Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

Chapter 177 The booming private newspaper industry

Accustomed to solving problems institutionally, Zhu Youjian added officials to the General Affairs Department, established the Daming News Agency, and appointed editors-in-chief of newspapers after hearing about Lu Tunan's difficulties.

But these people won't come for a while, but the newspapers still have to be published.

Zhu Youjian asked Lu Tunan to formulate the internal reference and monthly magazine modeled after Di Bao. After giving it to him for review, he printed it and distributed it to officials.

The sale to the public could be postponed until officials take a look. As long as the officials accept it, there is no need to worry about no one buying it.

After hearing the emperor's request, Lu Tunan raised another printing issue:
"There are only a few hundred copies of the internal reference, just print it like the Di newspaper."

"But if the monthly magazine is to be distributed to all provinces and printed entirely by the imperial court, the General Affairs Department will spend too much money and food, and it will also be easily damaged when transported to places."

"If it is reproduced by the local government, the printing quality cannot be guaranteed, and because the monthly magazine has to be printed every month, the local government's increased money and food expenses will also be too much."

"Your Majesty, please give me your permission!"

Because the Daming News Agency was not the yamen he expected, but instead became a classless public institution. Lu Tunan no longer cared so much about this matter and put all the problems on the emperor.

Zhu Youjian hadn't realized that Lu Tunan wanted to let go. For him who had just taken over the power, he wished that the more things he could do, the better. His youthful and vigorous energy also supports him in doing this. Unlike Emperor Wanli, who was plagued by illness and lazy, he became a famous ruler who neglected government affairs.

Moreover, Zhu Youjian also found that he had different ideas from many Ming officials. Sometimes everything can only be arranged in detail to prevent officials from misunderstanding and doing things that are completely different from his expectations.

Regarding newspapers and periodicals, he really didn't expect that Lu Tunan had been busy for two and a half months and came up with an internal reference that was no different from the Di newspaper. This matter can only be pushed forward by arranging it personally.

Therefore, after hearing Lu Tunan talk about printing issues, Zhu Youjian asked:
"How did the Di's newspaper reach the local area in the past?"

"There are also books such as "Minglun Dadian" and "Three Dynasties Essential Dian". How are they printed locally?"

Lu Tunan replied:
"The royal court's official newspapers are not distributed to local governments. Some of them are circulated to local governments, but most of them are old copies."

"There are also some private newspapers and manuscripts..."

"Wait!" Interrupting Lu Tunan, Zhu Youjian said:
"How come there are private newspapers and newspapers in the private sector? Do they have private official residences?"

Lu Tunan was shocked, wondering why the emperor was so entangled in this point. Private newspapers and newspapers have been published for a long time, but no one has taken care of them. They even exempted themselves from paying taxes because of the small profits they made by copying the reports. Why does the current emperor even have to struggle with his name?
But not all officials were as insensitive as him. After Meng Shaoyu was arranged by the emperor to deal with the publishing office, he knew that he had to make achievements in order to gain the emperor's attention. He immediately said:
"Your Majesty, there are not only the Dibao and Dichao among the people, but also the Chaobao published in the name of the imperial court."

"These people not only plagiarized the imperial newspaper, but also published false news without authorization."

"I thought we should investigate and deal with it and not let them spread it randomly!"

Extremely satisfied with his reaction, Zhu Youjian was even more speechless that people dared to publish false news in the name of the court.

He found that the upper-level institutions of the Ming Dynasty really couldn't keep up with the times. There was no special agency to manage such obviously harmful things.

So he immediately said:

"All private printing and distribution organizations must establish a social workshop and register with the Publishing House."

"Names such as Di Bao, Di Chao and Chao Bao that pretend to be imperial agencies are no longer allowed to be used in the future and will be changed to newspapers and periodicals." "A publishing house that compiles and publishes books, a bookshop that only prints books and newspapers, and a publishing house that collects and compiles news Establishing a news agency or a newspaper publishing agency must be registered with the Publication Office before they can be published to the public."

"These news agencies and newspapers, like publishing houses, must have a president, editor-in-chief, and editor-in-chief who are responsible for the authenticity of the news released. They should also review sensitive information to prevent the leakage of secrets."

"In addition, all institutions that are not established by the imperial court must not bear the words Da Ming, Huang Ming, imperial court, official residence, yamen, etc., and must not pretend to be imperial agencies. Those with these names now have their names changed, and if they are found to be private yamen in the future, they will be dealt with."

"Official news from the Ming Dynasty is authorized by the Ming Dynasty News Agency. Other newspapers and periodicals must pay a fee for reprinting, and the source must be indicated, and private deletion and modification are not allowed."

The Publishing Department has added responsibilities, and Meng Shaoyu doesn't know whether he is happy or has a headache. The joy is that the power is increased, but the headache is that it is very risky. The reputation of suppressing public opinion is inevitable.

But with the emperor staring at him, he could only accept this task. Rather than being scolded by people outside, he was more worried about being rejected by the emperor. This was the big problem related to the official title. No matter how much people outside scold you, it's still not as good as the emperor's scolding.

Thinking that there was also a famous "Beijing News" in the capital, Meng Shaoyu asked:

"How should the Beijing News deal with it?"

"Should we let it continue to use this name?"

After asking about the situation, I learned that the circulation of "Beijing News" was already very large and very influential. Zhu Youjian said:
"As long as it does not pretend to be a court institution, place names such as Beijing and Shandong are allowed. But it can only be at the provincial level, and it must be distinguished from official institutions."

"In addition, each province is in charge of publishing affairs. Publishing houses, news agencies, and newspapers registered in each province can only publish news locally. If you want to publish to other provinces, you need to continue to register locally. If you want to publish news to the entire Ming Dynasty, Registration with the Ministry of Etiquette is required.”

"The Ministry of Rites is responsible for the education of rituals and music, and must take up this responsibility."

After Meng Shaoyu heard this, he felt that he had been criticized for suppressing public opinion a little more, but he had to bite the bullet and asked:

"Will the Nanjing Rites Yamen also set up a publishing department and allow newspaper publishers and bookstores to register?"

I want to let the Nanjing Bureau of Rites take some of the blame for this.

What Zhu Youjian was afraid of was the chaotic spread of news in the south. How could Nanjing be given such great power? He immediately vetoed it:
"Nanjing does not need to set up a special publishing office. It only needs to set up a rites and music department and let the right minister of the Ministry of Rites take charge of it."

"If it is registered with the Nanjing Ministry of Rites, it can be issued in Nanzhili."

"But if you want to distribute it nationwide, you can only register it with the Beijing Ministry of Rites."

"And if a newspaper office wants to increase the types of newspapers and publications, it must also register and review whether it complies with the regulations."

"The Ministry of Rites will formulate regulations on publishing and printing management as soon as possible, and they will be implemented nationwide as departmental regulations."

This meant that he could not divide the power even if he wanted to. Meng Shaoyu accepted the emperor's authorization with a grimace. I feel that I will definitely be scolded by the literati in the south, and maybe my title will change from a remnant of the eunuch party to a traitor who flatters the emperor and suppresses public opinion.

It is really not easy to be an official under the current emperor.

(End of this chapter)