Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

"Does Zhang Qing want to be a civil servant or a military officer?"

"If you are a military attaché, I can recruit you into the Imperial Guard."

"With Zhang Qing's talent and knowledge, it won't be difficult to get a seventh-grade imperial decree or a fifth-grade imperial decree soon."

"But as a civil servant, if a student wants to serve, he can only start from the ninth rank."

"Only when you reach the seventh rank in the future can your mother be granted the title of Ruren."

According to the current situation, even if the grades of civilian officials and military attachés are the same, the difference is very big.

With Zhang Pu's talent and reputation, if he is willing to join the army, Zhu Youjian can quickly arrange for him to perform meritorious service and promote him to a seventh-grade military attaché——

He can completely decide the official positions within the Jinyiwei system.

But for civil servants, it depends on the system. No matter how famous Zhang Pu is, he can only start as a Tai student——

There are very few opportunities for Tai students to directly serve as officials, and according to Zhu You's examination system, they can only start from the ninth rank.

So when Zhang Pu heard the emperor's words, he was both excited and hesitant:

Should I choose a military attache who can be promoted quickly, or should I choose to be a civilian official?
For him, this can be described as a happy trouble.

Because before he entered the palace, he never thought that the emperor valued him so much. When he heard that he wanted to earn a life for his mother, he pointed out two ways.

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Pu thought of the current situation of the nobles and the lowly military, as well as his ambition to become a Jiuqing and a great scholar, and responded to the emperor with difficulty:

"Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty. The student still wants to use his talents and studies to become an official!"

He gave up the opportunity of being directly appointed as an official by the emperor, but still wanted to become an official through the imperial examination.

Because he thought that unless he became a Jinshi, he would have no chance to become a Jiuqing and a Grand Scholar——

Especially the cabinet bachelors were basically from the Hanlin Academy.

Therefore, although the emperor gave him two choices, the only way to realize his ambition of becoming a minister was to pass the Jinshi examination.

When Zhu Youjian heard this, he secretly thought it was a pity.

Because if Zhang Pu chooses one of the two paths he gave, he can use it with confidence.

Zhang Pu, who entered the officialdom as a military attaché or imperial student, was an anomaly in the officialdom. Only by relying on the emperor can one continue to be promoted.

Moreover, there may be very few people who serve as Jiuqing and Grand Scholars, so there is no need to be too cautious.

It is impossible for Zhang Pu like that to have great influence in the court. More will be regarded as the emperor's personal ministers.

But Zhang Pu chose to take the Jinshi examination, which showed that he did not want to become the emperor's personal minister. Zhu Youjian could only lament that it is not so easy to subdue talents:

"What a pity, what a pity!"

"Year ago, the proposal for Taipei students to participate in the examination was not passed, otherwise Zhang Qing would have been able to participate in this Enke."

"With Zhang Qing's talent and learning, he really shouldn't waste time on the imperial examination!"

After sighing a few words in succession, Zhang Pu even heard that the emperor valued him and wanted him to be appointed as an official as soon as possible.

This moved him and made him feel a little proud. Thinking that he had gained the emperor's attention based on his talent and learning, the emperor couldn't wait to use him.

At the same time, he thought of the proposal made by Taipei students to take part in the examination a year ago, and felt resentful in his heart:
The combat effectiveness of the imperial students in the capital was too poor. If it were in Jiangnan, he would definitely be able to lead the students and force the officials to pass this proposal.

Victory cannot be achieved with the support of the emperor, and the ability of the imperial students in the capital to cause trouble was really poor in Zhang Pu's opinion.

Thinking again of the sit-in that took place some time ago and forced all officials to agree to the creation of additional county magistrates, Zhang Pu lamented the missed opportunity in his heart:
"It would have been nice if I had come to the capital as a tribute student last year. 』

"I will definitely make it pass for Taipei students to take the examination." 』

“I will also share the credit for impeaching Wei Zhongxian. 』

As a Tai student, what he heard the most these days was Qian Jiazheng's deeds.

This person participated in the impeachment of Wei Zhongxian and Tai students to participate in the general examination.

It's a pity that the former thing was successful, but the latter thing was not.

Zhang Pu did not dare to say that he was braver than Qian Jiazheng in impeaching Wei Zhongxian, but when it came to leading the imperial students to cause trouble, Qian Jiazheng could not catch up with him even though he was flattering——

His reputation in Jiangnan came from leading the students to cause trouble.

With these thoughts in his mind, Zhang Pu heard the emperor say again:
"Your articles are well written. This article about Guanglu Temple is easy to understand and fascinating. You are born for newspapers and are a genius in public opinion."

"I originally wanted you to join the Public Opinion Department, or work as an editor at the Daming News Agency."

"Now it seems that I am still a little anxious."

"You have prepared well for the exam in the past few years. I will wait for you to become an official in the next subject."

Listening to the emperor's words, it seemed that he wanted to send himself away. Zhang Pu suddenly became anxious and said:
"Even if students are not serving as officials in the imperial court, they can still serve His Majesty."

