On the other hand, newspapers published for the common people are not so popular.
Although the news that the imperial court was going to publish a newspaper had spread in the capital before this, the price of two cents still really made many people feel sad.
For them, instead of spending two pennies to replace such a piece of paper, which is even uncomfortable for wiping their buttocks, it is better to use the two pennies to do something else.
Therefore, although the scene was very lively, most of the people took a wait-and-see attitude towards it. After a long time, there was not even a single person willing to pay.
In the end, seeing the dismal sales, the shopkeeper responsible for selling the newspaper had no choice but to reduce the price of the newspaper to one penny.
After the price of newspapers dropped by a penny, someone was finally willing to spend a penny to buy a novelty.
I saw a middle-aged man wearing coarse linen clothes fumbled for a penny from his arms, handed it to the boy in charge of selling newspapers, and immediately spoke.
"Bring me a newspaper!"
Seeing that someone was finally willing to pay for the newspaper, the shopkeeper immediately smiled and raised his eyebrows, and handed a newspaper to the middle-aged man enthusiastically. The people on the side were also curious and quickly joined in.
The man took the newspaper and began to read the contents carefully.
The newspaper in front of me, except for the four words "Da Ming Daily" at the top, the rest of the content is all illustrations.
The man's eyes were quickly attracted by the illustrations in the newspaper. Although the illustrations were quite simple and only used a few strokes to outline the characters, unexpectedly, they had a different kind of charm.
The middle-aged man looked at the illustrations in the newspaper and guessed the contents.
"Looking at these costumes, the two sides seem to be at war. This side seems to be my army of the Ming Dynasty, and I don't know the other side..."
While the middle-aged men were still guessing about their respective identities in the illustrations, they heard an urging sound in their ears.
"Haven't the frontline been victorious recently? The Tatar army must be next to them!"
"Quick, turn back quickly, we want to see what's going on behind?"
When the middle-aged man came back to his senses, he suddenly discovered that there were already people gathering in front of him.
At this moment, they were stretching their necks and looking at the illustrations in the newspaper with relish.
When the middle-aged man saw this, he quickly covered the illustrations on the newspaper with his hands and immediately spoke.
"I paid for this, you have to buy it yourself!"
After the middle-aged man finished speaking, he carefully folded the newspaper and put it in his arms, and then left quickly.
This behavior of the middle-aged man was undoubtedly despised by everyone present.
"Bah, you're so stingy, who are you!"
"It's just that, it's gone when you see the most exciting part, it's true!"
On the one hand, these people are unwilling to pay, and on the other hand, they want to see the next development of the story.
In the end, driven by curiosity, many people still paid for a newspaper.
The first thing they did after buying the newspaper was to fold it carefully like the middle-aged man before, and then left quickly.
In this way, it spread from ten to ten, and the common people in the capital knew that the newly released newspaper from the imperial court was very interesting, and it only cost one penny to buy it.
For these people, they only need to spend a penny to have fun for half a day. Is there any more cost-effective way to spend time?
For a time, there was a craze for reading newspapers throughout the capital.
…
Forbidden City, Hall of Nourishing Heart.
At this moment, Lu Fang was respectfully waiting beside Jiajing, reporting to him the statistical sales of newspapers.
"Your Majesty, newspapers are in short supply!"
When Lu Fang said this, he paused for a moment, his tone full of excitement.
"Today, the Information Agency printed a total of five additional newspapers, and all five additional newspapers were sold out!"
"That part of the newspaper for officials and gentry..."
Before Lu Fang finished speaking, Jiajing interrupted impatiently: "Okay, let's get to the point. How are the sales of those newspapers facing the common people?"
When Lu Fang heard this, she immediately calmed down and immediately reported: "Your Majesty, the supply of newspapers for the common people is also in short supply!"
"In addition, according to the report from the people sent by the slaves to inquire about the news, the people in the entire capital are currently discussing the newly issued newspaper by the imperial court. The illustrations in the newspaper are very popular."
After listening to Lu Fang's report, Jiajing was also full of excitement and immediately gave instructions.
"Well, it seems that the strategy adopted earlier is correct. You'd better print a few more copies of the newspapers for the common people, even if they don't cost money!"
When Lu Fang heard what Jiajing said, she immediately responded respectfully.
"As you command, Your Majesty!"
