Chapter 49: Wenfa
In the twelfth lunar month in Yangzhou, it is covered with ice and snow.
In the real northwest, there are few vegetables to eat in winter, so most of the harvested vegetables are stored in the cellar or hung on the eaves to dry in the autumn.
In this way, we don’t have to spend the winter eating only naan.
Even so, there were only a few kinds of green vegetables, mainly radishes. The people never had any idea of quality of life.
In the cold winter, people do not farm and stay at home idle.
"Old Hu, have you heard? Ever since the establishment of the County Marquisate in Yinzhou, meat and vegetables have been shipped back in carts! My second uncle's nephew's neighbor is from the Divine Workshop. Not to mention the New Year's wages, he was given more than ten kilograms of fat meat alone!"
"Oh, is this true?"
"How could it be false? Yinzhou is really rich!"
"But it's the credit of the young master of the Liu family?"
"Yes! These past few days, Yinzhou has been plagued by bandits. Sigh..."
Early in the morning, Jiang Xuan, who was only sixteen years old this year, wrapped himself tightly in cotton clothes, braved the cold wind, listened to the discussions on the roadside, and came to the gate of a private school with a well outside.
That's right.
He came here to learn secretly!
He took a bite of the naan in his pocket that had frozen into a hard lump, muttering to himself that it was fortunate that he was not too late. He sat down by the well, and the sounds of morning reading could be heard in the private school.
As the end of the year approached, the course also moved from "The Doctrine of the Mean" and "The Great Learning" to difficult military works such as "The Art of War", "Wu Zi", and "Six Strategies".
Those students from wealthy families were complaining bitterly.
In the private school, there were the sounds of the teacher's scolding, the sound of the ruler, and the voice of patiently encouraging and persuading students to study.
Jiang Xuan was shocked and listened carefully.
"Thus, he who is good at fighting does not need to wait to deploy his army. He who is good at eliminating dangers takes care of things before they happen. He who is good at defeating the enemy wins before they are visible. He is good at fighting and good at not fighting. Therefore, he who fights for victory before the sword is not a good general. He who prepares for victory after the enemy has been defeated is not a sage. He who is as wise as others is not a national master; he who is as skilled as others is not a national engineer."
Jiang Xuan has been interested in various military books since he was a child. Unlike most people in Liangzhou, who were always immersed in the pride of Liangzhou cavalry dominating the world , he strongly agreed with the idea in "Six Strategies" that troops should be used according to opportunities and win by strategy rather than by fighting.
Moreover, he did not believe that cavalry could rule the world.
Different terrains require different types of troops.
"We must rely on the hills and obstacles, with long soldiers and strong crossbows in the front, and short soldiers and weak crossbows in the back, firing and stopping alternately. Although the enemy's chariots and cavalry are numerous, we must set up a strong formation and fight quickly, and have skilled soldiers and strong crossbows to prepare for our rear!"
Today, Jiang Xuan was fascinated by what he heard.
The private school teacher focused on "Wen Tao" and "Wu Tao" today. The military views emphasized in them were exactly what Jiang Xuan wanted.
First of all, emphasize winning people’s hearts and minds!
Among them, "He who shares the benefits of the world will gain the world, and he who monopolizes the benefits of the world will lose the world!" Loving the people, cultivating virtue, and benefiting the people are all reflected in "Wen Tao".
Secondly, advocate political offensive to disintegrate the enemy.
"Civil attack" and "military attack" complement each other. "Follow their likes and satisfy their will", "be close to those they love", "honor them with name", "support their lustful pleasures", "nurture their rebellious ministers", "collect their inner circle and question their outer circle", and "bribe them with valuable treasures", etc. Only by using "civil attack" to clear the way for "military attack" can one be a true warrior!
But Lu Zhengyi is not like that now.
Not even the Liangzhou Army.
Suddenly, a vague figure flashed through Jiang Xuan's mind.
Does the young master of the Liu family who "fought the enemy with white stones" on the city wall two months ago count as one of them?
The more Jiang Xuan listened, the more excited he became. He couldn't help but walk from the wellhead to the window of the private school.
I have so many thoughts in my mind, and I want to tell someone about them.
"Untouchable, you're eavesdropping again!"
"Sir, wait a moment, we will drive him away!"
"Don't run away, untouchables!"
Suddenly, the group of rich students saw Jiang Xuan and shouted angrily. They didn't like the "Six Strategies" course in the first place, so they ran out shouting.
In his hand he holds either a mallet or a wooden stick.
Jiang Xuan was startled and started rolling and crawling, which immediately caused a burst of laughter.
"Does the untouchable still want to run away?"
“Kneel down!”
"I've been waiting for you!"
"You lowly people, you still want to study?"
The rich kids gathered around and laughed.
Jiang Xuan, who was obviously malnourished, was no match for these people. He sat on the ground in panic, holding his head, thinking that he would not be able to escape this 38th beating this year.
"Something happened! Something happened! County Marquis Lu Zhengyi's collusion with the horse bandits has been exposed!"
At this moment, a servant boy from the private school, who had just returned from buying vegetables, suddenly came running over, staggering and sweating profusely.
Everyone was shocked.
"What?"
"Don't say such things, you will be beheaded!"
Everyone along the way was shocked when they heard this. The private school teacher even shouted with a cold face.
The book boy smiled bitterly, grabbed a handful of "flyers" from the basket, and said, "Please have a look, sir!"
When the private school teacher saw the words on the picture, his face changed immediately.
County Marquis Lu Zhengyi, colluding with the bandits? And reaching a long-term agreement with the bandits to plunder the people? The profits were divided into 40% and 60%, and the bandits even sat back and watched while the people resisted. This is a heinous crime...
