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Text Section 55 Newspaper (Part 2)

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    After the news that the Qing court was about to launch an attack spread to Sichuan, it greatly promoted the emerging industry of newspapers.  Whether it is Chengdu or Xuzhou, many literate urban workers will spend a little money to buy a newspaper and read the war preparation news on the front page with relish.  Even the unresponsive Central Bank News published one or two war-related reports, mainly about the impact that the war might have on prices and interest rates.  However, many private newspapers analyze more thoroughly than the Central Bank News, so Xiong Lan was too lazy to continue after two days, and continued to broadcast the weekly central bank interest rates and new tax policies - those who bought Xiong Lan's newspapers, also  I have no interest in the boring war-related reports above.

    Now Chengdu Academy has built a new hall to store various purchased newspapers, which are free for teachers and students to read. Many professors even tell students that developing the habit of reading newspapers every day will not only consolidate the literacy education they have received, but also  Exercise their learning ability.  This newspaper reading hall is full of people every day. You can often see the old master Chen Zuocai sitting around a long table with a large number of professors and students. Everyone has a cup of tea in hand, and they are all reading newspapers attentively.

    It was similar in Xuzhou. Meng Zhengfa followed Zhu Zhiyu to Xuzhou Academy. He once again told Zhu Zhiyu privately that in recent months, because he read newspapers every day, he had spent a lot of time studying the Four Books.  Time was taken up; Meng Zhengfa should have reviewed "The University" long ago, but Xianza picked up the newspaper after class every day and couldn't put it down. After reading it, it was time to go to bed.  Zhu Zhiyu curiously asked Meng Zhengfa if this was a complaint?  But the latter shook his head, feeling that the help the newspaper gave him was almost the same as his travels in his youth.  Like Chengdu Academy, Xuzhou Academy has also begun to call on students to read more newspapers. It is best to read them for a while every day.  Zhu Zhiyu also went to talk to several newspapers in Xuzhou, hoping that they would develop into the kind of daily newspapers described by Deng Ming as soon as possible. If the academy needed any help, Zhu Jijiu was willing to cooperate fully.

    Whether it is teachers, students in the academy, or fellow scholars who buy newspapers for themselves, they will start a lively discussion after reading it. Some people can't find acquaintances on the roadside, so they will drag strangers or even shop owners to get excited.  Talk about it.

    "Now I have to read the newspaper for a while every day." Gong Yan said to Deng Ming.

    "It's good. Half of the cost of each newspaper is paid by the government. If the minister doesn't read it, he will suffer a loss. Doesn't the minister also pay taxes? These newspaper industry subsidies are everyone's taxes." Deng Mingbu said  He said unhurriedly that now the ironware, salt and other trading companies no longer need government support, and the support for mule and horse shops is coming to an end. Originally, both Liu Jinge and Yuan Xiang thought that the government would soon have a large financial surplus.

    ¡°As a result, everyone under Deng Ming threw himself into the support of the newspaper industry. Now we have not developed the habit of advertising. If the circulation of newspapers cannot increase, commercial banks will not go to newspapers to advertise.  Therefore, the government needs to bear most of the printing and distribution costs of newspapers so that citizens can buy a newspaper at a very cheap price. Once everyone develops a habit, the circulation of private newspapers will increase significantly, which will hopefully form a virtuous cycle.

    Not all internal documents will be sent to Gong Zhen's governor's office, but for things that have nothing to do with Gong Zhen's responsibility, he will learn from the newspapers.  This is not only true for Gong Zhen's governor's office, but also for other departments. Since more and more people started reading newspapers, Liu Jinge and Yuan Xiang both planned to order several newspapers for their subordinate government offices.  Deng Ming certainly encouraged this, but he stipulated that the government only had to subscribe to newspapers that focused on current affairs news, but not those that focused on novels and gossip.  The Capital Weekly has met the conditions, but the Xuzhou Weekly is still a little short of the mark. Deng Ming told Yuan Xiang that if the Xuzhou Weekly could reduce the hearsay and story king serialization to less than half of its page, he would agree to the Xuzhou prefect¡¯s Yamen¡¯s plan.  Apply for a newspaper subscription, otherwise they also have to subscribe to the metropolitan weekly newspaper.

