When the news of the Qing court's imminent attack reached Sichuan, it played a great role in promoting the new newspaper industry. Whether in Chengdu or Xuzhou, many literate urban workers will spend a little money to buy a newspaper and read the front-page news with relish. Even the sluggish Central Bank newspaper has had a story or two about the war, mainly about the impact that the war might have on prices and interest rates. However, many private newspapers were more thoroughly analysed than the central bank newspapers, so Xiong Langlan did not bother to continue two days later, and continued to broadcast the weekly central bank interest rate and the new tax policy - even those who bought Xiong Lan's newspaper were not interested in the boring war-related reports on it.

Many professors even told students that the habit of reading newspapers every day would not only consolidate their literacy education, but also exercise their learning ability. This newspaper reading hall is full of people every day, and it is common to see the old master Chen Zuocai and a large number of professors and students sitting around the long table, each with a cup of tea in hand, reading the newspaper attentively.

And the Xuzhou side is similar, Meng Zhengfa followed Zhu Zhiyu to Xuzhou Academy, and he once again privately told Zhu Zhiyu that in recent months, because he reads the newspaper every day, a lot of time that should have been used to read the four books has been occupied; Originally, Meng Zhengfa should have reviewed "University" a long time ago, but he couldn't put down the newspaper when he picked up the newspaper after class every day, and it was time to go to bed after reading it. Zhu Zhiyu asked Meng Zhengfa curiously, is this a complaint? But the latter shook his head, feeling that the newspaper had helped him almost as much as he had traveled in his youth. Like Chengdu Academy, Xuzhou Academy has also begun to call on students to read more newspapers, and 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 newspaper described by Deng Ming as soon as possible, and if he needed any help from the academy, Zhu Xijiu was also willing to fully cooperate.

Whether it is the teachers and students of the academy, or the same Xiucai who bought the newspaper himself, after reading it, they will start a heated discussion, and some people will not find acquaintances on the roadside, so they will pull strangers or even shop owners to talk with great interest.

"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 from the government, if you don't read it, you will suffer, don't you pay taxes? This newspaper allowance is everyone's tax. Deng Ming said unhurriedly, now ironware, salt and other trading houses do not need government support, and the support of mule and horse shops is also coming to an end, originally Liu Jinge and Yuan Xiang thought that the government would soon have a large financial balance.

As a result, Deng Ming and his gang were all thrown into the newspaper industry to support, and now everyone has not yet developed the habit of advertising, and if the circulation of the newspaper does not increase, the commercial bank will not go to the newspaper 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, and when everyone gets into the habit, the circulation of private newspapers will hopefully form a virtuous circle.

Not all internal documents will be sent to Gong Yan's governor's yamen, and things that have nothing to do with Gong Yan's responsibility, he will have to learn from the newspaper. This is true not only of Gong Yan's governor yamen, but also of other departments, since more and more people began to read the newspaper, Liu Jinge and Yuan Xiang planned to order a few newspapers for their subordinate yamen. Deng Ming certainly encouraged this, but he stipulated that the government should only subscribe to newspapers that focus on current political news, but not novels and gossip. Deng Ming told Yuan Xiang that if the Xuzhou Weekly could reduce the serialization of hearsay and story kings to less than half of the page, he would agree to the subscription application of the Xuzhou Governor's Yamen, otherwise they would have to subscribe to the Metropolitan Weekly.

"What do you want to do here?" Gong Yan flipped out a newspaper from a few days ago, and looked at Deng Ming with blazing eyes: "Let the officials in western Sichuan announce their assets?" ”

"Yes," Deng Ming nodded: "I mentioned this idea in the academy, but I haven't thought about when it will start, and I haven't thought about the specific rules yet." ”

In the past few years, Liu Jinge, Yuan Xiang, He Daoning and others have all been in charge of themselves, and it is unbelievable to say that they have a clean breeze and do not take the name of Deng, not only these, but Liu Yao and Yang Youcai seem to have taken bribes after they have real power. Even Zhou Kaihuang and other senior military officers were dissatisfied with the inability to eat empty salaries, and even publicly protested to Deng Ming.

To be an official is to make a fortune, this is almost the consensus of most people. Most of the people around Deng Ming are staunch anti-Qing fighters who can 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 the conditions improve, and many people are still justified when they do this, thinking that this is the treatment they should have to fight against the Qing Dynasty with their heads in the end.

The most honest official in Chengdu may be Xiong Lan, but this is also because Xiong Lan has defected three times, one of which was to plant a flag and rebel after Deng Ming left the city, which cut off Deng Ming's retreat - although Wanxian was a broken city at that time, Xiong Lan did not defect and did not stick to it, but because he was worried that Deng Ming would settle accounts after the autumn, Xiong Lan has always been the most honest and conscientiously guarding his money printing machine.

However, Xiong Lan has become more and more presumptuous recently, especially after the last Myanmar triumph ceremony, Xiong Lan thinks that he has been completely whitewashed, and he is also a person valued by Deng Ming, so the business owners who went to visit President Xiong with their bags at night have gradually increased.

