The promotion of the newspaper went more smoothly than expected.
Chen Qiao simply took Gu Zeyun to the presence of King Qi, who quickly issued an order.
Not only did they agree to the construction of the newspaper, but they also did not intend to do it in a small way. Instead, they allocated money from the national treasury to start building a newspaper office, hoping to get the newspaper published as quickly as possible.
After hearing this, Shen Qiao couldn't help but sigh: "This efficiency is really high."
Gu Zeyun, however, remained calm. "It can't be low. If it were an ordinary person, procrastination would only result in a bonus deduction. But if you dare to procrastinate in front of the monarch, it means you've been living too comfortably and are looking for trouble."
...When you think about it carefully, it's quite true.
After a moment of silence, Chen Qiao simply concluded, "It seems that this humanoid plug-in we found is indeed useful."
Not only is it efficient, but it also saves money, manpower and effort, which is really convenient and fast.
Then Shen Qiao asked another question: "So where should we start building the newspaper this time?"
Gu Zeyun took out his phone and flipped through it while saying, "We should start from a place with a high literacy rate."
"capital?"
"No, it's Fenghe County."
Chen Qiao was stunned when these words came out: "Fenghe County has only just started to reform its education system for less than a year, and yet it's even more popular than in the capital?"
In response, Kun Jingming, who had been listening in, replied, "The capital isn't just populated by high-ranking officials; there are also many ordinary people. For them, literacy doesn't affect their lives, and many are illiterate. But Fenghe County is different. There, literacy is essential for factory work, and since private schools and academies no longer charge tuition, many students sign up, and even farmers are willing to learn to read."
After hearing this, Shen Qiao could only sigh: “It seems that everyone needs some motivation.”
The people of Langyun work so hard so that they can finish their work earlier and go home earlier.
Fenghejun works so hard so that he can learn as soon as possible and earn money to support his family.
Neither is easy.
Gu Zeyun had been looking at his phone. After receiving a message, he said, "I asked my classmates from the School of Economics and Management for help. The cost of setting up a newspaper in Qi State is relatively low now. The biggest problem before was the shortage of paper and its high price. Now that paper is cheaper, the cost has been greatly reduced. If it's for publicity purposes, even distributing it for free is fine."
Kun Jingming said, "You still have to charge money, even if it's just a few coins."
"Huh, why?"
"There will always be people who want to take more of free things. You want to let more people see it, not do charity. Only charging can help spread it more."
Gu Zeyun thought about it and nodded, "Senior, you are right. I will write it down and do it this way."
Chen Qiao's focus was elsewhere. She spoke with emotion, "So, the reason we can run a newspaper business now is because paper has become cheaper and literacy has become more accessible, right? And these are all the results of our previous efforts... So infrastructure construction is still a long-term project."
Gu Zeyun smiled, very happy: "Actually, I didn't expect it to be online so soon."
Kun Jingming slowly said, "The reason why it happened so quickly is not only because King Qi also realized the importance of publicity, but also because of the help of two people."
Gu Zeyun asked excitedly, "Are you talking about me, Senior?"
Kun Jingming looked at him with a smile, patted his shoulder, and said, "No."
Gu Zeyun: ...Humph.
Then Kun Jingming continued, "It was the Third and Seventh Young Masters who made this happen. They explained the pros and cons clearly to the King of Qi and aroused his dissatisfaction with the entrenched aristocratic families in the capital. This is what made this happen."
As soon as these words came out, Shen Qiao's eyebrows moved slightly.
Although she was an art student and could not match the two people in front of her when it came to hardcore things, as a first-generation fairy, she was the one who had the most contact with the indigenous people, whether in Langyun or after arriving in the capital.
Sometimes, if you interact more with people, you can understand a lot about the situation here.
