Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 475: We need to find something for this idiot

Xia Lin came in front of his father-in-law with a crutch, looking ashamed and drooping, trying to hold back his laughter but not completely, and just stood there with a shifty look on his face, which was very funny.

What are the identities of those who can stand with the prince? They are either other princes or people who were among the three highest officials in the previous generation. Seeing Xia Lin like that is really too funny and too satisfying.

This kid is so arrogant in the court. There was a Guo Da who made trouble in the court. Guo Da is old now and has lost his temper. He even has an apprentice. Who can he go to for justice?

But now seeing that the prince was training Xia Lin like he was training his son, this was indeed training his son, and it made them, including Gao Shilian, feel really comfortable.

In the evening, the prince ate with them. Xia Lin did not join them because of his injury. They would chat about Xia Lin as they sat there, but the prince would get very angry when he started chatting about her. He pointed at the table and said, "That little bastard knows how to eat. If he can eat, can't I? I have never eaten that thing. Let that little bastard have a taste of it."

Everyone else was laughing, but Gao Shilian coughed a few times and said with a smile, "Don't make a fuss. You were also a troublemaker in Luoyang back then. Fourth brother was beaten by the late emperor for you when he was young."

"Alas... Fourth Brother..."

When mentioning the late Hong Baodi, the atmosphere among the old friends at the table became solemn. Hong Baodi was definitely a strange man. He fought with Gao Shilian all his life, but after he was gone, it was Gao Shilian who missed him the most.

Some people said that they had seen Gao Shilian crying with his face covered beside Mingjing Lake. The reason was unknown, but it was said that he and His Majesty would always stroll around the shore of Mingjing Lake when they had nothing to do.

"Okay, let's not talk about the fourth brother. The brothers are not young anymore, we will meet sooner or later." At this moment, the prince said, "You are all old and smart, give me some advice. My son-in-law has been unemployed since he was at home, and he has been causing trouble for everyone. Now his legs are broken and his birds are eaten. If he continues to make trouble, I will ask him to burn down this palace."

"It's time to find him something to do." Gao Shilian chuckled and took a sip of wine. "But no one can figure out what His Majesty means, so why not find him some small jobs to do."

"Makes sense."

The next morning, Xia Lin had just gotten up when his father-in-law pulled him in front of him. He gave him a serious lecture and said, "You are only a few years old. You can't waste your time like this. Find a way to get something done early."

"Yes, I did. I went fishing yesterday."

"It's not about this. Find something serious to do."

"Then I'll go and defeat Li Yuan."

"Asshole!" The prince slammed the table and said, "Be serious!"

"There are many things going on right now that I can't actually be involved in, old father-in-law." Xia Lin looked helpless as he sat there. "There are rumors flying everywhere in the market right now. If I participate in government affairs again, or even if it's not government affairs, even if I just do something, people will say, 'Look, look, Ye Tianzi is exerting his strength.' This is a taboo."

Hearing him say this, the prince was quite helpless. He pondered for a moment and said, "Then, you should find a way to resolve the rumor."

"Father-in-law, you have to find something for me to do..."

"What else? Let you stay at home and eat my bird?"

"No, no, I don't really want to eat your bird..."

"Go ahead and find something to do. Don't keep yourself here doing nothing all day."

Xia Lin was driven out by his father-in-law. He walked stumblingly in the yard on crutches, thinking that it might be possible to control the situation. After all, once rumors start to ferment, they will continue to multiply even if the source is controlled.

Soon, Xia Lin called Lao Zhang and Xu Jingzong to his side, and they all sat together to discuss how to deal with the matter.

"In fact, I think many people don't care whether the rumor is true or not. They just care whether it is interesting or not. But if it is allowed to develop, it will probably be exploited by those with ulterior motives."

Xu Jingzong blew off the foam on the tea, tilted his head back and stretched his neck: "But if I can use it, it's not a bad thing."

"But the rumors on the market right now are not good for us." Lao Zhang ate a pancake, crossed his legs and thought for a while before saying, "How can I turn these rumors into my own advantage? This is the biggest problem."

Xia Lin stood up with the help of crutches, and walked to the blackboard with a plaster marker in his hand: "Now, I will now systematically explain to you the use and confrontation of the word public opinion."

In fact, the word "public opinion" is a new word, but the content is not new. It has been used since the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period. However, its biggest feature is that it will continue to evolve with the development and evolution of time. Therefore, even if it has existed for many years, it is very difficult to use and target it.

Things like "Reading*" and "Yi*" are the best proof. Many things in them that are obviously false can even become the common memory of one or even several generations. People will instinctively feel that this is true. This is actually the effect of public opinion.

The so-called three sticks for governing a country are: the gun, the pen and the scale. The gun and the scale are real, but the pen has a threshold and a very high threshold.

