The Ming Dynasty's Five Hundred Years

Chapter 197 Why did the Duke Yansheng not die for his country?

"Hahaha."

"Did you all hear what this Duke Yansheng said?"

Tang Shengzong, the leader of the White Lotus Cult, was only stunned for a moment before pointing at the Duke Yansheng and laughing loudly, deliberately drawing out the words "Duke Yansheng".

It was the ultimate mockery.

The members of the White Lotus Sect, both inside and outside the hall, burst into laughter, their laughter filled with mockery and wistfulness.

"It's just like a dog wagging its tail."

"So this is what the descendants of the sages revered by the court are all like. If the Duke Yansheng is like this, then the dog emperor, who is just like him, must also wag his tail and beg for mercy."

"Let's march on the capital and seize that damned emperor's throne!"

The crowd had begun to clamor, completely forgetting that they had fled here in a panic.

Duke Yansheng thought to himself, "With your rabble, you dare to think you can seize the throne? Don't you even take a piss and look at yourselves? You don't have the slightest bit of the appearance of a nobleman."

He was incredibly thick-skinned. Despite his contempt for the White Lotus Cult and the humiliation he suffered, he remained unfazed and even wore a fawning smile.

This comical behavior made everyone laugh even more wildly.

Only one person frowned and said, "Master, the Duke Yansheng is a descendant of the sage Confucius. How could he be so afraid of death? Could this be a fake, and the real Duke Yansheng have already escaped?"

Tang Shengzong, the leader of the White Lotus Cult, immediately changed his expression and looked at the Duke of Yansheng with hostility. The surrounding crowd also instantly stopped laughing, and several people slowly drew their swords, making a piercing sound.

The Duke Yansheng felt a chill run down his spine. Seeing the cold blade flashing like light, he immediately shouted, "I really am the Duke Yansheng! On the battlefield, swords and spears have no eyes. I just don't want to die in vain under the chaotic soldiers. Please, Master, see the truth!"

"I am the Duke Yansheng, bestowed by the imperial court, the patriarch of all scholars in the land. I am very useful. Master, please put away these weapons to avoid accidentally injuring anyone."

"Since you claim to be the Duke Yansheng, you must know the location and key to the treasury. Take us there immediately."

"it is good."

Although the Duke of Yansheng was heartbroken, he knew that these bandits would not act until they saw something of value. Compared to wealth, life was more important. As long as he was alive, he could still plunder those poor people in the future. He must not lose more than he gained.

Just as he was calming himself down, someone rushed in from outside and said urgently, "Master, some brothers are setting off signal fires in the east. It seems the imperial army is coming to pursue us."

Duke Yansheng was both delighted and alarmed, wondering how this bandit would treat him.

Upon hearing this, Tang Shengzong, the leader of the White Lotus Cult, frowned immediately, a cold glint and hatred flashing in his eyes. He decisively said, "Quickly seize the valuables, and have the brothers each take some food. Take this so-called Duke Yansheng with you; he's a big shot who can be used to negotiate with the court."

"Alright!" As soon as the words were spoken, someone stepped forward, twisted the Duke Yansheng, tied him up in a few quick moves, and was about to take him away.

"teach……"

Just as the Duke Yansheng was about to speak, a dirty rag mixed with ashes was stuffed into his mouth, leaving him whimpering and unable to utter a word.

……

"I never expected the governor to come to the front line in person."

“Since this involves the Duke of Yansheng, I was worried that the Marquis might not know how to handle it, so I came here in person.”

Marquis Shouchun and Li Xianmu exchanged a smile, everything understood without a word.

"Now that you, Governor, have arrived, I can go to war with peace of mind."

“Marquis of Shouchun, go ahead and fight the war. I, as the commander-in-chief, will take responsibility for any consequences.”

The Marquis of Shouchun was a veteran general and a meritorious official. Zhu Di sent him because he was steady in battle, yet not lacking in drive.

Li Xianmu accompanied Zhu Di on two northern expeditions. Although he had never commanded troops, his military skills were already quite high. It was evident that the Marquis of Shouchun had a well-organized troop deployment and issued orders in an orderly manner. Such a veteran general would have been able to easily defeat the early rebel armies.

