Chapter 64 Chapter 64 A Newspaper (Catching Bugs)
The weather is cold this year, so the winter wheat is grown in greenhouses, but it still grows slightly shorter than the wheat in normal weather in the past.
But everyone knows that this is the best effect after insulation. If the shed is not built, the winter wheat may not survive.
This also made many people worried. The good days have only lasted for a few years. Are they going to return to the days of almost getting nothing in the future?
Everyone knows that farmers depend on the weather for their livelihood.
No one thought that the county lady could even solve this problem.
Potatoes and sweet potatoes suddenly appeared in Li County.
These two species are not picky about the soil, the harvest is excellent, and most importantly, the taste is also good.
Just be careful when storing it. If it turns green or sprouts, it cannot be eaten.
Although we have potatoes and sweet potatoes, we cannot plant only these two crops. We still have to plant wheat if we need to.
The county lord said that it was necessary to maintain the diversity of crops, and the people planted these two crops almost out of gratitude.
Shitu came back from the fields, and Shitou had already returned home from school and cooked dinner.
Just like yesterday, they had sweet potatoes with wheat rice. As for the side dish, a simple stir-fried potato with meat was the lunch for the father and son.
Shi Tu felt that the sweet potato tasted sweet and had a unique flavor when paired with wheat rice.
When a family of several people are having a meal, they can cut a few sweet potatoes or potatoes and throw them in. This will save wheat, and sweet potatoes and potatoes are very filling.
With potatoes and sweet potatoes, the people's anxiety was relieved a lot.
We used to be hungry, but now that we have tasted the feeling of being full, no one wants to go back to the old days.
Not only was the people's anxiety relieved, but Lin Si also felt relieved.
Now that the most important food problem has been solved, everything will be easier.
Li County has a small population, and the upper limit of productivity can only reach this level. Although living problems have been basically solved, Lin Si still wants to make some ideological progress and even have some small entertainment.
The last meeting I held for the girls to explain menstruation was a small step forward.
There are many literate people in Li County now, and the illiteracy rate is very low.
This is when movable type printing comes into play!
Lin Si had a rough idea that the books in Dachen today were either hand-copied or woodblock printed.
Woodblock printing involves writing text on paper first, pasting it onto a wooden board in reverse, and then the craftsman removes the blank parts.
It is very time-consuming and labor-intensive, and has very poor flexibility.
Lin Si wanted to publish a monthly newspaper, so he had to use movable type printing.
Just use the lowest-cost wooden movable type.
Common people in ancient times lacked opportunities for entertainment and reading. Even if they could read, without the opportunity to read, they would gradually feel that literacy was not of much use to the lower classes.
As for the first edition of the newspaper, it is called Li County Monthly Report. It will write down some of the policies that Lin Si wants to announce every month. If someone receives some great honor, he will be praised in the report. Finally, some interesting short stories will be written. The content does not need to be too much for the time being. It will be published once a month.
To publish a newspaper, we naturally have to recruit workers, but not many people, just a few people will be enough.
Recruitment is open to both men and women, but there is a condition.
Must be literate.
Many people who did not attend night school now regretted it in their hearts, thinking they should have gone to night school at that time!
Otherwise, it would be great if this job doesn’t involve exposure to wind and sun.
Mo Jinglian received Lin Si's order to set up a separate department for her, called the Business Department, and put her in charge.
Its main function is to register and record the sale of goods in Li County.
It was the same thing that Mo Jinglian did before.
After all, in two years the emperor would suddenly fall ill and become seriously ill, and coupled with peasant uprisings in various places, the whole country would be in chaos.
Lin Si also has her own plan. She will not move and will first occupy Xihe Road. With increased productivity, she will continue to expand and strengthen the infrastructure business.
Once Xihe Road is occupied, these scarce commodities on Xihe Road will naturally require a special department to manage.
Lin Si also handed over the newspaper matter to Mo Jinglian.
Mo Jinglian and Liang Nian both wholeheartedly agreed with Lin Si's newspaper idea.
After all, both of them suffered greatly from the inconvenience of information transmission.
Liang Nian always received the cold shoulder when he went to the Lingzhou court meeting. As for Mo Jinglian's family, as merchants, after the Zhuo family's corruption incident, the emperor suppressed the merchants to the extreme. If merchants wanted to obtain some information, they would have to spend a lot of money, and the information might not be accurate.