Now she immediately thought of the key point and said, "I think, given the King of Qi's temper, he hasn't seen the effect of newspaper publicity yet, nor has he seen the benefits it will bring. So, he may not be more concerned about this matter itself, but rather hopes to use it to strike a blow against the wealthy families in the capital."
Kun Jingming glanced at Chen Qiao in surprise, as if he didn't expect this man to be so insightful.
Then he nodded in affirmation: "Yes, as far as royal power is concerned, he will instinctively reject those who hinder him. The greater the power of the clan, the more annoyed the King of Qi will be. The effect of this is like mentioning the King of Zhou in front of him, which can stimulate the King of Qi to work harder to make changes."
Chen Qiao laughed: "That's quite reasonable. What makes people work hard to improve is often because of the strength of their opponents. People tend to have a strong rebellious mentality."
Gu Zeyun was curious: "Senior, how did you know these details? Could it be that you also have nothing to do and chat with the people of Qi?"
Kun Jingming replied slowly, "Social structure determines the basic contradictions. It's all written in history books. They're all pretty much the same, nothing special. Reading more is good, and it helps to think things through."
Gu Zeyun nodded first, then revealed a suspicious expression: "Why do I feel like you are implying something to me?"
Kun Jingming smiled and said, "No, you're overthinking it." He changed the subject the next second, "Speaking of which, compared to all this, I'm more curious about why the Third Young Master would help."
If it is profitable for Young Master Yun to stand on the side of the Fairyland, then the Third Young Master is a bit surprising.
Kun Jingming then said, "He has basically no connection with Langyun University. The number of times they've met is very few. He hasn't even gained anything from the fairyland. Now he's suddenly and clearly standing on Langyun's side. Obviously, it can't be explained entirely by admiration for the immortals."
Gu Zeyun blinked his eyes. "Maybe he's like Gongzi Yun, wanting to use the power of the fairyland to do his own thing?"
Kun Jingming directly denied it: "Then the good relationship between the two gentlemen now is somewhat unjustifiable."
Just as Kun Jingming was thinking more and more in the direction of conspiracy theory, Chen Qiao raised his hand: "I know this."
Gu Zeyun immediately looked over: "Oh, please tell me the truth!"
Chen Qiao pointed directly outside the door and said seriously, "The Third Young Master has been coming here every day to get beaten up by Miao Miao... well, to spar with each other. When Miao Miao is instructing him, she talks a lot about Lang Yun, which helps the Third Young Master understand more about the fairyland, including the role of newspapers. So after understanding it, the Third Young Master has been particularly respectful."
Gu Zeyun blinked, then blinked again, and quickly summarized: "So it's a fan filter?"
Chen Qiao smiled and said, “You can say that.”
The next second, Gu Zeyun turned his head and looked at Kun Jingming seriously.
Kun Jingming was puzzled: "Why are you looking at me?"
The next second, Gu Zeyun smiled brightly: "So it seems, Senior, reading too much isn't good either. It makes you think too much."
Kun Jingming: ...
snort.
The construction of the newspaper office started quickly.
It was just slightly different from what Kun Jingming expected. Fenghe County was the first to start, but there were more than just Fenghe County.
The King of Qi found a county in each of the four directions of Qi for trial operation. There was more than one county in Fenghe County. The surrounding Yuanluo County and Jiangyi County also needed to be built to ensure the issuance.
It has to be said that the King of Qi's orders are effective and do not require any supervision. All he needs is an edict to be delivered. Even if it is the middle of the night, the officials will jump out of bed, call people to receive the edict, express their gratitude, and carry it out with all their strength.
Of course, the order was accompanied by a warning not to make any fabricated changes in newspaper reports.
This is because the students of Langyun are afraid that the distorted "freedom of speech" before the time travel will cross dimensions and affect public opinion here, but the reality is that their concerns are indeed a bit ahead of time.
How could the county magistrates who received the imperial edict have thought so far ahead?
It’s better to get the job done first!
You know, if they dare to neglect the king, they will not only lose their jobs, but they may also lose their heads.