"At the earliest, this year's New Year's Eve will be closed, and I will persuade the Yuan to conduct an amnesty." Strictly speaking, Deng Ming's monopoly on the jadeite and ivory business is also a kind of abuse of power for personal gain, but no one dares to investigate him: "In the past, no matter whether there was corruption or bribery, the Yuan Council would pardon all of them, and every official had to disclose their assets." It will be published annually in the future, and if there is an increase, the source needs to be clarified. If it is proven to be concealed, you will be dismissed. ”

Deng Ming did not mention this amnesty, but only revealed that he might ask officials to disclose their assets, and after hearing about this, many people were uneasy, and privately asked Deng Ming to inquire about the tone, and Deng Ming's answer was that he didn't plan to care about the previous things (this is also a fact), he just wanted to know in his heart: "Gong Shangshu must not say anything about this amnesty, otherwise I am afraid that a group of people will be relieved and boldly seize this last opportunity to be greedy." After the assets are announced, the incumbent officials are no longer allowed to do business, speculate in stocks, or speculate in futures, and can only get salaries; Cousins and in-laws within the third floor are also not allowed to buy and sell. ”

Of course, Gong Yan understood what Deng Ming was worried about, but after hearing this strict prohibition, he still muttered: "You must know that not everyone can do the jade business, but if you don't let the officials do business at all, then you have to make a fortune." ”

Although Deng Ming intended for the Yuan Council to prohibit officials from doing business, he himself was not prohibited, and probably no one would have thought of ordering Deng Ming to sell his business to others under this law.

"I understand this, it will let the Yuan Council negotiate a proper salary, and it will allow the officials to maintain their dignity." Deng Ming is determined to pay a high price to redeem the corrupt power of officials, anyway, he does not pursue a one-step approach, he can take his time, first determine the disclosure of assets and high salaries, deny the rationality of corruption and empty salaries, and then slowly discuss what kind of high salary is reasonable in the future - if it is really in one step, Deng Ming's jewelry business will be gone?

……

Many years later, Beijing.

The pro-government Qing boy Tianzi looked resolute and watched the eunuchs and imperial guards fiddling with the giant sand table in front of him, all of which were newspapers issued by the empire in their hands. Over the years, the quality of the newspaper has become even better, and this metropolitan daily newspaper not only contains a detailed description of the battle situation, but also a clear map.

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

"I knew that the performance of the military department was unreliable, but I really didn't expect it to be so bad!" Emperor Kangxi read the numbers on the map while comparing them with the report sent by the Ministry of War, and finally threw the piece on the ground in anger.

The Empire's newspapers had long ago told their readers that the figures they provided were processed and would be between fifty and one as far from the actual troop figures. According to Kangxi's research, the proportion seems to be even larger than this, so he always divides the average by three: "If there were no such newspapers, I would have to use the nonsense of the military department to command the battle." ”

After completing the deployment map of the Ming and Qing armies with the information obtained from the newspaper, the emperor began to consider the situation based on the map provided by the newspaper, and then issued a series of orders. Although the maps of the newspapers, including the daily newspapers of the prefecture, were incorrect, they were also numerous times stronger than the maps provided by the military department, and many of the granaries and strongholds claimed by the military department and the household department could not be found in the enemy's newspapers, and the emperor knew that he must not put the hope of providing for the army on the warehouses that the ministers claimed to exist but the enemy did not discover.

"These are ordinary orders, just go to the infantry to command the yamen, these are urgent military orders," the young Tianzi said, pointing to those particularly important military orders, "send them by telegram from the exchange." ”

As soon as the new means of communication appeared, the telegraph was favored by the stock exchanges, and now the major exchanges in the country can realize the real-time exchange of futures prices. As long as they are willing to pay a large sum, this communication channel can also be used by private individuals, so that the emperor's orders can be delivered to the exchanges close to the front line as quickly as possible, and then handed over to the generals at full speed.

"However, then the thieves will know." One of the eunuchs said in a hurry, but did not immediately do what the emperor wanted.

"Take the infantry to lead the yamen, don't you know my orders?" The Young Emperor retorted: "The infantry commander Yamen is the Sichuan thief who has known about it for three days, and my order has not yet been delivered; And with the telegram of the Sichuan thief's exchange, at least the Sichuan thief and my general can know at the same time. ”

After dealing with military affairs, the emperor was about to rest for a while, when suddenly a eunuch rushed in in a hurry and shouted in a shriek: "Your Majesty, the latest "Truth" has arrived!" ”

"Bring it to me!" The emperor didn't care about resting, and shouted anxiously.

A few days ago, someone reported that a certain prominent prince was cheating the king, and his two children who claimed to have been kidnapped were actually under the protection of loyal clothes to a private primary school in Chengdu with extremely high tuition fees, and it is said that the prince also transferred property worth tens of thousands of taels of silver to Chengdu, plus the previous savings and real estate, etc., the prince already has more than 100,000 family properties in Chengdu. When the angry emperor called this prince to scold, the other party cried and shouted injustice, and the emperor did not find real evidence after checking for a long time. The case-handling personnel who say that the prince is innocent may have eaten bribes, and those who say that the prince is guilty may not be reliable, or they may have received black money and conspired to frame the emperor's flesh and blood relatives.

