Volume 2: The King's Way Chapter 195 Complaint
A minor clerk in Lujiang County suddenly became famous.
Not only because he happened to have made a contribution when Bai Gong was assassinated a few days ago, but there are even rumors that he is the prototype of "The Peacock Flies Southeast".
Jiao Zhongqing himself did not expect that his lord, a great general of the Han Dynasty, could actually observe such a thing?
Originally, after returning home, Jiao Qing wanted to talk to his mother about this matter and ask her to stop making a fuss - Jiao Qing also vaguely realized that there must be another vortex behind this matter.
However, he did not expect that when he returned home, his uncle was also there, still talking to his mother. When he saw Jiao Qing coming back, he also gave him a few inexplicable instructions before leaving, which made Jiao Qing's ominous premonition even worse...
Within a few days, under the guidance of an unknown force, the story of the Jiao family really spread in Lujiang.
However, Bai Tu's completely indifferent attitude towards the outside world made Gao Ming and others even more nervous.
From the moment Bai Tu heard Jiao Zhongqing's name, he realized that this was an opportunity - an opportunity to break into the clan's authority.
As for the fact that they bumped into him later, Bai Tu just went along with it. From the very beginning, Bai Tu's opponent was the clan etiquette, not just a few officials from the prefectural government.
However, if someone wants to be a clown, Bai Tu does not refuse, and even... hopes that they are as "ugly" as possible.
Otherwise, if this was really just a matter concerning Jiao Zhongqing, then according to what Zhou Yu said, all problems could be solved by simply reminding Jiao's mother a few times. Now, not only Gao Ming and others, but Bai Tu... also wanted to make a big deal out of this and spark discussion.
Now Bai Tu has grown into a fully-fledged player and has strong resistance to the negative effects brought about by this conflict of public opinion.
The hematopoietic function of the Naxian Hall and the Xuanxian Examination has gradually become apparent. Even if it causes dissatisfaction among some conservatives, Bai Tu believes that he can deal with it calmly.
At the same time, Bai Tu's move of displaying his troops and flags early on can also attract like-minded people.
Bai Tu also met with Jiao Qing again and reassured him that he just needed to concentrate on his work in the General's Mansion and not worry about anything else.
As for his hometown outside the city... Zhou Yu had already sent people to keep an eye on it, and everything was under control!
"The Peacock Flies Southeast" is based on real events, which undoubtedly makes people more excited...
It's just a fictional story, and the hero and heroine are so miserable, which naturally makes everyone follow the guidance of Yuefu poetry and enter into the emotion of "sympathy".
But... now that the story has a prototype, and the man hasn't committed suicide yet, naturally some people will come out to criticize him using the "Book of Rites" and patriarchalism.
For a time, Shu County, Lujiang, once again became the focus of attention.
Bai Tu, however, seemed to be indifferent and only conducted a limited investigation into his assassination. He did not appear to have any intention of expanding the case. During this period, he even returned to Shouchun to inspect the epidemic control situation.
At this time, malaria in Shouchun, commonly known as "malaria", had been effectively controlled, and the casualties caused were so small that it could be said to be a miracle in the late Eastern Han Dynasty!
This also caused Bai Tu's reputation to continue to rise amidst the controversy.
As a result, a temple was built for Lu Bu and others in Shouchun, the Shouchun Yaowang Temple - in the middle are Bai Tu and Lu Bu, on both sides are Taishi Ci, the nameless woodcutter, and Sun Ce who came to use the temple for free.
Even if someone wants to use the story of "The Peacock Flies Southeast" to attack Bai Tu, they can only sigh in despair. Even if they spit everywhere, it is just like throwing a thunderstorm into the Pacific Ocean.
Of course, the stubborn conservatives will not give up. It is one thing to discredit Bai Tu himself, but it is another to hold on to the last bottom line!
In the eyes of many people, Bai Tu has already broken through the lower limit this time...
At the same time, the chief priests of the Ministry of Rites, headed by Kong Rong, have not been idle either. They have recently published a number of articles, focusing on the topic of - the benevolent love others.
This is the theory proposed by Mencius, and it couldn't be more upright.
The original meaning of this sentence at this time is "a benevolent person is one who has a loving heart", but Kong Rong and others focused on "a benevolent person should be one who cares about 'people'", which means forcibly shifting to the direction of "people-oriented".
The same strategy was to not comment on the Lujiang incident itself, but to provide "baggage arrows" to friendly forces from the side.
Moreover, as a major papermaker, General Cheqi even had his own county school, which could be directly added to children's textbooks, giving him a clear advantage in public opinion propaganda.
Finally, after inspecting the disaster area in Baitu, when I returned to Lujiang Shucheng, the moment of the "decisive battle" seemed to be approaching...
The day after Bai Tu returned to Shucheng, Jiao's mother rushed into the city, accompanied by some members of the Jiao family.
Of course, he didn't dare to make a scene in front of the general's mansion. Instead, he followed the rules and went to the small door to hand in a note, saying that he wanted to see Jiao Qing.
Seeing this scene, many forces that had been paying attention to this matter began to get restless. Even... after hearing the news, many civilians in the city could not hide their desire to watch the fun.
"What on earth is this Sun's mother... no, Jiao's mother thinking? How dare she question Mr. Bai?"
"That's right. His son works in the general's mansion and is about to be favored by Lord Bai. He will rise to a high position in the future. Yet she is still unsatisfied?"
"You can't say that... Is she Jiao Qing's mother? No matter what, I can't do that for a woman..."
"Humph, if you ask me... there must be someone behind this!"
