Chapter 82 Do you know who is playing the public opinion war...

In fact, those rumors were not brought to the surface. Everyone knew that gossip kings would have to pay the price.

Especially since the other person at the center of the rumor is the current Prime Minister. Both sides are powerful figures and they are afraid of offending each other when speaking to each other. Now if they spread rumors casually, they will be killed if they are found out.

Then why did the message still reach Shen Zhiwei?

Shen Zhiwei knew with her toes that someone must be fanning the flames behind the scenes, intending to throw dirty water on her and Gui Yang.

How many such boring people are there in the world?

Shen Zhiwei counted on her fingers. Very good, she couldn't count them at all. She guessed that all the princes wanted to laugh at her. If there were no rumors, they would all want to make them. Now that there were ready-made rumors, they would of course make the most of them.

In the face of rumors, the best way is actually to deal with them calmly. When necessary, you can release more explosive news to attract everyone's attention, and you can safely get through a public opinion crisis.

As for refuting rumors, if you fail to inform everyone in the first place, then forget about refuting them. As the saying goes, rumors start with one mouth, but refuting them takes a lot of effort. This shows how powerless refuting is in dealing with rumors.

Shen Zhiwei sorted through the gossip about other princes in his mind, and finally selected a few particularly explosive characters. He called Yanxia and ordered her to invite Gui Yang into the palace.

It was Gui Yang who spread the rumor. Coincidentally, he was at the center of this public opinion storm. Spreading the message was to help himself out of the predicament. Shen Zhiwei believed that Gui Yang would be happy to do this.

When Gui Yang entered the palace, he looked calm and composed, and when facing Shen Zhiwei, his attitude was still respectful, as if he had never heard a word of the slanders against him outside.

Shen Zhiwei secretly gave a thumbs up in her heart. Her subordinates were extraordinary. Their psychological quality was beyond the reach of ordinary people.

"Your humble servant greets His Majesty."

"No need to be polite, take a seat."

Shen Zhiwei leaned against the soft couch, wearing loose and baggy clothes. Upon closer inspection, one could see that her belly was slightly rising and falling, as if she had eaten too much. Now that it was early in the pregnancy, Shen Zhiwei did not do much to disguise her belly.

Gui Yang's gaze inadvertently fell on the king's belly, and then she immediately looked away.

The king was actually pregnant? Although she didn't know whose child it was, Gui Yang felt that since he couldn't come forward to clarify the rumors, she let the outside world speculate that the child was related to him, so as to avoid a royal consort appearing out of nowhere and disrupting the court.

Gui Yang's gaze moved quickly, but Shen Zhiwei was still keenly aware of the unusualness of that glance. She chuckled and said, "The Prime Minister seems to be very busy these past two days. Is it related to the rumors in the streets?"

"Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty. Yang is indeed a little distressed, but those words were just idle chatter from some ignorant people after dinner. They were groundless and made up without any basis, and they didn't have much impact on Yang."

"It's all nonsense, but I'm afraid someone with ulterior motives will exploit it and spread it all over the city, eventually causing trouble. Does the Prime Minister have any good ideas to suppress this disturbance?"

Shen Zhiwei felt that Gui Yang's behavior of pretending to be ignorant while knowing the truth was a little funny. He must not know how guilty he looked when he spoke, and there was a layer of cold sweat on his forehead.

So what is Gui Yang afraid of?

Shen Zhiwei wondered, was she afraid that he would become her male lover? She hated office romances, especially between superiors and subordinates.

Gui Yang didn't like her, and she didn't like Gui Yang either. This was perfectly normal. After all, who would like a boss who exploited them? And how could a boss possibly develop feelings for an excellent ox or horse?

The method Gui Yang thought of was exactly the same as Shen Zhiwei's, which was to spread more explosive news, disrupt the entire public opinion field, and make people have no free attention to think about the king's male favorite.

The people behind the scenes want to stir up trouble, but they don’t know that they are targeting the real ancestor of public opinion warfare.

When Gui Yang was waging a war of public opinion, those princes had not yet become kings.

Shen Zhiwei listened roughly to Gui Yang's ideas. She would add from time to time, using the acumen of modern people in the era of information explosion to contribute to Gui Yang's plan.

The first thing to use is newspaper.

Now reading newspapers has become a daily entertainment activity for many people in Jingchang. In this era when entertainment activities are very scarce, newspapers with endless new things are the cheapest way of entertainment.

There are also people who are unwilling to pay for newspapers. This type of people will go to teahouses and listen to the programs of newspaper talkers in teahouses. The teahouses gain popularity and the customers gain emotional value.

In short, newspapers have become the best weapon in the current war of public opinion. Shen Zhiwei had already thought of this when he first started printing newspapers. With movable type printing and papermaking, how could he be considered a modern person if he didn't make newspapers?

Gui Yang also wanted to use the means of rangers to expand public opinion. Shen Zhiwei asked him to publish it directly in the newspaper. The territories outside Jingchang might need rangers, but the territories within Jingchang did not need to bother rangers at all.

So, the people of Jingchang quickly changed the topic. They no longer talked about the king's pregnancy, but talked about how extravagant the princes outside were and how worthless they were.

