Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 43 The whole city is in turmoil
The leaflets first spread among the scholar community in Chang'an.

Although paper and printing technology had made great progress in the Tang Dynasty, they were still a bit expensive compared to the Song Dynasty.

So those who can read and write cannot be said to be rich or noble, but basically belong to middle-class families.

For these well-off citizens, these curious headlines with a strong flavor of the old-school Internet have a fatal appeal.

Everyone's reaction to this piece of paper was surprisingly consistent:
Damn, it's so weird, let me take another look.

The content and the title cannot be said to be completely unrelated, but they can also be said to be completely unrelated.

The articles written by the children invaded the brains of the scholars in the capital in such a crude way.

As we all know, in the Tang Dynasty where the people were simple and honest, the scholars still had a bit of rebellious spirit towards the imperial court.

Unlike the Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, which was filled with bootlickers of imperial power.

Especially the wealthy and aristocratic families whose ancestral home is east of Mount Xiao, especially in Hebei Province.

Their relationship with Li Shimin cannot be said to be one of love and affection, but it can be said that they are fed up with each other.

These nobles read the contents of the leaflet critically, automatically ignoring the praises of the imperial court throughout the leaflet, and extracted the basic facts from between the lines:
Hou Junji destroyed Gaochang, Hou Junji opened up the Silk Road, and Hou Junji was arrested!

"This is really unreasonable!"

East Market, wine shop.

A scholar in a long gown could not help but slam the table and curse.

Another scholar looked around and saw no one around, so he came over and whispered:
"You also read "The Empty, Lonely and Cold General's Boudoir"? "

The scholar was stunned and his eyes looked away guiltily.

"No no."

"Oh, me neither."

The two sat there awkwardly for a while.

The scholar muttered in a depressed tone, as if talking to himself:

"How can it be that he was thrown into jail for expanding the country's territory?"

The scholar took over the conversation:

"Indeed, the high-ranking officials in the imperial court are really... Alas."

The two exchanged glances, took a sip of wine at the same time, and started to complain.

"It is unbelievable that the imperial court whitewashed such shameless behavior!"

"Yeah, look at what shit this flyer says!"

"I've seen it too. They say 'allowing soldiers to plunder is not the behavior of a benevolent army'. Bullshit! What kind of benevolence and morality can you talk to the barbarians about!"

"When the current emperor fought against Liu Wuzhou, he also massacred the people of Xia County! Could it be that in his eyes, we Hedong people are inferior to Gaochang people?"

"Hey, how dare you sign your name on this shitty article! 'Xiao Yi', where did this crappy clerk come from?"

The two men's high-pitched conversation soon attracted other drinkers to join in. The keyboard warriors blew the bottles while giving oral gymnastics to the treacherous officials of the court.

Such conversations took place throughout Chang'an and also reached the ears of the Left and Right Wuhou Guards who were in charge of public security in the capital.

But these trolls are no longer ordinary citizens, and we cannot strike hard at them.

They all came from prominent families in the capital, and had not actually done anything out of line.

Wuhouwei decided to turn a blind eye and wait for the storm to pass.

Unexpectedly, the trend has not only not passed, but has tended to intensify.

Because flyers are distributed every day, and the content is also updated.

Many scholars have studied classics and history and know that this is history.

But once they glanced at the title, they couldn't control their hands and read through the pictures one by one, complaining about every line and sentence.

Some old gentlemen were so angry that their blood vessels almost burst, but they still couldn't help but read.

What’s more serious is that their complaints have gradually penetrated into the sinking market through channels such as servants, vegetable vendors, and shop waiters.

At the beginning, the battle to destroy Gaochang did not cause any waves.

Because the people of Chang'an had already won, they didn't care about foreign wars as long as they were not the Turks who could rush to the city of Chang'an with just the acceleration.

Although merchants were the direct beneficiaries of Hou Junji's destruction of Gaochang, they were too busy making money to get involved in the affairs of the court. However, through word of mouth, the majority of illiterate ordinary people finally learned about the incident of "General Hou's meritorious service and being arrested".

