I'm playing tricks in Daqin

These engravings are all scrapped because of a wrong or broken character or stroke. They have no other use except as firewood. The government buys them in large quantities at a low price. Psychologically, he sold all the scrapped garbage to the government office.

There are also more than a dozen loyal civil servants or exceptionally reused scholars who will go to Chang'an. They will be responsible for the typesetting, proofreading and review of newspapers. Safety, as for the lack of personnel in the special night not accepted, it will be filled from the reserve team.

While arranging these important matters, Li Wei, who had been keeping a low profile in Chang'an, was receiving a visitor in Xiangfu.

The guest was He Zheng, the patriarch of the He family. Since Kong Ning took over the prefect of Qingchuan Province, He Zheng moved his family to Chang'an, and the second wife He Peng stayed in Qingchuan to guard the foundation.

He Zheng is currently working in the Ministry of Rites, so he has officially entered the imperial court. He moved his family to Chang'an with the intention of developing in Chang'an. His daughter, He Ruyi, is the pre-appointed concubine. However, He Ruyi was widowed before passing through the family. This was a great blow to the He family.

However, the aristocratic family would never put all their eggs in one basket. His son He Jin is now serving as General Zhonglang, guarding Anping City in Hongfeng Province, and his second brother He Peng stayed in Qingchuan to support Kong Ning. However, apart from his son He Jin holds the military power and is doing well, and his development in Chang'an can be said to have fallen into a trough. On the other side of Qingchuan, Kong Ning is a violent and greedy master. The big clan is dissatisfied.

When Li Wei came to Chang'an, he also really wanted to visit He's Mansion and see He Ruyi by the way, but it was inconvenient at this time, so he had to give up this idea.

The intention of Hezheng's visit, he knew in his heart, now that Jiayue Li's strength has grown greatly, and his ambitions are clearly revealed, no one knows when he will annex Qingchuan Province, enter Chang'an, and control the government. It is necessary to make connections. The relationship between Wei and Wei is also good, and there are also business contacts.

Li Wei also knows that if the Li family wants to take over Chang'an, they also need the support of these aristocratic families. In this way, the resistance will be much smaller. As long as the aristocratic families like Heishi show goodwill, he will be polite. Of course, In this goodwill, there are interests as the basis for cooperation, such as donating silver or food, iron ore, war horses and so on.

Anyway, during the more than ten days when Li Wei was in Chang'an, he wantonly received heavy gifts secretly sent by various aristocratic families and court officials, and the valuable gifts stored in Xiang's mansion piled up into a hill, making him so happy that he couldn't close his mouth.

These days, only those who have strength are qualified to speak. Strength is the army, and the army is built on the foundation of strong financial resources. In the final analysis, there is everything with money. This is an eternal truth.

While busy collecting money, all kinds of things escorted by the Four Seas Chamber of Commerce arrived in Chang'an one after another. Thirty experienced carpenters and craftsmen, more than a dozen civil servants and scholars, and one hundred special nights did not accept them. government.

During this period, Li Wei quietly purchased several houses in Chang'an City as a passer-by through his connections, one of which was connected to the Xiangfu. Sexually charge 1000 taels of silver.

The small place was used as the secret stronghold of the internal guards and secret agents, and the mansion connected to Xiangfu was used as a printing factory. The wall separating Xiangfu was not demolished or a small door was opened, but a row of houses was built against the wall house, dug the basement secretly, and dug another tunnel leading directly to the mansion.

After tidying up, everyone moved in quietly. Thirty carpenters and craftsmen also began to get busy, making templates, carving a large number of commonly used fonts, and storing them in boxes according to the radicals required by Li Wei. You just need to carefully saw the fonts one by one with a saw.

Before they knew about movable type printing, everyone was wondering what kind of medicine was sold in the young master's gourd.

When they knew that the young master had invented movable type printing, they were all amazed and admiring, and they became more motivated.

Those civil servants who were transferred were enthusiastically racking their brains to write articles. This was an excellent opportunity for the young master to become famous for them. Who wouldn't show off their literary talent with all their might?

Even Xiang Wendong couldn't help writing a few articles by himself.

The "Empire Briefing" is in twelve copies, and a few pages are for literati to express their own length. Besides commenting on some things, Li Wei also plans to leave a few pages to publish anecdotes and strange things in the world. This requires so-called reporters to inquire and collect Or, spend money to buy it.

Ten days later, all kinds of fonts were almost reserved, and the collected anecdotes were enough to last several issues. After Xiang Wendong and other literati's articles were written, the "Empire Briefing" was finally officially established and published.