    "What kind of law does it say you want to enact?" Gong Zhen pulled out a newspaper from a few days ago and looked at Deng Ming with piercing eyes: "Let officials in western Sichuan announce their property?"

    "Yes," Deng Ming nodded: "I mentioned this idea at the hospital meeting, but I haven't decided when to start, and I haven't thought of the specific rules yet."

    In recent years, Liu Jinge, Yuan Xiang, He Daoning and others have been acting alone. It is unbelievable to say that they have nothing to do with Deng's name. Not only these few, Liu Yao and Yang Youcai also seemed to have accepted bribes after they gained real power.  Even senior military officers such as Zhou Kaihuang were dissatisfied with the inability to receive free pay, and even publicly protested to Deng Ming.

    It is almost the consensus of most people that you will get rich if you become an official.  Most of the people around Deng Ming were staunch anti-Qing fighters who could fight to the end in the most difficult and desperate situations, but this does not mean that they will not use their power to improve their lives after conditions improve, and many people  When doing this, he was still confident, ?I think this is the treatment they deserve as they fight to the end with their heads high.

    The most honest official in Chengdu is probably Xiong Lan, but this is also because Xiong Lan defected three times, one of which was when Deng Ming left the city and planted a flag to rebel, cutting off Deng Ming's retreat - even though Wanxian County was a broken city at that time.  , Xiong Lan neither defected nor held on, but because he was worried that Deng Ming would settle accounts later, Xiong Lan had always been the most honest and conscientious in guarding his money printing press.

    However, Xiong Lan has become more and more unrestrained recently, especially after the last triumphal ceremony in Myanmar. Xiong Lan thought that he had been completely cleared and was someone Deng Ming valued, so he took his bag to visit President Xiong at night.  There are also more and more business owners.

    "The earliest is this year's New Year's Eve. I will persuade the court to hold an amnesty." Deng Ming told Gong Yan that he did not want to investigate the corruption in previous years and could not investigate. Strictly speaking, Deng Ming monopolized the jade and ivory business.  A kind of using power for personal gain, but no one dared to investigate him: "In the past, regardless of whether there was corruption or bribery, the council would pardon all, and at the same time, every official must announce their property. In the future, it will be announced once a year. If  If there is an increase, you need to explain the source. Report it yourself. If you are proven to have concealed it, you will be dismissed from office."

    Deng Ming did not mention this amnesty, but only revealed that he might require officials to disclose their assets. After hearing about this, many people felt uneasy and asked Deng Ming privately for information. Deng Ming's answer was that he did not intend to care about what he had done before.  (This is also a fact), I just want to know it in my heart: "Gong Shangshu must not tell anyone about this amnesty, otherwise he will be afraid that a group of people will boldly seize this last opportunity to get greedy. After the property is announced,  Officials in office are not allowed to do business, speculate in stocks, or speculate in futures, and can only receive salary; cousins ??and in-laws within the third floor are not allowed to engage in business."

    Of course Gong Yan understood what Deng Ming was worried about, but after hearing this strict prohibition, he still pondered: "You have to know that not everyone can do jade business, but if officials are not allowed to do business at all, then you have to  Long salary."

    Although Deng Ming planned to ask the Yuan Council to prohibit officials from running businesses, he himself was not included in the ban, and probably no one would think of ordering Deng Ming to sell his business to others based on this law.

    "I understand this. We will let the council discuss an appropriate salary, and let the officials keep their dignity." Deng Ming was determined to pay a high price to redeem the power of corrupt officials. Anyway, he did not seek to achieve it in one step. He could take his time.  , first confirm the disclosure of assets and high salary to maintain integrity, deny the rationality of corruption and free payment, and then slowly discuss what kind of high salary is reasonable later - if it is really done in one step, Deng Ming's jewelry business will be gone.  ?

    ¡­¡­

    Many years later, Beijing.

    The pro-government young emperor of the Qing Dynasty had a determined look on his face as he watched the eunuchs and imperial guards playing with the giant sand table in front of him. They were holding newspapers issued by the empire in their hands.  After so many years of evolution, the quality of the newspaper has become even better. This metropolitan daily not only has a detailed introduction to the battle situation, but also prints clear maps.

