Good morning Daming - Chapter 329: Outrageous Rumors, Fragrant Gifts

Chapter 330: Outrageous Rumors, Fragrant Gifts

Just as rumors were flying around, Emperor Jiajing asked Concubine Lu to go to Xin'an Lane with a ceremonial guard, and the rumors that Jiang Qingzhi had kept more than a dozen women outside were self-defeating.

Of course, this self-defeating rumor only refers to the court, but the rumors in the streets are getting more and more intense.

"What a joy!"

Li Huan returned home and laughed.

Chang was so anxious that she asked, "Why did my husband come home early?"

"I've been so angry today that I just found an excuse to go home." Li Huan said with a smile, "You don't know how outrageous the rumors are. They say Qingzhi has many women. Today, several children blocked the outside of the West Garden and called their son-in-law daddy..."

"Ah!" Chang couldn't help but exclaimed, "But it's my son-in-law's child?"

"You woman!" Li Huan said angrily, "How long has your son-in-law been in the capital? Even if he is morally corrupt, it will take time to have children, right? Those children are two or three years old, but where was your son-in-law two or three years ago?"

"In Suzhou Prefecture!" Chang suddenly realized, "This is slander."

"Who knew that my son-in-law had planted people outside the West Garden and captured those people behind the scenes in one fell swoop, hahahaha!"

Li Huan was so angry at the Taichang Temple today that he gritted his teeth when he thought about it. "Then His Majesty ordered Concubine Lu to go to Xin'an Lane with a procession..."

"This is to support the son-in-law!" As a woman, Chang was the most sensitive to this. "If the son-in-law had a bad reputation, why would His Majesty let his woman go to Xin'an Lane? There would be no criticism. This shows that His Majesty still trusts the son-in-law."

Chang was in high spirits and asked someone to prepare wine and food, saying that she wanted to have a drink with Li Huan.

"I was wondering how could a son-in-law of such character do such dirty things." Chang said with a smile.

Li Huan glanced at her sideways, "But that's not what you said this morning. Who was worried about Tian'er?"

Chang was startled. "Who was the one who tossed and turned like a pancake and couldn't sleep last night?"

"Hey! You woman!"

While Li Huan and his wife were bickering, Jiang Qingzhi had already returned home.

Zhu Xizhong came, and Xiao Zhuo also came.

"The rumors are getting more and more intense. Qingzhi, we can't let them spread." Zhu Xizhong said to Jiang Qingzhi in a serious tone for the first time: "It will end in vain if thousands of people point fingers at you. Rumors can kill people!"

Xia Yan said, "Spread the news that Concubine Lu Jing is coming to Xin'an Lane today."

"It's good to have your Majesty endorse the book, but it's only useful for the officials, not the people." Xu Wei said, "The people in the market can't tell good from bad, they just follow what others say. They think whoever speaks loudly is telling the truth."

There are only a few kittens here, but they cannot compare to the large number and loud voices of the Confucianists.

The pain of having public opinion controlled by opponents makes everyone look worried.

Jiang Qingzhi, however, leisurely lit up the incense, stroked the cat a few times, and said, "This matter is actually quite simple."

Xia Yan said angrily: "Can you transform into thousands of forms and argue with the people one by one?"

Zhu Xizhong sighed, "Qingzhi, this matter cannot be underestimated."

"Isn't it just a rumor?" Jiang Qingzhi said calmly, holding a cigarette in his mouth, "But I feel that the rumors from the outside world are not big enough or outrageous enough!"

what!

Xu Wei let out a light exclamation, feeling as if an inspiration had emerged, but he couldn't grasp it.

Jiang Qingzhi smiled and said, "Now I'm saying I have more than ten women, which is too few. What if I have hundreds or thousands of women as the rumors say?"

He took a puff of cigarette. "It's too little to say that I embezzled 100,000 guan. I think it's at least several million guan, or even tens of millions. It's too simple to say that I, the Mohist, would kill people if I disagreed with him. I think the Mohist not only kills people, but also eats them."

Xia Yan slowly looked at everyone,

In this group, Jiang Qingzhi is the leader, and Xia Yan has been observing who can become Jiang Qingzhi's most powerful helper.

Hu Zongxian's eyes lit up at this moment, which showed that this person was not good at planning specific affairs.

Xu Wei came to his senses a moment earlier than Hu Zongxian, and it was clear that he had derived a lot of ideas from Jiang Qingzhi's words.

This is a strategist!

Xiao Zhuo was smiling and looked quite calm.

Hu Zongxian could be in charge of a region and even enter the court to become a prime minister.

Xu Wei was a man of great strategy and could be Jiang Qingzhi's brain trust. However, he had a bad temper and could not be in charge of a region, or he could not be an official, otherwise he would become a target of attack by his opponents.

Not enough talent!

Xia Yan secretly thought about the talented people he knew at the moment.

Xu Wei said: "The Mohists not only eat people, but also braise, roast, boil, and steam them..."

Hu Zongxian laughed and said, "The Mohists have been lurking in the Central Plains, and their plans are very big. It is said that they want to rebel."

"Your Majesty encountered Zhurong several times during his southern tour, which was a conspiracy of the Mohists."

"The mastermind behind the palace coup that year was Lord Bo!"

"Boye and Altan have been secretly colluding for a long time, waiting to kill the king and then change the dynasty."

"The Mohists have gathered hundreds of people and are spreading Confucian rumors everywhere. Shame on them!"

"The Mohists slandered our Confucian predecessors. Anyone who is a Confucian disciple has the right to kill them!"