"Ahem! Stop talking nonsense, you guys, don't you have parents? Or do you not know how to be a parent?"
"In order to rise to the top, can you abandon your parents?"
"Bah, Qiao Lanzhi... No, it's Liu Lanzhi who is so good, but it's that Jiao's mother who is making trouble out of nothing!"
"What's good or bad? I'm uneducated and can't understand poetry, but... being disliked by my husband's parents is the biggest bad thing!"
"Husband, don't you have any ideas? Yesterday I felt that there was something wrong with the way you looked at Widow Li next door. Well... today it finally came to light... I can weave silk at the age of thirteen, learn to sew at the age of fourteen, play the qin at the age of fifteen, and recite poems and books at the age of sixteen..."
"When did you learn to read? Ouch, ouch... stop pulling..."
Amid the arguments of the crowd, the door to the general's mansion opened wide, and Bai Tu himself walked out leisurely, protected by the guards!
This really shocked a lot of people - they had not thought before that Bai Tu would take action personally.
After all, if Bai Tu appeared at this time, it would mean that he would put himself at the center of the conflict, which was obviously not in Bai Tu's interests.
Those who were already dissatisfied with Bai Tu now showed a sneer on their faces, but... before they could smile, they heard thunderous cheers and praises from all around. Some excited people even prostrated themselves in the street to pay homage.
In the Han Dynasty, the kneeling ceremony was generally only used when one was kneeling, and ordinary officials would never receive the same treatment as they do today when appearing in public places other than official offices.
"I pay my respects to Mr. Bai..."
"Your benefactor will be remembered for eternity, so you don't have to pay attention to the evil spirits..."
"General Bai will be a noble for generations to come!"
Including the people who had previously criticized "The Peacock Flies Southeast" on this matter, many of them also showed admiration when they saw the white map.
Bai Tu bowed in all directions and asked his men to stop the people from performing the ceremony. On the contrary, some people with ulterior motives stood out in the crowd, but Bai Tu seemed not to notice... Or, this is "indifference", right?
"Why is this old lady in front of my mansion? Is there something important?" Bai Tu asked slowly after seeing Jiao's mother.
Mother Jiao burst into tears and almost came up to hug Bai Tu's thighs, saying in a miserable voice: "General Bai, Mr. Bai... I am the mother of your official Jiao Qing, you... you have to make the decision for me!"
Behind the crowd, Shaofu Shi Jiaoling, who was quietly watching this scene, couldn't wait to see how Bai Tu would respond.
Could it be that when Jiao Qing's mother publicly accused Liu Lanzhi of being unfilial and Jiao Qing of being indifferent, Bai Tu would still stand against filial piety?
"Oh! It turns out to be Zhongqing 's mother. Zhongqing is a good boy. What is this, old lady..."
For a moment, the crowd became quiet and confused. Then, Mother Jiao said in a creepy voice, "General, please make the decision for me! My Zhongqing is indeed a good child, and his wife is filial, but...but...there are those damned ones! They insisted on forcing me, alienating me from my daughter-in-law, and instigating me to let my son rest. They even...even used the name of the clan to let me file a complaint, saying that this would be good for them!"
I am suffering! Those uncles and aunts have been threatening me all day long and asking me to lie... I shouldn't have said bad things about them, but... I feel sorry for my daughter-in-law, how can I deliberately put her in an unjust situation? General Bai, what do you think I should do? "
The Jiao clan members who were originally escorting Jiao's mother were dumbfounded. Jiao Ling was in the crowd and almost peed himself...
What is going on?
Not only them, but also the onlookers were confused - why did the show change in the middle?
Wasn't it said that this was a mother-in-law who looked down on her daughter-in-law and forced her son to divorce her? How did it become an uncle from the main family forcing his brother's wife and sister-in-law to destroy someone else's family?
Even the victims became the ones who suffered the most!
The person who was about to say something had his words stuck in his throat. Indeed, as a daughter-in-law who married into the Jiao family, Jiao's mother actually turned against Jiao's uncles at this time. This was against etiquette and unfilial...
But... after all the preparations made before, how can they turn around and criticize Jiao's mother now?
How much they said for Jiao's mother before, how much they buried Jiao Ling and others now...
If Jiao's mother was really determined to ask Jiao Qing to divorce his wife, even if it seemed unreasonable to modern people, it was reasonable to the people of the Eastern Han Dynasty, and no matter how much they said, it would be difficult to change this point.
But now... Jiao's mother directly blamed the Jiao family for the past. In short, everything was their conspiracy. In this case... who would dare to speak simply with etiquette and laws?
Even Bai Tu felt a tingling sensation on his scalp—Grandma, what a show.
"Asshole! What nonsense are you talking about?" Jiao Ling could no longer hide.
When Jiao's mother saw the eldest uncle of the Zong family - in fact, the brother of her late husband, whom she usually tried to curry favor with, a flash of coldness appeared in her eyes, but it was immediately replaced by a look of sadness on her face.
"Uncle, I really can't! You want to fight against Bai Gong... fight against Bai Gong... to find a future for yourself, but you have to think about Zhongqing!" Jiao's mother cried so miserably, and she wanted to say something but hesitated, she was just about to say that the other party was targeting Bai Tu.
"You shrew, stop talking nonsense!" Jiao Ling was so angry that his head was bleeding and he was about to kick her.
But at this moment, he was pushed away by the guards beside him, but...
Maybe it was internal force? Mother Jiao was not kicked, but she still jumped quite far away, and fell to the ground as if she was about to vomit blood, crying even more hoarsely...
