After listening to Yun Qing's words, Zhu Tao's mind began to work.
As the saying goes, "Man proposes, God disposes." Although the ancients believed in gods and seemed ignorant, there were benefits to it as well.
Zhu Tao then came up with a solution: many things that seem unscientific to the naked eye can actually be done using scientific methods.
Before long, strange things began to happen frequently at that unknown lake. At first, some brave children playing by the lake could find things like writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones, but no one paid any attention to it.
A few days later, a medium-sized stone pillar suddenly appeared in the lake, with the words "Read ten thousand books" engraved on it. This surprised the people living around.
Everyone was talking about it. The ancients believed in ghosts and gods. The lake, which was originally considered unlucky, suddenly had a stone pillar engraved with "reading ten thousand scrolls". Some people connected this to something their children had recently found, and gradually the story started to spread.
There are three types of people living around. Zhu Tao gave it a push, and the matter started to spread throughout the capital. Everyone said that this lake was a divine lake, and that anyone living around it would be able to "write with divine inspiration".
The rumors grew increasingly exaggerated, and Zhu Tao seized the opportunity to spread the word that the lake was undoubtedly a place of great feng shui.
Zhu Tao naturally didn't hide it from Yinzhen, who didn't think anything of it. Seeing this, Zhu Tao asked Yinzhen for help from the Imperial Observatory. So, under the watchful eyes of everyone, the Imperial Observatory calculated that the lake was indeed extraordinary, but if they wanted to make the place more useful, it would need to be filled with a large number of books.
Thus, Zhu Tao naturally began to launch his Tianhu Bookstore project.
At this point, naturally no one objected, since this place was no longer the ominous lake it once was; it was a place blessed by the God of Literature.
Moreover, the bookstore, which Zhu Tao had promoted, had aroused great enthusiasm among the audience. Many poor students lacked books the most, and if the bookstore was really as advertised, poor families would have a place to study in the future.
The biggest shortage of books for children from poor families was that of books. In ancient times, scholars were highly respected, and books were naturally beyond the reach of ordinary people. As a result, the existence of bookstores gave many children from poor families the opportunity to study.
Therefore, Zhu Tao's actions received the support of many poor students. Since they were scholars, they might lack money, but it was still easy for them to wield their pens. So soon, many articles praising Zhu Tao appeared in the capital.
The article described Zhu Tao as a god, which certainly made him famous. Of course, Zhu Tao was busy and didn't know it yet.
One day, while he was on official business, a subordinate said to him, "Congratulations, Lord Zhu."
Zhu Tao was completely bewildered; what was there to be happy about?
Zhu Tao: "What do you mean by that?"
Seeing that Zhu Tao knew nothing about this, the man thought to himself, "This is great! The master doesn't know about this, and I'm the first person to tell him. If the master is happy, he'll definitely treat me differently!"
"Your Excellency, I have recently read several articles praising you, and I have come here to congratulate you."
Zhu Tao: "What article? May I take a look?"
"Of course, I'll bring it to you right away, sir."
The man came prepared and quickly handed the article to Zhu Tao. The more Zhu Tao read it, the darker his face became. He didn't think this was a good thing at all. He had no desire to make a name for himself. He just wanted to do his job well and get some benefits from the emperor. He was not worthy of such "praise".
The man noticed that Zhu Tao's expression was a bit off and began to wonder what was wrong with Lord Zhu.
"grown ups?"
Zhu Tao snapped out of his daze and looked at the man, saying, "Don't mention this matter again. The matter of the bookstore was the Emperor's idea. If anyone should be praised, it should be the Emperor's wisdom. I was just following orders. These articles are far too untrue. Have someone find the source and tell them not to spread them anymore."
Upon hearing this, the man realized he had made a fool of himself by flattering the wrong person.
"I understand, I will investigate immediately."
Zhu Tao thought to himself that this was still somewhat inappropriate, so he had someone leak some information, spreading the word that the bookstore was built at the Emperor's behest.
It's not that Zhu Tao went to unnecessary trouble; it's because he was also afraid. As a court official, his livelihood depended on his image in front of the emperor and his position by the emperor's side.
A good reputation is for outsiders to see, and having too good a reputation is not necessarily a good thing.
If the emperor hears this and keeps it to himself, people will gossip about it, and he will be the one who suffers in the end.
As a precaution, he went to the newspaper office and spoke with the official in charge of publicity, persuading him to promote the Emperor's construction of the bookstore in the next issue.
The propaganda department naturally had no objection; they were more than happy to flatter the emperor.
However, to be on the safe side, they specifically went to see the Emperor again.
When Yinzhen learned of this, he understood what Zhu Tao meant and felt that he was being overly cautious, but he did not refuse to let people spread the word.
He didn't care about a good reputation in his past life, but he does care about it in this life. It's not about being remembered for generations; an emperor with a good reputation can get more support from the people when he issues decrees.
What was the purpose of all that he did? Wasn't it to transform the Qing Dynasty into a country that would not be bullied by others?
When Zhu Tao came to report, Yinzhen said, "I have heard about Zhu Aiqing's matter. Zhu Aiqing doesn't need to be so careful. Your contributions to the bookstore matter cannot be erased. I believe in Zhu Aiqing's character."
Zhu Tao was not surprised that the Emperor would find out what he had done, because he did it all for the Emperor's benefit. As long as the Emperor knew that the article praising him outside was not at his behest, that was enough.
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