Chapter 141 Imperial Briefing 2

Five hundred copies of the first issue of "Empire Briefing" were printed, and then some children were distributed to teahouses, restaurants or on the street for free. The distribution objects were all scribes and scholars in long robes and high crowns on their heads, or well-dressed people, and the reward was half a lot of money , making these children happy.

In this day and age, it is difficult for people to accept new things at once, so Li Wei asked his subordinates to distribute a few issues of the newspaper for free, and to see people's reactions before making a decision.

Li Wei, who passed through the disguise, took Xiao Xiaoxiao and Qing'er, who were disguised as men, leisurely in the middle of the street. Li Er brought ten guards to follow behind, and some others used various identities as cover. The special night is not accepted to follow and protect secretly.

Longji Teahouse is one of the largest teahouses in Chang'an City, and is one of the most famous teahouses in the industry. All the dignitaries or scholars and scholars who come here to taste tea are chatting while drinking tea.

Li Wei was lucky, and there happened to be an empty table. Although he was disguised, he was well dressed, and the teahouse waiter greeted him warmly with a professional smile.

While sipping tea, Li Wei looked at the tea drinkers at the tables around him gathered around to read the newspapers, talking in a low voice from time to time about the articles published in the newspapers.

"The sound of the wind and the rain and the sound of reading are in my ears."

The young man with the appearance of a scholar shook his head and muttered loudly, showing off, "I love the fragrance of peach blossoms, lotus flowers, and peonies."

"Brother Qing, Gao Ming, I'll go to the newspaper shop to check the topic later. The hundred taels of silver is already in Brother Qing's pocket."

Several scholars at the same table clapped their hands and applauded, suspected of flattering Qing's brother.

"I am over-flattered."

Brother Qing cupped his fists and bowed, he spoke politely, but couldn't hide the smug look on his face.

Li Wei grinned, this guy has a thick skin, he made this couplet specially, and it was marked that anyone who wants to write the second couplet can go to Xiangfu Newspaper to get a reward of 100 taels.

This couplet was written by Gu Xiancheng, the leader of the Donglin Party in the Ming Dynasty. The upper and lower couplets are extremely neat, with overlapping characters, like hearing the sound of a book, advocating that the world's literati care about the safety of the country and take the world as their own responsibility. It is a very inspiring and good couplet.

Putting this couplet in the newspaper is to appeal to those literati and students, tickle their hearts, make them pay attention to the "Empire Briefing" unconsciously, and even feel uncomfortable if they don't read the book for a day.

"Master, the next couplet..."

Xiao Xiaoxiao blinked her bright and beautiful eyes with a look of anticipation on her face, and Qinger's phoenix eyes also looked like her. Even the big celebrity Xiang Wendong and the old man couldn't match up. The most perfect couplet is naturally good. Lian "After three days, the mystery will be revealed naturally."

Li Wei smiled mysteriously, but he was quite curious in his heart, isn't this girl from the world?Why do you fall in love with poetry and articles like those talented women? "Smoothie."

Xiao Xiaoxiao couldn't help rolling her beautiful eyes, her daughter was so charming, Li Wei couldn't help but feel swayed, a big beauty is a big beauty, even if she pretends to be a man, she is still captivating.

Seeing his distraught expression, Xiao Xiaoxiao's cheeks flushed slightly, but there was a slight feeling of strangeness in her heart, and she was still somewhat proud of her appearance. She was still very conceited about her appearance. Mei Gong, there are probably not many men in the world who can resist her charm, at least, this one in front of her will be fascinated to death.

With a snort, Qing'er couldn't help covering her mouth and laughing lowly, making Xiao Xiaoxiao look for cracks all over the floor with shame, why couldn't she feel that she was "eyebrowing" with someone

Ambiguity?

However, to be honest, she seemed to like this kind of feeling a little bit. As for the reason, she couldn't tell.

Li Wei walked around the city of Chang'an for half a circle, and he was very satisfied with the reaction of the reading group, mainly literati, to the "Empire Briefing". The more people who follow him, the more profitable his newspaper will be, and the easier it is to fish in troubled waters and guide public opinion. .

When he returned to Xiang Mansion, Li Wei couldn't help being startled when he saw a long line of people queuing up outside the gate of Xiang Mansion. After asking the guards, he found out that these people queuing up were either students, scholars, high-ranking officials or celebrities The servants of the mansion are ordered by the master to line up to receive the prize silver for the pair.

