Jingming

Chapter 278

With today's technical foundation and personnel proficiency, this "Ming Pao" lasted half a month to print an issue.

Naturally, Beijing was the first to see this first official newspaper, which will be officially released on the first day of November in the fourth year of Jiajing.

There will be a Shuo Ri Grand Court tomorrow as usual, but the Forbidden City has been busy since the afternoon.

Mainly in the Donghuamen area.

Here, three regular and fifth-rank civil servants gathered for a while: Huang Zongming, the doctor of the Ministry of War's Charging and Cleaning Department, Cui Tong, the doctor of the Rites and Cleaning Department, and Xue Hui, the doctor of the Ministry of Officials.

But there is another person here, whose original official position is much bigger than them: Zou Shouyi, the former right servant of the Ministry of Rites, who walked in the former imperial study, was recommended by Wang Shouren, and was promoted by Wang Qiong and others.

His current identity is the president of Ming Pao Bank.

The grade is still there, Zheng Sanpin, which is also the current grade range of the CEOs of "state-owned enterprises": Zheng Sanpin or Cong Sanpin.

However, Liu Yu, the Boss of Sincerity in front of him, still has the title of super rank, and he also has another new identity: the president of Tongyi Bureau.

Now the six people are standing at the gate of a courtyard in the southeast of Donghua Gate, with carriages lined up in front of them.

And this small courtyard in the southeast corner outside Donghuamen now has a new sign: Mingpaohang.

At this moment, Yuanwailang, who used to work under Cui Tong, was the manager of the distribution department of Ming Pao. He was communicating with his colleague who used to be the head of the Ministry of Military Vehicles and Cleaning Department, but now went to the Interpretation Bureau to work as the manager of the civilian department.

Under the watchful eyes of the Forbidden City guards, there are many strong eunuchs walking out of Donghuamen in groups of two and carrying many bookcases.

There is one driver on the carriage and one escort, and they are also in groups of two. When the people of Mingbao received a box from the eunuch and pasted a note, they took it and carried it to their own cart, and left when the cart was full.

Zou Shouyi bowed to Liu Yu: "President Liu Yi, this first issue is of great importance, so I'm sorry."

Liu Yu received the emperor's favor, and was renewed as the Boss of Chengyi after several generations.

His ancestor Liu Ji and Liu Bowen are so prestigious, but now Liu Yu is a little hypocritical, and sincerely said to Zou Shouyi: "I need to ask Mr. Zou Bao for more advice. Huang Langzhong, the post station is still being renovated, and I should also ask Huang Langzhong for advice."

"Don't dare, dare not..." Huang Zongming spoke first.

He was a little confused.

The Ministry of War drives the Qingli Department, which is mainly in charge of halogen books, ceremonial guards, imperial guards, post biography, and stable animal husbandry.

Among these responsibilities, since the emperor himself was involved, how could the stewardess, honor guards, and imperial guards have the turn to speak for the Qing officials?
But now it is reasonable to say that the national post stations will be in charge of the Tongyi Bureau, and the stable and herding related to military horses will be changed to purchase from the group herd supervisor.

However, Huang Zongming, who is only a fifth rank, cannot oppose it under the determination of His Majesty and the court center.

After hearing that the emperor gave lectures to the president and managers of the Interpretation Bureau in Jinshen Hall, Huang Zongming actually regretted not going directly to the Interpretation Bureau.

Those who can be closer to the emperor are better places to go. There are more and more promotion paths for officials in the Ming Dynasty.

Looking at the busy scene in front of him, he turned to Cui Tong: "Mr. Cui, this official newspaper was written by your colleague Ke Lin Xiyuan, right?"

Cui Tong was the prospect of Zhengde for 12 years, but Lin Xiyuan was only the top three in that year.

But now, Lin Xiyuan, as the editor-in-chief, has the opportunity to meet the emperor at least once every half a month, and his office is directly in the Forbidden City.

In comparison, he, the editor-in-chief, is more important than the president of Ming Pao, Zou Shouyi, who is in charge of all kinds of miscellaneous affairs.

Cui Tong heard another layer of meaning conveyed in Huang Zongming's tone, he just said lightly: "Maozhen is a great talent, but now she is walking on thin ice. This "Ming Pao" is published in simplified characters, Cui is still busy. Finished official duties. Since the place is in good order, Cui will go back to work first. Mr. Liu Yi, the "Jiajing Dictionary" must be sent to each office with the report. This matter is also about Xue Langzhong's own merit examination Woolen cloth."

