Chapter 253: Servility

Why?

Why do you want to surrender?

Fan Wencheng stared at the scene in front of him in a daze.

How dare the Kong family... How dare they surrender to the rebels?

They are the descendants of the Great Saint and Teacher!

They are the Kong family that the literati of the world admire and respect!

Are the loyalty to the emperor and the country, the righteousness of the country, all bullshit?

Fan Wencheng thought of many possibilities. He even worried that the Kong family's stubborn resistance would cause a bloody massacre by the rebels. He was even more worried that the holy land of Qufu would be destroyed and defiled because of himself and others...

But he never thought that these damn dogs would directly open the city to surrender to the rebels!

Fan Wencheng rushed to the Qufu County Magistrate in one step, grabbed him, and shouted angrily with a crazy look: "How can you surrender? You are the descendants of the Great Saint and Teacher!"

Qufu County Magistrate Kong Zongwen took a glance and found that this guy was obviously a rebel leader, so he naturally did not dare to neglect him.

"Sir, the first priority of my Kong family is to protect the blood inheritance of the most holy teacher, so..."

"What a bullshit first priority!" Fan Wencheng said angrily: "The Kong family is a model of gentry, and even more so the leader of the gentry in the world. Where are the propriety, righteousness, and integrity that you advocate on a daily basis? Where are the loyalty to the emperor and patriotism that you shout on a daily basis? Why do you do such a shameless thing when it comes to you?"

Yes, shameless!

And it's extremely shameless!

This group of Kong family members who are praised by scholars all over the world, any one of them is a scholar, a famous scholar, enjoying the noble status and superior status brought to them by the children of the Kong family, pointing out the country and inspiring the text, and can be said to have controlled the world's scholars for generations.

But what about now?

Facing the siege of the city by the rebels, they didn't even have a decent resistance, and they just opened the city and begged for surrender!

No literary character!

No moral bottom line!

No patriotism!

What kind of bastards are they!

Fan Wencheng was about to be mad. He kept grabbing Kong Zongwen's collar and asking him why he surrendered!

Qi Yanming just glanced at him coldly, without paying too much attention. Instead, he commanded Liu Liu and Liu Qi to control the city gate, and then led the team to the core of Qufu County-Kong Mansion.

In fact, after more than half a year of slaughtering gentry, Qi Yanming had already discovered a ridiculous and ironic fact.

That is, these damn literati, who usually shout about loyalty to the emperor and patriotism, are the most bastards who deserve to be killed in the world!

If it weren't for their corruption and bribery, if it weren't for their clever excuses, if it weren't for their extortion of the people's fat, how could the lives of these low-level people be so miserable?

In the prefectures and counties of Zhili, every gentry family has mountains of gold and silver, and grain, but the local people are hungry and clothed, and a large number of refugees and hungry people starve to death on the way, and no one cares!

It is this group of damned gentry and gentry, they deserve to die more than anyone else, and deserve to be killed more than anyone else!

It is precisely because of this that Qi Yanming will slaughter gentry and gentry crazily. Even now, he is not going to let go of the Kong family in front of him, the first family respected and loved by the literati in the world!

After a short battle, the Kong family quickly chose to surrender. After all, they were also exploited and oppressed by the Kong family members on weekdays. Now it is even more impossible for them to fight for the Kong family who usually regard them as slaves and inferiors!

As more than a dozen righteous soldiers used a big wood to knock open the gate of the Yanshenggong Mansion, the Yanshenggong Mansion was like a little girl stripped naked, and became the object of the righteous army.

"Kill in!"

"Control all the Kong family members!"

"Anyone who dares to resist will be killed without mercy!"

Qi Yanming ordered coldly, and then looked at Liu Liu and Liu Qi, indicating that the two brothers took their men to guard the city gate.

If nothing unexpected happens, according to the habits of the Ming soldiers behind them, they will soon come and then surround Qufu County.

However, this time Qi Yanming is not going to escape again.

He is a little tired after being chased by the damn Ming army for so long.

Either, hold these Kong family members hostage as bargaining chips, negotiate with the Ming army, and give himself and these brothers a way out.

Or, go to hell with Qufu County and this Confucian holy land!

Qi Yanming believes that the Ming Zhongshan Marquis dare not do this, and the gentry in the world will not allow him to do so!

So no matter what, they still have a glimmer of hope.

