The "Beijing News" published less than five issues before it caught up with the Chinese New Year holiday and stopped publishing together with the "Huangming Jingshi Daily".
Scholars in the north and south collectively wanted to spit out the old phlegm, and they were all depressed to death. During the Spring Festival, every family worshiped their ancestors and visited relatives, and various cultural gatherings could not be held. The noise was much quieter, so they could only
Swear twice while visiting relatives and friends.
All the bigwigs and middle-ranking officials in the imperial court were speculating about the origin of the "Beijing News" and taking advantage of the Chinese New Year period to ask around. What Shilin saw in the first article of the "Beijing News" was a debate between moral principles and principles.
, but what people in the officialdom see is that the strong wind started at the end of Qingping - Who is this article for? Who is standing behind it? If you don't understand this clearly, you can't take sides.
However, the "Beijing News" is very mysterious. No one knows the proprietor behind it. The editor-in-chief also uses the pen name "Zhong Sheng".
At the end of the Spring Festival holiday, someone finally found out that the proprietor of this newspaper was Sui Anbo, and the editor-in-chief was Li Xianfang, a well-known literary figure.
Li Xianfang, courtesy name Bocheng and nickname Beishan, was originally from Jianli, Hubei, and later moved to Puzhou, Shandong. In the 26th year of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, he became a Jinshi, and served successively as Cao Lang of the Ministry of Justice, Sicheng of Shangbao, Tongzhi of Bozhou, and Tongzhi of Ningguofu. In the first year of Wanli,
Seeing that he had no hope of reaching the fifth rank, he resigned and returned to his hometown to compile "Puzhou Chronicles".
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In October of the fourth year of Wanli, after the first draft of "Puzhou Chronicle" was completed, fellow celebrities Sun Zhonghan and Su Lian came to him together and told him that Sui Anbo and Chen Shu were going to run a newspaper in Beijing. They invited Li Xianfang to be the editor-in-chief and brought Chen Shu's personal letter.
In fact, Sui Anbo invited Sun Zhonghan first, but he did not dare to agree. Although he was also a Jinshi, his reputation and level in the literary world were not as great as those of Li Xianfang.
Therefore, he and Su Lian came to Li Xianfang together, hoping that Li Xianfang would take them to apply for the job together. The editor and deputy editor were all in the pockets of the brothers.
Since the birth of the "Huang Ming Nanjing Daily", Li Xianfang and others have been jealous of this newspaper for too long - all the literati in the Ming Dynasty were jealous. However, less than a month after the publication of the daily in Nanjing, the imperial court promulgated the "Da Ming Daily"
At the same time, the emperor issued a decree and wrote part of the charter into the Ming Dynasty Code.
This charter clearly stipulates that publishing newspapers in the Ming Dynasty must obtain a newspaper license. Starting from the second half of the third year of Wanli, nobles and wealthy businessmen in these two capitals who wanted to publish newspapers submitted a total of more than 300 applications, and the court
A license was issued, which was the "Huangming Capital Daily".
Everyone gasped when they saw the identity of the proprietor of Huangming Jingshi Daily. It was Zhang Yuande, the son of Duke Yingying, the minister of the imperial court. No one could compare to this backstage, and everyone stopped thinking.
Unexpectedly, no one could stop the luck. At the beginning of September of the fourth year of Wanli, when the wife of Sui'an Bo and Chen Shu came to the palace to pay her respects, she met the emperor who was also at the Queen Mother's house. At that time, the emperor said: "Sui'an Bo pays tribute."
Want to register? Ask him to come to see me." - In this way, he was given a free permit.
Sui'an Bo was cautious, fearing that leaking the information would cause the jealousy of the nobles in the capital, and he would not be able to explain it at that time, so he arranged for his family to take the letter and find Sun Zhonghan, who had been a master in Sui'an Bo Mansion.
Although Sun Zhonghan was extremely beautiful at Sui Amber's invitation, he didn't dare to apply. He knew that if he became editor-in-chief and his good friend Li Xianfang stayed at home, people in the literary world would laugh at him. After thinking about it, he realized Finally, he made up his mind and recommended Li Xianfang to Sui Anbo, and tried his best to encourage him to come out.
Li Xianfang was talented and famous for his poetry. He was born in Qilu and was a famous scholar during the Jiajing period. He once initiated a poetry society with contemporary famous figures such as Li Panlong in Licheng, Xie Zhen in Linqing, Wu Jiyue in Kaofeng, and also collaborated with Yu Yunwen and Lu Yu in Kunshan. Nan, Xiaofeng, Wu Weiyue and Shunde Ou Daren are collectively known as the "Five Sons of Guang".
He had a wide range of hobbies and had certain attainments in medicine, Taoism, and Buddhist studies. He was proficient in music and rhythm, and was especially good at pipa. Even Cha Baashi, a famous pipa master at the time, was impressed by him.
Chen Shu had no reason to be dissatisfied with such a person. But the emperor letting him run the newspaper was equivalent to including him in the emperor's inner circle. However, he couldn't tell Sun Zhonghan and Li Xianfang about the truth inside, so he had to speak humbly. Invite Li Xianfang to Beijing for a talk.
Li Xianfang was already sixty-six years old at this time. If he was asked to be an official, he would definitely not do it after having had a bumpy career for half his life. But if he was asked to run a newspaper, none of the Ming literati would say that he was too old to do it.
After Li Xianfang received the letter, he happily took Sun Zhonghan and Su Lian to the capital to meet Sui Anbo.
So when Anbo and Chen Shu met, they didn't mention the newspaper business. Instead, they held a few people up and treated them as teachers. They first held several cultural gatherings at home, and then God let them drink and feast, and enjoy singing and dancing. The poems were sung for half a month.
