After Fang Yun finished reading, he frowned slightly, then put down his official seal and prepared to sleep. For the grand Xusheng and the governor, this matter was not worth paying attention to, at least for now.
The next day, Fang Yun handled his affairs as usual, but he was still familiarizing himself with Elephant Province, because today, the documents from the various prefectures and counties would arrive one after another.
Fang Yun wanted to familiarize himself with every inch of Elephant Province. This was something a governor had to do.
After another two days, Fang Yun finished reading all the documents. His understanding of Elephant Province had already far surpassed that of Dong Wencong, who had been the governor for more than a year.
After reading the documents, Fang Yun thought for a moment, then decided to continue his incognito investigation. He wanted to better understand the local conditions and customs of Baling and Elephant Province. If he had time, he would do his best to visit every city in Elephant Province.
Back in Ning 'an City, Fang Yun very rarely went incognito investigation. This was because before he went to Ning' an City, he had already been the county magistrate of Ning 'an City in the illusion of Book Hill, so he knew the place like the back of his hand.
Incognito investigation was the most direct way to understand the people. It was far more accurate than obtaining information from officials. Of course, Fang Yun's incognito investigation was different from the extravagant and wasteful behavior of some emperors who used incognito investigation as an excuse to fool around with women.
Another reason for his incognito investigation was that Fang Yun had discovered that not only had the incident with Lord Bai at Yingfang Pavilion not died down, it had instead escalated in waves, exceeding his original expectations.
Fang Yun really wanted to know how the common people viewed this matter, so he changed into a child's robe and left the provincial government office in disguise.
With a child's robe, he would not be provoked by local ruffians and would save him a lot of trouble. A child's status was not particularly high, so he would not be guarded against. It was a very good choice for concealing his identity.
Fang Yun walked toward Walled Street where Yingfang Pavilion was located. As he passed by Yingfang Pavilion, he discovered that there were still several hundred people surrounding Yingfang Pavilion, preventing it from operating.
Fang Yun stood and watched for a while, then walked toward a nearby restaurant.
Red lanterns hung at the entrance of the restaurant, and people came and went inside. To one side of the counter were several large wine jars. Red paper was stuck to the jars, with the word 'Wine' written in large letters.
The shopkeeper was sitting behind the counter with a smile on his face. He was calculating on his abacus while wiping his sweat.
The restaurant was unusually noisy. Fang Yun listened carefully and found that a small portion of the people were talking about the Jingguo people paying respects to the Emperor.
There were too many people in the restaurant, and there was no way to have a table to himself. Fang Yun looked around and saw three youths sitting at a table. One of them was a scholar, and they were discussing the matter of paying respects to the Emperor at Ying Fang Pavilion, so he walked over.
"Brothers, sorry for the intrusion. May I ask if there are too many people here? The waiter asked me to come here." Fang Yun smiled.
Two of the young men quickly stood up. The young man stood up after them and smiled, "There's no one here. If brother doesn't mind the three of us being noisy, please sit here."
The other two nodded lightly and did not say anything.
Fang Yun smiled, "Thank you very much." After that, Fang Yun called the waiter over and ordered a pot of Green Bamboo Wine, a plate of peanuts, and a plate of side dishes.
Fang Yun did not speak to the three of them, and they continued to chat. Soon, the people at the nearby tables also joined in, and there were more than ten people chatting together.
Everyone was discussing the matter of the Jingguo people paying respects to the Emperor. Most of them were filled with righteous indignation, but the scholar opposite them hated Hua Qingniang the most.
Fang Yun listened and soon found out that this scholar was called Zhang Zongshi. This person had a strong sense of justice and was also very rational. He had a high reputation among the crowd.
As they talked, Zhang Zongshi sighed, "Ai, I didn't expect Ge Yiming to speak at the ranking meeting. He said that the Emperor was a benevolent ruler and should be paid respects. He was obviously supporting Hua Qingniang. I thought he was different from those rich kids."
"I was also very curious at the time. How could Ge Yiming be such a person? His Literary Name has always been good."
"Did he go crazy? Why would he say something like that?"
"Does he still want his Literary Name?"
"He usually speaks up for the poor kids. Why would he suddenly speak up for a brothel keeper?"
"When everyone in Xiangzhou was riled up, he suddenly said something like that. How could he be so stupid?"
"His actions are the same as betraying the poor students. Too stupid."
Everyone began to discuss Ge Yiming.
In the process of everyone's discussion, Fang Yun occasionally shook his head. These people were very smart, but they had too little information, so their conclusions were very different.
When the discussion was almost finished, Fang Yun drank a mouthful of wine and asked indifferently, "When did you have this kind of misconception? You actually thought that Ge Yiming was standing with us poor kids and common people."
Fang Yun's voice was not loud, but most of the people on the first floor of the restaurant could hear him clearly.
Fang Yun's words caused everyone to quiet down, and many people fell into deep thought.
"Then why did he say something like that? Brother, please enlighten us." Zhang Zongshi, sitting across from him, said.
Fang Yun smiled slightly and said, "My surname is Fang. Let's talk about Ge Yiming first. As a Grand Scholar, he is naturally not stupid. As a Jingguo citizen, he naturally has his reasons for speaking up for the Qing Emperor. If my guess is correct, after he spoke up, the number of Jingguo citizens criticizing Hua Qingniang will decrease. "
Zhang Zongshi nodded and said, "That is indeed the case."
Fang Yun smiled and said, "A mouthpiece. Ge Yiming is acting as a mouthpiece for the important people behind Qingjiang Enterprise. He is warning those with status that the entire Qingjiang Enterprise is supporting Hua Qingniang, and even the entire Gyeongo is supporting her. He is warning those people to be careful. Ge Baiwan is not an ordinary person. He will definitely know whether his nephew is wrong or not. This matter has been going on for about three or four days. If Ge Yiming removed his name from the list, it means that he is only representing himself. But since he is still there, it means that he is also representing Ge Baiwan. "
"If he does this, won't he be despised by the poor kids?"
Fang Yun smiled and said, "Then I want to say three things."
"First, there are not only people in Xiangzhou who support Jingguo, but there are also people who support Gyeongo. Those who hate Jingguo will not hesitate to support Ge Yiming. You have to know that there are always some people in the world who hate Jingguo's incompetent officials, then hate the entire Jingguo, and hate all Jingguo people. Because of this, they are willing to be Gyeongo's slaves. They do not understand that their actions are actually the same as those incompetent officials. They are all harming Jingguo. In addition, there are many people who are envious of his family background and wealth. Because of this, they have a good impression of him and do not care about what he says. Of course, to be honest, he relied on his wealth and family background to gain admiration. There was no difference between him and those who were liked because of their outstanding appearance. Loving the rich is human nature. As long as they do not despise him for being poor, it is not a big deal. "
Many of the scholars nodded lightly. They did not expect this scholar to see things so clearly. He also seemed to be a modest gentleman. Even though he opposed Ge Yiming, he did not say any hateful words.
Zhang Zongshi was interested and said, "Second?"
The entire floor of the restaurant was silent. Even the shopkeeper stopped his tray and walked towards Fang Yun, wanting to listen more carefully.
"Second, the disdain of the poor kids is nothing. What can the disdain of the poor kids cause him to lose? What is he afraid of? He is afraid of Ge Baiwan and the important people behind Qingjiang Trading Company. The disdain of the poor kids is very powerless. Just like what Fang Xusheng said a few days ago, the general meaning is that when the difference in power between the common people and the government is too great, and they are unable to keep the government in check, then the government will not care about the common people. Similarly, Ge Yiming does not care about our disdain. "
To be continued.
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