Chapter 215 Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity (asking for monthly ticket)
As for the so-called "Gao Yang has a backup plan", Lao Li was just guessing.

In fact, he didn't know what Li Shu's backup plan was, but adhering to the attitude of trusting his little cotton-padded jacket, he chose to let Li Shu play freely.

This is the power of the Heavenly Khan.

But the problem is that it is not enough for Li Shimin to just trust Li Su.

After the meeting, Li Shimin went to Liangyi Hall to preside over the meeting with Zhangsun Wuji and others.

The remaining three, Li Xiang, Li Chengqian, and others, stared at each other, but no one spoke first.

"Aye, two uncles." Li Xiang spoke first: "How about... I go back first?"

"What?" Before Li Chengqian could say anything, Li Tai was unhappy: "After such a big incident, are you still planning to get away with it?"

"What else?" Li Xiang scratched his head. "Don't we already have a solution for this? My nephew still has to think about the newspaper issue."

"Okay, okay, you can go quickly." Li Chengqian waved his hand and sent Li Xiang away quickly.

"Okay." This is what Li Xiang was waiting for. After Li Chengqian drove him away, he immediately chose Run.

After Li Xiang played yo-yo, only three brothers were left.

"How about... playing some football?" Li Chengqian suggested.

Li Zhi raised his hand without any hesitation and agreed: "Great!"

Seeing that the situation was now two to one, Li Tai no longer objected and had to follow the two to the East Palace.

After Li Xiang returned to Jingzhao Prefecture, he gave a few instructions to Quan Wanji and then went to the Institute of Science and Technology to see how the previously announced task of improving papermaking technology was completed.

Things were not unexpected. Improving papermaking technology was not a task that could be accomplished in a day or two, so after weighing the pros and cons, Li Xiang decided to publish a few jokes in the magazine.

It is just around the corner into February and a new issue of the magazine is about to be released.

Li Xiang used his privilege to add a few little jokes at the beginning.

Soviet jokes can be regarded as an intangible cultural heritage of mankind and a treasure passed down by word of mouth.

Some of them were made up by the Soviets themselves, while others were made up for the Soviet Union by the Americans.

For example, "The marshal also has a son" is an awkward sarcasm.

In fact, the six marshals after the 1970s, such as Babadjanyan, Petrov, Kurkotkin, Sokolov, Akhromeev and Yazov, were all sons of peasants or workers.

Even your Xunzong is actually the son of a metallurgical worker, and the map leader is also the son of a farmer.

Telling jokes is one thing, but we must also be realistic.

But this did not prevent Li Xiang from learning from Amei and compiling some little jokes when fighting back against the aristocratic families.

After all, the experience of our predecessors... no, our successors is worth learning from.

At the same time, Li Xiang also organized a group of navy to tell stories about the extravagant life of the aristocratic families in major restaurants in Chang'an.

The most surprising story among them is the one told by a scholar.

The general meaning is that his grandfather went to visit the Cui family in Qinghe and ate a very delicious egg. He asked how the egg was made, and the Cui family told him that the chicken that laid the egg usually ate various rare and precious Chinese medicinal materials, as well as precious spices such as black pepper.

Another story is about a calf fed with breast milk.

If it was fed with cow's milk, it would be fine, but the problem is that the people who feed the cows are humans...

As a result, the tone of public opinion in Chang'an City immediately changed.

The people, who were originally paying attention to Princess Gaoyang's affairs, turned their attention to the extravagant life of the aristocratic families.

After all, class conflicts are much more attractive than gossip.

"The lives of these aristocratic families are too extravagant..." people often sigh like this from time to time.

"Who says it's not true?" Someone else sighed: "The old man of the Cui family used the whiskers of 3,000 carps to make fish soup, and the remaining fish was thrown away like this. It's such a waste... My family can't even eat 30 fish a year..."

He was not exaggerating. The resources were not abundant in those days, and there was no large-scale farming like in later generations. Apart from marine fish, it was rare to catch large schools of fish.

Three thousand carp is a considerable number, not to mention for ordinary people, even for the entire Chang'an or Wannian County.

The two counties may not be able to sell 3,000 carps every day.

No one cared about the rationality of this news, as if aristocratic families were born to be like this.

After all, the politics of aristocratic families has been entrenched in China for hundreds of years and is deeply rooted. For now, the common people can only envy them, and if they have any resentment, they only dare to mutter a few words in private.

Dare to say it publicly? You really are not afraid of death...