So Xia Lin told Lao Zhang and Xu Jingzong how to make good use of this pen. "At this stage, the rumors are unstoppable, so the only thing left is to live as long as the heaven and earth."

"What?" Old Zhang was stunned for a moment: "Live as long as heaven and earth?"

"Right." Xia Lin pointed at himself and said, "Kill one thousand enemies and lose eight hundred of your own. When faced with outrageous rumors, the only way is to create more outrageous but more interesting rumors to cover them up."

"Give me an example." Lao Zhang had already prepared paper and pen: "I'll write it down."

"The simplest example is Gao Shilian. If everyone is saying that Gao Shilian kept a group of women for his sexual pleasure, would this spread without any impact?"

"Isn't this indecent?"

"Yes, elegant taste." Xia Lin tapped the blackboard: "But what if these girls are only seven or eight years old?"

"brute!"

"Okay." Xia Lin laughed. "What if someone says that Gao Shilian didn't raise a seven or eight-year-old child but a seven or eight-year-old goat?"

"Hahahahaha..."

Lao Zhang and Xu Jingzong burst into laughter so loudly that they almost couldn’t stand it anymore.

"Look, which version do people like better?"

"Goat! It has to be a goat!" Xu Jingzong gestured with a pen in his hand: "Who doesn't like to hear the story of the First Class Meritorious Official and the goat?"

"Okay." Xia Lin nodded. "The rumors have become outrageous so far. Now let's go back and say that Gao Shilian neither kept women nor goats, but just had an affair with the woman he loved when he was young. What do you think of this?"

"Disappointed... Of course I am disappointed. Gao Shilian is no longer a sheep, so what's the fun in that?"

"Then this woman is the imperial concubine?"

Lao Zhang and Gao Shilian stood at attention immediately. They were both very quick-witted and understood what was going on. They slammed their hands and said, "Great! By constantly reversing the situation, we can lead things to other places. We can stop at any link and become a school of our own."

Xia Lin smiled and nodded: "There are many variations here, such as releasing a large amount of information in a short period of time, without refuting the truth of any one thing. Or releasing true and false news at the same time, true and false, false and true. A thousand people have a thousand versions, and in the end everyone believes in his own version. How do you think people can distinguish such things?"

"I don't want to tell the difference. It's just a strange story. It's all fake. I'm just having fun."

"Yes, for fun." Xia Lin sat down: "We don't gamble on the people's ability to distinguish, we only care about their instinct to have fun."

"Okay, now let's get back to the rumors on the market. The rumors on the market are mainly divided into two parts. One is the discussion about your majesty's illegitimate access to the throne, and the other is the question about whether Xia Daosheng is actually the late emperor's biological son. So my solution to these two questions is this."

Xia Lin paused here, and then continued when he saw them starting to copy down notes: "The first thing is to release a large amount of information at the same time. It doesn't matter what the information is, you can make it up at will, and Lao Zhang, just use your instinct to talk nonsense and do it."

"Okay, I'm good at this."

"The solution to the second question is that you should start spreading the word that Xia Daosheng is not the descendant of the previous emperor, but the male favorite of the current emperor. He rose to power with the help of Gou Zi. He has no ability to govern at all. His ability was given by Your Majesty. The two met in Yangzhou nearly ten years ago. At that time, Your Majesty was in his prime and Xia Daosheng had fair lips and white teeth. The two hit it off immediately. Xia Daosheng was greedy for wealth and gave Gou Zi to him on his own initiative."

Lao Zhang raised his head silently: "No, let me ask you something. When you said those words just now, were you really calm at all?"

"Only by making things more outrageous can there be room for maneuver." Xia Lin instinctively touched his buttocks at this moment: "There is no other way, I can only let my buttocks suffer."

"Okay, go on. No wonder it's called the same life span as heaven and earth. Anyone who happened to this person would die."

Xia Lin smiled bitterly and said helplessly, "Whether it's the troops stationed in Henan Province or the problem in Gyeonggi Province, in essence, it's all handled by your Majesty through Xia Daosheng. Your Majesty is far-sighted and has long predicted what will happen to Li Yuan. And I don't trust anyone else to handle this matter, so only Xia Daosheng, who has a connection with your Majesty, is the most suitable."

"Oh, let me add one more thing." Xia Lin raised his finger, "We need to add reasonable elements to the unreasonable things. For example, in order to keep Xia Daosheng by your side, your Majesty even married his most beloved sister to Xia Daosheng. And until now, Xia Daosheng has no children because he and your Majesty have an unimaginable love for each other."

"Stop talking, I'm about to vomit." Lao Zhang waved his hands again and again: "Your plan smells a bit strong."

"Don't worry about the smell. It will have miraculous effects within three days."

(End of this chapter)