The struggle for the throne among nine princes—I really don't want to be the crown prince.

Chapter 380 The Sage Confucius is not a person.

Shen Ye had already made his own plans for dealing with the Kong family's mess.

He knew perfectly well that the Kong family's ancestral cured meat was not so easy to chew; it was hard and tough.

But when the moment came, he couldn't help but feel a pang of anxiety—the pressure was immense!

Almost all the civil officials who were standing guard outside the Qianqing Gate jumped out.

Those who didn't step forward, besides those few noble old friends, were just a few military officers still pretending to be wooden figures.

Shen Ye understood that if he couldn't defeat the Kong family this time, such an opportunity would be hard to come by again.

After all, a "divine assist" like Zhen Yan isn't something you can find every day.

If even the Great Zhou's divine sword can't cleave through the Kong family's "indestructible golden body," then it's likely that using any weapon in the future will be futile.

We can only hope to drown him in spittle!
He cleared his throat and said with a sincere expression:

"My dear ministers, my father and I both deeply respect the most revered teacher, Confucius."

“Giving the descendants of saints some special treatment is no big deal.”

Upon hearing this, Kong Yujin inwardly curled her lip:
You make it sound so easy! Aren't you obviously just saying one thing and meaning another?
Did you send someone to write the memorials impeaching our Kong family?
What are you doing here, playing the innocent white lotus?

But the palace is like a deep sea, and the first rule of survival is: see through things but don't say anything, and you can still get by.

So he seized the opportunity and knelt down on the ground with a thud, saying:

"On behalf of all the descendants of the Sage Confucius, I thank Your Majesty and the Crown Prince for your mercy and kindness!"

Looking at Kong Yujin, who was kowtowing repeatedly, Shen Ye's eyes were icy cold.

Good grief, are you trying to play "climb the pole" with me here?
Are you trying to take advantage of me?

Although he was furious inside, he maintained a calm demeanor and slowly said:
“Kong Yujin, most descendants of sages should express their gratitude, but you—are an exception.”

After saying that, he reached out his hand to Zhou Bao.

Zhou Bao understood immediately and quickly handed over a memorial.

Shen Ye waved the "surprise gift package" in his hand: "Kong Yujin, guess what's inside?"

How could Kong Yujin dare to guess?
Even a fool could guess that it's probably a collection of scandals about the Confucius family.

They themselves know very well the old filth under the Confucius family's backside.

He stole a glance at Zhang Ying, hoping that this big shot would give him a hint, even just a blink would do.

Unexpectedly, the cunning and shrewd Scholar Zhang remained calm, seemingly pondering who he was and where he was.

"I...I don't know," Kong Yujin replied hesitantly, feeling helpless.

Shen Ye smiled and opened the memorial, saying in a light tone:
"Don't be nervous, this is just a table of contents."

"Attached below are the 'glorious deeds' of your Kong family over the past ten years—extortion by trickery and coercion, driving people to their deaths. I've taken a look, and there are more than two hundred of them."

"The worst thing you did was to drive a family of thirteen to ruin and death, and you even leveled their ancestral graves!"

"They won't even spare ghosts! What a fine mansion of the Duke of Yansheng!"

Kong Yujin knew she couldn't shirk this responsibility, so her first reaction was to sacrifice the pawn to save the king.

He immediately forced himself to remain calm and said, "Your Highness, I know nothing about these things!"
Please give me the memorial; I will investigate thoroughly and find out who is so blind as to tarnish the reputation of our Kong family!

Kong Yujin was preparing to employ her typical "scapegoating tactic," throwing a few of her servants out as scapegoats to downplay the seriousness of the matter.

Shen Ye chuckled: "Whether you really don't know or you're pretending not to know, you're going to take the blame for not managing your household properly."

Kong Yujin's face fell.

When a subject is in a relationship with his ruler, without any sense of righteousness, once someone has a weakness against him, he is like a cat being grabbed by the scruff of its neck, powerless to resist!

He could only bite the bullet and answer: "Your Majesty, I know my crime! In recent years, I have been so busy studying the wisdom of our ancestors that I have neglected the management of my family."

"We must hold a family meeting when we get back, and we absolutely cannot allow this to happen again!"

Shen Ye nodded and said:
“It’s good that you have such awareness. But although your trivial matters are insignificant, they are tarnishing the reputation of the most holy teacher.”

"Someone from the previous dynasty composed a song to criticize Emperor Zhu: 'Speaking of Fengyang, talking about Fengyang, Fengyang was originally a good place, but since Emperor Zhu came, nine out of ten years have been barren!'"

"Emperor Zhu was no less capable in both civil administration and military affairs, yet he was thoroughly betrayed by his descendants, who even turned these stories into satirical ballads!"

"Is your Kong family trying to follow the same path as the Zhu family?"

Zhang Ying and the others' expressions changed; they finally understood what was going on.

The prince is trying to "defeat magic with magic," using the name of the Sage Confucius to kill his descendants!
Brilliant! That's a brilliant move!
Shen Ye looked at Kong Yujin, whose face was deathly pale: "Kong Yujin, have you heard the folk song 'Qufu has no heaven' in Qufu?"

Kong Yujin broke out in a cold sweat. Of course he had heard of it, and he had even sent people to investigate and forbid anyone from singing it.

"That...that was fabricated by someone with ulterior motives! They wanted to smear the Sage Confucius!" he hurriedly defended himself.

This was exactly the effect Shen Ye wanted, and he immediately accepted the challenge:
"Kong Yujin, the Kong family lives off their ancestors' legacy, yet they're ruining their reputation. Who can tolerate this?" "If it weren't for the reputation of the Sage Confucius, I would have already ordered a thorough investigation in Qufu to see just how you people have been acting so recklessly!"

