Jing Zhe almost applauded Xiong San's wit.
He ignored him and looked at Su Moyan and Hao Junguang, saying calmly, "Your Highness and Grand Tutor Hao's suggestion is good, but the newspaper is my newspaper, and it is also His Majesty's newspaper. If anyone wants to interfere in the affairs of our newspaper, I am afraid I cannot comply!"
"..."
Su Moyan and Hao Junguang were both a little embarrassed; they had never intended to become enemies with Jing Zhe.
Hao Junguang gave an awkward smile: "President Jing has misunderstood. How could we possibly want to interfere in the newspaper's affairs?"
Su Moyan also tried to smooth things over with a smile: "Yes, President Jing, please don't overthink it! We just wanted to offer some suggestions. If we have offended President Jing, I apologize!"
He then prepared to get up, startling Chen Jiannan and the others. Jing Zhe quickly stopped him.
He then added, "Your Highness's idea is good, but you haven't considered the difficulties involved."
"Oh? I'd like to hear more about it!"
"First of all, it's unrealistic to write things in the newspaper that teach children to read and write. Even if you print those things, how can children learn on their own without someone to teach them? And ultimately, the reason children don't go to school is because their families don't have money, but buying newspapers doesn't cost money."
"Newspapers...do you still need money to buy them?"
Hao Junguang was stunned for a moment. He thought this was just like a notice issued by the imperial court, which could be posted and that would be the end of it.
"Of course we need it!"
Jing Zhe sneered, "Let me do the math for Grand Tutor Hao. If you want the newspaper to be exciting, the staff will inevitably have to go out and do interviews. Aren't travel expenses and hard work fees money? Aren't the paper and ink used by the printing department money? Don't all the people in the newspaper need money?"
Moreover, to benefit all the people, the newspaper will open branches in various places in the future. The same expenses will all cost money, right? Where will this money come from? We can't always expect to ask His Majesty for it, can we?
Everyone fell silent after hearing this. This was indeed a real problem that they had to face. Su Moyan and Hao Junguang even became somewhat frustrated.
At this point, Jing Zhe shook his head and said, "So, it is indeed a good thing to want children to have books to read, but the method you mentioned is obviously not feasible!"
Upon hearing this, Su Moyan's eyes suddenly lit up: "President Jing, do you have a good idea?"
Jing Zhe nodded first, then shook his head.
“I do have an idea, but I think the reason why Your Highness and Grand Tutor Hao are so enthusiastic about this matter is not simply because children have books to read, right? Since Your Highness dares to use me, why doesn’t he dare to explain things to me clearly?”
After speaking, he looked at the two of them with a half-smile.
Hao Junguang and Su Moyan exchanged a glance, then nodded slightly. Hao Junguang pointed to Chen Jiannan and the others, saying, "Them..."
Jing Zhe waved his hand, "Grand Tutor Hao, don't worry, these people are reliable. Since you've already heard so much, what's a little more?"
Seeing that Hao Junguang was still hesitant, Jing Zhe solemnly said, "If Grand Tutor Hao still doesn't believe me, then I'll swear a solemn oath, okay? I swear that the three of them will never spread what they heard today. If it's false, I'm willing to—atone with their heads!"
"..."
Chen Jiannan and the other two froze, suddenly realizing that it would be better to leave...
Su Moyan gave Hao Junguang a wink, and Hao Junguang stopped talking and began to speak.
...
Ultimately, Su Moyan did this for the sake of monarchical autocracy.
Throughout history, there have been countless instances of princes rebelling and peasant uprisings. Although the current court is equally chaotic, Emperor An is not particularly afraid. What he fears most is the will of the people.
Emperor An often lamented that he had too little influence over the common people, and that if any disturbance occurred, the people would turn against him and his imperial career would come to an end.
Therefore, Emperor An particularly valued the current affairs section mentioned by Jing Zhe, wanting to continuously convey his thoughts and governing philosophy to the people, and also to listen to the opinions of people from all over the country through the current affairs section, so as to achieve unity between the emperor and the people.
As long as he can hold the people firmly in his grasp, he can not only effectively prevent peasant uprisings, but also not be afraid of others rising up in rebellion and defying their superiors.
After all, he has won the hearts of the people, and he will surely win the world.
Moreover, Su Moyan also had his own plans. He had always advocated benevolent governance and wanted to spread his ideas through the newspaper so that the people would know that their crown prince cared about the people and that if he were to ascend the throne, he would surely bring blessings to the people!
Hearing this, Jing Zhe asked with some curiosity, "Your Highness, you are the Crown Prince of Anguo and the first in line to the throne. The throne will be yours sooner or later. Why do you need to publicize it now? Besides, His Majesty is in good health. If His Majesty thinks too much about it, wouldn't that be troublesome?"
Su Moyan shook his head with a wry smile: "It was Father Emperor who made me do this. Otherwise, even if I had a few times the courage, I wouldn't dare!"
"..."
While listening to these royal secrets, Chen Jiannan and the other two were far less composed than Jing Zhe; they were all sweating profusely! Even just a few words were explosive enough, and it seemed what followed was even more crucial…
They didn't want to hear it anymore; they felt that even if they didn't spread it, they still couldn't sleep peacefully at night if they thought about it.
Seeing the three men fidgeting, Jing Zhe almost laughed. He thought to himself that they had really had a hard time. When they came, they thought it was a cushy job and were all excited. Now they were like wilted eggplants, all listless and dejected.
Haha, now you know that interviewing isn't an easy job, right?
That's still considered good!
In a real interview, you not only need to be able to run and jump, but also be able to endure hardship and not be afraid of getting tired. If there are difficulties, you have to step up; if you can't step up, you have to lie down.
Let's teach them a lesson today!
So he smiled and said to Su Moyan, "Your Highness, this is the first time my three subordinates have come out for an interview. They heard quite a bit just now, and they probably need to take a closer look. Could we find a quiet study so they can write it down and take notes?"
Su Moyan nodded. In fact, he had had this idea for a while, but he was too embarrassed to bring it up because Jing Zhe didn't speak up.
Although what I mentioned earlier was also quite private, it was still just general stuff. But what he was about to say was too confidential. Even if he dared to say it, not everyone would dare to listen!
"Alright, Lian Ru, take them downstairs first! Let's have some tea and rest for a while!"
Jing Zhe took a sip of tea and casually asked Li Haoyun, "Prefect Li, are there any casinos in our city?"
Li Haoyun shook his head righteously: "No! At least not on the surface! Gambling is prohibited by the laws of Da'an. If anyone is found to be gambling in a group, I will lead the constables to raid and shut it down! Those involved in gambling will also be arrested and brought back to the yamen for severe punishment!"
Jing Zhe nodded and didn't say anything more in front of Su Moyan, planning to find an opportunity to talk to Li Haoyun privately.
————
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