Volume 4 Chapter 20 Public Opinion (Part 2)
In March, public opinion in Tokyo was in turmoil.
The initial cause of the incident couldn't be simpler, of course, it was the court's action of clearing up the accumulated abuses and abolishing the abuse of favors and privileges. However, it's funny to say that the turmoil it caused was itself quite eventful.
When the imperial court first dealt with this matter, it was impossible to confirm whether the six families whose properties had been confiscated beforehand were involved in this matter. Therefore, many stakeholders spread rumors and made sarcastic remarks with a strong sense of tentativeness. This was the first round of public opinion turmoil.
The target was obviously Emperor Zhao and the new policies of the imperial court.
But soon, the imperial court responded to these people with an extremely tough attitude.
Not only did the court increase its efforts to pursue abuse of favors, but the most terrible thing was that the theoretical leader of these people, and the biggest hope, Lu Haowen, Lu Gongxiang, directly and publicly expressed his support for the court. Emperor Zhao personally issued an order, ordering the Imperial City Bureau to vigorously investigate the source of the rumors and poems in the past few days, and to directly search for them with the imperial guards... At this time, the temptation and ridicule of those people quickly stopped.
Because most of them are very clear that they, the old people or the remnants of the old era, have no real power.
But as the saying goes, "the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop", just when these former dignitaries took the initiative to disappear in order to seek a peaceful transition, a "secret" among the high-level officials of the Jin Dynasty that spread almost at the same time, that is, the fact that the Prime Minister and Grand Marshal Nianhan imprisoned the King of Jin, instead greatly stimulated the existing bureaucratic system, the opposition scholars and students, as well as the ordinary people in Tokyo.
The subsequent public opinion turmoil was mostly initiated by these people.
A powerful official, and a well-known one at that, who was one of the masterminds of the Jingkang Incident, suddenly did something like this, and related rumors immediately spread everywhere:
Some people say that Wuqimai advocates peace, while Nianhan advocates war. Now that Nianhan has imprisoned the king, he will soon lead his army south to avenge his beloved general Wanyan Loushi.
Some people also say that Wuqimei may not necessarily advocate peace, and Nianhan may not necessarily advocate war, but since Nianhan has imprisoned the king, the next step is to usurp the throne. If a powerful official wants to usurp the throne, he always has to offer something to win the hearts of the people and establish prestige. So, how can the barbaric Jurchens win the hearts of the people and establish prestige?
Of course, they went south to plunder the Central Plains!
Therefore, at this time, even if Nianhan was unwilling to go south, he had to go south. Even if he did not want to fight, he had to lead his army to fight a decisive battle with the Song Dynasty!
Of course, there are people who are a little optimistic, saying that Nianhan is a truly talented official, and that he might consider the overall situation and take the initiative to negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty.
But the problem is, even if we want to negotiate peace, is it easy to negotiate peace? What about northern Shaanxi, Shandong, Hebei, and Hedong? Will the government agree? Maybe in the end, we will have to fight again!
All in all, no matter what these people's specific opinions are, almost everyone feels that since such a shocking event has happened among the top leaders of the Jin Dynasty, it will definitely directly affect the national level... and at this time, the court must cut the Gordian knot, quickly end those unnecessary internal "waves", and concentrate on dealing with the north.
Under such circumstances, other people who originally held a neutral attitude towards "revoking the excessive favors and privileges" immediately changed their direction and chose to give unlimited support to the policies of the court and Emperor Zhao.
To put it bluntly, Emperor Zhao's political prestige came from leading the Song Dynasty to resist the invasion of the Jin people in the north. No ordinary people, including bureaucrats and dignitaries, are willing to go through the Jingkang Incident again. Therefore, even if everyone has an instinct to be conservative or pursue stability, once faced with a possible threat from the north, Emperor Zhao will not only have unlimited power, but also receive great support from public opinion.
Don’t forget, that unforgettable collapse happened only five years ago!
In contrast, the former powerful people quickly fell under the attack and criticism of the bureaucracy and public opinion.
The lower-class people were saying that these people were simply spies from the Jin Dynasty!
There were also some scholars and students in the opposition who were more knowledgeable and knew that these people were unlikely to be spies, but they believed that these people had actually affected the country's preparations for war and should be dealt with quickly and strictly.
Public opinion's tolerance for these people instantly dropped to the lowest level.
The most representative incident was that dozens of slightly radical Taixue students wrote letters to the palace and to the Honglu Temple Report Office, directly requesting the court to take extraordinary measures in extraordinary times, temporarily treating these people as "northern spies", keeping them in centralized custody, and dealing with them after major events, in order to ensure a calm attitude towards the north.
