Chapter 458 Duke Yansheng? How many armies does he have?

Suncheon Fortress.

Zhu Kezang looked at the stacks of letters of allegiance on his desk, not feeling much in his heart.

These gentry just follow the wind and steer the ship.

"Your Majesty, my servant has sent a secret message to Qian Yu, the governor of Shandong. Shandong will be eating pots of pulp to welcome the emperor!"

Nalan Mingzhu, the first traitor, knelt on the ground and said servilely.

"The Ming Dynasty does not want the term slave." Zhu Kezang said calmly.

"The emperor said that the villain should change his ways now!"

Zhu Kezang opened a letter of allegiance casually, flipped through it very casually, and casually asked the old eunuch Li Zhongjie beside him.

"How's it going? Have you counted how many letters of allegiance there are here?"

Old Li bowed slightly and said with a smile: "Reporting to the Emperor, there are a total of one hundred and twenty letters of allegiance here. The gentry and wealthy people in many places are expressing their allegiance to the Ming Dynasty. They are very sincere."

After saying this, Lao Li's tone paused, as if he remembered something, and he spoke.

"The most important of these letters of allegiance comes from the "Te Jin Biao Wen" from Qufu, Shandong."

When Zhu Kezang heard this, the smile on his face disappeared in the blink of an eye.

All that's left is barely concealed disgust!

With a cold snort, Zhu Kezang asked: "Is it the Kong family? They are really experienced and can surrender faster than the French!"

The sarcasm and disgust in Zhu Kezang's words can be heard by almost any individual.

But Lao Li was confused: France is far away in Europe, our soldiers have already beaten them?

Following Zhu Kezang throughout these years, Old Eunuch Li gained a lot of knowledge.

"Your Majesty, it's a letter from the Kong family. How to deal with it? Do I, Ming Dynasty, want to respond?"

Zhu Kezang fell into silence. How to deal with them?

At this time, in order to demonstrate his ability, the servile Nalan Mingzhu suggested: "Your Majesty, I suggest you accept the allegiance of the Kong family Yan Shenggong. No matter how bad the Kong family is, they are descendants of saints. The family has been inherited for thousands of years and has great influence on Shandong and even the whole world."

It goes without saying that it has great influence on the world."

After Zhu Kezang pondered for a while, he asked: "Dong Yansheng? Nalan Mingzhu, can you tell me how many armies he has?"

This time, Nalan Mingzhu couldn't be dealt with. The Emperor of Ming Dynasty didn't play according to the routine at all!

"Your Majesty, this. This, I estimate that Duke Yansheng may have hundreds or even thousands of servants."

Nalan Mingzhu really didn't know how to answer, so she could only talk nonsense.

"In this case, I will reply to the Kong family with a letter!"

During the conversation, Zhu Kezang dipped his pen in ink, spread out the rice paper, and typed four words.

"Shixiu surrenders!"

The four characters of "dragon flying and phoenix dancing" are full of sharpness.

Zhu Kezang nodded and traveled through time himself. I don’t know anything else, but his calligraphy is getting better and better.

"Nalan Mingzhu, since you have a relationship with the governor of Shandong, you will send this letter to the Kong family!"

Lao Li handed the letter to Nalan Mingzhu without even looking at it.

Nalan Mingzhu looked at the scene in front of her, the expression on her face changed slightly, and she couldn't help but persuade her: "Your Majesty, is there something wrong with this reply?"

Zhu Kezang put down his brush and asked, "What's wrong?"

Nalan Mingzhu said hesitantly: "If the emperor offends Duke Yan in this way, I'm afraid it will be harmful to the reputation of Ming Dynasty."

Although the Kong family has no army, the reason why the Kong family has such a high status is not because of the strength of the Kong family, but because scholars all over the world recognize the status of the Kong family.

Zhu Kezang has now offended the Kong family to death. From now on, it will be difficult for the Ming Dynasty to gain a foothold in the scholarly community in the north.

Although the Kong family is unable to cause any substantial harm to the Ming Dynasty!

But with its influence among the scholars in the north, there is no problem in disgusting the Ming Dynasty.

When Zhu Kezang heard this, he just sneered and said: "The foundation of our Ming Dynasty is our Ming Dynasty's outstanding contribution to the restoration of China by expelling the Tartars twice, for the common people and the country, and for the Han Dynasty's clothing and culture."

