Chapter Thirty-Four: The Intruders in Qufu

Zhu Yang returned to the small courtyard with a broom in hand, looking thoroughly dejected, inwardly cursing Zhu Yuanzhang and Zhu Biao for their lack of decency.

Even with their familiarity, they still made him do such chores.

Yet, despite his complaints and irritation, he had no choice but to keep working—after all, Zhu Yuanzhang was the Emperor. If he weren't, Zhu Yang would have surely broken his head.

...

As Zhu Yang resigned himself to his fate, an imperial messenger falcon soared northward from the capital.

At the same time, a decree was issued: Shen Jin, Minister of War, was arrested and imprisoned for factionalism and wantonly destroying the system of the palace and guards; several assistant ministers and censors were also imprisoned alongside him.

The Embroidered Guard mobilized in full force, with many riding out of the capital on horseback.

Rumor had it that among the imprisoned officials, some confessed to being accomplices of Hu Weiyong in various locales.

"Our Emperor truly strikes hard," Zhu Yang sighed after reading the court bulletin brought by Jiang Huan.

In truth, Hu Weiyong suffered the most. Even after death, the last Prime Minister of history continued to serve diligently as Zhu Yuanzhang's scapegoat.

[Zhu Yuanzhang: I find you disagreeable, you must be an accomplice of Hu Weiyong.

Official: No, I am not!

Zhu Yuanzhang: Have you met Hu Weiyong? Spoken with him? Are you related? Have you met those executed officials? Have you spoken with them?

Official: ...

Zhu Yuanzhang: Guards! Here is a Hu Weiyong accomplice—take him out and behead him!]

...

All Zhu Yang could do was sigh.

These people had attempted to kill him that very morning; having acted, they should bear the consequences.

Zhu Yang was hardly saintly enough to spare those who sought his life.

As for those implicated, who was truly innocent? Zhu Yang lacked the power to discern, nor was it his concern. If they must blame someone, let them blame their own poor judgment.

...

Qufu, the private domain of the Kong family, where everything belonged to them—even the county magistrate was a Kong clansman.

After establishing his rule, Zhu Yuanzhang did not elevate Confucius, but instead issued a decree.

The decree was brief, only two lines:

First, the Spring and Autumn Sacrifice at the Confucian Temple would henceforth be held only in Qufu;

Second, there was no need for nationwide worship.

Zhu Yuanzhang’s meaning was clear: from now on, sacrifices to Confucius would be conducted solely in Qufu, and only by himself; other regions were free to attend to their own affairs.

Compared to previous dynasties, this treatment was worlds apart.

---

Since Emperor Zhenzong of Song, Confucius was not only honored as the Duke for the Continuation of the Sage, but also titled "Supreme Sage and Cultural Propagator King"; Western Xia went further, conferring on him the posthumous title "Emperor of Cultural Propagation," and Yuan Chengzong bestowed "Great Accomplished Supreme Sage and Cultural Propagator King."

Yet in Zhu Yuanzhang’s reign, aside from the hereditary title, nothing else remained.

Even the most important sacrificial rites could only be performed in Qufu.

This left the direct descendants of the Kong family deeply dissatisfied with Zhu Yuanzhang.

After all, a duke and a king are worlds apart in every respect.

To express their displeasure, the ancestral hall of the Kong family still enshrined Confucius’s spirit tablet as "Great Accomplished Supreme Sage and Cultural Propagator King" of the Yuan, not as the Duke for the Continuation of the Sage.

The current heir was Kong Na, the fifty-sixth generation descendant of Confucius, who succeeded the title in the seventeenth year of Hongwu (1384).

Kong Na had just stepped out, as he was invited by some scholars for an outing, accompanied by several beauties.

"Beauties?" Kong Na sneered; the entire Qufu belonged to his family—what beauty had he not seen, what beauty had he not touched?

Indeed, there were even a pair of naked twins crying in his chamber at this moment.

He had accosted (snatched) them recently, and for days had been "studying the classics" with them, discussing the principles of heaven and the way of the world.

