On the 10th day of June, the headline on the front page of the Jiangnan Times once again caused a sensation in Jinling City, with the blackened and bold headline "The Yellow River Bursts, an Ocean, and Millions of Victims Roll South", which instantly attracted the attention of countless people, and the 1,000 copies of the newspaper distributed for free were snatched up by major shops, tooth shops and restaurants in less than half an hour.

"Jiangnan Times" was first published on the second day of June in the fifth year of Chongzhen, and was issued every five days, and the first issue of the front page headline "The New Army is Mighty" described the grand occasion of the New Army's parade, which is still talked about by literati from all walks of life in Jinling and the general public, and "Jiangnan Times" became famous, and created an amazing popularity and influence in just a few days.

In the eyes of ordinary people, the "Jiangnan Times", which belongs to the new thing, is very fresh and curious, and the big and small things that have happened in the city and outside the city of Jinling and in the north and south of the river in the near future will be recorded in detail in the newspaper, and a short comment will be attached to the important news, which is refreshing, and it is also a kind of fun to get together and listen to the literate people read aloud when there is nothing to do.

Unfortunately, the first 10 issues of the newspaper were distributed free of charge, and after that, 10 copies were required, which made the vast majority of people who wanted to get the newspaper feel resigned.

However, in the eyes of literati from all walks of life, especially officials, the shock brought by this "Jiangnan Times" far exceeded all the news published in it.

When the third issue of "Jiangnan Times" was published, all the literati in Jinling City who cared about the world's major affairs, officialdom and people's livelihood could not sit still, whether it was the various factions of officialdom or the elite Chu Qiao from all walks of life, they all discussed the novelty of "Jiangnan Times" and its growing influence, and repeatedly discussed its political purpose and potential significance. Dig deeper.

At noon on 14 June, Zheng Sanjun, dressed in a second-grade official uniform, and nine officials of the fifth rank and above sat in a large official room to discuss how to deal with the tens of thousands of victims who had arrived on the north bank of the river.

After more than half an hour of intense discussions, the 10 Donglin party cadres will form a unified thinking. Reaching a consensus on how to deal with the millions of victims rolling south, and determining the ostrich strategy of "watching the changes and going with the flow", Zheng Sanjun, the head of the household department of the second rank of the official residence, and Wei Boxian, the head of the Ministry of Rites and the fifth rank of the official rank, seemed to be relieved, and everyone's attention immediately shifted to the two newspapers on the coffee table.

The "Jiangnan Times Special Issue" issued early this morning was a bit of a surprise, and after a closer look, it was found that the so-called special issue still adheres to a crude and straightforward writing style, and the fourth edition is still in the form of a table. In the past three days, the prices of 12 kinds of grain, meat, cloth, and salt were published, as well as the copper-smelling "advertisements" of various commodities and utensils, but the remaining three pages were all reports on the "refugee flow" that had intensified.

"Wherever the victims passed, the gates of the cities were closed, and the desperate victims were crying and shaking the sky," "The rice in the fields and the bark and grass roots on the roadside were devoured by hundreds of thousands of starving victims," and other very detailed and shocking news, and the entire city of Jinling fell into a panic because of the sudden release of this special issue.

Zheng Sanjun was in the worried eyes of the participants. Picked up the third issue of "Jiangnan Times" on the coffee table and commented very objectively:

"Tell me the truth. This official is very appreciative of this historical precedent of the "Jiangnan Times", and regardless of their respective positions, all kinds of news are still relatively true. It is widely involved, and has not yet been named to attack a certain official of the yamen. ”

"What is even more rare is that the newspaper uses a novel four-page format, which is quite beautifully printed and the handwriting is very clear. Whether it is the precise arrangement of the large and small fonts, or the unique layout of the categories, people can't help but be amazed! ”

"Ladies and gentlemen, this official has been thinking recently, I, the Donglin Party, have always been the first to lead the trend, dare to do what the world does not do, it can be said that there are many talents, and there are many heroes, why has no one thought of running a publication like the "Jiangnan Times" so far?"

"From this point of view, the president and editor-in-chief of "Jiangnan Times", Ruan Dayue, a Confucian scum who used to be like a rat crossing the street, is indeed a rare talent!"

The bureaucrats were ashamed, and looked at the newspaper in Zheng Sanjun's hand that was shaking frequently, speechless.

Zhai Fengchong, the squire of the military department, hesitated slightly, picked up the special issue on the coffee table next to him, pointed to the exquisite masthead pattern and the bold and black headline headline, and talked eloquently:

"I asked a few of my subordinates who were good at printing and drawing, and learned that all the words of this newspaper were not printed by engraving, but by a very precise and fast movable type typesetting and printing method."

"Movable type printing has actually appeared as early as the Tang and Song dynasties, but for hundreds of years no one has ever been able to solve the problems of movable type selection, engraving, ink, etc., so it has never been able to obtain satisfactory results, but after thousands of years of engraving printing technology is becoming more and more exquisite, but the printing speed can not be comparable with movable type printing, and because the engraving time is too long, labor and materials can not be saved, resulting in high printing costs."

"This official and several experts under the table have repeatedly discussed, and believe that the Jiangnan Times has a set of extremely advanced movable type printing machines, and they have solved the problem of selecting materials and casting movable type, otherwise it would be impossible to print such a clear newspaper, and the speed is extremely fast, and thousands of copies are issued every five days."

The bureaucrats in the hall suddenly came to their senses and echoed their remarks, enthusiastically discussing how to get back this extremely advanced machine and quickly grasp the control of public opinion firmly in their hands.

The new Ying Tianfu Yin Wang Daozhi said generously and bluntly: "Half a year ago, the printing and distribution of books under the great tomorrow was basically in the hands of the major families in the south of the Yangtze River, since the young Taoist priest of Ziyangguan from a mysterious place overseas, after introducing a wide variety of exquisite books, the printing workshops of the major families in the south of the Yangtze River and many small workshops were deeply impacted, and the prosperous Ningshao, Fuyang, Suzhou and Songjiang and other large and small printing workshops closed down one after another, if they are not changed as soon as possible, the prospects are worrying! ”

"Xia Guan suggested that they send letters to the major families in Jiangnan, asking them to concentrate manpower and material resources to create precise and fast movable type printing machines, and with the strong financial resources and appeal of the major families, they will be able to solve all the problems and regain the initiative in their hands."

All the officials echoed one after another, and Zheng Sanjun also nodded frequently, gladly adopted Wang Daozhi's suggestion, and told the participants to send letters to the major families as soon as possible after they returned, and pass on the decisions of the meeting step by step.

**************

PS: Thank you, book friends 080707113004305 big monthly pass! Xiaohuo continues to ask for subscriptions, tips, referral tickets, and monthly pass encouragement! (To be continued......)