In the seventh year of Chongzhen, March 8, at eight o'clock in the morning.

There are 38 cities in the Ming Dynasty, including Beijing, Tianjin, Nanjing, Jinan, Yangzhou, Hangzhou, Suzhou, Chengdu, Wuchang, Quanzhou and Guangzhou.

Plus Xujiazhuang's Manor Zero and Harbour City.

There are forty places in total.

Countless trained professional newsboys took to the streets, holding large stacks of newspapers in their hands, and shouting loudly in their crisp and loud voices:

"Oriental Times, the world knows."

"The first issue is officially launched today!"

"Everything in the world is known, and astronomy and geography are all-encompassing!"

"Today's front-page headline is "The impact of the Xiaoice Age will reach its peak in recent years, we must do a good job in disaster prevention and prevention work in advance", the article said that this year is very likely to be flooded in the south and drought in the north, the food security problem is extremely serious, if not properly handled, it is likely to break out of widespread famine."

"This edition will give you an overview of the world's geography, give you an idea of the planet beneath our feet, and get a beautiful map of the world."

"Do you want to know the basic situation of the Ming Dynasty, such as population, economy, life expectancy, grain production, and the ratio of men to women? You don't have to travel thousands of miles, the result of more than half a year of hard work by thousands of investigators in Xujiazhuang - the "Basic Situation Report of Daming", will make you confident about the current situation of Daming. ”

"The all-out war of the Western countries is still in full swing, and there is no end in sight in the short term, and it will continue to affect trade with the Ming Dynasty."

"Even if affected by the war in the West, last year's Ming foreign trade activities, still earned an income equivalent to 15 million silver dollars, for details, please see the fifth page of the article "Chongzhen Six Years of Ming Foreign Trade Report".

"Xujiazhuang's "three-year 100,000-mile road repair plan" has been fully implemented, those who have the intention of cooperation, can apply to join the plan, all active investors, will be able to bring you rich returns!"

"Seven pennies, each newspaper only needs seven pennies (the newsboy earns two pennies, if it is not good to buy, he earns one penny or no money), a full three four-open large papers, and an additional 2,000-word simplified and traditional comparison table, the third edition of the world map can also be cut and collected, what are you still hesitating about, buying is earning!"

Hear these cries of the newsboys.

Not to mention the literate groups.

Even the illiterate and semi-literate groups who are illiterate also have their ears pricked up and have a very great interest, and some spare money will even be tempted to buy a copy and ask the literate to help read it.

……

Capital.

Chen Zida, a young man in his early twenties, was eating breakfast at a roadside stall when he heard the newsboy's shouting, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but show some disdain.

In fact, the newsboys began to warm up three days ago, but they only sent out leaflets, saying that the "Oriental Times" is about to be shocked, which will bring unprecedented changes to Daming and lead into an era of public knowledge.

Romance

But he Chen Zida just doesn't buy it, he just doesn't read this so-called "Oriental Times", he resolutely won't buy it, and he will never be affected and brainwashed by it.

Because this is a new thing that has been passed down from Xujiazhuang, you don't need to look at it to know that it is a poisonous and harmful poisonous weed, and all kinds of things done by Xujiazhuang are to dig the roots of the saint's humane system and establish the mercenary order of businessmen, which is absolutely intolerable and must be resolutely resisted.

There are relevant regulations in the Guozi Prison, all the Tai students, who have bought bicycles, mechanical watches, lighters, and other strange and ingenious things, find one warning, find two severe warnings, and find three expulsions, and must cut off everything from Xujiazhuang in order to defend the saint's lineage.

Chen Zida is a staunch boycott!

Every time there is any boycott of Xu Jiazhuang's activities, he is the one who rushes to the front and jumps the highest, and does not hesitate to report three classmates and friends, and leads to one of them being expelled from school, Chen Zida not only does not feel the slightest guilt, but also vows to report more people and make greater contributions to purifying the atmosphere of Guozijian.

But......

He couldn't help but be attracted by the newsboy's pitch.

What is the so-called Xiaoice period?

How ridiculous is it that people are standing on a big ball under their feet?

Is there a war going on in the Western nations? Why did the fight start?

And what is the basic situation of the Ming Dynasty, what is the total population, grain production, life expectancy, etc., Xujiazhuang, a merchant force, can know more than the imperial court?

