Post by Lao Xun on Nov 2, 2009 22:51:08 GMT
Public speaking wasn't anything new to Lao Xun. In fact, he found it easier than ordinary conversation. On a one-to-one basis, well, it was hard to avoid the stupidities and mistakes of your conversational partner. When the only person talking was you, with at most the odd person calling out, it was just so much... more convenient. You talked, made your point, the people listened. What could be simpler?
Well, as it turned out, talking and not being heard was pretty easy stuff too...
*
"Ugh! How can they just ... just... keep on going about their business!?"
Lao Xun was not happy in the least. He'd been in this square of Xu Chang for why, all of five minutes, and nobody had even looked as if they were BEGINNING to assemble some kind of crowd. The sheer gall of it! Especially since Xun had status now (not that he wasn't important before, of course), it was simply maddening!
The muscular soldier that Xun had brought alone for the look of things paused and gave his commander an incredulous glance (making sure the other's back was turned first). He'd thought they were here to observe the people or something, not make a speech to them...
"Uh... sir?" he ventured, feeling a little anxious in spite of himself. He wasn't a large man, not in terms of height, anyway, but although Xun stood some four inches taller than him, he had to outweigh the slender man by twenty pounds. All the same, there was... a certain something about Xun. He wasn't frightening, but there was a cruel edge to him.
"What!?" Lao Xun rounded on his subordinate, who flinched, but continued.
"Well, uh... if the people don't know you're planning on making a speech, they might not think to stop going about their business. They might just think you're, well, uh... watching then," Xun frowned, then slapped his head with the heel of his palm.
"You make a good point, Lu Ren was it? Come on, you'd better have a good shouting voice."
"Actually sir, my name's Zhou Liao..."
Lao Xun, so far as Liao could tell, either totally ignored him, or was too preoccupied in heading to the centre of the square to pay any attention. Either way, he didn't acknowledge the correction. Liao rolled his eyes and followed after his superior.
"Okay, what I want you to yell, in your loudest voice, is that the most esteemed Wei... actually, I don't even know if I have a rank yet. Erm... okay, scratch that. Let them know that Lao Xun, an... associate of Cao Cao, wishes to speak with them."
Xun looked at his subordinate expectantly, and the latter suppressed a sigh. Xun didn't have much clarity, but oh well... he'd have to make the best of it.
"Attention!" Liao yelled in his best drill sergeant voice. "Citizens of Xu Chang, please spare a moment of your time to listen to this announcement by Lord Lao Xun, an associate of our Lord Cao Cao!"
Lao Xun nodded approvingly, and stepped forward, letting a small smile come onto his face as he saw people stopping what they were doing and shuffling towards the centre of the square. Already, a small crowd was forming.
"Thank you Li Shun,"" Liao winced. "Anyway... thank you, all of you, for lending me your ears. I promise not to waste your time," of course, it was something that Xun had to say. How could it possibly be a waste of ANYONE's time? "I'm here on the behalf of not just myself, but all of Wei," a little artistic liscence there, but what the hey, these people didn't need to know that, right?
"I understand that after Chi Bi, all of you are going to be thinking that Wei has been shaken. Perhaps that Cao Cao has lost his touch, that we blundered, that Wu is on the rise. I say nonesense! I know of a saying, and it's a very simple one. What doesn't kill you, simply makes you stronger. I pose you this question... does the Wei army look defeated? Do soldiers not patrol the cities, are there not guards manning the walls?
If that is what a broken army looks like, then I would certainly tremble to see one in full repair.
At Chi Bi, the Wei army buckled, but it did not break. There is such a thing, gentlemen, as a tactical retreat. The battle became unwinnable, and so we withdrew. I have heard people refer to this as cowardice, but I call them fools! Better to be a 'coward' and alive, able to sword in hand wreak bloody vengeance upon those who defeated you before, than a bold man lying dead upon the battlefield! Dead soldiers are of no use to anyone but the carrion, and a wise general does his best to preserve his men!"
"Then what does that make Cao Cao then!?"
