Jingshi, the Forbidden City, and the ministers of the East Warm Pavilion gathered.

Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the cabinet, Zheng Sanjun, the secretary of the Ministry of Officials, Chen Xinjia, the secretary of the Ministry of War, Ni Yuanlu, the secretary of the Ministry of Households, Liu Zeshen, the secretary of the Criminal Department, Yuan Jingwen of the Ministry of Industry, and even Fu Shuxun, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, who is too old to speak.

Those who entered the cabinet at the same time, but were not the first respect, the right attendant of the Ministry of Rites, Wei Zaode, the scholar of Dongkaku University, the left waiter of the Ministry of Rites, the assistant manager Zhan Shifu, and the scholar of Dongkaku University, Chen Yan, were also listed in the Dongnuan Pavilion.

Chen Yan is good at colluding with his ministers, and often from the mouth of the inner servants, he can secretly know what the emperor wants to ask the next day, and he always answers them fluently, which is very popular with Emperor Chongzhen.

Wei Zaode is good at rhetoric, very eloquent, very able to guess the emperor's thoughts, and can always cater to them, so Jane is in the emperor's heart, although the most favored now is Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the cabinet, but the two are not respected, but they are not left behind.

With a petty official system of ministers, this is the tradition of the Ming Dynasty, perhaps Emperor Chongzhen felt that Zhou Yanru's momentum was too strong, and Ni Yuanlu and Zheng Sanjun were all Jiangnan people, a member of the Donglin Party, and they did not want to see the cabinet alone, and there was a faint meaning of two people.

Li Banghua, who had recently been transferred from the Shangshu of the Nanjing Military Department to the post of imperial historian of the left capital of the Metropolitan Procuratorate, also sat quietly on an embroidered stool.

Although Li Banghua has just been transferred from the Nanjing Military Department, he has deep roots, and his protégés are all over the world, and he also has a lot of say in the cabinet, not to mention, the clansman Li Rixuan, who has also served as a soldier and a minister, and the Li clan is also an official and prosperous, and Li Zhenyu in the clan has served as a worker, criminal, household, and ritual four scholars in history, and the people have "a family of eight books." Nine sons and ten states".

Today's topic is tacitly understood by everyone present.

Start a newspaper!

Although the Ming Dynasty has a Di Bao, which is managed by the General Administration Department, all major events in the imperial court are reflected in the Di Bao. However, Di Bao also has some drawbacks. The content is separate, and most of them are news about officials' dismissals, appointments, dismissals, and imprisonments, and the number of words is small, with only 5,000 to 10,000 words per issue. Second, it is expensive. If a person who is not qualified to read the newspaper goes to the Department of Communications to copy the newspaper every time, the price is not cheap. Particularly out-of-town states and counties. Every year, you need to copy hundreds of taels of silver.

The content of the newspaper is also strictly controlled, not to mention that it is self-collected and written, and it has no right to comment. As for some people who like to hear about it, there is no information related to life and business.

The Chairman had said. Ideological propaganda and public opinion positions. You don't go to occupy. The bourgeoisie is going to occupy it. This is indeed a wise saying. The Imperial Court Newspaper is an official-style article, not for the majority of middle- and lower-class officials, so it is so. The newspapers of the Nanyue Military System, which were distributed by Long Shengxing in Jingshi, Jiangnan and other places, came into being and quickly occupied this position.

Whether it is the Jiangnan Times, or the Shuntian important news issued by the Beijing Division, the content covers the changes of the imperial court, the introduction of various policies and regulations, as well as the prices of grain, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea cloth, etc., as well as the business information of businessmen, such as how many ships will arrive at the port in the next shipping schedule of Tianjin Port, what goods are on board, and what price the goods are mainly sold at and so on.

In addition, there is also an entertainment sector that is welcomed by people from all walks of life. For example, what kind of stunner is there in the Eight Hutongs, which Xiaosheng Xiaodan in a certain theater garden looks exquisite and beautiful, and what about the opera troupe raised by a certain adult's family, etc.

It is necessary to publish some texts that are above the top of the scholars who also nod their heads and say yes, such as some eight-strand article making art, how to start and turn together, how to solve the problem, and some poor scholars, there are more surprising discoveries on it.

A certain temple in the city can accommodate as many traveling scholars, and the abbot is not so fond of money, he can tolerate poor scholars in the temple to eat two meals a day.