At first, Li Xianfang didn't know why, and privately complained with Su Lian that Sui Anbo was unreliable. Sun Zhonghan was also confused, so he asked to see Sui Anbo and asked about running a newspaper.
Then Amber summoned them and said with a wry smile: "To be honest, gentlemen, in these astronomical societies, people from the attendant's office come to inspect you every day. The money earned by this newspaper belongs to us. But what the newspapers say – listen to the emperor!”
After saying this, Li Xianfang and the others were so frightened that their legs shook. So Anbo's family has always attached great importance to education, and Chen Shu also had some literary talent. At this time, in a few words, he mentioned Zhu Yijun's idea of using newspapers to control public opinion.
Chen Shu and Li Xianfang said: "To be honest with you, the emperor said that the Ming Dynasty has reached the point where it can no longer survive without changing the ancestral system. In the past two years, you can also see the emperor's intention to reform. The emperor said that this is a big article that changes the world. , without the cooperation of public opinion, half the result will be achieved with half the effort. Therefore, we must first set up a newspaper, change customs, and secretly change people's hearts."
After hearing this, Li Xianfang and others looked at each other. Chen Shu said: "If you gentlemen are unwilling to wade into this muddy water, I don't blame you. As long as you go home and don't tell others, just treat me as if I invited Teacher Sun to bring my friends." Stay at home for a few days.”
Li Xianfang calmed down and asked Chen Shu: "The emperor wants to change the ancestral system, but I don't know how to change it?"
After hearing this, Chen Shu smiled bitterly and said: "I have been in court for less than two-quarters of an hour. How much can the emperor say to me? I have no talent and thoughts for governing the country. The emperor only said a few general words, which is 'make the country rich and strong'." 'Bing' means."
Li Xianfang clapped her thigh and said: "It would be great to make the country rich and have a strong army! It's time for the Ming Dynasty to reform, otherwise this prosperous world will become a place of Shura at some point!"
"No wonder the literary conferences these days are all about people like Shang Yang, Guan Zhong, Fan Zhongyan, and Wang Anshi. I'm still surprised. With the emperor's support, what are you afraid of? As long as it's not a deviant article, what does it matter?"
After hearing this, Chen Shu smiled bitterly again, took out a crumpled piece of paper and said: "This is the first article that the emperor asked us to publish in the first issue. Mr. Li will read it first - I can't guess the emperor's thoughts anyway.
.”
Li Xianfang opened it and read it. It was the article about the rationality of Ding You's system. At that time, he almost gasped. He asked Chen Shu: The emperor really wants to change the ancestral system!"
Chen Shu nodded after hearing this and said: "This is really not a joke. This system of civil servant Ding You was ordered by Taizu and has been in use for two hundred years. The emperor is also serious. He wants to seize the love of any minister, and the decree is, why bother to
This system has been gutted!"
Although Li Xianfang was at the fifth rank, his political literacy was very high. Hearing this, he shook his head and said, "My uncle is wrong. The emperor is preparing for a rainy day. Think about it, if Zhang Juzheng is worried - what will happen to the general in the court?"
After hearing this, Chen Shu smiled and said: "I heard a few days ago that the old man of the Zhang family has a body as strong as a hammer, but Zhang Jiangling can't seem to get enough nourishment from the sky - it's not certain who is ahead, him or his father.
?”
Li Xianfang was speechless after hearing this and could only shake his head and smile.
Sun Zhonghan said from the side: "My uncle's words are not right. No matter how tough a person is, his age shows up. Besides, Mr. Zhang is far away in Jiangling. Why can you hear from him in the capital? The so-called subtle knowledge shows that there are countless people.
Looking forward to——" At this point, when Chen Shu suddenly realized what he was saying, he stopped talking.
Li Xianfang smiled and said: "Uncle, there is no need to worry. Although I have a little reputation in the literary world, my official career has been bumpy, and my desire to serve the country has long been cold. I didn't expect that I would get such an errand in my late seventies. To put it bluntly,
So what if I sell these old bones to the emperor? I will do my duty!"
After hearing this, Chen Shu was overjoyed and bowed to the ground to thank Li Xianfang. He stood up and looked at Sun Zhonghan and Su Lian to see what they meant.
Sun Zhonghan and Su Lian were just over 50 years old. They were both top three scholars in the late Jiajing period. They resigned from office when they were magistrates. After hearing Li Xianfang's words, they both said that it was an honor to follow Li Xianfang to do something big.
.
Su Lian said with a smile: "Compared to the days when the Strict Party was in power, the imperial court now seems like a world away. Brother Sun and I both resigned from office and have no chance of reinstatement - it would be great if the system where resignation and no reinstatement could be changed could be changed!
"
Li Xianfang sneered when he heard this: "This is impossible. If the imperial court changes this, today's poor and jingling officials will be able to run half as fast."
Chen Shu also laughed after hearing this and said, "That's right. Nowadays, the Procuratorate in the capital is tightening its grip on corruption and has abolished all the bad rules of the previous ministries. I heard that a few days ago, a Beijing official refused to come out because he had borrowed money at usury.
Seeing that there was no way to celebrate the New Year, he gritted his teeth and jumped into the river - luckily he was saved, otherwise it would have become a big scandal!"
Li Xianfang's eyes lit up after hearing this: "Uncle, this is a good thing, we can give him a special topic!"
Chen Shu laughed after hearing this: "The old gentleman and the emperor thought of going together, and we really asked the Beijing News to do this special topic. I heard Yu Menglin from the attendant's room relayed the emperor's meaning, and he will give it after the New Year.
The official salary in the capital will be increased. A wave of rewards will be given before the end of the year."
"Yu Menglin said that once the "Beijing News" spreads the word and the court increases the salary, it will be difficult for our newspaper to sell out of stock!