There is a reason why Wang Anshi was nicknamed the Stubborn Minister, as he just had a very stubborn personality.
Once he makes up his mind, it is difficult for others to change it.
If he did not have this kind of character, there might not have been Wang Anshi's reform in history. He carried out the reform based on this obsession.
It can be seen that everything has two sides.
In addition, unlike others, Wang Anshi's stubbornness and persistence often have sufficient reasons that make him insist on doing so.
He is not the kind of person who has a bad temper and is unreasonable.
He had worked closely with Zhang Fei on lawsuits, but on this matter, he chose not to cooperate with Zhang Fei.
Although there were reasons of jealousy, the main reason was that his governing philosophy was to advocate nationalism.
The state controls everything.
In the end, it is the government that makes the final decision in a lawsuit, not the ears of others.
...
...
But he could not tolerate the official newspaper losing to the tabloids, whether in public or private.
His first thought was not to ask Zhang Fei for help, but to go to Jinzouyuan again.
He grabbed the person in charge, Xing Zhi, and started to scold him.
The imperial court's official newspaper was crushed by the tabloids among the people. You have been playing with this for nearly a hundred years, but Zhang Fei has only been doing it for half a year and you have already been defeated. Why do we keep a bunch of useless people like you?
"From now on, all official reports must be printed instead of copied," Wang Anshi said decisively.
Xing Zhi was scolded so much that he couldn't even lift his head. He stammered, "Master Wang...your humble servant...your humble servant..."
Wang Anshi asked, "Why? You are not as good at writing as others, and now you can't even speak clearly?"
Xing Zhi was sweating profusely. "In reply to what Grand Secretary Wang said, even if we switch to printing, we still...can't be a match for that tabloid."
Wang Anshi was surprised and asked, "Why?"
Xing Zhi said: "I am dissatisfied with Wang Daxueshi. We have also studied the tabloid. Judging from their line spacing, ink color, and font, they did not use traditional plate printing, but movable type printing."
"Movable type?"
Wang Anshi frowned and said, "I remember this movable type printing. Yes, it is very suitable to use this movable type printing for tabloids. You can use it too!"
Xing Zhi said: "I wonder if Grand Secretary Wang knows that during the Qingli period, we also tried this movable type printing technology, but the printing effect was far inferior to the carved block printing."
As he spoke, he took out a yellow calendar printed on a woodcut, and a tabloid from an authentic bookstore, and put the two together, "Master Wang, please read this."
Wang Anshi read it and nodded slightly: "Comparing the two, whether it is the uniformity of the ink color or the spacing between the characters, there is a huge difference!"
Xing Zhi said: "Although the movable type printing of genuine bookstores has improved a lot compared to the Qingli period, it is still not as beautiful as the woodblock printing. If the court bulletin is printed like this, people will think it is a tabloid.
Not only that, movable type printing must be combined with large-scale printing to be cost-effective. Otherwise, it will be more time-consuming and labor-intensive than this woodblock printing. The court's official bulletin is not published every day. Besides, I also have woodblocks of some famous articles and books. I have asked and found that the court's woodblocks have reached 100,000 copies. "
After hearing this, Wang Anshi looked hesitant again.
Having said that, we can't blame the Jinzouyuan for not wanting to make progress. They have tried movable type printing, but there was no demand for it.
For written books and articles, engraving is more beautiful and more cost-effective. For temporary reports like official reports, which are only issued occasionally by the court and only for officials to read, movable type printing cannot reduce costs.
If it could reach thousands of copies, it would be very cost-effective, but why did the court print so many copies of the gazette?
Xing Zhi added: "Even if we use movable type printing, we can't compare to those tabloids."
Wang Anshi asked, "What do you mean?"
Xing Zhi said: "We are the Jinzouyuan, and we have to carefully consider every word. It's not like those tabloids, where you can write some sentences to attract attention. Moreover, our court reports have to be submitted to the higher-ups, and after multiple inspections, they can decide whether to publish them or not."
