After the incident, officials from all over the country rushed out to persuade or disperse the people and maintain order.
The people in most cities dispersed quickly, but the people in four cities were reluctant to leave. It was not until noon when they were really hungry that they gradually gave up besieging Qing State's shops.
By the afternoon, local governments had reported losses one after another. The amount of burned houses and lost goods alone exceeded 1.2 million taels of silver, not to mention the indirect losses.
People on the discussion board also began to discuss this matter. Similar to the situation a few days ago, the people of Qing continued to attack Xiangzhou, believing that the bandits in Xiangzhou would only harm their own people and that all actions against Qing were wrong.
All the scholars in Jing State opposed extreme behavior, but also pointed out that this incident was caused by the looting of the Qing State army and that the Xuanwu Army should bear the main responsibility. At the same time, they believed that those who actually committed extreme behaviors were mostly not ordinary people. Ordinary people would never engage in looting and smashing. Only those ruffians who were brave and aggressive in their daily lives would take action at such a time.
Afterwards, some people from Xiangzhou and Jingguo appeared. Without exception, all of them apologized to Qingguo. All of them were ashamed of being from Jingguo. All of them believed that opposing Qingguo was the most stupid behavior, and they cursed those who took to the streets as Xiangzhou thieves or even Jing ****.
A scholar named "Ge Songxiao" wrote an article in which he denounced the ugly phenomenon of the Xiangzhou bandits, believing that those people were the cancer of the human race and the cancer of the Jing Kingdom. He decided to take his men to the nearby shops run by people from the Qing Kingdom tomorrow. If anyone dared to come, he would lead his men to fight back, to defend conscience and justice, and not to defend the Xiangzhou bandits.
As soon as this article came out, all the scholars in Qing Kingdom supported it. Some people in Jing Kingdom also felt that this man had a clear mind and did not have an overly narrow-minded national consciousness. The human race needed such broad-minded righteous people the most, and they also praised him.
Scholars from other countries also felt that Ge Songxiao spoke for justice and said that once they went to Xiangzhou, they would definitely look for him to drink and discuss the world.
For a time, Ge Songxiao became famous on the research lists and his literary reputation skyrocketed.
After an hour, someone raised doubts, saying that Ge Songxiao was a distant relative of Ge Yiming and was connected with Ge Baiwan of Qingjiang Trading Company. This person might have ulterior motives.
Some people also revealed that this person was a typical Qing official who had firmly opposed Jingguo and Fang Yun in those days.
However, only a few rational and educated people noticed the remarks of these people and supported them, but their numbers were too small to change the situation.
On the southeast side of the Xiangzhou provincial government, there is a small courtyard, but the plaque at the entrance of the courtyard makes passers-by extremely cautious.
Governor's Office of the Two States.
The Governor's Office has not been built, and there was no Governor's Office in Xiangzhou before. Fang Yun, the current governor, can only work in the prefectural government office. There are only ten officials and clerks in the office, and they were all temporarily transferred from the Baling prefectural government office, the prefectural government office and various departments.
These people are usually responsible for receiving various documents and handing them over to Fang Yun for review. They rarely deliver documents or Fang Yun's orders because Fang Yun has not fully exercised the power of governor so far, and these people cannot handle it and have to do it step by step.
Fang Yun is working with Dong Wencong on formulating some rules and regulations, mainly stipulating what matters must be submitted to the Governor's Office for approval, what matters can only be submitted to the Governor's Office for filing, etc. Just formulating a detailed set of Governor's Office systems is not something that can be completed in a dozen days.
Fang Yun had stipulated long ago that all sudden incidents in various places must be reported to the Governor's Office as soon as possible, so today the ten people in the small Governor's courtyard were busy as the state government kept transcribing documents from various places and sending them to Fang Yun's desk.
Fang Yun never issued any orders, just read the documents.
It was not until the evening that Dong Wencong dragged his tired body to Fang Yun's office. He saluted first, then smiled bitterly and said, "Forgive me for being rude. I won't say polite words. I have been busy dealing with the people taking to the streets all day, almost putting out fires everywhere. Most of the people have dispersed, but there were sporadic incidents in the afternoon. Most officials are doing their best to deal with it, but some officials... you know, not only did they let it go, not only did they deliberately indulge, but they even seemed to be fanning the flames. Qing officials, Jing officials, it's ridiculous, they are all Xiangzhou people, Jing people, even officials are clearly divided, how can the people be united?"
Dong Wencong also ignored etiquette and sat down on the chair in front of Fang Yun's desk, looking a little dejected.
Fang Yun said: "What do you think of the people taking to the streets today?"
Dong Wencong's face flashed with embarrassment, and he said, "Last time, in order to put pressure on Qing State, I arranged for the people to take to the streets to protest, but today's street protests have nothing to do with the local government offices. It is obvious that someone else was behind it. This is probably the result of one's own actions."
"How do you deal with it?" Fang Yun asked.
Dong Wencong thought for a long time, shook his head gently, and said: "I have ordered people to conduct a thorough investigation, but with the protection of Qing officials, nothing can be found. In Xiangzhou, Qing officials are powerful. Except for officials transferred from other places, most Jing officials will not take the initiative to make enemies with Qing officials even if they support Jingguo. After all..."
"After all, we are all family. If Xiangzhou returns to Qing Kingdom in the future, we can at least continue to be colleagues." Fang Yun added.
Dong Wencong nodded, then asked, "Sir, what do you think? You didn't give any orders today."
"The old tricks are used again, and the old tune is played again. It is nothing more than creating trouble, undermining the prestige of Jingguo, and by the way... diverting people's attention." Fang Yun said.
Dong Wencong was startled, then immediately realized, and said, "You are right. The Xuanwu Army's looting of the people should have been prepared in advance to undermine your prestige and humiliate Jing State, so that the people of Xiangzhou would miss Qing State. Yingfang Pavilion's worship of Lord Qing just happened to happen, but the two events together aroused the people's hatred of the enemy and made them hate Qing State even more. The Qing officials of Qing State and Xiangzhou were absolutely unwilling to see the people's hatred of Qing State, so they arranged for the people to take to the streets and create trouble. Now many people no longer care about Yingfang Pavilion and the looting incident. Instead, they are led by many scholars to criticize the thugs who smashed and looted. Now people everywhere are scolding Xiangzhou thieves, and all those who oppose Qing State are insulted. Many people no longer dare to oppose Qing State in front of others, and they have achieved their goal."
Fang Yun looked at Dong Wencong and said slowly: "This is not the first time. It can happen once or twice, but not three or four times. If this kind of thing continues to happen, it means that all the officials in Xiangzhou, from top to bottom, have either betrayed Jingguo or are a bunch of incompetent trash!"
Dong Wencong didn't dare to speak, as Fang Yun's words were too harsh.
Suddenly, the two men's eyes moved slightly, looked at each other, and each held the official seal.
An urgent letter from the Ministry of Personnel.
When the two saw it, they were extremely helpless. It turned out to be a reprimand document from the Ministry of Rites, which sternly pointed out that it was the inaction of Xiangzhou Governor Fang Yun, State Shepherd Dong Wencong, and State Governor Fang Shouye that led to the large-scale people taking to the streets.
Dong Wencong said helplessly: "Sir, what should I do? You don't care about the evaluation of the Ministry of Personnel, but I am afraid that this year is in jeopardy."
"A blessing in disguise." Fang Yun smiled slightly and picked up the pen calmly.
.(To be continued.)