Half an hour later, all the core members of the Kong family were arrested, including the 62nd generation Yanshenggong Kong Wenshao and his eldest son Kong Zhengan, as well as a large number of Kong family elders and Kong family sons from various branches.

After all, the entire Qufu County was surrounded, and the only safe place these Kong family members could think of was naturally the Kong Mansion, which was guarded by some guards.

However, they did not expect that in the face of the fierce and ferocious Bazhou rebels, these guards actually chose to surrender directly, so that the entire Kong Mansion changed hands in an instant, and they became prisoners.

For a time, cries, curses, and begging for mercy resounded throughout the Kong Mansion, accompanied by a disgusting smell of blood.

The core members of the Kong family were forced to the ground, and Qi Yanming paced back and forth in front of these masters who were usually pampered.

"Who is the contemporary Yansheng Duke?"

Qi Yanming knew the title of Duke of Yansheng. He was also a son of a famous family in the past and had obtained the title of scholar, so he had longed to come to Qufu for pilgrimage for a period of time.

Then, he really came today, but he brought the righteous army to kill people.

All the Kong family members were silent and dared not say a word. Kong Wenshao had never experienced such a scene before, and he was so scared that he lowered his head tightly, fearing that these damned rebels would see through his details.

Seeing this, Kong Zongwen stepped forward and tentatively said: "Your Majesty, I am Kong Zongwen, the magistrate of Qufu County. You can tell me if you have anything..."

Duke of Yansheng, this is the last face of the Kong family.

Kong Zongwen, the magistrate of Qufu County, can surrender to the rebels. Afterwards, the Ming Dynasty court will investigate and at most depose him.

However, once Duke of Yansheng Kong Wenshao also surrenders to the rebels, the last face of the Kong family will really be lost!

Qi Yanming looked at Kong Zongwen coldly, then suddenly kicked him to the ground, and then grabbed his hair and put a knife on his neck.

"Now, tell me, who is the Duke of Yansheng?"

Kong Zongwen shouted in panic, but unfortunately Kong Wenshao had no intention of coming out to save him.

In desperation, this Kong family member who wanted to protect the face of the Kong family laughed miserably in the end, and crashed into the ground and died on the spot!

Even Qi Yanming did not expect that there were actually one or two Kong family members with backbone.

"Good!"

"Very good!"

"I underestimated you!"

"Come on, draw one out of ten, and kill until the Duke of Yansheng comes out to admit it!"

Draw one out of ten, this is the most shocking and most human way of killing.

Because no one knows whether they will be drawn inexplicably and then have their heads chopped off with a knife.

The rebels held down these Kongjia people, and the next moment they swung their knives and chopped off their heads in the way of drawing one out of ten.

The pampered Kong family had never experienced such a cruel and bloody scene. They were so scared that they cried and screamed, and some even peed their pants.

Kong Wenshao stared at the scene in front of him in a daze, trembling with fear and unable to move.

When he saw that his eldest son Kong Zhengan was also hit by the chop, and the damned traitor was about to swing his knife, Kong Wenshao finally stood up with all his strength.

"Stop!"

"I am Kong Wenshao, the contemporary Yansheng Duke!"

Hearing this, Qi Yanming laughed evilly, then stepped forward and smashed down with the back of the knife, hitting Kong Wenshao's face with blood.

"Old coward who is afraid of death!"

"Why don't you continue to hide?"

Kong Wenshao was beaten with blood all over his face, and he was in pain, but he did not dare to get angry, but knelt down at Qi Yanming's feet with a humble face.

"My Lord, spare me!"

"My Lord, spare me!"

Under the control of the desire to survive, Kong Wenshao had long thrown all the ethics and honor behind his head, and like a pug, he kept kowtowing to a rebel and begging for mercy.

Fan Wencheng stared at this scene blankly, his eyes suddenly reddened, snatched the long knife from a rebel, rushed forward and wanted to kill this bastard who had embarrassed the scholars, but was stopped by Qi Yanming!

"Mr. Fan, what do you want to do?" Qi Yanming shouted angrily.

"Kill him! Let me kill him!" Fan Wencheng roared with red eyes.

He couldn't accept it, and his faith was slowly collapsing in front of him!

Qi Yanming slapped him directly, and Rang didn't even look at Mr. Fan.

"Take him away and watch him carefully!"

The Duke of Yansheng is a golden signboard, and he can't die like this.

His life, Kong Wenshao, is the way out for the brothers of the righteous army!

After Fan Wencheng was taken away, Qi Yanming put the knife on Kong Wenshao's neck.

