LRAB Chapter 739: People's Hearts Are Hard to Deceive
Chapter 739: People's Hearts Are Hard to Deceive
Chapter 739: People's Hearts Are Hard to Deceive
After releasing the defeated Han army hiding in the city back to Gong'an, Lu Xun was not idle.
Lu Xun, accompanied by several followers, walked incognito in the streets and alleys of Zhouling City.
Lu Xun wanted to observe with his own eyes whether his previous actions had won back the hearts of the people in Zhouling.
The first place Lu Xun arrived at was a tavern in Zhouling City.
In a city, taverns have always been places where good and bad people mix, but they have also always been the places that best reflect public opinion.
Lu Xun, who had transformed himself into a businessman, found a secluded place in the tavern. While tasting the local wine of Zhouling, he quietly listened to the conversations of the people in the tavern.
At the beginning, perhaps out of fear of the Wu army that was constantly patrolling the city, the people in the tavern seemed quite restrained.
Most of what they talked about were matters concerning their own people's livelihood.
But as time went on and he drank more and more wine, some remarks concerning Wu Jun inevitably emerged.
The first person to speak was a scholar.
The scholar raised his head and drank a glass of strong liquor, then said to his friend in front of him:
"Lord Wang, your death was truly unjust!"
During the four hundred years of the Han Dynasty, it has become a common practice for scholars to engage in fair discussion and honest discussion. Moreover, since this scholar was drunk, there was probably nothing he was afraid to say.
For Lu Xun, it was within his expectations that scholars from the public would make negative comments on Wang Hong's death.
But what Lu Xun didn't expect was that when the scholar finished speaking, the person who responded to him was not his good friend, but someone else in the tavern.
"Hey! Who said it wasn't?"
"When County Lord Wang was in office, he also showed us many favors."
"It's a pity that good people don't live long. I didn't expect that he would die so miserably."
The person who said this was a farmer.
Just as this farmer said, after Wang Hong took office, he vigorously promoted Mi Yang's equal-field system, which brought great benefits to many farmers like him.
At least for the farmers in Zhouling, Wang Hong was a rare good official in their lifetime.
However, the farmer's agreement aroused the indignation of a drunken businessman.
"Do you know why Zhu Huan killed County Lord Wang?
Just because County Lord Wang scolded him a few words!
But as a minister of the Han Dynasty, shouldn’t County Lord Wang scold the villains who invaded the border?
County Lord Wang died for his loyalty, but can a general who cannot tolerate a loyal and righteous minister be a kind person?"
Loyalty and righteousness are very sacred words in today's world.
Not many people can necessarily achieve these two things, but many people will sincerely admire those who can achieve these two things.
The concepts of the people of the time have always been simple. What kind of evil could a person who kills loyal and righteous ministers not do?
Back then, Cao Cao was not afraid of what people would say.
However, when faced with Guan Yu's departure, Cao Cao was unable to stop him overtly.
On the one hand, it was because Cao Cao really valued Guan Yu’s talent, and on the other hand, Cao Cao knew that he could not harm Guan Yu who left in the name of loyalty and righteousness.
Just like when Cao Cao killed many Han officials, he had to fabricate other charges to kill them.
Unfortunately, Zhu Huan did what Cao Cao did not dare to do.
Zhu Huan's actions violated the values of the time to a great extent. If he was not scolded, who else would be scolded?
What’s important is that Zhu Huan’s identity is not ordinary.
He is the vanguard general of the Eastern Wu, and his actions will affect the image of the Wu army in the minds of the people.
The businessman's words did indeed arouse the indignation of everyone in the tavern.
Even Lu Xun looked at him sideways.
Lu Xun could ignore the words of the scholar, and he could also pretend not to hear the words of the farmer.
But he couldn't remain indifferent to the businessman's words.
Because businessmen usually travel between places.
At that time, information was blocked, and the locals mostly learned news from other places from businessmen.
If all the businessmen were indignant about Wang Hong's death, one can imagine how bad Wu Jun's image would become in the near future as they spread the news by word of mouth.
But there were all kinds of people in the tavern, and some people still wanted to defend Wu Jun.
"General Lu, didn't you dress up the corpse of County Lord Wang? It's obvious..."
Who knew that before the man finished speaking, a scholar immediately asked angrily:
"Can it be called benevolence if one first does evil and then does good?
Wang County Lord was a Han official, but his body was taken in by the enemy country and was not allowed to enter Han territory. How can this be considered a good deed?
The scholar's words left those who wanted to defend the Wu army speechless, and in the end they could only retreat with their faces covered in shame.
At the same time, Lu Xun also wanted to cover his face and retreat.
Lu Xun stretched out his hand to stop the servant who was about to stand up to vent his anger.
Looking at the attendant's puzzled eyes, Lu Xun sighed:
“It is never too late to look back at the dog after seeing the rabbit; it is never too late to mend the fence after losing the sheep.
Most of the words of the ancients are just a consolation.
"What can we do when the people of Zhouling feel this way?"
After sighing, Lu Xun seemed to have aged ten years in an instant.
He stood up and left the tavern without looking back.
The Han army that was released from Zhouling returned to the outskirts of Gong'an City soon after.
When Guan Ping learned that the defeated troops of Zhouling had escaped outside the city, he immediately realized that something big had happened in Zhouling.
After verifying the identities of the defeated soldiers, Guan Ping could not wait to bring them into the city and carefully inquired about the situation in Zhouling.
From the defeated soldiers, Guan Ping learned the news of the fall of Zhouling and Wang Hong's martyrdom.
Before Guan Ping could recover from his shock, the news spread throughout Gong'an City at an extremely fast speed.
"What? County Lord Wang is dead?"
"Lord Wang is a good friend of the Grand Marshal. How could you fail to protect him?"
"Damn you Wu dogs! Not only did you seize my city, you also killed my loyal ministers. How can this be tolerated?"
“How ridiculous, that little Lu Xun is still pretending to be kind.
Is it possible that County Lord Wang's death was fake? "
"Even loyal and righteous ministers will die miserably. Can we still hope that Wu Gou will show mercy to us in the future?"
For a time, the whole city of Gong'an was in an uproar, with everyone talking about the matter of Zhouling.
Among the numerous remarks, anger was undoubtedly the majority, including those from the defeated soldiers of Zhouling who had received favors from Lu Xun.
Normally, one should be grateful for a favor received from someone, but what if that favor is filled with conspiracy?
After a brief uproar, an idea naturally emerged in the minds of the people in Gong'an City:
"Wu Gou is a jackal that invades our home and must be driven out!"
There was no Mi Yang's instigation this time, but the hearts of the people in Gong'an and even the surrounding counties were as firm as they were in the battle of Gong'an that year.
Wang Hong may not be considered a big shot, but that doesn’t mean he can’t do big things!
As time passed, Wei Yan, who was in Jiangling City, also learned the news of the fall of Zhouling.
So he silently took out a treasure bag that Mi Yang had given him a long time ago from his arms.
"If Wu Gou comes, then we'll close the door and beat the dog!"
(End of this chapter)