As Zhang Mingwei expected, on the Jingshi side, after the news about the Confucius family in Qufu came out, it was like a boulder smashed into a small pond, setting off a huge repercussion.

Qufu Confucius, before the Song Dynasty, has been the emperors of the past dynasties to praise Cheng, Bao Zun, Zongsheng, Fengsheng, Chongsheng, Gongsheng, Baosheng and other titles, and when Song Renzong, changed the title to Yan Shenggong, "Yan" means that the saints continue to expand, and the generations are endless.

It can be said that since ancient times, the Confucian family has only been respected by the world and has no hostility.

All kinds of scholarly families, compared with the Confucian family, dare not be called scholarly families anymore. For a long time, Qufu's literary style has been at its peak, which is a matter of course, after all, it is where the descendants of Confucius are and where the Temple of Confucius is.

If the literary style is at its peak, it represents the education of the world, and the people's hearts are good, which is the model advocated by Confucius and the holy place of scholars.

All of this, but at the beginning of the seventeenth year of Chongzhen, it was greatly impacted.

Ordinary scholars, and even ordinary people, after hearing these things about the Kong family, their first reaction was that they were wronged.

For a long time, scholars and eunuchs were opposites. The pen is in the hands of the reader, so in the past dynasties, only the eunuch who cooperates with the reader, or with the civil official, can have a good reputation.

If he is against the civil officials, he is definitely a heinous traitor. Even if this traitor is in power for a certain period of time, in the end, he still leaves the impression of a heinous traitor.

For example, Wang Zhi, the first admiral of the West Factory, in the impression of the world, is definitely a villain.

However, if you take a closer look at Wang Zhi's past, you can find that he punished lawless officials, suppressed the Jurchen rebellion in Jianzhou, fought against the Mongol Tatars, etc., and his exploits are really not achieved by many civil officials. As a result, he became a big villain.

Based on all this, it is natural that the eunuch Wang Erbiao, the master of ceremonies, will report the crime of the Confucian family, which is definitely slanderous in the eyes of most people. It must be the problem of eunuchs, not the problem of the largest scholarly family that has been inherited for thousands of years!

Of course, on the Jingshi side, no one dares to say that this is related to Xingguo Gong for the time being. After all, those who dare to go against Xingguo Gong have ended up with all the people, and it is obvious to all.

However, civil officials and scholars are naturally righteous when they deal with eunuchs. In the words of later generations, that is political correctness.

As a result, the crowd was surging, and many people wanted to come forward for the Kong family.

In this case, Emperor Chongzhen issued a decree and approved the proposal of Xingguo Gong, and the three law divisions would try the Confucian case, and the factory guards would observe the supervision, and the public trial would allow the people to observe.

Of course, the so-called people here have nothing to do with ordinary people, they are all those who are related to the eunuchs and have status.

On Chen Yuanyuan's side, when she reported to Beijing, she also received a letter from Zhang Mingwei, asking her to prepare a special issue of "Ming Pao" on Confucius.

As a result, before the trial of the Confucian case by the Three Law Divisions began, the special issue of the Confucian case of "Ming Pao" was printed and distributed.

The content of this first issue is just a general description of the Confucian family's case, as well as the upcoming trial of the Three Law Divisions, and it also attaches various opinions and comments on this case from the Jingshi side.

In the end, at the end, it was written in large letters: This newspaper will continue to pay attention to the progress of this case and report the details of the trial as soon as possible, so stay tuned.

At this time, in addition to Yangzhou, the "Ming Pao" branch already had branches in the provincial capitals of the two capitals of the thirteen provinces except Yunnan and Guizhou. In addition, an expedited delivery mechanism of 800 miles was used to send the latest special edition of "Ming Pao" to all parts of the country.

By the time Zhang Mingwei returned to Beijing, all parts of the Ming Dynasty, regardless of the north and south of the country, were all on the same topic: What was the truth about the Confucian case?

Sources other than Jingshi can only rely on Ming Pao. Because "Ming Pao" is not only the most detailed information, but also the fastest to deliver information. After all, there are very few people who can use the 800-mile rush to transmit it.

All of a sudden, the special issue of "Ming Pao" was hard to find all over the country.

Unconsciously, public opinion in the Ming Dynasty was in the hands of "Ming Pao".

………………

The cavalry returned to Beijing to continue to rest, and when they turned back, they had to prepare to report to Shanhaiguan and face the strong enemy.

And Zhang Mingwei was summoned into the palace by Emperor Chongzhen for the first time.

"What a brilliant plan, sir!" As soon as Emperor Chongzhen saw Zhang Mingwei, he said with a smile, "Since the trial of the Three Law Divisions, the direction of the Jingshi case regarding the Confucian family has begun to change. ”

Zhang Mingwei listened and smiled slightly, this is an obvious thing.

Wang Erbiao is worthy of being a talent, no matter what means he uses, in short, the confessions, evidence, etc. he provides are enough to prove the broken things of the Kong family in this era.

Even if someone retracts their confession, however, under a chain of evidence, the impact is not great.

