It may seem insignificant that an official was dismissed from his post for buying three taels of meat, but all the scholars in Xiangzhou were discussing this matter, and even a large number of scholars were discussing it on the discussion board.
Under the article that published this incident, many voices of opposition appeared.
The events that have happened in the past few days have changed the direction of the discussion.
A few days ago, almost everyone supported Fang Yun unanimously, but as the news about Tianxiangzhou spread to the discussion board one after another, many people gradually stopped speaking out for Fang Yun, and the number of voices criticizing Fang Yun gradually increased. Since the voices criticizing Fang Yun were relatively rational, even though the words were harsh, few people refuted them.
The clerk Wang Nian protested his innocence everywhere, saying that he did not bring any money with him and was only prepared to pay the next day. He was also very familiar with the butcher and it was impossible for him not to pay. However, no one paid any attention to him.
Everyone was only paying attention to the fact that Xiangzhou's administration had begun to become extreme, and they began to doubt Fang Yun's ability.
Subsequently, several incidents occurred in Xiangzhou.
Several teachers from the academy of literature paid for a dinner party at their own expense, and they ate at their private time after leaving the government office. As a result, they were reported by the county government for excessive eating and drinking, and their salaries were confiscated. They were even prepared to be sent to the provincial government for severe punishment.
A middle-aged scholar who had been childless for many years finally had a daughter. On his daughter's 100th day, he invited friends to a banquet. Due to the special period, he only invited two tables of people. However, the government considered him to be extravagant and wasteful, and he was found to be committing a crime in defiance of the law. He was temporarily dismissed from all his posts and was left to await his fate.
Such incidents occurred in various places in Xiangzhou, too numerous to mention, and became the object of ridicule on the bulletin board. If the Holy Court had not taken into consideration that Fang Yun was the governor of two states, these incidents would have been published in the "Wen Bao" and made known to the world.
December is approaching, and every household has begun to prepare for the New Year. In addition, every December is the Jinshi examination, and candidates from all over the country will rush to the capital in advance, so literary gatherings are popular in various places, especially those that are held to see off the candidates.
The capital city is extremely far from Xiangzhou, and even taking the fastest ox-drawn cart would still take half a month, so November is the peak period for seeing off candidates for the imperial examinations.
The Winter Solstice Festival is not fixed, but in order to facilitate the celebration, Jing State set the Winter Solstice on November 15th. On this day, Winter Solstice literary gatherings will be held all over the country, and it will also become the climax of seeing off the successful candidates going to Beijing.
On this joyous day, a major fight broke out among scholars at a winter solstice literary gathering in Juyuan Prefecture.
As soon as the incident happened, it was posted on the discussion board, and the process was jaw-dropping.
It turned out that a man who went to Beijing to take the imperial examination was from a poor family and was not good at business. He only relied on working in the Academy of Literature to receive a salary. After he passed the imperial examination, he received many gifts from local relatives and gentry, which was quite generous. However, he used all the money to buy a house, and there was very little money left.
Going to Beijing to take the exam is extremely expensive, not to mention the food and accommodation along the way, just the cost of making friends with writers and buying pens, ink, paper and inkstones is very high. This candidate was waiting to get the winter gift and then go to Beijing when he had more money, but this year the Juyuan Prefecture cancelled the winter gift, and he was very embarrassed these days.
At a literary gathering at the winter solstice, this scholar complained a few words, questioning Fang Yun's policy, which sparked a debate and led to criticism from many scholars. Suddenly, a scholar took advantage of the chaos and smashed the scholar's head with a stone, causing him to pass out in public with a bloody head.
Holding a blood-stained stone in his hand, the scholar shouted wildly that anyone who dared to question Fang Xu Sheng would be an enemy of the entire Xiangzhou, and anyone who dared to say anything bad about Fang Xu Sheng would be a beast. He also called on all the scholars in Xiangzhou to punish evil and root out all the black sheep, and not let Fang Xu Sheng bear any stigma.
That night, the scholar named Chai Ying established a literary society called "The Society for Eliminating Traitors". The society's motto was to punish traitors and eliminate evil, and to crack down on all those who attack Fang Yun. Immediately, many people responded, and the society had more than a thousand members on the first day, and they were all scholars with literary titles.
