Two days later, the news from Xiaguan reached the capital, and the whole city was in an uproar.
Emperor Wende was overjoyed and became more convinced that he was the greatest emperor of all time.
The strategy set at the beginning was correct.
With sufficient logistics, Beirong and Xiliang can be dragged to death.
Lord Lu, whose hair was almost white from exhaustion, led a group of court writers to write the first article praising the emperor's achievements, which was also published in the Imperial College News on that day.
The words it used were so flattering and bold, and the flattery was undisguised, that scholars said that the Imperial College Newspaper had become corrupt.
Even court officials expressed their dissatisfaction.
This is not the "Imperial College Newspaper" at all. It would be more appropriate to change its name to "Flattery Newspaper".
Everyone at the Imperial College Newspaper felt aggrieved.
This is a task assigned by the higher-ups, what can they do?
The court officials have no back pain when talking while standing, if they have the guts, they can confront the Newspaper Bureau!
A group of scholars cannot even defeat a group of eunuchs, so what qualifications do they have to criticize the "Imperial College News".
Seeing that the "Imperial College Newspaper" was being criticized, its mortal enemy "Da Zhou Life Show" rarely took advantage of the situation.
Instead, he took advantage of the opportunity to publish articles on the changing relationship between wars and taxation throughout the ages.
This topic has been discussed for ten issues.
The book uses a full ten issues to analyze in detail the impact of wars throughout the dynasties on domestic affairs.
Throughout the dynasties, it has been said that civil officials hold back military commanders, and that battles that were clearly won end up with a whimper.
The root cause was that the imperial court was financially bankrupt and there was not enough money and food to continue the war.
Taxes and labor service were increased again and again, and the people in the rear were unable to make a living and went bankrupt one after another.
If the fighting continues, the people in the rear will kill the officials and rebel.
Internal and external troubles led to war.
No dynasty in history could bear this consequence.
When fighting a war, on the surface it is about soldiers and generals, but in reality it is about money and food.
Without money and food, the court went bankrupt, and this was the fundamental reason why the civil servants were dragging their feet.
"Da Zhou Life Show" revealed the nature of war to the world for the first time, with 100,000 copies per issue sold out.
Wenqing Bookstore never reprinted the book, which made the people so angry that they raised funds to print it and circulated it privately.
Even the court officials, from the first and second rank officials to the petty clerks without rank, were studying the explanation of the nature of war in the "Da Zhou Life Show".
No one has ever explained war so thoroughly and directly to the core.
For the first time, court officials understood the concept of court bankruptcy.
It turns out that the imperial court also went bankrupt sometimes.
This person has great talent!
Look at the article signature: Anonymous!
The ministers vomited blood!
That’s not fair!
How could "Da Zhou Life Show" hide such a talented person?
That’s too much!
Many people used their connections to ask Cui Qi, hoping to find the anonymous person.
Cui Qi played dumb the whole time, and Anonymous is just Anonymous.
The court officials pointed at Cui Qi and cursed him as a bastard.
Cui Qi remained unmoved.
It’s not the first time I’ve been called a bastard.
Ever since I took over Wenqing Bookstore, I've been called a bastard and a bastard almost every other day.
I've gotten used to it.
Damn it, Wenqing Bookstore is always a target of criticism.
After analyzing the famous wars throughout the dynasties, we will now begin to analyze the current dynasty.
"The Great Zhou Life Show" is very bold this time, starting from Taizu and Taizong and continuing to Emperor Kaiyao, every recorded war has been analyzed thoroughly.
Summarize the lessons learned from both victories and failures and publish them openly in newspapers.
The Newspaper Industry Bureau did not intervene.
In people's inherent impression, the reasons for failure or victory in a war are court secrets and should not be spread lightly.
It’s fine if Life Show analyzes and summarizes the wars in other dynasties, but they dare to do the same in the wars in this dynasty. Aren’t they afraid of being exploited by others?
What does the Newspaper Department do?
Why not intervene?
Why doesn't Your Majesty say anything?
Your Majesty also reads the newspaper every day, and all the ministers are aware of this.
I don’t believe Your Majesty hasn’t seen the analysis of the war in “Da Zhou Life Show”.
Since you have seen it, Your Majesty, why don’t you express your opinion and let "Da Zhou Life Show" write about it at will?
The court officials could not guess what Emperor Wende was thinking and were very nervous.
Even local officials wrote letters to inquire about their teachers, classmates, and former colleagues in the capital.
"The Great Zhou Life Show" is sold all over the world. With such important content, local officials will always find ways to buy a copy or copy one to read and study carefully.
This anonymous author is undoubtedly talented and insightful.
Such talents should help Your Majesty share his worries in the court.
However, it is wrong for "Da Zhou Life Show" to publish the article.
How can something so serious and profound, even involving some sealed archival secrets, be made public?
Too ignorant.
This is not the end yet.
After analyzing the wars from Taizu to Kaiyao Emperor, the main course was served.
From the previous article, we know that wars in all dynasties, no matter how they were fought, would increase the burden on the people, causing the common people to go bankrupt and reduce tax revenue.
With tax revenue decreasing, the only option is to continue to increase taxes and corvee labor, and then more people will go bankrupt.
The relationship between war and taxation has entered a vicious cycle.
During the Wende period.
The war with Beirong and Xiliang started last year.