The imperial court certainly would not listen to these words, but there is no doubt that the bureaucratic system quickly became tense. This tension and the political promise of the government to compensate half of the salary for the previous few years, as well as to reward and posthumously honor the officials who had remained loyal since the Jingkang period, formed a double stimulus... It forced the entire bureaucratic system to quickly cut ties with these people, and then the efficiency and intensity of handling this matter reached a new level.
As for the protagonists in the vortex of events, that is, those dignitaries in the former prosperous era, who later fled to Yangzhou and came back, and who had no actual contributions during the Jianyan period, they really could not have imagined that a stroke suffered by an old man thousands of miles away would directly affect their lives and property... It was as mysterious as the story in "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".
However, the documents revoking the official positions granted by imperial decree and the investigation into previous rumors and distorted poems could not be more true.
It is said that in the evening of that day during the storm, Zheng Yinian, who had just returned home after going out to gather information, went straight to his brother Zheng Xiunian's bedroom, and then dismissed the maids and questioned his brother face to face in the bedroom:
"Brother, tell me the truth. Do you have anything to do with the lies about Hanfang Garden? Why is it that after I asked around, they all said that you were one of the people who happened to be at Hanfang Garden that day?"
Zheng Xiunian, who had been at home on sick leave for the past few days, looked pale and was speechless for a long time.
When Zheng Yinian saw this, he understood what was happening. He stood up and stamped his feet vigorously on the ground, then turned around and asked, "Brother , why are you so confused?"
"Isn't it true that I feel resentful?" Zheng Xiunian, who was lying on the couch and wrapped in a small quilt pretending to be sick, was extremely depressed and could only explain in a low voice. "The property is gone, and the official rank of attendant that the Emperor Taishang Daojun bestowed upon us brothers is also gone. All that's left is some floating wealth that we can't live on. Thinking about how prosperous our family was in the past, but now it's gradually declining in my hands, I'm naturally resentful... And that day when I was watching Cuju, I happened to drink some wine in the box with some relatives and friends, and we talked about this matter. When I felt resentful, I wrote that little poem before leaving..."
"So what if I'm upset?" Zheng Yinian was furious. "That must be a military commander!"
"At the time, I felt that the government was not too strict except for military affairs." Zheng Xiunian frowned slightly on the couch. "Who could have thought that the government would turn against us so easily? After all, I always felt that our official positions were granted by the Supreme Dao Emperor. Our Zheng family is also a family of prime ministers for generations, and we are relatives of the Empress Dowager. How could he be so disrespectful? I would say..."
"If you ask me, the Emperor Taishang Daojun is a piece of shit!!" Zheng Yinian was furious when he saw that his brother was still stubborn and he jumped up and down in front of the bed and cursed. "Emperor Taishang Daojun had to mend his own clothes in Wuguo City! He couldn't stand the hardship and cut his clothes into strips to hang himself, but he didn't even have the courage to die. He cried with his bare chest and finally had to find a gold man to find needles and thread to ask the Queen Mother to help him sew them again... How can such a person be respectable?! You still want to rely on such a person for respect?!"
Zheng Xiunian was frightened by his brother for a moment.
But Zheng Yinian seemed to be completely angry, and his face was ferocious. "Brother, let me ask you, do you know where the word respectability comes from? If you don't know, I do! After I went to Wuguo City, I knew that if you want to be respectable, you need to have this strength to support you. But where does strength come from? Isn't it the two words of soldiers and horses?! And whoever holds the soldiers and horses today can be respectable! Whoever has the strongest and most powerful soldiers and horses is the most respectable! The Jin people had strong soldiers and horses, and respectability was given by the Jin people. Later, the emperor spent five years and gritted his teeth to train 200,000 imperial camp troops, and became the most respectable person in the world! But what about you? You know nothing about respectability and strength! You actually think you can rely on a captive from Wuguo City to talk about respectability with the most respectable person in the world? You are not asking for respectability, you are going to bury our Zheng family for something that has been lost long ago!"
"You're too kind, second brother." With one polite remark after another, Zheng Xiunian was frightened by his brother and could only comfort him slightly.
"What a polite remark!" Zheng Yinian was still furious. "Brother, I only want to ask you one thing. Have you ever thought about what we will do if Yang Yizhong tracks us down? Do you really know what it feels like to be exiled? I tell you, after a trip to Wuguo City, your brothers now think that Dongjing City is a paradise! And you insist on having your entire family suffer with you? Not to mention, you wrote that kind of crooked words. If you are really punished for criticizing the emperor and inciting people, you will not only be exiled, but you will also be in danger of your life!"