Wang Anshi nodded thoughtfully, and then said to Xing Zhi: "It seems that you have put a lot of effort into research, but no matter what, the court should not lose to the people. Maybe in the future, the court bulletins will be distributed to the people. You also have to put in the effort to study movable type printing."
Xing Zhi's eyebrows twitched, his eyes flickered with joy, but he said, "Then...the court must allocate money to us first."
Wang Anshi said, "I will report this to the government."
Xing Zhi hurriedly said, "Master Wang, please rest assured. It won't be long before our Jinzouyuan will be able to surpass that genuine bookstore."
He was quite confident in saying this, because the Song Dynasty itself attached great importance to scientific research, and the Four Great Inventions were basically developed and promoted during the Song Dynasty.
The imperial court also has abundant talent reserves, both in theory and practice.
Because the ministers of this period were all all-round players. After all, in this business environment, technology is highly valued.
Movable type printing did not replace woodblock printing. It was not because the Song court was unwilling to do it. It had been tried before, but the technology had not been broken through and the demand was limited.
Then there is funding.
As long as the funds are in place, everything is easy.
After leaving the Jinzouyuan, Wang Anshi was worried and thought, I can ask Zhang San for help, but even if I win the article, what will happen? When my new law is promulgated, if they use tabloids to attack my new law, it will be very detrimental to my new law. I have to find a way to ban the tabloids, then control the court newspapers, and then ask Zhang San for help to use the court newspapers to promote my new law, so that I can achieve twice the result with half the effort.
......
Bian Jing Law Firm.
“Is selling newspapers so profitable?”
Chen Maoqian looked at Zhang Fei in surprise.
Only a few days have passed and this guy is going to buy a house, and he wants to buy two at once. This means he has made a fortune.
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "It's just so-so, but it's a stable income, and I can also get a loan to buy a house. How about the house I live in now, which is also where my father-in-law lives, can you help me get it?"
Chen Maoqian hesitated for a moment, "The owner has no intention of buying the house at the moment. If you want to buy it, you may have to spend more money."
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Go and talk to me first, and also help me keep an eye out for the houses that are for sale nearby. I don't have to buy those two houses."
Chen Maoqian nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go ask for you."
After a pause, he continued, "By the way, I am somewhat interested in the movable type workshop you mentioned last time."
Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Don't you know? Ma Xiaoyi and Cao Yanei have donated a lot of land to set up a charity organization. I will invest the remaining money and grain from the charity organization into the movable type workshop, so we are not short of money for the time being."
Chen Maoqian asked in surprise: "Xiaoyi? Yanei?"
Zhang Fei asked, "Don't you know?"
Chen Maoqian shook his head, extremely angry. You are so good, Lao Si, you actually did it secretly without telling me. If you want to take all the benefits, I also have a son, and he has more than you. He asked again: "How much land did they donate?"
Zhang Fei said: "Twenty hectares."
Chen Maoqian couldn't help but take a deep breath, and his face showed hesitation. This donation was too much. If he lost it all...
Just then, Li Si came into the room, "Third brother, Mr. Su is here."
Zhang Fei was slightly stunned, thinking, could he not hold back anymore? He hurriedly said, "Please come in quickly."
After hearing this, Chen Maoqian said goodbye as he also wanted to think carefully about the charity organization.
"Mr. Su, how are you?"
Zhang Fei bowed.
Su Shi bowed slightly and said, "I came here today to ask you when my collection of poems can be published?"
Sure enough, he came here for this matter. Zhang Fei said, "It should be soon."
In fact, we are not ready yet.
Su Shi said with a bit of dissatisfaction: "I remember I was the first one to come to you, but your tabloid has been published for many issues, why hasn't my collection of poems been published yet?"
Zhang Fei hurriedly explained: "The tabloid was a sudden event, Mr. Su should know the reason. Mr. Su's poetry collections all use carved plates, which are more beautiful and better made. We have to wait for some time."
Su Shi nodded and asked again: "Is your Mingshi Newspaper only for famous scholars to publish articles?"
Zhang Fei nodded: "Yes."
