Daming Military Empire

Chapter 123 The Birth of the Post Office
The capital in October is already quite chilly, and there is a cool breeze blowing everywhere. Although it is not icy cold, it can still make people feel cool all over.

The weather is so cold, but many people's hearts are hot, not to mention that the bosses of the paper workshops and printing workshops are like epileptic seizures, frantically purchasing and recruiting people everywhere; , That's the same as going crazy, lying on the table whenever you have nothing to do, and writing novels was not popular at that time. Are these mentally ill patients ready to write books?
This, of course, is impossible.

In ancient times, the great writers and poets who wrote books were usually honored. Even if you want to come up with an essay or something, at least you have to be a Hanlin or a Jishi from a first-class background, just like a small official in a government office. They are all from the background of Juren, at most they are from the background of the top three best scholars, dare to write books, aren't they afraid of laughing people's teeth?

Naturally, they are not writing a book, but writing reports for the Xindi newspaper.In the past few days, the Tongzhengshisi has also gone crazy, posting the notice of seeking manuscripts from Xindibao all over the yamen in the capital. The strange thing is that the high-ranking officials in the yamen acted as if they hadn't seen it, and ignored it!It's not that they really didn't see it, it's just that they didn't dare to take care of it. The emperor made a statement at the court meeting, and whoever dares to obstruct the Tongzhengsi's publication of the newspaper will have to read it.

The senior officials of the yamen were also happy to turn a blind eye. Anyway, they didn't come to ask for money, but to send money to the small officials under them, so let them give it.

At the beginning, people in the yamen didn’t really believe it. An article with a thousand words was ten taels of silver. What a joke, everyone is a scholar. Two, it's a fantasy!

I was always a little idle and bored, sitting there with nothing to do, wrote a few related articles, and threw them into the inboxes of the government envoys and put them in the inboxes at the gates of the yamen. The cost of work is one hundred yuan a day, and three taels of silver a month, which is enough for the family's rations. Of course, the premise is that the Tongzhengshi is not a lie, and they have to give the money.

Naturally, the General Secretary was not lying. All the contributors received the money the next day. Of course, most of them were the cost of the work, but there were also very few people who received the manuscript fee of ten taels of silver.

Now all the yamen in the capital are in trouble. It turns out that there is such a thing as ten taels of silver and one thousand characters. Anyone who doesn’t write it is an idiot. The article, what a big deal, it can be finished in an hour at most, and the office shifts in these yamen can only be busy for an hour or two a day at most, and there is plenty of time.

As a result, officials below the sixth rank in the capital's yamen began to devote themselves to writing articles as soon as they were free, and those who didn't want to write were forced to write. There is no way, if you don't write, your colleagues will call you an idiot!

Wumei Village has suffered a lot here. The day before was a little bit better. Only a few dozen people contributed, and the writing style was not bad. No one with any confidence dared to make this ugly. He picked a few of the best ones and let them The next day I sent all the manuscript fees to others.

This is a big deal. On the second day, he received hundreds of copies. His eyes were almost swollen before reading it. On the third day, there were more than 1000 copies.He had to call his subordinates together, briefly explained the screening conditions, and then asked them to check first, and then handed over the ones that could pass through to him for review, and he spent a whole day looking at it before finishing it.On the fourth day, there were still more than 1000 copies. He was buried in the pile of manuscripts all day long, and even when he was eating and going to the bathroom, he was reading with a few manuscripts in his hand, and he almost vomited.

But this also has an advantage. Even if many manuscripts do not meet the standards for publication, the content described has many merits. It only needs to be synthesized a little bit, and then a qualified article will come out.Now if he is asked to write again, he can definitely write ten articles a day. Of course, this is a bit suspected of plagiarism, which he disdains.Therefore, he decided that he would not write any more articles until he really couldn't get all the manuscripts together, because when he thought of the title, those wonderful fragments in the various unaccepted manuscripts would automatically appear in his mind. He doesn't need to conceive, just extract a few paragraphs directly, what is the difference between this and copying!

In this way, the first issue, the second issue, the third issue, and the fourth issue of "The Beijing News" were sent to Zhu Cijiong continuously, at least once a day, sometimes two or three issues a day, anyway, except for the first three issues. Dead ones, others can be properly adjusted according to the submission situation, whichever issue gathers ten articles, whichever issue will be published first.

At this time, there is no TV and no Internet. It is impossible to report the news of the day. As long as the time deviation does not exceed one month, it is considered news. Of course, if you can receive news on the day of a major event, then insert It can also be included in the newspaper of the day.

Zhu Cijiong carefully watched the first issue and the first issue. After all, Wu Meicun is the champion of the new discipline, and his literary talent is undeniable. The articles edited by him are basically vivid and concise, but some articles are not suitable for what he wants to promote. Not very good, not as effective as it should be.

This is a normal situation, and Wu Meicun has never seen the overwhelming publicity tactics of later generations, so it is understandable for him to be unsure of the main points.Therefore, after reading it once, Zhu Cijiong would call Wu Meicun to him for patient guidance.

