The Art of Spreading Rumors

After the plan was set, the next step was to implement it. The first step of the whole plan was to spread rumors. Spreading rumors is actually a skill that requires a lot of expertise. Who should spread the rumors and how to amplify them are all matters of skill.

Generally speaking, high-end newspapers like * Science Truth Daily * are not used to actively spread rumors. Spreading rumors is usually done by smaller, less reputable newspapers first. For example, in this case, the rumor first appeared in * France, Forward!!*, a tabloid rife with chauvinistic sentiments.

According to the France, Forward! *, the Turkey Sultan has sent a special France discuss the purchase of a cannon factory on behalf of His Majesty the Great Sultan, in order to produce cannons.

The France, Forward! claims. Every few days, it would publish nonsense like "shouted invincible" or "upon seeing **, such-and-such country immediately knelt down." Basically, everyone just treated it as a form of entertainment.

So when the rumor was published in France, Forward!!, it didn't attract any attention. Neither ordinary citizens, nor the Turkey or Russia ambassadors to France, noticed it. If such things needed attention, the France wouldn't need to do anything else.

However, what followed immediately attracted attention. First, the France Ministry of Police suddenly raided and shut down * France, Forward! *, arresting its reporters and editors. The reason, of course, was spreading rumors. But in France, where freedom of speech is guaranteed, while spreading rumors isn't entirely without legal consequences, it's generally not pursued legally. The Ministry of Police's blatant disregard for "freedom of speech" immediately drew the attention of some media outlets.

Soon, these media outlets discovered that things weren't so simple. Generally speaking, these kinds of "rumor-mongering" cases, even if pursued, mostly involve civil liability. Even if they lost in court, they usually didn't go to jail; instead, they would publish an apology in the newspaper and pay some money to settle the matter. So, in general, the parties involved in these cases wouldn't be imprisoned.

However, the editors and reporters of * France, Forward! * were all imprisoned. And it wasn't just them; a reporter from * Traditional France *, who happened to be visiting a friend at the * France, Forward! * editorial office, was also arrested and hasn't been released yet.

Traditional France is a conservative newspaper that claims to "preserve the national heritage" and "protect the national essence" of France in an era of great change. Many people know that it may have Royalist Party ties. But in any case, it is a legitimate media outlet. It is a terrible violation of freedom of speech for a journalist from a legitimate media outlet to be arrested and imprisoned simply for sitting in the editorial office of a friendly newspaper.

So, * Traditional France * was the first to strike, publishing a special issue with the words "Release them!" prominently displayed on the front page. Below was a scathing critique of the Ministry of Police's abuse of power and infringement on press freedom, concluding with the lines: "Though our newspaper is small, it still has some backbone!"

Following this, many newspapers also expressed their support for Traditional France. For a time, the newspapers were all buzzing with excitement.

This immediately piqued the interest of the onlookers, who quickly ordered coffee and desserts at the cafe, settling in to watch the show unfold.

However, things took an unexpected turn. Suddenly, almost all the newspapers fell silent, and Traditional France even published an article stating that the media should not interfere with judicial independence.

In the coffee shop, new rumors began to circulate, saying that just yesterday, the Ministry of Police had urgently summoned the heads of several major media outlets, told them some things, and then everyone fell silent. As for what the Ministry of Police had told them, sorry, that's a state secret, I can't say, I can't say.

This matter then began to attract the attention of some diplomats. Upon further investigation, they discovered that the specific issue of * France, Forward!!* was completely unavailable; it seemed to have been recalled and destroyed. They then noticed an article in * Science Truth Daily * stating, "Spreading rumors does not fall under freedom of speech."

This article in * Science Truth Daily * strongly condemns the practice of spreading rumors and misleading public opinion. It states that both the rumors in * France, Forward! * and the recent rumors circulating in cafes concerning so-called "state secrets" are nonsense and irresponsible abuses of freedom of speech. Such practices will ultimately damage freedom of speech.

The report in * France, Forward! * is no longer available, but it's not difficult to get the gist of it. So the Russia were startled, while the Turkey felt they'd wasted their time; it really was just a rumor.

