24 Chapter 024
◎Newspaper Book (Sixth Update)◎
On the ninth day of April, it rained in the capital.
The cases of the Zhang family members have finally been concluded and it is time for the final judgment.
In the past few days, memorials have been flying to the imperial desk like snowflakes, most of which express opinions on how to deal with Zhang Xiaofu and his clansmen.
Xie Changfeng was too lazy to look at it and threw it all to Xie Mingzhuo.
After reading through all the memorials, she picked out a few of the best ones and handed them to the emperor who was painting idly on the side.
"What's wrong?"
"These few people are available."
Without even looking up, Xie Changfeng turned his pen and said, "Then use it."
"You'd better take a look." Xie Mingzhuo urged with a smile.
"Alright." Xie Changfeng paused, took the book, and began flipping through it, muttering, "Use whoever you like. I'm really tired of reading this... Hmm? What is this?"
Xie Mingzhuo nodded.
"Officials are unaware of Zhang Xiaofu's rebellion and are relatively lenient with the Zhang family. Or perhaps they, too, have served in the imperial army and feel somewhat guilty. A lighter sentence for the Zhang family would make them feel better."
Xie Changfeng raised the memorial and asked, "What are these?"
"These books all provide fair and just sentencing recommendations based on the Daqi Code, though there are some differences in wording."
"Let me take a look."
Xie Changfeng quickly finished flipping through the pages and pulled out one of the books. A strange expression crossed his face. "This is really well written. This must be the person who wrote this..."
Xie Mingzhuo said calmly, "He's interested in this, so we should give him a chance, right?"
"But he," Xie Changfeng took a deep breath, "wasn't he the newly crowned scholar who was abducted by 'Princess Rong'an' and taken to the Princess's Palace?"
As the emperor's "advisory body", the Hanlin Academy's officials' memorials did not need to go through too many complicated procedures when presented to the emperor, and could be easily seen by the emperor.
The "Jingguo Case" had such a huge impact that officials in Beijing wrote petitions one after another. The petition of the newly crowned top scholar was sandwiched among them and was not noticeable at all.
But his words were much more considerate than those of most officials.
He completely stood on the emperor's side, first listing Zhang Xiaofu's many crimes, and then using the "petition of a hundred people" to express his indignation at the Zhang family's oppression of the people.
He then used obscure words to express his deep understanding of the emperor's anger and dilemma, praising the emperor for his kindness and unwillingness to severely punish the meritorious service. However, he had to make a judgment because of his deep love for the people. As a subject, he felt really distressed by the anxiety and pain in the process.
Finally, based on the laws of Daqi, he stated his views on how to deal with the Zhang family, saying that the most fair judgment was the most appropriate response to the Zhang family's merits and the people of the world.
Look, how thoughtful!
Most officials could see that the emperor wanted to punish Zhang Xiaofu, but they could not see the emperor's concerns and mercy.
He was the only one who saw it, and he was grateful to the emperor for working so hard for the country and the people.
Anyone who sees it will feel relaxed and comfortable.
As long as one is a normal person, he or she will feel good about those who "understand" his or her "difficulties".
The emperor was no exception.
Even if Xie Changfeng had not been concerned about how to judge the Zhang family, he couldn't help but feel that he was indeed a very rare and kind emperor.
The main reason is that Tanhualang's writing skills are really good. The whole text is full of true feelings and there is no exaggeration or embarrassment at all.
Xie Mingzhuo said, "Except for the one compiled by Song, the views of the others are relatively objective. It can be seen that they have good character and are not tainted by divination."
"Are you really going to promote the third place winner?" Xie Changfeng asked stealthily.
Xie Mingzhuo laughed. "That incident is over, but it did have an impact on his career. The fact that he dared to write this article shows that he was determined to use this opportunity to climb the ladder. A third place winner with no background, but with real talent and such courage, why not give him a chance? It would be a form of compensation for him."
What's more, the emperor needs such loyal ministers who are not involved in party disputes.
"Then how should we promote him?" Xie Changfeng was just teasing. Anyway, it would be right to listen to Shaoshao.
Xie Mingzhuo leaned in and whispered.
So on the seventh day of April, Xie Changfeng did two things.
First, at the imperial court, Lu Ping, Marquis of Weining, was appointed as the governor-general of the Beijing army, to take up the post immediately;
Second, after the court meeting, the emperor summoned Song You, an editor of the Hanlin Academy, to the Wenhua Hall to lecture on the scriptures. Song You was an excellent eloquent speaker, and the emperor was very pleased with his speech. He promoted him on the spot to the sixth rank of Hanlin Academy lecturer, and he was specifically responsible for the imperial lectures in the future.
He was promoted by a whole rank, which shocked everyone.
