That night, Zhang Shi finished his shift as usual and returned home in a sedan chair.

Several sedan chairs had already been parked at the door of the house. After they landed, the housekeeper came out to greet them.

He asked earnestly, "Master, are you back? The guests are waiting for you in the lobby."

Zhang Shi nodded and walked straight to the lobby.

The chairs on both sides of the lobby were already full of people.

There were eight people in total, two or three of them had white hair and beards. These people were considered old ministers in the court.

As soon as they saw Zhang, they greeted him.

Zhang Shi smiled and said, "Sorry for the long wait. I was busy with work today and came back a little late."

"It's okay! It's okay!" everyone responded quickly.

"I wonder what Lord Zhang wants me to do?"

Zhang Shi sat down, looking worried.

"Gentlemen, tell me, why else can it be?"

"Fang Zhengyi?"

"That's right! This boy has evil intentions and is confusing people. Are you going to just watch him continue to be so arrogant?" Zhang Shi said with a sad face. "On weekdays, the court is clear and everyone has always lived in peace and harmony. Even if there are problems, we can sit down and discuss them."

"But now Fang Zheng is favored by the emperor and he doesn't follow the rules. If this continues, the court will be in chaos and it will not be a blessing for the people!"

"What's more, he is now spreading rumors about us among the people. At our age, personal honor and disgrace don't matter, but the honor of the family must not be lost!"

"If this continues, how will we get along with the family behind us? We used to be a good family, but now we have become the rats crossing the street!"

No one in the room was in a hurry to respond, they just kept stroking their beards.

Suddenly someone spoke up, "But His Majesty's attitude is clearly in support of Fang Zhengyi, and the Crown Prince is in the same group with Fang Zhengyi, so what can we do?"

Zhang Shi said seriously: "Everyone, you have all seen the power of newspapers."

"Once this thing comes out, the public opinion in the capital will be almost controlled by Fang Zhengyi alone. Newspapers are the mouthpiece of the world. How can Fang Zhengyi control such power?"

"If he continues to do what he wants, the world will be in chaos! Moreover, the prince has great trust in this man, and I'm afraid he has gone astray."

"Therefore, no matter how difficult this matter is, we should try our best!"

"So the main reason I called you here is to deal with this matter. His Majesty obviously does not agree to hand over the management of the newspaper to the Hanlin Academy."

"But why can't the various ministries of the court publish their own newspapers? All the affairs of the world are classified into different categories, and newspapers should also have their own focus."

"The Prince's Daily is now a mess. It should be split up."

"For example, the Ministry of War can set up a special daily newspaper to interpret the general situation of the world, border trends, and the situation of war public opinion. Even the situation can be influenced by the newspaper."

"Similarly, if we compare it to the Ministry of Revenue, the money and grain affairs of the country can also be influenced by the daily newspaper."

“The same should be true for other departments.”

"Although this item was invented by Fang Zhengyi and the Crown Prince, the more I think about it, the more I think it is an extraordinary item."

"This incident may be a war. I would like to call it a war of public opinion!"

The others looked at each other, conveying information with their eyes, and then nodded at the same time.

One person said, "That makes sense! But Fang Zhengyi is deeply trusted by His Majesty and the Crown Prince, so the Crown Prince's Daily may not be able to be split up."

Zhang Shi smiled slightly: "Splitting is just a convenient way of saying it."

"It is not necessary for Your Majesty to split up the newspaper directly. All the ministries can just apply to Your Majesty to set up a new newspaper."

“Although the Prince Daily is in its heyday, it is not professional enough and mostly contains content that ordinary people would like to read.”

"If the various ministries of the imperial court publish newspapers, they will surely attract aspiring scholars from all over the world! Maybe it will even affect the selection of candidates for the imperial examinations."

Everyone started talking to each other.

Zhang Shi looked at everyone with a smile.

This is the general trend. Although the relationship between his family members is usually just for the sake of appearance, they now have a common enemy.

Fang Zhengyi, this ignorant guy, has offended everyone.

Although His Majesty can protect you temporarily now, people make mistakes and horses stumble, and the day will come when you will fall!

After some discussion, someone said, "If so, I'm afraid Your Majesty may not agree to it for the time being."

"Although the losses of each family in donating grain this time were not great, the most important thing is that their reputations were damaged, and the prestige of the court was damaged. I am afraid that it will be impossible to restore it even if we set up a new newspaper now."

"In our opinion, it is better to advise Your Majesty to ban the publication of the Prince's Daily."

Zhang Shi said seriously: "Everyone, it is not feasible to ban the publication of daily newspapers."

"A temporary loss is nothing. After all, most people believe in the Prince's Daily."

"How can they represent the world? The affairs of the world are controlled by scholars and knowledgeable people! As long as the new newspapers of each department are established, it won't take long to change public opinion."

"This is a long-term plan! Please consider it carefully."

Everyone started whispering to each other again.

Then they all replied, "Okay! We are willing to join Lord Zhang in suggesting that His Majesty open a new newspaper!"

Zhang Shi smiled, stood up and bowed: "Everyone here is the pillar of the country, and you can distinguish right from wrong. This is very good!"

"Today, your majesty asked Fang Zhengyi to check the grain reserves of each household, but this guy actually ran away. Starting from tomorrow, I will impeach..."

\"Dad! Dad! Something big happened!\"

Zhang Shi was halfway through his words when Zhang Chang came running back in hurriedly from outside.

He was holding a newspaper in his hand.

Everyone looked at Zhang Chang. Zhang Shi felt a little embarrassed and raised his hand to slap Zhang Chang in the face.

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It’s even more exciting later!