"Kong Wenshao, right?"

"I need you, the Duke of Yansheng, to cooperate, understand?"

"Cooperation!" Kong Wenshao hurriedly replied: "I will definitely cooperate with the king!"

Seeing that the old man was so sensible, Qi Yanming did not intend to continue to torment him.

However, at this moment, a small flag of the Yi army suddenly rushed in.

"General!"

"The Ming army soldiers are here and blockaded the county city of Qufu!"

As soon as these words came out, the whole place fell into a dead silence.

Qi Yanming's pupils suddenly shrank, and finally laughed miserably: "It's really coming so fast, this damn Zhongshan Marquis, can't wait for me to kill these Kong family members, right?"

Kong Wenshao was stunned when he heard the words, and then he fell into despair.

Zhongshan Marquis Tang Hao!

The mortal enemy of his cheap father-in-law Li Dongyang!

Damn it, why did this beast lead the troops to suppress the rebellion?

For a moment, all the Kong family members were in despair.

Qi Yanming kicked Kong Wenshao and shouted: "Write a letter immediately, and then send your son to deliver the letter, telling Tang Hao to withdraw his troops immediately and let us live, otherwise I will slaughter your Kong family and burn down the entire Qufu County. Do you understand?"

Hearing this, Kong Wenshao's heart trembled even more.

If this traitor really did this, the Kong family, which had been passed down for thousands of years, would really be destroyed!

All of them, the Kong family, are the sinners of the Kong family!

So, Kong Wenshao did not dare to neglect it, and immediately asked the traitor to bring paper and pen, and then sent Kong Zhengan to deliver the letter.

As for why it was Kong Zhengan, is there any need to explain it?

Kong Wenshao wanted to deliver the letter himself, but Qi Yanming would not agree.

So he could only give this only chance of survival to his eldest son Kong Zhengan!

Even if in the end... Qufu was gone, the Kong family still had a trace of blood left!

Kong Zhengan bid farewell to his father and clansmen with tears, and then, under the escort of the two rebels, he left Qufu County and headed straight for the Ming army camp.

At this moment, Tang Hao was discussing the marching plan with Tang Mu and others.

Well, where should we drive these rebels to next?

The Shandong gentry had been bloodbathed before, and now those who are virtuous on the surface are not necessary to slaughter them.

Then the next suitable place is the south.

There is no doubt that the Jiangshan gentry, who control half of the taxes of the Ming Dynasty, is actually the best choice.

But the problem is that if Tang Hao really does this, those guys in the court will definitely not tolerate it, and they may be forced to rebel.

So their "marching plan" still needs to be carefully planned.

At this time, Leng Hantie walked in with a strange look.

"My Lord, that rebel sent out Kong Zhengan, the son of Yansheng Gong Kong Wenshao, and it seems that he wants to order us to withdraw our troops!"

"Kong Zhengan?" Tang Hao sneered, "Order us to withdraw our troops?"

"What is Qi Yanming thinking? I will not withdraw my troops even if the king of heaven comes, let alone this Kong Zhengan!"

"Lock him up and throw him into the stable, don't disgust me!"

As soon as these words came out, all the generals in the tent changed their faces.

They had already seen that their Lord was very hostile to the Kong family, but they didn't expect it to be so great!

Without waiting for Leng Hantie and Tang Mu to persuade him, Kong Zhengan actually broke in directly.

After all, he was Kong Zhengan, the next generation of Yansheng Gong, and it was not an exaggeration to say that he was the prince of the current dynasty, so the soldiers at the door did not dare to attack him at all.

As soon as Kong Zhengan broke into the tent, he cursed Tang Hao.

"Tang Hao!"

"You damned cruel official and lackey!"

"If you don't withdraw your troops, those rebels will burn down the entire Qufu!"

"The inheritance of my Kong family will be cut off, the holy land of Qufu will be destroyed, and the literati and gentry in the world will not let you go!"

This time, Tang Hao couldn't laugh anymore.

He looked at the eldest son of the Duke of Yansheng coldly, then slowly stood up, walked to the boy, and slapped him hard.

The pampered son of the Duke of Yansheng was knocked to the ground by this slap, and was stunned on the spot.

"Duke of Yansheng?"

"Descendant of the Holy Saint?"

"Do you think you are really a royal family?"

Tang Hao squatted down and looked at Kong Zhengan with contempt.

"Do I need to remind you of the disgusting things you Kongs have done?"

