"Your Majesty, Mister Li Gang of Yanhuang College has sent a memorial!"
Afternoon, evening.
Zhao Song brought a memorial to the Ganlu Hall and bowed to Li Er, who was sitting at the head of the table.
Although Li Gang did not hold any position in the Imperial Court, the old man was well-versed in both ancient and modern times. He had been the teacher of two Crown Princes, Yang Yong and Li Jiancheng. Last year, he had almost become Li Chengqian's teacher. The old man was an influential figure in the literary world of the Great Tang. Although he was not in the Imperial Court, he still had the authority to listen to memorials!
"Mm? Li Gang's memorial? "
Li Er had just finished reviewing the memorial. Confused, he hurriedly said, "Hurry and present it!"
Li Er had a keen sense of smell and sensed that something might have happened at the Academy. Otherwise, Li Gang would not have sent him a memorial.
"Here!"
Zhao Song stepped forward and handed the memorial to Li Er. Li Er opened it and began to carefully read it. But the more he read, the deeper his frown became. Around seven minutes later, Li Er closed the memorial, his face ashen. "Truly, demons appear in troubled times. It hasn't even been ten days since the plague of locusts began, but some people are already unable to hold themselves back! Zhao Song! "
Zhao Song had been listening in on the side, confused. He hurriedly said, "This old servant is here!"
"Take a look as well!"
Li Er threw the memorial to Zhao Song. Zhao Song nimbly caught it, but before he could take a closer look, Li Er coldly ordered.
"Pass on the decree to Li Junxian. Order the cavalry to immediately investigate who is spreading rumors and inciting the people. Remember, there is definitely more than one person spreading rumors. You must be careful. It would be best if you could follow the clues and catch the mastermind! To dare to ambush and kill the people in broad daylight, the mastermind must be planning something big! "
At this moment, Zhao Song had already skimmed through the contents of the memorial. His heart was in turmoil. Spreading rumors, inciting public anger, and silencing witnesses. All these signs indicated that there was a hidden dark force in the Empire that was ready to make a move. It could not be ignored!
"This old servant obeys the decree!"
Zhao Song bowed and accepted the order, then hurriedly retreated.
In the main hall, Li Erduan sat on the dragon couch. The corners of his mouth suddenly curled into an icy smile, only to hear him muttering to himself, "Come! If you want to come, come together! Using this chance, We will catch all of you demons and monsters hiding in the shadows in one fell swoop! Only then can We rest at ease and fight to the death with the Turks! "
… … …
The rumors that slandered Li Zexuan did not stop at the wise ones. Instead, they spread very quickly among the people. Basically, with Chang 'an as the center, they gradually spread outwards. It was estimated that in a few days, it would reach Li Zexuan's current location — Yong County in Qizhou!
Marquis Yong... the Marquis is such a benevolent Marquis. of the Marquis, such a benevolent person.. How can such a benevolent person is?? "
The next day, after reading the article written by Li Gang in the Tang Daily, the citizens of Chang 'an could not help but discuss it.
"Yes! Marquis Yong 'an cares about the people of the world. Marquis Yong' an is leading the Sky Pheasant Brigade to provide disaster relief. No matter what, he should not be subject to such baseless slander and accusations! "
"Marquis Yong said that he did not know if Marquis had predicted this year's locust plague last year. But even if Marquis knew in advance, Marquis Yong felt that Marquis should not have made it public. That would cause chaos in the country. The people would not be in the mood to farm, causing thousands of people to lose their homes!"
"That's right! If we had known that there would be a locust plague this year, we would not have farmed at the beginning of the year. Now, we can only wait for the food to run out and starve to death! But although we have encountered a locust plague recently, with the help of the Sky Pheasant Brigade, most of the crops in the fields were saved. We should be grateful to Marquis! "
Li Gang had personally written an article to refute Li Zexuan's rumors. It was of some use, but that was all.
"Hey! Marquis Li Gang is the Yamachō of Yanhuang College, and Marquis Yong 'an is the Yamachō of Yanhuang College. He is protecting Marquis Yong' an! "
Someone in the crowd said in a sinister voice. Immediately, the "rhythm" was set in motion.
"That's right! Mr. Li Gang is openly protecting Marquis Yong 'an! "
"Shameless. Marquis Yong 'an abandoned his scholarly integrity for his own selfish reasons. He is a disgrace to us scholars!"
