Chapter 0039: Skillful Villagers, One Persuasion After Another
In the end, Governor Liang made a personal appearance, displaying several chests of gleaming silver and guaranteeing wages for all mountain diggers, along with winter cotton clothing subsidies. This sparked cheers from the crowd and ignited their enthusiasm.
Zhu Xiaobiao and Jing Ze returned to the government office, where Xie Chengze was roasting pigeons in the courtyard. Seeing them return, he couldn’t help but raise a thumb in praise, “Our young Lord Zhu’s speech was absolutely brilliant!”
“Your Highness, what are you saying!” The address “young Lord Zhu” made Zhu Xiaobiao blush with embarrassment. “It was all thanks to Jing Ze’s excellent writing. I merely recited it.”
Xie Chengze smiled. In the original story, Jing Ze was a man of exceptional talent and literary flair. Having endured numerous hardships, his writing always carried a stirring sense of defiance against death, easily swaying readers’ emotions and making them empathize with the sentiments he wished to convey.
At the Qionglin Banquet, the final poem he composed before his death moved many scholars to mourn his unjust fate and condemn the original protagonist’s villainy through writings and criticisms, infuriating the original protagonist who ranted about slaughtering all scholars in the realm.
Therefore, Xie Chengze had specifically instructed Jing Ze to draft a “speech” with escalating emotions according to his intentions, which Zhu Xiaobiao then translated into plain language.
Zhu Xiaobiao, bold and unafraid of the spotlight, had grown up immersed in officialdom, naturally exuding an aura of authority that commanded obedience. Combined with his rogue-like arrogance and willfulness as a pampered young master, he perfectly fit the rebellious persona of “defying the heavens,” allowing the people oppressed by floods and droughts to relate and follow, eager to join the rebellion against the heavens.
Just listen to that spirited cry: “To hell with the heavens!”
If you asked him, Zhu Xiaobiao and Jing Ze made a perfect team for spreading cult-like persuasion.
“But Your Highness, I have a question,” Zhu Xiaobiao said, puzzled. “Wasn’t Yugong ninety years old? In the story, he took his three strongest sons and grandsons to dig the mountain. That would make his sons over seventy and his grandsons over fifty… How could they possibly dig? Why didn’t he take his great-grandsons instead?”
Xie Chengze burst into laughter. “If the young men went digging, who would farm and support the family? And which family would be willing to marry their daughters into such a household? Yugong’s family, seeing him old and confused, humored his whims. They supported him digging the mountain but never agreed to let the younger generation join. The idea of ‘endless generations of descendants’ was merely Yugong’s idealized notion.”
Zhu Xiaobiao’s jaw dropped.
It felt like the collapse of a beloved idol’s image.
“Then what about us…” Zhu Xiaobiao began to doubt the feasibility of the Yi Province people successfully digging the mountain.
“We’re different,” Xie Chengze raised an eyebrow and tapped Zhu Xiaobiao’s head with his golden silk fan. “We pay wages and provide grain. We don’t have to worry about finding brides!”
Zhu Xiaobiao rubbed his head and realized it made sense.
“Your Highness, Jing Ze also has a question,” Jing Ze spoke up. “To the deities, Yugong was as insignificant as an ant to be crushed. Why would the mountain god fear Yugong digging the mountain? Is this a flaw in the story, written solely to highlight Yugong’s spirit?”
“Yes! How do you explain that?” Zhu Xiaobiao immediately turned to Xie Chengze.
Xie Chengze looked meaningfully at Jing Ze.
“A story is merely a story. The person who wrote it might have only intended to express Yugong’s spirit, but different readers will interpret it differently. Whether it has flaws depends on the individual,” he said lightly. “The brilliance of The Foolish Old Man Removes the Mountains goes far beyond a simple message of perseverance. The layers of meaning it conveys, once fully understood, could even lead to execution.”
Zhu Xiaobiao was instantly dumbfounded. How could a short story of just a few hundred words possibly involve beheading?
Jing Ze seemed to want to ask more, but Zhu Xiaobiao hurriedly covered his mouth. “Don’t ask, don’t ask! Our heads are more important!”
