In the past few days, public opinion inside and outside the capital has been boiling. After the rally on Xihuamen Square, Lin Jueshi's earth-shattering words plunged the entire capital into an atmosphere of both panic and excitement. Although Lin Jue's words were very thorough, people did not know anything about what kind of action he should take, where the current emperor's position would go, and what kind of situation the Great Zhou would become.

Because I don't know anything, there is so much speculation. In the past, when encountering some major events, there were always traces to follow, and there were reasons to guess. But this time, everyone was really confused, and they didn't know which direction to guess. Lin Jue didn't have the intention of usurping the throne, so he couldn't figure out what he was going to do. The most reliable and believable news on the street is the abolition. Most people believe that this time Guo Kun, the emperor, will definitely be deposed. So much so that public opinion has been inclined to speculate on the question of who will inherit the unification, but they have turned a blind eye to the emperor who is still in the capital.

The same is true of various state capitals outside the capital, all kinds of news are flying all over the sky, and I don't know what kind of changes are going to happen. Officials at all levels have their own calculations in their hearts, and some people have evil intentions, they are waiting for the news of Lin Jue's usurpation of the throne, or the news of killing Guo Kun to come, so they can justifiably pull the flag and rebel, form a de facto division and chaos situation, and raise troops in the name of appeasement. But more officials are anxiously waiting for news from the capital, they are very conflicted in their hearts, they do not want the situation to change, but they know that this time I am afraid that something big will inevitably happen.

Compared with the thousands of ideas in everyone's hearts, different positions and purposes, there is one thing that the vast majority of people recognize, that is, Guo Kun's behavior this time is really despicable. When Lin Jue was still leading the army and fighting to the death against the Jurchens, Guo Kun's actions behind him were really chilling. However, even so, if Lin Jue really wants to abolish Guo Kun and set up a new emperor, I am afraid that seventy or eighty percent of people think that this is a big rebellion. will think that Lin Jue is disobeying the Gangchang and breaking the rules, he is following the old path of Lu Zhongtian, and he wants to dominate the Chaogang and cover the sky with one hand. This is absolutely indisagreeable.

The news spread in waves, as if there was a promoter behind it. Some secrets about the relationship between the emperor and Lin Jue actually began to circulate, even including the fact that Liang Wangfu placed eyeliner next to Lin Jue at the beginning to monitor and control Lin Jue's actions. Even the secret of Guo Kun's attempt to murder Lin Jue after entering Beijing, even including the plan of the emperor to control the capital, capture Lin Jue's family, and cut off the grain and grass of the Yan army to force Lin Jue to comply. These terrifying and frightening news were widely spread in the capital and all parts of the Great Zhou in waves, like rows of huge waves hitting everyone's nerves.

With the continuous fermentation of these news, people's discomfort with Lin Jue's previous remarks slowly disappeared, and even some officials and masters who criticized Lin Jue's behavior as rebellious at first, and some die-hard conservatives also shut up because of these news. Many people have changed their stance of understanding and sympathizing with Lin Jue. A man who served the Liang Wangfu wholeheartedly and sent Guo Kun to the throne of the Great Zhou Emperor, but he has been subjected to the suspicion and suspicion of the Liang Wangfu behind his back, how unfair it is. And Guo Kun actually disregarded the safety of the society and stuck a knife in the back for his own selfish desires at a critical time, how is this kind of behavior different from the enemy? Not to mention that he even wanted Lin Jue's wife

The children, wives and children used as bargaining chips to coerce Lin Jue to comply, this kind of behavior is simply inhumane and bottom-line, and even the hooligans and idlers on the street disdain it.

In short, in the next ten days, the wind of public opinion gradually shifted to Lin Jue's side. The vast majority of people think in their hearts that it is a matter of course to abolish Guo Kun, and if Lin Jue really does this, he should not be blamed.

Guo Kun has a very shallow foundation, King Liang and his son have been in Hangzhou, Guo Kun has no big credit, and people in the world don't know much about Guo Kun in the first place. It's just that fate pushed Guo Kun to the throne of the Great Zhou Emperor, and people only know the character of Guo Kun, the little prince of the Liang Palace, and they will know something about him. And as these secrets were revealed layer by layer, people turned from hope to disappointment for Guo Kun. If Guo Kun is abolished at this time, I am afraid that most people will agree with it.

No one knows how public opinion turned, just as no one knows how that wave of inside information came out and how it spread to all parts of the Great Zhou. Everything was planned, and there was an invisible hand that controlled it all.

Since the Donghuamen rally that day, Lin Jue has kept a low profile. He did not take any thunderous actions as many people think, but began to sit in the office and deal with affairs from the next day. As if the disturbances of the outside world had nothing to do with him, he never seemed to have said those shocking words.

But obviously, Lin Jue didn't really ignore it. In fact, Lin Jue has always been extremely concerned about the discussion of the outside world. Every evening, Ma Bin would come to see Lin Jue and report on the trends of public opinion in the outside world. According to the situation outside, Lin Jue naturally had to respond.