After that, Lu Fang showed hesitation on his face, and then he came close to Jiajing's ear and whispered.
"Your Majesty, today Mr. Yan Ge and Mr. Xu Ge..."
After listening to Lu Fang's narration, Jiajing couldn't help but frown and said.
"Oh, is there such a thing?"
After the words fell, Jiajing fell into thinking, and the look on his face became solemn. After a while, Jiajing came back to his senses and warned Lu Fang.
"Lu Fang, send a few Jinyi guards to Zhejiang. I want to see what happened there!"
When Lu Fang heard this, she lowered her head deeply and immediately responded.
"As ordered, Your Majesty, I will do it now!"
…
Night, Yan Mansion.
When Yan Shifan finally finished handling the affairs of the cabinet and came back from duty, he happened to pass by Yan Song's study.
Seeing that the light in the study was still on, Yan Shifan planned to go to comfort Yan Song and let him rest early.
With this in mind, Yan Shifan knocked on the door of the study room, and after receiving permission, he pushed the door open and entered.
When he saw the newspapers in front of him, which were as tall as a person and neatly stacked, his jaw dropped in shock.
"Father...Father, you are..."
When Yan Song saw Yan Shifan's arrival, he did not stop what he was doing. Instead, he carefully folded the newspaper in his hand and put it up again.
Seeing this situation, Yan Shifan asked carefully after organizing the words in his mind.
"Father, did you do this all in one day?"
"The Zhejiang side is extremely anxious right now..."
Facing Yan Shifan's doubts, Yan Song didn't say anything. He just handed a newspaper in his hand to Yan Shifan and said, "Let's take a look. The newspapers issued by the imperial court are quite good!"
In the end, Yan Shifan had no choice but to bite the bullet, took the newspaper from Yan Song's hand, and browsed the contents.
But Yan Shifan's mind was not on this at all. He saw an advertisement about Liuxinju pickles in the newspaper at a glance.
After a while, Yan Shifan put down the newspaper in his hand and immediately asked Yan Song.
"Father, I still feel..."
Seeing this situation, Yan Song sighed helplessly, and immediately motioned Yan Shifan to sit down on the empty seat beside him, and then explained in a leisurely manner.
"Why do you think I have to go there in person today?"
After Yan Shifan heard this, he responded without thinking.
"Because today is the day when the imperial court officially publishes newspapers, Your Majesty must be..."
When Yan Shifan said this, he seemed to have suddenly thought of something, with an incredible look on his face.
"Father, are you saying that you took this opportunity to secretly pass the news to His Majesty?"
Seeing that Yan Shifan had misunderstood what he meant, Yan Song shook his head and immediately explained.
"Not entirely. I mainly want to take this opportunity to find out the truth about Xu Jie!"
When Yan Shifan heard this, he subconsciously raised his doubts: "But father, how did you know that Xu Jie will definitely come? What if he doesn't come?"
I saw Yan Song glance at Yan Shifan, and his tone was full of undoubted meaning: "Based on my understanding of him over the years, he will definitely come!"
"I just made His Majesty suspicious of this matter in the process, because only after Your Majesty learns about this matter, will Xu Jiefang take action!"
"And we can also take this opportunity to delay for some more time so that we can come up with countermeasures as soon as possible."
When Yan Song said this, the look in his eyes was dark and unclear, and he said silently to himself.
"Alas, I just don't know what His Majesty's attitude is!"
After Yan Song finished speaking, he began to cough violently. Seeing this, Yan Shifan on the side quickly stepped forward and gently patted Yan Song's back without caring about other things.
After Yan Song's cough subsided a little, Yan Shifan's face was full of worry and he asked immediately.
"Father, not long ago I asked Dr. Li to come to your door and give you a few prescriptions..."
After Yan Song heard this, he waved his hand to indicate that he was fine.
"It doesn't matter, I've already taken the medicines Dr. Li prescribed for me."
…
At this moment, in Prince Yu's palace, Xu Jie also called everyone together to discuss countermeasures.
In the study, Xu Jie frowned and told everyone what happened during the day without any reservation.
After listening to Xu Jie's narration, Gao Gong on the side suddenly had this thought in his mind: "You guys said, could Yan Song be taking this opportunity to find out what is true on our side?"
After Xu Jie heard Gao Gong's idea, he immediately expressed his agreement: "Yes, I thought so at the beginning, but I always felt like I was missing something?"
