In the first issue of Pravda after the reorganization of the Guozi Supervision Office into the Wenxuan Yuan, in addition to the fact that the front page is still an excerpt from the Di Bao, the back fifteen columns appeared together, and there were six scholars and many Jiuqing.

In this case, if anyone does not go to Pravda, rumors will probably soon spread about someone losing his authority. In fact, rumors are not terrible, but they are afraid of being believed by fools.

Unfortunately, the space is limited, and the writing of each column does not exceed 500 words. Like the previous issues, it is estimated that it is difficult for Lu Ge Lao to monopolize a page of layout, which also makes Lu Lao breathe a sigh of relief, it is always too showy like that, not his style.

As for the other elders, they were a little excited when they saw their own column appear in Pravda. As for the seasoned bosses, there are really not many things that can excite them, and this kind of psychology is difficult to explain.

The Son of Heaven has a daily note, and this column on Pravda, which is published every single day by Li Youding, can be regarded as their "living note" to some extent? Even if the bigwigs return to their hometowns after a few years, the personal column in Kurzang Pravda is the imprint they left in the imperial court, which can be inquired and admired by future generations, which is a treatment that has not been enjoyed by previous generations of sages.

What's more, under Li You's advocacy, whether Pravda has a column or not, the size of the column, and whether or not it can publish articles have become a status symbol. It is tantamount to a new design of a way to distinguish between dignity and inferiority, and it would be false to say that the bigwigs who are extremely powerful in this are not a little proud.

According to statistics, after Pravda was carried forward by Master Li, the number of Mr. Xixi in the Jiuqing Mansion increased by an average of one person, and the main task was to ghostwrite for the column. There is no restriction on the style of poetry and essays. Otherwise, Pravda would have to publish an issue every other day, and the busy bosses would not be able to cope with it, so they would not have the energy to write and publish articles.

After receiving the reactions from all parties, Li You was completely relieved. Only now does he dare to say that his innovation has succeeded and he has gained a firm foothold.

In the yamen of the previous life. Magazines and newspapers for work newsletters are flooded, and no one takes a second look, but in this dynasty, this platform is still very fresh and popular. With this platform, serving as an opinion leader for a few years is enough to boil up a lot of officialdom and make up for his young shortcomings.

Then Lord Li followed his own thoughts and invited the court to the court. Let all yamen and schools in the world subscribe to Pravda. The cabinet leaders did not object to this after discussion, and the edict was soon issued, requiring the yamen above the seventh rank to subscribe to at least three copies, and the yamen below the seventh rank to subscribe at their discretion, but at least one.

It is also as Li You guessed. The imperial court did not allow the delivery of newspapers through the post station. The existing post organization is equipped according to the number of official edicts sent by the imperial court to various places every day, with a maximum of several hundred edicts per day. Therefore, in terms of conveying capacity and mode channels, it is not suitable for newspapers that are both large in quantity and precise in purpose.

If we forcibly use the post organization to distribute newspapers to all parts of the country, after tens of thousands of newspapers flow into the post system every other day, it is easy to cause paralysis and impact the normal transmission of official documents.

Therefore, how to issue Pravda, the imperial court only authorized the Wenxuan Yuan to be responsible for how much it can distribute. How much you can earn depends on the ability of the Wenxuan Institute itself.

Even though Envoy Li was a traverser, there was no good way to distribute the Pravda to all parts of the country in a stable and unimpeded manner. If each post station is dedicated to adding one person to transport newspapers, then the number of people in the post station will increase by 2,000 people, and the annual cost will be 30,000 taels, and it will not be enough to compensate all the income of Pravda.

He counted it again. In the Jingshi area, the current number of copies of Pravda is about 2,000 copies, and at the high price of one cent of silver per copy, 20 taels of silver can be recovered per issue. If there are fifteen installments per month, the total income is three hundred taels. …,

Three hundred taels seems like a lot, but Pravda has ten main writers, dozens of printers, and dozens of newspaper people, and the monthly salary of these laborers alone is two hundred taels. In addition, there are various other costs, so three hundred taels is still beyond the means.

Don't forget, Master Li offered the big guys a high price of one or two thousand words at the beginning, and calculated that the pen fee spent only for Zai Fu Jiuqing every month was as high as more than 100 taels. Now that Pravda is on the right track, and the expenses of the Cultural and Propaganda Institute are very tight, Master Li is considering whether to cancel these pen fees.

He tried to find out from the cabinet bosses on this issue. For some reason, the elders of the pavilion, who were not short of money, rejected Li You's delusion of canceling the pen fee without exception, and unceremoniously reprimanded him for "being untrustworthy and going back on his word".

Ge Lao is not short of this money, but it depends on Li You's good play, of course, this reason is only tacitly agreed in his heart, and he will not declare it. The scholars set such an example, and the others refused to give up the pen-polishing fee, for which Pravda still had to pay nearly two hundred taels a month.

According to comprehensive estimates, the cost of running a Pravda newspaper is 500 taels per month, but the income is only 300 taels, that is, it has to run a deficit of 200 taels in the national treasury every month.