    A eunuch in charge of marking the military strength skillfully added up the Qing military strength reported in five newspapers including Dufu Daily and Xuzhou Daily, found the average, divided it by three, and then solemnly marked the troop strength number under the stronghold.  .

    "I knew the memorial from the Ministry of War was unreliable, but I really didn't expect it to be so different!" Emperor Kangxi read the numbers on the map, compared them with the report sent by the Ministry of War, and finally threw the memorial on the ground in anger.  .

    A long time ago, the imperial newspapers told their readers that the figures they provided were processed and would probably be 50% to 100% different from the actual troop strength figures.  According to Kangxi's research, the proportion seemed to be even larger than this, so he always divided the average by three: "Without these newspapers, I would have to use those nonsense memorials from the Ministry of War to direct operations.  "

    After the intelligence obtained from newspapers completed the deployment map of the Ming and Qing armies, the emperor began to consider the situation based on the maps provided by the newspapers, and then issued a series of orders.  Although the maps of newspapers including the Tokyo Metropolitan Daily have errors, they are countless times better than the maps provided by the Ministry of War, and many of the granaries and strongholds claimed by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Households cannot be found in the enemy's newspapers. The emperor knew  I must not place my hope of obtaining supplies for my army on the warehouses that these ministers claim to exist but that the enemy has not discovered.

    "These are ordinary orders. Just let the infantry command the yamen. These are urgent military orders," the young emperor pointed at the particularly important military orders and said, "Send them with the exchange's telegram."

    The telegraph, a new communication method, has been favored by stock exchanges as soon as it appeared. Now major exchanges across the country can realize real-time communication of futures prices.  As long as you are willing to pay a lot of money, this communication channel can also serve private individuals.??In this way, the emperor's orders can be sent to the exchange near the front line as quickly as possible, and then delivered to the generals at full speed.

    "But, this way the Sichuan thieves will know." A eunuch hesitated and said, but did not immediately follow the emperor's wishes.

    "If we use infantry to command the yamen, don't the Sichuan thieves know my order?" The young emperor retorted: "If we use infantry to lead the yamen, the Sichuan thieves have known about it for three days, and my order has not yet been sent; but with the Sichuan thieves  At least the Sichuan thieves and my generals can know the telegrams from the exchange at the same time."

    After finishing the military affairs, the emperor was about to take a rest when suddenly a eunuch rushed in and screamed: "Your Majesty, the latest "Truth" has arrived!"

    "Bring it to me quickly!" The emperor shouted anxiously, not caring about rest.

    A few days ago, someone reported that a prominent prince was bullying the emperor. His two children, who claimed to have been kidnapped, were actually protected by loyalty and went to a private elementary school in Chengdu with extremely high tuition fees. It is said that the prince even transferred to Chengdu.  With property worth tens of thousands of taels, plus the previous savings and real estate, the prince already has more than 100,000 yuan in property in Chengdu.  When the furious emperor called the prince to scold him, the prince cried and complained, and the emperor searched for a long time but could not find any real evidence.  The investigators who said the prince was innocent may have received bribes, but those who said the prince was guilty may not be reliable. They may also have received illegal money and collaborated with the emperor's relatives to frame him.

    Although the emperor was not sure which of his subordinates to trust, he knew that the reporter of the newspaper "Truth" was absolutely reliable, so the emperor sent someone to anonymously break the news to the reporter of the newspaper. If the prince's children really went to Chengdu to study in college, it would be very satisfying.  Another major scandal in the Qing Dynasty in recent years, the entire story will definitely be unearthed by reporters who are chasing after them; for such a major news, the emperor knows that the reporters of "Truth" will definitely go to the private school to find out every student.  The family background of each new student is checked thoroughly.

    Kangxi hurriedly opened the newspaper. Well, the matter was still not mentioned on the front page. It seems that the other party is still investigating. It doesn't matter. The emperor is patient and will soon know whether the prince is loyal or traitorous.

    "Your Majesty, the "Yangtze River Morning News" has arrived!"

    "Give it to me quickly."

