"Your humble servant obeys!"
Now that the official positions had been agreed upon, Jing Zhe's form of address in front of Emperor An also changed.
Everything was progressing in the direction he and Emperor An had agreed upon beforehand, and thanks to Bai Qingyuan's "help," the progress was incredibly smooth.
The officials in the court were not fools; they may have realized something by now, but it was too late, and nothing could be done.
Emperor An continued, "President Jing...?"
To be honest, it was a bit awkward for Emperor An to pronounce this title for the first time. "Since I have bestowed upon you the position of president of the Da'an Newspaper, you will need to arrange the rest yourself. If you want people or places, just tell me now!"
Jing Zhe didn't mince words: "Your Majesty, setting up a newspaper isn't exactly difficult, but it's not exactly easy either. The editing of the newspaper is only one aspect; later, it also requires movable type printing. The more people read it, the more copies need to be printed, which requires a lot of manpower and a spacious place."
"Yes, all of that is easy to discuss!"
Emperor An thought for a moment and said, "As for the location, when the Imperial Academy was built, a three-story pavilion-style mansion was built next to it. The place is quite spacious and bright. I heard that it has now become the office of the Grand Secretary of the Imperial Academy. From now on, let's just put up a sign for it as the Da'an News Agency!"
Jing Zhe nodded, "Thank you, Your Majesty!"
"What about the people? What kind of people do you need, and how many? I will find some for you."
"Your Majesty just mentioned that the Grand Secretaries of the Baohe Academy are all there. How about I let them into the newspaper office instead, so we don't have to kick them out!"
Emperor An thought for a moment, then glanced around the court again, his gaze landing on Song Baiyun, who had been much quieter recently.
"What does Minister Song think?"
As the only Hanlin Academician in Anguo at present, he is not only in charge of many affairs in the Imperial Academy, but all the other academicians under him are under his command. Emperor An first wanted to seek his opinion.
"Your Majesty, no problem. As long as President Jing wants, all those Grand Secretaries of the Preserving Harmony and those who are not currently employed can go to the newspaper office to report to President Jing!"
In fact, the Grand Scholar system is now very bloated.
Most of the people recruited for the Mid-Autumn Poetry Gathering and the Imperial Examination each year became Grand Secretaries. Moreover, many powerful and wealthy people sent their useless descendants to become idle Grand Secretaries. As a result, the Imperial Academy could no longer accommodate them, so the newly arrived Grand Secretaries of the Imperial Academy had to work in the three-story pavilion next door.
They call it office work, but what important matters are they given?
These people gradually started to drift through life, and many of them, relying on their family connections, became unruly. Song Baiyun found this very troublesome, but he didn't know how to deal with it.
I heard that Jing Zhe is going to take over. It would be perfect to get rid of those useless Grand Secretaries of the Baohe School and those idle Grand Secretaries!
Moreover, sending him to meet those troublesome guys can also dampen his arrogance and let him know that being an official is not easy!
Song Baiyun didn't like Jing Zhe at all, and he secretly felt smug at the thought of teaching him a lesson.
"Thank you, Your Majesty! Thank you, Grand Scholar Song!"
Jing Zhe bowed in thanks, took a deep breath, and said, "Your Majesty, this humble subject would like two more things!"
"What?"
"The right to interview and the Emperor's Sword!"
"..."
The audience erupted in another uproar.
What is the right to conduct interviews?
This time, it was Li Haoyun, the prefect of Jingzhou, who asked the question.
In fact, after hearing Jing Zhe describe the newspaper's model, he felt that many of the newspaper's ideas about the "people's livelihood section" overlapped with the functions of the government, which made him vaguely worried, so he wanted to learn more about it.
"I just mentioned the conflict between Lao Bai and Lao Wang in the livelihood sector. I only said that it could be resolved, but I didn't say how to resolve it."
Jing Zhe smiled and said, "This is where the right to interview comes in! Our newspaper will send someone to follow up on this matter, and we can conduct interviews without harming the interests of the parties involved. That's what the right to interview is. As long as we interview different parties separately and analyze their answers, we can restore the truth."
Li Haoyun nodded, indicating that he understood.
Bai Qingyuan also felt that this interview right was only for trivial matters among ordinary people, so he didn't take it to heart.
Instead, he asked curiously, "The Emperor's Sword?"
Jing Zhe glanced at him speechlessly. "The Emperor's Sword, literally, means the sword of the Emperor—His Majesty. Grand Tutor Bai has been in the court for so many years, how could he not even understand this?"
"..."
Bai Qingyuan blushed deeply after hearing what he said.
"What nonsense are you spouting? Do you think I wouldn't understand such a simple literal meaning?"
"Who would know that? If you understood it, why would you be asking me?"
Jing Zhe shrugged, indicating his disbelief.
"I'm asking you why you want the Emperor's Sword!!!"
Bai Qingyuan said in a fit of anger.
"Oh, I see."
Jing Zhe smiled and said, "The Emperor's Sword can be used to slay princes and ministers, as well as corrupt officials. Therefore, I would like to ask Your Majesty for an Emperor's Sword to protect myself!"
"No!"
As soon as Jing Zhe finished speaking, Bai Qingyuan objected without hesitation, because Jing Zhe had given him a malicious look when he mentioned "beheading princes and ministers".
This frightened Bai Qingyuan. He had long known that Jing Zhe was unpredictable and had no idea what he would do if he were given the Emperor's Sword!
"Why are you so afraid, Grand Tutor Bai? I'm not going to kill you!"
"..."
Bai Qingyuan, his neck stiff, stopped looking at him and instead turned to Emperor An, his face filled with sorrow: "Your Majesty, you absolutely cannot give it to him!"
Emperor An waved his hand and said, "Minister Bai, there's no need to worry so much. Let's hear what he has to say first!"
Then Jing Zhe said, "Your Majesty, I have taken this Emperor's Sword, but I will not use it lightly. The reason I took it is only to deal with unexpected situations during the interview!"
"An emergency?"
Bai Qingyuan snorted coldly: "What emergency? You've even asked for the interview rights, what are you worried about?"
"Grand Tutor Bai is mistaken. Let me give you another example!"
Upon hearing Jing Zhe give an example, Bai Qingyuan suddenly became somewhat fearful, while Duke Yu Sheng, the Protector of the State, took it very seriously and quickly pricked up his ears.
"For example—it's still about Lao Bai and Lao Wang! Because Lao Bai beat up Lao Wang, and after Lao Wang came to us, we naturally had to interview Lao Bai first!"
"Hmph, it was clearly Old Wang who was caught having an affair with that slut, yet he still has the nerve to report it to the police first?"
Bai Qingyuan scoffed, clearly having already identified himself with that old Bai.
Ignoring him, Jing Zhe smiled and said, "This Lao Bai holds an official position, and not a low one at that. Even though we've secured the interview rights, what if he won't let us into his house? Not only will he not let us in, but he'll also send his servants out to beat us up. What do you think we should do then?"
"..."
————
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
