Fenghou

More than 100 people are boarding the boat. Three large warships of [-] shi are moored in the river. There is no plank road wharf here. We can only rely on a few small boats to send people to the river, and then directly climb the ladder to board the boat.

Yang Tianfang looked at the big waterwheel-like wheels on both sides of the big boat in surprise, he finally understood what a boat looks like.

"Proprietor Yang, is everyone here?" Hu Yanlei asked loudly.

Yang Tian put it on another big boat and shouted: "Everyone is here!"

"Wang Dutou, where are the brothers, are you all here?" Hu Yanlei asked again.

"Reporting to the general, they are all here, and there are quite a few of them."

Huyanlei shouted, "Let's go!"

The wheels on both sides rolled, and there were white waves, and the three big ships sailed towards the center of the Yellow River...

Chapter 8 Enlightenment

In late November, Chen Qing issued several appointments in succession. Zhang Chunxiao was appointed as the envoy of salt and iron transportation along Sichuan Road, Shangguan Wu was appointed as governor of Jinzhou, Zhang Jian was appointed as Zhiyuan Prefecture, Zheng Yinian was appointed as general judge of Longde Prefecture, and Song Ru was appointed as governor of Jinzhou. In addition, Chen Qing's original recording office joined the army, and Zhu Sui was promoted from a judge in the Sichuan Transshipment Mansion to a deputy governor of the Shangshuxingtai Division on Hedong Road and an inspector in charge of criminal punishment.

In this batch of appointments, except for Zhu Sui's normal promotion, the rest were former high-ranking officials of the puppet Qi State. For a while, public opinion in the officialdom was boiling, and they all believed that the county king should not reuse the puppet Qi high-ranking officials.

This morning, Zhou Kuan, who had just returned from resettling the victims in Gyeongju, rushed to Chen Qing's official room angrily. Unlike Zhang Miao's shrewdness and tact, Zhou Kuan had a fiery personality, jealous like hatred, and could not rub his eyes with sand.

Zhou Kuan used to be in charge of the transfer of finance and taxation, and sent a large number of officials to check the accounts every year, making the local officials miserable and wailing. Now he is in charge of the Ministry of Civil Affairs, and he is even more stern and selfless, wielding a sword to wipe out all kinds of favoritism. , was called Zhou Tiebei by the officials below, and won the respect and trust of Chen Qing.

Since Zhou Kuan is the chief inspector of the Ministry of Officials, he is naturally very concerned about the recent appointments. When he found out that almost all of the appointments were fake high-ranking Qi officials, his lungs almost exploded.

According to the division of power between Chen Qing and the Internal Affairs Hall, Chen Qing has the power to appoint officials above the prefectural government and important counties, so this appointment is for Chen Qing to exercise power, and it is not up to the Department of Officials to interfere, but Zhou No matter what, he came to Chen Qing angrily.

Zhou Kuan slapped the table and said angrily: "The king of the county told the Jinshi to have the integrity of a scholar. The mighty can't be subdued, and the rich can't be lewd. Back then, the king of the county also praised Zhang Miao and I for our national integrity many times. He would rather die than serve a foreign race. , are these just words?"

Chen Qing accompanied him with a smile and said, "Don't be angry with Zhou Dujian, put the fire away, and let's talk slowly."

Zhou Kuan said heartbrokenly: "I'm not angry, I just feel worthless for those officials in Lin'an who are sitting on the bench. He didn't want to be loyal to the Kingdom of Jin, and tried every means to escape back to the Song Dynasty, but he couldn't be reused, and he didn't even have the opportunity to serve the country. , can only sit on the bench, this place is good, the officials of the puppet state of Qi are actually reused, it is embarrassing."

"That's right! Loyal ministers sit on the bench, but high-ranking officials from the puppet state of Qi are reused. What's the problem?" Chen Qing asked with a half-smile.

"They deserve it!"

Zhou Kuan said bitterly: "If you don't do good officials from Sichuan, Shanxi and Shanxi, you must flatter the court's stinky feet."

"It's because they think in their bones that we are separatist warlords, which is illegitimate, that's why they don't want to come here to work!" Chen Qing pointed out the problem sharply.

"That's because they are stupid. We continue to recover lost land from the Kingdom of Jin and restore the Han family. We lightly pay taxes so that the people can live and work in peace and contentment. We rectify the administration of officials so that the officialdom can be clear. Powerful, if this is not legal, then the court of Lin'an can perish."

