Great Tang princess

Chapter 137
October [-]th, Xiayuan Festival.

After eating breakfast, Li Yuechen put on his Taoist robes and went to chant scriptures, and the whole family followed him into the Taoist temple to offer sacrifices.

In the eastern capital city, people in the artisan industry will also enter the Taoist temple on this day to offer sacrifices to Laojun.

However, there was a group of children who broke the usually peaceful Eastern Capital.

These children were a large group of men and women, and they separated directly after they came out of Jixianfang, and went to various parts of the Eastern Capital.

Carrying bags made of linen on their backs, with a whole stack of newspapers inside, they peddled loudly as they walked on the street.

"Sell newspapers, sell newspapers, Datang Daily! The latest policies of the court, market gossip, true and false gossip, all in Datang Daily!"

These children were walking in the streets and alleys of Dongdu, holding a newspaper in their hands, shaking it and selling it.

In this era, entertainment is still scarce after all. Hearing the cries of these children, the people around couldn't help being curious: "Then little man, what is this Datang Daily?"

"It's called a newspaper, and it's news from all over the country. From the latest policies of the imperial court to the gossip from various states and counties, it's the Datang Daily!"

Hearing his explanation, the people around nodded to express their understanding, so they asked, "How much is it?"

"Two Kaiyuan Tongbao are enough!"

The price is not expensive, but there are still not many people around who really pay for it.

After all, the literacy rate is too low these days, and most people are useless to buy it, and can't understand it at all.

At this time, a handsome head suddenly popped out from the second floor of the nearby restaurant: "Then young man, give me one!"

"Okay, here we come!"

The newspaper seller agreed, and quickly ran up to the second floor of the restaurant, took out a newspaper and handed it to the other party respectfully.

The handsome young man also took out two Kaiyuan Tongbao and handed them to him, then picked up the newspaper in his hand and read it.

The eye-catching headline on the front page is "Under the leadership of the Emperor and Queen of Heaven, Princess Taiping led a team to study the increase of grain production and achieved major results!" "

"Ok?"

The young man couldn't help frowning.

Because in this era, all the articles on paper are basically written in classical Chinese, but this newspaper is full of vernacular, which makes him feel a little uncomfortable.

Even when cultural people write letters to each other, they mainly use classical Chinese.

But thinking about it, I bought everything, and I still read it patiently.

The article also regards the whole article as vernacular. It probably means that Princess Taiping has researched a fertilizer that can increase the planting density. In this way, the yield of each mu of land can be increased a lot...

Immediately afterwards, the next article said that General Li Jinxing broke the joint attack of Silla and Mohe in the former Koryo area and completely beat them back.

At the same time, his wife, Mrs. Liu, also performed extremely bravely in this battle, and was also named Mrs. Yan, etc...

After flipping through other forums, I feel that they are all gossip and gossip, and there is nothing to read.

The last edition is a serialized novel called "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Although it says under the title that this is a novel rather than official history, it is still very attractive, and I quickly finished the first article.

After reading it, the young man still felt a little unsatisfied. He poured himself a glass of green ant wine, and after taking a sip, he couldn't help but nodded: "Not bad, not bad..."

I don't know whether to praise the wine or the newspaper.

……

"Awon! Aon!"

Liu Huang ran home with a newspaper in his hands. In the process of running, a few drops of sweat dripped down.

When he came to the courtyard, he saw Liu Rengui drinking tea and reading military books in the pavilion, Liu Huang ran over: "Ah Weng, look!"

"Huh?" Liu Rengui looked at the newspaper in his hand, "What is this?"

"Just now I was practicing in the front yard, and I heard someone selling it at the door, so I went out to have a look, and found that the little lady was selling it." Liu Huang explained, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

Liu Rengui picked it up and saw that there were four large characters in bright red on it: Datang Daily.

The following titles and articles are all black, and the layout is more interesting, with horizontal and vertical.

I probably flipped through it, and then looked at the following novel. After a long time of contemplation, I raised my head and asked, "You just said that someone is selling this thing?"

Liu Huang nodded, and explained the details of buying the newspaper just now.

After listening, Liu Rengui nodded, and whispered to himself softly: "The old man has to make preparations early..."

……

After today's sacrifice, at noon, the children accompanied the couple to have a meal in the Hall of Renshou.