During this period, 300,000 civilians were conscripted and 200,000 soldiers were mobilized, and no less than 200 wars of varying sizes were fought.
There were tens of thousands of casualties, and the Jing Daying alone replenished the front line with tens of thousands of people.
Despite this massive war, the Ministry of Revenue did not increase taxes by a single penny or labor service by a single day. Areas that were exempt from taxes remained tax-free.
For the civilians conscripted to the front lines, the imperial court also gave each person a certain amount of silver as compensation.
This has been unimaginable in all dynasties.
The Ministry of Revenue has always been poor, but it has been able to do things that no previous dynasty has been able to do. Why?
The article then changes its tone and begins to discuss the composition of the court's taxes.
Emphasizing the contributions of the Ministry of Revenue over the years, singing praises for the Ministry of Revenue, and occasionally mentioning Emperor Wende, was considered to have completed the tasks assigned by the Newspaper Bureau.
The flattery in "Da Zhou Life Show" is subtle and is really classy compared to the fawning "Guozijian Newspaper".
Moreover, the article has detailed data and solid content.
But it still couldn't escape the sharp eyes of scholars.
"Life Show has also degenerated. They are openly flattering the Ministry of Revenue and His Majesty. How shameless!"
"I didn't expect that the lifestyle show has lost its moral integrity."
"Who cares about integrity these days? Everyone's just looking at the money."
“But it’s undeniable that the Life Show articles are still very informative.”
"Life shows are degenerate. If the Shanhe Academy Newspaper published a similar article, the language would definitely be bolder and more pointed. There would be no flattery, and they would even drag down the Ministry of Revenue and give it a hard stomp."
"Being bold and sharp is a good thing, but I'm afraid the Newspaper Bureau will shut down the publication."
"For years, the Shanhe Academy Newspaper has insisted on not being publicly distributed because the articles in it are too sharp and poignant. They must not be released to the public."
"Alas! What a shame for the Mountain and River Academy Newspaper. They've allowed a sensationalist like the Great Zhou Life Show to take over. The world is unfair, and people's hearts are no longer as they used to be!"
"That's not the way to put it. Compared to the Imperial College Newspaper, Life Show is more respectable. The positive evaluation of the Ministry of Revenue in the article is also fair. The Ministry of Revenue has not increased taxes or labor service. This is an indisputable fact and cannot be denied. In recent years, everyone's life has been better than before, probably because taxes and labor service have not increased."
"That's because everyone is engaged in business, which is the way to destroy a country."
"Nonsense. If it weren't for the increased commercial taxes in recent years, sufficient to support the war against Beirong and Xiliang, the money and food needed to fight a war would have bankrupted 30% of the common people. Bankrupt, with nowhere else to turn, they would either become slaves or bandits. Based on the lessons learned from past dynasties, the world would have been in flames by now. This is the true path to disaster. Brother, you are too prejudiced against merchants."
"The words of the sage..."
"Stop talking about saints. As long as it can help ordinary people live and work in peace and contentment, no matter what path it is, it is the right path, and I will support it wholeheartedly."
"How dare you slander and oppose the words of the saints? This is sheer treason."
"You're putting labels on people and engaging in literary inquisition. Who's afraid of who? If you have the guts, publish an article on Life Show and see whether the people support your views or mine. Do you dare?"
We are all scholars and are not afraid of writing.
The two sides challenged each other and went to Wenqing Bookstore, demanding that they publish their articles to start an ideological war.
When Sanshun heard this, his eyes lit up.
Good thing!
When running a newspaper, we are not afraid of big things happening, we are just afraid of nothing happening.
Okay, okay!
As the manager, Sanshun immediately made the decision to give space to both sides.
Each issue publishes an article. You can talk about anything you want, as long as it's informative.
Only after the decision was made did Sam-soon remember to inform Choi Chil.
Cui Qi was also a man who never shied away from trouble. "We can also go to the academy and ask someone to analyze and refute the views of both sides."
"Who does Mr. Cui think is suitable to invite?"
"The most suitable people would be Mr. Sanyuan and Mr. Sun. However, these two old gentlemen may not be willing to get involved in such matters, so we have to find someone else."
Samsoon chuckled, "Could you please ask the great master 'Anonymous' to come forward?"
Samsoon doesn't know Anonymous's true identity, but that doesn't stop him from admiring Anonymous.
In Samsoon's heart, Anonymous is a divine figure, a great god.
Even the court officials admired the great Anonymous and wanted to find out his identity and invite him to serve in the court.
Many people also speculate that the anonymous person is Yang Yuanqing, the Three Yuan Lord.
However, the wording and sentence selection of the anonymous author is not similar to the writing style of Sanyuan Gong, and there is even a big difference. The speculation that the anonymous author is Sanyuan Gong is self-defeating.
Choi Chil looked at Sam Soon with a strange expression.
Sanshun touched his face and said, "Did I say something wrong? Or is the anonymous master not in the capital right now?"
Cui Qi shook his head, smiled and said, "Anonymous, like those two old gentlemen, will not get involved in this kind of thing."
Samsoon asked curiously, "Boss Cui, can you tell me who the Anonymous Master is?"
Cui Qi smiled mysteriously, "You don't want to know."
"Why do you say that?"
"Since you've chosen the name Anonymous, you'll be anonymous forever. Remember not to ask."
So mysterious?
Could it be some big shot in the court?
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