The most reckless man in the Ming Dynasty

The staff is on duty.

Jiao Fang was yelling at the air.

As for what he was scolding, it was naturally his ill-fated official career.

Jiao Fang was from Shaanzhou County, Henan Prefecture. She was lucky enough to pass the Jinshi examination, but she was only ranked at the bottom. Later, because she was from the same hometown as Li Xian, a powerful official at the time, she was recommended as a scholar. Later, Jiao Fang was in favor of Li Xian. He followed his suit and sent his wife to serve Li Xian, and then he was appointed editor of the Hanlin Academy.

However, even after entering the Hanlin Academy, the Hanlin Academy at that time valued literary talent, and the bachelors thought that Jiao Fang was crude and uneducated, had a vicious personality, and liked to talk about people behind their backs, so no one was willing to associate with him, and Jiao Fang was repeatedly ostracized and harassed. Suppression is not tolerated by the world.

In the 22nd year of Chenghua, Yin Min was deposed. Jiao Fang formed a party with his son Yin Long and was relegated to Tongzhi of Yangzhou, Guizhou, Huguang. He was not allowed to be promoted until the tenth year of Hongzhi, when he was promoted to Taichang Temple Minister and Imperial Academy. The college serves as a lecturer.

However, because he liked to talk and slander others, and was insidious and cunning, he was jointly suppressed by powerful officials such as Liu Jian and Ma Wensheng. Whether it was a memorial or an official promotion, he was suppressed by these two giants. Even his memorials were all suppressed. Withheld, Jiao Fang hated Liu Jian, Xie Qian, Ma Wensheng and others.

He was unwilling to be just a minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs in his life, so when Liu Jin was whipping officials, Jiao Fang braved the disdain of the world and took the initiative to show her favor to Liu Jin and willingly became an eunuch, hoping that Liu Jin could help him If you rise to the top, you will not only become a minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, but you will at least enter the cabinet and become a bachelor!

However, Jiao Fang never expected that the powerful eunuch Liu Jin, who originally had the power to whip up hundreds of officials, would be thrown into the dust because of the return of Tang Hao, the Marquis of Zhongshan, and is now being imprisoned and tortured in the imperial edict.

And after he, Jiao Fang, colluded with Liu Jin and became an eunuch, not only did he not get any benefits, but he got the reputation of an "eunuch" for nothing. Now he was really not tolerated by the gentry, and he could not even say a word to him. They all felt unlucky.

Jiao Fang, who had been squeezed out, felt that her career was hopeless and ended it.

However, fate changed dramatically at this time. Jiao Fang never expected that His Majesty the Emperor would notice him and directly promote him to the position of Minister of Household Affairs!

That was the second-rank Minister of the Ministry of Finance, the great agricultural minister in charge of the world's money and food!

For a moment, Jiao Fang couldn't help but froze on the spot.

This sudden and shocking change made him unable to believe that it was real, and he even felt that he was dreaming.

Chen Kuan looked at Jiao Fang with a smile, and took the initiative to remind: "Jiao Shangshu, hurry up and accept the order, His Majesty is still waiting for you to enter the palace to meet the emperor!"

As soon as these words came out, Jiao Fang suddenly woke up, and then hurriedly accepted the order to thank him, and then followed Chen Kuan into the palace in high spirits to meet the saint.

This bizarre scene immediately aroused a lot of discussion among the officials.

After all, this Jiao Fang is known as a person with despicable morals. How could your Majesty promote this person to the position of Minister of the Ministry of Revenue?

When Wang Hao saw this, he scolded everyone and did his own thing well, then looked at Jiao Fang with a deep look.

Why did Your Majesty choose to use Jiao Fang?

Can we only rely on these treacherous villains to gather power?

If this is the case, I am afraid that the Zhengde court in the future will be dominated by traitors!

For a moment, Wang Hao was worried.

He recalled the instructions given to him by Heavenly Official Ma Wensheng.

"Your Majesty wants to gather power and implement the New Deal!"

"But the Ministry of Civil Affairs controls the selection of officials in the world and must not fall into the hands of traitors!"

No matter what, Wang Hao would not allow Jiao Fang and his ilk to take over the power of the civil service. Only then would the Ming Dynasty be truly rotten to the core.

Even if he dies!

Jiao Fang entered the palace in high spirits, and immediately fell to her knees on the ground after walking into the hall.

"Your Majesty, Jiao Fang, thanks you for your kindness!"

Zhu Houzhao looked at this guy and couldn't help but frown.

To be honest, he really doesn't like people like Jiao Fang.

He has no ability, yet he is jealous of talents, and likes to slander and abuse others. He is a perfect example of a traitor.