"During the pre-Song Dynasty, there was a joke of two clans coexisting and even three Yanshenggongs!"

"When the Mongolian barbarians rode across the world and ruled the Central Plains, what did you Kongs do?"

"Instead of upholding the integrity of the literati and leading the clansmen to "serve the country with loyalty" to resist the foreign barbarians, you competed to curry favor with your new master Kublai Khan. In order to win the title of "Yanshenggong", the nephews of the Kongs all ran to Kublai Khan to compete for his favor. Seeing your ugly behavior, Kublai Khan laughed back. He replied: "All of you should go back and study hard. If you have talent, I will give you an official position." Even if you failed to flatter, you Kong family members still had an ugly face of servility and even gave Kublai Khan the title of "Confucian Grand Master"..."

"You, the descendants of the saints, have lost the character, integrity, pride, and face of the Chinese people. You still have the face to call yourself a model of gentry and the first family in the world!"

To be honest, Tang Hao really hates these Kong family members.

It can be understood that they were forced by the situation to compromise.

But this is not all, it's just the beginning!

This group of "descendants of saints" has taken "assessing the situation", "being flexible", and "servile" to the extreme!

Before the Ming Dynasty, it was well known that when the Jin army marched south, "two clans coexisted". When the Mongols, Jin, and Southern Song coexisted, "three officials coexisted", which made the literati all over the world feel ashamed. But what refreshed Zhu Hou's three views was his subsequent behavior.

When the Qing Dynasty came, he began to lick his knees again. In the first year of Shunzhi, Kong Yinzhi submitted the "First Submission of the Memorial" to express his willingness to return to the Qing Dynasty.

His words were extremely flattering and disgusting: "All nations admire the governance of the reform, and the Qian Gang is upright; the nine heavens are full of the benevolence of the Gengshi, and the land is returning! The whole world celebrates, and respectfully wishes that His Majesty the Emperor will inherit the heaven and pacify the people with virtue! Looking at the prosperity of the holy learning, I am afraid to lag behind; looking up to the brilliant imperial plan, I admire it more deeply!"

In the second year of Shunzhi, the Qing court issued an order to shave his head, and Kong Yinzhi led his clansmen to shave their heads first, and presented the "Shaving Memorial" to the Qing court!

In modern history, the Yanshenggong Mansion still has not stood up as the world expected, and has not assumed the heavy responsibility that a "literary leader" should shoulder. Instead, it has been even worse than the previous servile behavior!

In a nutshell, the attitude of this group of "descendants of saints" towards foreigners is "whoever comes will surrender"!

The Jin people came, surrender to the Jin!

The Mongols came, surrender to the Yuan!

The Jiannu came, surrender to the Qing!

The island countries came, and continued to surrender!

It is unbelievable that they, as "literary leaders" and "role models of scholars", are the most spineless and unprincipled literati!

I wonder what Confucius, who once said: "It is better for the barbarians to have a king than for the Chinese to have no king", would think if he knew that his descendants were so servile!

It is no wonder that the saying "seventy-six generations of family slaves and twenty-five dynasties of double-faced officials" has been circulated in later generations!

Even if it is biased, it is not groundless!

For this so-called "No. 1 Family in the World", Tang Hao really has no good feelings at all!

Because Zhu Houqing clearly knows the disgusting behavior of this No. 1 Family in the World since it established its position until modern times and later generations!

Just talking about what the Yanshenggong Mansion did in the Ming Dynasty is enough to make people sick.

Obviously they are descendants of saints, and they clearly shout about benevolence, righteousness and morality, but they do all kinds of dirty things in secret!

These pampered Kong family masters can be said to be the representatives of the gentry in the world. They have done all kinds of bad things, such as corruption, heavy taxes, withholding financial subsidies, seeking profits for relatives and friends, keeping prostitutes, gambling, embezzling official property, using public property for private purposes, and buying a lot of land...

So, what is the meaning of the existence of such a family?

Is it just to torture and enslave the people of Qufu from generation to generation?

Tang Hao stretched out his hand, grabbed Kong Zhengan's neck, and lifted him up.

"If you want to live, beg for mercy. If you want to die, I will grant you your wish!"

Feeling the threat of death, Kong Zhengan finally gave in and struggled frantically for mercy.

"Spare my life... Lord... show mercy..."

Seeing this, Tang Hao threw him to the ground with disgust.

"The first family of servility, well deserved!"