Both of them found newspapers very convenient.
Mo Jinglian was responsible for the layout and topic selection of the newspaper. Liang Nian wrote the news about Li County, along with stories about the miserable lives of the people observed by Lin Si's men on their business trips. There were also potato and sweet potato recipes, as well as short stories about good moral character.
The printing speed of movable type printing is much faster than the original woodblock printing.
Arrange the carved wooden movable type in order and with punctuation marks one by one, and then print them on paper.
For the first issue, Lin Si didn’t plan to print too many copies. He had to wait and see the market response.
The first Wugengtian is now working for Lin Si, so the job of promoting the newspaper naturally falls to the second Wugengtian.
"In seven days, the county government and the county magistrate will release the 'Li County Monthly Report,' which will include real-time news and potato and sweet potato recipes. Those interested can purchase it."
Shi Jin pushed open the door and was stunned when he saw the children wearing the same clothes at the door.
Yes, the children in the manor have grown up. A few days ago, I saw two of them guarding the county lady. These are the new children.
Shi Jin pushed open the door and asked, "Where can I buy this Li County Monthly Report in seven days?"
The kid who was promoting it replied, "We'll be selling it in the streets and alleys. Just listen to us when we shout."
The Shi Jin family is a die-hard fan of Lin Si, and they will buy this newspaper no matter what.
Kang Zhuqing's eyes narrowed into slits as she smiled. "Before, I just felt that having enough food and clothing was a problem. Now that I can read, I always feel like I should learn something."
Seven days later, there were a lot of people buying newspapers on the street.
Most of them were bought for Lin Si and Liang Nian. The people can see who is truly doing good for the people.
The five-watchmen turned into newsboys, each newspaper cost one penny, and each person could only buy one.
It was the first time for the children to receive a task, and they did not expect the people of Li County to be so enthusiastic.
Early in the morning, as soon as they put the newspapers in their pockets, they met the people who had been waiting for a long time.
Although we had to queue up to buy, it was still very crowded.
Kang Zhuqing finally managed to grab a copy and was about to head home when she saw her Hu neighbor Xu Bei smiling brightly at her. "Madam Kang, do you want to read the newspaper together? It's a good opportunity to discuss things with each other."
Kang Zhuqing, Shi Tu, Xu Bei and Xu Tai sat around a small table in the Shi family yard and began to read the Li County Monthly Report.
The first thing to take the front page is Dachen’s recent situation.
Kang Zhuqing was shocked when he saw it. It described the tragic scenes of the people that the county lord's subordinates saw when they were on business trips.
After reading it, Shitou sighed softly, "How could life outside have become like this?"
Xu Bei and Xu Tai were originally Hu people. They thought that life in the Central Plains must be better than that of the Hu people. But after reading what was written in the newspaper, they found that in cold weather, whether it was the Hu people who were herding or the Han people who were farming, they all had the same experience.
The first article was a bit too sad, so the four of them read on.
The next article is about current affairs in Li County written by Liang Nian, which contains some policies that will be implemented in Li County in the near future, such as the upcoming expansion of workshops, the upcoming entrance examination, etc.
Kang Zhuqing pointed to the recipe, "The recipe is written here. It also says that eating too many sweet potatoes can cause heartburn."
Shi Tu took a look and said, "I didn't expect there are so many ways to cook potatoes and sweet potatoes. Tomorrow, no! I'll try it later. I'll go buy groceries after I finish watching."
Finally, here is an interesting story about returning lost property.
After reading it, Kang Zhuqing was still unsatisfied. "That's all! I haven't seen enough."
For Xu Bei and Xu Tai, this was their first time reading since graduating from night school. It was undoubtedly a novel experience. "I didn't expect this to be what reading feels like."
Xu Bei sighed, "The next time I look at it, it will be next month. It's really long."
There are quite a few people who go to night school in this alley, and after a while, you can hear people discussing the contents of the newspaper.
Such as, "The people in other places are so miserable, I can't bear to watch it."
"This workshop is going to expand!"
"The entrance exam is so important, why are you still playing here? Go read a book!"
"This newspaper is really good. I will buy it again next month!"
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