For a long time, good and evil were just another name for victory and defeat, and only fanatical cultists would search for meaning in the killing of war, and the public's attitude towards war was basically a little close to numbness. But Charlemagne, who is now playing up the identity of the victim, is still the perpetrator who has offended all the surrounding neighbors, and those who still remember the various war crimes of Charlemagne's army or are suffering from them will not give even the slightest sympathy for any misfortune of this abuser. They would only feel happy from the bottom of their hearts, and then look coldly at Charlemagne's angry appearance after being kicked in the ass by his pointy-eared allies.

It is precisely because of the existence of such a hostile majority of public opinion that even Albiang, who has the nature of a-stirring stick, only dares to secretly contact Charlemagne through a third party in private, in addition to being afraid of allies, to a large extent, he is also afraid of stimulating public opinion. Honorable adults don't want to be torn to pieces by an angry populace after wearing the hat of a "national thief". Now that the third-party channels have been cut off, and the common people are rejoicing at the news that Charlemagne has been beaten by his "allies" in various postures, at this time, they have stepped in and forcefully intervened to start multilateral peace talks? How many medicines did the old men of Albion have to take wrong to come up with this foolish act that has surprised the friends and boiled over the people's resentment?

Albion was held hostage by public opinion and unable to intervene in the disputes on the continent, while Charlemagne was kidnapped by a small group of fanatical militants with ulterior motives and an angry crowd, unable to make demands for negotiations, and had to continue the war until defeat – a situation that Alfheim was happy to see, and which was the purpose of their carefully arranged "show".

"All records of personnel transfers, records of the transfer of insurgents to Belfort in batches, recordings and audio-visual recordings of secret meetings of relevant personnel, and account books of lost weapons have all been destroyed, and nothing has been missed. The arrested rioters are currently being interrogated, and preparations are being made to eliminate the remaining unrestless elements and the co-operatives who have provided assistance. ”

"Leave it to Nidhogg and Stasi, I'm sure they'll do their job. ”

After a pause, Li Lin said as if he had a feeling:

"If there was a contest for 'the most evil ideas in the world,' I would definitely vote for populism with a note that 'the stupidest one, there is no one.' ”

"It's true. ”

The two goblets clinked together with a "ding" sound, and Brunhill slowly swallowed the sour red wine with an expression of almost disgust.

The academic interpretation of populism is "the political and economic ideas espoused by populists". It may not sound like a problem, but in fact it is an extremely dangerous proposition, which in essence contains anti-intellectualism, anarchism, kitschism, popular deification and other extreme ideas, which manifests itself in contempt for authority and experts, and thinks things according to preference and impulse, rather than expertise, and does not tolerate opposition. Whoever is not with them is against them, and whoever opposes them is their enemy. It is only natural to use all means to destroy the enemy.

The famous scholar Socrates is the first person recorded to die in populism. When the Athenians sentenced Socrates to death simply because they "didn't like the stubborn old man and his crazy words," they didn't care about the "right thing" or "whether this is reasonable." They only care if their feelings are satisfied for a while, and when things have passed, they repent of their previous foolishness, and then continue to do the same.

Bismarck famously said: The masses are like amorous women in the twilight of their lives, rapidly changing their love and hate, with neither ethics nor logic. Do the people really need votes? No, all they need is a carrot in front of their nose and a piece of good news in their eyelids.

The old prime minister's spicy words are a fine word for the masses who have been manipulated by populism throughout the ages. However, he probably did not expect that Germany, which had been united in his hands, would fall into a frenzy of nationalism and populism many times in a row, embark on the road of war and destruction, and in the end lose the national spirit and the Prussian homeland.

To put it all in all, populism is an extremely dangerous trend of thought, and its combination with ultra-nationalism is a disaster – both for himself and for other countries, and Charlemagne is in this muddy pit, and instead of being swallowed up in the mire, he rolls in it like a pig in heat.

As soon as the Balfour incident was broadcast, the crowd that was already in a state of frenzy because of the victory parade immediately exploded, and the chemical reaction of patriotism, national pride and blind impulse exploded with tremendous energy on the spot, and everyone was moved by their most sincere and strongest patriotic enthusiasm, for fear that their pride would be overshadowed by others. So the favorite tune of the hot-blooded young people became the only voice on the scene, and the furious crowd cursed "ghost animals who have lost their conscience", and even burned their anger on everyone who did not stand with them.

"Damn pointy-eared! Damn anyone who doesn't curse pointy-eared!"

"Whoever dares to make peace with these demons will have their tongues rotten!"