Xue Hui smiled wryly.

That's right, as the doctor of the Ministry of Officials' examination of merits and officials, starting next year, the Ministry of Officials will have one more item in the examination of officials' merits: whether official documents are submitted in simplified characters.

How well this matter is carried out is not only related to the merit test of Cui Tong, the ceremonial and official official in charge of the cultural and educational affairs of the Ming Dynasty, but also the merit test of Xue Hui himself.

"...I dare not slack off."

At the beginning of the establishment of the Interpretation Bureau, there were two big orders, one was from the Ming Pao Bank, and the other was from the annual official document delivery of the various government offices of the imperial court.

It is really difficult to calculate the accounts between the original post station and various departments.

Liu Yu feels very dizzy now.

The station is a huge system, and it is scattered all over the country.

The cost of operating the station includes both the original appropriation from the Ministry of War and local taxes.

When the post passengers pass by the post station, in addition to providing a place to live and responsible for food, the post station also has two major expenditures: the ration of servants and the ration of materials such as post horses, post boats, and post cars.

Although each has its own standard, it will naturally exceed a lot when it comes to the place.

Those who can enjoy the service of the post station are all qualified and suitable.But the consistent management is also chaotic.

Liu Yu knew how heavy the burden was on his shoulders. The whole station system was such a huge interest group. It involved various prefectures and stations, and it was also responsible for the services between reception and delivery in too many places.

But now, His Majesty wants to clarify the processes between the government offices at the same level in the Ming Dynasty and the processes between the upper and lower government offices in terms of money expenditure and income.

The Bureau of Interpretation consists of Assets Department, Civil Department, Military Department, Public Affairs Department, Internal Affairs Department, and Finance and Accounting Department. Liu Yu not only still has to undertake the important task of delivering Ming military information and official documents, but also has to realize what His Majesty called "using the post system Serving the common people, promoting the exchange of news and materials, reducing the pressure on local postmen and dispatching service, and reducing the financial pressure on the post station system” and other goals.

For Liu Yu, it was too new.

Fortunately, as the sincere uncle of Meng Shuen's renewal and as the president of the Interpretation Bureau, he has many opportunities to ask the emperor for advice, and he is also allowed to hire professionals within the Interpretation Bureau, and has the qualifications to confer titles and honorary titles.

In addition, the "start-up capital" given by the emperor to the Translating Bureau included not only the assets and personnel system of the national station system that had already been built, but also a full 50 taels of silver.

Now Liu Yu is also looking forward to sending this newspaper to the whole country, because in this issue, all the companies first took out 50 taels of silver to publish advertisements to recruit talents from all over the country, as His Majesty said.

There are many new words. The word enterprise was said by the emperor, and so was advertisement.

Everyone is really short of people. Most people in the original yamen that have been restructured still prefer to retain their status as civil servants.

Liu Yu wondered if anyone would come to apply.

……

It is difficult to recruit high-end talents, but as long as there are wages, the employees responsible for delivery are easy to recruit.

There are many people in the capital, and there are some people in the post station.

The Beijing Station of the Interpretation Bureau is located in the former Huitong North Building.

The original site of Huitong Pavilion was Yantai Station in Shuntian Prefecture. After several expansions, there are now two pavilions in the north and south, covering a total area of ​​more than [-] mu, with nearly [-] houses of various sizes.

This Huitong Hall was originally used to live in the Sifang Fanyi when they paid tribute, but now they have given both the North and South Halls to the Interpretation Bureau.

Among them, the South Hall has a larger area, where the headquarters of the Interpretation Bureau is located.

It is adjacent to Shanglin Garden to the west, and to the west is Taiyuan Hospital, Qintianjian, Yuyaoku and Honglu Temple, across Shanglin Garden to the northwest is the Ministry of War and Ministry of Industry, and to the north is the Imperial Academy.

The main entrance to the south of Huitong Hall is located on Dongjiangmi Alley, which was later renamed Dongjiaomin Alley.

The Huitong North Hall is closer to Donghuamen, which is just to the east of the later Wangfujing Street.

Now the Beijing Station of the Interpretation Bureau in the North Hall of Huitong is extremely busy.

"Line up the team, get the sign and send the order one by one."

In the delivery office converted from the original building on the west side, many people of different heights are queuing up.

Each of them used to wear different clothes, but now they all wear an undyed cloth gown.The fabric of the gown is very cheap, but the style is the same. There is an embroidered patch sewn on the front chest.