Speaking of this, Zhou Kuan suddenly came to his senses, and said to Chen Qing dissatisfiedly: "You have led me astray, these are not the reasons for you to use fake high-ranking Qi officials."

Chen Qingyu said earnestly: "The Pseudo-Qi Kingdom is not the Kingdom of Jin after all, it is still a dynasty of the Han people..."

"and many more!"

Zhou Kuan shouted: "Don't try to fool me, what's the difference between the Puppet Qi State and the Jin State? It's just a puppet of the Jin State."

"It is a puppet of the Kingdom of Jin, a vassal of the Kingdom of Jin, but it is indeed not the Kingdom of Jin, it is just illegal. Strictly speaking, Zhang Bangchang has been emperor for a few months, and the ministers in Lin'an have all bowed down to him. Zhang Bangchang also Illegal, why do those ministers have to be reused now? No one says they are rebellious? Qin Hui was Wan Yanchang's staff, isn't it the same as the prime minister of the Song Dynasty now?"

"This..." Zhou Kuan was momentarily at a loss for words.

Chen Qing said earnestly and earnestly: "The prodigal son will not be exchanged for money when he turns back. If Zhang Chunxiao and others are willing to work for Jin Guo, Jin Guo will also reuse them. They will live well and have high positions and weights, but they would rather repatriate than serve Jin. It shows that their conscience is not lost, and they are unwilling to make mistakes again and again, which shows that they still clearly distinguish the Han people from the Jurchens in their bones.

Shangguan Wu killed the people who persuaded him to surrender several times. Although he was a minister of the puppet Qi in name, he never served for the puppet Qi. Loyal to the Song Dynasty, but loyal to the Han people.

If Gao Qingyi and Han Qixian came to surrender to me, would I use them because they are Han?I will only kill them with one blow and use their heads as a warning to the world! "

Zhou Kuan nodded, "I understand. The king of the county has always used false Qi officials, from Zhang Xiao to Jiang Yanxian, to Guan Shigu, because the king of the county is only loyal to the Han people, not the Song Dynasty."

"You are right. I only have Han people in my heart. If the Song Dynasty is orthodox, what is the Tang Dynasty? If the Tang Dynasty is orthodox, what is the Han Dynasty? It's just that there are outstanding people in Jiangshan, each leading the way for hundreds of years. Who can drive them away?" Tartars, to unify the world, whoever can win the hearts of the world is orthodox, just to put it bluntly, if Liu Yu destroyed the Song Dynasty, and drove the Jurchens back to Liaodong to unify the world, who would dare to say that Liu Yu was not orthodox?"

Zhou Kuan said bitterly: "Liu Yu is a ghost, he governed the Central Plains and made people angry, and the people's families were destroyed. It is best for this kind of person to die early. Who is willing to be loyal to him? The king of the county, the puppet Qi will never have any hypocrisy. .”

"Liu Yu was dragged down by taxes and bureaucrats. At the beginning, they did well. The Central Plains had light corvee and poor taxes, and the people who moved to northern Shaanxi filled Guanzhong to restore the Guanzhong economy. But within a year, their finances fell Unable to support the huge military expenditure, he began to implement the "Tithe Tax Law", which imposed heavy taxes, and later implemented six taxes and one tax. In addition, a large number of corrupt officials flooded the bottom and exploited the people.

I can't laugh at Liu Yu either. If I didn't have Sichuan as a financial and tax backing, if I didn't have the huge war profits from Xixia, I would actually be not much better than Liu Yu? "

Zhou Kuan was no longer angry, and he also understood Chen Qing's principles. Although Zhang Xiaochun and others betrayed the Song Dynasty, they did not betray the Han people. Didn't he also recognize this when he was loyal to Chen Qing?But now I can't see through it.

Zhou Kuan sighed and said, "I have one last question."

Chen Qing nodded, "Duke Zhou, please tell me!"

Zhou Kuan frowned slightly and said, "Since the county king does not recognize the Song Dynasty as orthodox, why did he welcome the late emperor back and use the late emperor to prove his legitimacy?"

Chen Qing smiled slightly, "I have the Han family in my heart. This is the Tao and the principle. To welcome the return of the former emperor is just a technique and a strategy. On the one hand, there are Tao and principles, and on the other hand, there are techniques and strategies. Do Zhou Gong understand?"

Zhou Kuan realized in his heart, and said slowly: "On the road of the county king, I am a firm follower!"