The smug, confident smile on Lao Xun's face dropped clean off as a man with greying hair forced his way to the front of the crowd. Xun scowled at him for ruining the flow of his speech (which had been going well, even if he did say so himself). However, the interrupter ignored the foul glare he was receiving and continued to speak.
"I lost two sons and a brother to the Wei army, one of them not even AT Chi Bi. If you and the great Lord Cao Cao are so wise in taking care of their men, then why in heaven's name do any of the soldiers die!?"
"Are you a fool!?" Xun snapped, causing the ageing man to take a step back in surprise, jaw dropping. "This is war, not an afternoon stroll to the river! In conflict, people die, it is a fact! Does a man become incompetent because he can't win a battle without losing soldiers!? Of COURSE not! I understand that your loss pains you, but it was the choice of your relatives to SUPPORT their liege, and in dying for him, they all brought us ONE STEP closer to peace! No man that dies in Wei's service dies in vain, and no man that lives and fights in Wei's service could be said to be throwing away an opportunity.
A man who fights for US fights for peace, he fights for China, he fights for the ideal that one day, his family may wake up into a world with NO violence, NO wars, and why? Because that is all OVER. Cao Cao is no fool, he doesn't throw away lives needlessly, your sons, your brother... I'm sure that they would be honoured to know that with their sacrifice, in the future, many others will be free of the baleful glare of war.
So please, each of you... I implore... think... is what you're doing now worth exchanging for an opportunity to work towards peace? Truly consider it, and... if you believe that to be true, please... aid our cause. For those who have lost their lives fighting for a Chinda without war... lend us your swords."
Lao Xun stepped back and began to walk away, the sizeable crowd that had gathered parting before him and Zhou Liao. The latter had a smile on his face from the words of his general. Truly, he hadn't thought the man the type for such speeches. As they drew out of earshot of the people, Liao commented on the speech.
"Sir, that was.. wonderful."
"You think so Xu Ku? I thought it could have been improved if I'd managed to fake a tear at that last bit, but alas, none were forthcoming. Still, I think they'll lap that sentimental drivel right up - I'm pleased!"
Zhou Liao stopped dead for a moment, then heaved a hefty sigh and continued on after Lao Xun. He'd spoken too soon.
Well, as it turned out, talking and not being heard was pretty easy stuff too...
*
"Ugh! How can they just ... just... keep on going about their business!?"
Lao Xun was not happy in the least. He'd been in this square of Xu Chang for why, all of five minutes, and nobody had even looked as if they were BEGINNING to assemble some kind of crowd. The sheer gall of it! Especially since Xun had status now (not that he wasn't important before, of course), it was simply maddening!
The muscular soldier that Xun had brought alone for the look of things paused and gave his commander an incredulous glance (making sure the other's back was turned first). He'd thought they were here to observe the people or something, not make a speech to them...
"Uh... sir?" he ventured, feeling a little anxious in spite of himself. He wasn't a large man, not in terms of height, anyway, but although Xun stood some four inches taller than him, he had to outweigh the slender man by twenty pounds. All the same, there was... a certain something about Xun. He wasn't frightening, but there was a cruel edge to him.
"What!?" Lao Xun rounded on his subordinate, who flinched, but continued.
"Well, uh... if the people don't know you're planning on making a speech, they might not think to stop going about their business. They might just think you're, well, uh... watching then," Xun frowned, then slapped his head with the heel of his palm.
"You make a good point, Lu Ren was it? Come on, you'd better have a good shouting voice."
"Actually sir, my name's Zhou Liao..."
Lao Xun, so far as Liao could tell, either totally ignored him, or was too preoccupied in heading to the centre of the square to pay any attention. Either way, he didn't acknowledge the correction. Liao rolled his eyes and followed after his superior.
"Okay, what I want you to yell, in your loudest voice, is that the most esteemed Wei... actually, I don't even know if I have a rank yet. Erm... okay, scratch that. Let them know that Lao Xun, an... associate of Cao Cao, wishes to speak with them."