As he said this, he felt a little worried. Yes! Su Shi was still a famous scholar. What should he do?
Su Shi blinked and said, "I think your idea is not a good one."
Zhang Fei asked: "What do you mean?"
Su Shi said: "You are a businessman, and you sell newspapers to make money. I am not wrong, am I?"
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Of course it is."
Su Shi added: "I have observed carefully that the first day attracted the most attention. And Miss Xu's article played an indispensable role in this."
He is indeed Su Dongpo, and he is not inferior to me, Zhang Dongpo. Zhang Fei pretended to be curious and asked, "Really?"
"If you don't believe me, go ask."
"Why is this?" Zhang Fei asked puzzled.
Su Shi said: "It's very simple. To attract attention, there must be comparison and controversy. Putting Xu Niangzi's article and Sima Xueshi's article together will naturally cause controversy.
And your Mingshi Newspaper made this mistake by publishing an article by Han Xianggong, which is too authoritative and lacks controversy, so it is difficult to sell well. "
"Mr. Su, what you said makes sense." Zhang Fei nodded thoughtfully, and then bowed to Su Shi and said, "I hope Mr. Su can give me some advice."
Su Shi said: "You can start another newspaper, which specializes in publishing articles by young scholars. When the two opinions conflict, it will inevitably cause controversy. Only in this way can your tabloid sell well."
Zhang Fei frowned and said, "That's true, but young scholars, who dares to question Han Xianggong's article, who dares to question Sima Xueshi's article?"
Su Shi looked at Zhang Fei depressedly and said, "When Han Xianggong was young, he was in the Censorate and dismissed four prime ministers with one piece of paper. Han Xianggong dared to do it. If we don't dare to do it, wouldn't it mean that each generation is inferior to the previous one? I, Su Shi, dare to do it."
Zhang Fei looked at Su Shi and smiled, "Mr. Su wants to publish his article in the tabloid."
Su Shi chuckled: "Kill two birds with one stone."
Han Qi, Sima Guang and Wang Anshi were enjoying the quarrel. Su Shi, the argumentative person, was itching to argue. But Zhang Fei happened to bring up another famous scholar.
Su Shi is still a small brother in the company now, and he is just a little famous in the brothel. He can't really be called a celebrity, but Su Shi is such a great man that such a difficulty can't stop him.
I have to say that Su Shi’s idea is simply great, and his analysis is very thorough. Authority is meaningless. If he could create a Youth Daily, this gimmick would really be...
It's too fierce.
In fact, Zhang Fei had planned this before. He originally wanted to create a fight between the twin stars, but Wang Anshi refused to be fooled, which made him very depressed.
It is true that a song won’t become popular if only one side sings.
Zhang Fei asked, "Does Mr. Su have any articles?"
"have!"
Su Shi took out an article from his sleeve and handed it to Zhang Fei.
Zhang Fei took it and looked at it, and sighed inwardly, born in this era, I can only be an article porter!
Su Shi's article also discussed the corvée law, but he placed his main argument on the three redundancies. He attributed the heavy taxation of the people to the three redundancies.
This is a ruthless criticism of Han Qi's article, both openly and covertly. The source of the disaster lies in the three redundancies, but you ignore the three redundancies and talk about reducing taxes and labor service. Isn't this hooliganism?
How can you get a reduction?
It's pure empty talk.
To reduce the burden on the people, the court must first save money and solve the three redundancies. This is the fundamental solution.
It has to be admitted that Su Shi's article is very to the point and goes straight to the root of the issue, but his ideas are different from those of Wang Anshi.
He still takes the frugal route.
However, he did not offer any constructive suggestions on how to solve the problem of the three redundancies.
It can be seen that he just wanted to challenge Han Qi and had no other intentions.
This is also the biggest difference between them and Wang Anshi. Wang Anshi really came up with a solution, and it was a systematic solution, while they just dealt with each issue individually and made small moves.
Zhang Fei nodded and said, "Okay, I will arrange it for Mr. Su as soon as possible."
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