……

Just entering December, a heavy snow swept across the north, and the northern land became a snow-covered world. The Yellow River and rivers of all sizes were frozen, and everyone seemed to be frozen by the cold weather. The streets in the city and the official roads outside the city All became deserted.

This morning, the soldiers at the top of Lanzhou City were patrolling the top of the city as usual. After the demise of Xixia, the threat of Lanzhou was almost lifted, and there were only 2000 defenders left, mainly to maintain law and order in Lanzhou. There are horse bandits going south, and every time a horse bandit comes, it will bring serious disasters to the people.

"There are people on the ice of the Yellow River!" A soldier pointed at the Yellow River in the distance and shouted.

"What a fuss, it's a caravan!" The rest of the soldiers also saw it, and it seemed to be a team.

Not long after, the team came to the city. It was a camel team with more than 300 camels, but it was not a caravan, but the Uyghur army, and many soldiers had died on the camels.

The soldiers guarding the city were taken aback, and immediately ran to report. Not long after, Liu Zan, the governor of Lanzhou, hurried out of the city with the soldiers.

When we lifted the soldiers off the camels, most of them were dead, and their bodies were frozen stiff, and dozens of people were still alive, but their breathing was weak, and they were about to die.

"Bring them into the city quickly!"

Liu Zan shouted, and suddenly, a Uighur general grabbed his sleeve, gasped and said with difficulty: "The yellow-headed Uighur is dead, save my little master!"

He pointed to a young man in the team, but he didn't catch up, and then he closed his eyes and died.

Chapter 8 and Three

In order to recapture Shazhou, Cao Changchun almost frantically mobilized his entire [-] troops. When he marched into Dunhuang County, the logistics and supplies were ambushed by Xizhou troops. The left-wing general Kemer surrendered, which seriously affected Cao Changchun's morale. The remaining army was defeated shortly after the enemy launched an attack. Cao Changchun died of his injuries in Jiayuguan.

The Xizhou army marched southward, and the herdsmen along the way surrendered one after another. Tens of thousands of troops came to the city of Zhangye. Cao Changchun’s brother Cao Wanlong surrendered the city. Cao An, the eldest son, fled the city south under the protection of three hundred guards. The scene of Lanzhou City.

The news reached Jingzhao three days later, but at the same time there was another unfortunate news. When Cao An was still unable to be rescued, he finally suffered from heart and lung failure and died in Lanzhou.

Chen Qing was very sad when he received the news. He knew that Cao Changchun was a very proud person. Although Cao Changchun flatly rejected his rescue, it didn't mean that he didn't need his own help. He arranged for his son to flee to Lanzhou in a critical moment. It was his trust in himself, but it was a pity that his son encountered a blizzard in the end and could not be saved.

This made Chen Qing regret and blame himself. At the same time, he was also very worried about the safety of Liangzhou City. There was no news from Liangzhou City until now. Since Cao An did not flee to Liangzhou, it is very likely that Liangzhou also fell.

Now it's not just Liangzhou. If the Xizhou army captures Dadouba Valley and passes through Dadouba Valley to attack the traditional sphere of influence of the Yellow-headed Uyghur, then its own salt field will also be seriously threatened, as well as the Hehuang Valley. , Thirty percent of his military rations come from the Hehuang Valley.

In the official room, Chen Qing paced back and forth in annoyance. He had never cared about the safety of the Hexi Corridor, but now he suddenly discovered that the safety of the Hexi Corridor actually affects his whole body.

He originally planned to attack Datong Mansion next year, but now, the Hexi Corridor is not safe, which has affected his plan for next year.

At this time, Chao Qing said at the door: "Jun Wang, today's "Beijing News" is out."

Chen Qing nodded, "Bring it in!"

Yang Tianfang and his party arrived in Jingzhao 20 days ago. Chen Qing immediately arranged for them and gave them generous treatment. At the same time, he set up a newspaper office and recruited [-] people in the Guanzhong area to write articles with a high salary of [-] yuan a month. A very sharp scribe was the main writer, and he also recruited dozens of scouts to inquire about the news.

Chen Qing took over the "Beijing News" and opened it. The current "Beijing News" is exactly the same as the "Beijing News" issued by Bianliang during the Xuanhe period. It is the size of two A3 papers and is currently divided into six pages. Events, local news, and various advertisements.