Zheng Xiunian thought of the most direct threat in front of him, and softened his tone again: "When I wrote the inscription that day, there was only a servant holding ink beside me..."
Halfway through their conversation, the two brothers were stunned. Then, Zheng Xiunian was about to turn over and get up from the bed, but Zheng Yinian, who looked pale, raised his hand to stop him.
"What do you mean, Old Second?" Zheng Xiunian lowered his voice. "We should learn from the past and punish the person, right?"
"You can't escape..." Zheng Yinian's voice was trembling. "The key is not that person, but the fact that the public opinion is accusing us, and the emperor is very dissatisfied with the fact that I brought the two saints' letters that day. Under such circumstances, those people would like to punish us severely to please the emperor... Therefore, as long as they find us, keeping the servant is of course a witness, but getting rid of him is evidence that we are afraid of the crime!"
"Then..." Zheng Xiunian finally panicked. "Should I go and reward him?"
"How can anyone withstand it under Wu Mu?"
"Is there really no way out?"
"I can't think of it." Zheng Yinian's heart was cold, but he was trying to think. "You wrote an inscription based on my situation, and the words in the poem said 'It's better to go home and be a commoner'. Anyone can think of . This is the first reason. And you are clearly a suspect among the people who watched Cuju that day. You can find out with a little inquiry. This is the second reason... Therefore, it only took Yang Yi two days to find our house. Since he found it, it is impossible to leave this loophole."
Zheng Xiunian was at a loss.
Zheng Yinian angrily punched the bedside table and said, "If I had known this would happen, I might as well have gone to Jinan. I could have lived another half a year! Maybe I could have been exiled a year or two later..."
Zheng Xiunian was slightly startled, but hesitated to speak.
Zheng Yinian was also stunned when he saw his brother's expression.
"Let's run away..." Zheng Xiunian said carefully in a trembling voice. "Second brother, let's run away! With our family background, if we go to Jinan, we will definitely be treated as honored guests by Liu Yu, become a high-ranking official there, and collect some wealth. When Zhang Jun and Yue Fei come back to fight, we can escape from the back to the sea, go to Goryeo, go to Japan... Wait until the world is pacified and then change our names and come back, or simply never come back... Isn't this a way to survive?"
Zheng Yinian's eyes flickered, and he was silent for more than ten breaths before he shook his head in panic: "This is a way to survive... But brother, have you ever thought about it? If it's just us brothers, we can escape, but what about our sister-in-law, nephews and nieces? How can we escape with them? And if we leave without them, then we will have enjoyed wealth and honor for half of our lives, but they will be implicated and imprisoned. How can you and I bear it?"
Zheng Xiunian was completely desperate...how could he bear to leave his wife and children.
But at this moment, his younger brother Zheng Yinian covered his nose and mouth slightly under the light and said carefully: "But if my brother escapes alone, I will stay, which is the best of both worlds..."
Zheng Xiunian looked up blankly at his younger brother, apparently puzzled.
"Brother..." Zheng Yinian took a half step forward and explained carefully in a low voice beside the bed. "You went to the Cuju field that day. This matter cannot be covered up. Otherwise, I will definitely take the blame for you and then ask you to report it to Kaifeng Prefecture in order to escape the crime..."
Zheng Xiunian was stunned for a moment, but he stared at his younger brother.
"Brother, please go to Jinan. I will take care of my sister-in-law for you." Zheng Yinian finally gritted his teeth and said, "At this point, this is the only way to save our family!"
Zheng Xiunian opened his mouth to argue, but he was unable to speak and could only sit on the couch.
"Brother, you should go now. A strong man has a good chance of escaping." Zheng Yinian saw that his brother was unwilling to speak, so he simply revealed the plan in response. "After you leave, I will delay for half a day and then go to Kaifeng Prefecture to report. Since I have done the report for the greater good, I can persuade our relatives to plead for mercy, so that the disaster will not affect my wife and children... By then, brother will make money in Jinan, escape to Goryeo, and then secretly return, while I will stay in Tokyo City to support the family and take care of my sister-in-law for my brother... This is the right way to live! As for me, if you are cruel enough, don't alarm my sister-in-law and others. While it is getting dark, put on makeup and sneak away. I will send you to the Ma Xing Street Night Market and wait for you. At dawn, follow the people in the night market out of the city to the east and head straight to Jinan!"
Zheng Xiunian listened for a while, and suddenly burst into tears on the bed, holding the quilt.