After the palace examination, he was selected as the third place in the imperial examination and was appointed as the seventh-rank editor of the Hanlin Academy. Less than a month later, he was highly regarded by the emperor and became a Hanlin lecturer.
Why?!
Hadn't he offended the princess by disobeying her? Aside from his bleak future, he couldn't have been promoted so quickly, could he?
No matter what everyone said, Song You himself breathed a sigh of relief, thinking that this move was the right one.
When he returned home from office, he saw his father's complicated and strange look.
The old father patted his shoulder and said with emotion: "You really guessed it right."
Song You brushed his hand away and said sternly, "It is the duty of a subject to share the king's worries."
County Magistrate Song: “…”
Song You asked again: "Is the case finished?"
After the incident of hundreds of people filing a complaint fermented, in order to "avoid trouble for two persons for one matter", the emperor specially authorized the Daxing County Court to try all cases, and the Zhang family members with high ranks did not have to be transferred to a higher-level government office for trial.
The emperor's words are the golden rule, and no one dares to disobey.
Therefore, County Magistrate Song was so busy that he had to squeeze out time to say a few words to his son.
He glared at Song You unhappily, then hurried to the second hall to sort out the case files with the county magistrate, the registrar and others.
All cases were concluded until April 9th.
According to the law, any member of the Zhang family who committed a crime would be sentenced to death, exiled, or imprisoned, without exception.
The people cheered loudly.
As for Zhang Xiaofu's immediate family members and collateral relatives who did not commit crimes, all of them, regardless of gender or age, were exiled to Yazhou because they were implicated by Zhang Xiaofu.
Zhang Gao was declared dead, and his name was changed by the Embroidered Uniform Guard. He was exiled to Gansu Town, Ganzhou on charges of robbery.
Gansu Town was one of the nine important border towns. The climate was extremely harsh and it was often harassed by nomadic peoples from the north. Life was already very difficult for ordinary people, let alone the criminals who were exiled there.
In the past, Zhang Gao looked down on the troops coming to Beijing and beat and abused them at will. Now he is a prisoner, thousands of miles away from his family, facing the torment of the bitter cold of the northwest alone, and he doesn't know how long he can survive.
According to the law, Duke Jingguo Zhang Xiaofu should have been sentenced to death by beheading, but the emperor, remembering the contribution of his ancestors in founding the country, spared his dignity and gave him a cup of poisoned wine.
This is the benefit of the title.
This move also inspired many military generals. As long as they made contributions on the battlefield and were awarded titles, they could bring benefits to their descendants.
The Duke's Mansion was ransacked.
The wealth accumulated over hundreds of years is like a huge mountain of gold.
This mountain of gold was transformed into numbers, copied onto a list of property, and presented to the emperor.
In addition to dozens of houses and warehouses, and 800 hectares of land, there are also hundreds of shops, including 60 pawnshops, 15 antique shops, and several jade shops and silk shops.
There are countless gold and silver utensils, antiques, calligraphy and paintings in the house.
The silver in the treasury of the silver bank alone amounted to a huge amount of five million taels, which even made Emperor Xie Changfeng dumbfounded.
What is the concept of five million taels?
Last year, the court’s annual fiscal revenue was only 50 million taels!
These five million taels do not include other properties. If all of them were added up, he could perhaps be called "rich enough to rival a country."
The originally impoverished national treasury suddenly became much more abundant.
Xie Changfeng sighed repeatedly: "These wealthy people are really rich."
If we come a few more times, why worry about the treasury running out of money?
Now that I have money, I don’t feel bad about spending it.
Xie Mingzhuo first asked Xie Changfeng to issue an imperial decree, ordering the Governor of the Beijing Camp, Lu Ping, to recall all the soldiers who were forced to work, calculate the overdue food and wages, and then allocate funds from the national treasury for compensation.
These overdue food and wages are just a drop in the bucket compared to the wealth of the Duke's Mansion.
In addition, the soldiers who have been in Beijing for a long time will be allowed to go home after get off work and will be given appropriate compensation.
Wei Dajiang not only received the overdue food and wages, but also received ten taels of silver as compensation. In addition, because of his heroic act of beating the drum to report the incident, the emperor awarded him another 100 taels of gold.
Even if he did not receive the promotion from the emperor himself, after this experience, he would definitely be valued and cultivated after returning home and would rise to a high position from then on.
The rest of the soldiers who died or were injured during the Occupy Central movement will naturally also receive consolation money and retirement pay.
By the time everything was settled, only a fraction of the money had been spent.
Xie Mingshuo ran in with rain on his clothes, sat down at the dining table, and said happily, "The first edition of my newspaper has been printed. It will be tested in the capital tomorrow morning!"