The first day of publication was unprecedentedly grand, selling [-] copies, and now the daily circulation is stable at about [-] copies, covering the entire Guanzhong and Shaanxi, and even the "Beijing News" appeared on Hedong Road and Sichuan Road. It's only about three days apart, but this is already the limit.

But compared to the time when Bianliang's "Beijing News" was delivered to Taiyuan ten days later, this is a great improvement.

This is what Chen Qing came up with, asking the "Beijing News" to be printed at the first watch of the day before, and not released until noon the next day. The time of the Beijing News is only three days later than that of Jingzhao City.

Chen Qing looked at the newspaper, and the headlines on the front page read that the yellow-headed Uyghur army was defeated and the great chief Cao Changchun passed away, but he didn't mention the matter of Cao An, only worried about the safety of Liangzhou and Hehuang.

Chen Qing glanced at it in a hurry, and then turned to the third page on the back, which was the literature column. Chen Qing liked the column of Yi An's commentary, that is, Li Qingzhao's commentary on poetry. Today's commentary is Yue Fei's "Manjianghong", this poem It was written five years ago, and it has aroused great repercussions in Lin'an and other places in the south.

There is also a column of novel serialization, which is the novel "Journey to the West". Today's content is the first part of Wukong's Debao in Dragon Palace. Of course, the text is quite different from Wu Chengen's, but the content is the same. The author is Qingyuan Pavilion Master, others don't know who the owner of Qingyuan Pavilion is, but Chen Qing knows very well that it is his wife Zhao Qiaoyun, and the small building where Zhao Qiaoyun lives is called Qingyuan Pavilion.

The outline of the story was dictated by Chen Qing, and then written by Zhao Qiaoyun. As a result, no one expected that the serialization of this novel would become the hot selling point of "Beijing News", and almost all readers were waiting for updates every day.

Looking at the snowflakes outside the window, Chen Qing suppressed the urge to send troops to the Hexi Corridor. The matter of the Hexi Corridor can only be considered in the spring. Now he still has to concentrate on increasing the influence of the "Beijing News".

Chen Qing grabbed the leather jacket on the chair and ordered: "Prepare the car and go to West Street!"

……

The "Beijing News" newspaper office is located on West Street, covering an area of ​​about ten acres. This land was bought by Chen Qing. In fact, the "Beijing News" was completely invested by Chen Qing himself. Jingzhao runs and develops at an extraordinary speed.

The 3000 yuan is mainly for buying land and houses, and the other big thing is to buy the batch of movable type and engraving blocks. There are more than [-] yuan for the good engraving blocks and tens of thousands of movable types. Yang Tianfang only offered [-] guan to sell to Chen Qing. , the price is extremely cheap.

A very important reason is that the ownership of this batch of movable type and engraving blocks is not owned by Yang Tianfang, but the property of the Xiang family. It was originally owned by Yang Tianfang's father, but the Xiang family has already spent [-] yuan to buy it. After they were all taken away by the Jurchens, the movable type and engraving blocks belonged to Yang Tianfang again.

This time when Chen Qing rescued them to Jingzhao, Yang Tianfang was too embarrassed to open his mouth, so he sold them to Chen Qing at a cheap price of [-] guan.

With Chen Qing's financial input and the government's support, in just over [-] days, the "Beijing News" had a circulation of [-] copies, ten cents per copy, and [-] copies per day, just the threshold for capital preservation.

But to Chen Qing, it doesn't matter whether the newspaper makes money or not, the important thing is to master the weapon of public opinion.

The carriage stopped slowly in front of the newspaper office, and Chen Qing stepped out of the carriage, guarded by dozens of cavalrymen holding large shields on both sides.

Yang Tianfang, chief editor, and Liu Zheng, editor-in-chief, came out to welcome them. Yang Tianfang was in charge of the operation of the entire newspaper, but he was not good at content. Coincidentally, Liu Zheng, the editor-in-chief of "Beijing News", opened a school in Jingzhao to make ends meet.When Yang Tianfang found him, he agreed without hesitation.

"See the county king!" The two bowed together.

"You two have worked hard!"

Chen Qing followed them into the mansion. This is a three-entry house converted into a newspaper office. The servant room in front becomes a place for distributing newspapers. The atrium is the copywriting room, which is equivalent to the editorial department. The two large courtyards on the left and right are typesetting rooms. , correction room and printing workshop, and the back house became an engraving room and warehouse.

Chen Qing sat down in the guest room in the front yard, and a tea boy served him tea. He asked with a smile, "Are there any difficulties now?"