Moreover, the imagination of the people is endless, and rumors are like unbridled wild history.

Wild and historical enough.

What about "The emperor framed the general in order to occupy his young wife", "The prince with gay sleeves framed the general in order to occupy the general's grandson", and "The emperor framed the general in order to occupy the general".

If you dare to say it, they dare to believe it.

When this wave of hook literature once again reached the ears of Wuhouwei, they suddenly realized that this was beyond their capabilities and reported it quickly.

Before the diligent Wuhouwei reported the incident, the "treacherous ministers" in the court had already felt the surge of public opinion.

At the routine court meeting, the faces of the civil officials were all livid.

This humiliating victory in the Western Expedition to Gaochang has become the biggest topic in the capital in the past two days.

They have been scolded so much at home that their ears are callused. Their fellow tribesmen scold them, their elders scold them, and even their wives and children scold them.

They are accused of spreading false information to confuse the emperor and slandering loyal and good people.

Even some distant relatives cut off contact with me under certain pretexts.

Even the servants in the mansion looked at them more and more strangely.

And on the dragon bed, Li Shimin's expression was also quite interesting.

He felt like he was eating snail noodles.

The nose said: Shit!
The brain says: Delicious!

From a rational analysis, this sudden wave of public opinion was actually assisting him.

Because Li Shimin didn't want to imprison Hou Junji in the first place, it was the civil service group that was challenging him.

But he was very unhappy with the public's criticism of the court.

Xu Jingzong, the Imperial Secretary, was the first to speak, requesting a heavy blow to the common people:

"The villains actually dared to slander the imperial court. They are no longer ordinary villains. This trend must not be allowed to continue! I ask Your Majesty to execute the bandit leader as soon as possible and put all the fools who spread the rumors into jail!"

The officials thought that the Legalist thought of this old Confucian scholar was a bit too extreme, and no one paid any attention to him.

After all, we are not really treacherous ministers.

Xiao Yu, the Shangshu You Pushe, first glanced at Fang Xuanling, who was sitting in front of him. Seeing that his old boss and old rival was as still as a mountain, he stood up and said:

"Recently, leaflets of unknown origin have suddenly appeared in the city. I suspect that the rumors among the people all originated from this. We should investigate it in detail and curb this unhealthy trend at the source."

Fang Xuanling didn't even look at him and replied calmly:
"I have read all those articles. They are all full of praise, but the writing is childish.

"If we punish others for this, who in the world would dare to write for the court?"

Xiao Yu snorted in dissatisfaction.

Li Shimin already knew something about those strange leaflets.

The contents inside confused him even more.

Putting aside the sensational title, the article is full of praise.

But the question is, each word is a good word, so why do they become so disgusting when combined together?

Especially the one signed "Xiao Yi", which is the only one among these articles with its own signature.

The flattery was so bad that Li Shimin felt extremely embarrassed.

It’s hard to say about the authors of other articles, but this “Xiao Yi” must be being sarcastic!
Watching the emperor's uncertain expression with cold eyes, Wei Zheng, the provincial minister and professional troll, said bluntly:
"Blocking the mouths of the people is more dangerous than blocking the mountains and rivers. Your Majesty, you don't want to be King Li of Zhou, do you?"

The protagonist of the allusion that it is more difficult to guard against the people's mouths than to guard against the floods, King Li of Zhou, who finally escaped from Haojing, has arrived. What else can Li Shimin say?

"...Xuancheng said exactly what I wanted to say. In our great Tang Dynasty, how can the people be punished for their words? I will reward them with ten pieces of silk."

Wei Zheng thanked him, and the public opinion storm was put to an end.

Li Shimin immediately put on a troubled expression and continued the topic:
“Now public opinion is surging and public resentment is boiling, and you can all see it.

“People all over the world say that the court is a traitor and persecutes loyal officials. This is quite disrespectful, and I believe you have heard it.

"So, I want to hear your opinions on how to deal with Hou Junji."

　Thanks to the book friend 20240513210202144 for the reward! Thanks to all the readers for voting, commenting and reading! Thank you for your support!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)