Rule the Ming Dynasty Alone

Xu Hong is no longer the slightly reckless young man he used to be. He is now a mature and steady young official with dark skin and deep eyes.

He was originally an ordinary candidate taking the exam in Guangdong, but accidentally got involved in the murder case of the Qian Mansion. Thanks to his sense of justice, he actually managed to win a beautiful woman in that incident.

He was a Jinshi in the third year of Hongzhi. He performed well in Xiao Chuanlu's examinations and was remarkable during his tenure in the Ministry of War. Then he was sent to Jiangnan by the emperor to participate in the promotion of the abolition of silver.

Later, he returned to Beijing and was promoted to Minister of the Ministry of War due to his meritorious service. Because of his outstanding performance at the Supreme Council, he was released to Shandong by the emperor at the end of last year and became the governor of Shandong on the ruling side.

"Lord Du Xian, what happened?"

"Immediately gather five thousand soldiers and horses to rescue the imperial envoy!"

Shandong guerrilla general Qi Jingtong asked solemnly when he saw Xu Hong's solemn expression. Xu Hong put away the urgent message and issued the order with murderous intent.

Song Cheng, the Minister of Punishment, was an important minister of the country and the wealth of the Ming Dynasty.

This time he came to Shandong with orders. If something happened to Song Cheng in his own jurisdiction, let alone the imperial court, he would definitely be blamed, and he would also become a national sinner.

What's more, over the years, he also wanted to serve the court and repay the emperor's kindness. Naturally, he did not want to disappoint the emperor, let alone see the Ming Dynasty lose an important minister of the country.

The military situation was raging. When Xu Hong learned that Song Cheng was in danger, he quickly gathered 5,000 elite troops and headed directly towards the destination.

At dusk, the setting sun is like blood.

The leading cavalry had already arrived in front of a quaint mountain gate. This area already belonged to the Kong family.

The Kong family is a thousand-year-old family with a transcendent status. A guard team is formed by the Kong family's children and domestic slaves. They are usually responsible for maintaining the order of the Kong family's private property. Today, the area is under martial law to ensure that the sacrificial activities can proceed smoothly.

The leader of the escort, a strong man with a sinewy face, holding a long knife in his hand, led a group of men to guard the post and shouted loudly: "This is the private property of the Kong family, outsiders are not allowed to enter!"

"Are you blind? I am Shandong guerrilla general Qi Jingtong, get out of the way quickly!" Shandong guerrilla general Qi Jingtong looked at the blocking Kong family escorts and immediately shouted angrily.

Kong Wenyong relied on his noble blood and did not pay attention to Qi Jingtong in front of him at all: "A little guerrilla general dares to run wild here. It's really a joke. Go back to where I came from!"

"This guerrilla general is here under the order of the governor, please get out of the way quickly, otherwise you will be rude!" Qi Jingtong frowned and threatened in a deep voice.

Kong Wenyong was unmoved and snorted coldly: "Humph, I don't know what the governor's order is! No one is allowed to enter the Holy Land without the permission of the Kong family!"

It's just that his eyes were above the top of his head, but he didn't see Xu Hong's livid face behind him at all.

Since time was tight and he didn't know what was going on inside, Xu Hong's eyes flashed, and he waved his hand and ordered: "Charge! Anyone who stands in the way will be killed without mercy!"

Compared with offending the Kong family, he was more concerned about Song Cheng's safety and the interests of the Ming Dynasty at the moment.

Following his order, guerrilla general Qi Jingtong led the elite cavalry like an arrow from a string, rushing directly towards the defense line of the Kong family escorts.

However, the maintenance team members seemed to have been prepared and quickly formed a barbarian defense line. They actually used the mountain terrain here to attack the army through rolling stones and logs, while arrows were shot down from above.

"kill!"

Qi Jingtong was an outstanding student at the Military Academy in the 8th year of Hongzhi. He had always had a heart to protect his family and the country. At this moment, he held the handle of his sword tightly and personally led the charge forward.

Unlike the scholars all over the world who admire the Holy Land, his ancestors have been soldiers of the Ming Dynasty for generations. He only has the concept of protecting his family and country in his heart, and he is also a war machine that obeys military orders.

For a time, there was a fierce battle and war drums shaking the sky.

"Damn it! They are serious, they are fighting with these gangsters!" The children of the Kong family looked at the Ming Dynasty cavalry who rushed up and waved their butcher knives, but they said angrily as if they were hindsight.

Originally, they relied on their status and today was a special day, so they dared to be so arrogant.

It's just that the size of this sudden army was beyond imagination, but the opponent directly attacked them, making them realize that the opponent was not bully officers and soldiers at all, but a decisive Ming army.

puff! puff! puff!