These newspapers quickly gained popularity. Ordinary people are even more difficult to see the Di newspaper, and they are not qualified to listen to it. The shoddy folk tabloids have nothing to do with them, and these newspapers not only meet their needs, but also provide more information for them. Broaden their horizons.

As a result, the major teahouses and restaurants, as long as there are storytelling and singing services, have opened new entertainment activities, or newspaper reading services, almost overnight.

At this time, the literacy rate is not so high, and the gentlemen who tell stories and sing music have a new way to make money, and they use the way that the masses like to see, and sing an article according to the rhyme, and the music card, singing like an opera, this form has become an important means for teahouses and restaurants to attract customers, and even in many green houses, those women who originally only paid attention to piano, chess, calligraphy and painting will also discuss the world with the guests in the leisure time of the wind and the moon.

Zhou Yanru, the head of the cabinet who sat at the head of Chongzhen, although he was in a high position, was very aware of these things in Beijing.

Zhou Yanru is also a person of good fortune, but because of his name, it is inconvenient for him to make a move, so he even asks his subordinate Dong Ting to come forward. (Oh, is this Mr. Dong also a temporary worker?) Or is it a broker in terminology? ）

Dong Tingxian recruited power and accepted bribes, and anyone who asked for the post of governor of the general army must first bribe Dong Tingxian, and then get it, and he was very famous in Beijing.

All kinds of things such as dredging joints and hanging scales to sell officials should naturally be carried out in Qinglou wine shops everywhere. Bargain in the cup change. Dong Tingxian naturally knows the dynamics of the market well.

(In other words, the role of the Bada Hutong in the life of the government is quite a bit of the Shanghai Concession during the Nationalist Government.) The court hall is the front desk, and the eight alleys are the backstage. All kinds of bargaining, bribery and bribery are carried out here. Recently, you can take a look at Mr. Gao Yang's book Eight Hutongs, which vividly describes the various expressions of politicians and brokers on this occasion. ）

Zhou Yanru commented on the Shuntian Times brought back by Dong Tingxian every day: "This thing is enough to defeat 100,000 fire guns!" ”

There was a faint worry in his heart, as the influence of the newspaper continued to expand, it seemed that public opinion was no longer a monopoly situation. The situation in which Donglin Academy pointed out the characters of the country and the mountains and set off discussions was enough to influence the political situation in the capital may be gone forever. It will even challenge for thousands of years. The right to speak is firmly controlled by the reader.

Even in the future, if you want to make a person popular, smear a person, and reverse black and white, it is an easy task.

In fact, for the mastery and use of public opinion tools, the officials and generals of the Ming Dynasty are not considered laymen. Generally, all the commanders, governors, and governors have set up guilds in Beijing to listen to information. Copy the newspaper or something. Especially the martial artists, these personnel selected to be stationed in Beijing have other wonderful uses, and Qi Jiguang denounced this phenomenon back then.

“…… On the day when the general was transferred to the expedition, the official did not set off. The first messengers are distributed on the road to Beijing. and the military department, the capital of the inner government. They planned to catch up with the enemy one day, but before they could report it, they threatened one after another: A certain general has caught up with the enemy. I don't know that there are 3,000 troops. There are no two or three hundred to arrive, and there are those who are one or two hundred miles away, who will investigate? I haven't seen the enemy yet, and the date of the appointment is close, and the people in the preceding item praise everywhere and say: A certain official knows how to be surrounded and how to cut and kill. Those who want to be jealous of others' merits and repay their own grievances say: How can a certain official not save him if he is camping in a certain place. Xun said: How did the official kill and break through. Even the uproar of the Shengming ......"

Zuo Liangyu also has a guild hall in Pingthief Town in Beijing, and a large part of the responsibility of the people in the middle is to run around and advocate for the military horses of Pingthief Town. Otherwise, with Zuo Liangyu's military discipline being corrupted, his record was unstable, he plundered the prefectures and counties, and almost became a blank land, but in the eyes of the princes of the court and the central government, he was regarded as the white jade pillar of the sky and the purple gold beam of the sea, a pillar of the country, and the impression of a general in the army, and some people even shamelessly shouted out the title of South Li and North Zuo. In addition to its own large number of soldiers and horses, it may not be without the credit of these people.