After a few episodes, Wu Meicun finally fully understood Zhu Cijiong's meaning, and the key points gradually became more accurate. Zhu Cijiong was also relieved now, and finally he didn't have to study newspapers all day long. That stuff is really not what an emperor should do.

After the newspaper is finalized, it will be sent for typesetting and printing. The owners of the printing workshop are so positive. They specially customized a batch of frames that are about the same size as the newspaper, ensuring that each side can be printed at one time; The desks have been changed to the size of a newspaper, so that the work is more efficient; as for the staff, they have doubled the number of staff, and each desk is filled with two sets of people in turn, printing crazily for twelve hours a day.

The printed newspapers were sent to the Tongzhengshi Yamen by carload by carload, and their small warehouse was filled up in a day, and the office space in the back was full up, almost everywhere.

Wu Meicun looked at the newspapers that were piling up day by day, and felt worried. How could they distribute them to individuals?This question seems simple, but it is really difficult when you think about it carefully. The two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty are so vast. Even if you go fast, it takes two or three days to cross a province, and it takes half a month to send it to the most remote province. It's too soon to get there!And not only is it delivered, you have to distribute it, who will distribute it?
This problem has exceeded Wu Meicun's scope of authority, and he had to ask the emperor for help again.

Zhu Cijiong also broke down when he heard this question. He found that he had overlooked a very important point. There is no Internet or fax machine in the Ming Dynasty. How can this newspaper be delivered!He began to think about it. He vaguely remembered that there were newspapers before the Internet and fax machines in his previous life. How did the newspapers be issued?The post office, yes, it is issued by the post office. The problem is that there is no post office in the Ming Dynasty!
What if there is no post office?If you don't have it, let him have it. Being an emperor is good for this. Things that are impossible to accomplish in the eyes of others are quite simple in his eyes.As long as you know what kind of institution it is, are you afraid that it will not be built?

He immediately called together a group of cronies, and straightforwardly put forward the idea of ​​building a post office. He briefly explained the general functions of the post office and asked them to analyze how long it would take to build the post office, how much it would cost, and how much it would need to increase. personnel.

But it never occurred to him that as soon as he finished speaking, Sun Yuanhua looked at him with a strange expression, hesitant to speak.

Zhu Cijiong asked curiously: "Chuyang, what's the matter, is there something wrong?"

Sun Yuanhua said hesitantly: "The post office mentioned by the emperor is a bit similar to the post station. I just thought, can we just transform the post station into a post office? There are so many postmen in this post station, and it has always been a big burden for the Ministry of War. If... Weichen is saying that if, if Master Wu can share some of the profits as a postman's monthly salary, then it is not impossible for the post station to deliver and sell newspapers separately."

Zhu Cijiong has an impression of the post station. It seems that Li Zicheng was born as a post station soldier in the history books. He rebelled because Chongzhen listened to the minister's suggestion and abolished the post station, which made Li Zicheng lose his job.

Therefore, a few years ago, a minister submitted a memorial to suggest that the station should be abolished. The regent Zhu Youjian could not make the decision. When he came to ask Zhu Cijiong, Zhu Cijiong snatched the brush from Chongzhen's hand angrily, and drew a big one Chacha.Nima, do you want to force Li Zicheng to rebel?Do you want to kill me!
In the end, Li Zicheng turned his back on him, which made him very embarrassed. Therefore, Zhu Cijiong was very impressed with the station.How did he know at that time that Li Zicheng was actually a murderer on the run, and he might reveal his secrets at any time, and he would rebel whether you abolished the inn or not!

Thinking about it now, isn't this post office similar to a post office? Fortunately, it wasn't abolished at that time, otherwise it would be a lot of trouble now.

Zhu Cijiong made a decision on the spot. Your Ministry of War thinks the burden is too heavy, so you can simply change the post station into a post office and assign it to the Tongzhengshi Yamen. The original function of picking up officials will be removed, and the function of sending official documents will be retained. The function of selling newspapers separately, and every time a newspaper is sold, they will be given a penny, and the Ministry of Food and Rating will allocate accordingly.As for officials going out on business in the future, their respective yamen will verify and report their expenses, and the post office will no longer provide free board and lodging.

In this way, the world-famous Daming Post was born. After being assigned to the office of the Tongzheng Envoy, the postmen in various post stations gradually left their military registrations. The post office gradually developed from a military document transfer station to a set of functions such as communication, mailing items, and publishing newspapers and periodicals. Integrated service sector.

It is much more convenient to have a post office to distribute newspapers. After Wumei Village put a seal on bundles of newspapers, they began to distribute them to various places in Ming Dynasty through the post office. Within ten days, the first three issues of "New Beijing News" were printed and dispatched to various places on time. As soon as the day arrives, the seal will be broken and distributed to scholars everywhere for free.

(End of this chapter)