The private school teacher slammed his hand on the table and said angrily, "How can this be! How can this be! Such county officials are nothing but snakes and rats!"
Jiang Xuan held the flyer in his hand blankly, but his head suddenly buzzed.
"Wenfa?"
Suddenly, his heart tightened, and he remembered the incident with the bandits in Yinzhou. His expression changed immediately: "Not good!"
Yangzhou is going to be in chaos!
…
Yangzhou County Houfu.
Lu Zhengyi's face turned pale and he was furious.
"What nonsense! What nonsense!"
"How could a county marquis be in league with that bandit? Investigate where these things came from and kill them without mercy!"
Looking at the lifelike "cartoon version" of himself on the paper, with his round body and fawning and obscene expression, Lu Zhengyi was so furious.
"Sir, we are already investigating!"
"But I have no clue!"
"Sir, should we let those stragglers..."
"Burn it all, burn it all!"
Lu Zhengyi was so angry that he fainted.
The entire Yangzhou County Marquisate was in chaos. The entire Yangzhou City was in turmoil. But on this first day, public opinion had already formed.
Although the government soldiers quickly collected all the leaflets and issued a wanted order, they are now investigating these misleading spies and will punish them severely!
But what about ordinary people?
Thinking back to the years when horse bandits were wreaking havoc in Yangzhou, the common people would leave their money and food at the door for the horse bandits to take away in order to avoid trouble. Now that I think about it, the county magistrate's office is indeed suspected of aiding and abetting the evil!
Who knew, the next day.
The streets were filled with these flyers, as numerous as heavy snow.
The people were angry again.
By the third day, those people who could no longer bear it had arrived at the gate of the inn where the 5,000 soldiers lived, and they threw all kinds of carrots and cabbages at Luo Xiongchao and his men as if they were free.
"What Liangzhou Army? They are just bandits and horse bandits!"
"Get out of Yangzhou!"
"Although Yangzhou is poor, it cannot tolerate you!"
These days, what these scattered soldiers have done in Yangzhou is even more arrogant than the government soldiers. The hatred that has been accumulated for so long is vented at once, which is quite terrifying.
Luo Xiongchao in the post house was filled with murderous intent: "How can this be possible, Mr. Chen, is this how they treat guests in Yangzhou?"
"Brother, let me kill a few of them, and they will all behave themselves!"
One of his men shouted.
Chen Kui was terrified and said with a bitter face: "General, General, you absolutely cannot do this!"
"We must not arouse public anger at this time!"
"General, just let Lord Lu from the county magistrate's mansion handle this matter!"
At this moment, Chen Kui also wanted to curse.
How could this flyer be so shameless? He even made himself look like a clown! Needless to say, this must have been done by the young master of the Liu family!
This kid is really vicious, and he is very good at this little trick...
However, they had no solution at all.
Luo Xiongchao sneered, "Lu Zhengyi? Hasn't he fainted several times out of anger? How can such a person be in charge of Yangzhou City?"
"Ha ha!"
"Brother, you are such a hero, yet you were forced to step down and wander around. How unfair the world is!"
"Yes, General, why don't we take his place?"
Chen Kui's face turned dark: "Absolutely not!"
Luo Xiongchao also smiled slightly, without commenting. Instead, without the appointment of Liangzhou Prefecture, he still didn't dare. But he had to say that the proposal of his subordinates still made him feel moved.
"Shut up, everyone, and wait for Lu Zhengyi to deal with it!"
"Come, drink!"
"Where's the woman? Where's the woman? Mr. Chen, go find the woman!"
"……yes!"
Chen Kui wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and left, thinking that he still had three days left, so when Liu Zheng showed up, he would drive these big guys away.
However, he didn't know.
This world is always like this: it is easy to invite gods but difficult to send them away.
At this time, although Yangzhou was still under the control of Lu Zhengyi, it was because he had ruled Yangzhou for a long time and his power was still there. When hatred and conflict accumulated to a certain extent, it only needed an explosion point, and the situation would be out of control.
certainly.
They don't know yet.
After all, those in power are often confused.
The sudden chaos in Yangzhou had already made them so overwhelmed that they didn't even notice it.
Behind the scenes, there is actually a big hand that controls and directs everything.
Everything was moving in the direction he had predicted.
No one can see clearly in the whole Yangzhou.
Only one saw clearly.
Jiang Xuan.
So, on the fifth day, when the people of Yangzhou clashed with the group of stragglers for the first time on the street and more than a dozen people died tragically on the spot, Jiang Xuan ignored the obstruction of the palace soldiers, came to the county magistrate's mansion, and knelt down suddenly.
"Your Excellency, County Marquis, I, Jiang Xuan, request to see you!"
"Mr. County Marquis!"
"Yangzhou is about to go into chaos, we must be on guard!"
…
Yinzhou Divine Workshop.
Liu Zheng has been "painting" for several days. Shen Xing, Zheng Yueru and others come to report the situation excitedly from time to time.
The chaos started in Yangzhou, and the people were furious. Lu Zhengyi's soldiers suppressed the situation and controlled it. Then the conflict escalated, and eventually the fire was directed towards the stragglers.
What shocked the two people was that the occurrence of all this and the order of everything were almost the same as the "public opinion war" Liu Zheng had expected.
Godly man!
Only at this point did they realize that Master Liu was truly no ordinary person.
"how was it?"
Liu Zheng drew several hundred more pictures, and walked out of the room rubbing his temples, thinking about when he would be able to implement the movable printing technology.
Shen Xing said excitedly: "Sir, a large-scale conflict has broken out! Bloodshed has already occurred in Yangzhou!"
"oh?"
Liu Zheng's eyes lit up.
It seems the time is ripe!