As a result, several counties immediately began to build new newspapers in full swing.
Since there are many Langyun students in Fenghe County, they had already communicated with Du Cheng early on and knew that the purpose of developing paper media this time was to help them complete their tasks, so they were all very active.
Bian Yuhang used his expertise in mechanical engineering to develop a semi-automatic movable type printing press.
Professor Bian led his students to add a power device to the printing press.
Those who are engaged in architecture took up architectural design, while those who are engaged in business chose a store with a prime location to be used as a newsstand in the future.
Not only that, they also created public opinion early on, letting the caravans passing by know that something big was going to happen in Fenghe County again, which aroused the curiosity of caravans from all over the country. They also brought this information to various places in Qi while doing business, thereby increasing the influence of the newspaper in advance.
While all the majors were working together, Ji Liang and his agricultural college students were not idle either. After another good harvest in autumn, they sent all the rice husks, straw and other things to the paper mill in Fenghe County to increase their raw materials.
Perhaps because they visited frequently, when the first newspaper came out, Xincun, a village far away from the county town, was the first to know about it.
That afternoon, Fang Luo learned about this from Xincun Muramasa's child.
As the prefect of Yuanluo County who came here to study, Fang Luo has always been extremely diligent and hardworking.
Mr. Fang, who had never touched water before, can now recognize various crops skillfully. He even bound papers into notebooks and wrote down various planting common sense with charcoal. He also learned sketching and drew all the fresh things that came out of the new village, preparing to take them back for his father to refer to.
Originally, Fang Luo thought that since Fenghe County had obtained the immortal's method, it was already a rare opportunity for him to let the people around him see a little bit of it, and he was afraid that he would not really teach it.
But what surprised him was that everyone from the county governor of Zhuang to the people in the new village were extremely keen on spreading the news about the new village.
He even opened a class in the village. I heard that the name was given by the immortal and the calligraphy was written by the county magistrate Zhuang.
Lanxiang.
If you savor it carefully, you will find that flying in the blue sky is quite novel.
As a member of the new school, Fang Luo completely forgot his initial resistance to this place and began to devote himself to farming.
Today was supposed to be a day off at school, but he still took his homework to the yard and studied it carefully.
He got along well with Wandong's youngest son, and Fang Luo was young and needed more care, so he became the only visitor from various counties to stay at Muramasa's house.
As a result, I saw the little boy coming back skipping and jumping, holding an ear of wheat in his hand, which was shaking back and forth.
The ducks strolling back and forth in the yard quickly looked over and puffed up their wings.
When he found out that it was one of his own family, he retracted his wings and continued to walk around the yard.
This made Fang Luo, who was originally sitting on a bamboo chair doing his homework, subconsciously straighten his back. He waited until the duck strolled past before he breathed a sigh of relief. Then he looked at the little guy with a smile: "The last time I saw you so happy was when we were slaughtering pigs for meat in the village. What's the happy event today?"
The little fellow walked over happily, shaking Wheat Ear and saying, "I don't know either. I'm happy as long as Daddy is happy."
But these words made Fang Luo more concerned.
The child’s father is Wan Dong, the village chief of this new village.
Although Wan Cunzheng was born into a refugee family, he had already passed the academy examination and was definitely considered a high-level intellectual in the village. He also obtained a formal clerkship in the county town and was promoted from "acting village chief" to "real village chief". Naturally, his words and deeds carried weight.
Whatever can make him happy is probably not a small matter.
So he immediately asked, "What are Wancunzheng so happy about?"
The little boy stared, recollecting for a moment before saying crisply, "It seems like the newspaper in Juncheng has been published!"
Fang Luo immediately asked, "Newspaper office?"
"It seems so. Oh, yes, Daddy also said that he brought back several newspapers and wanted to show them to the villagers."
"Newspaper..." Fang Luo thought for a moment and asked, "Would you mind showing it to me, young master?"