Xun looked at his subordinate expectantly, and the latter suppressed a sigh. Xun didn't have much clarity, but oh well... he'd have to make the best of it.
"Attention!" Liao yelled in his best drill sergeant voice. "Citizens of Xu Chang, please spare a moment of your time to listen to this announcement by Lord Lao Xun, an associate of our Lord Cao Cao!"
Lao Xun nodded approvingly, and stepped forward, letting a small smile come onto his face as he saw people stopping what they were doing and shuffling towards the centre of the square. Already, a small crowd was forming.
"Thank you Li Shun,"" Liao winced. "Anyway... thank you, all of you, for lending me your ears. I promise not to waste your time," of course, it was something that Xun had to say. How could it possibly be a waste of ANYONE's time? "I'm here on the behalf of not just myself, but all of Wei," a little artistic liscence there, but what the hey, these people didn't need to know that, right?
"I understand that after Chi Bi, all of you are going to be thinking that Wei has been shaken. Perhaps that Cao Cao has lost his touch, that we blundered, that Wu is on the rise. I say nonesense! I know of a saying, and it's a very simple one. What doesn't kill you, simply makes you stronger. I pose you this question... does the Wei army look defeated? Do soldiers not patrol the cities, are there not guards manning the walls?
If that is what a broken army looks like, then I would certainly tremble to see one in full repair.
At Chi Bi, the Wei army buckled, but it did not break. There is such a thing, gentlemen, as a tactical retreat. The battle became unwinnable, and so we withdrew. I have heard people refer to this as cowardice, but I call them fools! Better to be a 'coward' and alive, able to sword in hand wreak bloody vengeance upon those who defeated you before, than a bold man lying dead upon the battlefield! Dead soldiers are of no use to anyone but the carrion, and a wise general does his best to preserve his men!"
"Then what does that make Cao Cao then!?"
The smug, confident smile on Lao Xun's face dropped clean off as a man with greying hair forced his way to the front of the crowd. Xun scowled at him for ruining the flow of his speech (which had been going well, even if he did say so himself). However, the interrupter ignored the foul glare he was receiving and continued to speak.
"I lost two sons and a brother to the Wei army, one of them not even AT Chi Bi. If you and the great Lord Cao Cao are so wise in taking care of their men, then why in heaven's name do any of the soldiers die!?"
"Are you a fool!?" Xun snapped, causing the ageing man to take a step back in surprise, jaw dropping. "This is war, not an afternoon stroll to the river! In conflict, people die, it is a fact! Does a man become incompetent because he can't win a battle without losing soldiers!? Of COURSE not! I understand that your loss pains you, but it was the choice of your relatives to SUPPORT their liege, and in dying for him, they all brought us ONE STEP closer to peace! No man that dies in Wei's service dies in vain, and no man that lives and fights in Wei's service could be said to be throwing away an opportunity.
A man who fights for US fights for peace, he fights for China, he fights for the ideal that one day, his family may wake up into a world with NO violence, NO wars, and why? Because that is all OVER. Cao Cao is no fool, he doesn't throw away lives needlessly, your sons, your brother... I'm sure that they would be honoured to know that with their sacrifice, in the future, many others will be free of the baleful glare of war.
So please, each of you... I implore... think... is what you're doing now worth exchanging for an opportunity to work towards peace? Truly consider it, and... if you believe that to be true, please... aid our cause. For those who have lost their lives fighting for a Chinda without war... lend us your swords."
Lao Xun stepped back and began to walk away, the sizeable crowd that had gathered parting before him and Zhou Liao. The latter had a smile on his face from the words of his general. Truly, he hadn't thought the man the type for such speeches. As they drew out of earshot of the people, Liao commented on the speech.
"Sir, that was.. wonderful."
"You think so Xu Ku? I thought it could have been improved if I'd managed to fake a tear at that last bit, but alas, none were forthcoming. Still, I think they'll lap that sentimental drivel right up - I'm pleased!"
Zhou Liao stopped dead for a moment, then heaved a hefty sigh and continued on after Lao Xun. He'd spoken too soon.
