The game starts with Cao Cao as the main character, and the beauty sheds countless tears.

Chapter 100 Su Yu Controls Public Opinion, Yanzhou Daily Appears!

Runan

City Lord's Mansion

Yuan Shu wiped away his tears with one hand and pinned a big red flower on Yang Hong's head with the other.

"My lord, what's wrong...?"

Yang Hong looked at Yuan Shu, puzzled.

Why does the way my lord is looking at me seem a little off?

Yuan Shu remarked from the bottom of his heart:

"I, Yuan Gonglu, am truly fortunate to have such a talented person as Zongdao (Yang Hong's courtesy name) as my advisor!"

Yang Hong was even more confused after Yuan Shu said that.

Although Yuan Shu treated him quite well, Yuan Shu also had another strategist, Yan Xiang.

Compared to Yan Xiang, Yang Hong could only be considered the second-in-command before.

Even if it was just to appease Yang Hong's return, was it really necessary to have someone like Yuan Shu say such nauseating things?

wrong!

Yang Hong was suddenly startled.

He said, his voice trembling:

"My lord, you wouldn't have believed what's written in those stories, would you?"

Yuan Shu, puzzled, turned his head and said:

"Is what it says wrong?"

"Zongdao, your deeds are now widely known throughout the Central Plains."

"Although your act of killing Zhang Miao's entire family is not something to be encouraged."

"But your initial intention was always for my ambition to dominate the world!"

"Anyone else can criticize you, but I am not allowed to."

"From this day forward, I will treat you as a brother, and we will have a relationship like that of Marquis Liu and Emperor Gaozu, where the relationship was one of mutual understanding between ruler and subject!"

Yang Hong was completely petrified.

He returned home wearing a big red flower, but then fell seriously ill and never recovered.

Everyone said he was overworked.

Only Yang Hong himself knew that he was depressed!

What kind of bullshit storybooks are those? What the hell are they?

The most outrageous plot point is when Yang Hong sneaks into Xujia Village at night in order to escape Yanzhou.

First of all, this Xujia Village is located in Tama Yuzhou.

Yuzhou! Yuzhou!

The geographical locations don't match up, so where did Yang Hong's nighttime intrusion into Xujia Village in Yanzhou come from?

That’s all.

I don't know which bastard wrote this slanderous story, saying that Cao Cao sent several fat widows from Xujia Village to use their beauty to win over "righteous men" like Yang Hong.

God!

Let's not even discuss whether this plan is clever or not.

The key point is that, according to the description in the storybook, those fat widows each weighed over 200 pounds.

Does this have anything to do with the word "beauty"?

"Who on earth framed Yang like this?!"

Yang Hong became increasingly angry as he thought about it.

He finally understood why Cao Cao and Su Yu had released him.

Damn it, sure enough, nothing good ever falls from the sky, only a black pot falls!

……

Yanzhou

Dongjun

"Ah!"

Cao Cao suddenly sneezed.

On the table in front of him was the serialized manuscript of a storybook.

In order to gather ideas from all sides, Su Yu and Xi Zhicai opened up an internal submission mode for storybooks.

The target audience was Cao Cao himself and the civil and military officials in his camp.

What if I'm a big, burly guy who can't write storybooks?

No problem! As long as you can dictate the story, there will be professionals to help write it down.

All the civil and military officials in Cao Cao's camp were quite surprised by this.

Even Dian Wei submitted an article titled "I can eat the equivalent of three people's meals in a day."

Unfortunately, the response was lukewarm, which severely dampened Dian Wei's desire to create.

Cao Cao also anonymously wrote an article titled "Yang Hong's Night Raid on Xu Family Village".

But given this writing style, anyone in Cao Cao's camp who isn't an idiot can guess that the author is Cao Cao himself.

suddenly.

Xu Chu walked in from outside, bringing with him a box of money.

"Xu Chu, why would you send money to Cao Cao out of the blue?"

Xu Chu scratched his head and explained:

"My lord, this is the payment for your article about Yang Hong's night raid on Xu Family Village."

"The sir sent me to deliver this to you."

"The gentleman also said that if you have an excellent manuscript next time, you don't have to stay anonymous, but can use a pseudonym."

"You can choose any pen name you like."

Cao Cao was dumbfounded.

So, his story about Yang Hong breaking into Xujia Village at night made so much money?

Cao Cao originally wrote it just for fun.

after all.

Su Yu and Xi Zhicai have essentially confirmed that Yang Hong killed Zhang Miao's entire family.

Yang Hong is now the most well-known person in the entire Han Dynasty!

What?

You're saying you don't know Yang Hong?

Do you only recognize people like Dong Zhuo, Yuan Shao, Gongsun Zan, and Tao Qian?

Then you're out of touch!

Yuan Shu had Yang Hong, but did Dong Zhuo and Yuan Shao have Yang Hong?

No?

They won't do it!

If you don't even have Yang Hong under your command, what kind of legitimate lord are you?

of course.

Say something.

Su Yu created this storybook in order to control public opinion in Yanzhou and even the Central Plains.

In ancient times, before the internet, when information was passed down orally, whoever controlled the direction of public opinion had a greater advantage!

For example, Xu Zijiang of Runan launched the Monthly Commentary.

As the name suggests, it evaluates one person per month, like a monthly magazine.

Cao Cao earned the reputation of being "a capable minister in times of peace and a ruthless hero in times of chaos" because he didn't pay enough. (He wasn't a treacherous hero; that title is a fabricated version from unofficial history.)

Most later generations considered Xu Zijiang's evaluation of Cao Cao to be an excellent one.

But that's not actually the case.

Xu Zijiang's evaluations of Yuan Shao, Yuan Shu, Liu Biao, and Tao Qian—all figures who had spent a lot of money on the game—were far more favorable than his evaluations of Cao Cao!

However, most of these evaluations were lost in later generations.

Of all the evaluations of Cao Cao, Xu Zijiang's is the most widely known.

This is a typical method of controlling public opinion.

Xu Zijiang did not hold an official position, but only served as a monthly critic, yet he attracted countless officials and noble families from all over the country.

The storybook Su Yu is now working on is called "Yanzhou Daily".

In addition to storybooks, other modes will be introduced later.

Why start with traditional storybooks?

Because storytelling is more readily accepted by the general public.

Even though most people are illiterate, the existence of storytellers ensures that they won't be unable to understand.

As for the other sections of the Yanzhou Daily, they mainly served the elite families and local gentry and powerful figures.

The editor-in-chief of the Yanzhou Daily is, of course, Su Yu himself.

However, Su Yu delegated the handling of daily affairs to Xi Zhicai.

Firstly, Xi Zhicai was not from a prominent family, so his position was relatively neutral.

Secondly, Xi Zhicai is very talented in creative work, and his contribution to framing Yang Hong this time was considerable.

of course.

For matters of great importance, the final decision rests with Su Yu himself.

They firmly grasped the direction of public opinion, and then cooperated with the intelligence guards under Li Dian's command.

From this day forward, no secret will remain between Su Yu and any state in the land!

……