Chapter 468: Paper War
Shacheng created the first official newspaper in Yao Country, and this initiative was closely related to Yazdan.
Strictly speaking, Yazdan was the initiator of the newspaper. He received strong support from Slemod, the apostle and mayor of Sand City, which enabled the organization to be established quickly and smoothly.
Slymode was the director of the Dibao Office concurrently. When Bai Ding joined the office, there was a chief reporter and 29 reporters. These reporters were like the eyes and ears of the newspaper office, and they were spread all over Shacheng and Yaoguo.
Any major news will be sent back to the newspaper in various forms as soon as possible and then become reports in the paper.
A month after Bai Ding became Yazdan's assistant, the first paper newspaper was finally published in Sand City.
This newspaper, named "Shacheng Dibao", is made of rough-edged paper made of bamboo. The front is smooth, the back is rough, and the color is beige.
Due to the large amount of bamboo imported from Zhulu Kingdom, the price of rough-edged paper in Shacheng was extremely cheap, and it gradually became an important export commodity. This kind of paper also gradually replaced the rough straw paper with many lines, straw stalks and paper scraps.
The changes in paper materials and technologies and the reduction in costs have formed the basis for the popularization of paper newspapers and large-scale printing.
In the first issue of "Shacheng Dibao", there were two headlines in the paper.
"Famous doctor Beijiao announced the latest discovery: drinking hot water can significantly reduce the incidence of disease"
"Shell leader Shell Yuan angrily rebuked opponents within the tribe and said he would vigorously rectify corruption in all tribes."
These two pieces of big news affected Sand City for a long time.
The former changed the eating habits of the people in Shacheng.
In the past, water sources outside the city were often contaminated by cockroaches, which would cause residents to develop some strange diseases after drinking.
With Shacheng's unremitting efforts to promote and advocate it, boiling water gradually became a local consensus. Later, this habit was also adopted by cities including Yaocheng and Yancheng.
The second one is the report from Yazdan and Baiding.
The shell people in the news are a new species evolved from shell cockroaches.
The shell people have an intelligence close to that of cave monsters. They have skinny bodies and can walk upright, but they carry heavy shells on their backs.
According to biologists and archaeologists, the origin of Shell Man is that some Shell Cockroaches went deep underground, found the skeleton of a dragon, and evolved after ingesting it.
The Shellman has two great talents.
First, they can curl up in their shells and fall into a state similar to hibernation, going without food or water for up to one or two years in order to survive the harsh external environment.
Second, they are born slave owners of shell cockroaches. Shell people can command shell cockroaches to look for tools and materials everywhere, allowing them to create underground caves and passages in the desert and build underground villages.
On that occasion, the chief journalist Yazdan formally interviewed the chief of the Shell people [Keyuan], who was the leader of all Shell people and ruled over thirteen Shell tribes and a vast territory.
Ke Yuan is short and thin, with a slightly flat head and hair sticking up into the sky. But these are not actually hair, but tentacles of Ke Yuan, which allow them to feel the temperature, humidity and vibration of the air.
The shell on his back is more like a natural armor. The gray-brown armor like a shell protects Keyuan's back and chest, making him look quite majestic.
The most counterintuitive thing is that Ke Yuan was also wearing a pair of jeweled goggles - even among the Yao people, this was a very fashionable tool and decoration.
Goggles are a modification of glasses made by grinding and polishing emeralds, sapphires or crystals of various colors to protect the eyes from being harmed by the glare of the sun. This is very useful in the sand city with strong light, but the price remains high.
Ke Yuan, wearing emerald glasses, sat on a stone chair and chatted with Yazdan in his underground castle.
"I'm glad that Chief Keyuan accepted the interview with the Dibao Press."
Yazdan said in his slightly dull voice: "The first question I want to ask you is, Chief, what is your faith?"
"I am a devout and resolute supporter of Lord Yaoshen."
The other party gestured with his hands and said with a smile: "We learn the writing and language of the Yao people. Most of the Shell people know it, so don't be surprised. Many people say that the Shell people do not believe in gods and are atheists. I say that is nonsense and a rumor with ulterior motives. We Shell people are a race created by Lord Yao. We have always and will always support Lord Yao's fire of faith. This is an unshakable fact."
Bai Ding was surprised to find that the chief spoke the Yao language very fluently. It seemed that he had dealt with the Yao people a lot in the past.
The chief stood up and pointed behind him: "Please follow me, both of you."
Bai Ding and Yazdan followed all the way and found that the spacious space at the back was actually modeled after a temple, with almost identical statues built there.
In the center is the god Yao, who is transcendent among all gods, and on both sides are several subordinate gods.
Many tributes are placed around the statue, mainly gems and bones of various creatures.
"We will worship God Yao here and pray to the gods."
The chief touched his emerald glasses, and a more normal smile than Yazdan's appeared on his skinny face: "It can be said without hesitation that if this world is facing destruction, we will be the followers of Lord Yao who stick to the end. We will retain the fire of faith in the destruction and wait for the new life granted by the gods in our sleep."
Bai Ding personally realized that the wild people in the eyes of the people of Sand City were not ignorant and barbaric. The Shell People started later, living in the harsh desert, and had the same belief in gods as the people of Sand City, as well as their own unique culture, traditions and pride.