"If His Majesty wants to use public opinion to do something, students are willing to take the lead."

There are not many opportunities to be received by the emperor. If you don't take this opportunity to let the emperor remember it, the emperor may forget it in a few years.

Zhang Pu knew that the emperor's intention to run a newspaper was to suppress public opinion, so he immediately proposed to serve the emperor among the people as a student.

Zhu Youjian hesitated at this time, thinking about this matter.

It seems that Zhang Pu can work for him as a Tai Tai student, and he doesn't have to spend any salary on him.

But in this case, Zhang Pu would gain great influence among the imperial students and other scholars.

Entering the officialdom with this kind of influence, Zhang Pu will be difficult to control in the future.

So there was some hesitation in his mind about this.

Zhang Pu didn't know what the emperor was hesitating about, so he continued:
“Students read the current Beijing News and most of it writes about political affairs.”

"In addition to the appointment and dismissal of court officials, there are also the government orders of various yamen."

"This can attract people for a while, but over time, people will no longer care."

"Only government officials read newspapers all the time."

Speaking of his views on the Beijing News, Zhang Pu made suggestions:

"Other newspapers such as the Beijing Evening News and the Beijing News are similar, but they are published at different times."

"These newspapers with repetitive content are such a waste."

"The students thought there should be a newspaper specifically for scholars, attracting scholars all over the world to buy and read it."

This suggestion was refreshing to Zhu Youjian and felt that it was very feasible.

Because in his plan, he had the idea of ​​classifying newspapers to specifically report on a certain aspect of content. Names such as Newspaper and Literary Newspaper came from this.

It's just that today's newspaper market is not big yet, and there isn't that much news. These specialized newspapers don't have enough manuscripts, so they turned into comprehensive newspapers.

In the future, when the newspaper market becomes bigger and there are more people writing articles, these newspapers will inevitably become specialized.

Zhang Pu's proposal is another way of thinking. He did not run a newspaper for a certain aspect of content, but for the group of scholars. Publish content that scholars like to hear and see to attract them to buy.

With Zhang Pu's talent for writing articles and his reputation among scholars, he was indeed able to run a newspaper specifically for scholars.

Judging from today's world situation, scholars are also the main group who buy newspapers. "This kind of newspaper has great potential now!" 』

"We can't just let Zhang Pu come!" 』

Zhu Youjian thought for a while and felt that there was a need for this kind of newspaper to influence the minds of scholars, and said:
"Zhang Qing's proposal is good. I allow you to start a newspaper."

"It's just that you have no experience before. I asked Qian Jiazheng to help you."

"Money and food will be allocated from the inner government to start the newspaper as soon as possible."

"Has Zhang Qing already thought about the name of this newspaper?"

After Zhang Pu realized that public opinion in the capital was controlled by newspapers, he came up with the idea of ​​running a newspaper. After hearing the emperor's permission, he immediately said:
"The students planned to run a newspaper in Taipei University, so it was called a journal."

"Now, with His Majesty's permission and the participation of the Ming News Agency, it can be called the Journal of the Ming Dynasty."

"Solicit manuscripts from scholars all over the world and distribute them throughout the country."

He knew a lot about newspapers and knew that those with the word "Da Ming" on them should not be used casually.

Now with the emperor's permission, it can be used.

Zhu Youjian listened to the four words "Journal of Daming Dynasty" and felt that it was too literary. He frowned and said:

"The four words "Journal of the Ming Dynasty" are too long, and it sounds too academic-focused."

"I think it will be enough to use the words Ming Pao and Bao. From now on it will be called Ming Pao."

"Your newspaper will be run under the name of Ming Pao Company, and the newspaper company will be called Daming Newspaper Company."

"There are two newspapers: Ming Pao and Daming Journal Monthly. One is published as a daily or double daily, and the other is published as a monthly."

This order was more perfect than Zhang Pu thought, so Zhang Pu happily accepted the order.

Little did he know that what Zhu Youjian wanted was to let people from Ming Dynasty write papers and gradually establish Ming Dynasty's academic journals.

In this way, it will naturally guide Zhang Pu to focus on academics. Just like the previous reform of the Donglin Party, the Yingshe that Zhang Pu had established was turned into an academic school.

In order to speed up this change, Zhu Youjian planned to point out the academic direction for Zhang Pu like catalyzing Qian Qianyi, saying:

"Bachelor Xu Guangqi of the cabinet, how much do you know about him?"

Zhang Pu didn't know the emperor's intention and said cautiously:
"The students have no contact with Mr. Xu Ge, but the student's good friend Chen Zilong admires Mr. Xu Ge very much."

"I think Mr. Xu Ge has learned both Chinese and Western knowledge and is the first-class talent in the world."

Xu Guangqi is of course a first-class talent, otherwise Zhu Youjian would not have pushed him to become a bachelor.

After hearing Zhang Pu's response, Zhu Youjian said:
"Since Zhang Qing admires Xu Xueshi so much, do you have any thoughts about becoming a disciple?"