"Really? That's great!" Xie Changfeng was extremely happy. "I've been reading newspapers for decades, but I'm a little uncomfortable not having read them in a few days. What's the news?"
Xie Mingshuo kept it a secret: "We'll know tomorrow."
"Daily newspaper?" Xie Mingxuan asked.
Xie Mingshuo scooped a spoonful of tofu soup and said, "Of course not. The printing industry isn't that developed right now, so it's inconvenient to publish news. I can't do a daily newspaper, so I plan to print it every ten days."
Meng Qi nodded. "A weekly newspaper is indeed more appropriate. How many copies did you print? How much does one newspaper cost?"
"The illiteracy rate in this world is incredibly high. I conducted a special survey, and less than one percent of people in Beijing have attended private schools and can even read—probably the highest rate in the country." Xie Mingshuo sighed, "The road ahead is long and arduous..."
Xie Mingxuan calculated, "The total population of the capital is about one million. One percent is ten thousand. Perhaps half of those ten thousand people only recognize common characters, such as shopkeepers and accountants. Only the wealthy have the money and time to read newspapers. But newspapers are new, after all, and the market is uncertain. Did you print a thousand copies?"
"How can a thousand copies be enough?" Xie Mingshuo shook his head. "This is such a shocking piece of news. Countless people across the country want to read it. We'll try to print two thousand copies in Beijing. If they sell well, we can sell them nationwide."
Xie Changfeng's thick eyebrows drooped. "The shocking news you're talking about, isn't it the 'Jing Guo Case'?"
There was nothing new to see in the cases he personally participated in.
"It does have the largest page, but it's not the only news." Xie Mingshuo chuckled, "You'll know tomorrow when you read it."
The next morning, a store called "Beijing Newspaper" quietly opened in Nanxunfang.
When the neighbors saw the new store opening, they came to inquire about it.
The people of Qichao were no strangers to "associations". Scholars' academic societies, businessmen's chambers of commerce, as well as some niche Cuju clubs and Go clubs, were common across the country.
But this is the first time I’ve heard of the term “newspaper”.
The manager of the newspaper was originally an actor in the Prince of Jin's mansion. He competed for the position and cherished this decent job very much. He was determined to carry forward the Prince of Jin's career.
He was wearing a green robe, had a handsome appearance, a straight body, and a clear and powerful voice.
"My dear gentlemen and ladies, I am Luo Bao, the owner of a newspaper company. Today is the opening of our small shop. I hope you will all come and support us. I will be very grateful."
His real name was Luo Sanlang. When he learned that he was about to become the manager of a newspaper, he changed his name to Luo Bao to express his determination to devote his whole life to the newspaper.
His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin waved his hand and approved it.
Someone in the crowd asked, "Manager Luo, what do you sell in this newspaper?"
Luo Bao smiled mysteriously: "What we sell is news."
"What's the news?"
Not only the residents of Nanxunfang were asking about it, but people were asking about it on every street corner in the capital.
Xie Mingshuo hired fifty newspaper boys from the Beijing Charity House and asked them to sell newspapers in the streets early in the morning.
A newspaper costs ten cents, and as long as they sell ten copies, they can get one cent.
Two thousand newspapers, forty copies per person, and I can earn four cents after selling them. One cent can buy two steamed buns, so four cents means eight steamed buns, and eight steamed buns can last me three days!
The Salesian Home is a government-run welfare home, but it goes without saying that life there is not easy. The children have never had enough to eat, and more often than not, they have to undertake heavy labor but do not receive the compensation they deserve.
This is due to the fact that the relevant responsible persons neglected their duties and embezzled money, and also because the government was unable to provide relief.
You can imagine how happy the children were when they got the job.
Just by running and shouting in the streets, you can earn three days' worth of food. That's so happy.
Within half a day, the "Beijing Newspaper" and "Beijing Weekly" became well-known.
Some of them had inappropriate thoughts and were about to investigate the background of the newspaper, but were warned by a "mysterious force".
There were also scoundrels who snatched newspapers without paying, and they were quickly dragged away and punished by the military officers.
In this way, everyone knew that the "Beijing Newspaper" was a tough nut to crack and could not be easily touched.
After Xie Changfeng finished the court meeting, he hurried to the Palace of Heavenly Purity and picked up the newspaper that had been delivered long ago.
At first glance, the center of the page is occupied by "Jingguo Case", and there are even two simple drawings attached to it!
One shows the scene of Wei Dajiang beating the drum to report the incident, and the other shows the scene of the plaque of Duke Jingguo's Mansion falling.
It is clear and vivid, and the scene at that time is outlined with just a few strokes, which also makes it easy to print.
The report is objective and fair, but the ending is heart-stirring. As corrupt officials are brought down and the victims' grievances are redressed, the readers' hearts also vibrate and resonate with the story.