Lin Jue knows very well that brute force is not possible, and if he wants to achieve his own goals, he must first reverse the direction of public opinion in the outside world and grasp the people's hearts in his own hands. This is where propaganda becomes extremely important. Whether it is manipulating public opinion or publishing the truth, in short, it is necessary to create the conditions for action in a smart way, rather than relying on one's own power to impose it. Although it is quick and easy to do, the simple and crude way of doing things will leave everyone with a bad feeling of authoritarianism. It will bring great hidden dangers. What Lin Jue wants is to moisten things silently, and what he wants is for the people and officials to take the initiative to think about change, rather than imposing it on others. It takes patience and means.

Lin Jue knows that in this era, it is necessary to take a huge risk to make some extraordinary changes. The Great Zhou, which is deeply rooted in Confucianism, attaches great importance to the ethics of monarchs, ministers, fathers, and sons, and this is indeed an important guarantee for the orderly operation of this world. It is precisely because of these seemingly shackles that imprison people's hearts that a well-known moral bottom line has been formed. And it is not the bottom line of this kind of morality to become oneself, but just a system for managing the country. If you really touch this bottom line, ignore it, and offend and destroy it, then anyone can criticize and attack yourself from the height of morality. And such an attack will also resonate with the vast majority of people.

Even if he is Lin Jue, a person with three lifetimes of life experience and thousands of years of rich knowledge, he can't resist the deep-rooted etiquette and morality that have long been formed. Others call themselves saints, but Lin Jue doesn't really regard himself as a saint. The true sages are invincible to themselves.

It is precisely because he knows this very well that Lin Jue has all of them

They have become cautious in their actions. It seems to be a thunderstorm, but in fact, it is just Lin Jue's verbal momentum. In terms of real action, Lin Jue would never act recklessly.

For example, on the issue of Guo Kun's disposal, almost everyone thinks that this time Lin Jue will definitely do something to Guo Kun, and it is not too much to even kill Guo Kun. Because Guo Kun's behavior is actually Lin Jue's mortal enemy. He has made no secret of his intention to kill Lin Jue, and his subsequent actions are actually to put Lin Jue's entire family to death. Even if Lin Jue didn't kill him with his own hands, he would have all kinds of means to make Guo Kun die. As for abolishing Guo Kun, it is simply a sure thing, how can Guo Kun continue to sit on the throne of the emperor.

But for Lin Jue, it is absolutely impossible to kill Guo Kun. Guo Kun not only can't be killed, but also has to ensure that he lives well and raises him for nothing. Because as long as Guo Kun dies, this account will be counted on himself. It is impossible for Lin Jue to bear the reputation of a monarch killer. Once the charge of king-killer is borne on the body, it can never be washed away. At the beginning, Lin Jue refused to even kill Guo Xu with his own hands, let alone Guo Kun. If you bear such a charge, you will always be a usurper in the hearts of the world, regardless of whether you are a usurper or not.

As for abolishing Guo Kun, Lin Jue didn't think about it. But Lin Jue thought about it and felt that it would be better to keep Guo Kun. Abolishing Guo Kun and setting up a new emperor is actually a change of soup and not a change of medicine, what Lin Jue wants now is not to find a Ming monarch to rule the Great Zhou, that is no longer in his consideration. Keep Guo Kun and let him be his emperor, as long as this emperor no longer has supreme power, why not let him sit in that position and become a symbolic symbol. And anyone can act as this symbol, and letting Guo Kun continue to act as this symbol can make Shen Tan and Cai Wei feel at ease. More importantly, this can better highlight their open-mindedness and win people's hearts. This is much better than abolishing Guo Kun.

The significance of retaining the throne of the emperor is in fact extremely necessary. The emperor is still there, even if it is just a symbol, it can calm the worries in the hearts of a large part of the people. Nominally, the country is owned by the Guo family, which can also keep the people who are accustomed to the rule of imperial power in this era from panicking. Lin Jue would never be stupid enough to engage in any enlightenment and freedom, and everyone is equal. What he wanted was to reform the political structure, to establish a better means of ruling than the imperial dictatorship. In addition to these, Lin Jue had no intention of forcibly changing the hierarchy and changing the foundation of this era. That would be futile and doomed to fail.

Lin Jue had done extremely deep thinking and planning, he didn't want to be like his teachers Fang Dunru and Yan Zhengsu, who rushed forward desperately in order to achieve their goals. He has to think and plan holistically, and he has to use the resources and means at his disposal to achieve the goal. The reversal of public opinion is one of the means, Lin Jue wants to infinitely lower Guo Kun's status and image in the eyes of the people of the world, so that public opinion is beneficial to him. That way, all the actions that follow will not provoke a greater emotional backlash.

For the control of people's hearts, Lin Jue is actually no worse than any conspirator and careerist. He deliberately kept a low profile, not talking about it to anyone, and not doing anything. Because he knows that the more he is like this, the more many others will lose their breath. I don't talk to others, people will naturally come to talk to me. At such times, being passive is actually being active.