Daming Foreign Trade earned 15 million silver dollars last year, why don't I know? Is it so profitable to engage in foreign trade? Who made the money?

As for Xujiazhuang's road construction plan, he is not interested, but judging from Xujiazhuang's past success in the commercial field, there should be many businessmen applying for cooperation.

In short, after listening to the newsboy's selling content.

Although Chen Zida had the urge to cover his ears many times, he still couldn't help but feel itchy.

A lot of questions popped up in my head, and I thought of getting relevant answers.

He also heard that a newspaper cost only seven cents, which was not enough for him to eat breakfast.

Then I caught a glimpse of the exquisitely printed and richly colored layout of the Oriental Daily.

"I'll buy one."

"Bring me one."

"I want one, no, two."

"I want three."

Because of the cheap price, the "Oriental Times" in the hands of the newsboy quickly sold more than a dozen copies, and some people even bought more than one copy, because this newspaper is full of materials, take it home to bag things, go to the toilet to wipe the buttocks, practice calligraphy for children, etc., it is very versatile, and it is definitely not a loss.

Seeing the blink of an eye, the newspaper in the newsboy's hand was nearly half less.

Chen Zida couldn't sit still, so he quickly got up and walked towards the newsboy, and quickly discharged seven light coins, handed them to the newsboy and said, "Give me a copy too." ”

"Okay, give!"

The "Oriental Times" with a good smell of ink fell into the hands of Chen Zida, which made people can't help but smell a few more mouthfuls, and secretly said in their hearts: Criticism, I am here to criticize Xu Jiazhuang's fallacy, and there is no possibility of being affected by it.

However, the neat and clear text, the beautiful and vivid pictures, and the smooth and tough paper quality, just these qualities, gave him the idea of collecting it, regardless of its content, as for wiping his ass, there is a sense of unbearable violence when he thinks about it.

I found a teahouse and sat down.

I ordered a pot of hot tea and read the contents of the newspaper while drinking it.

For Chen Zida's cultural level, simplified Chinese characters do not have much of a reading threshold for him, just a little scan the simplified and traditional comparison table, and the vernacular is even more fine, as well as the use of various punctuation marks, which reduces the degree of brain burning, and there will be no dizziness when you read thousands of words in a row.

Even so, this issue of "Oriental Times" still let Chen Zida read it for a full morning.

It's not that it takes a morning to understand the complexity of the article, but that the content inside it shocked him all morning.

"Under the action of the pumping machine of the western plateau, under normal circumstances, most areas of Daming can achieve wind and rain, and the vast majority of the population is concentrated in the east of the 400 mm rainfall line, but affected by the periodic Xiaoice river climate, the mid-latitude high pressure lingers in the north for a long time, and the water vapor in the south is difficult to go north, so it can only stay in the south, and finally form a flood in the south and drought in the north, and the situation of comprehensive disaster will be intensified this year until it reaches a certain inflection point...... This, this nonsense, gossip confuses the public, I don't know what to do! ”

Chen Zida felt dumbfounded, but in this front-page headline article, he cited examples of dynasties such as the end of the Han Dynasty, the end of the Tang Dynasty, and the end of the Yuan Dynasty, providing countless references, proving the law of periodic anomalies in climate, and fundamentally negating the Confucian theory of heaven and man induction.

"It's all fake, it's all fake, it's all made up, and it's not to be believed."

Chen Zida shook his head and tried his best to deny it, but in the face of that group of data, paragraphs of reference materials, and the signs that Daming has been able to observe in recent years, all prove the authority of this article, which makes Chen Zida feel more and more empty and more and more afraid to face it.

The same is true for the following articles, which can be described as detailed data and sufficient arguments, and illustrated, concise and intuitive, without jerky and difficult to understand, and allow questioning, willing to make corrections, but generally not too much of a problem.

For example, the total population of Daming is 213.7 million.

The male-to-female ratio is 111 to 100.

The average life expectancy is 38.5 years.

The per capita grain is only 365 catties.

The GDP is about 2.67 billion silver dollars (of which Xujiazhuang accounts for 40%), but the gap between the rich and the poor is very huge, with the rich class accounting for 10%, the middle class accounting for 30%, and the poor families accounting for 60%.