"Carry the war to the end, and kill all the pointed ears and their accomplices!"

"Victory must belong to the great Charlemagne, long live the kingdom! Long live the victory!"

Murderous slogans such as these continued for a whole day with a parade of demons and demons, and by midnight the situation was out of control. The marchers first burned the flag of the United Duchy of Albion and Rus', and then began to burn improvised models of the King Elizabeth paper figurine, Buckingham Palace and Peter's Palace. Due to the strong wind at night, fearing that the unburned ashes might start a fire, the crowd in extreme excitement burst out when the vigilante knights present tried to stop it.

The accomplices who dared to protect the ghosts and animals and suppressed the patriotic deeds? Well, even you gang of state thieves were burned! The police stations and gendarmerie sentry posts around the Champs-Élysées were immediately set on fire, but fortunately, the fire brigade and the army in charge of the bombing were dispatched in time, and this did not cause a serious disaster.

The citizens of Lüdes, intoxicated with a moment of passion, did not think about what kind of plan was behind the Balfour massacre that Alfheim deliberately broadcast, nor did they think about what kind of hateful face they would have in the eyes of others, especially those who were scolded as accomplices and clamored to kill them all.

Just as the "Balfour Massacre" made Charlemagne remember the elves thoroughly, after watching the news broadcast of the jurisprudence of Alfheim's meticulous editing, highlighting the misery of the victims, the brutality of the perpetrators, and the related treatment. After watching Charlemagne's arrogant performance in the "Champs-Elysées Burn Incident", the people of Albion, Castile, the United Duchy of Rus', and Seres also remembered Charlemagne thoroughly, and it was difficult for the officials of these countries to openly promote any form of peace talks.

In this way, Yalfheim's purpose of launching this public opinion war and legal war can be achieved.

Just as in the process of German unification in the past, the scheming Bismarck was always careful to use diplomatic means to avoid other countries from interfering in Prussia's actions, and always tried to occupy the moral high ground in every war, making it difficult for third parties to intervene directly. Yalfheim is also very attentive to the actions of his "allies" and is always on the lookout for these unreliable "allies" to change their positions. But unlike Bismarck, who was limited by his time and identity and despised the role of the populace (a common problem of the aristocracy of the Second Empire), as a pioneer of the practice of total warfare and unrestricted warfare in this world, Alfheim attached great importance to "public opinion" – not only in his own country but also in other countries.

When politicians need it, the will of the gods is nothing, and when they don't, the will is nothing.

Throughout the ages, there have been no exceptions.

But any politician – with the exception of a loving father of steel – whether he is a president, a head of state, a king, or an emperor, can only steer public opinion step by step, no matter how reluctant, when the prevailing will of the people is contrary to their will, and any attempt at a one-time solution is an unrealistic fantasy. Especially when it comes to the question of linking national sentiment and government legitimacy, those who try to buck the wave of fanatical populism end up not well, and the great Socrates is a lesson in their history.

Moreover, when Yalfheim used the advanced propaganda technology of the information explosion era to carry out public opinion-oriented operations and conduct intelligence operations against the broad masses of the people, with the current control of the grassroots level by the governments of various countries and the propaganda-oriented methods that lagged far behind Yalfheim, they were completely powerless to reverse the manic people. In the end, they can only be coerced by their own restless public opinion, and reluctantly move forward with the torrent of public consciousness, watching the situation get out of their control little by little.

History is always strikingly similar.

Li Lin obtained the taste information of red wine from the tip of his tongue, and commented without emotion.

The Second French Empire was pushed to the point of no return by fanatical and brainless public opinion because of a censored telegram without any adequate preparation. In the end, the tragic defeat led to the birth and rise of the German Empire. Charlemagne's citizens, who are now eager to show a strong sense of patriotism, have personally hammered the coffin of peace with their own hands because of a well-trimmed piece of news, pushing their beloved motherland to the road of destruction from which it will never recover.

What a familiar spectacle it was, and I believe that in the end, when Charlemagne could taste nothing but cannonballs, they would know how empty blind enthusiasm was, neither as a weapon nor as a filling.

The goblet shook for a moment, and the rest of the wine rippled scarlet, and the slender and well-proportioned hand of the art raised the glass.

To the lovely, stupid, blind, self-righteous people of Charlemagne, who contributed to the rise of Alfheim, a task that the Wehrmacht could not accomplish with aircraft and artillery, and the unarmed people of Charlemagne achieved with only one blood.

They are truly generous, selfless, ordinary and great.