xymnovel Chapter 51 Spreading the News
Chapter 51 Spreading the News
At this moment, Hebei is like a pile of dry straw, which can be ignited by a single fire. The people of Shandong, who have been oppressed and alienated by the Guanlong Group for a long time, are not recognized or accepted, and they are all holding their breath with resentment.
If Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji's subordinates were escorted back to Chang'an at this time, without even waiting for the outcome, the temperamental Shandong people would probably produce another Wang Heita or Zhao Heita.
It was only after Wei Zheng and Shen Ce rescued Li Sixing and the others that they realized that the people at the post stations and along the way not only looked at them with suspicion but also with hatred.
There's still time. Once we have a clear focus on the work, we can immediately boost everyone's morale.
Wei Zheng still needed to oversee the overall situation here, while Shen Ce suggested that they immediately return to Luoyang and request the assistance of the garrison commander there to spread the news widely.
At this moment, Wen Wuyin's identity became extremely important. Ignoring the injury on his arm, he volunteered, "Lord Wei, Brother Shen and I will return to Luoyang immediately, gather more manpower, and send messengers along the official road by fast horse. This way, we can inform everyone of the situation in the court as quickly as possible."
Wei Zheng was not a rigid person, and after thinking for a moment, he agreed to their suggestion.
Go and call someone!
How long will it take to spread such an important matter with just a few people in the mission?
Having borrowed Wei Zheng's carriage, Wen Wuyin, disregarding his injuries, hurriedly drove with Shen Ce along the official road towards Luoyang.
The advantage of having a good father becomes apparent at this point. The son's job requires a lot of help from grassroots staff, so shouldn't the father lend a hand?
The requirements aren't high; being illiterate is fine, as long as one isn't mute.
Soldiers are useless; without an imperial decree, Wen Daya can't command many.
When Wen Wuyin stood before Wen Daya and spoke eloquently, telling his father all his thoughts, Wen Daya remained noncommittal.
He was quite pleased to see his eldest son, who was afraid of him, come on his own initiative. As for the matter of transferring people, he readily agreed. Wen Wuyin thought that his initiative had earned his father's consent.
Little did they know that for aristocratic families, stability was of paramount importance. Wen Daya would never send anyone to various prefectures and counties just because Wen Wuyin asked for help. His priority was to guard Luoyang, and only then would he consider Wen Wuyin's father.
In fact, long before they arrived in Luoyang, Wen Daya had received a secret letter from Li Er, requesting him to do everything in his power to help the delegation and others stabilize their power in Hebei.
As a result, Wen Daya sent out all the minor officials at all levels of government. They were not only eloquent but also had excellent handwriting.
They split into two groups.
They traveled all the way to Zhengzhou, crossed the Bian River, passed through Songzhou, and then headed north to Qizhou.
They crossed the Yellow River, passing through the four prefectures of Wei, Ci, Xiang, and Xing, before heading to Dingzhou.
In each prefecture and county they visited, the officials would take out copies of the tabloids written by Shen Ce from their purses and scatter them at the entrances of brothels and taverns.
It reads:
The people of Hebei, please listen carefully.
Li Siqi was wronged.
The Crown Prince of Chang'an upheld justice.
Rescue Zhongliang and bring him back to his hometown
Justice resides in the hearts of the people of the Tang Dynasty.
Don't believe the rumors or panic.
The original version of the big-character poster was extremely powerful. Shen Ce told Wen Wuyin that he must not post the big-character poster at the city gate or outside the government office, because that would make the message too slow to spread.
No one will waste time on the journey to stop and listen to idle chatter.
Where are the most scholars? Besides academies, they are in brothels and other places of entertainment. Moreover, the characters they write are small, so they don't need much paper.
Then distribute these small posters to the vagrants on the roadside. It doesn't matter if they don't recognize them, as long as they can recite them. Just sing them all over the street. If someone wants one, give him the poster and he will get five copper coins a day, with the settlement made at sunset.
The dog outside Xiangzhou City was originally a farmer from the countryside. When he came to the city, he happened to see that singing a folk song for a day could earn him ten copper coins. He was quite envious, so he learned it a few times and started singing it in the city. At sunset, he went with the others to collect the money.
The clerk who was distributing the money saw that although the man had not been allowed to sing, his companions testified that he sang earnestly, so he had an idea and sent him to sing in the countryside, with payment every three days.
Honest farmers, without any ulterior motives, naturally had to do their bidding when they received money from others. Families with young children joined in, and the news spread like wildfire throughout the prefectures, counties, and villages of Hebei Province.
The government arrested several clerks and found out they were sent by Wen Daya. After looking at the content being sung, they knew what was going on and lost interest in managing it, letting them continue singing.
In fact, it would have been enough to let the officials know; there was no need for such a grand display.
The purpose of this was to let the common people know that even if there are people with ill intentions, if they know the truth, they will not easily believe officials with ulterior motives.
Wei Zheng also conscripted almost all the post station workers at the post station outside Cizhou City and sent them to various places in Hebei.
There was only one objective: to spread the news of Li Sixing and others' release throughout Hebei Province as quickly as possible; simply spreading the news was not enough.
Noble families would not easily believe rumors circulating in the streets; they would naturally want to see for themselves.
So Wei Zheng led Li Zhian, while Shen Ce led Li Sixing deep into the heartland of Li Jiancheng and Li Yuanji.
Li Er was the one most concerned about the situation in Hebei. He had not received any reports from the two men for more than ten days, and he was getting anxious. It wasn't until Anan crouched down and delivered the memorials sent by the courier to Yiqiu Palace, and deliberately placed the memorials of the two men at the top, that Li Er felt at ease.
He casually picked up Wen Wuyin's memorial, opened it, and saw that the delegation had blocked Li Sixing's men, who were being escorted by the local government, in Cizhou. He immediately angrily said, "Is this an imperial edict? Are these local officials illiterate?"
Knowing Li Er's temperament, Anan quickly tried to persuade him, whispering, "The local officials must have been guessing the emperor's intentions and misunderstood the court's attitude."
Li Er frowned and continued looking back until he saw that everyone had been immediately released. Only then did his expression soften. When he learned that the delegation had asked Wen Daya for help, he couldn't help but laugh heartily and sigh, "I wonder who came up with this quick-witted idea."
Li Er put down Wen Wuyi's memorial and turned to look at Shen Ce's memorial. He suddenly noticed that there were several scrolls of paintings on the side. He became curious, put the memorial aside, and started to look at the scrolls.
Yuwen Shiji, who was sitting at the lower end of the table, was familiar with Shen Ce's habits. After seeing Li Er begin to look at the painting that Shen Ce had presented, he deliberately moved back a little, waiting quietly for Li Er to get angry.
At this moment, Li Er gripped the scroll tightly in his right hand, so tightly that he snapped the wooden scroll's axis. Gritting his teeth, he finally managed to utter a few words:
"You bastard!"