Chapter 88: The Petition Team of the Central Plains Civilians

  August in Lin'an, the sun was like a fire. People walking on the road all felt a dry heat that penetrated to their hearts. However, what made the officials of the Great Song Dynasty like ants on a hot pot was the "People's Petition Team" from the Central Plains.

  This petitioning group of over 200 merchants and scholars from the Central Plains, when they first entered Lin'an, did not attract much attention from the imperial court.

  Because every year, there are countless people from all over the country who come to Lin'an to report to the emperor. Among them, those with a scale of more than 100 people are not many, but there are always several cases. They just send a few yamen runners to lead these people to the Dalisi Temple government office and hand them over to those full-time case-handling officials for processing.

  But this time, what this group, which calls itself "Zhongyuan Minzhong Qiu Yuan Tuan" (Central Plains People's Petition Group), has done is terrifying them.

  As soon as the "Central Plains People's Petition Group" entered Lin'an City, they immediately dispersed and posted various notices and paintings in crowded areas throughout the city. The content was all about how the Jin people had poisoned the Central Plains people. Especially those vivid paintings depicted the brutality of the Jin people and the tragic experiences of the people, making the viewers deeply sympathetic and pitiful. Some emotionally weak women even covered their faces and burst into tears.

  And the scholars in this team formed more than 20 "Golden Army Crime Propaganda Teams" to recount the crimes of the Golden Army at brothels, wine shops, inns and large commercial buildings. Because they all personally experienced or witnessed these tragic events, their accounts were even more moving, with tears streaming down their faces, and had a strong infectious power, causing listeners to cry uncontrollably.

  Now, the city of Lin'an was boiling over, and scholars from all private schools were outraged. Ordinary people also strongly demanded revenge against the Jin people under the influence. Of course, there were also some people who had escaped from the north to Lin'an, and their courage had been broken by the cruelty of the Jin army. They only wanted to maintain the status quo and did not want to fight again in the Central Plains. Although they sympathized with the fate of these petitioning commoners, they remained silent and were not so excited.

  The courtiers of the imperial court did not take this seriously at first, and some even thought it was a good thing. When the Jin envoys arrived, they could use this to put pressure on them. Even Qin Hui's faction believed that these people had made the atrocities of the Jin army known throughout Lin'an, making the people hate the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty while also fearing them, lest the Jin army come south and destroy their homes, which would be beneficial in guiding public opinion towards the pro-peace faction.

  However, the subsequent development of events clearly exceeded their expectations. This petition team only began a round of actions that left the Song Dynasty court stunned after public opinion had been fully mobilized.

  On August 25, more than 200 people from the "Zhongyuan Minzhong Qiu Yuan Tuan" held up various banners and slogans with bamboo poles, rushing towards the Imperial Gate along Central Avenue, shouting slogans such as "Blood debts must be paid in blood!", "Vow to kill the traitor Jin!", "Return my rivers and mountains!", "Take back Bianjing!", "Directly attack Huanglong!", "Long live the Great Song!" and so on.

  When the emotions of the citizens and scholars in Lin'an were like a barrel of gunpowder, this parade and their slogans were like a fuse that ignited the barrel. A large number of people followed the procession involuntarily, walking towards the palace gate. Among them were not a few family members and servants of high-ranking officials in the court.

  Ding Guangxiang, the commander of the Imperial Guards who was in charge of guarding the palace, hastily led a large group of guards to block the entrance of the palace and prevent the common people from entering.

  He was a middle-aged military general in his forties, and the Imperial Guards were usually idle with nothing to do, even standing guard at the gate was just for show. They had long been pampered and indulged, although they had more than 30,000 people, but to be honest, their combat effectiveness was only comparable to that of a local constabulary. Now, suddenly hearing that the common people were rioting, if it escalated into a violent uprising, it would be very bad, making him feel quite flustered and uneasy in his heart.

  "We want to see the officials!" Wang Tong shouted loudly with his arms waving, as he walked at the front of the procession.

