After the news that the Qing court was about to launch an offensive came to Sichuan, it played a great role in promoting the newspaper, the emerging industry. Whether in Chengdu or Xuzhou, many literate urban workers would spend a little money to buy a newspaper and read the front page of the preparation news with relish. Even the slow-responsive Central Bank newspapers have interestingly published one or two reports related to war, mainly saying that the war may have an impact on prices and interest rates. However, many private newspapers have more thorough analysis than the Central Bank newspapers, so Xiong Landen was too lazy to continue after two days, and continued to report the weekly central bank interest rates and newly introduced tax policies - even those who bought Xiong Lan newspapers were not interested in the boring war-related reports above.

Now Chengdu Academy has specially built a new hall to store various newspapers purchased for free for teachers and students to read. Many professors even told students that developing the habit of reading newspapers every day can not only consolidate the literacy education they receive, but also exercise their learning ability. This newspaper reading hall is full of people every day, and you can often see the old master Chen Zuocai and a large number of professors sitting around the long table. Each of them has a cup of tea and are reading newspapers attentively.

The same goes for Xuzhou. Meng Zhengfa followed Zhu Zhiyu to Xuzhou Academy. He once again told Zhu Zhiyu privately that in recent months, a large amount of time that should have been used to read the four books was taken away because he reads newspapers every day. Meng Zhengfa should have reviewed the "Great University" a long time ago, but after class, he couldn't put the newspaper down every day, and he was satisfied and he should go to bed. Zhu Zhiyu asked Meng Zhengfa curiously if he was complaining? But the latter shook his head and felt that the help the newspaper gave him was almost the same as his travels when he was young. Like Chengdu Academy, Xuzhou Academy also began to call on students to read more newspapers, preferably for a while every day to report. Zhu Zhiyu also talked 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 any help is needed for the academy, Zhu Jijiu is willing to cooperate fully.

Whether it is a teacher, student, or a fellow scholar who buys newspapers by themselves, after reading it, a heated discussion will begin. Some people cannot find acquaintances on the roadside, and will pull strangers or even the owner of the store to talk enthusiastically.

"Now I have to read for a while every day," Gong Yong said to Deng Ming.

"It's great. Half of the cost of each report is issued by the government. If the Shangshu doesn't read it, it will suffer a loss. Will the Shangshu pay taxes? This newspaper allowance is all taxes for everyone." Deng Ming said slowly. Now ironware, salt and other commercial banks do not need government support, and the support of the Mule and Horse Business is coming to an end. Originally, Liu Jinge and Yuan Xiang thought that the government would soon have a large financial surplus.

As a result, Deng Ming and his family were all thrown into the newspaper industry to support it. Now everyone has not developed the habit of advertising. If the newspaper circulation does not reach the business, they will not advertise in the newspaper. Therefore, the government needs to bear most of the printing and distribution costs of newspapers so that the people can buy a newspaper at a very cheap price. When everyone develops the habit, the circulation of private newspapers will increase greatly, and there is hope for a virtuous cycle.

Not all internal documents will be sent to Gong Yan's Governor's Governor's yamen, and he will learn from the newspapers that have nothing to do with Gong Yan's yamen. Not only Gong Yan's Governor's yamen, but other departments are the same. Since more and more people have started reading the newspapers, Liu Jinge and Yuan Xiang have planned to subscribe to their subordinate yamen. Deng Ming of course encouraged this, but he stipulated that the government only needs to subscribe to newspapers mainly for current affairs news, while novels and gossips are not. The Dufu Weekly Report has met the conditions, but the Xuzhou Weekly Report is still a little short of it. Deng Ming told Yuan Xiang that if the Xuzhou Weekly Report can reduce the hearsay news and story King serialization to less than half of the page, he would agree to the Xuzhou Prefectural Administration Office’s application for subscribing to the subscriber, otherwise they would have to subscribe to the Dufu Weekly Report.

"What kind of decree do you want to make?" Gong Yong took out a newspaper from a few days ago and looked at Deng Ming with bright eyes: "Let the officials in western Sichuan announce their property?"

"Yes," Deng Ming nodded: "I have mentioned this idea in the hospital, but I haven't thought about when to start yet, and there are still specific rules."

In recent years, Liu Jinge, Yuan Xiang, He Daoning and others have been on their own. They are not convinced if they are honest and don’t choose Deng Ming. Not only these, but also Liu Yao and Yang Youcai, they seem to have accepted bribes after they have gained real power. Even senior military officers such as Zhou Kaihuang were dissatisfied with the inability to get a job in the empty salary, and even publicly protested to Deng Ming.

Almost most people agree that becoming an official is a consensus among most people. Most of the people around Deng Ming are determined to fight against the Qing Dynasty and 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. Moreover, many people are confident when doing this, thinking that this is the treatment they deserve to fight against the Qing Dynasty with their heads.

