271 Publicly known puppets and confession to death
At the time when Yicheng got out of the car and shook hands with the pheasant who flattered him, and Weng Jianguang, who came secretly in the car, gave Fang Bingsheng an interview, a meeting was also being held intensively in the imperial palace in the capital "thousands of miles away". Small meetings.
In this small conference room, an automatic fan driven by water on the ceiling whirred, sending out gusts of cool breeze. This was thanks to His Majesty the Emperor¡¯s foresight: when designing the palace, he asked Western engineers to install built-ins in certain important rooms. Fans driven by mechanical transmission devices have now become a dream configuration for the newly built houses of wealthy people. However, because they are too expensive and complicated, they usually only dare to have one in the living room, not for the purpose of blowing, but because it is too windy and too complicated. It was so amazing that it was said to scare the Qing ambassador and other country bumpkins from the Qing and Song dynasties out of their wits, thinking it was a miracle;
Since it is a very grand occasion, an absolutely royal one, if you have the ability, you must be safe. However, this kind of people may not start this thing in the summer, because the steam engine has to smoke and pump water, which is expensive; and even in winter, there are guests coming , but instead starts the automatic fan to show off, and other places in the home still rely on cattail fans.
Therefore, even if most people can settle down, it is just to show off that they are rich and capable. Unlike the emperor, he really wants to enjoy the cool breeze in the hot Guangdong, so this fan is turned on at the right time and occasion, and most people in the conference room Everyone was very comfortable, but there was one person who was still sweating and would steal glances to his right side from time to time.
Under the current automatic fan, the yellow-robed emperor sat at the end of a long table, smoking a cigar. Two princes in military uniforms sat upright, standing on the left and right to listen. There were five or six officials sitting on the long table to the right of the emperor: headed by Mr. Song Deling. , sitting in the middle, the editor-in-chief of the Huangbao and others sat around him in turn; opposite them, sitting alone in the middle on the left side of the emperor's table, was a middle-aged dark and thin man wearing a tuxedo.
Song Deling kept talking to him and asking questions, but he was alone and obedient. From time to time, he would nervously ask questions and complain a few words. During the intervals, he would also peek at the prince who had less chance to see him up close.
In this scene, the man with the parted ponytail looked as restless as the prisoner being interrogated.
Song Deling was wearing a pair of myopia glasses today. He picked up a piece of paper from a pile of papers in front of him and looked at it. Then he handed the piece of paper to the "prisoner" opposite him, took off his glasses and said with a smile:
"Mr. Li Mingchang, this is what happened. This is the reporting requirements and caliber of our court on this matter, which is the "Outline". I hope you will write and publish according to this, and write more and publish more. If necessary, you can criticize anyone, including me. and Dali Temple. His Majesty hopes to start another great debate in the newspaper industry, and then the neutral imperial newspaper will shut it down with a sword."
The person opposite is Li Mingchang, the owner and editor-in-chief of the world-famous "Haijing Jiwen", whose pen name is: "Mr. Qiongji". It is no exaggeration to say that he is famous all over the world: in the Hai Song Dynasty, his newspaper was the largest private newspaper, second only to the "Huang Bao" in sales; and his newspaper was also loved by Qing people and could be read in all Qing treaty ports. As you can see, there are also some cities in Hunan and inland areas. Of course it is not real-time news, and the Qing Dynasty will not let the Song Dynasty newspapers be published in the Qing Dynasty, so his newspapers are "exported" to the Qing Dynasty as "books", and some cities are even smuggled.
Of course, such a successful newspaper cannot just be strong in current affairs and good in writing. People in the Song Dynasty and Qing Dynasty praised this newspaper for its integrity.
"Integrity" is the biggest and most unique selling point of "Haijing Jiwen".
For the people of the Qing Dynasty, many Confucian scholars (the ignorant people are illiterate, while the literate are elites) praised "Mr. Qiongji" for his integrity. Everyone knows that "Mr. Qiongji" served in the Guangzhou Volunteer Army, the Hunan Army, and the Red Turban Thief and Foreign Gun in his early years. The demon soldiers fought bloody battles and their legs were beaten lame, but they refused to surrender and persisted in fighting in Song Yao's heart. He was absolutely a loyal minister of the Qing Dynasty who was "in Cao's camp and in Han"; this newspaper It exposed countless darkness and filth in the Song Dynasty. If it had been done in the Qing Dynasty, this person would have been punished long ago, and the whole family would have been exterminated; probably because Zhao Sangui and his minions were rough people and did not understand the beauty of the text. I don¡¯t understand Qubi and Chunqiu brushwork, so I allowed Mr. Qiongji to ridicule me in a roundabout way, which really made me look like a Confucian;
For people in the Song Dynasty, "Haijing Jiwen" has a very light Christian color. Many people with old ideas can't stand foreign religion, so they love this newspaper with a strong Confucian style and spirit; and others also think that "Mr. Qiongji" "This man is so honest: he is the only newspaper elite who dares to point his finger at the Prime Minister Huanzhuguo's nose and curse. Except for scolding the emperor, he does not pay attention to any officials. He can scold whomever he wants and complain about whatever he wants. Just complaining about something, cursing or making fun of the court every day, taking pleasure in exposing certain corrupt officials and corrupt folk customs in a certain place - can you not buy such a newspaper?
But today, the famous "Mr. Qiongji" came to the lair of the person he repeatedly scolded, and faced with the fact that he also said in the articleThe number of scum is expanding; but it¡¯s useless, there are more and more officials, more and more power, and corruption is spreading; and I don¡¯t intend to rely on common corruption and incompetence to ensure their allegiance like the Manchus did , so I am going to activate the parliament immediately to split the court elite and the civilian elite, which is to divide the masters and minions of official power. Let these official elite monkeys and civilian elite monkeys bite dogs. I will smile and watch the dog fight, and play the role of the judge. , both sides have to cry and beg me."
Finally, Zhao Kuo picked up his cigar and took a sip, looked at his two sons, and asked another question: "This class is over. The post-class test told me: The civil and military ministers of the Manchu Dynasty and the elites of the entire empire, what do you think? Come with people you can trust and why.¡±
The two sons scratched their heads and murmured the names of powerful people from all walks of life, looking like they were thinking hard.
But after Zhao Kuo waited for a minute, he impatiently put out the cigar in the ashtray, and said fiercely: "If you fail, the answer is: don't trust anyone."