The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Ye Xianggao wrote a letter to Li Sancai and wrote a post for Wang Wenlong, so Wang Wenlong took a leave from the Imperial Academy and went straight to Yangzhou. When the two met for the first time, Li Sancai said enthusiastically: "Jianyang plans to open a current affairs newspaper. ?”

"That's why I came here." Wang Wenlong nodded.

"This is something that will benefit people's livelihood!" Li Sancai said happily.

Yes, Li Sancai showed great support for public opinion on all occasions and was very supportive of running a newspaper.

In the past two years, he has been in charge of water transportation, and every time he has stubbornly confronted the tax eunuchs, he has tied the world's opposition to the mine tax eunuchs to himself.

Therefore, although Li Sancai was corrupt, every attack on him was turned into a trap against tax officials.

For example, this year Li Sancai proposed to open a canal and build a lock and repair a section of the canal to clear the mouth. The quotation for a short section of the project was more than 200,000 yuan, and he directly left the grain to support the project. I don't know how much Li Sancai was greedy here.

Zhao Shiqing, the governor's assistant minister, argued that there was something wrong with this project. After Li Sancai was impeached, he directly requested to resign. Emperor Wanli also directly agreed after reading Zhao Shiqing's memorial.

Then in an instant, the governors from Huaiyang and the censors from Cao to Beijing all wrote letters to express their grievances for Li Sancai.

Even the residents along the Huaihe River stood up and complained, saying that Li San was the only one who could deal with Chen Zeng, the tax supervisor and eunuch, and that this person must never leave his job.

How Li Sancai made money in Fengyang and Huaihe River water transportation was unknown to the people along the canal, but he arrested thieves and fought against eunuchs along the Huaihe River. Many people really thought that he was a good official.

The so-called deceiving the world and stealing reputation is probably like this.

After listening to Wang Wenlong's suggestion to run the "Suzhou Xun Bao", Li Sancai took the initiative and said: "Assistant Professor Wang, I have a few talented people who are quite talented in writing. Why don't I also go to your "Suzhou Xun Bao" to take up an errand and work together to write this article? Let’s run the newspaper well.”

Wang Wenlong smiled. He wanted to recruit Li Sancai's gang into the Xun Bao, and then his newspaper would become Li Sancai's mouthpiece in no time?

He shook his head and said: "I don't dare to hide this from Li Dafu. This newspaper of mine deals with the people and does not talk about the affairs of the court."

"Isn't this a pity?" Li Sancai disagreed. "Since Jianyang has such a voice, it should be a public weapon for the world. It should use newspapers to speak out for the world. How can it only deal with some trivial matters of the citizens."

Wang Wenlong said: "I really have no intention of doing this. If Li Dafu is determined to turn my Xun Bao into a public weapon, then I would rather write my novel in Suzhou Xun Bao. It seems that Uncle Ye asked me to visit the wrong dock. , I’m sorry to bother you, kid.”

Seeing Wang Wenlong cupping his hands and about to leave, Li Sancai quickly said: "Wait a minute, wait a minute."

He didn't expect that Wang Wenlong's ideas would be so stubborn. There is no justice in buying and selling. Although he couldn't turn Wang Wenlong's newspaper into his own mouthpiece, if Wang Wenlong could make a profit from selling newspapers, it would be an income for him. In addition, he could reap such benefits from Wang Wenlong. A friend is always worth a loss.

What's more, Wang Wenlong was recommended by Ye Xianggao, and he had to help him for Ye Xianggao's sake.

Li Sancai stopped Wang Wenlong and said: "Why is Jianyang so angry? If you are not interested in big things, I will not force you. Even if you take a step back, I am very happy that Suzhou people have a place to express themselves. I will give my full support to this matter. "

Li Sancai thought for a while and said: "It's just that if there is serious public opinion in Suzhou, Jianyang's ten-day report should not be flinched."

Wang Wenlong said: "I also scold eunuchs for making money, and I also scold corrupt officials for making money. I always stand on the side of the people."

Li Sancai nodded, that's fine. He did make money, but he mainly made money from the imperial water transportation. The people thought he was a good official, but the tax eunuch scrapped the local land and caused far more pain to the people than he made. With the intensity brought by money, Wang Wenlong scolded both corrupt officials and eunuchs, but Li Sancai thought it was actually a good thing.

And Wang Wenlong also understood in his heart that the "Suzhou Xundao" he wanted to run was not to follow public opinion but to lead it. Even if he was given a few years, the Donglin Party might not be able to control the "Suzhou Xundao".

Different from the impression of many people, the power of the Donglin Party actually had its ups and downs during the Wanli period. Two years later, the Zhejiang Party was caught off guard by the Jingcha Donglin Party and won a big victory. However, in another six years, the Zhejiang Party and other three parties would again United to suppress the Donglin Party, the Donglin Party was already in a weak position before Wanli's death. It was not until the Donglin Party escorted Emperor Tianqi to the throne that the defeat could be reversed in one fell swoop with the help of Conglong.

Since the Donglin Party could not cover the sky with one hand, Wang Wenlong knew that as long as his Suzhou Xunbao had enough reputation, even if the tone of public opinion in the newspaper gradually became unfavorable to the Donglin Party in a few years, the Donglin Party would still be able to overthrow him. not that simple.

Wang Wenlong said to Li Sancai: "I stand for the common people. The common people love to read it, and the newspaper's income will not be less."