At this moment, Zhang Juzheng, who was silent on the side, turned his gaze to Xu Jie, his face full of solemnity, and immediately confirmed to Xu Jie: "Mr. Xu Ge, you said before that Yan Song mentioned it on purpose. It’s about things in Zhejiang, right?”
When Xu Jie heard this, he thought about it for a moment and responded without hesitation: "Well, yes, Yan Song took the initiative to mention things in Zhejiang to me at that time, but I ignored him!"
After receiving Xu Jie's confirmation, Zhang Juzheng fell into deep thought again and kept murmuring: "Today is the day when the imperial court officially sells newspapers. In this case, why did Yan Song mention this matter in person in public? ?”
At this moment, Zhu Zaijing on the side seemed to have thought of something, his eyes were bright, and he added.
"Have you forgotten what day today is?"
Hearing Zhu Zaijing's words, Xu Jie responded subconsciously: "Today is the day when the imperial court's newspapers are officially put on sale. What's wrong?"
Immediately afterwards, a sudden inspiration flashed in Xu Jie's mind, and he said excitedly: "I understand, today is the day when the imperial court officially sells newspapers, and His Majesty will definitely pay close attention to this matter!"
"If there is any trouble, His Majesty will definitely know it immediately. Maybe His Majesty has already sent Jin Yiwei to Zhejiang!"
Seeing this situation, Gao Gong's expression on his face changed slightly, and he immediately advised Xu Jie: "Mr. Xu Ge, since this matter involves His Majesty, should we be more cautious? If His Majesty pursues it, we can I can’t bear it!”
Xu Jie just glanced at Gao Gong indifferently, then clenched his fists and said solemnly: "What are you afraid of? Before that, I erased all traces!"
"Right now, if Yan Song wants to obtain food, he can only start from Jiangxi and Fujian provinces. On the Jiangxi side, I have already informed Cao Shunhe, the governor of Jiangxi, and told him not to adjust food without authorization. Even if Cao Shunhe is disobedient, I’m fully prepared!”
"Over in Fujian, the current governor of Fujian is Tan Lun, and he is one of ours. There is no need to worry at all!"
"When the time comes, even if His Majesty investigates, he won't be able to find us. As long as we grit our teeth and survive this period of time, we can officially launch a decisive battle against the strict party!"
When Xu Jie said this, he made another promise to Gao Gong: "Don't worry, when the strict party is eradicated, the people's lives will be better. Before that, it is just some necessary sacrifices!"
Zhang Juzheng on the side was indifferent to Xu Jie's words. He knew very well that even if Xu Jie really brought down Yan Dang, the people's lives would not be easy.
Compared with the strict party, the corruption situation in Qingliu is almost as good as that of the strict party. In some places, it is even worse!
Although Zhang Juzheng also wants to make a career of his own, the cabinet is a place based on seniority!
Only when those in front fall or leave can those who come later have a chance to take over.
Although he and Yan Shifan participated in the daily discussions of the cabinet, in fact, they did not officially join the cabinet!
Now, it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Regardless of whether Xu Jie succeeds in overthrowing Yan, or whether Yan Song survives a desperate situation, in short, there will definitely be major changes in the cabinet members.
By then, he will also have the opportunity to officially join the cabinet. Next, he only needs to go through the qualifications for a while, and when he successfully takes over as the chief minister of the cabinet, Zhang Juzheng will be able to unleash his ambitions without any constraints!
"Stay a little longer, Zhang Juzheng, it will be your turn soon!"
After Zhang Juzheng looked around, he quietly looked away and said to himself silently.
…
Jiangxi, Nanchang Prefecture.
At this moment, Jiangxi Governor Cao Shunhe fell into deep thought as he looked at the notice in front of him, which was personally issued by the Ministry of Household Affairs.
The above content is very simple, that is, Cao Shunhe is not allowed to mobilize food for any reason in the near future!
Cao Shunhe, who had been in the officialdom for many years, was keenly aware of the anomaly, frowned, and said silently to himself.
"What happened? How could the Department of Revenue suddenly issue such a notice?"
"Could it be that the fight started again from above?"
Thinking of this, Cao Shunhe sighed helplessly, and then sighed.
"Oh, we fight all day long, but no one has ever thought of doing something practical for the people!"
(End of chapter)