    The emperor opened the newspaper and glanced twice, then suddenly jumped up from the throne, his eyes almost bursting with fire, and shouted through gritted teeth: "Get me the Suo'etu!"

    Suo'etu came to the emperor in no hurry. As soon as he kowtowed and saluted, the emperor jumped forward regardless of his dignity. He grabbed Suo'etu's collar with both hands and dragged him up from the ground. He sprayed the cabinet ministers with excited saliva.  Face: "Ten thousand officers and soldiers, equipped with rifles, cannons, and cavalry, attacked dozens or hundreds of rebels. How could they lose? How could they lose this battle?"

    "Who said we lost?" Suo'etu argued hard: "Your Majesty, this servant didn't receive the news."

    "You still want to bully me!" The emperor's face was red, and he squeezed out a chilling voice from between his teeth: "The "Yangtze River Morning News" said that less than an hour after my 10,000-strong army launched a surprise attack, they  We were defeated by the rebels! Tell me, how did we fight this battle? You must have betrayed me!"

    "My servant is unjust." Suo'etu burst into tears: "Your Majesty, my servant has long said that the war is dangerous. Although the main force of the Sichuan bandits has gone to sea to fight against the red hair, we cannot take the initiative to launch an attack.  ; Besides, we are a dignified court that keeps its word, how can we make a sudden attack without keeping our word? But although I don¡¯t agree with it, since the emperor has made up his mind, I still go all out to carry out the errand, even if the Sichuan bandits are definitely on guard."

    "I didn't think too much. I just wanted to fight the Sichuan bandits and declare war on the Dutch and Spanish red barbarians. When they were empty inside, I wanted to catch them off guard and force them to agree to return some bonds Even if they were prepared, ten thousand with ten thousand  How could the officers and soldiers with artillery and rifles be defeated by dozens of rebel policemen? It must be that you all bought too much, right? It must be that you all bought too much and wanted the officers and soldiers to lose the battle?" The emperor felt that his  Tears are about to come out. How can this state affairs be so difficult?

    "It's really unfair, Your Majesty." Suo'etu knelt down softly on the ground and raised his hands to the sky: "The Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong are on top. I have been loyal to you for generations and don't dare to have any distracting thoughts."

    ¡°In the final analysis, the emperor was just suspicious. Seeing Suo¡¯etu crying sincerely, the emperor waved his hand to let him push him down, and he stumbled out of the court and returned to the harem.

    "Your Majesty, Concubine Chen's third uncle Zhongxing Geng." After learning the cause and effect, Kangxi's empress also came to speak for Suo'etu: "He is still the uncle of the prince, how could he take the opportunity to buy more?"

    The emperor shook his head with a sad face: "There are no fathers and sons in the casino. Even fathers and sons cannot be counted, and others are nothing."

    "Then the Sichuan thieves didn't buy it"?Short sale?  "The young queen asked curiously.

    "This is the most abominable thing." The emperor slapped the case and scolded: "The Sichuan thieves do not allow ministers to speculate in stocks and futures, and they are not allowed to save money in our Qing Dynasty. This rule was set when the exchange was established. Deng Ming is really foresighted.  ah."

    After cursing, the emperor's anger gradually dissipated, and he returned to the lost look just now. Seeing this, the queen tried her best to smile: "The emperor worked hard to rule, and he is the most wise king in the history. Victory and defeat are common things for military officers, so don't be too arrogant."  In my heart.¡±

    "Victory and defeat are indeed common matters for military strategists, but, but" the emperor looked up to the sky and roared: "But my more than 100,000 taels of silver were all sold out when the war just started. After this, defeat is certain.  It¡¯s a horse that can¡¯t be returned. Isn¡¯t this a robbery of my home?¡±¡ª¡ª

    Author¡¯s note: Zongheng 4, 5, 6 and 7 have an annual author meeting, scheduled in Shenzhen.  The author flew away on the 4th and returned to Tianjin on the 7th. I also wanted to rest for a few days. I have been writing this book for thirteen months, and now I feel tired when updating it every day.  The plan is to relax from tomorrow until the 7th, and resume updates on the 8th to sort out my thoughts and adjust my status. Thank you for your understanding. I wish everyone a happy new year, abundant financial resources, and all the best in the new year.
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