Southern Ming Rebel Army

Chapter 568: Changes in the Confucius Mansion (2)

Tao believed that no matter how the world changed, it would not affect the sage's direct lineage. What about the Yuan Dynasty? If they wanted to rule the Central Plains, the Mongols who swept across Asia and Europe had to favor the Kong family. Not to mention the Qing court at that time. When the Eight Banners soldiers plundered Shandong and arrived in Qufu, they had to pay homage to the sage respectfully.

Therefore, in Tao's view, the Eight Banners treated the Kong family so well. Could it be that the Qian Dynasty was worse than the Qing Dynasty? Therefore, while the outside world was in a turmoil over the reform, Tao sat firmly at home, not paying any attention to what was happening outside, and was not worried at all.

Seeing that his sister didn't care, Tao Chongping sighed and said, "I have a good friend in the capital. He once wrote to me, saying that the current emperor was disdainful of my brother-in-law's submission to the Qing Dynasty. I am worried that the court will forcefully implement the land tax distribution system."

Upon hearing this, Tao frowned and said, "Impossible, these are all sacrificial fields. The court uses the methods of the saints to govern the world. Could it be that they can't even tolerate the saint's direct lineage? The court even collects taxes on the land used for sacrifices to the saints. Throughout the dynasties, I have never heard of such a ridiculous thing!"

Tao Chongping also felt that the court would not do such a thing, but Kong Yinzhi's surrender to the Qing Dynasty in the past did offend the current emperor. Therefore, Tao Chongping hoped that his sister could use the title of Yanshenggong to call on scholars all over the world to resist the court's implementation of the land-based tax system.

………………

In early June, Wu Jinkun entered Jining via Xuzhou.

Along the way, local officials all asked what to do with the Kong family's land. Wu Jinkun looked at the huge amount of land and recalled the emperor's instructions.

The emperor said: "I know that reforming the system is difficult, but the taxes of the country depend on the people, so I have to do it. You are a minister I rely on, and I hope you will overcome all difficulties and move forward without fear."

Wu Jinkun did not sleep all night. The next morning, his appearance frightened Lu Ping. Lu Ping hurriedly asked, "Master Wu, what happened to you?"

After saying that, he tilted his head to look into Wu Jinkun's room. Lu Ping thought that Wu Jinkun was overworked and was about to persuade him to take care of himself.

Just before Lu Ping opened his mouth, Wu Jinkun gave a bitter smile and said, "In the history books, my name, Wu Jinkun, is probably infamous!"

Lu Ping was stunned, thinking that he was worried about the arrangement of the Jiangnan gentry, and immediately comforted him: "Don't worry, Lord Wu, you are carrying out the emperor's order, and this reform is also for the good of the court. Some rotten fish and shrimps are not capable of such great things!"

Wu Jinkun shook his head and said, "It's not Jiangnan, it's the Kong family, the descendant of the saint!"

Lu Ping frowned when he heard this. Being a descendant of a saint is indeed a bit tricky. If he makes the slightest move, the scholars all over the world would probably quarrel over it.

Wu Jinkun ate something casually, then went back to the house and looked at the thick document, which recorded the land distribution in the Kong Mansion, the number of tenants, and the Kong Mansion's family system. The more Wu Jinkun read, the more frightened he became.

Not to mention the huge amount of land, the number of servants and tenants in the Confucius Mansion is also extremely large. There are nearly a thousand slaves in the Confucius Mansion alone. If the tenants and temple households are added, the number of households directly controlled by the Confucius Mansion can reach tens of thousands.

The management of tenants and slaves by the Confucius Mansion was completely different from that of ordinary landlords and gentry. The Confucius Mansion was like a small imperial court.

Under the Confucius Mansion, there are three halls and six offices which serve as the specific management and service agencies of the family.

Among them, the lobby of the Confucius Mansion was where Duke Yansheng enforced family laws and regulations and tried family cases, which was obviously in conflict with the court's strict ban on setting up private courts.

The six halls were also established based on the model of the six ministries during the early Ming Dynasty, and can be divided into six halls: the Department of Classics, the Department of Music, the Department of Hundreds of Households, the Department of Control, the Department of Seals, and the Department of Books.

The Dianji was responsible for the rituals during sacrifices, the Siyue was responsible for the musical instruments during sacrifices, the Baihu was in charge of guarding the forest temples, and under it was the Baihu Yamen, which could directly manage the temple households.

Like the Ministry of Revenue, the Guangou Office was responsible for collecting rent grain and silver from various places. It also had garrison officials, chief guards, and small guards under it, making it an independent organization.

He is in charge of seals and documents. In addition, there are dozens of temple stewards from the third to the ninth rank and 600 subordinates.

All tenants, temple households, servants and members of the Kong family who broke the law would be judged by the Kong family. They could hold court for trial, arrest people at will with letters of credit, and use torture instruments. Wu Jinkun could imagine that when the Kong family encountered disasters, countless crimes would surely be committed in order to annex land.

Seeing what happened next, Wu Jinkun angrily slammed the document on the table and said to Lu Ping in a cold tone: "Even if I am stabbed in the back by thousands of people, I will impose the new system on the Kong family. The Kong family is behaving like this, how can they be a saint at all!"

Hearing this, Lu Ping was also worried that Wu Jinkun might accidentally cause something unmanageable, so he suggested to Wu Jinkun: "Sir Wu, this matter seems a bit serious. Why don't you write a secret letter and let the Qingluan Guard secretly report it to His Majesty."

Wu Jinkun frowned and said, "No need, I will submit a memorial according to the court's regulations and report the situation here in detail."

"Oh, Lord Wu, if you submit a letter, the whole court will know about it. Let me do it. It's a confidential letter, and the civil servants in the court can't see it. Let's tell His Majesty quietly first. If it gets out of hand, it will be out of control!"

At this point, Lu Ping added: "However, no matter what, I will definitely report this to His Majesty. Sir Wu, I am suggesting that if you submit this petition to the court, it will definitely cause a big disturbance. We have just arrived in Jining and have no preparations. If we go ahead forcefully, then the following matters may not be easy to handle!"

After hearing this, Wu Jinkun pondered for a long time before speaking in a calm tone, "That's good. I will report the Kong Mansion incident to His Majesty. Lord Lu, the Qingluan Guards must first secretly collect evidence of the Kong Mansion's disregard for human life, private courts, and land occupation. Remember, the evidence must be solid!"

Lu Ping patted his chest and assured, "Don't worry, the Qingluan Guard will definitely not make false accusations or wrongful convictions."

Wu Jinkun nodded in agreement, then spread out the paper and ground the ink, spread out his sleeves and started writing. In a moment, the words appeared on the paper.

Wu Jinkun summarized the information and documents he had obtained and presented them on paper. But at the end, Wu Jinkun said, "Although the Confucius family is a descendant of the saint, I know that this move will make the scholars uneasy, but I will not hesitate for the sake of the country and the people."

Afterwards, Wu Jinkun proofread it repeatedly, and only after confirming that it was correct did he seal the memorial and hand it to Lu Ping, who had it delivered secretly by the Qingluan Guard.