Seeing Xiang Wendong Youjun Wu You and others standing at the door, they couldn't help laughing, Wu You even gave a thumbs up to compare, clearly he was flattering his young master. It's high!He knew it was a flattery, but the filming made Li Wei feel comfortable. The so-called wears a thousand clothes, but flattery does not wear it. What's more, Wu You is worshiping from the bottom of his heart. This guy's overall view is not as good as Tian Ce Wen Zishan , but Xiao Fang is definitely a connoisseur of cheating people, and even he can't think of a coup, so he came up with it easily, hehe.

Everyone stood at the door to watch. Those servants who came excitedly at the master's order left in despair after handing over the written couplets. The scholars did not give up and stood aside watching, waiting for the answer. It's a pity that none of the pairs handed over by so many people is right.

In fact, some people's couplets are so-so, but Li Wei stated in the newspaper that there is only one correct answer, neither close nor similar.

It was not that he was stingy with the 100 taels of silver, but a strategy, an advertisement to attract literati in a disguised form, which caused much more effect than expected, and he was very satisfied.

That night, Li Wei, who was in a good mood, enjoyed Qing'er's infinite tenderness, and Qing'er, who had learned the art of inner charm, also seemed happy because of his husband's good mood. It's so cool.

Not long after the sky darkened, when the two of them were taking a shower, they didn't know who started the war first, anyway, the battle started in a daze, the battlefield stretched from the bathroom to the bed, and the fight was so dark that the sky was dark and the wind was surging.

After the bath, Xiao Xiaoxiao really came to tell the young master about something this time. She didn't want to hear the ecstasy voice that made her hands and feet go limp again. With her red cheeks, she didn't want to leave, or if she didn't leave. Not only was the son about to jump out of the chest, but he couldn't even breathe smoothly. There was an inexplicable hot tide in the depths of his body, and even some places were sticky and wet.

Alas, these two people... really hurt people... Xiao Xiaoxiao inhaled desperately, trying to calm himself down, even if he used the heart-concentrating formula passed down by his master, he couldn't calm down his chaotic mood.

Fortunately, she did not lose her mind, and fled to her own room as if fleeing for her life, panting heavily while patting her towering breasts.

She lay on the bed feeling sorry for herself, and she was afraid that tonight would be another long and difficult night.

There are also many people who suffer from insomnia tonight, including Xiang Wendong, Wu You and others who are so excited that they have excess energy. Fortunately, one has a young and beautiful concubine, and the others also have singers who are sent to serve them. After all the tossing, I was so tired that I fell asleep.

Many literati, scholars and students have insomnia, not only because of the wrong pair, but because they saw a shortcut to fame from the "Empire Briefing".

Chapter 142 Competition

A group of court officials gathered in the mansion of Shang Shu Zuo Servant She Sima Lang. They first talked about the "Empire Briefing", and then everyone was moved. Many people proposed to run a report. Not only did they see The huge profit space of running a newspaper is even more important to the public opinion that can influence the direction of the wind.

There are also hardliners who suggested that they first take a stake in the "Empire Briefing" and gradually figure it out, and finally squeeze Xiang Wendong away and swallow the entire newspaper.

These people's proposals were directly scolded by Sima Lang. Although Xiang Wendong was a loner in the court, he seemed easy to bully, but behind him was the powerful Jiayue Li family who was sitting in two provinces. Everyone is afraid of eight or nine points, if you feel impatient to live, just mess around yourself, don't let everyone die.

Those pig heads shivered tremblingly. Just now, they were too busy thinking about their interests, and completely forgot about their background. The Jiayue Li family annexed Hongfeng Province in a grand manner. The court did nothing except verbal reprimands, and even formally dealt with it. He didn't dare to issue imperial edicts, for fear of angering the other party and sending troops to Chang'an.

If they really dare to slander others, I'm afraid that if they don't need to do it, King Qin will use their heads to calm their anger immediately.

The people who talked about reporting the slander were not limited to Sima Lang's group, and many other groups also had the idea of ​​copycats. The huge benefits made it difficult for them to restrain their greedy desires.

It was inconvenient for Li Wei to come forward, that's why he asked Xiang Wendong to come forward to run this newspaper. If there are really people who don't know how to live and die dare to make crooked ideas, he doesn't mind making things worse. This is an excuse for the army to leave the customs and enter Chang'an.

Two days later, the second issue of "Empire Briefing" was released, still with [-] copies. However, there was no need to hire people to distribute the newspaper. Early in the morning, there were servants in black house slave outfits crowded outside the main gate of Xiangfu. They lined up here for newspapers by order of their masters.

The neighborhood was also crowded with scholars in white gowns. They also came to ask for newspapers, but they didn't bother to squeeze in with the servants.

Five hundred newspapers were all distributed in a blink of an eye, and those who received the newspapers left with a smile on their faces, while those who did not receive them could only lament their bad luck.