In this world, evil people should go to hell!
Looking at the rest of the pages, the stories of hundreds of people filing complaints, interviews with victims, etc. were all published truthfully in the newspaper.
Xie Mingshuo even had someone draw a picture, which showed Wei Dajiang and others kneeling devoutly at the city gate towards the imperial palace before leaving Beijing. The content of the report was quite touching.
The emperor's justice and benevolence, and the people's respect and gratitude, are all vividly demonstrated.
I believe that any reader with normal mental state will be deeply touched and thus deepen his or her favorable impression of the emperor and the court.
This is the power of public opinion.
Duke Jing’s “celebrity effect” was so strong that in less than a day, all two thousand newspapers were sold out.
Fortunately, Xie Mingshuo had predicted this and printed several thousand more copies.
The capital is crowded with merchants, who are very sensitive to the trends in the capital. When they return, they take dozens of newspapers with them and travel to all parts of the country. In time, they will surely make the "Capital Weekly" famous all over the world.
The back of the newspaper has more variety.
The walls of Huanghuafang and Sichengfang collapsed, and the government has summoned craftsmen to repair them.
This is the people's livelihood section.
Chongbeifang Zhuangyuan Restaurant has excellent food and wine, with good quality and low prices. Travelers passing by should not miss it.
This is an ad space.
A child from a certain family in Beijuxianfang is missing. Anyone who finds him will be rewarded handsomely.
This is a missing person notice.
In addition, there are news about shops for rent, deeds of bravery, the holding of a certain Cuju competition, etc.
Of course, what attracts readers the most is a storybook.
The storybook took up a quarter of the page, and the title of the book was "The Heavenly Book: The Road to Success in the Imperial Examinations."
The name is straightforward enough, so straightforward that readers can't wait to read the full text as soon as they see the name.
Xie Changfeng had never read online novels and didn't quite understand the plot, so he wanted to meet Xie Mingshuo after finishing reading them.
Unfortunately, Xie Mingshuo was busy with his career and was not in the palace at all.
He had no choice but to ask his wife for advice, but he found out that his wife and the boss were staying up all night and forgetting to eat and sleep at the Arms Bureau.
He rolled up the newspaper and thought about it, then decided to follow his heart and go to Wenhua Hall to find his daughter.
Xie Mingzhuo was reading a book of miscellaneous notes about Huguang, so he was not surprised to see Xie Changfeng.
The latter waved away the palace attendant and pointed to the story in the newspaper and asked, "Have you read this?"
"I have."
"How can a heavenly book appear in a person's mind?"
Xie Mingzhuo: "Even Monkey King can jump out of a stone."
“…”
"But isn't this cheating?" Xie Changfeng was puzzled. "This scholar has a divine book in his head. It not only contains all the books required for the imperial examination, but also includes the collected annotations of great scholars of the time. Isn't this unfair to other candidates?"
Xie Mingzhuo raised an eyebrow. "The starting point for the imperial examination for a farmer's son is the private school in town, while the starting point for a child from an aristocratic family is the great scholar of the time. There is no such thing as absolute fairness."
"That's what I said, but public opinion can't be guided in this way, otherwise these educated people will take shortcuts."
"It's a storybook," Xie Mingzhuo answered seriously, "and my second brother has discussed this storybook with my eldest brother and me. It's not just about the imperial examination."
"What's next?"
"Since it's a heavenly book, it contains a wide variety of content. As the protagonist achieves more, the book will gradually unlock new things. The study of nature, natural history, medical knowledge, and so on will all be promoted through the storybook."
As time goes by, the storybooks will become more and more popular, and then this knowledge will gradually enter the minds of scholars and even ordinary people - ordinary people will learn about the storybooks by listening to the books.
It may cause controversy, but the truth will become clearer the more it is debated.
Ordinary people are all full of spirit of research, and the collective power is strong. It is impossible to promote scientific progress by relying on only five time travelers.
Xie Changfeng suddenly understood and couldn't help but give a thumbs up: "This is a very good idea."
However, the story has just been published in the first chapter. The protagonist Wu Chuanyue's family has just fallen into poverty. He has gone from being a playboy to a pauper. When he was disheartened, he got the "divine artifact" of the Heavenly Book.
It's too early to say that now.
But just the first time, it sparked a lot of controversy.
The reason is very simple. The writing style is too plain, which lowers the level of readers and has been disliked and slandered by many readers.
If this kind of storybook can be reported and circulated, then I can do it too!
As a result, many scholars rushed to the Nanxunfang Beijing Newspaper Office with their own storybooks and asked Luo Bao to publish them.
Luo Bao: “…”
【Author’s words】
Turn down, there is more~
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