But at this moment, the sudden appearance of a big name like the newspaper "Science Truth Daily" to refute the rumors startled both the Russia and the Turkey.

Nowadays, everyone is quite familiar with the characteristics of Science Truth Daily. Everyone knows that Science Truth Daily never lies, yet it is the most adept at deceiving people.

At first, the Russia breathed a sigh of relief because * Science Truth Daily * said the news was a rumor. * Science Truth Daily * never lies, so if it said it was a rumor, then it must be a rumor. But before they could fully relax, they immediately remembered * Science Truth Daily *'s second characteristic: * Science Truth Daily * is the best at lying.

That news was a rumor, but what is a rumor? Anything untrue is a rumor. For example, the news said the negotiations were for an artillery factory, but in fact it was for a gun factory—wasn't that a rumor? Or, for instance, the news said it was one artillery factory, but it turned out to be two, or a single arsenal producing both guns and cannons—wasn't that also a rumor? In short: * Science Truth Daily * is extremely cunning; we must be careful not to be fooled by it. -- And so, the Russia became even more nervous.

Meanwhile, the Turkey were also on edge, having noticed the clarification from * Science Truth Daily * newspaper. They knew * Science Truth Daily * was a reliable source of truth and a master of deception. So they immediately began to wonder: what exactly was * Science Truth Daily * trying to cover up?

The Turkey, of course, knew that they had no cooperation with the France in any artillery factories, gun factories, or other factories, and they hadn't sent any special envoys... But what if the only thing in this message that was a rumor was the word "Turkey"?

Although France and Turkey are traditional allies with a long-standing friendship, recently the France have also grown closer to Russia. France has accepted a large number of Russia students and exported a considerable amount of weaponry to Russia. The France... sigh, when my France used to watch the moon with me, he called me "Sweetie"; now that someone new has taken over, will he call me a heretic?

Finally, both the Turkey and the Russia couldn't hold back any longer, and they both tried to find out from the France government through various channels whether or not the factory was really being sold to them.

The France government, however, stated that it had not taken such action. Of course, the France also values friendship with any country in the world willing to be friendly with France and is willing to maintain mutually beneficial economic and trade relations with them. The France government has no trade embargoes against either Turkey or Russia, so as long as they can find suitable business partners and conduct transactions and pay taxes in accordance with the law, the France government will not interfere with specific legitimate commercial activities.

The meaning is quite clear: as long as you have the money and can find a seller, you can buy whatever you want.

So the Russia were the first to ask, "Um, could I purchase the relevant technology from the Lorraine Steel Plant?"

The answer he received was, of course, "You can talk to Lorraine Steel Company."

Of course, trying to negotiate this with Lorraine Steel Company at this point would be like asking a tiger for its skin.

The Russia then asked, "What if we want to buy gun and artillery technology? Can we just contact the Bonaparte Arsenal directly?"

The question received an affirmative answer, and the Bonaparte Arsenal seemed very interested in the deal. Negotiations quickly began, and the Russia negotiators checked into a hotel attached to the Bonaparte Arsenal. Then they discovered a group of Turkey staying next door...

This arrangement was certainly not unintentional. In fact, this kind of tactic became quite common in later generations. Back in the Iran-Iraq War, neither Iran nor Iraq could produce 152mm artillery shells themselves. But these were high-volume, fast-moving consumer goods, so purchasing agents from both countries searched the world for sources. At the time, only Russia and Red Hare Kingdom produced these shells. Russia's shells were of excellent quality, but they were also very expensive. Everyone else couldn't afford to use Russia's shells, so they all came to the Red Hare Kingdom to buy them.

Then the shameless little rabbit arranged for the representatives of both families to stay in the same building, even next door to each other. After that, both families felt immense pressure, fearing that if they didn't buy more, all the bricks would be bought by others. Then the shameless little rabbit happily started counting its small amount of money.

This time, the France arrangement had a similar effect. Soon, both the Russia and the Turkey reached a package agreement with Bonaparte Arms Industry to purchase arms factories and related technologies.