Yang Tianfang said with a wry smile: "The biggest problem now is the shortage of manpower and movable type, which leads to the inability to increase the number of printings."

"why?"

"The reason is actually very simple. We actually print more than one movable type master every day. Otherwise, how can we print 100 copies of newspapers with one movable type master? The only way is to make ten movable type printing plates. Ten people will print at the same time, and each person will print [-] copies , this plan is actually very tight. It is best to have [-] people print at the same time, and each person prints [-] copies. Then it can be completed in an hour. This requires [-] movable type masters, and then a large amount of movable type is required. A large amount of typesetting Craftsman, engraver."

Speaking of this, Yang Tianfang sighed again: "But there are too many people, we can't afford it."

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "There is a solution! If you don't have enough movable type, go to Bashu, go to Jiangnan to buy, you will definitely be able to buy it. As for the printing staff, I don't know how you print it. Take me to have a look!"

Chapter 8 and Four

Chen Qing followed the two to the printing room, and saw a few guys printing something there, brushing ink on the engraving block, laying white paper on it, brushing it with a roller, and immediately changing a piece of paper, very skillful.

Yang Tianfang explained: "The "Beijing News" is printed intensively at night. Recently, the Guozi Administration entrusted us to print a batch of teaching materials, and hired a few people to be responsible for the printing of teaching materials during the day."

Chen Qing frowned slightly and asked, "But is it the same for you printing newspapers? Each person makes a woodblock version?"

Yang Tianfang was a little uneasy and said, "Basically it is like this."

Chen Qing shook his head and said: "Let me give you a suggestion. Put twenty engraving blocks together, and then cover them with a large piece of paper. The two guys use a big roller, which is two to twenty. If the movable type is There are enough engraving blocks, and the 100-yuan engraving blocks can even be printed by water power, anyway, it is very boring to come and go, and finally use a knife to do everything, isn't this very labor-saving?"

Yang Tianfang was stunned for a while, and said with shame on his face: "I understand the humble job, and I will improve it as soon as possible!"

Chen Qing waved his hands and smiled: "I'm here today, not to talk about printing, but I hope to add a page, food is the most important thing for the people, add a food page, and then remove the pages of various store information and print them on a single piece of paper , caught in the newspaper."

Yang Tianfang and Liu Zheng looked at each other, and they said in unison: "It's absolutely fine!"

Chen Qing nodded and said: "Actually, I still have an idea, can the current newspaper be split into two newspapers, one is dedicated to current affairs, economics and literature, and the other is devoted to clothing, food, parenting, stories and so on. Is it feasible?"

Yang Tianfang said with a smile: "That's what we did in the past. In addition to the "Beijing News", we also have a tabloid newspaper that hunts novelty. Both newspapers are very popular, but no one would have thought that they were actually published by a newspaper office. It can be done, it just takes a little time."

The three of them returned to the guest room. Chen Qing took a sip of hot tea and asked again: "I heard that Bianliang's "Beijing News" was actually sold in Guangzhou. How did you do it?"

"When the number of prints increases, it will spread slowly. It's just that the "Beijing News" in Guangzhou is a full month late, and the significance of current affairs is not great."

"Then is there a way to solve this timing problem?"

"There is a way!"

"How?"

Yang Tianfang pondered for a while and said: "There are two types of newspaper content, one is very time-sensitive, such as current affairs news, and the other is knowledge content, which I can prepare ten days in advance.

Give an example!Jingzhao and Lin'an are ready at the same time. When the time comes, I will directly use the eagle to send the current affairs content to Lin'an. The Lin'an branch will immediately typeset and print. In the end, the "Beijing News" in Lin'an may be only one day behind ours. "

Chen Qing applauded and said with a smile: "This method is good. Although it is an example, I really hope that "Beijing News" will sell well in Lin'an."

Liu Zheng next to him said worriedly: "I'm afraid that the imperial court will not allow the "Beijing News" to appear in Lin'an."

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said, "Don't worry, the late emperor will play a role in this aspect. Most likely, they will launch a newspaper to compete with us."

Yang Tianfang was a little embarrassed and said: "Then it depends on the novel written by Madam. In fact, we all know that the reason why "Beijing News" is so popular is that "Journey to the West" written by Madam attracted readers."

Chen Qing chuckled, "Don't worry about novels. After finishing Journey to the West, there are still ghost stories, and various martial arts. There are many more!"