If there was no one available at the moment, Zhu Houzhao really wouldn't let such a person occupy a high position.

However, Zhu Houzhao is the emperor. Since he is the emperor, he cannot look at a person one-sidedly and distinguish ministers based solely on their moral good or bad. Such an emperor will only be a fool.

"Jiao Fang!"

"I'll tell you clearly!"

Zhu Houzhao looked at this guy coldly.

"I've heard a lot about the things you did."

"It is impossible for a person with such corrupt moral integrity and integrity like you to hold a high position. Wang Hao, the Minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, would not agree, and Yang Tinghe, the chief minister of the cabinet, would not agree with it. It was I who overcame all opinions and forced him to be You promoted me."

Hearing this, Jiao Fang was shocked and angry, and she also felt hatred towards Wang Hao and Yang Tinghe.

I am morally corrupt, I have no integrity, are you guys saints?

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your kindness!"

When it’s time to give thanks, you still have to give thanks.

Jiao Fang understood one thing, that is, after today, he, Jiao Fang, is no longer an eunuch, but... an imperial party!

"As the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue, you have only one request: to control the Ministry of Revenue in your hands as soon as possible, or in my hands!"

"If you can't do it, if you are in a high position but can't control your subordinates, then I will not only destroy you, but also remove you from your career and get you out of the court completely!"

"Jiao Fang, do you understand?"

Jiao Fang trembled when she heard this. She suppressed the fear and panic in her heart and hurriedly kowtowed to show her support.

If the matter is done, he will be the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue. If the matter is not done, he will not only be dismissed from his post, but also be dismissed from his honor!

How did His Majesty the Emperor come up with such vicious torture? Isn't it too cold-blooded?

But no matter what, he has now been roasted on the fire!

We can only succeed in controlling the household department for His Majesty, there is no room for failure!

After Jiao Fang left, Zhu Houzhao couldn't help but sigh.

"Da Xun, tell me, why can I only reuse such a treacherous villain?"

Zhu Houzhao is still a passionate young man, so he naturally admires heroes and despises treacherous villains like Jiao Fang from the bottom of his heart.

However, the situation forced him to reuse Jiao Fang even if he didn't like her anymore!

Otherwise, who should Zhu Houzhao appoint as the Minister of Household Affairs?

Those with a good reputation may not necessarily have a good reputation. It is very likely that they were promoted by civil servants, military officers and nobles.

For example, that damn bastard Liu Daxia has a good enough reputation, right?

The famous three gentlemen of Hongzhi are simply too good to be true!

But are the things this bastard did really the work of a gentleman?

They formed cliques for personal gains and fought for power and profit. I don’t know how many Huguang Township Party members had a smooth career because of Liu Daxia. I don’t know how many ordinary people lost their lives to the exploitation of these Huguang Township Party members!

To put it bluntly, if Zhu Houzhao wanted to fight against these civil servants and gentry and take back his own imperial power, then he would have to go against his will and reuse some treacherous villains like Jiao Fang who had no morals and were squeezed and suppressed by the gentry!

When he thought of this, Zhu Houzhao suddenly understood.

"I finally understand why there have been so many treacherous ministers in all dynasties!"

Chen Kuan remained silent, but he smiled happily after hearing these words.

Why have there been so many treacherous ministers in all dynasties?

Did those treacherous and sycophant ministers really only do bad things?

In the final analysis, it was just a way for the emperor to check and balance his ministers.

In the face of court battles, there is no such thing as black and white!

If a dynasty is full of loyal and virtuous people, and full of gentlemen and wise ministers, then the court will definitely have big problems!

For example...Hongzhi Chaotang!

Chen Kuan was frightened by his own thoughts, so he immediately shook his head crazily to dispel these rebellious thoughts.

The Hongzhi Dynasty can be said to be the standard template of "sage kings and virtuous ministers", but what results did these "sage kings and virtuous ministers" achieve in the end?

The people are destitute and their wealth is exhausted, the army and the people are in hardship...

Zhu Houzhao looked at Chen Kuan in surprise.

"Da Xun, what are you thinking about?"

"Your Majesty, I am just thinking that there are not many people like Tang Hou who are dedicated to serving the country!"

Zhu Houzhao was startled when he heard this, and then nodded.

"yes!"

"He's the only one so far!"

"By the way, Daxuan, let Jin Yiwei send a message to the savage and urge him to write the second half of "Breaking the Sky" as soon as possible. I'm still waiting to see it!"

Chen Kuan: "..."

While the emperor was fighting with the civil servants, Qi Yanming had already surrounded Qufu City with nearly 10,000 rebels.

