Bringing the Railway to Daming

Zhu Yuanzhang accepted Zou Huai's bow and said, "Please stand up and speak."

Zou Huai didn't pretend and stood up.

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "Once the Kong family case is closed, the government should give your family a sum of compensation, which should be enough for your son's medical treatment."

"However, the medical conditions in Qufu and even Yanzhou are not as good as those in the capital. I'll write you another letter of introduction later, and you can take your wife and children to the Imperial Medical College in the capital for treatment. There are many famous doctors there."

Zou Huai was even more grateful upon hearing this, and knelt down and kowtowed again, saying, "I will never forget your great kindness and virtue, sir. Once my son is cured, I am willing to serve you like a slave."

Zhu Yuanzhang helped him up again, and said with a smile, "We have plenty of cattle and horses in our family, so we don't need you to be one anymore. The best way to repay us is for you to cure the child's illness and live a good life. Do you understand?"

Zou Huai truly never expected that there were such good officials in the world, just like the upright and just officials in the plays. For a moment, he didn't know how to express his gratitude.

However, after calming down a bit, he remembered something else and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Old sir, I heard that the government found many corpses of people killed by the second young master Kong in the Kong Mansion. I wonder if my daughter Lan'er is among them? I would like to take her back to the village cemetery for burial."

Zhu Yuanzhang said, “We have indeed found quite a few remains, but so much time has passed that it is difficult to identify them. Here’s what we’ll do: we’ll have someone speak to the government and have someone take you there to identify them and see if they can recognize your daughter’s remains.”

Zou Huai kowtowed for the third time, "Thank you very much, Master Huang!"

The investigation into the crimes committed by the Confucius family continued, but Zhu Yuanzhang did not stay in Qufu. Instead, he took Liu Chang'an, Liu Ruoyue, his entourage, and the Wude Guard to travel to other parts of Shandong Province.

For example, Mount Tai—although Emperor Zhenzong of Song ruined the reputation of Mount Tai for the Fengshan ceremony, and subsequent emperors continued to perform it, Mount Tai is still a famous scenic spot and worth visiting.

For example, Jinan, the capital of Shandong Province; Jiaozhou (Qingdao), a port city; Penglai; Weihaiwei, where the Beiyang Fleet and the ocean exploration base are located; and so on.

While Zhu Yuanzhang was touring other parts of Shandong, the newspapers of the Ming Dynasty finally began to report on the court's investigation into the crimes of the Confucius family, which became a hot topic of discussion throughout the Ming Dynasty.

"Newspapers for sale! The front page of the 'Da Ming Xun Kan' reports: The Duke Yansheng's Mansion has become a den of iniquity, and the descendants of the sage have committed numerous heinous crimes! To find out more, come and buy your copy now!"

"Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! A beast has emerged from the Confucius Mansion, who has tortured and murdered more than a dozen maids and even had an affair with the concubine of the Duke of Yansheng!"

"The magistrate of Qufu does not stand up for the people, but is an accomplice to the oppression of the people by the Confucius family—the appointment of a magistrate of Qufu by a branch of the Confucius family has caused numerous problems!"

"Shockingly appalling! The eldest son of the Duke of Yansheng actually has homosexual tendencies and keeps a famous actress as a mistress..."

In the capital, the place with the most newspapers in the Ming Dynasty, reports began to appear about the various crimes and moral depravity of the direct descendants of the Northern Confucian lineage, their close relatives, and related individuals.

This allowed the people of the capital to have plenty of gossip to enjoy.

Schools, teahouses, restaurants, and other venues are all buzzing with discussion about it.

"I never imagined that Kong Gongzhe would commit so many evil deeds. He is truly unworthy of being a descendant of Confucius!" a middle-aged Confucian scholar said indignantly.

The other person sneered, "The Northern Confucian family has long been unworthy of being called descendants of Confucius—when the Jurchens came, they surrendered to the Jurchens, and when the Mongols came, they surrendered to the Mongols. How can such a family, which has no integrity whatsoever, be worthy of being called descendants of Confucius?"

"Alas—the imperial court should have granted the title of Duke Yansheng to the Southern Confucian Temple in Quzhou back then."

"This investigation of the Northern Confucian Academy suggests that the imperial court is determined to rectify the situation at the Confucian Academy in Qufu. After this incident, the Duke of Yansheng will most likely not be left to the people of the Northern Confucian Academy, but will fall into the hands of the Southern Confucian Academy."

"However, Confucius' hometown is Qufu after all. Even without the Duke Yansheng, the Northern Confucian School will probably not decline completely."

"Even if the Northern Confucian School is not completely in decline, it is certainly not as good as before, and the direct line will definitely be replaced."

"That is."

"···"

Thus, amidst the discussions of the people, the Ming Dynasty court spent a month investigating and uncovering all the crimes and moral depravity of the direct descendants and close relatives of the Northern Confucian lineage, and delivered its verdict.