These guilds, mansions and the like can be turned a blind eye, but public opinion tools like the Shuntian Times and Jiangnan Times are something that the literati cannot tolerate falling into the hands of Li Shouhan alone. If this goes on for a long time, won't all the public opinion in the world fall into the hands of the martial nobles? These are all controlled by the clear stream of reading! If he is allowed to enjoy Li Shouhan alone, what is the advantage of literati for thousands of years? Doesn't it make the saint weep in the nine springs?

Today's discussion is that the center of the imperial court will also begin to regain the position of public opinion.

Before this cabinet meeting, the civil officials had already described a bloody scene to Emperor Chongzhen: "The lord is weak and the minister is strong, this is a sign of chaos in the country!" "Today's monarchs and ministers are certainly compatible, but what if someone under Ning Yuanbo's subordinates plans to be the minister of the dragon in the future and put the yellow robe on Ning Yuanbo?!"

These words suddenly stabbed Emperor Chongzhen's darkest and most unwilling to face a dead hole.

The old Zhao family's country is from the yellow robe, but his old Zhu family snatched it from his nephew for the sake of this world of flowers? Could it be that Zhu Biao is not good to Zhu Di? However, in the face of the throne and power, family affection can only be a piece of straw paper that wipes the ass.

In front of the imperial power, Chongzhen was very decisive in showing the determination and courage to deal with Wei Zhongxian and Yuan Chonghuan back then.

Newspapers are much simpler than the military, and since the army cannot be trained in a moment, newspapers can be produced very quickly.

Moreover, the imperial court also has an advantage in opening a newspaper, and the chaotic newspapers such as the Shuntian Times and the Jiangnan Times with a wide coverage cannot be created for a while, but after all, it is the Ming Dynasty and has its own advantages. Controlling all parts of the country, the righteousness is in hand, the scope is wide, the information is sufficient, and as for the content of other plates, everyone is also confident. Who is not a first-hand splendid article? Compared with the Jiangnan Times's team of writers and interviewers, who are mainly composed of landed talents, the Hanlin people in the DPRK said that they are all a group of scum.

However, in today's matter, in addition to agreeing to run a newspaper to regain the position of public opinion, there is also a very specific and fatal matter that needs to be discussed to achieve a result.

It's easy to run a newspaper, and writing an article is as simple as eating and drinking. However, how to publish and distribute, how to publish the money and grain, and whether to give the author some polishing pen are also the meaning of application in the question.

Several adults in the warm pavilion, Zhou Yanru, the first assistant of the cabinet, Zheng Sanjun, the secretary of the ministry, and Ni Yuanlu, the secretary of the household department, frowned into a Sichuan character, "Shuntian Times and other newspapers, although the articles are slang, but the paper is clean and the printing is exquisite, and it is famous for its rapid publication. If you still use the method of going out of the mansion to report, I'm afraid that ,......"

The words are very clear, if we don't solve the printing problem, even if we run a newspaper, I'm afraid it will be useless, your things are only updated once in a few days, and other people's things will be published in a few days, how can it be compared?

Liu Zeshen, the secretary of the Criminal Department, and Yuan Jingwen, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, just lowered their heads and looked at their shoes, not participating in their discussions.

They are in charge of the cold department. At this time, the secretary of the criminal department did not say, and the secretary of the Ministry of Industry was not the Jiajing Dynasty Yan Song's father and son were in power, when the Ministry of Industry was so fat, the finances of the DPRK and the Central Government were empty, and where did they go to find money and grain to build a big work? The Ministry of Industry's biggest recent project is to build a dredging channel along the Chaobai River system from Tianjin to Beijing, and smooth and harden the road along the way. If there is nothing to do, there is no right to speak, and there is very little in the cabinet for them to speak. Fu Shuxun, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, is even more of a chicken rib. I have long wanted to say goodbye to my hometown, but I am also old and frail, and I seem to be about to fall asleep sitting on the chair.

Li Banghua, the left capital of the Imperial Palace, Li Banghua is a clear stream. Historically, after Li Zicheng captured the Beijing Division. He wrote a desperate poem and said: "The dignified husband is a saint and a sage." Loyalty and filial piety swear to die, and I am worthy of being in danger. Then he threw himself to death and gave the Taibao and the Ministry of Officials. Zhi Zhongwen, Qing Shi gave Zhi Zhongsu.

Compared with other Ming officials, this person is a brave man.