Xu Wei and Hu Zongxian took turns saying something, and soon they had slandered Jiang Qingzhi and the Mohist school.

Xia Yan smiled and said, "Aren't those people trying to discredit Qing Zhi in the Mohist school? Then let's add fuel to the fire and make the rumors even more outrageous. But this is not enough."

"Please speak, Mr. Xia." Xu Wei also wanted to see the old prime minister's planning ability.

Xia Yan said: "The Mohists have quietly annexed land from the people, taken in people, and have raised millions of troops. They are just waiting for the right time to raise the banner of rebellion."

Xu Wei pulled his beard and said, "But it was the Confucians who actually annexed the land and took in the population. This is obvious to all people in the world and cannot be denied. Mr. Xia... what a good trick!"

"That's all." Xia Yan said lightly.

When it comes to arrogance, Xia Yan didn't even take the emperor seriously back then.

Xu Wei is still far from it.

Jiang Qingzhi stood up and said, "You wait and chat, I'll go to the kitchen to take a look."

He started it, and others would naturally do the rest. This was the benefit of being a leader. When Jiang Qingzhi came back from the kitchen, the others had already discussed everything.

"The best way to make these rumors known to everyone is to spread them among the women who buy vegetables." Xu Wei said, "We are short of manpower, and these rumors are novel. Let the guards find a way to disguise themselves and spread the rumors where the women gather..."

"Old Xu, I have an idea!"

Seeing that Sun Chonglou, who had been eating snacks nearby, had remained silent, everyone couldn't help but laugh.

Xia Yan smiled and said, "Shi Tou also has an idea? Tell me about it."

"Don't underestimate people!" Sun Chonglou swallowed the snack. "When I was begging in Suzhou, I saw that those beggars were quite well-informed. I didn't know why at first, but later I found out... beggars are everywhere in the city. After begging every day, they have nothing to do, so they like to inquire about and spread all kinds of news..."

"what!"

Everyone looked at each other and thought it was a good idea.

"Bribe a few beggars." Hu Zongxian said.

"Don't have too many people, it's easy for the fan to leak out." Sun Chonglou said, "Just one will be enough."

One pass to ten, ten to a hundred...

……

Qingyuan Tower is located diagonally opposite Chaotian Palace in the west of the city. It is called a restaurant, but the people who come here on weekdays are either great scholars or celebrities. Ordinary people who want to go in are stopped outside.

The doorman pointed to a few lines of words on the side, and the visitor shook his head, "What do you mean?"

This is an illiterate person... The doorman said with disdain: "There are great scholars in conversation and laughter, and there are no unlearned people among them."

"grass!"

Menzi sneered as he watched the man leave, then smiled, "Mr. Chen."

Chen Zhan nodded and went in, going straight to the backyard.

The backyard is a different world, with flowers and trees everywhere and a pond. The fish in the pond are swimming lazily. Chen Zhan walked along the path beside it, but the fish were not afraid.

After the pond, there was a small pavilion in front of us. Two middle-aged men were talking inside. Outside the pavilion were maids and servants, all standing with their hands folded.

"Mr. Chen." An attendant came over, and Chen Zhan asked, "Have you two gentlemen come to a conclusion?"

The attendant said, "They are still arguing."

Chen Zhan smiled bitterly and walked over.

"The Originium is here."

The two men who were arguing stopped.

"Meet Mr. Yang, meet Mr. Han."

Of the two men in the pavilion, the one with a pale complexion and thin cheeks is Yang Qing. The one sitting opposite him, fanning himself with an impatient look is Han Yu.

Both of them are famous scholars, and this time they were entrusted with an important task to deal with Jiang Qingzhi and the Mohist school.

Han Yu frowned and asked, "Have you arranged everything?"

Chen Zhan nodded, "We have arranged personnel in various places. Now there are rumors about Jiang Qingzhi and the Mo family everywhere in the capital."

Yang Qing sneered, "I have said before that the common people are ignorant, so we should start from the court and cut off Jiang Qingzhi's hand reaching for power first!"

"The power of public opinion is huge, but you don't know it." Han Yu waved his fan, "Why can the scholars' broken boots formation be so rampant? It's because they are good at creating public opinion among the people. Jiang Qing's family expenses mostly rely on that beef shop. Yang Gong, you can trust it. At this moment, that shop must be deserted."

Yang Qing looked at Chen Zhan.

After Fang Zhuo was taken away by Jiang Qingzhi, Chen Zhan became the trader. He lowered his head with admiration in his eyes. "Today, only a few people patronized the Jiang family's shop, all of them were businessmen. After the rumor spread, no one patronized it anymore."

"This is public opinion!" Han Yu said: "It was clearly a natural disaster, why did the emperor issue an edict of self-blame? First, the emperor called himself the Son of Heaven, and second, he was worried that public opinion would kill him."

Yang Qing narrowed his eyes, "This matter... is all."

Han Yu felt relieved and said with a smile: "Prepare some wine and food, Yuanshi, you can also come and have a drink with us."

"Yes." Chen Zhan sat down.

The three of them chatted and laughed quietly, occasionally mentioning the current situation, and they were all quite relaxed.

Chen Zhan was slightly tipsy and suddenly thought of Fang Zhuo.

He raised his glass and toasted from a distance.

"Mr. Yang, Mr. Han!"

An attendant hurriedly walked into the pavilion.

"What's the matter?" Yang Qing asked, holding up his wine glass.

"Someone threw a bundle over earlier, saying it was a gift for the two gentlemen."

The bag was not big and had a faint fragrance.

"Is it sandalwood?" Yang Qing burped.