Although the little boy was young, he was sensible and knew that the person in front of him was a guest in the village. In addition, Wan Dong had not said that the newspaper matter was a secret. If the villagers could read it, then the guest could naturally read it as well.
So the little fellow started jogging away, swinging the wheat ears, saying as he ran, "I'll get it right away! Just wait!"
Fang Luo hurried to catch up: "I'm not in a hurry, run slower, don't fall..."
As a result, he found that as an adult, he could not catch up with a doll. He was pulled farther and farther away until he saw the little guy disappear at the end of the alley.
On the contrary, Mr. Fang was panting and looking like a weak willow in the wind.
So he turned around silently, calmed his breathing, and pretended nothing had happened.
But before he could go back, he heard someone calling out, "My dear!"
Fang Luo turned around and saw the chief clerk of Yuanluo County.
The chief clerk had come with him before, and originally thought that it would just be a formality according to the imperial decree. However, he did not expect that Mr. Fang would be so attached to the new village once he entered it. From his initial resistance, he later refused to leave and insisted on staying for a long time, becoming a boarding student from a day student.
This made the chief clerk quite helpless. After sending someone to ask the prefect of Yuanluo County, he left the young man to study in the new village, while he went back to continue to take care of the major and minor affairs in the county.
Three months later, my husband still hasn't come back...
So the chief clerk came over and prepared to take back his husband, who really wanted to settle down in the new village.
Fang Luo was quite surprised to see him: "Why are you here?"
The chief clerk trotted a few steps and gave him a helpless smile: "Actually, the county governor sent me to welcome you."
"What are you doing welcoming me?"
"All those sent from the surrounding counties have returned, and only you are still here. And from what they say, you have already started farming?"
Upon hearing this, Fang Luo laughed.
The chief clerk also laughed: "I also find this statement unbelievable. How can a handsome man like you do such rough work..."
Before he finished speaking, he heard a series of "ga ga ga" sounds.
The chief clerk turned around in surprise and saw a gray duck rushing towards him with its wings flapping, its beak flat and flapping, looking very aggressive.
This frightened the chief clerk, and he turned around and wanted to run away.
Then Fang Luo skillfully grabbed a handful of vegetable leaves from the table at the door and fed them to the duck while saying, "This is a guest, not a thief. Don't bite him."
I don’t know if it was the vegetable leaves that worked, or if the duck was already familiar with Fang Luo, but even though it didn’t understand what he was saying, it still stopped.
The duck stood at the gate with its sturdy body, shaking its long neck back and forth. It looked at Fang Luo, then at the obviously frightened stranger. The duck ignored him and slowly began to eat the leaves.
But the short legs didn't move at all. He still stood at the door with his wings spread out, as if if the chief clerk dared to move, he would rush up and twist the person.
This obviously frightened the chief clerk, who came from a scholarly background.
His voice was trembling: "This, this is..."
Fang Luo comforted him, "Xincuncun is the one who stayed behind to guard the house. He's very smart. Don't worry, as long as you don't go in, he won't bite you."
The chief clerk tried to brace himself: "I am a man, how can I be afraid of ducks?"
Fang Luo didn't say anything, just pointed towards the door.
When the chief clerk looked over, he saw a pit.
Then Fang Luo said, "It pecked it when it was fighting with other ducks. You'd better not fight it. I don't think you can beat it."
Chief Clerk: ...
Suddenly, an inexplicable sense of frustration arose...
Fang Luo asked, "You haven't finished speaking yet, continue."
The chief clerk came to his senses immediately and wanted to tell him that he did not believe the rumors spread by those people in the counties at all.
Can my husband do farm work?
Come on, I’m afraid you’ve never even been to the fields.
Before he could finish his words, he saw Fang Luo had already taken out a box from the yard. He opened it and saw crushed grains inside.
He grabbed a handful and scattered it on the ground.