"Mr. Yan Shenggong, is he just a bird?"

Zhu Kezang hated this sour thing called Yansheng Gong.

If you are not involved in production, you can rely on the name of your ancestors to ride on the heads of the people. Why?

Zhu Yuanzhang, who was also the founding emperor, also disliked the Kong family.

In March of the first year of Hongwu (1368), Zhu Yuanzhang sent Xu Da on the northern expedition and successfully captured Jining Road in Shandong, where Qufu, the hometown of Confucius, was located.

Lao Zhu had just worshiped Confucius at Yingtiancheng Guoxue in February of this year, and also sent envoys to Qufu to pay homage, showing his great respect for Confucius.

Now that the hometown of the most sage master was under his control, Zhu Yuanzhang wanted to meet the descendants of Confucius and show his respect for Confucius to the Confucian scholars all over the world.

Therefore, he issued an edict to summon Kong Kejian, the fifty-fifth generation grandson of Confucius, to Yingtian City for an audience.

The emperor's summons was no small matter. Logically, Kong Kejian must set off immediately and go there under the stars.

But the situation was different at this time, because there were still two emperors in the world: Zhu Yuanzhang and Emperor Yuan Shun.

This year, Zhu Yuanzhang had just proclaimed himself emperor, and the situation in the world was still in chaos. No one could tell whether the final winner would be the Yuan Dynasty or the Ming Dynasty. Many literati and gentry in the north supported the Yuan Dynasty, and more people were waiting to see.

If this was a sign of goodwill to the newly emerging Ming Dynasty, what would happen if Zhu Yuanzhang was beaten to the ground and the Emperor of the Yuan Dynasty raised an army to question him?

Moreover, compared to Zhu Yuanzhang, the emperor of the Yuan Dynasty also respected Confucius more. This Kong Kejian also served as the imperial minister of the Imperial Academy in the Yuan Dynasty. This was not a small official, and was equivalent to the president and minister of education of the highest universities in northern Qing Dynasty in later generations.

some functions.

Kong Kejian thought about it, hesitated, and finally came up with a compromise.

He claimed to the envoy that he was sick and wanted to attend the call but was unable to travel. He could only send his son Kong Xixue to Yingtian City to meet Zhu Yuanzhang on his behalf.

In Kong Kejian's view, this hand can not only stabilize Zhu Yuanzhang, but also prevent the control from falling into the hands of the Yuan Dynasty. He can continue to wait and see, which really kills two birds with one stone.

It has to be said that the Kong family has its own wall-riding skills.

Unexpectedly, Zhu Yuanzhang had a tough personality and couldn't get rid of the sand in his eyes. When he heard that Confucius's descendants were unwilling to go to court, he was furious.

Lao Zhu originally came from a humble background. He never read books or received Confucian education when he was a child.

Now that he was finally in power, he wanted to show respect for Confucius, but Confucius's descendants found excuses to shirk it. In his opinion, Yanshenggong looked down on him and the newly established Ming Dynasty.

What kind of hooligan has Zhu Yuanzhang not seen? The trick of pretending to be sick is too low-level and cannot be put on the stage in front of him.

Lao Zhu felt that he had been greatly insulted. Although he suppressed himself repeatedly, he finally couldn't swallow it. He simply picked up his pen, wrote a letter, and sent someone to deliver it to Kong Kejian on horseback immediately. The letter said:

"Although I was raised from the common people, the ancients who proclaimed themselves emperor from the people were also the ancestors of the Han Dynasty. I have an illness, but I don't know. If you call me an illness to slow me down, that's not allowed."

The meaning in the text is very obvious. Although I am from a commoner background, you cannot look down on me. Liu Bang, the great ancestor of the Han Dynasty, was also similar to me.

What made Kong Kejian shudder even more was Lao Zhu's question: Are you really sick? I don't know yet. If you dare to pretend to be sick to lie to me, I won't be able to spare you!

Those who sit on the fence are most afraid of being forced. In the end, Yan Shenggong's condition improved overnight, which can be called a medical miracle, and he rushed to Yingtian Mansion overnight.

Zhu Kezang was not used to Yan Shenggong in the north. Seeing his tough attitude, Nalan Mingzhu could only follow his orders.

After Nalan Mingzhu retreated, Zhu Kezang finally decided the fate of the Kong family: "Telegraph Wang Xianwu: Yan Shenggong, throw it away!"
Chapter completed!