Kong Yinzhi was stunned after hearing this. Is the meeting held just to interrogate me?
At this time, he really wanted to say something, I am a descendant of a saint, and I am respected and complimented by scholars all over the world.
Moreover, from the Song, Liao and Jin Dynasties, to the hereditary Yan Sheng Gong to this day, haven't the emperors of every dynasty and generation been respectful?
But he is not a fool, nor is he a fool.
The emperor's tone was obviously not joking.
Because he was under house arrest, he did not know about the bet between the civil servants and the emperor.
But now no official has come forward to question and stop the emperor, something is obviously wrong.
Therefore, he could only carefully take the confession text handed to him by Cui Yingyuan.
After looking at it carefully, Kong Yinzhi was filled with anger.
The content in this is basically made up of nothing.
Fortunately, he is also a scholar and has seen the scene.
Xu Hongru also defended himself one by one for the groundless charges he accused him of.
And every time he defended himself, Xu Hongru would dismantle him according to the script and lines he had practiced countless times.
After confronting each other for half an hour, Zhu Youxiao and the civil and military officials seemed to be watching a play, watching the two of them quarreling in the Huangji Palace.
But after all, Xu Hongru is just a cult leader who knows how to brainwash.
It's okay for you to just talk nonsense with those peasants and uneducated ordinary people.
But if you really meet a scholar like Kong Yinzhi, he will appear to be illiterate.
Zhu Youxiao didn't expect him to do anything. As long as he could blow up Kong Yinzhi's mentality, it would be considered a success.
As for the civil and military officials, no one spoke from the beginning to the end. They didn't know whether the Kong family had done these things.
But as long as there is no actual evidence, the Kong family will be able to escape intact, and the emperor will lose the bet.
But how could Zhu Youxiao let them get their wish?
Xu Hongru's accusation is just an introduction, and the real show has not yet begun.
The Kong family was a thorn in his side, and he had already been planning this matter when Wanli first succeeded to the throne in the forty-eighth year of his reign.
Cui Yingyuan was even sent to Shandong early to collect evidence of the crime.
Although many of them were forged under his instruction or even himself, what does it matter?
Whether it is true or false, and as long as the logic is reasonable and complete enough, the Confucius family will admit it even if they don't.
Therefore, when all these charges and evidence were placed in front of the officials, even Xu Guangqi and Wang Zaijin, who had been well prepared, were shocked.
This contains all the illegal things done by the Kong family since the 40th year of Wanli.
Such as smuggling grain and ironware to Liaodong and selling them to slaves and traitors.
Violating the imperial ban on tea and horses and trading with the Mongolian Tartars privately is also considered traitorous to the enemy.
They also colluded with local officials to seize the garrison and military camps, and bullied the people to annex acres of land.
Natural disasters in Shandong hindered the court's disaster relief, and they teamed up with many officials and businessmen to embezzle relief food funds.
Just these crimes, no matter which one they are, are enough to be beheaded according to the Ming law established by Taizu.
And since there are charges, it is natural that sufficient evidence is needed to prove these charges.
In Zhu Youxiao's hands, there is evidence that Jinyiwei and Dongchang have about the Kong family robbing military villages and annexing land, embezzling disaster relief grain funds, and smuggling and collaborating with the enemy.
The Ministry of Punishment also has relevant files, including the confessions of officials who were executed in the past, as well as the Liaodong warlords and generals.
Even if there are dozens of officials who are well-read in poetry and books, have profound cultural attainments and have high political abilities, they cannot find any loopholes after repeated inspections.
What makes them most desperate is that there are not only physical evidences, but also human witnesses, and there are many of them.
Military households from several health centers in Shandong, displaced victims, and many generals and officials from their smuggling groups.
The fact that these people can appear in Huangji Hall today is naturally arranged by Zhu Youxiao.
With all this, even if Kong Yinzhi is eloquent and can talk the dead back to life, he is unable to defend himself in the face of irrefutable evidence, not to mention that he does not have this ability.
For these proven crimes, if you pick one out at random, according to the laws of the Ming Dynasty established by Taizu, you will be properly beheaded.
However, the Kong family violated multiple laws at the same time and had forged evidence of rebellion.
With a complete chain of evidence, even those officials who dared to risk their lives to vouch for the Kong family were heartbroken.
Of course, there are also some people who are tough-minded and have excellent psychological quality, who question the authenticity of these evidences face to face.
How could Zhu Youxiao spoil him?
So far, he has won the bet and killed these officials without any pressure, let alone worrying about public opinion.
The two young men were dragged out on the spot, and the guards quickly carried the heads back to the Huangji Palace to resume their lives.
The officials looked at the human head that was still dripping with blood, not to mention how scared they were.
After this shock, Zhu Youxiao turned his attention to Kong Yinzhi and asked:
"Kong Yinzhi, now that things have happened, do you still have any excuses?"
Kong Yinzhi's eyes were distracted and his expression was dull. He didn't know whether he didn't hear the emperor's question or he was pretending to be stupid and deliberately didn't answer. He didn't reply for a long time.
There are only two words in his mind right now, it's over.
Naturally, he has seen all these charges and evidence.
Even if he can tell the truth from the false, what's the use?
But the rest of the Kong family did not have his self-knowledge.
After hearing the emperor's question, everyone knelt on the ground and cried out that they had been wronged.
Zhu Youxiao also wanted to keep his ears clear, so he immediately waved his hand and motioned to the guards in the palace to pull all these people away.
Not long after, apart from the civil and military officials and guards, only the dull Kong Yinzhi remained in the Huangji Hall.
Wang Chaofu was also a discerning person, and he shouted loudly at Kong Yinzhi:
"Mr. Yan Sheng, Long live my Lord, I have a question for you."
Some officials became anxious when they saw this.
It’s okay if the emperor doesn’t have a good look, but what kind of thing is your Wang Chaosu? A defective person who is neither male nor female, and you actually dare to disrespect the dignified Duke Yan.
Unfortunately, their slight protests had no effect. With Zhu Youxiao's glance, they fell into silence and shrank faster than anyone else.
Zhu Youxiao was too lazy to continue pretending, and immediately sentenced the entire Qufu Kong family to death.
"The Kong family in Qufu is, after all, a descendant of a saint, and he has been favored by the country."
"The imperial court spends a large sum of money every year to support thousands of members of your clan, but instead of being ambitious and not wanting to repay the imperial court, you actually do this treasonous thing."
"The previous emperors gave you special status and identity, and even handed over the entire Qufu to your family to manage. The original intention was to educate the people and cultivate pillars for the imperial court."
"But I don't expect that the emperor is far away, colluding with officials to prey on the common people, driving military households into slaves, and secretly hiding their penises to build weapons and armor."
"Now tens of thousands of rebels have been educated by the imperial court. It has been thousands of years since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. Such things are simply unheard of."