If there was Weibo in the Republic of China, then the most searched news these days would definitely be "the night watchman was imprisoned", and it would definitely be followed by the word "explosive".
To be honest, although Night Watchman was famous before, he was only a little famous among the readers of Literary Newspaper. This time, the article "The Last Person Who Doesn't Take Drugs" coincidentally became the fuse for the confrontation between the anti-smoking faction and the smoking faction, and the author Night Watchman also caught the attention of many people. Many bigwigs learned belatedly: Oh, recently a writer named Night Watchman is quite famous, and his article advocating anti-smoking has caused a lot of controversy. Before the bigwigs had a deeper understanding of this person's works and ideas, a message came from the editorial department of Literary Newspaper: Night Watchman was arrested by the police for advocating anti-smoking!
The editor of Night Watch, an editor named Yang Jinglun, wrote articles in the newspaper for several consecutive days to denounce this incident.
"We are now the Republic of China. Are we still going to resort to the Qing Dynasty's literary inquisition?"
"The government advocates freedom of speech and says that people should not be convicted for their speech. But now the police have thrown an innocent person into jail and tortured him for a little dissenting opinion. How is this dictatorship different from the Qing Dynasty?"
"Today, the police arrested someone for advocating a smoking ban. In the future, they can arrest someone for criticizing the darkness of society or even commenting on the president's clothes! Where will freedom, democracy and the rule of law be by then? Is this a country for the people or a country for the police?"
"If you want to live in a silent country where no one dares to speak, then just keep silent this time and acquiesce to what is happening! But when those people point their butcher knives at your necks, don't regret it and cry out in pain!"
Perhaps because Le Jing's imprisonment was such a huge blow and shock to Yang Jinglun, Yang Jinglun, who had always been mediocre in literary talent, performed exceptionally well and wrote several sharp and incisive manifestos to criticize the police.
Yang Jinglun was smart in that he directed all his attacks on the police, and never mentioned the warlords and some sensitive politicians. Although he understood that Mr. Li surrendered just to make things worse, he was also afraid that things would get too big and he might die quietly in prison, which he did not want to see.
Yang Jinglun's articles did attract a lot of responses. Some of the writers who had previously fought with the Night Watchman for hundreds of rounds because of his anti-smoking proposals also changed their ways and began to campaign for this matter. It's not that they have no moral integrity, but their butts determine their heads.
They wrote articles to criticize the Night Watchmen before because their anti-smoking advocacy violated the interests of the interest groups behind them. Now they speak out for the Night Watchmen because of their own literary attributes.
Since ancient times, scholars have had high demands for freedom of speech. An important basis for the wisdom of many kings recorded in history books is that they "widely open the channels for speech." The censors of the Ming Dynasty even took pride in having been beaten by the emperor in court. In the final analysis, the so-called "freedom of speech" is nothing more than the result of a game between those in power and scholars and literati.
The arrest of the night watchmen this time undoubtedly touched their sensitive nerves, just like what Yang Jinglun wrote in the article: "Today the police arrested and jailed someone for advocating a smoking ban. In the future, they can arrest and jail someone for criticizing the darkness of society or even commenting on the president's clothing! Where will freedom, democracy and the rule of law be by then? Is this a country of the people or a country of the police?" So this time they are not only speaking out for the night watchmen, but also for the interests of the literary group.
All of a sudden, articles in major newspapers speaking out for the night watchmen popped up like spring after rain, and the whole story of the incident spread farther and farther through these articles, and finally even Fengtian, thousands of miles away, learned the news.
Li Tingfang put down the newspaper and frowned.
Old friend Wang Zhengbai asked anxiously, "What does the newspaper say?"
Li Tingfang shook his head. "It's the same old story. Some people are calling on the police to release him, while others are saying that traitors like the night watchman should be arrested."
Wang Zhengbai was so angry that he laughed, "They are crying thief! It's just that your nephew wrote an article that exposed their big lies!"
Li Tingfang looked solemn: "I don't know how Jingran is doing now. We should find someone to bail him out as soon as possible." It has been four or five days since Li Jingran was imprisoned. The longer the night, the more trouble there is!
Wang Zhengbai asked: "I remember you have an old friend in Peking? Can you ask him to think of a solution?"
Li Tingfang was worried: "I have sent him a telegram, I hope it will be useful."
Wang Zhengbai comforted him, "I also have a few acquaintances in Peking. I will send them a telegram later. There is strength in numbers. We will definitely rescue Li Jingran."
That afternoon, the worried Li Tingfang received a telegram from his good friend, saying that Li Jingran had been released on bail, but he was particularly shocked by the person who released him on bail.
How did his nephew know this important person?
Let us turn back the clock to the fourth day that Le Jing was in prison.
Prison life was not as hard as Le Jing had imagined, because the food he had been eating these days was surprisingly good?
At first glance, his food is steamed bread and porridge, but there is meat in the steamed bread and a poached egg buried under the porridge. Yesterday at noon, the jailer gave him a bowl of mixed grain rice that looked similar to pig food. He used chopsticks to dig and found the braised pork hidden inside. It has come to this point. If Le Jing still can't see that someone is taking special care of him, he will be out of his mind. In this way, the clean and fluffy thatch on his bed is probably also the work of that person.
