The Red Mansion Big Liar.

Chapter 414 Waves
Despise the enemy strategically and value the enemy tactically.

Although Zhang Yun逸 acted confident and calm in Prince Zhongshun's palace, it was impossible for him to say that he was not worried at all.

After all, if the matter gets out of hand, the emperor might consider the overall situation and push him out as a scapegoat to appease public anger.

Therefore, in addition to the arrangements made by King Qin and others, he also needed to make some preparations on his own.

Fortunately, he got the news in advance, knew the whole story, and knew where the key point of the problem lay.

Regardless of whether the main contradiction can be directed to the emperor's practice of Taoism, the most important thing is to make the emperor believe that the statements of the immortals before him are indeed credible.

Guano has been questioned, and white sugar and glass are not shocking enough.

After much thought, only the iron ship and iron horses could make the emperor so astonished.

Fortunately, when the emperor knew he was going to celebrate his birthday, he made preparations for both scenarios, and the research and development of the steam engine had already produced results.

Originally, he was planning to make some improvements before launching it, but now he has no choice but to rush it into production.

Due to time constraints, they only had time to add two simple carriages to make a simple old steam locomotive to get by.

As for the iron ship, it depends on the situation. Although it is just a show and there is no need to consider durability, it may not be built in time.

Therefore, it is just an alternative to add icing on the cake.

He even had a better idea. He considered whether to make an iron cylinder that could float and dive to serve as a simple submarine.

In this way, as long as the memorial from Jiangnan is shown to the emperor before it is delivered to the capital, it will probably be foolproof.

Because he had to take charge of the Tiangong Academy, he had to temporarily put aside his teaching work in Taoism. He did not return to the hot spring villa outside the city, but only sent someone to deliver a letter outside the city.

He said nothing about what happened in Jiangnan.

Firstly, if something really happened, the family members would not be able to escape even if they wanted to.

Secondly, how can the eggs remain intact when the nest is overturned?
Even in times of peace in ancient times, there were bandits and road bullies. It was dangerous to run around, so it was better to stay. Even if something really happened to you, the Emperor and the King of Qin might still take care of you out of their old friendship.

……

While Zhang Yun逸 was preparing to respond, Mei Lian in Jiangnan was also not idle.

A garden was packed with people.

Because he was ambitious, after more than ten days of communication, he had summoned many gentry and scholars to discuss the details of the joint petition.

"Mei Hanlin is upright and honest, and has a good reputation. He is also an imperial envoy of the Imperial Household. You are the most suitable person to submit the letter."

"What virtue and ability do I have?" Mei Lian said with a haughty expression, stroking his beard with his hand, "All the fellow villagers are highly respected, and most of them are from famous families... There are also many seniors who have retired and returned to their hometowns..."

"Sir, why are you being so modest? After all, we are the victims, but you are here on orders, and you are an official of the Tiangong Academy. It is only when you write a letter that you appear selfless!"

"That's right! He would rather break than bend. What kind of person is that? It's a pity that the thief Zhang is unworthy of being a son. The bird droppings he made harm the people. He also tried to please the emperor with sugar and glass, competing with the people for profit. Your Excellency dared to speak out directly. He is truly a model for the court!"

"Then I'd be disrespectful to refuse it!" Mei Lian said with a smile.

Suddenly, someone in the crowd shouted, "Your Excellency is so righteous! That thief Zhang used the magic to deceive the emperor. If you can correct the chaos and persuade the emperor not to indulge in it and harm the country, you will be remembered in history!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" As soon as these words were spoken, they immediately attracted a lot of agreement.

"The emperor is obsessed with cultivating immortals and has not been involved in state affairs for more than ten years. As scholars, if we cannot speak out and make direct criticisms, wouldn't it be a waste of all the years of studying the books of sages?"

"I've heard for a long time that Mei Hanlin is upright and never associates with such scoundrels..."

Several prestigious country gentlemen standing in the front row looked at each other with grim expressions when they saw the excitement among the crowd below.

They said in unison: "No!" "Why not? As the saying goes, what goes up must come down. If we can't correct the chaos at its root, even if we lose Zhang Yunyi, we still have Li Yunyi..."

"That's right! You were deceived by that thief before, and now you are suffering from the bird droppings. Don't you want to turn back?"

"That's right! Are you trying to excuse the thief Zhang?"

The effectiveness of this bird droppings has been proven, so naturally it should be used by our own people first.

However, the spread of the disease caused it to affect the people and expanded the impact.

"Now that the Hanlin scholar has raised his arm and called for action, we, the scholars in Jiangnan, will follow your lead. Why should we worry about not achieving great things?"

"Someone! Bring me some paper and pen!" Seeing such a big commotion, Mei Lian couldn't help but feel angry and said in a loud voice, "Since you all trust me, I will risk my life to make a direct appeal even if my blood is splattered five steps away!"

"The law does not hold everyone responsible. We are willing to sign our names together with you, sir, and we will not let you bear the responsibility alone!"

Mei Lian had not been in Jiangnan for long, so he could only talk nonsense, as he was not yet aware of the smuggling of guano by the wealthy families in Jiangnan.

Although the country gentlemen in the front row were worried, they were more worried that their smuggling of guano would be exposed.

Seeing the huge momentum and feeling that the law could not hold everyone responsible, he gritted his teeth and signed the memorial.

In less than a month, his joint memorial spread throughout the entire Jiangnan area.

For a time, many people came to enjoy the scenery.

On that day, a large number of students gathered in front of the Zhejiang Provincial Education Commissioner's Office and rushed into the office shouting.

Upon hearing the news, Jia Zheng hurried to the hall.

Without waiting for him to appease them, the leading student said righteously, "Sir! Now that the students in Jiangnan have united their efforts, and Mei Hanlin has already submitted a petition, as the academician, you should do your part!"

"That's right! You are a descendant of the Rongguo Mansion. How can you sit back and watch after the founding of the country?"

"The duty of the academic official is to educate people, how can he just sit there and do nothing?"

"That's right! I heard that the villain Zhang Yunyi is the junior of the academician. If the adult comes forward, it will not only add momentum, but also be more convincing!"

"Your Excellency is able to sacrifice your own relatives for the sake of justice. You will surely be remembered in history as a good story!"

Jia Zheng originally had an awkward look on his face, but when he heard everyone talking about how their names would go down in history and how good stories would be passed down, he couldn't help but feel his heart beating fast.

"Everyone please listen to me!"

He took a deep breath, raised his hands, pressed them down, and said confidently: "I have read many books of sages, how could I turn a blind eye? To be honest, as early as when I was in the capital, I had some complaints about this kind of strange and lewd skills. That's why I asked the emperor to send me out of town, so that out of sight, out of mind!

Now that the general trend is unstoppable, how can I turn a blind eye? Long before you came here, the memorial had already been sent out!"

"Your Excellency is so noble and upright that the students really admire you!"

"Alright! Go back and wait for good news!"

After sending away all the students, Jia Zheng hurried back to the back hall, took out the memorial, wrote it quickly, and sent someone to deliver it to the capital.

He thought to himself that with all this going on, there was no way Zhang Yunyi would be spared, so if that was the case, he wouldn't make any difference.

However, if the students forced the emperor to abdicate, it would be better to lie and claim that they had already submitted a memorial.

……

(End of this chapter)