"The holy decree has arrived, and the scholar Wang Zeng of the Hubu Shangshu Zhaowen Pavilion has received the decree!" Xiao Shunzi shouted loudly at the top of her voice.

"The minister takes the order!" Wang Zeng and his family knelt on the ground and waited respectfully.

"Fengtian carrier, the emperor said, Wang Zeng is a young and intelligent, diligent and hard-working, even in the three yuan, can be outstanding, honest and honest, upright, good for words. He was specially awarded the right counselor, moved to the governor's office, and was appointed as the supervisor of the Great Song Dynasty in addition to the Ministry of Industry. I hope to be loyal to my duties and work hard for the king. Chin this~" Xiao Shunzi held the holy decree and read it aloud in a frustrated manner.

"Thanksgiving!" Wang Zeng received the holy decree, got up and grabbed Xiao Shunzi and asked, "Lord Governor, what does the Holy Lord mean, where did I come to the Great Song Times?" ”

"Wang Xiang, congratulations!" Xiao Shunzi congratulated Wang Zeng with a simple and cute look: "A certain person is a messenger, how do you know that!" The emperor is still waiting for you in the vertical arch hall, hurry up and follow someone into the palace! ”

"Good, good...... Steward, please! ”

The two excused themselves before entering the palace together.

"The ministers see the emperor!" Wang Zeng came to the vertical arch hall and saw that several court ministers were there, and hurriedly saluted Zhao Zhen.

"Aiqing is exempt!" Zhao Zhen picked up Wang Zeng and said, "I want to discuss with you Aiqing today about the relevant matters of the Great Song Times, and I have appointed Wang Aiqing as the supervisor of the Great Song Times to supervise this matter. First of all, I will tell you what the Times is, which is basically similar to my Imperial Newspaper, which will be used exclusively to transmit secrecy decrees, which will only be read by relevant officials and strengthen secrecy measures. This newspaper is specially designed for the people of the world, and is used to publicize state decrees, laws, and other major matters, so that the people can understand things, which is not only convenient for management, but also can urge local officials to act according to the law. ”

"Your Majesty, you see that the road has been built recently, and the army has been reorganized, do you think this Times is slowing down?" Hearing that Zhao Zhen was going to make trouble again, the third secretary made Cao Can's careful liver flutter non-stop, and he was forced to be reluctant to speak carefully.

"Haha...... Cao Aiqing, are you scared by me! I know you think I'm spending too much, I'm helping you make money! Zhao Zhen looked at Cao Can, whose face was pale, and laughed.

Cao Canfu smiled and asked, "Forgive the old minister for being stupid, the emperor, you said that you can make money by running this newspaper?" ”

The rest of the crowd also looked at Zhao Zhen suspiciously.

"It is necessary that the biggest role of this newspaper is to convey information so that people in the world can see or hear it. Didn't I tell you earlier to let the merchants participate in the construction of Jingcheng Avenue? So how can we motivate them to participate? This is the need for this newspaper, and the imperial court can write the relevant decrees on it, so that everyone knows the entire construction process. We can also talk about the benefits and benefits of the East-West Expressway. As long as they know that it is indeed profitable to build roads, they will sharpen their heads and drill in, you can't stop it, this is the nature of merchants, as long as the imperial court guides and supervises well, I believe that the subjects of the Great Song Dynasty will give you Aiqing a big surprise. ”

"Your Majesty, even if what you said makes sense, this Times is not easy to build! You see, our newspaper has a small number of words and a small weight, and it is all written by hand. But according to your requirements, this newspaper is to be read by the whole country, it needs a lot of weight, and there is a lot of content, so that it can only be printed, and the printing cycle will be long, I don't know how long you plan to print a copy? After all, Wang Zeng is a bull in the "three yuan" of Lianzhong, and he is well-informed, and he quickly understood that Zhao Zhen wanted to engage in the core issue of this newspaper.

Before the advent of movable type printing, it took a lot of money and time to print in large quantities, and everyone in ancient times dreamed of publishing a book, just because the difficulty coefficient of stereotypical engraving was quite high, and they could not afford to publish a book without a little capital. In ancient times, books were published to spend money to gain fame, but it was not like any person in later generations who could make books and make some money.

"Hehe, Wang Aiqing, I know what you're worried about. Come on, let me introduce you to you, these are the 'three masters' of my Royal Academy, Bi Sheng, Serious, Zeng Gongliang, everyone get to know each other! Zhao Zhen smiled and pulled the three people who stayed next to him over.

"Grass people (students, lower officials) meet all of you!" The three of them bowed and said. Among the three, only Zheng Zheng has an official position, Zeng Gongliang only has fame, and Bi Sheng doesn't even have fame, so they are different in their self-titles.

As the top level of Wencheng, the ministers have a huge difference in status, so they only nod their heads.

"You Aiqing are familiar with the Four Books and the Five Classics, are erudite and memorized, proficient in the Analects, and govern the world well. You may be dismissive of other miscellaneous studies, but what I want to tell you today is that these miscellaneous studies, which you despise, have an immeasurable effect on the development of the country. You are all well-educated people, and you must have deeply felt that it is extremely inconvenient to engrave and print now, and paper writing is not good. But I don't understand why no one of me has come out to solve this problem with so many scholars and so many geniuses? ”

In the face of Zhao Zhen's questioning, the ministers looked at each other, and it was not easy to argue with him.

