said, "Take Kong Gongzhe out first, lest he be beaten to death."

The officer realized that what Kong Gongzhe had just said about Kong Ne's crimes was mostly true, and that Kong Ne wanted to kill Kong Gongzhe to silence him—if they really let Kong Ne do this in front of them, they would be considered to have failed in their duty.

At the same time, Kong Gongsheng, who was under house arrest in the Qufu County government office, was also taken away by the officials of the Provincial Judicial Commissioner.

Kong Xun and other known close relatives and collateral relatives of the Kong family who have committed crimes have also been arrested and interrogated.

The emperor's personal guards took over the city's defenses, the Confucius Mansion and the county government were besieged, and important figures of the Confucius family, such as Kong Ne, Kong Gongzhe, and Kong Xun, were arrested. Naturally, the people of Qufu knew about such a major event.

The whole city was in an uproar!

The Wude Guard only took over the city's defenses and sealed off the county government and the Confucius Mansion. They did not strictly control the entire city, so people could still enter and exit normally, and restaurants and shops could also operate normally.

Over the past decade or so, thanks to Zhu Yuanzhang's deliberate changes, the Ming army's reputation for strict discipline and non-disruptive behavior towards the people has, to some extent, taken root in the hearts of the people.

So, after observing the situation for a while, the people went back to their normal lives, though the matter was the subject of much discussion in taverns and teahouses.

"The Confucius Mansion is probably in big trouble, which is truly gratifying!"

"Brother, isn't that going too far? Even if the Duke of Yansheng or the county magistrate really committed some serious crime, the court will definitely only punish them personally. Afterwards, they will most likely be granted another Duke of Yansheng, or at most, another direct descendant will be chosen."

Another person said, "I think so too—don't be fooled by the big commotion the court has made this time, with even the emperor's personal guards being mobilized. Can it be any bigger than the upheaval of a change of dynasty?"

"We in Shandong have experienced five dynasties: Tang, Song, Jin, Yuan, and Ming. Even though the Confucius family once chose the wrong side and failed to join the new dynasty in time, the Confucius family's honor and favor have not only not diminished, but have become even more esteemed."

"What does this mean? It means that the court cannot do without the Confucius family, and that the emperor needs a Duke Yansheng."

The person who spoke first said, "Even if what you said makes sense, I'm still happy about it—forget about Kong Ne, what are Kong Gongzhe and Kong Gongsheng anyway? If they weren't from the Kong family, they would have been in trouble long ago!"

“This brother is right—if these scoundrels from the Confucius family are brought to justice, even if the Confucius family is still as favored as before, the descendants of the Confucius family and the magistrate of Qufu will surely restrain themselves, and we will have a better life for a few years.”

"By the way, I heard that the government has issued a notice saying that it will reward those who report crimes committed by the Kong family and provide evidence, and called on the villagers of Qufu to assist the Provincial Surveillance Commission in investigating the past crimes committed by the Kong family."

"Has anyone here been bullied by the Kong family? If you have evidence, you can file a complaint now. Not only can you get revenge, but you can also get a reward!"

"Is there really such a good thing?" Some people didn't believe it.

"The notices have been posted in several places. Go see for yourself if you don't believe me. How could a notice jointly issued by the Provincial Surveillance Commissioner and the Censorate be fake?"

If the Confucius Mansion has made any contribution to Qufu over the years, it is probably in terms of literacy rate. Although the Confucius Mansion only teaches Confucian classics and interpretations related to Confucius, such as the Analects, it has indeed made Qufu's literacy rate relatively high even in the Ming Dynasty.

That is why many people in Qufu saw the notice issued by the government.

At first, many people had reservations, worrying that if they reported the crimes of the Confucius family, they would be retaliated against by those who would later control the Confucius family. However, those who harbored deep hatred for the Confucius family did not care about the future and seized the opportunity to report the crimes of the Confucius family.

Then some people spread a rumor among the common people—if the imperial court really changed the direct line of the Confucius family because of the Confucius family's many crimes, then the new direct line of the Confucius family would only be grateful to those who reported it.

If no one had reported it, why would the court have replaced the legitimate heir?
If the imperial court doesn't replace the legitimate heirs, how can a new legitimate heir emerge?

As this claim gained popularity, more and more people came forward to accuse the Confucius family of wrongdoing.

In a short time, almost everyone in the Confucius Mansion, regardless of gender, had committed crimes or was severely morally corrupt. The sheer number of crimes was shocking to the officials in charge of the investigation, including Cheng Gongdao and Hui Tiancheng.

