Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 41 Studying Journalism

"A policy paper must have a title, so what title should we write about?"

Little Di Renjie actively used his brain and successfully earned the contempt of his classmates.

Li Ming pretended to be an adult, pacing with his hands behind his back:
"Indeed. Recently, an unjust case occurred in the court, which made me and other knowledgeable people feel heartbroken.

"That is the corruption case of the meritorious official Hou Junji."

Chang Sunyan's eyes lit up immediately and he spoke enthusiastically:

"Yes, yes, yes! Alas, a general who went to war for his country was made to suffer in every way by clerks. It was like a dragon stranded on the beach. It made me sigh!"

Hou Baolin burst into tears: "Aung! Aung!"

"Don't cry, don't cry. Brother Ming will help your grandfather clear his name." Yuchi Xunyu coaxed the child in an unskilled manner.

In the mind of this little black-haired boy, Ming Ge is a super macho man who can make the ruler and his ministers of Liangyi Palace cry with one punch, and he is omnipotent.

Was it in Liangyi Hall or Taiji Hall? It had been so long that he could not remember clearly.

All intellectuals with conscience are outraged.

Fang Yize murmured quietly:
"But General Hou did..."

"What did you say?!"

"I was indeed framed by the pen-and-ink officials!"

Fang Yize decisively stood on the side of the people.

The atmosphere was set, and Li Ming pretended to be troubled:
"But we are insignificant and our voices are not taken seriously. There is a tyrant emperor in power and corrupt officials in power. What should we do?"

All the ministers looked gloomy at once, and they only hated themselves for being too weak to clear up the world.

Li Ming was excited again:
"Mencius once said that water can carry a ship, but it can also capsize it.

"So, I want to enlighten the people and let them discuss this scandal in the court together."

To put it simply, it means setting the pace and using public opinion to force others to do so.

Now is the early days of the dynasty, the monarch and his ministers are open-minded and willing to listen to public opinion, so the people can act like a little wife and act coquettishly to the ruler.

If they encountered a real tyrant, such as Wu Zetian, Wu Zetian, and Wu Zetian, then the grassroots scholars would be in trouble if they dared to do so.

The king and his ministers are here

"Great, great!" The ministers were delighted, but then they fell into confusion.

"What does this have to do with our policy?"

Zhang Sunyan was still very smart. He touched his chin and said:
"Brother Ming means that we should write an article to refute the treacherous ministers and send out messages to knowledgeable people all over the world, right?"

The ministers understood immediately.

Use the pen as a weapon to promote righteousness and eliminate evil.

It turns out that this is the true meaning of what the teacher often said, "Literature carries the message."

Everyone finally understood the true meaning of learning.

"You are totally wrong." Li Ming refuted mercilessly.

Chang Sunyan was stunned and a little confused.

After going around in circles, what exactly should we write about?

Li Ming cleared his throat:

"I want you to write an article in support of the court's arrest of Hou Junji."

what?
The ministers were immediately outraged and were extremely puzzled by this foolish decision.

They were outraged and begged His Highness to revoke his order and resolutely refused to go along with the corrupt trend.

"You guys are so naive."

Li Ming finally managed to quiet down the chattering little mouths.

"You privately distributed articles criticizing the court because you were afraid that General Hou would be lonely and couldn't wait to go to jail to accompany him?"

During the Tang Dynasty, paper and woodblock printing had become popular.

Correspondingly, a publication censorship system has long been established.

As I said, the ancients just lacked technological accumulation, but they were not stupid.

Although compared with the highly centralized and Neo-Confucianist Ming and Qing dynasties, the book ban in the Tang Dynasty was relatively relaxed, and the main focus of censorship was on religion and geomancy.

But if you privately publish reactionary black materials, don't blame the iron fist of feudal dictatorship.

The morale of the ministers suddenly plummeted from the peak to the bottom.

Yuchi Xunyu jumped up and said, "Even if I can't publish it, I can't write an article against my conscience! I won't write it anymore!"

Several other impulsive children started to make a fuss as well, totally failing to understand the subtlety of Li Ming's approach.

It’s all because of not studying journalism… Li Ming couldn’t help scratching his head and patiently explained:
“Our goal is to awaken people’s wisdom, and the articles are meant to be read by others.

"Who would like to read a long defense of Hou Junji?"

Everyone looked at each other, and this was indeed the truth.

The ministers themselves hate others talking to them about principles, and now they want others to accept their principles, which is a bit unreasonable.

"So, I want you to write an article to support the court's decision to arrest Hou Junji." Li Ming smiled evilly:
"The more flaws, the better. The more disgusting, the better. The more disgusting, the better.

“Don’t criticize through your own mouth, but arouse the readers’ desire to complain and let them criticize themselves.”

To use the current terminology, it means low-level red and high-level black.

After surfing the Internet for a long time, Li Ming has also seen many tactics of public opinion warfare.

Although I have never eaten pork, I have at least seen pigs run.

In the Tang Dynasty, when most people didn't even know what "news" meant, this was definitely a dimensionality reduction attack.

The officials pondered over it, and combined with their own rebellious psychology when they were indoctrinated with Confucian doctrine, they finally came up with an idea:
"We just want everyone to read our articles and feel sick."

"That's right." Li Ming gave an affirmative answer.

The Chinese people have always been nuclear peace advocates who love farming.

It was naturally politically correct for Hou Junji to use the Chinese sword as the Chinese plow to gain land under the sun.

The hero who made great contributions to expanding the territory was arrested and imprisoned in the blink of an eye.

If all factors are fully utilized, there is no need to worry about public opinion not fermenting.

Public opinion is boiling, and there must be a lot of dissatisfaction in the military. Under the double pressure...

Li Ming couldn't help laughing when he thought of Li Er's miserable appearance after being forced to abdicate.

…………

We borrowed a few long tables from the soup kitchen, and the children sat cross-legged on the ground, writing quickly.

Although everyone skipped classes, climbed over walls, and fought in groups, they still felt that they were good kids who loved learning.

Now that they have the motivation to study, everyone writes with great gusto.

At the most immature age, what can arouse their enthusiasm more than upholding (singing) and upholding (opposing) right and wrong (tuning)?

"No matter what means you use or what purpose you have, Your Highness has finally made it possible for all the young masters to study hard..."

Wei Daijia sat in the corner and watched the whole process. He was so happy that he almost cried.

Today he finally had a new respect for this little rascal.

This little thing is good at winning people's hearts and ordering others around.

Li Ming walked up to him and patted Wei Daijia on the shoulder.

"I see that everyone is writing very seriously. Your Highness's idea is really good." Wei Daijia complimented.

Li Ming didn't say anything, just stared at him.

Wei Daijia's mouth twitched: "You want me to watch from the side, right..."

…………

"But what does this have to do with me? Why should I write..."

Wei Daijia, holding a pen, sat between Changsun Yan and Yuchi Xunyu, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"After all, they are still young, and what they write may not be to my liking. Someone has to back them up." Li Ming patted Wei Daijia's shoulder earnestly.

"In order to save the soldiers from shedding blood and tears, we have General Lao Wei."

Wei Daijia was startled and said with a wry smile:
"As expected of your Majesty's heir, you are born with the ability to make others work hard for you willingly."

Then, he said seriously: "Wei will definitely live up to your trust."

"Whether the grievances of the Tang army soldiers can be redressed depends entirely on General Wei's writing."

Li Ming finished cooking a big pot of chicken soup and added:
"One more small thing. I would like you to check and polish all the articles written by the students later."

Wei Daijia: ...

Your Highness is really a jerk!

(End of this chapter)