Although the emperor was not sure which of his subordinates to trust, he knew that the reporter of the newspaper "The 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 go to university, it would be another major scandal on the Manchu side in recent years, and all the news would definitely be unearthed by the reporters who pursued them relentlessly; For such a big news, the emperor knew that the reporters of "The Truth" would definitely check the family background of every new student enrolled in the private school.

Kangxi hurriedly opened the newspaper, well, there was still no mention of this matter on the front page, it seems that the other party is still investigating, it doesn't matter, the emperor is patient, and he will soon know whether the prince is loyal or traitorous.

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

"Give it to me."

The Emperor opened the newspaper and looked at it twice, and suddenly jumped up from his throne, his eyes almost spewing fire, and he cried out through gritted teeth: "Get me the Suo Etu!" ”

Suo Etu came to the front of the emperor in no hurry, and as soon as he kowtowed, the emperor jumped forward regardless of his dignity, grabbed Suo Etu's collar with both hands and dragged him up from the ground, and excited saliva sprayed the cabinet minister's face: "10,000 officers and soldiers, with rifles, cannons, and horse teams, attacking dozens or hundreds of rebels, how can they lose?" How could this battle be lost? ”

"Who says you lost?" Suo Etu argued vigorously: "Your Majesty, the slave didn't receive the news. ”

"You still want to deceive me!" The emperor's face was flushed, and he squeezed out a chilling cold voice from between his teeth: "It was said in the Yangtze River Morning Post that less than an hour after my 10,000-strong army launched a surprise attack, it was defeated by the traitors!" You say, "How did this battle go?" You must have betrayed me! ”

"The slave is wronged." Suo Etu's tears spurted out suddenly: "Your Majesty, the slave has long said that the soldiers are fierce and dangerous, although the main force of the Sichuan thieves went to sea to fight the red hair, but we are not good to take the initiative to attack; Besides, we are a dignified court that is true to our word, how can we suddenly attack without keeping our promises? But although the slave disagreed, since the emperor had made up his mind, the slave still went all out to do the errand, that is, the Sichuan thief must be on guard. ”

"I didn't think much of it, I just wanted to fight the Sichuan thieves to declare war on the Dutch and Spanish Hongyi, and when the internal emptiness caught them off guard, I forced them to agree to return some bonds...... Even if they were prepared, how could 10,000 officers and soldiers armed with cannons and rifles be defeated by dozens of rebellious policemen? You must have bought too much, right? Surely you are all bullish and long, and you are bent on the officers and soldiers to defeat the battle? "The emperor felt that his tears were about to come out, how could this state affair be difficult to be like this?

"It's really wronged, Your Majesty." Suo Etu knelt on the ground softly, and raised his hands to the sky: "Emperor Taizu and Emperor Taizong are above, and the servants are loyal for generations, so they don't dare to have a trace of distractions." ”

In the end, the emperor was just suspicious, and seeing Suo Etu crying sincerely, the emperor waved his hand to let him push it down, and he stumbled out of the court and returned to the harem.

"Your Majesty, Concubine Chen's third uncle is prosperous." After Kangxi's queen learned of the cause and effect, she also rushed to speak for Suo Etu: "He is still the prince's uncle, how can he take the opportunity to buy more?" ”

The emperor shook his head with a miserable face: "There are no fathers and sons in the casino, even fathers and sons can't be counted, and others are nothing." ”

"Didn't the Sichuan thieves buy and sell short?" The young queen asked curiously.

"That's the most hateful." The emperor scolded the case: "Sichuan thieves are not allowed to speculate in stocks and futures, and they are not allowed to deposit money in my Daqing." This rule was set when I first set up the exchange, Deng Ming, it was really far-sighted. ”

After scolding, the emperor's anger gradually dissipated, and he changed back to the dejected appearance just now, seeing this, the queen tried her best to squeeze out a smile: "The emperor works hard, he is the first emperor of the ages, victory and defeat are common things in soldiers, don't take it too seriously." ”

"Victory and defeat are indeed a common thing in soldiers, but ......," the emperor raised his head to the sky and shouted: "I have more than 100,000 taels of silver...... They were all sold out at the beginning of the war, and after this defeat, it must be a horse that has not been returned, isn't this a copy of my home? ”——

Author's note: There is an annual meeting of authors in the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh weeks, which is scheduled in Shenzhen. The author flew on the fourth and returned to Tianjin on the seventh, before the author also wanted to rest for a few days, the book has been written for thirteen months, and now there is a sense of tiredness when updating it every day. The plan is to relax from tomorrow to the 7th, and resume the update on the 8th, sort out your thoughts, adjust your status, thank you for your understanding, and wish you all a happy new year, and all the best in the new year.