In addition to publishing the second couplet of the previous couplet, the second issue of the newspaper also published some articles by literati, including famous articles on appreciation of newcomers, new poems, comments on current affairs, etc. In this era, literature is more important than military, and speech is free, and scholars often come in groups They talked about state affairs, criticized the government, and even verbally criticized certain corrupt officials.

This is patriotic speech. If you dare to arrest people, you will be reviled by scholars all over the world. Just saliva can drown you.

Among the folks, there are already many schools of thought, with a hundred schools of thought contending, each expressing their own opinions. The publication of the "Empire Briefing" has given these scholars a platform and opportunity to showcase their eloquence and literary talents. For a while, these scholars could not sit still. After a while, they wrote articles one after another, expressing their own opinions.

Even those famous writers who disdain disputes can’t sit still. Everyone feels that their views are correct and their schools are authentic. If they want to become leaders in the literary world and want their dreams to come true, they must first express their own views and let the world know. When literati see, know, and understand, they have to write articles and publish them in newspapers.

Everyone didn't hesitate to show off, delivered the manuscript to the door in person, solicited connections through the back door and both, who would miss such a wonderful opportunity to become famous?

All of a sudden, Xiang Mansion, which is usually empty, became busy with visitors, and Xiang Wendong was so busy that he greeted all these respectable guys and the whole family and women in his heart.

In the modern age, one has to pay the author's manuscript fee, but now it's reversed. If you want to publish in a newspaper, you have to give gifts, and those who have no way to go can simply donate money. In order to become famous, these people use all tricks up.

Under Li Wei's instigation, Wendong received all kinds of sponsorship money in nominal terms. Before the newspaper officially charged, the money made his fingers cramp.

When the third issue of "Empire Briefing" was released, the court party headed by Shangshu Zuopushe Sima Lang also published "Daqin New News", the royalists published "Empire Express", and several aristocratic families jointly published "Daqin Times" ", "Empire Morning Post" and so on, for a while, all kinds of newspapers sprang up like bamboo shoots like mushrooms, and they were issued and distributed one after another.

All the slanders in each newspaper are written by famous people of the time, with good literary talent, each expresses its own strengths, and even criticizes each other. It can be said that a hundred schools of thought contend and are brilliant.

The "Empire Briefing" is issued every three days, and the number of copies issued has gradually increased from [-], from [-] to [-], and it is still distributed for free.

The major newspapers are also desperately maintaining the speed of publishing every three days. In order to increase their popularity, the number of their printings has gradually increased.

Not only did the various companies compete with each other in the newspapers, but they also competed financially. Experienced engravers became popular for a while, and their wages skyrocketed several times. Even carpenters' wages also increased by one or two times. In response, the price of paper also increased.

These days, white paper is already expensive, but now that the price rises, many scholars can only look at the paper and sigh.

However, some things cannot be done with money alone. Everyone still uses engraving and printing, which depends on the engraving speed of the engraving craftsman. A whole block of engraving, if a word is engraved wrong, the entire block is scrapped, and the craftsman has to recreate it. Sculpture, this kind of work is laborious and laborious. In order to print and distribute in a hurry, not only a large number of engraving craftsmen are required, but also they have to work overtime desperately, and even hard-working people can't bear it.

One month later, the account data was reported, which shocked the bosses. The cost of the craftsman, carpenter's wages, paper and wood, etc., they lost nearly 20 hanging money.

20 yuan is nothing to a wealthy family, but by analogy, if you lose 20 yuan every month, you will lose 240 million yuan a year. This figure is too much for people. Throw it in?

But, then again, other people also lose money, like the "Empire Briefing", the more copies are printed, the more money is lost. Everyone is losing money, so I feel balanced.

Well, the next step is to fight for financial resources, to see who can't support the closure first, so various newspapers continue to bite the bullet and print and distribute newspapers, but they dare not increase the number of copies.

During the fierce competition among major newspapers, a bloody case occurred in Yueliu Town outside Chang'an City.

Chapter 143 Competition 2

Yueliuji is just a small market town, located more than a dozen miles east of Chang'an City. The evil young man, many blessings, bullied the young lady from a good family. Resisting arrest and absconding, during the absconding wounded Zhao Butou and five government officials, Zhao Butou died of his injuries.

This kind of thing happens almost every few days, so many people are numb, even if there is a homicide case, as long as it is not too big, the local parent officials are worried that it will affect their official career, so they will generally suppress it and not report it.

This is really just a trivial matter, not many people know about it. Coincidentally, Shen Ke, the deputy commander of the inner guard, happened to be working in Yueliuji. He saw the whole incident and told Li Wei about it when he came back. Well, that ranger was very chivalrous, and he was eager to recruit, but unfortunately, he was murdered and escaped without a trace.

