kingnovel Chapter 1273 Five Fake News Items
Chapter 1273 Five Fake News Items
To show how much importance she attached to this assessment, Shen Zheng specially sent people to spread five messages throughout the prefectural city.
All five messages were fake.
False rumor 1: The government will join forces with the Salt and Iron Bureau to crack down on smuggled salt, and salt prices may rise by 30%. Smart people are already stockpiling salt!
Fake news #2: Linjiang linen merchants brought tens of thousands of taels of silver to Liuyang Prefecture to buy up goods, saying they wanted to monopolize all linen in Liuyang Prefecture, and the owners of cloth shops in the West Market have already started "limited sales"!
Fake News #3 – Shocking! Locusts aren't scary; what's scary is that they're terrified of vinegar! Here's a trick: splash vinegar to repel locusts and protect your crops!
False rumor number four: Headmaster Hou of Luming Academy will arrive in Liuyang Prefecture tomorrow to conduct his first inter-prefecture lecture. Admission is only five coins, and places are limited, first come, first served!
Myth #5: "Ling San" is contagious. If you accidentally come into contact with someone who has inhaled "Ling San", immediately abstain from water and food, and empty your internal organs to ensure your life is safe!
These five fake news items share several common characteristics—they all appear to be useful information about livelihoods and studies, but in reality, they contain logical flaws and have a low barrier to entry for dissemination, making them extremely easy to trigger a bandwagon effect.
The move was made by Yu Shizhang.
The message was drafted by Shen Zheng.
Before the "newsbook" was officially collected, neither Shen Zheng nor Yu Shizhang had imagined that so many people would fall victim to it.
As dusk fell, the last rays of the sun slanted through the windowpanes and into the main hall of the government office.
On the desk were two hundred and fourteen "newsbooks".
Yu Shizhang casually picked up a book, glanced at it, and tossed it back onto the desk.
"The middle three."
Shen Zheng had a headache, so she picked up a booklet. As soon as she opened it, the words "Hou Shanzhang of Luming Academy" caught her eye. Then, as she looked down, the words "private salt" came into view.
"...the middle two."
With a skeptical attitude, she picked up another book and opened it to take a look—
The good news is that there isn't a single piece of fake news in the book.
The bad news is that there is only one message in the register: "The autumn harvest has been completed throughout Liuyang Prefecture."
Well, it's still an outdated piece of true news.
Yu Shizhang threw one "newsletter" after another back onto the table, clutching his head in pain: "Shen Zheng, look at this, it hurts my head."
What kind of assessment of community officials is this?
This is clearly a test of his patience!
Shen Zheng sat stiffly for a moment, then stood up: "I'll go call Xiao Xu over to watch together."
He had only taken a couple of steps, and hadn't even stepped out the door, when Xu Yunyan arrived: "My lord, I've finished my business and come to help you and the Earl."
Shen Zheng was overjoyed and went back to divide the "newsbook" on the table into three stacks.
“One person, one stack. Let’s first remove the booklets that contain fake news, and then review the quality of the news together.”
Yu Shizhang sighed and nodded, "That's all we can do. Let the cook prepare a few more dishes later, and we'll have dinner at the yamen tonight."
Shen Zheng and Xu Yunyan had no objections and picked up the booklets to get to work.
Before we knew it, the sun had completely set, and the rustling sound of pages turning in the hall gradually stopped.
"I'm all better," Shen Zheng said first.
Xu Yunyan nodded with a smile: "This humble official is ready as well."
The two of them looked at Yu Shizhang at the same time.
Under their watchful eyes, Yu Shizhang slammed the last booklet in his hand into the "discard pile" and let out a long sigh of relief: "Done."
After the initial review is completed, the next step is "reconciliation".
Shen Zheng pointed to the booklets in her hand that had passed the initial review: "Twelve books."
Xu Yunyan replied, "This humble official also has twelve copies."
Yu Shizhang clicked his tongue: "I only have eight books. Shen Zheng, I have to say, these fake news you made up are really malicious; more than 80% of people have fallen for them."
In total, out of more than two hundred applicants, only thirty-two were not misled by the false information.
Shen Zheng looked at the dwindling number of booklets on her desk and sighed softly: "Distinguishing between true and false information is the most important and basic skill for a journalist."
Yesterday, Yu Shizhang had already learned the meaning of the word "news" from her, but hearing it again now still felt new: "Besides that, what other abilities does an excellent 'journalist' need?"
Shen Zheng had already pondered this question in her mind many times: "We also need to know how to 'listen' and 'choose'."
"Listen to public opinion?" Yu Shizhang asked.
Shen Zheng nodded.
"Then what should we choose?" Yu Shizhang asked again, "What should we choose?"
"Among numerous news reports, discard the superficial, discard the sensational, and discard the biases influenced by power."
Shen Zheng first spoke of "giving up," and then about "taking": "'Take' the hardships of ordinary people hidden in the hustle and bustle of the city, 'take' the true edges hidden in the notices of government offices, and 'take' those ordinary things that no one dares to speak out about, but which are related to thousands of households. It is in this process of taking and giving up that the ability of journalists is reflected, and that is the true value of news."
“Value…” Yu Shizhang pondered for a moment, then opened the booklet in his hand again: “Then let me see what the value is in the news they collected today.”
"Gurgle—" Before Shen Zheng could speak, her internal organs answered first.
Yu Shizhang slowly closed the booklet and tentatively asked, "How about... we look at it again tomorrow?"
A gentle breeze blew by, causing the shadows of the trees outside the hall to sway, and the chirping of the night insects paused for a moment.
Shen Zheng smiled and said, "Actually... there's no rush, it's not tonight."
"That makes perfect sense!" Yu Shizhang stood up immediately: "Let's eat, then go home!"
"Let's go!" Shen Zheng immediately followed.
The three of them walked briskly out of the main hall one after another.
Autumn nights are the most gentle, neither cold nor hot, neither hurried nor restless.
It's a bit dry.
......
A light rain fell during the night.
Shen Zheng and the other two arrived at the government office at 1:15 a.m. The ground was still wet and the lights were still on, with the yellow light slowly moving in the puddle.
The bailiff reported, "Lord Shen, Lord Fang from the Salt and Iron Bureau has arrived and is waiting for you in the hall."
Fang Qizheng?
Shen Zheng and Yu Shizhang exchanged a glance, then simultaneously slapped their foreheads: "Zinc!"
They agreed on three days, but they both forgot because they were so busy.
Counting the days, today is already the fifth day.
The two started walking towards the main hall at the same time. After taking a few steps, Shen Zheng felt that she should not show favoritism to either of them, so she took the initiative to invite Xu Yunyan: "Xiao Xu, come along, I'll show you some new things."
"Yes, sir." Xu Yunyan's lips curled up almost imperceptibly.
Upon entering the hall, Shen Zheng immediately spotted the wooden box next to Fang Qi's feet.
Fang Qizheng stood up and bowed: "Lord Shen, Lord Earl, Lord Xu."
Shen Zheng nodded and stepped forward, her gaze fixed on him: "Is it zinc?"
Fang Qizheng immediately bent down and opened the box, explaining the reason for the delay of one day: "After the first two purifications, the zinc ingots always stuck to the mold and were difficult to remove, which is why they were delivered a day late. I hope Lord Shen will forgive me."
Looking at the fist-sized, matte gray zinc ingots inside the box, Shen Zheng waved his hand: "One day is enough. This official and the Earl can wait."