In the afternoon, the family stayed here drinking tea, chatting and playing for half an afternoon before leaving.

When it was approaching You hour, the carriage that Li Yuechen was riding in stopped steadily at Jixianfang.

Jumping off the carriage and entering the house, the assembled children stood up and saluted one after another.

Lai Cao next to him offered a glass of yogurt with a wink.

After Li Yuechen sat down, he waved his hand to let them sit down too: "Have you calculated the sales volume of today's newspaper?"

Boss Zhang replied: "Return to Your Highness, we have just calculated, and sold a total of 1000 taels and 35 copies."

Li Yuechen nodded slightly: "So, it's not too unexpected."

Rather, judging by the literacy rate of this era, it is not bad to sell more than a thousand copies on the first day.

Of course, after a long time in the future, when most people know what this thing is, maybe they can sell more.

But judging from the literacy rate of this era, it is hard to say whether Dong can sell more than [-] copies, let alone other counties with lower literacy rates.

Li Yuechen waved his hand and asked Fulai to give each of the children in charge of selling newspapers a string of copper coins, about twenty or so, which was their salary today.

Then let Laicao arrange for them to stay in Jixianfang tonight, and take a carriage back to the palace by himself.

On the way back to the palace, Li Yuechen couldn't help thinking, now that the newspapers have started to be published, then this kind of bamboo paper can also be officially listed.

The price of this kind of paper is much lower than other papers, so more people should be able to afford books.

But this is still unable to popularize the literacy rate on a large scale. To really achieve this, it will take more time and more things to do.

……

The next day happened to be the court meeting, and Li Yuechen came to the back of the passage early, wanting to see what the court thinks about this matter.

Li Zhi and his wife seemed to be ready, sitting upright, as if they were ready to fight at any time.

Sure enough, Cui Xingpower, the young supervisor of the secretary, started first: "Invite the emperor, there was something in the Eastern Capital yesterday, called Datang Daily, referred to as a newspaper. It covers everything from court secrets to private secrets. In one place, and peddling it along the street at will...This item has leaked the secrets of the court, and please order the emperor to arrest the principal criminal and a group of people, etc.!"

Li Yuechen behind the screen couldn't help but shook his head with a smile, looking at what he said.

It's not a court policy but a secret!The nature is immediately different.

The other ministers also looked up at the emperor, waiting for his answer.

Although they had already thought of it when they saw this thing yesterday, except for the emperor, it is impossible for anyone to bypass them and issue this newspaper directly.

Although I don't know the specifics yet, many ministers have just come out. These eight achievements are the masterpiece of that Princess Taiping.

Everyone knew that this princess had a different thinking from the time she was a child, and she was very much liked by the emperor and empress. With this kind of favor, it is not uncommon to do such a thing.

Li Zhi on the dragon chair nodded unsurprisingly: "I already knew about this matter, the newspaper was conceived by Taiping, and the content published was also reviewed by me and the Queen of Heaven, and there is no such thing as leaking secrets." Say."

"Emperor, this matter is inappropriate!" Cui Xinggong replied, "This court policy is openly sold..."

"Cui Aiqing misunderstood." Li Zhi shook his head with a smile, "This newspaper only sells two Kaiyuan Tongbao per copy, and it doesn't make any money at all, and even pays a lot of money."

Cui Xinggong saluted: "Then I don't know what the emperor intends to do by publishing this newspaper?"

Li Zhi didn't answer directly, but just smiled slightly: "I just think it's good for the country, I don't know if you love me, do you have different opinions on this?"

Seeing that the emperor did not answer directly, Cui Xinggong said first: "Emperor, this thing is harmful to the country, it should be abolished!"

"Where are all the lovers?" Li Zhi asked as if he didn't hear.

Li Yuechen behind the screen couldn't help but smile at his father's attitude.

To be honest, considering Li Zhi's dislike for these aristocratic families, such an attitude is quite normal.

The Cui family of Boling, among the ten families with seven surnames banned by Li Zhi, is considered to be among the best.
It's just because the Li and Tang royal family called themselves the Li family of Longxi, so they dare not say so clearly.

But in secret, there are still some people who still think so, even among the people, there are quite a few people who hold this idea.

Even in the court, many officials with bad backgrounds are thinking day and night how they can marry people from these aristocratic families.