Kong Ne, the former Duke Yansheng, was stripped of his title and sentenced to be cut in half at the waist for crimes including murder, harboring criminals, and raping women. Kong Ne's second son, Kong Gongzhe, was sentenced to be slowly sliced ​​to death for crimes including the brutal killing of eighteen maids, the beating to death of seven male servants, and instigating others to beat innocent civilians, causing them to become disabled.

Kong Gongsheng, the former magistrate of Qufu, was sentenced to beheading for violating the law and assisting Kong Gongzhe and others in committing numerous crimes.

Kong Xun (Master Kong the Fifth) and dozens of other close relatives of the Kong family, as well as other people involved in the case, were also sentenced to beheading for various crimes!
In addition, hundreds of relatives and close associates of the Kong family were sentenced to exile to Jilin Commandery, Luohuang Commandery, and Beiyang Commandery.

Other people from Beikong and their relatives who committed other minor crimes (such as extortion, kidnapping women, etc.) were sentenced to exile to Luzon Commandery, Hainan Province, and Ü-Tsang Commandery.

At the same time, the title of Duke Yansheng was bestowed upon Kong Gongcheng of Nan Kong in Quzhou—Kong Gongcheng was the 57th generation descendant of Confucius.

After a major investigation into the Northern Confucian Temple, over a hundred people were sentenced to death and over a thousand were exiled. Many people were reminded of the three major cases of the Hongwu era handled by Zhu Yuanzhang (the four major cases were missing the Lan Yu case).

Some among the common people even called this major case the biggest case of the "Wenlong" era, also known as the "Northern Confucian Case"...

···
May is already early summer, and the weather is getting hot.

After visiting several important places in Shandong, Zhu Yuanzhang returned to Fengyang and sent Liu Chang'an and Liu Ruoyue back to the capital.

The sweltering summer days passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, nearly two months had gone by, and it was already the end of July.

Zhu Yuanzhang then took a train to the capital.

Liu Kuan was unaware of this matter. That day, he was drinking tea and reading the newspaper in his office at the Tiangong Institute, enjoying a relatively leisurely semi-retirement life, when he suddenly heard several shocked greetings coming from outside.

"Greetings, Your Majesty!"

The Supreme Emperor?
Is Old Zhu here?

Liu Kuan blinked, still trying to process how Old Zhu from Fengyang had suddenly appeared at the Tiangong Academy, when he saw a slightly plump old man with almost entirely gray hair and beard stride in.

It was Zhu Yuanzhang!
Liu Kuan quickly put down the newspaper in his hand, stood up and went to greet the Emperor Emeritus, saying, "Your subject pays respects to the Emperor Emeritus!"

"Rise." Zhu Yuanzhang smiled and raised his hand, then walked directly to Liu Kuan's "office chair" and sat down. He turned around and said, "Liu Kuan, you are quite leisurely as the head of the Tiangong Academy. Drinking tea and reading newspapers, you are living a very comfortable life."

Liu Kuan's "office chair" was made by skilled craftsmen. It was ergonomic, could rotate and move, and Zhu Yuanzhang felt that it was even more comfortable than the dragon throne.

He looked again at the newspaper Liu Kuan had been holding earlier, and realized it was "Tianxia Shuo" published by Zhu Chun, the Prince of Shu. It was a magazine that mainly featured strange tales and local stories, rather than a proper newspaper that reported news and politics, which made him even more amazed.

"You little rascal, you really know how to enjoy life."

Liu Kuan quickly explained, "Your Majesty, it's just that I had less official business today, and I had some free time after finishing it, so I read a magazine for a while—the magazine published by the Prince of Shu is quite good. Your Majesty can subscribe and take a look if you have nothing else to do."

"Oh, you've even started selling magazines for the Eleventh Prince? You wouldn't happen to have a stake in his magazine publishing company, would you?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked with a smile.

"No, absolutely not," Liu Kuan denied.

In fact, Zhu Chun, the Prince of Shu, not only enjoys literature but also has a keen business sense. In addition to running a magazine, he has also engaged in other businesses, all of which are quite profitable.

For some of these businesses, the ideas originated from Liu Kuan. When Zhu Chun decided to launch the projects, he specifically sought out Liu Kuan to secure investment and gave Liu's family a larger share.

Although Liu Kuan felt that Zhu Yuanzhang probably knew about this, since Zhu Yuanzhang only asked about the magazine, he certainly wouldn't bring up other business collaborations with Zhu Chun.

Zhu Yuanzhang spun around in his chair, carefully examining the layout and furnishings of Liu Kuan's office, before saying, "Don't worry, now that I'm the retired emperor, I won't interfere in your affairs—it's fine for you to relax, just don't neglect your duties."

"Your Majesty, I would never dare to neglect your duty," Liu Kuan replied, then changed the subject, asking, "When did His Majesty return to the capital?"

Zhu Yuanzhang said, "We arrived this morning—it's almost the third day of the eighth lunar month, and I'd like to go with you to the cross-river bridge to see if we can witness that strange fog." (End of Chapter)