The cavalry in front was smashed to pieces by rolling stones, and the cavalry rushing up from behind were no longer merciful and directly massacred the members of the escort indiscriminately.

For a time, the steep hillside was dyed red with blood, and the children and slaves of the Kong family fell into a pool of blood one after another.

Qi Jingtong jumped up on his horse, killed a Kong family disciple holding a bow and arrow with one blow, and then forced him directly towards Kong Wenyong, who was so frightened that Kong Wenyong fell to the ground in horror.

"Misunderstanding! Master, spare your life!" Kong Wenyong was so frightened by this sudden turn of events that his face turned pale, but he begged for mercy again and again.

Although his name carries the word "brave" and he was even more arrogant just now, he is still a weakling who is strong on the outside but weak on the inside. Now seeing Qi Jingtong's sword pointed at him, he no longer had the arrogance brought by the saint's bloodline, and he knelt down as if he had no spine.

At this moment, he didn't feel any shame. After all, his ancestors even knelt before the Mongols in the Yuan Dynasty, and later even knelt down when they were young. This was a fine tradition in their family.

The disciples of the Confucius family were frightened by this sudden change. Some dropped their weapons, some knelt down and begged for mercy, and some took the opportunity to flee.

"Get it!" Xu Hong rode up and captured Kong Wenyong in a very rational manner.

Kong Wenyong was scared to death at this moment, but his face was very happy. After all, he temporarily saved his life from Qi Jingtong's knife.

Since the cavalry led by Qi Jingtong had already used their knives, the disciples of the Confucius family no longer dared to stop them, and they already knew what was happening at the Confucius Temple.

Their core disciples of the Kong family refused to obey the order, and even killed thousands of people in Jinyi who were on missions. Now that the imperial envoy has summoned an army, who dares to stop him?

In front of the Confucius Temple, the atmosphere here seems very depressing.

Although Song Cheng, the Minister of Justice, was a civil servant, he was still a first-class official in the Ming Dynasty, and he was also the world-renowned Song Qingtian. Naturally, no one really dared to do anything to him.

Although the Kong family considers themselves to be of the blood of saints, they are also used to being local emperors in Qufu. They also believe that the court needs the "certification" of their Kong family, so they dare to be so arrogant.

It's just that they don't have the guts to really rebel.

In fact, they are only born to be auxiliary players, not to mention that they do not have the ability to rebel, and the current Ming Dynasty is at its peak.

Even though they have always criticized Emperor Hongzhi as a tyrant and unfilial emperor, no one dares to deny that the Ming Dynasty is now powerful, and has even surpassed the most powerful Taizong period.

Even though they had tens of thousands of Kong's descendants and maintained a large number of serfs, they dared to rebel now and were wiped out by the local army that was like wolves and tigers around them before they could even leave the border of Shandong.

Today's Ming Dynasty officials are all very pragmatic and tough. Once the Kong family gives them the opportunity to make contributions, those people will no longer care about their status as descendants of saints, and they will definitely kill them quickly.

That's why, even if they were facing a weak civil servant, no one dared to touch Song Cheng, and they even had to serve him respectfully.

"I am late, please forgive me, your Majesty the Imperial Envoy!" Xu Hong couldn't help but secretly breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Song Cheng was safe and sound.

Although Song Cheng was not in trouble by the Kong family, he was in a bad mood at the moment. He pointed at Lu Song lying on the ground and said: "Lu Qianhu was very loyal, but he was killed by thieves. Let's collect his body first!"

Lu Song was wearing a majestic fighting fish suit, and the embroidered spring knife in his hand fell aside. The blood flowing from his head had dried up, and corpse spots had appeared on his face.

The dignified Jinyi Qianhu has a bright future, and may even become the commander of the Jinyi Guards in the future, but now he died tragically in Shandong, which makes people feel embarrassed.

"Your Majesty, I obey!" Xu Hong responded, and then he noticed that the dignified Qianhu in Jinyi had died here, and he also understood why Song Cheng wanted to lead his own troops here.

Although as the governor of Shandong, he had already known the Kong family's arrogance, but he did not expect that they would dare to be so lawless, even killing the emperor's personal guards at will.

If this matter is brought to light, the entire Kong family will have problems, and they can even be charged with treason.

"Misunderstanding, this is all a misunderstanding!" Kong Chengxiao stood up again, still trying to explain calmly.

Xu Honggang turned around to face the disciples of the Kong family and immediately waved his hand.

Qi Jingtong personally led troops to surround the place and captured all the gangs who had just attacked. However, the core personnel of the Kong family who were present were not allowed to leave.