Well, the number of rebel thieves has increased again, and there is nothing we can do about it.

After all, after escaping into Shandong, all the inspections of the local police stations were put on hold. The rebels in Bazhou were able to march straight in. It was still the same old routine. The common people did not commit any crimes, and the gentry and evil gentry were all killed. Therefore, the rebels won the hearts of the people and their ranks began to grow. stand up.

Only the core members who have experienced that fiasco know that what they are doing now is just to capture Qufu and blackmail the court, leaving a way for themselves to survive.

Qufu County is better said to belong to the Confucius family than to the Ming Dynasty.

Most of the land in the entire county belongs to the Confucius family, and most of the people in the county rent the land from the Confucius family and look up to the Confucius family.

Even the county magistrate of Qufu must be a member of the Confucius family. It can be said that Qufu County is a state within a state in the Ming Dynasty. The so-called county magistrates and county offices are just tools sent by the Confucius family to collect taxes and make money for the Confucius family.

After all, this is the Kong family, a descendant of the most holy master.

When it comes to the aristocratic families in China that have been passed down for thousands of years, the Kong family is the only one with a serious and serious family for thousands of years.

Yanshenggong is the hereditary title of the eldest descendant of Confucius, and it is also a noble title that has been passed down through the generations.

In fact, the canonization of descendants of Confucius began in the twelfth year of Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty. Since then, the eldest grandson of Confucius has had a hereditary title. In the following thousand years, the title has changed many times. In the former Song Dynasty, it was changed to Yanshenggong. The ban has always been followed.

Yan Shenggong had a respected status, equivalent to an eighth-grade official in the Song Dynasty. Hu Yuan was promoted to a third-grade official. In the Ming Dynasty, he was a first-grade civil official, and later became the "head of the civil service class"!

Even most dynasties have only three hundred years of national destiny, and since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty deposed hundreds of schools of thought and only respected Confucianism, the status of the Confucian family has become a transcendent existence.

The current head of the Kong family is Kong Wenshao, the 62nd generation Yanshenggong. He inherited the title in the 16th year of Hongzhi. He is calm, dignified and elegant, and is born to be a nobleman.

It is worth mentioning that Duke Yansheng married Li Dongyang's daughter as his official wife because of the great reputation of the scholar leader Li Dongyang.

In other words, Kong Wenshao said Li Dongyang's son-in-law.

Previously, Tang Hao made public Li Dongyang's collusion with Liu Jin. Li Dongyang was immediately labeled as an eunuch and was not tolerated by public opinion. Kong Wenshao, a good son-in-law, even personally wrote a beautiful article to complain about his father-in-law Li Dongyang and tried to use the influence of Yan Shenggong. Try to excuse Li Dongyang.

After all, Li Dongyang is the father-in-law of Kong Wenshao. If Li Dongyang takes the name of eunuch, Kong Wenshao himself will be implicated, unless he dares to abolish his wife and draw a clear line with Li Dongyang. But the problem lies in his eldest son Kong Zhenqian A man with a virtuous reputation has always been regarded as a nurturing son of Duke Yansheng, so it is impossible for Kong Wenshao to abolish his first wife, otherwise he would destroy the eldest son's inheritance system.

Then, Kong Wenshao would have to completely tie himself to Li Dongyang and try his best to restore the reputation of this good father-in-law.

It's just that this man, who usually doesn't change his expression despite the collapse of the mountain in front of him, has a clear look of panic on his face today, or he is extremely pale.

Because the Bazhou rebels surrounded Qufu City and ordered them to surrender, otherwise they would kill the Kong family!

The densely packed rebels outside the city make people feel as if they have fallen into an ice cave at a glance, and they cannot have any desire to resist.

Not to mention, there are not many troops in Qufu City at all, or almost none!

Why?

Because Qufu is a holy land of famous religions and a place of great spiritual importance in the world!

It is impossible for anyone to dare to take the idea of ​​a holy land of famous religions, so naturally no heavy troops were sent to guard it, which polluted the literary atmosphere of this Holy Land of Qufu.

In the entire Qufu City, including all the guards and servants, there are only five hundred people.

But there are at least tens of thousands of rebels outside the city at this moment!

How to fight this?

What do they use to defend the city?

The rebels outside the city only gave them three hours to consider. If their conditions are not met when the time is up, they will attack Qufu and bloodbath the entire Kong family!

In the Kong's ancestral hall, the core members of the Kong family gathered, but they all lost their usual dignified and dignified manner. Instead, they were quarreling with fear on their faces, making the entire Kong's ancestral hall as noisy as a street.