In addition, it also introduced the foreign trade and sea trade of Daming.

And so on and so forth.

After reading these articles.

In Chen Zida's brain, he established a general outline of the world, a basic outline of the Ming Empire, and all aspects of the people's livelihood and economy, even if he didn't think it was correct, but it did help him establish a set of world views and Da Ming Concept.

It's more like opening up a whole new world, which makes him seem to stand in a macro perspective, see a lot of things, and have a huge harvest.

Even if Chen Zida didn't want to admit it from the bottom of his heart.

……

Afternoon.

Chen Zida folded this "Oriental Times", carefully put it in his pocket, and then sneakily returned to Guozijian, trying his best to avoid being discovered by his classmates or teachers, he bought items related to Xujiazhuang, especially this newspaper, which had a great impact on the inherent concepts in his head, and it must be the most strictly forbidden thing, once caught, the consequences must be very serious.

Go back to your lodgings and hide the newspaper in a secluded place, and take it out again when you have the occasional free time — Chan plans to keep it instead of tearing it up or destroying it, because he is vaguely aware that in the near future, the newspaper may be of great significance and better preserved.

But it was his move that was accidentally seen by a roommate in the same dormitory, and then he did not hesitate to report him.

Evening.

Guozijian, inside the Dacheng Palace.

Facing the three sessions organized by the three supreme leaders of the sacrificial wine, the priest, and the supervisor.

and the angry and disappointed eyes of hundreds of classmates.

Chen Zida, who was kneeling on the ground, had to bow his head heavily and obediently admit it, and he often reported others, and today he can only say that the retribution is unpleasant.

"Disappointed, the old man is so disappointed in you, as the best student of Guozijian, you would do such a thing." Zhou Changru was heartbroken.

"Zida, this "Oriental Times", who asked you to buy it, and who bewitched and instructed you? Is there a secret behind it? Siye Li Zhijie likes this student more and has a sense of protection.

"Kaige, hide the poison of Xujiazhuang's spirit, this student is hopeless, he must be Kai Out!" Prison Hu Shouheng said with a black face, although the rule of Guozijian is to make mistakes three times, but Chen Zida's mistake this time is too heavy, and he can only veto it with one vote.

"Chen Zida, I didn't expect you to be such a person, I, Zhao Xuelong, have lost my eyes, from today onwards, I will cut off my robe with you, and you will no longer be my friend in the future."

"I thought you were a gentleman who adhered to the right path, but I didn't expect that you would also harbor the poison of Xujiazhuang."

"Disappointed, Brother Chen, you really disappointed me."

"Traitor, you are a traitor to the Saint's Court!" The classmates also drew a line and criticized him.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I bought this newspaper for seven cents, no one instructed me, and I have read the contents, no matter how I am punished, Zida is willing to accept it, and there is no complaint." Chen Zida, who was kneeling on the ground, said honestly.

"You-"

Zhou Changru held the newspaper in his hand, and wanted to tear it to pieces, but he still couldn't help but tear it, as for how to punish, the supervisor Hu Shouheng advocated expulsion, and the secretary Li Zhijie hoped to give Chen Zida another chance, in this 1:1 situation, Chen Zida's fate was held in the key vote of Zhou Changru.

After thinking about it, Zhou Changru said: "This so-called newspaper, I will take it back to test the poison, if the situation is serious, I must expel it!" If there is still a cure, give it another chance. ”

Hu Shouheng and Li Zhijie nodded and agreed with this plan.

Night.

Zhou Changru, who took the newspaper back, tested the poison for a full night and boiled out all the dark circles under his eyes.

In addition, in the library, I searched countless documents and materials, trying to prove the fallacies in the "Oriental Times", and most of the results were correct, even if there were a few mistakes, it was harmless, and it could not play a role in completely negating it.

On the contrary, he continued to prove the major ideas such as the Xiaoice period put forward in the "Oriental Times", which made him almost shaken.

In the end, he had to stop checking the information, because if he continued to check, the inherent concepts in his mind would not be able to persist, and it would only prove that Xu Jiazhuang was most likely correct.

So Chen Zida was lucky to pass this level and got a big demerit.

However, the sensational impact caused by the first issue of the "Oriental Times" has just begun, and the public opinion repercussions it has set off are about to sweep the entire Ming Dynasty!