In fact, the publication of this newspaper can be seen by everyone as Li Zhi's acquiescing and even secretly supporting it.

Ordinary people may not see its potential, but these people in the court are all good people, who doesn't know how big the future potential of this newspaper is?

It can be said that once it is allowed to continue, one day in the future, even in a remote place far away from the center of the Tang Dynasty, everyone will know the emperor but not the family.

In that way, they will have less and less right to speak above the court.

All of a sudden, many ministers spoke one after another, saying that this newspaper should not be published.

There are also various excuses, such as leaking secrets, detrimental to the country, and bad influence.

Of course, if there is opposition, there is support.

Censor Pei Yan took a step forward: "To report to the emperor, I think this thing is a good thing. Just imagine, there have been many disasters in recent years. If this thing can be used to let the people know that the court is also anxious and is actively looking for countermeasures, it can also play a role in stability. The role of people's hearts..."

Zhang Wenguan also expressed his support: "More than that, this thing can let the people know the imperial court's policies and the reasons behind them, know that the imperial court is benefiting the people of the world, and can also make the people feel grateful for the emperor's kindness..."

"It's a bunch of nonsense!" Lu Qiao stepped out and interrupted directly, "If the common people are all discussing politics, then what's the use of me waiting?"

"Then Brother Lu thinks that the difference between himself and the common people lies in whether he can discuss politics?" Zhang Wenguan asked, "If so, why don't we invite the emperor to take office early, and then just grab someone from the people to replace him? Anyway, according to this point of view, This position is available to anyone.”

Lu Hao stared: "You don't want to be so arrogant here! When did I say that my position is not important?"

"Since I don't intend to do so, why should I care about whether the people can discuss politics?" Zhang Wenguan smiled, "On the contrary, if the people discuss politics, it can also make them feel the difficulty of the court..."

……

The debate between the two sides did not have any foreplay, and it became heated from the very beginning.

Both Li Zhi and Wu Zetian were mentally prepared for this, and they didn't express their opinions for a while, but just sat there and listened to them chatting with each other.

Li Yuechen behind the screen felt a little unexpected. Originally, she thought that when this matter came out, it should be the emperor and the ministers who complained to each other.

However, I didn't expect that the painting style was the same as usual. Instead, the emperor sat on the Diaoyutai and watched them discuss there.

After all, in this era, the so-called "poor family" ministers are still very few, almost non-existent.

Most of the officials in the court were still occupied by the children of the aristocratic family. It stands to reason that they should unite to criticize the emperor. I didn't expect such a result.

Although the debate between the two sides was fierce, in Li Yuechen's view, neither of them got to the point.

Because now they can't imagine, if one day, if the literacy rate of the folks in the Tang Dynasty can be doubled, what will be the result.

But in the eyes of today's people, this is simply impossible.

Ordinary people couldn't afford to read books at all, and the imperial court didn't have so much money for compulsory education.

Of course Li Yuechen knew about this problem, but he wouldn't stand up and remind them now. When they really did it one day, it would be too late for them to object again.

Thinking of this, the corners of Li Yuechen's mouth could not help but upturned, and the dimples on his cheeks were looming.

Such a cute and sinister smile did not have a trace of disobedience on her face, it just added a sense of sternness to her pretty face that she didn't usually have.

The debate lasted for half an hour, and all the ministers felt their mouths were dry when they talked to each other, and their voices dropped a lot.

Li Zhi on the dragon chair felt that it was almost done, turned his head and asked, "What does the crown prince think about this?"

Li Hong below raised his hand and saluted: "I believe that the advantages of this matter outweigh the disadvantages! If everyone can turn their hearts to the imperial court, it will be a good thing for the country. Not only will it allow me to produce a large number of talents in the future, but it will also make people feel better. By shortening the distance between the common people and the imperial court, it will be easier to implement any policy in the future..."

The prince's words were impeccable, so naturally he also expressed his support.

He is the crown prince and will be the emperor in the future, so if you think about it from the emperor's point of view, this is naturally also a good thing.

Of course, more importantly, this matter was brought up by my sister, how could it be a bad thing?
Li Hong couldn't help turning his head to look behind the passage, and happened to see Li Yuechen clenched his fist hard at him.

　Thank you [Tongen] for the 1600 starting coins!
　　Thanks to [Ye Yu Lin Ling] for the reward of 500 starting coins!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)