The strategy of trapping and beating the rebels was quite effective. The left and right wings had already encircled them. Even if they obtained food from Qufu and held their ground in the mountains, the White Lotus Sect could only hold out for a maximum of three more months.

Both the Marquis of Shouchun and Li Xianmu understood that the most important issue at present was not military, but political. This time, the two had cooperated, and the next step was to see how successful they would be.

Even before we reached Qufu, we could already see thick black smoke rising from the city.

As expected, Qufu was burned down. However, due to the urgency and fear of the arrival of the imperial army, only the core area centered on the Duke Yansheng's mansion was burned. The surrounding area was too large to be affected. It can be said that Li Xianmu's timing was just right.

Before arriving in Qufu, what greeted the eye was a scene of utter chaos. The city gates were wide open, and corpses lay scattered everywhere in front of the gates and throughout the city. Broken fragments of weapons were on the city walls, and soldiers from the county were hanging from them.

The blood on the ground had dried, with scattered fragments of limbs and brain matter from the corpse.

Historically, the scenes of cities after wars have been extremely brutal, but in Shandong today, it is a scene of purgatory everywhere. Villages that have suffered disasters are even more miserable than those in Qufu, so almost no one is moved.

They entered the city and headed towards the Duke Yansheng's Mansion, only to find it now a ruin. Li Xianmu spurred his horse quickly into the grounds of the Confucius Temple, where raging flames burned fiercely. The blue, white, and red flames seemed poised to engulf the temple, scorching everything to white. "Put out the fire! Put out the fire!"

Li Xianmu immediately roared, and as the soldiers carried water and soil to put out the fire, he asked again, "Have you found the Duke Yansheng?"

Has he already died for his country?

A deputy general immediately replied, "Your Excellency, when we entered the city just now, I asked the people. They all saw that the Duke Yansheng was kidnapped by bandits. Most of the close relatives in the Duke Yansheng's mansion were slaughtered. Only a few people escaped by hiding in the cellar. It was a heavy loss."

“Abducted?” Li Xianmu was taken aback at first, then said angrily, “The Duke Yansheng’s mansion was destroyed, and the Confucius Forest and the Confucius Temple were burned to the ground. Why didn’t the Duke Yansheng die for his country? How could he face Heaven, Earth, ancestors and gods!”

what?
Not to mention the few Kong clansmen who had just been rescued, even the Marquis of Shouchun was stunned, wondering if Li Xianmu was being a bit extreme.
An elderly man from the Kong family stepped forward and said with grief and indignation, "Governor, what you just said was too inappropriate. The Duke of Yansheng's mansion has suffered such a great calamity, which is already a human tragedy. You, Governor, are to blame. Instead of thinking about helping the court to eliminate the bandits, you are here blaming the Duke of Yansheng for not dying for his country. Is there such an absurd thing in the world?"

Li Zhongwen is also enshrined in the Confucian Temple. Doesn't the Governor worry that Li Zhongwen's spirit will be disturbed?

Li Xianmu, mounted on his horse, glanced coldly at the old man and asked, "And who are you?"

The old man said proudly, "The Duke Yansheng is my nephew, the third younger brother of the former Duke Yansheng."

It turns out he was a close relative of the Kong family. The White Lotus Sect is truly useless; they can't even kill everyone. Li Xianmu looked at the remaining members of the Kong family and felt a little sorry for them. But it was also for the best. If they had all died, how would he have been able to criticize the Kong family in the future?

"Since you are a close relative of the Duke of Yansheng, and can be considered a direct descendant of Confucius, then I will tell you something today."

Li Xianmu cupped his hands toward the north and said, “My father, Li Zhongwen, established the framework of the School of Mind with the four sentences of Hengqu, and used Wen Gong’s (whose given name was Tianxiang) ‘Ode to Righteousness’ as a guide to forge the soul and shape the bones of this official.”

If you haven't read the Ode to Righteousness, I will recite it for you again today!