Finally, Chief Keyuan said: "The Ke people have lived in the desert for a long time and are a new nation. We learn from the Yao people, but of course, we must also preserve our traditional customs and existing regional foundations..."
Yazdan nodded: "Understood."
Bai Ding couldn't help but think that the Shell People had a very barbaric custom.
If an extremely weak person appears in their tribe, they will be stripped of all resources and expelled. Without the protection of the group, the Shell Man will fall into a long sleep. Even if he wakes up again, he will be extremely weak, and there will be no one of his kind to help him, and he will not have the energy to command the Shell Cockroaches. It is tantamount to a long death.
Bai Ding couldn't help but ask: "Chief, this custom is..."
"Oh? That one."
The chief said nonchalantly: "If it can't help the tribe, then there is no need to support it. This is the rule in the desert."
"In fact, we have become much more merciful now. In the beginning, we would kill the seriously injured and the weak and elderly. Now we give them a chance. If they have courage and wisdom, or are blessed by Lord Yao, then they may survive."
"Life isn't easy for anyone, right?"
Ke Yuan grinned, spread his hands and said: "Don't look at me like this now. There are many people eyeing my position as chief. Maybe I will be expelled tomorrow? I also have to rectify various problems in the tribe. In your words, there is too much corruption."
"The resources in the desert are not enough to support too many Shell people, so we want to cooperate with Sand City. The people inside the city belong to Sand City, and the people outside the city belong to Shell people. We are all brothers and believe in God Yao, so we are equal."
…
Seeing the final draft, Bai Ding was shocked: "Mr. Yazdan, is it okay to write like this?"
"What's the problem?" Yazdan asked.
"This... In the report, you said that Chief Keyuan hated the problems within the tribe very much, and wanted to thoroughly rectify the tribe's past crude customs and eliminate the bad apples. Killing the weak is a local tradition..."
Bai Ding stammered, "Wouldn't that be equivalent to forcing many of the Shell Tribes who oppose Chief Keyuan to take action against him? This would cause chaos and even war among the Shell Tribes."
There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!
“That’s the truth.”
The chief reporter said expressionlessly: "Isn't it?"
"Can……"
Bai Ding gritted his teeth and said, "This is wrong. This will harm Chief Keyuan and the entire Ke people."
Yazdan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed, "That's exactly what I want you to do. Bai Ding, are you saying that if I write like this, will the people of the Yao clan be disgusted?"
"No... it's just that Chief Keyuan will be roasted on the fire. The Ke people can't stand it. They will be angry, nervous and terrified."
"That's all right."
Yazdan said lightly: "Bai Ding, we are the Yao tribe's reporters. We only need to consider the Yao tribe's feelings. The Yao tribe wants to see such reports, right? This is beneficial to the Yao tribe."
"Our newspaper serves the Yao clan, and what we write is all true."
"The Shell People already have conflicts and disagreements within themselves. If anything happens in this regard, it will only bring this process forward. Whoever wants to win will need to ask for help from Sand City, and only the final winner among them will be qualified to have further dialogue with the Yao Clan."
"This is what we have to do, investigate, collect evidence, report, and then let the Yao tribe profit."
“Reporting has no stance, but reporters do.”
"We don't stir up trouble, we just observe it and report it."
Yazdan put it very bluntly.
Bai Ding was stunned when he heard it, and his ears became stiff.
Yes.
What Yazdan wrote were all facts, what Chief Ke Yuan had said.
But just a few minor local adjustments can tilt the entire report in a certain direction.
The first issue of "Shacheng Gazette" went on sale, triggering a frenzy of buying among Shacheng citizens.
On the 7th day after the newspaper was released, a riot broke out in the Shell Tribe, during which Chief Shell Yuan was killed. It was later confirmed that the tribal leaders were afraid of being liquidated after reading the newspaper, so they united to attack Shell Yuan.
Sand City quickly dispatched a relief team to stabilize the order within the Shell People, help them with various construction projects in the underground villages, and teach them various knowledge and skills.
Many Shell People came to the Sand City to work, and those who stayed in their hometown built underground stations and villages in the desert. The Ghost Tower on the ground served as a landmark, completely connecting it with the Sand City.
In just one year, the Shell People were assimilated and integrated into the Sand City and beyond, and the chieftain tribal system that had been maintained for many years was completely shattered.
Bai Ding saw all this and couldn't help feeling horrified.
The role of the "Shacheng Gazette" is not just to publish news and notices.
It remembered what Yazdan said.
——You alone can be as powerful as an army of thousands.
That is not flattery or courtesy, but a statement of duty and fact.
The new reporters felt it very clearly.
The collision and conquest in the new era will no longer be just a head-on collision between soldiers and armies, but more of a secret war hidden behind the words in newspapers.
Soon after, Yazdan told Bai Ding.
"Get ready, we are going to Sanilo for an interview."
"There's a serial murder case over there... We need to put out a report to reduce the panic."
Yazdan said: "The murderer is a Jade Rabbit, it is from Crystal City and is from the same hometown as you. You will be the main force in this operation, and I will cooperate with you as your assistant."
(End of this chapter)