"Bah! You dare insult Marquis Yong 'an and Marquis Li Gang? You pedantic Confucians are the ones who have no sense of shame! "
Unlike yesterday, there were many more scholars in Li Zexuan's group. This was not strange. Li Zexuan had created the Engineering School, and after a year of development, the Engineering School had gradually matured. The members of the Engineering School were getting louder and louder in the Great Tang. Those lofty and unshakable Confucians naturally hated Li Zexuan. Now that many people were criticizing Li Zexuan, these Confucians naturally would not let go of this chance to hit him while he was down!
The two sides quickly began to quarrel, and it wasn't long before chaos ensued.
"Hey! It is said that this plague of locusts is Heaven's punishment for the Son of Heaven for 'murdering his brother and imprisoning his father'. Two days ago, when the dog ate the sun, Daoist Li Chunfeng of the Imperial Historian Bureau wrote to His Majesty that this represented Heaven's warning to the Son of Heaven. If the Son of Heaven does not practice benevolence and repent for his past mistakes, Heaven will send down an even greater calamity! "
After a long while, someone sinisterly said. The crowd immediately fell silent. After all, it was fine to talk about officials, but if they were talking about the Emperor, they had to be careful!
"What? There's such a thing? "
After a few moments of silence, someone mustered up the courage to exclaim.
"Hey! How can it be fake? I heard that Li Chunfeng was even beaten fifty times by His Majesty because of this! "
"Hiss! Fifty strikes! "
"It seems that Li Chunfeng's predictions were spot on. Heaven has indeed sent down an even greater calamity, a plague of locusts. Such a large plague was probably extremely rare even in the previous dynasty!"
"Doesn't that mean that His Majesty … His Majesty did not listen to Daoist Li Chunfeng's advice and did not practice benevolence or repent sincerely?"
"Hmph! With an Emperor who killed his brother, imprisoned his father, and infuriated the heavens, our lives are going to be miserable! "
"The Imperial Army! The Imperial Army is here! Run! "
Suddenly, someone pointed at a group of armored soldiers that suddenly appeared on the east side of the street and exclaimed.
"It's not the Imperial Army, it's a hundred riders!"
The sharp-eyed people recognized the identity of the group of soldiers. Instantly, the group of people who were still discussing fervently scattered like birds and beasts, escaping in all directions!
After all, most of them were talking about Li Er just now. It was impossible for them not to feel guilty.
At the same time, similar rumors were circulating in many places. In the end, this rumor gradually became more and more convincing. It was as if they had seen it with their own eyes!
In this rumor, there was a very innocent person who was implicated even though he was lying down!
This person was Li Chunfeng!
… …..
"Father, are the rumors on the streets true? Did His Majesty really allow someone to beat you fifty times? "
In Yanhuang College, Li Yan took the opportunity to find Li Chunfeng who was arranging the astrological chart in his office during lunch. He asked worriedly.
"What nonsense are you talking about? Son, what are you talking about? "
Li Chunfeng was confused. He could not figure out what was going on.
"Dad, don't hide it from me! I heard it from the auntie who was sweeping the floor of the teaching building! "
Li Yan thought that Li Chunfeng was deliberately hiding it from him. He could not help but feel helpless.
"Hide it from you? When did I hide it from you? Also, what did the auntie say? "
Li Chunfeng frowned.
Li Yan saw that Li Chunfeng was going to play dumb so he said, "Dad! The auntie said that when the Heavenly Dog devoured the sun more than a month ago, you wrote to His Majesty that it represented God's warning to the Emperor. If the Emperor did not practice benevolence and repent for the mistakes he made in the past, God would send an even greater disaster! Because of this, you were beaten fifty times by His Majesty. Dad, is this true? "
"Nonsense!"
Li Chunfeng's expression changed when he heard this. He stood up and looked at Li Yan. He asked sternly, "Son, where did these rumors come from?"
Seeing his father's big reaction, Li Yan quickly said seriously, "Father, these words were heard by the sweeping auntie outside the Academy. And she said that now many people in Chang 'an City are saying that His Majesty got the throne unjustly and has no intention of repentance. So your prophecy is right. Heaven has sent a bigger disaster, which is the plague of locusts this time!"
