Among those countless names, some were written in such wild, dragon-soaring, phoenix-dancing strokes that he could not decipher them, while others were simply names he did not know.
Zi Shou could fully recognize fewer than a hundred of them.
But that did nothing to diminish the righteous cause embodied in this Memorial on the Campaign.
The civil officials and military commanders went without saying. The court was full of Yue Feis and Zhuge Liangs, serving their country with unwavering loyalty, bending their backs to the task until death, and pouring out their hearts and blood.
The commoners' signatures, on the other hand, were not particularly useful. There had been a petition signed by ten thousand people when Li Jing was imprisoned, too. Beyond giving people something to talk about, padding the numbers, and making the Memorial on the Campaign a little longer, they served no purpose.
What mattered were the signatures of the nobles.
Though they were useless to the state, spending their days eating, drinking, buying here, and selling there, amassing fortunes and wallowing in extravagant indulgence, they had prestige.
Prestige throughout the world, put plainly, meant recognition.
Judged by the prevailing beliefs of the age, the significance of these nobles signing the Memorial on the Campaign far outweighed even that of the civil officials, military commanders, and common people.
Because this was what constituted a righteous cause under the current worldview.
Suppose a tyrant appeared, and a feudal lord wished to act in Heaven's name and overthrow that immoral, muddleheaded ruler.
Tens of thousands of commoners might be trapped in deep water and scorching fire, suffering beyond words, and jointly submit a Memorial on the Campaign asking that lord to send troops to save them. Yet the lord certainly would not dare, because commoners did not count as