So who is this person?
Life in prison was boring, so Le Jing treated this as a rare guessing game to pass the time.
After careful observation, he felt that the jailer who delivered meals to him every day was a major suspect. Even if that person was not him, the jailer was an insider.
But before he could say anything to the jailer who was delivering the food, the jailer took the opportunity to speak to him while delivering the food.
The jailer was a middle-aged man who looked ferocious. In addition, he was so strong that people would believe he was a butcher.
At this time, the middle-aged man opened the prison door, gently placed the meal next to Le Jing's bed, and then whispered in a low voice: "Don't be afraid, sir, someone will come to bail you out soon."
Le Jing observed the middle-aged jailer's expression calmly, and then asked the question he had been wondering about for the past few days: "Why are you helping me?"
The jailer was silent for a moment and then answered, "Because you are a good man, what you did is a righteous act."
So... is that so?
There is no one behind the scenes.
This ordinary, ugly jailer actually took care of him as much as possible out of pure justice.
Le Jing didn't know what to say, and in the end he could only say dryly, "Thank you."
The jailer waved his hand shyly, stood up and left.
Looking at his back, Le Jing suddenly thought of a little man sleeping under the rolling waves of history.
The name of the little man was Wei Shun. He was really a little man. His birth and death years were unknown. He had never been to school or fought in the battlefield. He was just an obscure jailer in Lin'an, Southern Song Dynasty.
If nothing unexpected happens, he will live out his life in obscurity like most ordinary people in the world, and will not make any waves in the long river of history.
But it was this little man who quietly carried Yue Fei's body out of the city overnight and buried it carefully when Yue Fei died unjustly and his body rotted in prison but no one dared to collect it. In order to make it easier to identify in the future, he planted two trees in front of the grave.
He then kept this secret for the rest of his life. Before he died, he told his son, "Marshal Yue was buried in this place. Marshal Yue was devoted to the country and there will be a day when his injustice will be redressed. You must remember this and rebury Marshal Yue's body in the future."
Then, twenty years later, the new emperor registered and issued an edict to clear Yue Fei's name, and offered a reward to the world to find Yue Fei's remains. Wei Shun's son found the government and provided the burial site of the year. More than twenty years after his humiliating death, Yue Fei finally had a decent funeral. The little man Wei Shun thus left his name in history.
Yue Fei had a glorious life, but in the end only a small figure helped him to maintain his final dignity.
When Le Jing finished reading this history, a sentence suddenly emerged in his mind: Those who are loyal are mostly butchers, and those who are unfaithful are mostly scholars.
Justice and kindness, two beautiful aspects of human nature, have nothing to do with reading. There are many scholars who do petty things, and there are also many blind people who can't read a word but jump out of danger and burst out the light of humanity that can illuminate the dark times.
Therefore, Le Jing has always scoffed at the heroic view of history. He always firmly believes that history is the history of the people and is driven by small people.
…
The jailer was right. Not long after Le Jing finished his meal, he heard a commotion coming from the direction of the prison gate. With his keen hearing and the fact that the prison was not soundproof like a school dormitory, Le Jing could easily hear the flattery of the police chief, which made him think carefully.
He frowned. From the noise, could it be that some important person came to bail him out? He had already prepared for a long battle. Being bailed out so early would not be conducive to the further development of the situation.
He and Li Shuran went to Beijing alone, and they probably hadn't met any important people.
Soon, the huge group of people following in front and behind stopped in front of his prison gate. Le Jing squinted his eyes, and in the dim light he could just barely make out that the person standing in the front was a man of medium height who looked very powerful.
"Sir, you have suffered this time. I have released you on bail. You can go home now." The big shot ordered in a low voice, "Open the door."
Le Jing's eyebrows jumped. Why did this voice sound so familiar?
With a crisp sound of unlocking a door, Le Jing finally ended his four-day prison life.
He finally saw clearly who the person who came to bail him out was. It was Marshal Xue, whom he had met once in the hotel that day.
Le Jing's mind immediately thought of Bai Shaoyao. Could it be that this young lady's pillow talk had brought here Marshal Xue? This was also the most reasonable explanation. After all, he and Marshal Xue had no friendship.
Le Jing asked tentatively: "Excuse my poor eyesight, who is this gentleman?"
Xue Dashuai smiled cheerfully, "Sir, you probably haven't seen me before, but I have long heard of your great name. I am Xue Meng. My third wife is a fan of your books and often asks me to read your articles to her."
Le Jing quickly bowed and said, "It turns out to be Marshal Xue. Thank you for saving me this time. Thank you also for your wife's kindness. I will come to your house to thank you handsomely someday."
Xue Meng smiled and said, "Don't postpone it to another day, let's do it tomorrow. It just so happens that my husband has arranged a play with the same name as one of your articles, and he needs you, the original author, to come over and give him some advice."
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