Kong Wenshao sat in the main seat without saying a word, but looked at the scene in front of him coldly, feeling it was extremely ironic.

On weekdays, these tribesmen consider themselves to be great Confucian scholars, giving advice and promoting literature, and look down on everyone, including the "upstart" old Zhu family. Even the royal family of the Ming Dynasty, they also look down on them and lack respect in their hearts.

Because the Kong family is the best family in the world, and it is noble and elegant because of the blood descendants of the Holy Saint. Not everyone can compare with it.

Because of this, the Kong family rejected the old Zhu family's proposal to send a large army to garrison, and firmly controlled Qufu in their own hands. As a result, there was no decent army garrison near Qufu.

Now, the rebels are besieging the city, but they don't even have the troops to hold on to the city and wait for reinforcements. It's really ridiculous and ironic!

The head of the family didn't speak, and the others became more noisy.

What's the noise about?

It's nothing more than whether he should temporarily condescend to join the rebels outside the city.

Why do this?

Because the Kong family’s first priority was to protect holy places such as the Confucius Temple, not to be loyal to the Ming Dynasty.

But the problem is that if they really do this, it will be equivalent to abandoning their integrity as scholars and losing the face of Yanshenggong Mansion!

Even though they often do such despicable, shameless and bottomless things, after all, literati are all about face, and no one is willing to do it until the last moment, except for some guys who are extremely greedy for life and fear of death.

"Why can't you surrender?"

"The most important thing is to inherit the Kong family!"

"Didn't our ancestors surrender to the Jurchens and Mongols because of the situation?"

As soon as these words came out, the entire ancestral hall fell into an eerie silence.

Because although this is the truth, it is a scandal that none of the Kong family is willing to admit.

After the title of "Yanshenggong" came out, the Jurchens and Mongols competed to steal it to win over people's hearts. The Song, Jin and Yuan regimes each had "Yanshenggong". One appeared in Quzhou, one in Kaifeng, and one in Qufu. The ridiculous scene of three sects coexisting, followed by the Song Dynasty moving south, the scene of two sects coexisting with each other for decades.

This kind of thing, no matter how outsiders evaluate it, is never on the table.

After all, as long as they have some integrity, as descendants of the most holy blood of the Kong family, as the sage Kong Yan respected by the world's literati, they should stick to their moral integrity and imitate those moral integrity men who sacrificed their lives for the country and wipe their own necks. It's a pity that they The ancestors did not do this, but left these shames in vain.

Now that the old matter was brought up again, the same choice was put before them, but everyone in the Kong family chose to remain silent.

In the past, they were still thinking about why their ancestors could not sacrifice their lives for righteousness, but now they understand that in the face of the threat of death, who can be completely unafraid and truly sacrifice their lives for righteousness?

"Master, make a decision!"

"Yes, Master, a moment of honor and disgrace is nothing..."

Everyone looked at Kong Wenshao, their eyes full of desire for survival.

No one wants to die, let alone these "natural nobles"!

We haven’t had enough of the good life with good food and clothing. Who would want to lose his life for no reason!

Facing everyone's gaze, Kong Wenshao couldn't help but sigh.

"How do you want me to decide?"

"There aren't even any decent soldiers in Qufu City. How can we resist the tens of thousands of ferocious rebels outside the city with those three squadrons of government officials who can't even hold a sword?"

"No matter what, family inheritance comes first. The inheritance of my Kong family has lasted for thousands of years, and it must not be cut off in the hands of you and me. Otherwise, we will not be able to face our ancestors when we are under the Nine Springs!"

After hearing what Kong Wenshao meant, everyone in the Kong family roughly understood what he meant.

He just wanted to surrender, but he was the Duke Yansheng conferred by the imperial court, so it was difficult for him to issue orders through this mouth.

Well, this is like being a bitch and still building a memorial arch!

"Everyone, go down and get ready!"

"Calling all the guards to suppress and protect my Kong family's property!"

After hearing this, everyone in the Kong family took action.

Only Kong Wenshao and his eldest son Kong Zhenqian were left in the ancestral hall.

The young man Kong Zhenqian looked at his father with an angry face and asked sternly: "Father, are we really going to surrender to the rebels?"

Because Kong Zhenqian was young and passionate, he still had backbone.

Just now, it was he who had been arguing hard against those tribesmen who wanted to surrender to thieves.

But he didn't expect that even his father, who he had always been in awe of, would make such a decision!

"Otherwise, what should we do?" Kong Wenshao asked.

"We are all famous scholars, not vulgar warriors. Do you expect them to fight the rebels with swords?"

"Zhenqian, you must remember that no matter when the time comes, family inheritance comes first, and everything else can be abandoned!"