The most expensive piece of clothing is probably the embroidery piece, although the embroidery piece is not very refined.

But that's the most delicate part of the whole dress after all.

And each of them had a hat, which was much better.

How can ordinary people wear hats?Confucian scholars and high-ranking officials often wear hats, which are a sign of status, cultivation, and etiquette.

This hat is actually very similar to the fluttering scarves and carefree scarves that many Confucian scholars like to wear, except that the front and back slopes of the top of the hat are a little wider like eaves, which can quite keep out the light rain.

There is also that embroidery on the front slope of the hat.

In addition to the officials and yamen servants of the Ming Dynasty, the employees of the Interpretation Bureau now also have their own "uniforms", although they are very simple.

But they are excited.

The exciting point also includes that their status is called employees, which means they are members of the Interpretation Bureau, and they are not temporary servants.In the future, there will be stable wages.

Now, Fang Sanhu, an employee at the front of the line, received three things nervously.

A large, bulging cloth bag, a wooden sign with the words Beijing 73 engraved on it, and a piece of paper with numbers already written on it.

Then, he stretched out his finger nervously: "Master Ji, press here?"

"Click here!" The steward in front of me nodded, "Fifty copies, if you missed delivery and sent it by mistake, or there was a wrong sign on the dispatch form, I have already told you about the regulations."

"The little ones know, the little ones know."

Fang Sanhu pressed his fingerprints on the place he was pointing at, and then wiped his fingers on the pants he was wearing. Then he carried the somewhat heavy cloth bag, and drove out with the wooden stick in one hand and the dispatch slip in the other.

He was in charge of sending them to the Guozijian area.

According to the scholar who was in charge of checking with the other side at the station before, the Guozijian will send [-] copies, and there are several small yamen next to it, and the homes of five officials and masters will also send them.

Fang Sanhu has already visited the door, he knows who should sign for it.

Today, he received his own signature: Beijing 73.

What needs to be delivered now is just this newspaper, and then I will deliver the "Jiajing Dictionary", but in the future there may be letters from home and new family members.

Sign No. 73 recorded in the account book of the station that the more things he delivered, the more he would be paid.

Fang Sanhu didn't want to send them to new places in the future because he didn't know the people and the characters on them, so he always had to ask the calligraphy talents in the station for advice.

I still need to know more about this word.

Running all the way to the place he was in charge of, Fang Sanhu went straight to the Imperial College.

Naturally, the concierge was in charge of signing for the receipt, but even though the concierge had been told about the wine and had met Fang Sanhu himself, he was now in trouble: "I still have to sign for it? I can't write, and I can't take care of it. You wait first, I'll see if the book is there."

Fang Sanhu had no choice but to wait here first.

Some supervisors who came in and out saw him and were attracted by his strange appearance.

"The post?" Someone said quite interestingly, "Now the post has changed into a new costume?"

"It's just a postman, but he also wears a carefree scarf? It's just that the carefree scarf is like a mountain pressing down on the top, so you can't be carefree." The other person laughed quite amusingly.

Tang Shunzhi, who was in the crowd, looked quite surprised and looked at it seriously.

"Yingde, why don't you leave?"

Tang Shunzhi looked at his companion after hearing the words: "I forgot something, you go first, I will come later."

After they talked and laughed and left, Tang Shunzhi walked up to Fang Sanhu and asked with a smile, "Brother, is the Interpretation Bureau here to deliver newspapers?"

Fang Sanhu and his status were as far apart as heaven and earth, and he was a little nervous when faced with his inquiry: "The grassroots are here to deliver newspapers."

"But you can't find the book?"

How much does Tang Shunzhi pay attention to these new things?As a leader in supervising students, he often interacts with students and professors in Huangming University, knowing that there is now a translation bureau, he knows the "Jiajing Dictionary" and simplified characters, and he knows newspapers.

These things are actually not hidden from anyone.

Things as far-reaching as the post station are about to change, and many things have already been rumored, but haven't officially changed yet.

The Imperial Academy participated in compiling the "Jiajing Dictionary" in simplified characters, and some gentry in the capital also talked about it for a long time.

Tang Shunzhi, a popular candidate and potential stock that will take the exam next year, has already met one of the Hanlin bachelors by virtue of the convenience of the supervisor.

Besides, now Zhang Zilin from the Ministry of Rites appreciates him quite a lot. Tang Shunzhi has already made a name for himself in the capital before he graduated from high school.