The most honest official in Chengdu is probably Xiong Lan, but this is because Xiong Lan turned against him three times. One of them was the rebellion after Deng Ming left the city and rebelled and cut off Deng Ming's retreat. Although Wanxian was broken at that time, Xiong Lan did not turn against him and did not stick to it, but because she was worried that Deng Ming would settle the score later, Xiong Lan always was the most honest and worked diligently to guard his money printing machine.

However, Xiong Lan has become more and more presumptuous recently, especially after the last Myanmar Triumph Ceremony, Xiong Lan believes that he has completely washed away and is also a person that Deng Ming values, so there are more and more business owners who go to visit President Xiong with a bag at night.

"The earliest is the end of this year. I will convince the court to carry out a general amnesty." Deng Ming told Gong Yong that he did not want to investigate the corruption in the previous few years, nor could he investigate. Strictly speaking, Deng Ming monopoly on the jade and ivory business is also a kind of use of power for personal gain, but no one dared to investigate him: "In the past, no matter whether there was corruption or bribery, the court would pardon all, and at the same time, every official must publish their property. It will be announced every year in the future. If there is an increase, it needs to be explained clearly. Report it yourself, if it is proved to be concealed, you will be dismissed."

Deng Ming did not mention this amnesty, but only revealed that he might ask officials to announce their property. After hearing about this, many people were uneasy and privately asked Deng Ming for advice. Deng Ming's answer was that he did not plan to make up for the previous events (this is also a fact). He just wanted to know what he said: "Shangshu Gong must not tell the amnesty about this amnesty, otherwise he would be afraid that a group of people would seize this last opportunity and be greedy. After the property was announced, the current officials were not allowed to do business, stocks, futures, and could only get a salary; cousins ​​within the third floor were not allowed to operate and trade."

Gong Yong certainly understood what Deng Ming was worried about, but after hearing this strict ban, he pondered for a moment: "You must know that not everyone can do jade business, but those who are officials are not allowed to do business at all, so they will have a long salary."

Although Deng Ming planned to ask the court to ban officials from operating business, he himself was not included in the ban, and probably no one would have thought of ordering Deng Ming to sell his business to others based on this law.

"I understand this. The court will discuss a proper salary and let the officials keep their decent." Deng Ming was determined to pay a high price to redeem the power of officials for embezzlement. Anyway, he did not pursue one step. He could take it slowly. He first determined the publication of property and high salary to maintain integrity, deny the rationality of embezzlement and empty salary, and then slowly discuss what kind of high salary is reasonable in the future. If it is really done in one step, wouldn't Deng Ming's jewelry business be gone?

...

Many years later, Beijing.

The young emperor of the Qing Dynasty who was in charge of power had a firm face. He watched the eunuchs and the imperial guards fiddling with the giant sand table in front of him. They were holding newspapers issued by the empire. After so many years of evolution, the quality of the newspapers was even better. This Dufu Daily not only had a detailed introduction to the battle situation, but also had a clear map printed.

A eunuch who was responsible for marking the troops skillfully added together the Qing army's forces in five newspapers including Dufu Daily and Xuzhou Daily, found the average number and divided it by three, and then solemnly marked the number of troops under the stronghold.

"I knew the memorials of the Ministry of War were unreliable, but I really didn't expect that they would be so much different!" Emperor Kangxi compared the reports sent by the Ministry of War while reading the numbers on the map. Finally, he was so angry that he threw the memorials to the ground.

A long time ago, the newspapers of the Empire told their readers that the numbers they provided were processed and would be about 50% to twice the number of real troops. According to Kangxi's research, the proportion seemed to be even larger than this, so he always divided the average by three: "If there were no these newspapers, I could only use the nonsense memorials of the Ministry of War to direct the battle."

After the intelligence obtained from the newspaper completed the deployment map of the Ming and Qing armies, 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 newspapers, including the Dufu Daily, were all errors, this was countless times stronger than the maps provided by the Ministry of War. Moreover, the granaries and strongholds claimed by the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Revenue could not be found in the enemy's newspapers. The emperor knew that he could never put the hope of the army obtaining supplies in the warehouses that the ministers claimed to exist but the enemy did not find.

"These are ordinary orders, just go to the infantry to command the yamen. These are urgent military orders," said the young emperor, pointing to those particularly important military orders: "Send it out with the telegram from the exchange."

As soon as the telegraph appeared, it was favored by stock exchanges. Now, major exchanges across the country can realize instant exchange of futures prices. As long as you are willing to pay a lot of money, this communication channel can also serve private services, so that the emperor's orders can be delivered to exchanges near the front line as quickly as possible, and then handed to the general at full speed.

"But, this way the Sichuan thieves will know." An eunuch said stammeringly, without immediately following the emperor's wishes.

"Don't you know the order of the Sichuan thieves when you go to the infantry commander's yamen?" The young emperor retorted: "The order of the infantry commander's yamen is the Sichuan thieves for three days, and my order has not been delivered yet; and using the telegram from the Sichuan thieves' exchange, at least the Sichuan thieves and my generals can know at the same time."