"Bi Sheng, take out the movable type printing you made and show it to the ministers! Also go up to the top of the pillars of the rise of knowledge! ”

Several ministers are human spirits, how can they not feel the anger hidden under Zhao Zhen's seemingly calm face, and one after another the stupid results Bi Sheng made the movable type board they made, and listened to their explanations.

Seeing that everyone had seen it, Zhao Zhen said: "Do you have such a thank you after reading it!" I think so, too, for such a seemingly simple improvement, which no one has thought of in all these years of use of printing. I don't know if you have put down your name as a pavilion elder in the dead of night and thought carefully about what is the future of our country and this nation? Is it just such a day by day, trembling and vigilant against the invasion of others? Or is it to make a name for yourself in the world? To tell the truth, when I saw the officials of our dynasty, my heart was full of grief! ”

When several ministers present heard this, they were both indignant and full of helplessness.

"Do you know why I feel this weird way? Since the establishment of our dynasty, it has created the most prosperous country and the most prosperous culture of our Han dynasty. But such a people, which should be the most civilized and noble in your eyes, has been repeatedly invaded and plundered by the enemies whom you regard as barbarians. It's these guys you look down on who have been absorbing the fortunes of our dynasty, but you, the elites of our dynasty, have nothing to do. Bang! The more he spoke, the more excited Zhao Zhen unconsciously crushed the cup in his hand, the tea splashed on the ground, and the surrounding guards hurriedly came to wipe it.

"The ministers are guilty, please calm the emperor's anger!" Seeing this, everyone knelt on the ground and shouted.

Zhao Zhen calmed down for a moment before saying: "Everyone, please get up quickly, I can't control my emotions every time I think about this, please forgive me!" I'm digressing again, let's talk about The Times today! Presumably you have seen the benefits of Bi Sheng's invention of movable type printing, with this we can quickly complete the stereotyped production, not to mention printing a Times in the future, even if you want to come up with this work, it is extremely simple! ”

"What the emperor said is very true, the minister just tried this movable type printing, it is indeed simple and practical, and their improved ink and paper work better. With this thing, I believe that this Times can be run well! Wang Zeng said.

"I believe in Aiqing's ability, and making this Times can be said to be a big fuss for Aiqing! I plan to publish this newspaper in the morning, middle and bottom of thirty times a month, divided into several pages, such as current affairs, anecdotes, bulletins, literature, etc., mainly publishing some national events, national decrees, anecdotes, and famous words. I have a detailed explanation here, Aiqing will take it and think about it! ”

"Emperor Xie!" Wang Zeng said respectfully as a result of the manuscript.

"Everyone must also know that this newspaper has to be sent out before it is made, but I see that the efficiency of the existing post station is extremely low, and I hope that Wang Xiang urges the transfer envoys from all over the country to solve the post station matter as soon as possible, and if it delays my affairs, don't blame me for being unpredictable."

"The old minister obeys! They must be strictly urged to improve the situation of the post station, please rest assured! Wang Qinruo replied with low eyebrows.

"I hope so! In addition, the movable type printing technology invented by Bi Sheng has a huge influence on the development and inheritance of our Han national culture, and has also greatly benefited all our readers. I specially gave him Qiming Bo, hereditary replacement, 1,000 yuan, 100 silk horses, and announced to the whole country to encourage! Serious and Zeng Gongliang will be rewarded by all of you! ”

"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you Emperor Longen! Bi Sheng knelt on the ground and knocked his head a few times.

"Hurry up, you deserve it. This first newspaper will publish this and the construction of the road, and I am tired, so go down to the ministers! Zhao Zhen drooled for a long time, felt extremely irritable, and waved his hand to let everyone leave.

"The emperor takes care of the dragon's body, and the ministers retire."

"Xiao Shunzi drafted a decree and ordered the Privy Council to mobilize the four armies of the forbidden army that had completed the reorganization to take turns to exterminate the bandits along the Jingcheng Avenue, and half of the captured bandits were used to reward meritorious soldiers, half of them were collected into the treasury, and all the bandits captured were used to build roads."

"Slave obeys!" Xiao Shunzi handed the prepared holy decree to Zhao Zhen, and Zhao Zhen checked it and used the imperial seal to send it to the Privy Council.

On the surface, the taxes that individuals in the Song Dynasty had to pay were not high, but under the control of those officials, they passed on a lot of harsh taxes to the people. In general, the Song dynasty was indeed a relatively wealthy dynasty, but this wealth was relatively concentrated in the bureaucracy, wealthy merchants, and wealthy families. The term rich rival country was most apt in the Song Dynasty, and it was not difficult for maritime merchants and clans to surpass the treasury in wealth.

Since the Northern Song Dynasty, the maximum annual income is only more than 10,000 yuan, and it is probably the same when it is spread to each person's head, although it seems to be a lot, but it takes five or six out of ten just to support a huge and useless army. Moreover, the Song Dynasty gave preferential treatment to scholars, and the official salary should be the highest in history, and the phenomenon of redundant officials was severe, and it took two or three out of ten to fill the stomach of the scholar group.

If the character is not good, the treasury is not enough for relief, and in the late Northern Song Dynasty, the treasury can almost run away, empty!

However, Zhao Zhen is still a good fortune teller.