As for the "Jiajing Dictionary", he actually has a manuscript, and he is already familiar with the new writing methods of many characters.

Now, he really wanted to read this new newspaper for the first time.

Knowing that Fang Sanhu was waiting for someone to sign for it, Tang Shunzhi said, "Xu Dianbo has gone to the inner school of the palace to study, and he has to go to five o'clock before night every day... Oh no, he doesn't come back until Yinshi. Wait a long time."

Sure enough, the concierge came back at this time: "Xu Dianbo is not here, so you can bring it back before [-]:[-] tomorrow."

Fang Sanhu was anxious immediately, wouldn't he be punished if he went back?

"Let me sign it on Xu Dian's behalf. It's just that they sent it to the Imperial College, and they only need to sign to show receipt, and then send it to Xu Dian's office."

When Tang Shunzhi opened his mouth, the concierge naturally recognized him as a very popular high school student in the Guozijian next year.

He thought that as long as someone is responsible, why offend him?
"With Master Tang's signature, it's natural."

After all these troubles, Fang Sanhu finally sent out the ten copies of "Ming Pao" that were going to be sent to the Imperial College. After thanking Tang Shunzhi endlessly, he happily collected the signed dispatch and rushed to the next place. .

And in the concierge of the Imperial College, Tang Shunzhi said again: "Xu Dianbook hasn't come back yet, I'll take a look here first. The number is quite a lot, so you don't mind, okay?"

"Naturally, naturally! You are always a literary star, and I wish I could get closer to you and bring some talents back to fume my little son." The porter smiled all over his face, "Master Tang, I will give you my little one." Make a pot of tea?"

"That's not a dare." Tang Shunzhi just smiled, knowing that he would still make a pot of tea, and it wouldn't be bad.

After picking up a copy of Ming Pao, Tang Shunzhi opened his mouth slightly.

... Why are the articles in this newspaper read from left to right first, and then from top to bottom?

It is very conspicuous. After all, the word Ming Pao is the largest, and its position is not in the upper right corner, but in the upper left corner.

The same is true for other headings, not vertically, but horizontally from left to right.

Tang Shunzhi thought about it for a while, and felt that there might be some deep meaning in it... He couldn't figure it out for a while, so he continued to force his habit to read.

Then the mouth opened wider and wider.

The ten newspapers "ordered" by the Guozijian will not only be read by the officials in charge, but also allowed to be circulated and copied by the supervisors and students.

Tang Shunzhi's first reaction was simple: Daming is about to change completely.

At this time, Yang Yiqing, who had stayed in the Northwest Frontier Town for four years, had just returned to the capital, and now he was arranged to temporarily live in the South Hall of the Huitong Hall.

Liu Yu personally accompanied him: "According to the Law on the Treatment of Officials, the Ministry of Travel and Accommodation who is ordered to go abroad has already signed an agreement with the Interpretation Bureau, and the production desk can just sign here."

Yang Yiqing stared at him blankly.

Liu Yu was also a little embarrassed: "The Translating Bureau can only strictly implement the hospitality standards. Of course, I will personally arrange for the excess. I have admired the production of the stage for a long time, and today I invite the production of the stage to appreciate the honor and let me be the host."

"...Since that's the case, I will pay for it myself." Yang Yiqing also smiled awkwardly, "I have been away from Beijing for a long time, what kind of honor does Mr. Chengyi talk about? I also intend to ask Mr. Liu Yi more about the recent situation in Beijing. That's how I call it." Bar?"

"Everyone really calls it that way now." Liu Yu stretched out his hand, "Please. If you want to talk about the recent situation in Beijing, I will use this "Ming Pao" as the outline first, and talk to Zatai first?"

"It's work."

Yang Yiqing naturally received news from Beijing all the time regarding the general direction. After all, he still has the status of a consultant.

But the details... He was also surprised: "Why is the "Ming Pao" in such a format?"

At night, the interested people in the capital and those who learned the news later were all discussing this issue.

Why is this the first official newspaper, not to mention the text is already like this, why is the layout also a new style?
But this issue is completely insignificant in the face of the amount of information conveyed in newspapers, and it is often only discussed first by those who have seen it with their own eyes.

Tang Shunzhi, who has a photographic memory, has already come to the restaurant where he and his friends gathered for a drink, and talked about what he read one by one.

What they got was stunned faces.

(End of this chapter)