  Ding Guangxiang looked at the dark crowd gathered in front of the palace gate, feeling anxious and helpless. He didn't know how to deal with this sudden situation. If it were rebels trying to attack the palace, he would have no hesitation in ordering his soldiers to fire arrows. But now, these civilians only wanted to gather in front of the palace gate and petition the officials, without any intention of attacking the palace. He dared not order his soldiers to slaughter them. Moreover, he saw that many people in the crowd were relatives of court officials, if he really ordered a massacre, he would probably become the first person to be impeached by the censorate.

  But if they are left unattended, it's also impossible for them to block the palace gate forever. What will happen when the officials come out and see this? How can those ministers attend the early court meeting tomorrow?

  "Master Ding Xian! Do you still remember me?" At this time, a white-haired old scholar walked to the front of the crowd and asked loudly.

  "Ah! You are... you are Zhang Shibo!" Ding Guangxiao finally recognized him now, this old scholar was actually his father's good friend, Zhang Zetian, a Hanlin scholar of the Xuanhe era.

  He remembered that the "Qingming Shanghe Map" painted by this person was highly praised by the previous emperor and was considered a masterpiece. It's just that he heard that he didn't follow the officials to move south back then, but stayed in the Central Plains all along, and originally thought he had passed away. But unexpectedly, he also came here today.

  "Fourth Master! We are representatives of the Central Plains people, and now the Central Plains people are suffering greatly under the Jin army's tyranny. We want to petition the officials, can you please inform them for us?" Zhang Zetian said with a hopeful face.

  Ding Guangxiang nodded and said, "Then you must not intrude into the imperial palace. I will go in to report immediately!"

  Emperor Zhao Gou of the Great Song Dynasty is currently drinking and having fun at Zhang Guifei's place in the imperial palace. Upon learning of this, he was extremely angry and said: "Am I someone that these commoners can see whenever they want? Since they are loyal to me and love their country, calling out 'Long live the Great Song' on my behalf, let them go!"

  Ding Guangxiang saw the situation and had no choice but to reluctantly kowtow and pay his respects, then returned to the front of the imperial palace. He said to the crowd who were still shouting slogans: "Zhang Shibo, fellow elders and villagers, I have already reported this matter to the officials. But they are currently busy with national affairs and cannot see you now. You should all go back!"

  Wang Tong smiled slightly and said, "Since the official is busy with national affairs, we don't want to disturb him. Let's wait until he has time later and come out to meet again!"

  After that, he shouted loudly to the crowd behind him: "The officials are busy now and have no time to see us. Let's just sit here quietly and wait! See when the officials will be free to meet us!"

  A burst of applause immediately erupted from the crowd, and soon people began to set up tents on the square, and some even brought quilts, turning the square in front of the imperial palace into a camping site.

  "This... this... everyone, isn't what you're doing a bit inappropriate?!" Ding Guangxiang saw the situation and suddenly felt that it was too shocking. However, he really didn't know how to respond in such a situation.

  Zhang Zetian bowed his hands and said: "Ding Xian nephew! Laoxu was a Hanlin scholar in the Xuanhe years, and he can recite the laws of the Great Song Dynasty fluently. We are all law-abiding citizens, sitting quietly in front of the palace square, waiting for the official to meet us, without violating any laws. I hope General will maintain order for us, to prevent villains from making trouble!"

  "This..." Ding Guangxiang saw that the square was packed with what was likely tens of thousands of people, and the roads outside were still continuously filled with arriving crowds. He truly feared a stampede would occur, resulting in injuries and casualties. Since this was in front of the imperial palace, if something happened, he as the commander of the Imperial Guard couldn't escape responsibility. Especially under these circumstances where the emotions of the entire city's population were stirred up, it made him even more cautious.

  Then Ding Guangxiao had to order the forbidden soldiers behind him: "You all come out, line up in two columns! Maintain good order, don't let the people collide and trample...".

  He never thought in his wildest dreams that he would be leading the Imperial Guard to maintain order.