Kong Yujin was sweating profusely: I'm doomed! My ancestors' reputation might save me from death, but judging from the current situation, I'm probably going to get a beating...

"It is my fault for failing to manage my household properly. I beg Your Highness to spare my life!" He readily admitted defeat.

He originally thought that with the protection of the sage, even the crown prince of the current dynasty would find it difficult to do anything to him!
But little did they expect that this young master was a master of attacking people.

Not only did he have people prepare a lot of evidence of his own family's crimes, but he also claimed that he had tarnished the reputation of the saint.

He could shirk responsibility for other crimes, and the punishment for himself would not be severe.

However, tarnishing the reputation of a saint is something that needs to be addressed regardless of who says it.

Shen Ye didn't look at Kong Yujin, but said in a deep voice, "Things must first rot before insects breed!"

He turned to Tong Guowei and asked, "Grand Secretary Tong, what do you think of this behavior that tarnishes the reputation of the sage?"

As the head of the nobility, Tong Guowei never had a good impression of the Kong family, the "sage's lineage".

The reason wasn't some deep-seated hatred; it was simply that Kong Yujin was terrible at interpersonal relationships.

They spent all their time fawning over Zhang Ying and others, but showed only superficial respect to the Grand Secretary, not even bothering to put on a proper act.

What bothered him even more was that the annual tributes of ice and charcoal sent by the Duke of Yansheng's mansion were clearly just perfunctory.

It can only be described as passively going through the motions.

That meager gift isn't even enough to bribe a student, let alone buy a decent hand warmer!
This isn't giving a gift; it's clearly giving money to a beggar!
Who is Tong Guowei? Does he lack that kind of thing?
As the saying goes, gift-giving is a complex art, and it shouldn't be done lightly.

A well-chosen gift can strengthen relationships;

Sending too little would seem disrespectful; it's better not to send anything at all, as it would be like not valuing the person at all!
Every time he received that "face-saving gift," Tong Guowei would look at the account book and sneer a few times:

"You descendant of a saint, you even have to be stingy and calculating when it comes to social interactions!"

Now that His Highness the Crown Prince has personally set up the stage to stage this "Exposing the True Colors of the Confucian Family," how could Tong Guowei miss this golden opportunity to kick someone when they're down?
He not only had to throw stones, but he also had to pick the biggest and sharpest ones to smash into the well.

Moreover, every word spoken during the audience was recorded truthfully and presented to Emperor Qianxi.

If the emperor were to see that his uncle was siding with outsiders, he might not be able to hold onto his position as chief minister.

Thinking of this, Tong Guowei straightened his clothes, cleared his throat, and adopted a concerned expression as he continued:
"The Duke Yansheng's mansion has caused so many disgraceful incidents that even common people in the city have composed songs about it. This is truly an insult to the reputation of the Holy Teacher!"

He paused deliberately, looked around, and then slowly added the most hurtful sentence:
"If this continues, and the people of Qufu were to blame Confucius for all their resentment towards the Sage Confucius, that would be the most ridiculous thing in the world!"

These words, though seemingly righteous and stern, are in fact piercing to the heart.

He saved face for the Crown Prince and vented his pent-up frustrations of the past few years, killing two birds with one stone.

After Tong Guowei finished speaking, he didn't forget to give a slight nod to the Crown Prince, looking just like an old cat that had just stolen some fish.

Shen Ye nodded in satisfaction, then turned to Ma Qi, the Minister of Revenue: "How much silver does the Ministry of Revenue allocate each year for the worship of Confucius?"

"Your Highness, 100,000 taels. Qufu also has a million mu of sacrificial fields, specifically used for sacrifices."

Shen Ye's gaze swept over the princes, his meaning clear: I've laid the groundwork, now it's your turn.

The eldest prince didn't move but nodded; the third prince lowered his head and pretended not to see; but the fourth prince suddenly stood up—

Shen Ye was a little surprised: the fourth brother, this "invisible man," actually dared to confront them head-on? Sure enough, those who laugh last are not simple characters!
He never expected that, under such circumstances, the usually reserved Fourth Prince would dare to stand up so resolutely.

This made Shen Ye feel emotional.

The fourth prince was able to have the last laugh not only because he was good at disguising himself, but also because of his willingness to confront tough challenges and take action.

After all, no matter which father it is, he would like to pass on his family business to a son who can protect it.

Instead of passing it on to a spendthrift son!

The Fourth Prince declared loudly, “Your Highness, Your Excellencies, I believe that the Sage Confucius and the Confucian family should be considered separately!”

"The current Supreme Sage and Teacher is the Supreme Sage and Teacher of the world, not just the Supreme Sage and Teacher of the Confucius family! It cannot be passed down as a family heirloom only to our own people."

"From now on, the Ministry of Rites will take the lead in the worship of Confucius, and the Ministry of Revenue will allocate more silver!"

At this point, the fourth prince continued:
"As for the Kong family, I believe that the Duke Yansheng can continue to worship the Supreme Sage and Teacher according to the rites for worshipping ancestors."

"As for the other members of the Confucius family, they moved to other places to spread the legacy and glory of the Sage Confucius."

"Only the Duke Yansheng's family should remain in Qufu!"

"This will prevent some unworthy descendants from tarnishing the reputation of the most revered teacher!"

"As for the sacrificial fields, they will all be taken over by the Ministry of Revenue and allocated by the Ministry of Revenue."

"All income from the sacrificial lands will go to the Ministry of Revenue to prevent certain individuals from 'profiting from their ancestors'!"

After the Fourth Prince finished explaining his entire plan for dividing the family property, Kong Yujin was stunned, as if struck by lightning.

This isn't a family division; this is overturning the Kong family's dining table! They're not even leaving a pair of bowls and chopsticks!
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(End of this chapter)