Li Chunfeng's face darkened. He gritted his teeth and said angrily, "This is outrageous! This is outrageous! These people are not only audacious, they even pushed me into the fire! No, I have to go to the palace and explain this to His Majesty! "
"Dad! Since you did not do this, why do you have to go to the palace? "
Li Yan quickly asked.
Li Chunfeng looked at his son and said, "As the saying goes, gossip is a fearful thing! Moreover, this matter was definitely not as simple as it seemed on the surface. Someone probably wanted to incite the common people to do such a heresy and immoral thing! You stay in the school. I will go to Chang 'an City! "
…
"Shut up! You ungrateful people! His Majesty loves the people like his own children. Marquis Yong 'an went thousands of miles to destroy the locusts for the sake of the people. Not only are you ungrateful, you are even speaking ill of His Majesty and Marquis Yong' an behind their backs. Are you even human? "
In Chang 'an City, a beautiful young lady shouted angrily at three to five people.
"Hey! Where did this little girl come from? She actually doesn't know the immensity of heaven and earth and is pointing fingers here! "
A rascally looking young man was sizing up the little girl with a malicious gaze. The corner of his mouth was currently curled into a wretched smile.
"That's right! You're such an insensible little girl! Not only did you eavesdrop on us, you even dared to criticize us. Come, come, let me teach you how to behave! "
Another young man, who was slightly fatter, agreed.
Then, he stretched out his hand to grab the young lady.
"Bastard! I am Li Yu. Don't you dare touch me! "
The young lady took two steps back and shouted angrily.
That's right, she was Li Yu!
Little Yu 'er came to Chang' an City today to "collect literature". Yesterday, when she heard that someone was slandering Li Zexuan, she was very angry. When she found out that Li Gang and Ma Zhou had written an article to refute Li Zexuan's rumors in the Datang Daily, she wanted to see the reaction of the people. As for why she chose to come to Chang 'an City and not Lantian County, it was mainly because no matter what happened outside, the people of Lantian County were always grateful and supportive of Li Zexuan. Therefore, she came to Chang' an City to "collect literature"!
When she came to Chang 'an City, she found that the number of people slandering Li Zexuan did not decrease because of Li Gang and Ma Zhou's articles. Instead, there were more of them. This was because, under the guidance of some people, most of the people thought that Li Gang, Ma Zhou, and Li Zexuan were all jackals of the same tribe. Naturally, their words were not convincing.
Because of this, Little Yu 'er had already reprimanded several groups of people today. With her glib tongue and smart mind, those who were reprimanded by her were all ashamed and said that they did not dare to slander Li Zexuan anymore.
When she was "riding on the crest of success", Little Yu 'er did not expect to meet a "tough nut".
"Li Yu? You're the gold medal reporter of Datang Daily? "
The young man who spoke first said with his eyes lit up.
"Hmph! How is it? Are you scared? "
Seeing the other party's surprised face, Li Yu said proudly.
"Hehe! Scared, scared, scared! Of course I'm scared! Hehe! Come with me, the gold medal reporter of Datang Daily. I should be able to sell you for a good price! "
The young man smiled wretchedly and then pounced on Li Yu.
"How dare you! What are you doing? I'm going to call for help! Help! "
Li Yu reacted quickly and dodged the young man's "bear hug". She said in shock and anger, and then shouted loudly.
"Hehe! Shout! Shout! Even if you shout until your throat is broken, no one will come to save you! "
As the young man spoke, he pounced on Li Yu again. The other people also surrounded Li Yu from the front and back.
They were in an alley between two old houses in the south of the city. Usually, people would not pass by here.
"Stop! How dare you act so presumptuously in broad daylight! "
Coincidentally, at this moment, a loud shout came from the alley. A middle-aged man in a Taoist robe suddenly shouted.
"Where did you come from? How dare you meddle in our business? Brothers, let's go!"
The young man was furious that someone had ruined his plan. He waved his hand and the few of them ran towards the Taoist priest.
"Taoist Priest Li, be careful!"
Seeing that someone had come to save her, especially someone she knew, Li Yu was relieved. However, she was worried again and could not help but shout loudly.
That Taoist priest was none other than the unlucky Li Chunfeng. Li Chunfeng and Li Yu were caught in the crossfire, while Li Chunfeng was like a fish swimming in shallow water!
…
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