As the saying goes, a county magistrate is not as good as the current governor. There must be someone in your family who lives under his rule, right?
Cui Shi and others in Chang'an City also felt uncomfortable. They didn't know where this public opinion came from, and it was directed at them, burning them to the point of almost fainting.

Of course you can't argue in this situation, and even if you do, no one will believe you.

Facts have proved that the Shandong gentry's cold treatment method is effective.

However, just as public opinion was gradually calming down, the new issue of the magazine was officially released.

The jokes in the magazine once again ignited public opinion in Chang'an City.

Li Jingren sat in the restaurant, holding the latest issue of the magazine. Following Li Xiang's instructions, he turned to the part about jokes.

"Everyone, everyone--" he said in a long voice.

Hearing Li Jingren's words, everyone in the hall's attention was instantly drawn to him.

"Mr. Li, what is the statement today?" someone asked.

Li Jingren cleared his throat and said, "I think everyone should know about this magazine in my hand, right?"

"Of course I know. This is the one founded by the Prince of Hengshan." Someone said loudly.

"What Prince of Hengshan? He is now His Royal Highness the Crown Prince!" someone corrected him immediately.

Hearing the correction, the man immediately changed his words: "Yes, yes, it's my fault. I should call him Your Highness the Crown Prince!" "But, isn't this magazine for people who read books?" someone else asked.

"That's not the case. In fact, the magazine is also suitable for both the elite and the masses." Li Jingren said with a smile: "Look, there are a few jokes here. I'll tell them to make you laugh."

"What's the joke?" asked the person next to him.

"A joke is a story that makes people laugh." Li Jingren replied: "Be quiet, I'll tell you one first--"

"Okay, okay, tell one, tell one first!" everyone started to cheer.

Li Jingren cleared his throat and began to narrate: "The old man of the Cui family talked with Ashina Duobi, and each of them boasted. Ashina Duobi said: 'Turkic medicine is advanced. There is a Turkic medicine prescription. The dead can be resurrected after taking it.'"

"The old man of the Cui family said: 'The Shandong nobles have been rich and powerful for generations, and many talented people have emerged. Some people can run from Qinghe to the Turkic king's tent in just a quarter of an hour.'"

"Ashina Duobi demanded that the promise be fulfilled, and the old man of the Cui family panicked and called the family together to discuss countermeasures."

"A person from the Cui family who did not want to reveal his name said: 'This is easy to do. First, ask Ashina Duobi to bring the prescription and have Erzhu Rong take it. If Erzhu Rong really resurrects and wants to host the Heyin diving competition, then you can run from Qinghe to Turkic in less than a quarter of an hour.'"

After hearing Li Jingren's joke, everyone was silent for a moment, and then burst into laughter.

Even in the Tang Dynasty a hundred years later, Erzhu Rong's name was still well-known to everyone.

It's simple, this guy's reputation is really too big, and what he does is really amazing.

The so-called "Heyin Diving Competition" was the "Heyin Incident" led by Erzhu Rong.

In February of the first year of Wutai in the Northern Wei Dynasty, Empress Dowager Hu Ling usurped power and poisoned Emperor Xiaoming of the Northern Wei Dynasty, Yuan Xu. She also falsely claimed that Miss Yuan, born that month to Emperor Xiaoming, was the prince, and wanted to make him emperor. However, her plan was unsuccessful because the conspiracy was exposed, so she made Yuan Zhao the emperor instead.

In the same month, Erzhu Rong, the chieftain of Qiehu in Bingzhou, pretended to be ordered by Emperor Xiaoming and marched into Luoyang in the name of "supporting the imperial family". On April 13, Erzhu Rong lied that Prince Gaoyang wanted to rebel, and used this as an excuse to drown Empress Dowager Hu and the young Emperor Yuan Zhao in Taozhu, Heyin, and let his troops surround and kill more than 2,000 princes and officials, which is known in history as the "Heyin Incident".

The Shandong gentry also won a good ranking in this diving competition, second only to the Yuan clan of the Northern Wei Dynasty.

Of course, this incident also made the Northern Wei's defense unprecedentedly empty, which directly led to Chen Qianzhi taking the opportunity to raid Luoyang and achieve the achievement of "thousands of troops avoiding the white robe."

For a moment, the restaurant was filled with a happy atmosphere.

"Anything else, Mr. Li?" Someone else asked, "Is this the only one?"

"And, and, listen to the next one—" Li Jingren continued to tell a joke: "One day, the old man Cui said to the tenant farmers: 'In the near future, our lives will get better and better!'"

