Chapter 2387 Publius

Three days later, Joan received an article from Rebecca, which was written by her. From an objective and neutral point of view, with detailed evidence, she summarized the causes and consequences of the "tea drinking incident" and clarified the truth.

After reading it, Joan felt that every sentence spoke to her heart, so she wrote back and discussed it with Rebecca.

He thought it was just an ordinary correspondence, but Rebecca printed this political commentary into a pamphlet the next day, signed it as "Mr. Publius", cast a spell and disguised as a hired newsboy, and distributed it on the streets of Leiden City.

In this day and age, there are no more than two channels for public expression of political opinions, either in the newspapers or in the streets distributing leaflets.

"Brochures" are simply longer leaflets that are expensive to print and usually not free.

In the inland provinces of the empire, including some conservative colonies, there are publication review agencies, and the government does not allow the private printing and distribution of leaflets. For publications involving politics and religion, the supervision is particularly strict.

But in the colony of Alfheim, especially since the outbreak of the land-tax boycott, there has been no restraint on the distribution of leaflets.

Even leaflets that blatantly threaten tea dealers and their families like the "Warning Bell" can be distributed publicly. Be treated with mercy?

Unfortunately, the reality is not the case.

The day after the pamphlet was distributed, it caused an uproar in the city. The radicals believed that this was a counterattack by the royalists. On the one hand, they organized pens to write articles to refute it, and on the other hand, they secretly investigated the true identity of "Mr. Publius", trying to physically eliminate this hateful enemy.

The "Public Safety Committee" under the Leiden City Council also took action upon hearing the news, sent people to search the streets, recovered the pamphlet promoting "fallacy and heresy" and immediately destroyed it, and the signatory "Publius" was wanted throughout the city.

This farce made Qiao An dumbfounded.

Mr. Jefferson, the chairman of the Congress, once wrote a book and advocated that everyone should enjoy "freedom of speech and press", but the Congress under his presidency does not allow others to express dissent publicly. This is really a vivid black humor.

Coincidentally, on the same day that the entire city was being hunted for "Publius", someone posted a post on the Yunwang forum to inquire about the root cause of the turmoil in the Alfheim colony.

Joan posted Rebecca's article without much thought, and admitted that he is a native of Leiden Port. Personal experience can prove that this article written by "Mr. true.

The questions he answered on Yunwang.com had a lot of reposting and citing articles, but he didn't take it seriously.

However, the subsequent development of the situation quickly got out of control.

The article posted by Qiao An sparked heated discussions on the Yunwang Forum, and the high popularity quickly attracted the attention of the forum administrators. The next day, the article was recommended to the homepage of the "Yunwang News" page, and it was well received by readers from all over the world. With widespread attention, the heat of discussion has skyrocketed, and most outsiders are critical of the "tea dumping incident" that was coerced by smuggling groups.

Readers on Yunwang.com don't know the real identity behind the nickname "314", but it's not hard for people in Port Leiden to guess it.

On June 11, a reporter named James Callender published an article in a tabloid, declaring by name that Joan Vida, a visiting scholar at Leiden College, was the so-called "Publius", "A hard-core lackey of the royalists", "a vile schemer and demagogue", "attempting to distort the truth", "slandering and smearing the just actions of the people of Alfheim against the tea tax".

This tabloid was not included in Joan's subscription. It was not until the next morning that he learned that someone published an article from Rebecca's urgent "SMS" and gave himself a lot of unwarranted "hats" ".

Joann had never known James Callender, and had no idea how he could have mistaken "Publius" for himself.

As for the abusive and speculative article written by this person, Joan squeezed his nose and threw it into the trash can after reading it, not wanting to waste time fighting against such a villain with the title of "literati".

This incident sounded the alarm for him, and he immediately canceled his cloud network nickname, changed to a new account, and warned himself that he must never disclose real information on the Internet in the future, so as not to cause such troubles.

At this time, Joan's state of mind was relatively peaceful, until he walked into the campus, and was surprised to find groups of young students shouting and protesting against Leiden College's acceptance of "royalist lackeys" in the school.

That's right, the "royalist lackey" refers to him, Joan Vader.

Just when Joan was at a loss, the angry students were no longer satisfied with shouting slogans, grabbed sticks and rushed into his office, smashed the experimental equipment, and threw his desk out of the window on the third floor. It fell to pieces.

As the climax of this "resist the royalist party in the school", the students of the Austrian law major used their whimsy to make an "activated scarecrow", wrote Joan's name on the back, and tied it around the neck with a rope. Parade around the campus with a scarecrow.

Demonstrating students set up a fire on the playground, imitating the famous "witch hunts" in the history of the empire, and finally threw the activated scarecrow symbolizing Joan into the pyre for execution.

Joan stayed away from the crowd and watched the farce silently, as if sitting in a theater and watching a funny performance on the stage.

He could understand how the students, inflamed by the tabloid rumors, would take their anger out on his office and dolls, who hasn't been young and impulsive?

However, there must always be a bottom line in everything. Qiao An hopes that this farce will be enough. If the fanatical students try to attack him or his teachers, relatives and friends, he can no longer hold back.

In a secluded corner of the campus, Joan lowered his cloak and hood, crossed his arms, and leaned against a big tree to watch the excitement.

At this time, there was a sudden commotion in the middle of the troubled crowd. Allen struggled to push away the crowd, his face flushed with anger, followed by Thomas and Edward, who were also full of anger.

Regardless of the student's obstruction, the three rushed to the fire and rescued the "activated scarecrow" that symbolized Joan—half of which had been charred.

Allen raised his voice to refute the slander against Joan in the tabloids, trying to clarify the truth and persuade the manic classmates to calm down.

However, his efforts were meaningless, and no one paid any attention to them. Instead, he put himself in a dangerous situation, and was regarded as an accomplice of the "conspirator" by the angry students, who rushed to attack Allen, Edward and Thomas.

...

Remarks: Publius and Alexander Hamilton

"Publius" was the pseudonym of Alexander Hamilton.

As far as I am concerned, among the many "fathers of the nation" in the United States, the most visionary is none other than Hamilton.

In fact, at the beginning of writing this book, I once wanted to use Hamilton as the prototype of the protagonist. Although I later gave up this original intention (the protagonist’s orphan background is one of the traces of the original design), this does not affect my respect for the great Alexander. A tribute to Hamilton.

·Historical Materials: Press Freedom and the "Safety Committee" ("Free Exiles" [US] Maya Yasanoff)

In January 1776, Thomas Paine published a pamphlet entitled "Common Sense", which aggressively and loudly defended the independence and republic of North America.

Inglis immediately wrote a pamphlet entitled "A Fair Account of the True Interests of North America" ​​rebutting Paine's views with emotion and reason.

Paine's texts were published anonymously as "An Englishman," but Irish-born Inglis proudly signed his own pamphlet "A North American."

Inglis hoped that Paine's pamphlet would be "forgotten like other writings". But in fact, it became a sensation as soon as it was published. It is said that 500,000 copies were sold in 1776 alone, which is equivalent to one copy for every five North Americans. support independence.

Instead, Inglis's pamphlets were confiscated by the printer and burned, which Inglis denounced as "a merciless violation of the freedom of the press".

More offenses ensue. The New York Safety Committee ordered the Loyalist-leaning trustees of King's College to empty the library of the college so that the whole building could be turned into a barracks for the Continental Army.

In May 1776, suspected New York Loyalists were rounded up and forced to surrender all the weapons they had. The following month, more were captured by the mob and "forced to ride on sticks, naked and bruised. Many were forced to flee the city, never daring to return".