This murder gave Li Wei an idea, so several literati in charge of newspaper editors took up their pens and pens, took chivalry as the theme, and commented on the way of chivalry at length, and praised the chivalrous ranger from the perspective of a disadvantaged group. .

But another article commented from the perspective of those in power, what is a hero?What is righteousness?

Heroes can be divided into heroes and heroes. Xiaoxia, seeing injustice on the road, arouses momentary anger, draws his sword to help each other, and wins the support of the people.

But looking at the problem from the perspective of those in power, it is to use force to violate the ban, to disregard human life, and to trample on the law.

A great hero should serve the country and the king.

Righteousness also has a distinction between big and small, the small one is morality, that is, all kinds of petty righteousness of the knights in the rivers and lakes, and the big one is the righteousness, that is, the awe-inspiring righteousness, the great righteousness of the empire.

This rebuttal is to look at and analyze the problem completely from the perspective of those in power. It refutes the so-called chivalry as a lawless crime. The consequences of this kind of behavior are very likely to become a cancer that is difficult to eliminate for the empire, just like the frustration hall. Therefore, if these so-called rangers cannot be used by the court, corresponding measures should be taken instead of letting them develop, otherwise there will be endless troubles.

As soon as these two articles signed by "Anonymous" were published, they immediately aroused great reactions. All the major newspapers responded with their articles.

In a feudal society, the supremacy of the royal power has long been ingrained and imprinted in everyone's minds. For example, under the sky, is it the land of the king? Emperor's house?

Power is only concentrated in the hands of a few people, serving the emperor and those in power. Anyone who dares to challenge the king's power will be regarded as a bandit and heresy, and will be eradicated mercilessly.

If everyone is like this, without the law of the king, and disregarding human life, what do you need the law of the king?What do you want these officials to do?

Those in power regard themselves as superior to others, and the common people must be enslaved by them, and they cannot touch this bottom line!Li Wei just used this murder case as an opportunity to blatantly promote the supremacy of the royal power. He even used the Frustration Hall as an example to reflect the incident of Layman Jingyun attacking the imperial court officials that happened more than ten days ago, which aroused the nerves of those in power. Fang's reaction was so strong, it was a hundred times better than expected.

Anyway, he has already reminded those in power that if the people in Xuansuju don't know how to restrain themselves and continue to make public, it will definitely arouse the vigilance and uneasiness of those in power. The catastrophe.

The major newspapers slandered each other one after another, and the words were more gorgeous than the other. In addition to expressing one's own point of view, the most important thing was to show off and compete for literary talent. Who would rack their brains?

It's just for fame.

As far as the current situation is concerned, the major newspapers are slandering the Eight Immortals crossing the sea, each applying their magical powers, and there is quite a grand event of contention among a hundred schools of thought. However, the pain here is probably only the boss who runs the newspaper slander knows best.

First of all, the engraving craftsman who complained was unable to hold on. The workload was too great, and the boss paid ten times the wages. Under the pressure of high intensity and high load, finally some craftsmen could not hold on. He fell ill, and the boss had to spend a lot of money to hire new craftsmen. Before the man came, several craftsmen also fell ill and fell down, which made the boss feel like a bucket.

Such a high-intensity and heavy workload is not enough for only one group of craftsmen. You have to hire another group and take turns to rest, but the cost has to be doubled.Except for Li Wei's newspaper shop, the same phenomenon exists in all newspaper shops. The bosses have a headache. They care about reputation, but they care more about money. Everything is based on money. Is it worthwhile to throw money into the water?

Headaches are headaches, the bosses still don't give up, and spend money to hire a small number of engraving craftsmen, which relieves some of the pressure on the original craftsmen, but the workload is still extremely heavy, making people breathless.

The bosses all have the same idea, I am sad, I believe you are also sad, so let's grit your teeth and see who can't hold on and close the door first.

But soon, they had even more headaches, because the "Empire Briefing" was changed from a three-day period to a two-day period, which made them feel tremendous pressure.

Li Wei changed the three-day newspaper to two-day period because the previous printing fonts were not prepared enough, and he often encountered some fonts that had not been engraved, so he had to engrave them on the spot. The fonts are enough for use, and occasionally some characters need to be engraved on the spot, but it is irrelevant. Now the engraving is just to supplement some accidentally damaged fonts.

It can be said that all the basic problems have been solved, so it is natural to put pressure on the opponent, don't you want to fight?Well, every two days, let's continue, let's see if you can hold on? "Is the person surnamed Xiang crazy?"