"And your good friend Chen Zilong, we can apprentice together and host "Ming Pao" together!"

Zhu Youjian also knew Chen Zilong's name. He had seen this name in "Liu Rushi's Biography" and knew that this person had a relationship with Liu Rushi. Moreover, we also know that Chen Zilong was a loyal minister who died for his country and was the teacher of Xia Wanchun who also died for his country. He had learned Xia Wanchun's poem "Farewell Between Clouds" in his textbook.

So when he heard Zhang Pu mention Chen Zilong, Zhu Youjian wanted to call this person over. Lest Chen Zilong stay in the south and gather a group of students.

Zhang Pu was happy that Chen Zilong could be valued by the emperor, but he had to decline on behalf of his friend, saying:

"Brother Chen's father died of illness and he is now observing the system."

"I have to get married after the ceremony is completed, so I won't be able to come to Beijing for a while."

After talking about Chen Zilong's situation in detail, Zhu Youjian learned that Chen Zilong's father, Chen Suowen, was a Jinshi in the 47th year of Wanli. His friend Wan Shei was beaten to death by a cane. Chen Suowen was so distraught that he died of grief and anger in the sixth year of Tianqi.

As a son, Chen Zilong naturally observes filial piety now. Moreover, the Chen family became increasingly poor because of the expenses incurred during Chen Suwen's medical treatment during his lifetime.

Zhu Youjian listened to the deeds of Chen Suwen and Wan Shei, sighed silently, and said:
"Loyal ministers and filial sons should be commended!"

"I will ask the Ministry of Rites to give gifts to Wan Shen and Chen Suowen so that one of their sons can enter the Imperial Academy."

"Let Chen Zilong come to the capital to study after the marriage is over."

At this moment, he once again felt the cruelty of the eunuchs to the scholars. Those killed by the eunuchs were not only the Sixth Gentleman and the Seventh Gentleman, but also a large number of less famous scholars.

These people must give gifts one by one to restore the hearts of scholars.

Zhang Pu heard that Chen Zilong's father had received a gift and would be able to study at Taixue in the future. He was happy for this good friend and felt the influence of the emperor's close ministers——

He, who had just been received by the emperor and could not be called a close minister, could easily handle this matter. Not to mention those who are around the emperor all day long.

This made him even more determined to run Ming Pao well and impress the emperor.

However, he was still a little puzzled by the emperor asking him to become Xu Guangqi's disciple.

Although becoming a disciple of a great scholar was an opportunity that a student like him couldn't ask for. But the emperor asked him to worship Xu Guangqi as his disciple so suddenly, which made him really puzzled.

It wasn't until he glanced at the "Comprehensive Map of Kunyu and Ten Thousand Kingdoms" in front of the emperor, and then thought about what the emperor said when he summoned him, that he finally understood:

"Look at the world!" 』

"Your Majesty asked me to learn from Mr. Xu Ge and learn to look at the world. 』

"In "Ming Pao", promote Thai and Western culture! 』

Feeling that he understood what the emperor meant, Zhang Pu hurriedly said when the emperor asked the eunuch to introduce him to Xu Guangqi as his disciple:
"Students must follow His Majesty's instructions and promote Western learning in newspapers."

Zhu Youjian frowned, not satisfied with the name Western Learning, and said:

"What is Western learning?"

"What I want you to learn is science, not Western knowledge."

"The word "ke" comes from "grain" and "double", and the person who fights means measurement. Therefore, science is the study of grain and measurement."

"Ask Xu Xu for mathematics and learn this knowledge well."

Zhang Pu is very smart and his mind works very quickly. After hearing the emperor's words, I realized that the emperor was not satisfied with the name Western Learning, so he changed it to science.

He thought about the name science and immediately praised:
"Your Majesty, it is clear that students are learning science."

"This science is not only the study of grain fighting, but also the study of imperial examinations."

"What students learn from Mr. Xu Ge is mathematics used in arithmetic subjects."

"This is one of the six arts of a gentleman, not a Western knowledge."

Zhu Youjian was overjoyed when he listened to his explanation.

Because what he was worried about before was how to connect science and traditional knowledge.

Now that he heard Zhang Pu equate science with mathematics and describe it as one of the six arts of a gentleman, he immediately realized that it could be used to promote science under the banner of promoting the six arts of a gentleman.

So he immediately agreed with Zhang Pu's statement, then remembered the article he had read some time ago, and said:
"Prince Duanqing said in "Jin Lishu Memorial": There is no reason for destiny, but numbers can measure its timing; the way of heaven is mysterious, and its wonders can be seen through factors. Reasons are revealed in numbers, and numbers are self-explanatory. Reasons and numbers can depend on each other but cannot contradict each other. The ancient way.”

"Mathematics can be connected with reason and is also the foundation of science."

"Science is not only the study of crops and imperial examinations, but also the study of division of subjects."

"All subjects are based on mathematics."

"After Zhang Qing became a disciple of Xu Xu, he must learn from him and perfect various sciences." (End of this chapter)