Aside from some weakness in the kidney, all was well.

No one dared speak a word against him.

Nominally, Qufu was a part of Ming, but in reality, the Kong family ruled it absolutely—a country within a country.

The Kong family had always represented Confucianism; to speak ill of Kong Na was to speak ill of the family, of the Duke, an insult to Confucius, a desecration of Confucianism, and an affront to all scholars.

Because of this, all the residents of Qufu knew Kong Na was but a gilded shell, rotten within, yet not one dared utter a word, nor report him, nor even attempt to escape Qufu.

Before leaving, Kong Na glanced at the twins in his room, licked his lips, and suddenly felt bored. "Kong San, deal with those twins. Their crying is irritating!"

"Yes!" Kong San replied, excited. Over the years, he had helped Kong Na dispose of many women, sampling more than a few himself.

He decided to keep the twins at home for now, and discard them once he tired of them.

"Lord, do you want new ones?" Kong San asked.

Since the ancestral hall honored "Great Accomplished Supreme Sage and Cultural Propagator King," all servants addressed Kong Na as "Lord."

"Recently, they're all too young—boring. Find someone older, preferably more proactive!" Kong Na patted Kong San’s shoulder. "If you succeed, I’ll reward you with fifty taels of silver!"

"Yes, my lord!" Kong San was even more excited.

He loved this work—money, women, perfection.

...

By evening, Kong Na returned to his chamber reeking of wine, where a woman sat quietly.

She was nearly forty, a widow from a neighboring county; Kong San had fancied her and tricked her over for twenty-five taels of silver.

Kong Na, drunk and blurry-eyed, could hardly see her face.

---

Kong Na rubbed his eyes desperately, but his vision remained clouded.

He gave up and lunged at the woman.

"Ah..."

"Intruders..."

"Run..."

Those who burst into the Kong mansion killed without a word.

Screams and warnings rang out in succession; more people fled toward the gates.

"Who are you, daring to break into the Duke for the Continuation of the Sage’s residence at night? Are you tired of living?" Kong Na shouted.

"Don’t fret, we’re good people!" the intruder grinned, waving a knife. "I never thought a scholar would have such stamina. Want to come to the brothel with me? There are many unsatisfied girls there—your abilities would be much appreciated!"

"Impudent! We are scholars—how could we stoop to such things? Leave at once, or I’ll petition His Majesty to wipe you all out!" Kong Na, emboldened by wine, declared righteously.

"'Lord'? When did the Emperor grant you a princely title?" the man in black mused.

"Hmph, the last dynasty bestowed it, and the current Emperor won’t lag behind!" Kong Na said proudly, certain that Zhu Yuanzhang would eventually follow his predecessors and grant him a princely rank.

"Oh, the last dynasty..." The man in black stared deeply at Kong Na, then pressed his knife to Kong Na’s neck, exerting a little force.

His skin broke, blood trickled down the blade.

Cold, warmth, pain—all sensations snapped Kong Na into sobriety.

Gone was his arrogance; seeing the knife at his throat, he collapsed to his knees, begging, "Spare me, master!"

"So now I’m ‘master’? Not ‘lord’ anymore?" the intruder chuckled.

"No...no... I’m not a lord, just the Duke for the Continuation of the Sage... No, I’m merely a scholar..." Kong Na stammered.

"A scholar, eh? That explains it." The intruder glanced at the widow still lying on the bed. "Go on, then. We don’t kill, we only seek riches."

With that, the intruder chopped Kong Na’s neck with a hand knife.

"Boss, what now?" Another man in black rushed in, holding the spirit tablet inscribed "Great Accomplished Supreme Sage and Cultural Propagator King."

"Keep it. Hang the Duke and the widow at Qufu’s gate. Tie up the clan chief too—he loves money, so stuff copper coins in his mouth until he can’t swallow anymore!" the leader ordered.

"Yes!"

"Such filth and depravity! The Kong family is nothing special," the man in black glanced at the vast mansion one last time, feeling it was utterly tainted, devoid of any sage’s aura.