I am the prince of the Ming Dynasty, I don't give up

Chapter 244 A Spark
The audience in the teahouse were no longer interested in listening to the storytelling and had begun a heated discussion.

"Mr. Cao, is this news true?" someone has already started asking.

"I just came back from the capital, and the people in the capital all said so." Cao Tingyun said ambiguously. He did not make a direct promise, and he also knew that with his status, making a direct promise would have a bad effect.

"Is this news true or false?" Everyone was talking about it. Although everyone was willing to believe that it was true, this matter was still too bizarre and too different from everyone's previous impression of Emperor Zhengde.

"I feel that this news is false. The current emperor employs the eunuch Liu Jin to levy heavy taxes and extort money. He also runs imperial farms and shops to harm the people, force people to buy things, and stays in the Leopard House all day long to have fun and ignore state affairs. I don't believe he would be so kind as to lower the price of salt," said a man dressed as a Confucian scholar.

Although everyone is willing to believe that this is true, they have to admit that what the Confucian scholar said makes sense.

"Yes, that makes sense. The current emperor is a tyrant who only knows how to play all day long. How could he care about our lives? I think what Mr. Zhang said makes sense." Someone also agreed.

The scene that was so lively just now suddenly became deserted, and even Fatty Ding was wondering whether the story he had just heard was false.

"I feel that what Mr. Cao said is true." A voice suddenly sounded, "I see that the current emperor does not look like a foolish or vicious person. On the contrary, he looks very kind and friendly."

The person who spoke was dressed as a businessman. As soon as his words came out, a glimmer of hope was immediately ignited in everyone's hearts.

"Face reading? I wonder how you got such a high position, brother, that you actually saw the face of the current emperor with your own eyes?" Mr. Zhang sized up the businessman who was speaking and said in a sarcastic tone.

Mr. Zhang's words caused the people in the teahouse to burst into laughter. No one believed that this businessman had seen the current emperor with his own eyes.

People in this era had extremely low mobility. Even the people in Shunde Prefecture only moved around the city and rarely went to the surrounding counties.

So they felt that the capital city, which was seven or eight hundred miles away, was already a very far away place, not to mention meeting the current emperor in person, which was simply a fantasy.

"That's because you are ignorant. Although I have never been to the capital, nor have I seen your Majesty in person, I do know what your Majesty looks like. Today I will let you broaden your horizons. Please look!" The businessman said as he took out a few silver coins from his clothes and showed them to everyone.

The people present were not unfamiliar with silver coins. Silver coins had been issued for almost two years and were still in large circulation in the market.

As soon as everyone saw the workmanship of the silver coin, they knew it must be real. No one except the Ming Royal Bank could make silver coins so exquisitely.

"Please look, everyone. This is a new version of the silver coin issued by the Ming Royal Bank. It has the portrait of the current emperor on it. I heard that dozens of court painters were hired to paint the portrait, and hundreds of skilled craftsmen were hired to find a way to put the portrait on the silver coin in a realistic manner... People who have seen the emperor's true face say that the portrait is 80% to 90% similar to the real emperor..." the businessman said proudly.

The people present were dazzled by what they heard, and at the same time, their curiosity was aroused, and they all wanted to get closer to see the emperor's true appearance.

"You reminded me that I also have this silver coin. What the old man said is right. The emperor today still has a very kind face..." said another person in the teahouse. He also found a few new silver coins.

The audience in the teahouse began to look at these new silver coins. They carefully took the silver coins and looked at the portraits on them. They felt that they were indeed friendly and kind.

After watching it, they were all amazed that they could actually see the emperor in person. In their previous concept, the emperor was a god-like figure. Everyone who watched it felt honored, and their views on Zhu Houzhao changed to some extent.

Even the scholar was no exception, but he still said: "Even if he has a good face, he was the one who did all those things in the past!"

"Maybe there are treacherous ministers in the court who have deceived the emperor in the past. Now that the emperor has come to his senses, he is implementing this benevolent policy!" Fatty Ding suddenly said.

"Yes! There must be a treacherous minister in the court!" many people said.

It has to be said that Confucianism's protection of the monarch is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. Even when they rebelled, they did not say that there was a problem with the monarch, but instead rebelled in the name of clearing the monarch's side. Therefore, the people present quickly accepted this statement.

Moreover, since ancient times, Chinese people have been more tolerant of evil people who have made mistakes and returned to the right path. As long as the evil people do one good thing, they will be easily forgiven. On the contrary, they will be more harsh on good people. As long as the good people do one wrong thing, they will be severely criticized. This concept is also applicable to Zhu Houzhao.

The people in the tavern started arguing again, and this time the voices supporting Zhu Houzhao prevailed.

"Stop arguing! If what I said is true, just ask Manager He of the Royal Group branch and you'll know," Cao Tingyun reminded on the stage.

This really woke me up. "That's right! Some people do business that will cost them their lives, but no one does business that will make them lose money. The price of salt in the Royal Group is so low. Manager He must know the reason!"

Just as the teahouse was caught up in another discussion, Cao Tingyun and the two men who took out the new silver coins had quietly disappeared.

The masters mobilized too much force to blockade the branches, which gave Cao Tingyun and others the opportunity to fan the flames. No one cared about them at all. There were several teams like Cao Tingyun in Shunde Prefecture, and there were also propaganda departments in the counties under Shunde Prefecture.

When the masters came to their senses, there was already a fire in the backyard.

After returning home from the teahouse, Fatty Ding felt his heart burning with anger. In the middle of winter, he gulped down a bucket of cold water but still felt that the fire in his chest could not be extinguished. He felt that he had to do something.

Then I heard a noise coming from outside. It turned out that the people of Shunde City had gathered together spontaneously. In a short period of time, Cao Tingyun's story spread all over Shunde City. No matter how many rumors the masters spread, they were not as inflammatory and spreadable as the sentence "Your Majesty has paid for us"...

The people's anger needs to be vented and they need to know the answer.

Fatty Ding joined the team without hesitation.

More and more people from Shunde Prefecture gathered, and the masters hurriedly sent more reinforcements to the blockade in an attempt to stop the angry people.

"What do you want to do?" Shen Da roared with his hair and beard standing up. A team of nearly 200 people had gathered behind him, with one more team of yamen runners, and more than a thousand people had gathered.

(End of this chapter)