Soon, a group of chickens came around and pecked at it, and Fang Luo skillfully scattered another handful.
Chief Registrar: …???
How is this like the young man who didn't know the difference between grains?
Did you come here to study together and also make some changes?
He was stunned, and then quickly swallowed back the words that were about to come out of his mouth.
After meeting Fang Luo's gaze, he swallowed and said, "Well, actually, the county governor has something for me to tell you, my dear."
"What did father say?"
"The master said that he missed his husband very much and hoped that he would return soon."
But Fang Luo didn't believe it: "My father was born a military commander, it's impossible for him to speak such flowery words."
The chief clerk just smiled but didn't answer, thinking in his heart that they were indeed father and son, and it would be a waste of time to sabotage them.
But County Magistrate Fang was not so polite. His original words were:
"So the good son I raised to this age was raised for Fenghe County? There's work everywhere, how can it be said that he works for others? Hurry and get him back here! If I don't take care of him anymore, he might forget about me!"
However, the chief clerk could not tell these things, and fortunately Fang Luo did not ask any further questions.
He put the box aside, clapped his hands, and then said with a smile: "Wan Cunzheng hasn't come back yet, and you can't get in anyway, so why don't I take you around and see the changes in this new village now."
The chief clerk nodded immediately and left with her husband, also away from the guard duck that kept quacking.
Before coming to the new village, the chief clerk had actually prepared himself mentally.
After seeing a shelling machine that could make a lot of noise last time, he felt that he would not be scared by anything anymore!
So along the way, the chief clerk tried hard to keep himself calm.
I’m used to seeing big loofahs!
If you see a big carp, you can...
When I saw the millstone that turned on its own...
Why does this thing spin by itself?
When Fang Luo took him to see the semi-automatic human-powered rail car running in the village, the chief clerk was completely speechless and stood there in amazement.
He really couldn't understand why just two people standing in the truck bed and pushing the iron bar back and forth would actually make the truck move?!
The previous rail car at least had a locomotive to carry it, and it needed coal and water.
As a result, this thing doesn't eat anything and can just walk by relying on people.
Unheard of, never seen!
The chief clerk wanted to exclaim and scream, but he still remembered that this was Fenghe County and he was from Yuanluo County.
You can lose anything but not your face.
So he swallowed all the words back, almost choking himself. After finally calming down, he spoke tremblingly: "My dear, what are these?"
Then he found that Fang Luo was looking at him with a smile.
That expression says "I just want to see you look like a naive person."
Chief Clerk: ...My own husband is the county magistrate’s biological son. Don’t be angry, don’t be angry.
Fortunately, Fang Luo didn't make a sarcastic remark and quickly replied seriously, "These are all their new equipment. Some are in the experimental stage, and some are in the practical stage. They are all different. This is why I haven't returned yet."
The chief clerk was quite moved by this and asked, "Sir, do you want to learn more so that you can go back and build Yuanluo County?"
“That’s part of the reason.”
"What's more important?"
"This track car is really fun, I'm a little reluctant to part with it."
……oh.
But jokes aside, Fang Luo still remembered his father's advice. Especially after he saw more in the new village, he hoped more and more to transplant the model here to Yuanluo County.
Although the geographical location of their county town is not as advantageous as here and does not have as abundant water resources, the soil is still fertile. If there is no river, they can just dig one.
It can always be solved.
So Fang Luo said as he walked: "As long as your thinking doesn't slip, there are always more solutions than problems."
The chief clerk exclaimed, "Huh?" and stepped forward. "Sir, your words are quite profound. I wonder who said them?"
Fang Luo pointed casually: "It's painted on the wall, right between 'If you want to get rich, build roads first' and 'Raise pigs, plant trees, and pave roads.'"
Chief Clerk: ...
At this moment, the chief clerk was lost in thought as he looked at the various slogans on the wall.
It seems that I still have a lot to learn.
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