Seeing that Chongzhen could hear the price code that Wang Dehua and others heard from Long Shengxing, if he wanted to run a decent newspaper, he needed to buy printing equipment, copper movable type of various fonts, ink and paper, not to mention. There must also be skilled workers to retrieve typesetting and proofread. In general, if a new newspaper is opened, at least 200,000 silver dollars must be invested. And that's not even counting the successive investments in the future.

When Chongzhen heard this, his brows immediately tightened. With 200,000 start-up fees, with this money, I might as well train a few thousand new troops!

"Your Majesty, the newspaper must be run, but the country is now in difficulty with money and food, and it has to help the war in Liaodong. In the humble opinion of the ministers, it is better to temporarily pay one or two from the inner treasury. After the imperial court has a little more money, it will be returned. ”

It's for me to pay again! It's as if there are mountains of gold and silver hidden in my inner vault! Chongzhen cursed in his heart, at this time, Li Shouhan, who was far away in Shandong and was ridiculed by the ministers as Zhao Kuangyin, looked so cute in his mind. Not only did he do things well, but he never reached out to ask for money, and he also helped the court with huge amounts of money and grain.

"At most, I can come up with 100,000 silver dollars! This is still the amount saved from the rewards of the three major palaces for the New Year! ”

Wang Chengen's low voice muttered two sentences in Chongzhen's ear, and Chongzhen was very impatient to express his attitude to the ministers. But when the money comes out, the newspaper must have it.

"Your Majesty, the minister is willing to guarantee his life, and 100,000 silver dollars are enough." Li Banghua looked determined, and Zhou Yanru, Chen Xinjia and other cabinet bigwigs on the side couldn't help but sneer in their hearts. What others may not be able to do with 200,000 yuan, you are ashamed to say that 100,000 is enough. Even if you are not corrupt, should the supervisors and handling personnel in all links be as clean as you? Zhou Yanru, Chen Xinjia, Chen Yan and others have a fixed attitude, and they want to see this guy who has recently entered the cabinet to make a big mistake.

"Li Zongxian, in front of Long live, don't talk nonsense!" Wang Dehua kindly reminded.

"Thank you, Princess. The old man's words are also well-founded. However, it still needs the emperor's permission. ”

Li Banghua told his thoughts and basis to Chongzhen, Zhou Yanru, Chen Xinjia, the two princes, Chen Yan, Wei Zaode and others present, and everyone was dumbfounded, can things still be done like this? !

Li Banghua's method is not worth a penny to put it bluntly. It is to follow the common practice of arranging banquets in the capital, and after the newspaper is finalized, all the typesetting, printing and other matters are handed over to the printing office attached to Longsheng in Sanlitun, outside Chaoyang Gate. "It is useless to put their craftsmen, brass letters, houses, plates, and other objects there. All we have to do is give him silver dollars and let him print a newspaper for us." It's like a reader engraving a manuscript. Of course, the scholars of the giant family can invite the engraving workers to engrave the plates carefully at home, and the scholars of the Qing Han can also hand over the manuscripts to the bookstore for printing. ”

"What if our newspaper conflicts with the Sainty Times? And how? ”

"Your Majesty, we only need to stagger the typesetting and printing time, and besides, you don't have to worry about this kind of thing, the emperor has his own labor." Zhou Yanru also felt that this matter could be handled in this way and save a start-up fee, but the printing cost of each issue was also a big expense. But you don't need to care about it, you just need to do the things assigned by the emperor in front of you.

Unexpectedly, Chongzhen called this matter to Fu Shuxun, the secretary of the Ministry of Rites, to send someone to handle it. It is important to negotiate the printing and finalize the manuscript on the 5th day. "I'm going to see newspapers distributed all over the capital in ten days' time."

Negotiations with the printing office went unusually smoothly. To the surprise of the officials of the Ministry of Rites, not only did the printing office agree to print on behalf of the people, but all kinds of kickbacks were paid to the handling personnel of the Ministry of Rites according to the rules, and they took the initiative to propose, "Looking at the manuscript sent by the ranking adults, it seems to be a bit thin, so it is better to organize some business information for the ranking adults to publish on it, so that people do not feel bored." What do you think? ”

To be able to enrich the content of the newspaper, so as not to make this newspaper, which is highly valued by the emperor and the lords, become a variant of the Di newspaper, such a thing is naturally willing to be done by several foreign officials and clerks of the Ministry of Rites.

"Just, this cost? ……”

"Don't worry, sir! How can you negotiate the price for the Ming court? These business information, anecdotes, and anecdotes can be regarded as small reports! (To be continued......)