Jing Ze had no choice but to drop the subject.
Just then, the pigeon meat on Xie Chengze’s skewer was done roasting. He handed it to Zhu Xiaobiao with a kindly expression. “Here, for our great contributor! Look how much weight you’ve lost since coming to Yi Province!”
Zhu Xiaobiao quickly shook his head. “Your Highness! This won’t do—mmph!”
His mouth was forcibly stuffed with an entire roasted pigeon by Xie Chengze. Zhu Xiaobiao had no choice but to express his gratitude. As he ate, he suddenly realized something. “Wait, Your Highness, we’re in the middle of a famine here. Where did this pigeon come from?”
Xie Chengze smiled with playful mischief. “Yes, where did this pigeon come from?”
Meanwhile, several wealthy gentry in the city had gathered together. Forced by Governor Liang to contribute their household silver, they sat with gloomy and angry expressions. One of them said, “That bastard Liang has turned traitor! Now he’s making an example of us and even plans to let thirty thousand refugees into the city for shelter. Isn’t he afraid the higher-ups will hold him accountable?”
“Alas, the city gates are sealed shut now. We can’t even send out a letter! What should we do?”
The man sitting in the host’s seat sneered. “Gentlemen, don’t panic. That esteemed official specially sent me a carrier pigeon. I’ve already written a letter and sent it. I believe it will reach its destination soon. When it does, Liang Wanda’s life will be over!”
The others were delighted. “Is that true? Wonderful!”
Another person added, “And that Shen Yuan too. Hmph, the foolish commoners might not see it, but my eyes aren’t blind. Since when did Liang Wanda have such courage and capability? It must be Shen Yuan behind the scenes, giving advice. We can’t let that kid off either!”
“Then…” someone suddenly said, “what about the Second Prince?”
Although the common people didn’t know the Second Prince had also come to Jiangdu Xian, these wealthy gentry, with their well-informed sources, were aware.
“The Second Prince?” The host couldn’t help but laugh mockingly. “Everyone knows he’s a greedy, mediocre fool! He hides in the government office every day, lazing around and waiting to reap the benefits without any effort! Not worth fearing, not worth fearing at all!”
“Right, hahahaha!”
Peals of laughter erupted from the wealthy gentry’s residence. Meanwhile, in the government office, Zhu Xiaobiao finished gnawing the roasted pigeon clean and beckoned to the guard dog. “Here, boy, come here~ Have some bones~”
The guard dog immediately ran over: “Woof woof woof!”
——
The next afternoon, the second and third waves of refugees from the eastern counties of Yi Province arrived.
The city gates opened wide once more. This time, the elderly men distributing and guarding the steamed buns had changed their faces, greeting these fellow townspeople from the eastern counties with genuine smiles.
Their counties were adjacent to each other, often engaging in business and marriage exchanges. Some even recognized familiar faces. This made it naturally easier to deceive people—in business, this was commonly known as—
“Killing the familiar.”
The newly arrived refugees, completely unaware they were about to step into this well-established routine, clutched their steamed buns and filed into the city.
Inside the county town, elders and women were weaving baskets and steaming porridge, men were hauling iron pots and tools to chop wood and smelt metal, young men and women worked together to empty wells contaminated by the flood, while young children passed along folk songs—seemingly tales about a mountain immortal and Yugong.
“In ancient times, a mountain blocked the way. Yugong declared, ‘I will move the mountain.’ The Wise Old Man laughed, ‘You are aged, even uprooting weeds is hard—you’ll pass on first!'”
“Yugong smiled, ‘I have sons, sons have grandsons, grandsons have sons, and sons have grandsons—endless generations! The mountain will be moved, and all people blessed!'”
“Now a mountain blocks the water’s course, causing drought for miles—we must dig the mountain! People of Yi Province, thousands strong, will dig it through and also bring blessings to all!”
Behind them, the city gate groaned with a heavy, grating screech and slammed shut once more.
A grand brainwashing—ahem, an inspiring speech—was about to commence yet again…