"You're damn crazy!"
"Couldn't you have just held on?"
The second stooge, being dragged away, snapped back to awareness upon hearing this and glared at the other with killing intent.
"Heh... heh..."
The first stooge sneered, returning his gaze.
"You're so noble!"
"You're so amazing!"
"You stuffed that pill down my throat and then tell me to hold on."
"Where's your face?"
With that, he turned back to continue his confession.
"The Prefect of Huzhou, Liu Dongyang, a member of the Hedong Liu clan!"
"It's not just them; other aristocratic families are involved."
"That's all I know. Please give me a quick death!"
Fang Er looked towards Zhang Gongjin. He wasn't familiar with these aristocratic families, so this guy should know more.
Indeed, after hearing the stooge's confession, Zhang Gongjin frowned and muttered in confusion.
"Hedong Liu clan, I've heard of them."
"They're just a minor clan, not even worth mentioning. How dare they oppose the imperial court?"
The first stooge, eager for a quick end, explained.
"Seven or eight years ago, the Hedong Liu clan was indeed insignificant."
"But with the decline of major clans like the Li, Cui, Lu, Zheng, and Wang, minor families like the Hedong Liu clan seized their opportunity!"
Fang Er understood!
The downfall of the Five Great Clans and Seven Noble Families had paved the way for the rapid development of smaller and medium-sized families.
Furthermore, the continuous expansion of the empire in recent years had created a significant talent shortage for positions like county magistrates and prefects.
With the deep foundations of these smaller and medium-sized families, it was simple to select individuals to step into prominent roles!
Zhang Gongjin clearly grasped this as well, and he looked at Fang Er with a bitter expression.
"Brother, this time it seems to be troublesome!"
"There are countless families like the Hedong Liu clan in the Great Tang!"
"You can name a few in almost every province and region!"
"If they are the ones orchestrating this from the shadows, Yangzhou won't be the only place experiencing problems!"
He then looked at the stooge on the rack.
"What about the physicians who were swapped? Are they alive or dead?"
"We don't know. We were just replacements. They were taken away by our superiors."
Since the confession had begun, there was no longer any need to hide anything. The stooge answered fluently.
Seeing that no further information could be extracted, Zhang Gongjin ordered the donkey-faced man.
"Drag him out and chop him!"
As for the Hedong Liu clan, this was beyond his jurisdiction.
He could only dispatch a message to Chang'an for Li Shimin to handle.
The four gates of Yangzhou city were tightly shut. The swapped physicians were certainly still within the city, and the supervisory army was conducting house-to-house searches.
Those apprehended from the Liu family pharmacy were also interrogated and tortured overnight.
The next morning, the donkey-faced man arrived with dark circles under his eyes to report.
"My lord, that Liu Liangren is just a steward of the Liu family."
"He only confessed to a Liu family estate twenty li west of the city, used for stockpiling grain."
"Other than that, he has no useful information."
Upon hearing this result, Zhang Gongjin pushed his rice bowl away.
"Immediately dispatch men to apprehend them! We must not let these villains escape!"
"I want to see how many stooges the Liu family has!"
The donkey-faced man received the order and had barely left when another soldier rushed in with news.
"My lord, something bad has happened! Please look at this!"
As he spoke, he handed over a newspaper.
The Great Tang Daily
"Bai Niangzi violently killed people, countless citizens died on the spot, all because of the plague?"
"The Yangzhou Supervisory Prefecture intends to rebel, who gave them the courage!"
"Doors and windows sealed, forty thousand troops severing north and south, what does Duke Zou intend?"
"Second Kings conspire, slaughtering civilians, is it willful disregard or an imperial decree?"
Each headline sent a shiver down Fang Er's spine.
There was no doubt that the newspaper was fake, but if this fell into the hands of the common people, even a hundred mouths couldn't explain it clearly!
He asked the soldier, "Where did it come from?"
"Reporting to my lord, we found this accidentally in a commoner's home while searching for the missing physicians!"
The soldier clasped his hands and replied.
Damn it!
What they feared had come to pass!
"Bang!"
Zhang Gongjin's beard bristled with anger, and he slammed his fist on the table.
"Presumptuous!"
"Illegally printing newspapers is a crime punishable by the extermination of nine generations of relatives!"
"Who gave them the audacity!"
"Summon all the army commanders and regimental officers back here! I want to ask them what they've been eating!"
"With so many men on guard duty, they still allowed this thing to be thrown into the homes of the common people."
"Am I raising a bunch of useless brutes?"
Every year, numerous schools were completed and put into use throughout the Great Tang, and the literacy rate among the populace was rapidly increasing.
Adults needed to work and farm, but those idle children were all studying in schools!
This was also the prosperous Yangzhou, with a strong literary tradition, and almost every household could find someone who could read and write.
This was a propaganda war against the imperial court!
The soldier left to relay the orders, and Zhang Gongjin, in his anger, slumped back into his chair.
Fang Er stared at the newspaper without speaking.
After more than ten minutes, he suddenly called out.
"Someone!"
"My lord!"
Ge Luoyang pushed the door open and entered.
"You go back to Fang Family Village and bring Xue Zhiqian here, and be quick!"
"Yes!"
Xue Zhiqian was the authority on Tang newspapers; he was the one who managed it from the very beginning. Hopefully, with his arrival, he could find some clues from this newspaper.
Ge Luoyang left the Supervisory Prefecture and headed straight for the granary outside the city, where hundreds of gold dredging ships were docked.
The distance from Yangzhou to Chang'an was a thousand kilometers.
But in just one hour, Xue Zhiqian stood before Fang Er.
"Take a good look, see if you can find any clues."
Holding the newspaper, the man first rubbed it vigorously with his hands.
He then sniffed the ink on his fingers.
The next moment, he frowned.
He extended his tongue and tasted it again.
"Mingzhou ink!"
"And from Yang Shi Ink Workshop!"
"They added fish glue to the ink, which needs to be heated before use to dissolve."
"This ink dries extremely quickly after being printed on paper!"
"They sent a batch to the printing house before, wanting to establish a long-term supply."
"But after the ink dried, its smell was significantly different from other inks, and it was very prone to attracting insects and ants, so I rejected it."
Zhang Gongjin picked up the newspaper and smelled it, indeed detecting a slightly pungent odor.
"Do you know who is behind Yang Shi Ink Workshop?"
Xue Zhiqian shook his head. "I don't know."
Just then, Zhou Yanxi's voice came from outside the door.
"My lord, Brother Lai is here!"
Fang Er's heart was filled with joy; this person had arrived at the perfect time.
"Quick, let him in!"
As the words fell, Lai Yifa entered the tent with two guards, each pulling a large suitcase.