There is no scholar in this world who cannot recite the "Ode to Uprightness". As soon as the old man heard those three words, he already knew what Li Xianmu meant!
Before he could stop him, Li Xianmu had already spoken, his voice filled with indignation and contempt—

"In Qin, Zhang Liang used his dagger; in Han, Su Wu used his staff."

He was the head of General Yan and was bleeding for Ji Shi.

"For Zhang Suiyang's teeth, for Yan Changshan's tongue."

Zhang Liang sought revenge for the state of Han, risking his life to assassinate Qin Shi Huang at Bolangsha.
Su Wu herded sheep in the North Sea for nineteen years without changing his mind;
Yan Yan, the governor of Ba Commandery, refused to surrender and declared that there were only generals who would rather die than generals who would surrender.
Ji Shao died protecting Emperor Hui of Jin, Sima Zhong. His blood splattered on the emperor's clothes. The palace maids wanted to wash it, but Sima Zhong cried and said that it was the blood of Ji Shao, the Chamberlain, and it was not allowed to be washed.
During the An Lushan Rebellion, Zhang Xun of the Tang Dynasty defended Suiyang City to the death. In his anger, he broke his teeth. After the city fell and he was captured, he only had three or four teeth left.

Yan Gaoqing of the Tang Dynasty was captured by rebels and denounced their crimes of treason. Even after his tongue was cut off with an iron hook, he continued to curse them with blood in his mouth. In the end, he was killed along with his young son and nephew.

"So that you know."

Some people are remembered in history, some shine as brightly as the sun and moon, and some have died, but their magnificent spirit can still move people's hearts even across thousands of years.

My late father, Li Zhongwen, taught me from a young age to be an unyielding and loyal subject.

Duke Yansheng, and you members of the Kong family, have received great favors from the Emperor of the Great Ming Dynasty for three generations because you are descendants of Confucius. We do not ask that you do anything to benefit the country or the people.

But there must always be a heroic act of sacrificing oneself to serve one's king in the face of danger!
"Descendants of sages should be setting an example for all scholars, sacrificing themselves for their country in a glorious act. Now, they are captured and hunted by bandits, like wild beasts, utterly disgracing the sages and all scholars. Truly despicable!"

This angry rebuke, filled with undisguised malice and disgust, made almost every member of the Kong clan sway and nearly collapse.

"What the governor says is utterly unreasonable. The Duke of Yansheng was not abandoned and fled when he was captured; he had no other choice. How can this be..."

"Enough!" Li Xianmu shouted again. "When the bandits broke through the city, he wasn't on the city wall; after the bandits entered the city, he wasn't fighting for his life in the streets; when the bandits entered the government office, he knelt down and said he had no choice."

Tell me, is it difficult for a person to die?

With a sword in hand, is killing or committing suicide difficult?

The logical questions left everyone speechless, leaving them only able to stammer.

"You're still spouting nonsense here. I'm truly ashamed that you're considered descendants of a sage. If Confucius were alive today, and he saw such descendants, he would surely punish your relatives and cleanse the family!"

Li Xianmu launched into a scathing critique, determined to at least suppress the system of the Duke of Yansheng, even if he couldn't completely abolish it.

As descendants of the same sage, how can the Li family's commitment to public good be highlighted without the contrast with the scheming and opportunistic behavior of the Confucius family?

"Take these people away."

Li Xianmu waved his hand, and after the soldiers took these members of the Kong clan away, he bowed to the Marquis of Shouchun and said, "I'm sorry to have made a fool of myself in front of you, Marquis. There is corruption even within the Confucian school."

"The governor is truly magnificent. His loyalty to the court and His Majesty is beyond my reach."

After watching the whole thing, the Marquis of Shouchun had only one thought: Li Xianmu is truly too loyal to His Majesty!
He's honest, capable, and has connections; no wonder he has such a successful career.

"Your Excellency flatters me. Qufu has become what it is today, and the Duke of Yansheng did not die for his country. We must take it back as soon as possible and continue our advance."

"That's exactly right!"

(End of this chapter)