Although they knew that the people of the Confucius family had committed many evil deeds by taking advantage of their status as descendants of Confucius and the various preferential treatments given to the Duke Yansheng by the court, they never imagined that they had secretly committed so many evil deeds.

Even Zhu Yuanzhang was surprised and even more furious, realizing that he had been blind and deluded before in order to win over the hearts of Confucian scholars and bestow honors and favors upon this family.

The provincial inspector and the censor did not conceal the crimes of the people from the Kong family that were successively investigated. They even issued a special announcement to inform the people of some of the case's progress.

Although there are many members of the Confucius clan in Qufu, most of them are from distant branches, and only a few are close relatives within five degrees of kinship with the current Duke Yansheng.

Just like the old farmer surnamed Kong whom Zhu Yuanzhang met outside the city, the vast majority of distant relatives of the Kong family in Qufu not only failed to benefit from the direct line, but also became the targets of oppression by the direct line.

As for those outside the Confucius family in Qufu, there's no need to mention them.

These people are similar to Shandong officials such as Cheng Gongdao and Hui Tiancheng. Although they knew that the direct descendants and close relatives of the Kong family had committed many evils and had even been oppressed themselves, they did not know that the Kong family had committed so many and such horrific atrocities.

When the Provincial Judicial Commissioner officially announced all the crimes of Kong Gongzhe, the second son of the Duke Yansheng, a dozen days later, the dissatisfaction and condemnation of the Kong family by the people of Qufu reached a peak.

"This Kong Gongzhe actually tortured and killed seventeen maids and beat seven male servants to death?! He's only twenty-one years old, isn't he? Doesn't that mean he kills at least one person every year?!"

"The number of common people who were beaten by Kong Gongzhe's servants for so-called 'offenses' and 'confrontations' is as high as 100?! Among them, more than 30 people were left with lifelong disabilities?!"

"This person is not a descendant of Confucius at all; he is clearly a demon!"

"He even had an affair with the concubine of the Duke Yansheng?!"

"This Kong Gongzhe is truly wicked beyond redemption! If the court does not severely punish him, it will not appease public anger!"

"In my opinion, this person should be subjected to slow slicing or skinned alive!"

"Yes, he should be executed by slow slicing!"

"···"

As Zhu Yuanzhang walked down the street with Liu Chang'an and Liu Ruoyue, he heard the people shouting for the death of Kong Gongzhe. He nodded in satisfaction. The fact that the people hated Kong Gongzhe and the other members of the Kong family so much showed that the people of Qufu still had the support of the people, and it also showed that his severe punishment of the Kong family was the right thing to do.

After making his way back to the inn, Zhu Yuanzhang did not forget to lecture Liu Chang'an and Liu Ruoyue.

"Chang'an, Ruoyue, do you see? No matter how great the merits of our ancestors were to the world, or how much honor the court bestows upon us, if we do not cultivate virtue and despise the law, we will end up being hated by everyone and dying without a burial place."

Liu Ruoyue completely misunderstood Zhu Yuanzhang's intention in using this incident to warn the Liu family. Instead, she joined the people in their indignation, saying, "Those people from the Kong family are so despicable; they deserve to be beaten by everyone!"

Liu Chang'an vaguely understood and said, "Grandpa, don't worry, our family will never produce a big bad guy like Kong Gongzhe in the future."

Zhu Yuanzhang smiled slightly and said nothing more.

In truth, he knew very well that, let alone the Liu family, even his Zhu family, could maintain their integrity and uphold the country uprightly for generations.

After many generations, their descendants will likely be like the descendants of Confucius, enjoying the benefits left by their ancestors, but committing all sorts of morally corrupt and even unpopular acts, and ultimately most of them will end up like the Ming Dynasty in the original history.

Therefore, he didn't expect the Ming Dynasty to truly last for ten thousand generations; he only hoped the dynasty could last a few hundred more years...

When Zhu Yuanzhang returned to the inn courtyard, he had only rested for a short while when Cheng Ji came over, looking extremely serious.

"Your Majesty, I have uncovered a shocking secret about the Confucius family."

As the deputy commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, Cheng Ji had witnessed countless dark affairs. He had never used the word "horrifying" to describe the numerous cases he had investigated involving people from the Kong family, even those involving Kong Gongzhe who had killed dozens of people.

Now that he heard this, Zhu Yuanzhang took it seriously.

He took the secret memorial written by Cheng Ji, glanced at it briefly, and immediately frowned, his face becoming solemn. (End of this chapter)