The reason why he cried was not because he had no other options, but because he thought again and again that his brother's plan was really the best way out at the moment...but the more so, the more he was reluctant to leave his wife, children and the Tokyo city where he grew up. The more reluctant he was, the more he knew he had to leave quickly.
Now that things have come to this, I can only say that I regret it!
If he had drunk less that day and listened less to the instigation and agitation of the brothers Gao Yaokang and Gao Yaofu (both sons of Gao Qiu), such a disaster would not have occurred.
Just like this, Zheng Xiunian cried for half a day, but in the end he was like a piece of wood. He was half-forced by Zheng Yinian to change into the clothes of a servant, and then dragged by Zheng Yinian, pretending to be master and servant, and went out through the back door, preparing to go to the Ma Xing Street Night Market.
However, as soon as the two brothers walked out of the back door and took only fifty or sixty steps, they were blocked by a group of strong men holding lanterns at the back alley, and then taken to a pot-sticker tofu stall in the opposite alley.
Under the light, facing Yang Yizhong and Wanqi Xie who were drinking tea with tofu, the Zheng brothers turned pale, and Zheng Xiunian, who had once hoped for a chance, collapsed directly to the ground.
The owner of the potsticker tofu stall and the tea stall nearby were taken away from the scene early. Yang Yizhong looked at the brothers and showed a puzzled expression: "How could you two be so ignorant? The inscription in Hanfang Garden is so flawed. Why did you realize it and escape today? Do you brothers know that the three sons of the former Taiwei Gao Qiu, the third one turned himself in yesterday and reported that his two brothers met you in Hanfang Garden, and directly hinted that you wrote the crooked inscription. If we were not waiting for you brothers, we would have arrested you long ago."
The Zheng brothers were completely speechless. After a long while, Zheng Yinian stepped forward and bowed: "I am sorry for the trouble."
"I can't say I'm tired." Yang Yizhong didn't know if it was because he was too suffocated in the palace, but his expression became more and more vivid. "It's just that I and Yushi Wanqi have to eat three meals of pot-sticked tofu here, and it's not easy to eat something else... I'm young, but Yushi Wanqi just said that he had a bloated stomach last night!"
"Okay..." Wanqi Xie was also powerless and waved his hands. "It's Zheng Xiunian who wants to leave, right? Then go! When you get to Jinan, you have two things to do... One is to find the pseudo-Qi Prime Minister Hong Ya and establish contact with him. You don't have to be too direct, be a little more subtle, and he will understand; the other is to tell the abbot of Jinan Lingjiu Temple everything you can find out about each other's situation. In this way, not only will your wife and children be safe, your brother will be able to take up a real job, and you will have a good result in the future..."
Zheng Xiunian was confused for a moment and hadn't reacted yet.
Wanqi Xie and Yang Yizhong looked at each other with some doubt, but Zheng Yinian couldn't help but pressed his brother down and bowed his head on the ground.
"How great it would be if you wrote the title?" Yang Yizhong couldn't help but shake his head when he saw this.
"How could I be so confused after coming back from Wuguo City?" Zheng Yinian smiled bitterly. "I can eat this pot-sticked tofu for the rest of my life without feeling bloated."
Yang Yi Zhong also laughed, but he paid for the tofu first, then stood up and made way for Wanqi Xie to go first, and then he left with a dozen men... as if he had not been waiting here.
At this time, Zheng Xiunian finally came to his senses.
On the next morning, big news broke out in Tokyo City - Zheng Xiunian, the grandson of the late Prime Minister Wang Gui and the eldest son of Prime Minister Zheng Juzhong, fled for fear of punishment. His younger brother Zheng Yinian, for the sake of justice, surrendered himself and confessed on the spot in Kaifeng Prefecture a reactionary group that was dissatisfied with the government and the court, and had held many meetings to "denounce the emperor" and "slander the prime minister".
The eldest and second sons of former Grand Commandant Gao Qiu, his brother Zheng Xiunian, his cousin Wang Huan, and many sons of prime ministers and grand commanders were among them.
The imperial court did not hesitate and immediately rounded up all these people. Except for Zheng Yinian and Gao Yaoqing who turned themselves in, they also destroyed their documentary evidence and offered a reward for the capture of Zheng Xiunian... This incident officially put an end to the Tokyo public opinion turmoil in early March.
There will no longer be any obstacles to depriving people of their jobs of excessive favors and privileges.
The only thing that makes people feel a little regretful is that a few days later, it was confirmed that Zheng Xiunian had successfully escaped and entered Jinan, and then he was appointed as the Minister of the Ministry of Revenue by the overjoyed Liu Yu.