This made Li Yuan at a loss, so he could only go to the household department to beg his grandfather to sue his grandmother, and temporarily maintain the blood transfusion of Mavda. Fortunately, the treasury can afford to lose, but this is not a long-term way, and Li You doesn't want people to die.

On the side of Master Li, a few families were happy and a few were worried, but they said that in this spring season, the business of the capital has restarted a new cycle and ushered in the first prosperous period.

In the area of Chongwenmen, after the depression of the previous year, the flow of foreign tourists and businessmen has become dense again, and the peak period of entering Beijing for the first time this year has arrived.

In the tax yard outside the Chongwen Gate, a large number of cargo convoys lined up here to pass the customs, and the shouts of all kinds of men, the shouts of the errand servants, and the neighing of the cattle were mixed together, and they were endless, so that a prosperous scene of business travel.

On the side of the customs yard, a lot of slightly elegant pergolas have been built, with fairly clean tables and chairs, and this place is mainly set up for those merchants with a bit of status.

After all, the rich big merchants also have to pay attention to a bit of decency, it is impossible to go to the customs clearance team and a group of guys and livestock to mess around, but it is too far away from their own goods and inconvenient, so this kind of pergola set on the edge of the tax customs came into being, specially for merchants to temporarily rest and drink tea.

One afternoon in mid-April, two middle-aged men walked into the pergola, accompanied by seven or eight entourages. The two of them chose a clean place to sit down, and the entourage scattered around to wait, and by the way, they separated the idle people around.

Dr. Tea is well-informed, and when he looks at the clothes and then looks at the panache, he knows that he is a high-roller from other places. hurriedly stepped forward to inquire diligently, and an attendant handed him a bag of tea and told him to make it.

The shorter middle-aged merchant happened to catch a glimpse of a half-foot-thick piece of paper with words in the corner, and from time to time someone held it to look at it, so he asked strangely, "What is that?" ”

Dr. Tea replied: "The guest officer is from other places, maybe you don't know, this is a new newspaper produced by Jingshi, called Mingli Bao. There are all kinds of news above, and it is really a must-read thing for outsiders when they first arrive in Beijing. ”

Another tall middle-aged man smiled and said: "I have seen the newspaper and the newspaper, and I am afraid that this will be an exaggeration." ”

Dr. Tea disagreed, and continued: "This Mingli newspaper may be given away for free elsewhere, but in the tax customs, it costs five cents a copy, and if you don't buy a copy, it will be difficult for the tax lord to talk." ”

"Just a piece of paper, do you have to buy and sell it? What do the Customs Ambassadors think? The tall merchant didn't understand, so he questioned. …,

The short middle-aged merchant shook his hand, stopped his companion from complaining, and said to Dr. Cha: "It's just five cents, bring me a copy and see if it's really as you say." ”

Dr. Tea beckoned, and naturally an errand boy came over with a newspaper and collected five copper plates from the middle-aged man's entourage.

The short middle-aged merchant looked at it curiously, and he really felt very strange when he saw it, it was actually an article scolding the court for inaction. At the feet of the Son of Heaven, no one cares about this?

When he opened the newspaper again, he was startled by the headline on the third page inside, and he was taken aback for a moment, and the tea in his mouth couldn't help but squirt out.

Seeing this, the companion said curiously: "What's wrong with Brother Jin?" ”

The one who was called Brother Jin pointed to the title and said: "Brother Gao Xian looks at it himself." ”

This Gao Xian brother poked his head and saw that the place he was pointing to was impressively written--The business world of Beijing is about to rise? Yangzhou giant businessman gold million entered Beijing on the same day. As if he had seen a ghost, he exclaimed, "How did this newspaper know about Brother Jin's whereabouts?" ”

This "Brother Jin" is naturally one of the seven giant businessmen in Yangzhou, Jin Guozhang, and he is also puzzled in his heart, "It's really strange, I only sent someone to report to my virtuous son-in-law the day before yesterday, and others should not know." My virtuous son-in-law, though young, is also reliable, and is definitely not an open-mouthed person. ”

After that, he beckoned Dr. Cha and asked, "This Mingli report is really interesting, who is doing it?" ”

"I heard that it was created by a Xujiang Li in the court." Dr. Tea replied.

Xujiang Li? Jin Million was stunned for a moment, even with the size of the capital, the more famous Xujiang Li is estimated to be only one person. Daring to love is a good thing done by the son-in-law himself, and such a bizarre newspaper does seem to be the son-in-law's modus operandi.

Thinking of this, Jin Million kept silent and stopped talking about the newspaper, who knows what the son-in-law has in mind, don't talk too much before he really understands.

At this time, the senior staff joked: "Isn't this Xujiang Li Mo the Li Yangzhou of the year?" I remember that Brother Jin said that he was a powerful admiral and the imperial history of the five cities, why did he become so bored and enter the newspaper industry? Even Brother Jin's whereabouts were taken out and put on the masthead, and it seems to be very idle. ”

Although they were old acquaintances and had traveled all the way, Jin Million was very uncomfortable with Gao Yuanwai's words, and snorted coldly: "Jingshi is not better than other places, let alone Hankou, and it is better for Brother Gao Xian to be cautious." ”

While the two were talking, a guy ran in from outside and shouted at the two of them, "Master! Tea is all seized by the tax customs! (To be continued)