The Ministry of Industry was the first, but not the last. The next move of "Mingli Daily" expressed to the capital that it was determined to take the unusual road.

On the front page of the second issue of "Mingli Daily", Guanglu Temple was criticized for purchasing supplies and squeezing merchants and soliciting bribes, and merchants in Beijing were full of complaints; On the first page of the third issue, he criticized the Shuntianfu for the slow progress of the trial, and the prisoners in the prison were unresolved for a long time, and many of them were delayed until the deceased; On the first page of the fourth issue, a large number of voices and pictures were used to expose the lawlessness of a slave surnamed Xu's Shoufu family, who spoke wildly at the street entrance and beat the good people with his power to smear the image of the court.

It turned out that this kind of thing was mostly passed on by word of mouth and had limited influence, but now it has been published in a newspaper with a circulation of 10,000 people, and private opinion has become public opinion, and it has really become known all over the city overnight. The person who was pointed, at least this dignity can't be hung up.

Compared with the later issues, Hu Shangshu of the Ministry of Industry, who was criticized in the first issue, suddenly felt that he was quite lucky. At least the opening issue of "Mingli Bao" only said that the Ministry of Industry did not act, and did not expose the various problems in the construction that the Ministry of Industry was responsible for, which was simply too kind.

And the Son of Heaven seems to have gotten a new toy, and frequently issued instructions in the newspaper, which put a lot of pressure on several parties. For the Son of Heaven, this feeling of being able to get rid of the shackles and blinds of the bureaucratic machine and to fully grasp the initiative to pursue accountability is indeed very new.

For a while, the courtiers looked sideways, and everyone could finally make a definitive judgment. The reckless "Mingli Daily" really has a black backstage, but it is actually the one on the throne!

But after carefully analyzing these issues of "Mingli Daily", many people are a little relieved, because looking at these targets who have been criticized and accused, it seems that most of them are from Li You's opponent's side.

What does this mean? This shows that the main situation at present is that Li You is using the "Mingli Bao" as a tool for the party to fight against differences, and the Son of Heaven has also been used by Li You as a gun. If this is the case, everyone can rest assured that this mentality is very subtle, and it is difficult for people who are not insiders to understand.

To put it simply, if Li You is selfish. Pulling the tiger skin of the Son of Heaven or using the Son of Heaven to do the thing that strikes against dissidents, that thing is still within the scope of understanding and control; If he selflessly took the initiative to help the Son of Heaven, it would make people nervous. There is a difference between the two, a matter of a different nature.

As a person who can kill Duan Zhien and wrestle with the elder of the pavilion, Master Li certainly has the qualifications to fight against differences in the party, and will not be ridiculed as inadequate. But even so, many courtiers don't want to watch him continue, if someone like Li You completely controls public opinion. The consequences are unimaginable!

Everyone couldn't help but recall that when Lord Li was meeting in the inner and outer courts last month, he angrily kicked the door of the court because he was excluded from the newspaper hall of the National Supervision. At that time, Lord Li also left a few cruel words - "The princes have benefited today, and the lower officials are grateful to Dade, and they will worship the gifts of the monarchs in the future!" ”

At that time, I didn't think about it, but it was a scene where Li You was helpless, but now it seems that it is about to become a reality. This "Mingli Daily" is the revenge of Li You's resentment!

There was a discussion in the court: "Those pavilion elders really lifted stones to shoot themselves in the foot, and excluded Li You without fault or mistake, and now they are causing endless troubles." ”

All in all, whether it is the government or the people, how have they ever seen such a sharp and powerful pastime book as "Mingli Bao", which is appreciated by both the elegant and the vulgar, and suitable for all ages? So "Mingli Bao" is on fire, on fire.

When the journal was first launched, although Li You planned to have a circulation of 10,000 copies, he did not give away so many out of caution. At first, only 6,000 copies were given away. Later, when the demand was hotter than expected, the scope of the report was further expanded, and the number of reports increased to 10,000 as planned.

Even 10,000 copies is faintly insufficient, but for cost considerations, Li You decisively limited the circulation to 10,000 copies. Now 10,000 copies of the coverage is already very wide, if you continue to print more, the more you print, the higher the cost, but the actual influence can not increase much, it is a bit uneconomical.

If it weren't for the politically correct requirement that "officials are not allowed to do business". He wanted to charge. He believes that if even if it is charged, as long as the price is low enough. The number of subscriptions will not go down.

Even if you charge a penny for each share, you can recycle 10,000 copper plates per issue. And these copper plates can be used to make money, all of which can be deposited in their own silver numbers, and the exchange business between silver and copper coins can be carried out to make a profit... It's a pity that this business opportunity can only be seen but cannot be made for the time being.

Ice and fire are two heavens, and the situation of the other side of the country is not so good. If there is no reason, Pravda may be a novelty, but compared with the truth report, the truth is boring.

On 17 March, in the newspaper hall of the Guozi Supervision Office, Pravda President Guan Shi Saijiu, Vice President You Shaoqing, and Vice President Sun Yushi each sat down and remained silent. On the ground in the middle of them were several issues of newspapers piled up.