Wang Wenlong and Li San just began to settle accounts. At this time, newspapers in Jiangnan still relied on newspaper sales to make money. After listening to Wang Wenlong's statement, Li San realized how profitable their Xun newspapers were in advertising in Fuzhou. He thought that Wang Wenlong just wanted to sell "Suzhou" "Xun Bao" made a profitable business.

And the income of this newspaper was indeed beyond his expectation.

Li Sancai gradually became less surprised after hearing Wang Wenlong's business experience: "According to this calculation, if the newspaper in Jianyang is successful, its annual income should be no less than a thousand taels?"

Wang Wenlong nodded and said: "The Xun newspaper I ran in Fuzhou has earned more than two thousand taels for the Chief Envoy Si Yamen in more than a year."

This amount was enough to keep Li Sancai in mind. At this time, Wang Wenlong timely said that he could give Li Sancai dividend shares. Li Sancai was instantly moved, and after a while he declined and accepted with a smile. Now Xun Bao has been separated from the Chief History Department Yamen. Wang Wenlong and Xu Xueju each hold shares. The remaining shares are in the hands of the employees of the Xun Bao editorial department. Wang Wenlong is the majority shareholder. He has already injected capital again before coming to Yangzhou. , diluting the shares prepared for Li Sancai.

Wang Wenlong knew that no matter how good a person like Li Sancai said, if there were no actual interests, it would be difficult for him to serve him wholeheartedly.

So after making the agreement, he wrote the share documents with Li Sancai on the spot. Li Sancai called his staff to take a look, and he immediately smiled when he saw that everything was in order.

Li Sancai immediately decided to follow up the "Suzhou Xunbao" and if there were any problems in the reporting, he would definitely help speak up. And it's not just a matter of patting one's chest. Li Sancai specially arranged for someone to contact Xunbao. Wang Wenlong of Baozheng could find him at any time when something happened.

After some operations, even Wang Wenlong couldn't help but feel that Li Sancai had done things beautifully, which made him feel more at ease.

How could it be that Li San had become a great corrupt official and had so many comrades in the court? He was paid to really do things, and he had to do things beautifully. This could be regarded as the professional ethics of a corrupt official.

After leaving Yangzhou, Wang Wenlong did not return to Nanjing. Instead, he immediately went south to Suzhou and devoted himself wholeheartedly to the preparation of the "Suzhou Xundao".

He first found friends in Suzhou to find a new address for the printing press and editorial department, and organized a larger printing force just like in Fuzhou. Then he began to plan a new column for the "Suzhou Xunbao".

Unlike the popular newspapers in Fujian and Jiangnan at this time, whose content mainly focused on novels, entertainment, business information, market rumors, and literary writings, Wang Wenlong specially planned several news sections and prepared to develop independent writers and investigative reporters.

As for advertising investment, there is no rush yet. Wang Wenlong plans to wait for the "Suzhou Xunbao" to report a few big news to completely increase the popularity before contacting the merchants.

The selection of big news requires timing, and we must ensure that the orientation of the news cannot fall into party and political struggles, but must actually benefit the people.

Wang Wenlong didn't just run Suzhou Xunbao to make money. His ultimate goal was to promote his idea of ​​opening up the sea with the people. Naturally, he had to slowly shape his influence on public opinion in Jiangnan, where the bourgeoisie was already emerging at this time.

At this time, civil society had emerged in Suzhou. This kind of current affairs news newspaper paid attention to people's livelihood, so there was no reason why it should not be popular.

Wang Wenlong was busy in Suzhou and November passed in the blink of an eye. The manuscript of "Shang Shu Ancient Texts and Documents" he brought to Suzhou was finally engraved and published by Yuan Wuya's Shu Zhitang.

……

Qiantang County, Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

Jin Xuezeng was sitting in the conservatory, leaning on the bedside and drinking medicine. His eldest son Jin Jizhen hurriedly walked in with a stack of letters:

"Father, the letter says that the official of the Li Ke and the official of Henan Province are impeaching you."

Jin Xuezeng was seriously ill and had not yet recovered. It took him a long time to slowly drink a bowl of potion. He wiped his mouth with a cloth and said, "I have resigned, but the Holy Spirit has not approved it. It has been the case since ancient times that people leave with cold tea." They sued."

"Before he left office, my father was still busy running the Changping charity warehouse and charity clinic for Minhai. His achievements in governing Fujian were well known all over the world. How could they be so unscrupulous?" Jin Jizhen was quite unhappy.

Jin Xuezeng said weakly: "When I was the governor, I had a lot of power. Many things were strongly recommended, and many people were offended. Now that I am no longer in the position of governor, people who have offended in the past will naturally be found. This After I lost power, it was only a matter of time. If Shangshu could defend himself once, he would still be unable to escape the next time. It would be better to say less and prove his fairness."

At this moment, he saw his second brother Jin Jiamo coming back from outside. He held a letter of books under his arm and said to Jin Xuezeng: "Father, I have bought Wang Jianyang's new book."

Jin Jizhen said to Jin Jiamo quite dissatisfied: "Now that my father is still seriously ill and there are so many things going on at home, why do you still ask your father to read?"

Jin Xuezeng said weakly: "Jiamo, pick me up and help me study."

Jin Jizhen said worriedly: "Father, you'd better worry less!"

Jin Xuezeng shook his head: "I am bored at home and something is wrong. If I read a book, maybe my illness will be cured."

Jin Jizhen had no choice but to take the book from Jin Jiamo's hand and saw that the new book written by Wang Wenlong was called "Shu Zheng".

Jin Jiamo sat down by the bed and started reading to his father:

"Preface to the Confusion of Reading Shangshu..."

(End of this chapter)