Chapter 115: Ying Zheng: Nothing can stop me from working
The examination papers for the academy examination are being marked intensively. Each county has allocated as many people as possible to mark the examination papers, but due to staffing constraints, it will take at least a month for the actual results to be released.
During the period before the results were released, Wei Shengxue took the novelist and Mohist school to work on the newspaper.
Speaking of technical difficulty, with the support of Daqin and technology, producing a newspaper is not difficult.
“The hard part is the content.”
There is also the positioning of the newspaper.
Wei Shengxue added silently in her heart.
But the same thing applies: in the initial stage, we should first achieve the goal from 0 to 1, and then we can talk about the subsequent diversion.
"The first newspaper should have the name 'Daqin' embedded in it to make it unique."
Li Si's proposal was very popular. With the support of everyone and Ying Zheng's tacit consent, the name of the first newspaper was temporarily decided.
Daqin Newspaper
"What about the frequency?" Weishengxue asked again.
"We need to cultivate the habit of reading newspapers among users. When they are used to getting news from other places through newspapers, we will have mastered their ears and eyes."
Others looked sideways.
——The Immortal Master unconsciously said something shocking again!
They were no longer as obvious as they had been in the previous times. Although they were still shocked by the function of the newspaper, they hid their turbulent emotions very well.
"Newspaper printing takes time, so it's not advisable to set it too short."
"But newspapers need to spread news, and it's not appropriate to publish news from too long ago."
After some discussion, they decided on biweekly, monthly, quarterly and annual reports.
Among them, the quarterly and annual reports are summary newspapers that publish the major events of the most recent quarter or the whole year, so that scholars who are about to enter the Qin officialdom will not be completely in the dark and have no idea what is going on.
"We can publish articles describing everyone's contributions to the Qin Empire and the good they've done for the people over the past period of time. Let novelists act as storytellers and read them in crowded places." Wei Shengxue listened to their discussion for a while, but no one remembered to improve their reputation with the authorities. So, she reminded them, "If you've done good things, you have to speak about them, otherwise no one will know about them."
The Qin emperor and his ministers looked at each other for a few seconds and then silently looked away.
How could they have the nerve to say such straightforward words?
Although even the most corny words can be blurted out when the emperor and his subjects are at peace, or when good friends are interacting with each other, writing them down and publishing them is… well, well…
"I'm not praising you, why should I be embarrassed? I'm praising the Great Qin. My goal is to win over the people."
She seemed to know more than them, so Ying Zheng decisively asked for advice.
Wei Shengxue did not hide anything and shared all the knowledge he knew.
"Make the newspaper a bigger sheet, about this size, so it can be folded and carried on your body."
"The first page is the front page. The largest and most prominent position at the top of this page is the headline. This is generally where the most important news is released. For example, the results of the investigation into the imperial examination cheating, or if there is a plan to mobilize troops against the Baiyue people, these are also the most important news."
Ying Zheng drew inferences from this, "If there is an imperial decree to be issued in the future, it can also be placed here so that more people will know."
Wei Shengxue nodded. "Yes, that's the purpose of a front-page headline, to highlight it."
"The first page will basically be all about breaking news, and the rest can be divided into entertainment, advertising, knowledge, and literature." She glanced at the people standing below. "You guys are arguing so fiercely, why not open a dedicated section for that? Later, when technology improves, we can publish a daily newspaper and let you debate every day."
The disciples of the Hundred Schools followed her words and imagined the scene, their expressions becoming somewhat subtle.
However, Ying Zheng instantly understood the meaning behind this.
If the disciples of the Hundred Schools wanted to debate, they could only submit articles to the newspapers. Otherwise, they would just watch their opponents show off their power in the newspapers, and no matter how fiercely they criticized, no one else would see it. If they wanted to refute, they could only submit articles. As the number of interactions increased, they gradually entered the palace of the Qin Dynasty.
Wonderful!
This is much more convenient than asking and begging repeatedly, and the success rate is much higher.
This newspaper must be published and it must be published well!
Ying Zheng ordered, "The Crafts Department will form a team. The printing and paper mills will fully cooperate. All of you, my dear ministers, will demonstrate your strengths and strive to produce the first issue of the Daqin Newspaper within ten days."
"Your Highness obeys your command."
No matter how much they like to pull each other's hair in private, everyone must obey the emperor's order.
The Qin Central Agency was operating at full capacity and was extremely efficient. Three days before the required deadline, the first newspaper was already presented to Wei Shengxue's desk.
"If we want to publish the Daqin Newspaper for a long time, woodblock printing can no longer meet the demand." When the Shaofu brought the newspaper over, he also brought the problems that occurred during the production process.
"Let's switch to movable type printing. Now that we have more people who can read, we can assign a few of them to the printing factory." Wei Shengxue said naturally.