Although the Pravda office was limited to the expenses allocated by the household department, and out of the fear of being impeached for "spending extravagantly on public funds", it was not as restrained as Li You's Mingli Bao who dared to spend money, but in the first two issues of the journal, an average of 2,000 copies were given away for each issue.

However, it is impossible for Pravda to be given away for free all the time, at least to earn back the capital, otherwise if it is attacked by a well-intentioned person like Li You as a deficit in the treasury, it will be unclear.

When it comes to operating at public expense, and losing money, if you can explain it, you may be attacked for not being able to explain it. This is by no means something that a few of their Qingshui officials can bear, and it will become a stain and doubt on their resumes.

So after two issues of warm-up, Pravda started charging from the third issue. Every day, when the newspaper was delivered to various places, the newspaper was collected by the way, and the tentative price of each newspaper was five cents. In this way, ten copper coins can be recovered in each period, and more than 100 copper coins a month, which should be able to barely maintain the expenses.

It can be said that the vision of the three CEOs is beautiful, but the reality is cruel. The 2,000 copies of Pravda that were given away in the first two issues were indeed accepted, but when the third issue was charged, most of them were not wanted.

With free, better-looking Mingli newspaper in front of you, most people are really not interested in paying for Pravda. The Beijing officials are no better than the local officials, they are very poor, not to mention that it is also a troublesome matter to prepare several copper plates every day in order to subscribe to a newspaper.

In the end, there are only about 100 subscriptions per issue, including Guozijian himself, and it is basically a friendly subscription won by relying on the relationship between each person. The rest of the newspaper had no choice but to return it and pile it on the floor in front of the three of them.

Vice President You Shaoqing broke the silent atmosphere in the room, and said helplessly: "Two thousand copies, one hundred, twenty to one subscription ratio, it's really hitting the street!" My generation was ordered by the imperial court to run a newspaper, and was witnessed as an official newspaper by both inside and outside, but now what face do you have to meet the princes of the court? That Li You got out decisively and neatly, and he must have expected this situation a long time ago, so he is waiting to see the jokes of my generation! ”

Another vice president, Sun Yushi, said hatefully: "If it weren't for that kind of reasoning and retribution, our truth would be so bleak!" Li You doesn't want money to give away Mingli newspapers, so how can our newspaper compare? But I want to see when the Mingli report can be delivered, and whether he Li You's house is endless! ”

Stone Sacrifice Wine sighed, "It's useless to argue! The top priority is what to do? What is the number of prints per issue? Is it possible to print 100 copies per issue from now on? ”

It's a pitiful amount, and it's a joke to say. The imperial court sent one, two, and three officials to supervise the supervision with great fanfare, and did not hesitate to use the manpower of dozens of prisoners and dozens of craftsmen, just to print a hundred newspapers? The two vice presidents looked at each other, and neither answered.

The stone sacrificial wine pondered for a moment, and then made up his mind: "From the next issue onwards, we will continue to give it away for free!" Can't let a hundred copies of the joke go on anyway! ”

"This is not a long-term way, does Lord Shi have any ideas?" You Shaoqing asked.

Shi Xijiu glanced at the two vice presidents, and suddenly had a sense of disgust for no reason, and he found that compared to people like You and Sun, Li You was much more pleasing to the eye.

If it weren't for these two people parachuting into the newspaper office, maybe Li You would not have been squeezed out, and Li You would not have been so embarrassed now.

Master Shi thought in his heart, and said indifferently: "Idea, this official has one in his heart, but I don't know if it will be successful, and I will talk about it later." ”

At the same time, Li You reviewed tomorrow's manuscript in the Mingli newspaper, saying that in recent days, the morale in the newspaper was good, and the prisoners who were still more or less reluctant were all in high spirits, sweeping away the depression and decadence of the past.

First of all, the newspaper is so prosperous, and the prisoners of the Mingli newspaper are proud and have a bright face. The prisoners are all classmates, and they have also heard of the bleak situation in the newspaper office of the Guozi supervisor, and there are rumors that the newspaper office will be abolished. In comparison, nature is happier here.

Secondly, it can pinpoint the evils of the times, crusade against the minister, and also attract the direct attention of the Son of Heaven. For ordinary inmates who have been suppressed for a long time, one word is cool, and this kind of spiritual pleasure cannot be bought by any amount of money.

The speculation was successful again, and Bai Siwen, who was promoted to one of the four foremen and editors-in-chief, was expressing his determination to Li You endlessly, "Since I met Master Li, I realized that I don't need to seal the marquis of ten thousand households in my life, I just want to know what Han Jingzhou wants, I just hate to know Jing as soon as possible!" Now I can do my best under the adult, and I have no regrets in this life! ”

In the sycophancy of the editor-in-chief Bai, Li You commented on a few sentences of the manuscript, and suddenly someone came to send the post. After he accepted it, he opened it and looked at it, and it turned out that it was two friends, Mr. Zhu Fanghe, a member of the Ministry of Rites, and Mr. Zhu Fanghe, a member of the Ministry of Etiquette, who jointly made the east and invited him to eat and drink.

How did these two get together? After reading it a few times in Li You's heart, he could see that whether it was a rumor or a showdown, these two people must have been entrusted with something.

Maybe some bigwigs relented, so they entrusted his two friends to act as intermediaries.