"If you want to impose a crime, why bother? Xuan Sheng is a famous religious master for all generations, respected by all generations. If you deal with the direct descendants of the saint like this, won't you embarrass the hearts of the scholars in the world?" Kong Hongchu was arrested, but he was unwilling to do so. yelled.

When things got to this point, he could only have a chance of survival by keeping silent and denying the charges the court accused him of and not admitting the evil things he had done.

Song Cheng had already made up his mind, so he went down and said, "Since Kong Hongxu has repeatedly claimed that he was wronged, I will grant him a favor today. Come, follow me to open the coffin and conduct an autopsy!"

"No!" Kong Hongchu blurted out.

Huh?

When Kong Chengxiao and others heard this, they couldn't help but look at the panicked Kong Hongxu suspiciously.

Kong Hongchu winked wildly at Kong Chengxiao and others, but Kong Chengxiao and others were not stupid, and they had the answer in their minds in an instant. Just looking at Qi Jingtong leading the soldiers to look at him with eager eyes, I couldn't help but feel bitter in my heart.

Kong Hongchu saw that he did not get support from Kong Chengxiao and other elders, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and said: "My brother has been laid to rest. Lord Song is now opening the coffin for an autopsy. This is inappropriate!"

"Kong Hongchu" Xu Hong already understood what was going on and asked directly.

"No...I didn't do anything so crazy!" Kong Hongchu hurriedly shook his head in denial.

Song Cheng understood everything from Kong Hongchu's reaction, and said calmly at this moment: "The opening of the coffin and the autopsy are not to discuss with you, but to find out who is afraid of killing the Duke of Ming Dynasty. It is also the purpose of the imperial court to give all people in the world a the truth!"

The Kong family naturally wanted to cover up everything, but from the perspective of the Ming Dynasty, it was destined that it would not be possible to let this matter become a dead end case, but to make it come to light.

In the face of absolute power, the Kong family has no courage to stop it.

What's more, they were the first to stop Jinyi Qianhu, and their sons beat Jinyi Qianhu to death with sticks. Now the entire Kong family has to face the emperor's wrath, so why should they stop the imperial court from attacking Tangtang? What about the investigation into the Duke's death?

The moment Kong Hongtai's coffin was opened, a strong corpse smell hit his nostrils, and this corpse smell also contained a medicinal smell.

Kong Hongxu and Kong Wenshi were brought to the grave. When they smelled the smell, they had an ominous premonition in their hearts.

In front of everyone, Song Cheng carefully examined Kong Hongtai's body, then took out a silver needle and gently stabbed Kong Hongtai's throat.

In just a moment, the silver needle turned black, and Song Cheng's face became solemn. At the same time, he showed the blackened silver needle in his hand to the elders of the Kong family.

"Hongtai was really poisoned to death!"

"Even if Hongtai died of poisoning, it cannot be determined that it was done by Hongchu and Wenshi!"

"Yes, this can only prove that Hongtai died an unnatural death, but this case must be investigated carefully!"

...

Although they already knew that Kong Hongtai was poisoned, they still wanted to protect Kong Hongtai and Kong Wenshi in their hearts, and they wanted to preserve the upright personality of their Kong family.

Song Cheng ignored these voices, but looked at Kong Wenshi across Kong Hongchu and said, "Kong Wenshi, are you going to confess now? Or will you confess after you return to Beijing with me?"

"I...I confess!" Kong Wenshi's psychological defenses were broken, and he immediately knelt on the ground and confessed helplessly.

He has been under a lot of pressure these days. Although he is not a man of noble character and has a cold-blooded side, anyone who kills his father will feel guilty.

He hated why he was seduced by Liu's body, why he believed his uncle's lies, and even more hated that he personally delivered the poison to his father's bed.

Now facing the world-famous Song Qingtian, watching Song Qingtian easily know the truth, he knew that even if he didn't admit it, it would be useless.

"It's over, this time it's...really over!"

Kong Hongchu saw Kong Wenshi confessing, and the whole person fell to the ground, muttering in a daze.

The situation now is completely different from that of the past. Not to mention that his father-in-law has been dead for many years, even if his father-in-law is still alive, he can no longer be saved.

He has completely messed up this time. Not to mention regaining the position of Sheng Yan Gong, even the entire Kong family will be disgraced, and it may even be the beginning of the decline of their Kong family.

Song Cheng sorted out the case of the previous Yan Sheng Gong Kong Hongtai that night. Because the matter involved a serious matter, he only reported the case to the emperor and handed it over to the emperor to make the final decision. (End of this chapter)