After handling military affairs, the emperor was about to rest for a while, suddenly an eunuch rushed in and shouted sharply: "Master, the latest "Truth" has arrived!"

"Come on me quickly!" The emperor shouted anxiously without hesitation.

A few days ago, someone reported that a prominent prince deceived the emperor. His two children who claimed to have been kidnapped were actually protected by loyalty-coated tuitions. It is said that the prince also transferred property worth tens of thousands of taels of silver to Chengdu. In addition to the previously stored and real estate, the prince already had more than 100,000 yuan in Chengdu. When the furious emperor called the prince to scold him, the other party cried and shouted for justice, but the emperor searched for a long time but could not find any real evidence. The prince's innocent case handlers might have taken bribes, and the prince was guilty not necessarily reliable, or it might have received black money and framed the emperor's close relatives.

Although the emperor was not sure which subordinate to believe, he knew that the reporters of the newspaper "Truth" were absolutely reliable, so the emperor sent someone to anonymously to the newspaper's reporters. If the prince's children really went to Chengdu to go to college, it would be another major scandal in the Qing Dynasty in recent years, and all of them would be discovered by reporters who would definitely pursue them. For such a major news, the reporters of the emperor knew the "Truth" would definitely check the family background of every freshman in the private school.

Kangxi hurriedly opened the newspaper, and well, the matter was not mentioned on the front page. It seemed that the other party was still investigating. It didn't matter. The emperor was patient and would soon know whether the prince was loyal or traitor.

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

"Give it to me quickly."

The emperor opened the newspaper and looked at it twice, suddenly jumped up from the imperial throne, almost spurting fire from his eyes, and gritted his teeth and shouted, "Come to me!"

Soetu came to the imperial court without any haste. As soon as he kowtowed and saluted, the emperor jumped forward without caring about dignity, grabbed Soetu's collar with both hands and dragged him from the ground, and excitedly spitted the cabinet ministers' expression: "Ten thousand officers and soldiers, including rifles, cannons, and cavalry, attacking dozens of people and hundreds of traitors, how could they lose? How could they lose this battle?"

"Who said he lost?" Soetu argued vigorously: "Master, I haven't received any news."

"You still want to bully me!" The emperor's face was flushed, and he squeezed out a terrifying cold voice from his teeth: "The Yangtze River Morning Post said that less than an hour after my 10,000 army launched a surprise attack, he was defeated by the thief! You said, how did this battle be fought? You must have betrayed me!"

"I'm wronged." Soetu burst out tears: "Your Majesty, I've said a long time ago that the soldiers are in danger. Although the main force of Sichuan thieves went to sea to fight the red-haired hair, it's not easy for us to take the initiative to attack. Besides, we are a court with confidence, how can we suddenly attack without keeping our trust? But although the slave does not agree, since the emperor has made up his mind, the servant will still do his best to handle the job, even if Sichuan thieves are sure to be prepared."

"I didn't think too much, just want to fight the Sichuan thieves and the two Spanish red barbarians declared war on the Netherlands and the two Spanish barbarians. When the internal emptiness was empty, they caught them off guard and forced them to agree to return some bonds... Even if they were prepared, how could ten thousand officers and soldiers holding cannons and rifles be defeated by dozens of traitor police? You must have bought too much, right? You must have been bullish and bought too much, and you were deliberately trying to defeat the officers and soldiers?" The emperor felt that his tears were about to come out. How could this state affairs be so difficult?

"It's really unfair, the emperor." Soertu knelt softly on the ground, raised his hands to the sky: "Taizu, Emperor Taizong is above, and the servants are loyal for generations, and they dare not have any distractions."

After all, the emperor was just suspicious. Seeing that Soetu was crying sincerely, the emperor waved his hand and asked him to push it down, and he stumbled away from the court and returned to the harem.

"Emperor, Chen's third uncle is revived." After learning about the causes and consequences, Kangxi's queen also came to speak for Soetu: "He is still the prince's uncle, how could he take the opportunity to buy more?"

The emperor shook his head with a miserable expression: "There is no father and son in the casino, and even father and son cannot be counted, and others do nothing."

"Didn't the Sichuan thieves buy short selling?" the young queen asked curiously.

"This is the most hateful thing." The emperor cursed: "The Sichuan thieves are not allowed to trade stocks or futures, and are not allowed to save money in our Qing Dynasty. This rule was set when we first started the exchange. Deng Ming is really far-sighted."

After cursing, the emperor's anger gradually dissipated and he changed back to his previous distraught appearance. Seeing this, the queen tried her best to squeeze out a smile: "The emperor worked hard to govern, and he was the most wise ruler in the ages. Victory and defeat were common in military affairs, so don't take it too seriously."

"Victory and defeat are indeed common in military affairs, yes, yes..." The emperor said to the sky and said, "But my more than 100,000 taels of silver... I sold them out when the war started. After this defeat, I will definitely be a horse that won't be returned. Isn't this scammer of my home?"—
Chapter completed!