Chapter 264 Public Opinion (Continued)

In March, public opinion in Tokyo was in turmoil.

The initial cause of the incident couldn't be simpler, of course, it was the court's action of clearing up the accumulated abuses and abolishing the abuse of favors and privileges. However, it's funny to say that the turmoil it caused was itself quite eventful.

When the imperial court first dealt with this matter, it was impossible to confirm whether the six families whose properties had been confiscated beforehand were involved in this matter. Therefore, many stakeholders spread rumors and made sarcastic remarks with a strong sense of tentativeness. This was the first round of public opinion turmoil.

The target was obviously Emperor Zhao and the new policies of the imperial court.

But soon, the imperial court responded to these people with an extremely tough attitude.

Not only did the court increase its efforts to pursue abuse of favors, but the most terrible thing was that the theoretical leader of these people, and the biggest hope, Lu Haowen, Lu Gongxiang, directly and publicly expressed his support for the court. Emperor Zhao personally issued an order, ordering the Imperial City Bureau to vigorously investigate the source of the rumors and poems in the past few days, and to directly search for them with the imperial guards... At this time, the temptation and ridicule of those people quickly stopped.

Because most of them are very clear that they, the old people or the remnants of the old era, have no real power.

But as the saying goes, the tree wants to be still but the wind does not stop. Just when these former dignitaries took the initiative to disappear in order to seek a peaceful transition, a "secret" among the high-level officials of the Jin Dynasty that spread almost at the same time, that is, the fact that the Prime Minister and Grand Marshal Nianhan of the Jin Dynasty imprisoned the King of the Jin Dynasty, instead greatly stimulated the existing bureaucratic system, the opposition scholars and students, as well as the ordinary people in Tokyo.

The subsequent public opinion turmoil was mostly initiated by these people.

A powerful official, and a well-known one at that, who was one of the masterminds of the Jingkang Incident, suddenly did something like this, and related rumors immediately spread everywhere:

Some people say that Wuqimai advocates peace, while Nianhan advocates war. Now that Nianhan has imprisoned the king, he will soon lead his army south to avenge his beloved general Wanyan Loushi.

Some people also say that Wuqimei may not necessarily advocate peace, and Nianhan may not necessarily advocate war, but since Nianhan has imprisoned the king, the next step is to usurp the throne. If a powerful official wants to usurp the throne, he always has to offer something to win the hearts of the people and establish prestige. So, how can the barbaric Jurchens win the hearts of the people and establish prestige?

Of course, they went south to plunder the Central Plains!

Therefore, at this time, even if Nianhan was unwilling to go south, he had to go south. Even if he did not want to fight, he had to lead his army to fight a decisive battle with the Song Dynasty!

Of course, there are people who are a little optimistic, saying that Nianhan is a truly talented official, and that he might consider the overall situation and take the initiative to negotiate peace with the Song Dynasty.

But the problem is, even if we want to negotiate peace, is it easy to negotiate peace? What about northern Shaanxi, Shandong, Hebei, and Hedong? Will the government agree? Maybe in the end, we will have to fight again!

All in all, no matter what these people's specific opinions are, almost everyone feels that since such a shocking event has happened among the top leaders of the Jin Dynasty, it will definitely directly affect the national level... and at this time, the court must cut the Gordian knot, quickly end those unnecessary internal "waves", and concentrate on dealing with the north.

Under such circumstances, other people who originally held a neutral attitude towards "revoking the excessive favors and privileges" immediately changed their direction and chose to give unlimited support to the policies of the court and Emperor Zhao.

To put it bluntly, Emperor Zhao's political prestige came from leading the Song Dynasty to resist the invasion of the Jin people in the north. No ordinary people, including bureaucrats and dignitaries, are willing to go through the Jingkang Incident again. Therefore, even if everyone has an instinct to be conservative or pursue stability, once faced with a possible threat from the north, Emperor Zhao will not only have unlimited power, but also receive great support from public opinion.

Don’t forget, that unforgettable collapse happened only five years ago!

In contrast, the former powerful people quickly fell under the attack and criticism of the bureaucracy and public opinion.

The lower-class people were saying that these people were simply spies from the Jin Dynasty!

There were also some scholars and students in the opposition who were more knowledgeable and knew that these people were unlikely to be spies, but they believed that these people had actually affected the country's preparations for war and should be dealt with quickly and strictly.

Public opinion's tolerance for these people instantly dropped to the lowest level.

The most representative incident was that dozens of slightly radical Taixue students wrote letters to the palace and to the Honglu Temple Report Office, directly requesting the court to take extraordinary measures in extraordinary times, temporarily treating these people as "northern spies", keeping them in centralized custody, and dealing with them after major events, in order to ensure a calm attitude towards the north.

The imperial court certainly would not listen to these words, but there is no doubt that the bureaucratic system quickly became tense. This tension and the political promise of the government to compensate half of the salary for the previous few years, as well as to reward and posthumously honor the officials who had remained loyal since the Jingkang period, formed a double stimulus... It forced the entire bureaucratic system to quickly cut ties with these people, and then the efficiency and intensity of handling this matter reached a new level.

As for the protagonists in the vortex of events, that is, those dignitaries in the former prosperous era, who later fled to Yangzhou and came back, and who had no actual contributions during the Jianyan period, they really could not have imagined that a stroke suffered by an old man thousands of miles away would directly affect their lives and property... It was as mysterious as the story in "Journey to the West: Conquering the Demons".

However, the documents revoking the official positions granted by imperial decree and the investigation into previous rumors and distorted poems could not be more true.

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