People in high positions of power discard their human appearance and reveal their inner nature which is worse than that of beasts.

Shen Zhiwei was really surprised. How could those princes dare to throw dirty water on her? Each one of them was dirtier than the other. Even without Shen Zhiwei throwing water on them, they were already rotten like mud. The stench could be smelled from a long distance away.

Everyone knows that if you want to win the hearts of the people and become the common ruler of the world, you need a good reputation. Why don’t you know how to cherish your reputation?

Or is it that they are all too confident, believing that their private affairs will never be discovered, and that they have the right to confuse right and wrong and bury the truth forever.

Shen Zhiwei tried to figure out what those princes were thinking, but gave up after trying hard. How could a human understand what animals were thinking?

In short, with a new topic to talk about, Shen Zhiwei's sense of presence suddenly dropped to the lowest level, and she could rest assured to "nurture the baby" in the palace.

Shen Zhiwei didn't tell anyone except Yanxia about her fake pregnancy. It wasn't because she didn't trust her other subordinates, but the fewer people who knew about it, the better. Yanxia was a female official in the palace. Her social circle was very narrow. She knew few people and had almost no relatives. Even if she accidentally told others, few people would hear it.

As for her subordinates, each of them was surrounded by countless people, colleagues and relatives. Shen Zhiwei was sure that they would not say a word, but Shen Zhiwei could not control their mouths at night.

What if they talk in their sleep?

If you want to keep a secret, you can only try to prevent others from knowing its existence.

Shen Zhiwei was concentrating on "nurturing the fetus", but in fact, during the holiday, each of the princes outside had his own concerns.

The princes who had previously come up with the method of slandering the Zhou emperor and the people's livelihood were mainly led by the kings of Yunning and Ning. The other small countries just followed suit, just like they had previously united to attack the Northern Kingdom. The small countries were just there to make up the numbers.

Therefore, when Shen Zhiwei counterattacked, he mainly targeted the two countries of Yun and Ning. Now the monarchs of the two countries were busy and overwhelmed and could not take care of themselves. It was extremely difficult for those small countries to gain some benefits.

Forget about getting any benefits, it would be good enough if they were not destroyed by the two countries. Some wise small countries chose to withdraw first to preserve themselves, while others refused to give in and insisted on getting some benefits at this time.

There are even those who want to take advantage of others' misfortune, which can only be said to be seeking their own death.

It's very lively here, but it's very quiet in Anguo, as if it's dead.

King An had previously been focused on learning advanced systems and intended to emulate the Zhou emperor. His idea was good and the path he chose was not wrong, but he overlooked one point: in many cases, policies need to be adapted to local conditions.

Oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while oranges grown in the north of the Huai River are tangerines. If fruits are not adapted to the local climate and environment, it will only affect the taste, but if policies are not adapted to the local climate and environment, it will affect the entire country.

Prince An just learned that Shen Zhiwei was pregnant. Hu Youan returned to Jingchang to protect the monarch. There was no commander-in-chief at the border of the Great Zhou Dynasty, so it was a good time to attack.

Soon after, a rebellion broke out in the north that he had swallowed up before. This rebellion was different from the previous rebellions of small countries. The power of the major clans in the north united together far exceeded that of the alliance of those small countries.

Prince An really didn't understand why the north was so peaceful under Jingchang's rule, and even remained stable after so many refugees poured in, and he had never heard of any rebellion or anything like that?

However, he worked hard to handle government affairs, treated the people under his rule with care, and tried his best to find out about Jingchang's affairs and apply them to his territory. However, the final result was a completely different picture from Jingchang.

"Prime Minister, is this the difference between me and the true emperor? The true emperor is blessed with natural advantages, while I, even if I become the ruler of a country, still cannot compete with the emperor."

King An sent out another army. Although the big clans became powerful after uniting together, they could not shake his rule.

The regular army in the north has no way to resist the iron cavalry of An Guo. How long can the combined forces of those great clans last under the horses' hooves?

King An just didn't understand why everything was developing in a bad direction?

An Qu sighed slowly.

"Your Majesty, do not underestimate yourself. The rebellion in the north has nothing to do with those things. There have never been gods in this world. The so-called will of heaven is nothing more than the will of man. The emperor is also human."

If Shen Zhiwei heard what An Qu said, he would definitely exclaim that there were materialist fighters so early.

In the feudal era, when a high-ranking minister said that there had never been any gods in this world, the shock to people was beyond words.

Anyway, Prince An was extremely shocked.

"Prime Minister..."

"Your Majesty, please listen to me. The world has been in turmoil for a hundred years, and the Zhou royal family has long since weakened. Even if the current Emperor of Zhou is exceptionally gifted, he will never be able to save the Zhou royal family. Sooner or later, the world will change hands, and it will only depend on who will have the last laugh. Your Majesty must not be like the Northern King, who is so conceited and reckless. When there is a war, send troops to quell it, and do not worry about those treacherous ministers and traitors."

After An Qu finished speaking, he bowed deeply. He was sitting in a simple wheelchair. Although he looked thin and frail, he gave people a feeling of being upright.

Prince An's wavering heart gradually calmed down.

"With the Prime Minister here, Da'an will one day conquer the world. No one, no matter who it is, can stand in my way of unifying the world!"