The Shaofu subconsciously looked at Ying Zheng and saw him nod slightly, obviously agreeing with this view.
"yes."
Ying Zheng looked down at the ink-scented newspaper in his hands. The vast expanse of handwriting made him dizzy. Accustomed to the neat and orderly handwriting on memorials, facing this endless expanse of text, he found for the first time in his life that he could actually feel dizzy!
Wei Shengxue leaned over to take a look, and was also blinded by this long speech without even paragraphs or punctuation.
"What the hell is this?!" She covered her eyes and turned away, her face a look of devastation at the homework. "Can't you break it up into paragraphs and add some punctuation? It's so densely packed, doesn't it hurt my eyes?"
"Punctuation?" The Shaofu pricked up his ears.
"It's punctuation marks, symbols that separate sentences. Didn't I tell you?" Wei Shengxue was also confused when she saw his puzzled look.
Didn’t she say it along with the pinyin?
She looked at the Shaofu, then turned to Ying Zheng for an answer: Did I really not say that?
Ying Zheng said, "Daoyou didn't mention it."
Wei Shengxue unconsciously tangled her fingers around her waist-length hair, frowned slightly, and recalled the past with a puzzled look on her face. Then her brows relaxed, "Forget it, maybe I forgot."
"I'll show you how. Let's take the first article in the newspaper."
She gestured for Ying Zheng to hand her the pen, then began to outline on the newspaper, explaining as she filled in the blanks: "This is a comma, used when a sentence is not yet finished; this is a period, used to end a sentence; this is a question mark, used when there are questions or inquiries; this is an exclamation mark, mostly used for emphasis or to express surprise; this is a colon, used to explain or speak later; this is double quotation marks, and words should be written between the opening and closing quotation marks..."
"These are the common punctuation marks and their usage. For the rest, please wait for me to organize the teaching materials and send them over directly."
Ying Zheng picked up the newspaper. Vermillion ink separated the connected articles. Some were short, some were long, some were over a dozen, all were easy to read at a glance, making them very comfortable to read. Even if one quickly scanned ten lines, one would not miss any key information.
If this method is promoted throughout the country and officials use it to punctuate memorials, the time spent on reviewing memorials can be greatly reduced, and he can do more work!
Equating this point, Ying Zheng's satisfaction with punctuation marks rose sharply to the top.
"Although this object is small, it contains great wisdom and should be promoted throughout the country."
Since His Majesty the Emperor has said so, what else can we do? Of course we have to satisfy him!
So after a few days, thanks to the rapidly improving communication methods of the Qin Dynasty and the reputation of the Immortal Weisheng Xue, punctuation marks quickly spread throughout the counties across the country.
At the same time, the first copy of the "Daqin Daily", which had undergone many revisions and reviews, was shipped out from the printing factory in Xianyang City.
In order to print enough copies, the printing factory worked day and night, and the brushes were really smoking.
"This is too slow. When we have some free time, let's study how to replace people with machines." Mo Ge had been working in the printing factory for several days, dizzy from work. Halfway through his meal, he pulled his senior brother aside to complain, "This method is so tiring and slow. We need to find a way to improve it."
The senior brother he pulled over was a paper mill deliverer. Mo Ge was busy day and night, and he was also working himself to death. After hearing what he said, he also quickly said, "I want some for my paper mill too."
"It was fine before, but now newspapers consume so much paper every month that the paper mills can't keep up."
"It's not like before. Back then, people were the cheapest. We could just expand the area and hire more people. Now, people are needed everywhere. Although we're not short of manpower yet, we still have to plan ahead, otherwise it will be useless when the time comes."
Mo Ge picked at some vegetables and ate them, chattering idly, "We now have several kinds of immortal seeds, and the yield per mu is at least 800 to 900 kilograms. Previously, more than ten mu of land was enough for the whole family, but now only a few mu is enough. Some farmers will definitely leave the land temporarily and go to the city to find work. To accommodate these people, a large number of jobs will definitely be needed. Brother, there is no need to worry too much."
"You can expand the scale. I'm not sure if you can handle the fine work, but you'll definitely have enough people for miscellaneous tasks."
The senior brother sighed, "We're in a rush to print newspapers now, and we need a lot of paper. Once this wave of production is over, there will be another month of downtime. If we expand the scale, we won't have anywhere to put the extra paper."
Mo Ge gave him a strange look and said, "Once the imperial examination is launched, the number of students will surely increase, and the amount of paper used will also increase. Why worry about a lack of paper?"
His senior laughed at him, "Since ancient times, only the rich and powerful can afford to study. How much more can one get?"
Mo Ge recalled the attitude that the immortal had subtly revealed during their months together, and said with certainty, "Wait a minute, studying will no longer be the exclusive domain of the rich and powerful!"
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