As for the scholar who was beaten, he reported it to the government office of Juyuan Prefecture, but the prefect expressed his great difficulty and only said that the government office would bear the medical expenses and hoped that the matter could be settled privately.
Therefore, Mi Jun, the prefect of Juyuan Prefecture, invited the scholar and Chai Ying to the prefectural yamen and mediated in front of many scholars to reconcile the two. However, the two had a verbal conflict and Chai Ying actually punched the unfortunate scholar, knocking him unconscious again.
The article explains that the reason why the scholar who was beaten did not fight back was that he did not want to be branded as a bully, and that the scholar did not want to publicize the matter for fear of bringing bad influence to Xiangzhou and Fang Xusheng. The author published this article out of righteous indignation and hopes that everyone will uphold justice for this man.
At the end of the article, the author also mentioned one thing. That night, the Anti-Traitor Society arrested several people who were unlucky and uneducated on the other side, stripped them of their clothes, cut off half of their hair, and paraded them through the streets for public display.
Once this matter was disclosed, the discussion list exploded like a firecracker.
Fang Yun only showed up at the Winter Solstice Literary Meeting in Baling City, said a few words, and then returned home to continue his studies.
The Winter Solstice Literary Meeting is not important in Baling City, and Fang Yun does not want to waste time on such a literary meeting.
Fang Yun was writing "History of Ancient Demons" when the official seal kept vibrating.
Fang Yun didn't expect to receive a large number of letters in such a short period of time at night. He knew something had happened and immediately seized the official seal.
Almost all the letters were saying one thing: the candidate being beaten had become a hot topic in the discussion, and it was absolutely impossible to take it lightly.
Some people even suspected that this was done deliberately by someone and hoped that Fang Yun would not be careless.
At the same time, some people pointed out implicitly that it seemed that someone was deliberately targeting Fang Yun recently.
Fang Yun looked at it and smiled slightly.
“It’s time to close the net!”
After Fang Yun finished speaking, he stood up, took out a piece of paper, and wrote down one name after another. The names of Mi Jun, the prefect of Juyuan Prefecture, and Chai Ying, the leader of the Traitor-Extermination Society, were among them, and even the names of many officials including the prefect of Tangshan Prefecture were included.
The moon is shining brightly, and the moonlight is cold.
The Winter Solstice Literary Meeting had ended. Fang Shouye, the governor of Xiangzhou, was sitting in the carriage on his way home, holding the official seal with a frown on his face.
As early as when Fang Yun was carrying out the rectification movement, Fang Shouye had already reminded Fang Yun, but Fang Yun seemed indifferent, so Fang Shouye remained silent. Although he was Fang Yun's uncle, there was a huge gap between their statuses, and the gap was getting bigger and bigger. He didn't dare to consider himself as Fang Yun's elder.
"This matter may be difficult. Should I remind Fang Yun?"
Fang Shouye was thinking when he heard Fang Yun's voice.
"Look at the letter I gave you. You and the generals of the Xiangzhou Army should personally invite all the people on the list to the Governor's Mansion. Make preparations immediately and there must be no mistakes!" Fang Yun said.
Fang Shouye was stunned for a moment, then he felt a slight vibration from the official seal. He hurried to look at Fang Yun's new letter. Looking at the names on it, Fang Shouye was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized something and slapped his thigh.
"What a great Fang Xusheng! What a great Fang Zhenguo! It turns out that everything was done to lure the snake out of its hole! He knows the officialdom very well, and he is better than me! Now I feel relieved, hahahaha..."
Fang Shouye finished laughing and immediately got ready.
The next morning, the provincial and government troops from all over Xiangzhou were dispatched to "invite" all the people on the list to the military's dragon-horse carriages and "invite" them to Baling City as quickly as possible.
On October 16, the news that many officials were taken to the Governor's Palace spread, causing panic among the people and many different opinions.
On October 17, the Governor-General's Office suddenly announced that Fang Yun had uncovered a spy from the Qing State lurking in the government.
.(To be continued)