The people of the Kong family, for thousands of years, have been pampered and pampered, and they have experienced such a thing. Among them, the outstanding people are not afraid of danger, and they are both wise and brave, there is really no!

Even if the civil officials want to help the Kong family, it is actually very difficult.

During the triage, there were factory guards watching; In the prison, there are also factory guards guarding them. If you want to leave the factory guard and go to ventilate with the Kong family, it is absolutely impossible.

However, as the interrogation deepened, a point slowly emerged.

is the original intention of the Kong family, they really didn't think about killing officials and really rebelling, but just because the dog jumped off the wall under the damage of interests.

Emperor Chongzhen told Zhang Mingwei about the situation, and then said with a smile: "Now that the three law divisions will try the case of the Kong family, it has reached the final stage. For the Kong family, there are probably two ways to dispose of it. ”

"The first type, mainly on the side of the civil officials, suggests that these people in the Confucian family are guilty and punished according to the law, but Zunkong has existed since ancient times and cannot be abandoned. The Qufu County Order was appointed separately by the imperial court and was no longer selected from the Confucian family. ”

After a pause, Emperor Chongzhen glanced at Wang Chengen, the eunuch who was waiting on the side, and then continued: "And the meaning of the celebrant is to use the Confucian family to plot rebellion, kill one and set an example, deter lawlessness, and punish the nine clans!" ”

Wang Erbiao is a eunuch, and what he did, others naturally regarded this as the overall eunuch behavior. In the face of this struggle, all the eunuchs had to unite with the outside world. As for those who have opinions, they can only wait for the aftermath.

Speaking of this, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said to Zhang Mingwei: "According to the Jinyiwei Daily provided by Mr., public opinion is still inclined to the first disposal. If I agree to the first disposition, this Kong family will be tantamount to not being defeated. And if I approve the second disposition, I'm afraid that public opinion will be uneven! What do you think, sir? ”

The agreement he reached with Zhang Mingwei before was that Confucianism could exist, but the Confucian family must be defeated!

Therefore, according to Emperor Chongzhen's original intention, he must choose the second option and just kill it directly. However, as an emperor, it is impossible to go his own way, and it is necessary to consider it comprehensively.

Zhang Mingwei listened to it and said with a smile: "The reason why this situation is because the influence of the Kong family has long been ingrained after so many years, and it is not so simple to easily change this situation. However, His Majesty doesn't have to worry too much, and if he waits for a while, the longer this case drags on, the more it will break the impact of thousands of years. ”

Speaking of this, he smiled again and said: "Over there in "Ming Pao", I will find a few more important people to comment on and continue to discuss these broken things of the Kong family. When the coat of the Kong family is really stripped off, it is time for His Majesty to make a decree and finalize the case. ”

When Emperor Chongzhen heard this, he immediately laughed and said, "It's so good, it's so good, I'll let them try it again!" ”

After saying this, he suddenly changed his words and said: "Sir, now that my daughter is fifteen, how about setting a wedding date?" ”

Zhu Yujiao accompanied Zhang Mingwei into the palace together, but she didn't come to discuss things together, but went to see her mother.

At this time, when he heard Emperor Chongzhen's question, Zhang Mingwei didn't keep up with his train of thought for a while.

After coming back to his senses, he saw that among the people present, Wang Chengen was the only one present, so he said to Emperor Chongzhen truthfully: "Your Majesty, in my time, the age of fifteen years old, is still the age of going to school. This kind of thinking and cognition is engraved in my bones. It's okay to be engaged, but if you get married, it feels too small. ”

"That's it!" Emperor Chongzhen listened and did not force it. Anyway, Zhang Mingwei, the son-in-law, is impossible to run away.

And, he has concerns.

Now the construction has not been destroyed, and the southwest has not been flattened. Especially on the side of Liaodong Jianyu, if someone else is in charge. Emperor Chongzhen is really a little worried, what if he loses the battle again and buries the good situation?

And Zhang Mingwei led the troops to fight in the south and the north, and there have been achievements to prove that he came to lead the troops to recover Liaodong, which is the safest candidate.

And the practice of the Ming Dynasty, if you marry a princess, you can only have idle positions, but you can't hold real power.

Although he can make an exception by force, the performance of the imperial historian will definitely be verbose.

Thinking so, Emperor Chongzhen smiled and said: "Okay, just follow Mr., this matter is not in a hurry anyway, just wait for another two years." ”

After finishing speaking, he picked up a piece of music from the table and asked Wang Chengen to transfer it to Zhang Mingwei, and at the same time said: "This is Shizhu's invitation to fight against Ma Xianglin, asking to be transferred to Liaodong to fight Jianyu, what does Mr. think?" ”

When Zhang Mingwei heard this, he didn't think much about it, and immediately said with a smile: "Your Majesty, among my Ming infantry army, the military discipline of the White Pole Army is considered to be first-class. It should be possible to transfer them to fight Jianyu. If you change their outfits again, their combat power can be improved a lot. ”