"Scrivener Ma, are we going down to investigate this time?" A man who looked like a servant asked.

Ma Zhou replied affirmatively: "This time, we were ordered by Da Thorn Shi and Chen to join the army to go down to conduct a public opinion poll. And publicize the existence of our government, so that the people know about our government. ”

Soon, Ma Zhou came to a village in person, and then took the initiative to call out the chief and other folk officials here. And when they heard that it was someone from the Bozhou Thorn Mansion who came, they didn't dare to despise this. After all, the Assassin's Mansion can be said to be the highest administrative division of the place, and they dare to slack off there! You must know that in the early years of the Tang Dynasty, there was no "provincial" level planning, and the central government directly managed more than 300 prefectures across the country, so that the prefectures were also first-level administrative divisions, which were all big officials for ordinary people. As for those ordinary security chiefs, they dare not despise them, even if they are just ordinary scribes, after all, they are stained with the light of the state capital, and they naturally have to pay attention to it.

"Okay, let's go directly to the ordinary people's homes to investigate, you don't have to follow us!" Ma Zhou said.

Ma Zhou personally led the team to a house, and then took the initiative to knock on the door and enter.

"Fellow, we are investigators from the Prefecture Assassin's Mansion, and we are here to investigate what you need from the government, and if you are dissatisfied with the government, you can say anything!" Ma Zhou said.

And this fellow immediately asked: "The government? Don't dare, we are very satisfied with the government! ”

"Fellow, to be honest, we are here to investigate sincerely, even if you say something, we will not harm you!" Ma Zhou said.

And this fellow immediately asked: "Didn't everyone in the Cui family's courtyard say that the people in the government are very fierce, and if they say bad things, they will go to jail?" ”

Ma Zhou immediately said: "What's the matter, do you think I look like a fierce person? ”

"It's not like, you are similar to those stewards in the Cui family's courtyard. They are all literati! The fellow replied.

Soon, Ma Zhou initially gained the trust of these people, and then began to investigate.

"Some time ago, the government released a group of criminals with insufficient evidence, and many people said that it was benevolent! And those stewards of the Cui family's courtyard said that the Cui family was working hard to make the government make this decision. And the previous government caught the wrong people, all of which were caused by corrupt officials in the government. ”

"Hey, these warriors!" Ma Zhou complained in his heart.

This time, Chen Fei made this release of those criminals who were unjustly imprisoned, and this time the Cui family put Chen Fei's credit on his face, and then publicized to the people that these are the results of the Cui family's efforts. But those people who were arrested by the government before. The Cui family immediately said that it was caused by corrupt officials in the government.

And this Cui family also plays the role of a microphone. But this microphone has its own ideas, and they want to use this process to make their own profits. Once the government has any good policies, they will be credited to themselves. And once the government has a slightly bad policy, they never mention that it was their own people who did it, they will just pass the buck to the government. And even those officials of the noble clan have formulated some policies in the officialdom that are not in the interests of the people, and they will use their own family networks to detain this basin to the government.

In this way, the credit belongs to the scholars, and the black cauldron is carried by the government. This is a lot of cases. And the people actually believed it. Because they have no channels of communication with the government, everything is to replace communication with these scholars, so that these "mouthpieces" with their own independent ideas will begin to make profits from the two ends, and they will be able to shift the people's losses to the government at that time. As for the time comes, the people will suffer heavy losses. Then they will have more and more resentment against the government. And these scholars also took the opportunity to kidnap the public opinion and in turn blackmail the government.

As for the peasant uprisings, those nobles did not think about how to end the troubled times as soon as possible, but supported those ambitious heroes. So that they can compete for hegemony in troubled times. Because of the intervention of these scholars, the general situation in the world is becoming more and more chaotic, and the people are becoming more and more miserable. But this time. The gentry who played the role of the middle microphone once again exerted their authority and took all the blame on the government, believing that the government had harmed them. But many benefits have gone into the pockets of the nobles, and they will never say it. And the government has become the scapegoat of the scholars, and the hatred of the people has also been hated by the scholars.

"Fellow, this time the government cleaned up the unjust prison, it is not the Cui family's business. It's the assassination of Shi Da Xi Shu, and Chen Fei, who has joined the army, is helping you! This has nothing to do with the Cui family, do you know? Ma Zhou said.

The fellow immediately asked: "That's not what the steward of the Cui family said, they said that the Cui family is helping!" ”

"Where, it's the government that's helping, not the Cui family!" Ma Zhou corrected again.

"The Cui family, isn't it the government?" The people asked.

In ancient times, the common people were often uneducated, and they could not judge the difference between the government and the scholars. This is not an isolated case, but a very common one. In later generations, in fact, the village chief was not a state cadre, but many villagers regarded them as state government officials. This was true even in later generations when universal education was so extensive, let alone in this ancient era when the literacy rate was less than 10 percent! They had no way of knowing who the Cui family was, so they thought that the Cui family represented the government, but they were higher than the government. Even many of the common people only knew about the nobles who ruled the country, but never the government that ruled the entire country. Therefore, this is also the ideology of the ancient people, which caused the scholars to be able to obtain great benefits.

"Fellow countrymen, you have to remember that we often come down to investigate, and the people who mark us are the people of the government. Only those who wear the prescribed clothes are officials of the government. Ma Zhou said.

And Ma Zhou next showed the clothes of the officials and ordinary officials of the centralized government, so that the fellow could see it more clearly. In this way, they will not admit their mistakes, and in the future, they will regard one of the stewards of the Cui family as a member of the government. This public opinion poll is a war to win the hearts and minds of the people, and it is the basis for gradually drawing out the big families to rule the people. This strengthens the centralization of power, which then greatly helps the unification of the country and the communication between the people and the government. It can indirectly resolve the contradiction between the government and the people. This is of great significance, so Chen Fei attaches great importance to this. (To be continued......)