"After a moment of silence, a voice came from the audience."

"Then what should we do——!?"

What was unexpected was that although this joke caused everyone to laugh happily, the laughter soon stopped.

Someone cursed: "Damn it, my aunt's daughter-in-law's brother's brother-in-law is a tenant farmer in the Cui family of Boling, and he wants to split the crops 30% and 70%!"

"Why is it only 70%?" Li Jingren asked with a frown.

The man sneered, "70%? 70% belongs to them. Even so, we still have to look at their faces. If we make the master unhappy, they will beat and scold us at any time! There is nothing we can do. Who let them be the nobles for generations? They are noble, and beating us to death is useless! At most, we can let some servant take the blame, and make a big thing small, and finally just pretend that nothing happened!"

"Join the damn Cui family!" Everyone around echoed: "This is too much. Farming the land requires paying 70% rent. Don't your...relatives know how to run away? You have your own legs."

"Run? You are someone's tenant farmer. If you run away, you will be in trouble!" the man cursed.

In fact, in the early years of the Zhenguan Period, tenant farmers were still protected by powerful landlords and included in the landlords' household registers, just like in the Southern and Northern Dynasties. If tenant farmers wanted to gain freedom, they had to go through procedures such as release and self-redemption.

After all, the people of Chang'an could not imagine the hard life of the tenant farmers, but people have empathy. Because the extravagant life of Shandong gentry was widely known in Chang'an, and sympathy for the weak was human nature, the people of Chang'an could not empathize with them, but instead had great sympathy for these tenant farmers.

This made the people of Chang'an point at their spines and curse them.

"These powerful families are really a bunch of schistosomiasis!" someone cursed indignantly.

Thanks to the recent edict issued by Li Shimin, everyone finally knows that the devil that is rampant in the Jiangnan region is called schistosomiasis, which specializes in parasitizing in the human body, causing various diseases and even leading to the death of the host.

Li Jingren's face froze, he felt that he was also affected by AOE.

"Mr. Li, you don't count." Someone comforted him, "Everyone in Chang'an knows that the Crown Prince cares about the people and leads them to prosperity. Mr. Li is the Crown Prince's man, how could he be the same as those aristocratic families?"

"Ahem." Li Jingren coughed twice and continued, "There's one last joke. Do you want to hear it?"

"Anything else? We must listen to it!" everyone said happily.

If before they just listened to the excitement and for fun, now the people, whose hatred towards the aristocratic families and powerful people has been aroused, just want to see how they are being framed.

"The head of the Cui family is about to come to Chang'an. In order to show respect to the head of the second branch of the Boling Cui family, who has been a noble family for generations, the Cui family members asked the painter to paint "The Head of the Cui Family in Chang'an" as a gift for the head of the Cui family. After all, he is a first-class noble family, and the painter cannot refuse him face, so he accepted this task very reluctantly."

"After the painting was completed, Cui's son came to inspect it, but he was shocked by the result."

"The picture shows a man and a woman having a secret meeting in a small pavilion, and the scenery outside the window is Boling."

"'What is this? Who is this woman?!' The Cui family member asked angrily."

"'The mistress of Cui's family,' the painter replied."

"What about the men?"

"He is Patriarch Cui's younger brother."

"But where is the Patriarch of the Cui family?"

"The Patriarch of the Cui family is in Chang'an."

The arrangement of these jokes was very clever. The first joke was to let everyone relax the atmosphere; the second joke was to arouse everyone's hatred towards the wealthy and powerful families who exploited the people; and the third joke was a counterattack against the Shandong gentry who had thrown dirty water on Li Shu.

If you are slandered, the first thing you should do should not be to prove yourself, but to use magic to defeat the magic and throw the dirty water back.

Just like when someone slanders and secretly photographs you on the subway, your first reaction should not be to prove your innocence, but to question whether the person is hallucinating because of drug addiction.

There was a burst of laughter in the restaurant. After telling the joke, Li Jingren could not hold it in any longer. He held his stomach and laughed out loud. He sat on the chair and started pounding the table.

It is foreseeable that a well-known meme will be born from now on - "The Head of the Cui Family in Chang'an".

However, what Li Jingren didn't know was that the joke he told was in perfect coordination with Li Shu, and even produced an effect where one plus one was greater than two.

(Sleep first, the next chapter will be postponed, I will catch up as soon as I can, I have been trying to persuade them all night long...)
(End of this chapter)