My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 506 News
"Isn't it just a newspaper? Why are you so proud?"

Huang Juren couldn't help but said sourly when he saw Hou Qi, who was surrounded by a circle of people, like stars holding the moon.

"Hou Qi, where did you buy the newspaper and how much did it cost?"

At this time, someone asked Hou Qi curiously.

"Just over at the corner of the street, someone set up a small stall and was selling."

Hou Qi was not stingy and answered immediately.

Just as Hou Qi finished speaking, Huang Juren, who was sitting in his seat, had already rushed out carrying the birdcage.

He trotted all the way to the corner of the street, and he saw a hawker shouting loudly: "Come and take a look, take a look, the morning news is on the first page of the newspaper. All the anecdotes are there." On paper, the famous murderer of the family massacre in Beijing was caught, and the causes and consequences are amazing..."

The stall shouted very hard, attracting passers-by to inquire from time to time, but not many people were willing to spend money to buy. After all, most people just watched the excitement, and they still had to hesitate to spend money.

But Huang Juren quickly came to the vendor and asked directly: "How much does a newspaper cost?"

"The price is clearly marked, no kidding, two cents a piece!"

The vendor replied with a smile.

"Give you!"

Huang Juren reached out and took out two banknotes from his arms, patted the hawker's hand, and the other party immediately handed him a newspaper.

The banknotes used by Huang Juren were newly issued by the bank and were the smallest one-penny banknotes in face value.

Because Zhu Di prohibited the private use of gold, silver and copper coins, he only allowed the use of treasure banknotes. However, the denominations of treasure banknotes are only one, five hundred, three hundred, two hundred and one hundred, which makes transactions with small denominations very difficult. .

For example, a steamed bun only costs a few cents. Even with the smallest denomination, you can buy dozens of them at a time, which is too much to eat. If you ask a merchant to keep accounts, the merchant is afraid that the other party will default on the bill, so many times he can only barter. items, such as exchanging food for goods.

So just after the bank was established, Zhu Zhanhe wrote to Zhu Di, requesting the issuance of some small denominations of treasure banknotes, so there were fifty coins, twenty coins, ten coins, five coins and one coin banknotes.

Huang Juren paid the money and returned to the teahouse happily with the newspaper. When other guests saw that Huang Juren actually bought it, they couldn't help but joke a few words, but he didn't care at all. Instead, he happily drank tea and read. Newspaper, from time to time I will read a few sentences of news in the newspaper, plus a few comments of my own.

I have to say that Huang Juren is worthy of being a well-educated person. In addition, he is well-informed and can guess the news in the newspaper. Therefore, he quickly attracted the attention of many people. Some people even asked He explains what's behind the news.

However, listening to other people's stories is not as enjoyable as reading it yourself, so soon some people went to buy newspapers and came back. After all, these tea drinkers were generally not short of money, except for a few illiterate guests who were jumping anxiously.

At the same time, Xia Yuanji, the Secretary of the Ministry of Revenue, left the morning court and then returned to the Ministry of Revenue to handle official duties.

It is Xia Yuanji's turn to be on duty in the cabinet today, so he must finish the affairs of the household department as soon as possible before going to Wenyuan Pavilion to be on duty.

In fact, since joining the cabinet, Xia Yuanji has made arrangements for the affairs of the household department, and many matters have been handed over to the two ministers. Unless the two ministers have different opinions, he needs to step in to handle it.

Therefore, Xia Yuanji quickly finished the official business at hand, and then stepped out of the official room. When he was about to go to Wenyuan Pavilion, he saw a group of officials gathered together in the hall of the Ministry of Revenue, whispering and discussing what?
Seeing this situation, Xia Yuanji couldn't help but his face darkened, and he immediately stepped forward and scolded: "You guys don't want to deal with official business, how can you get together and whisper together?"

Hearing Xia Yuanji's reprimand, the officials gathered around were also startled. The official in the middle even grabbed something on the table and hid it behind him with an embarrassed look.

"What are you hiding? Bring it to me!"

When Xia Yuanji stretched out his hand, he wanted to see what these people were looking at.When the official who hid the things was found, he could only hand the things behind him to Xia Yuanji with a sad face.

Only then did Xia Yuanji discover that what the other party hid was actually a large piece of paper with words printed on it.

"Huh? "The real culprit of the massacre in the west of the city was arrested" and "Zheng Neigong's voyage to the West again"..."

Xia Yuanji couldn't help but be surprised when he saw the titles of the articles on the paper. Several of these titles were related to the imperial court, and the rest were folk anecdotes. Just looking at the names made people want to read them. Go down.

"What is this?"

Xia Yuanji asked the official who hid the things.

"Sir, this is called a newspaper. On my way to the Yamen this morning, I saw someone selling it. I thought it was interesting, so I bought one."

The official replied very honestly.

"Don't look at these messy things when you're on duty. If I see you guys being lazy again in the future, don't blame me for being rude!"

Xia Yuanji snorted coldly. After saying that, he tossed his sleeves and left. Of course, he also confiscated the newspaper.

When he arrived at Wenyuan Pavilion, Xia Yuanji asked someone to make himself a cup of tea, then opened the newspaper confiscated from his subordinates and read the contents carefully.

Xia Yuanji was a Jinshi, so he couldn't help but frown when he saw these straightforward articles in the newspaper.

However, he also knew that it would be easier for the people to understand the article written like this. Just like the imperial edicts conveyed by His Majesty sometimes, they were also very straightforward, and he even directly cursed people in the edicts, so he was not surprised.

"Brother Xia, what are you looking at so seriously?"

At this moment, a middle-aged official suddenly came over and asked.

I saw that this official was of medium height, with a rectangular face and three long beards. He looked quite elegant. His name was Jian Yi. He was currently the senior official and prince Zhan Shi. He was good at government affairs and was deeply trusted by Zhu Di and Zhu Gaochi. Not long ago, He was just promoted to cabinet minister, and today he is on duty with Xia Yuanji.

"Brother Jian, come and take a look. This is a new newspaper in the capital. Although the articles are crude, they are quite interesting. They can also help the court convey some political orders."

Xia Yuanji smiled and greeted the other party. He and Jian Yi had a good personal relationship. Now that they work together, they are naturally very close.

"newspaper?"

Jian Yi was also very curious after hearing this, and immediately came forward to read the contents of the newspaper with Xia Yuanji. The more he read, the more surprised he became.

There was not much content in a newspaper, and the two of them read it quickly. Jian Yi couldn't help but admired: "This newspaper looks ordinary, but it can write down the government's decrees, current affairs, and folk anecdotes in one place." It’s a big piece of paper, and there’s definitely a lot of time and effort behind it.”

"Brother Jian, look!"

At this time, Xia Yuanji suddenly pointed to the text on the corner of the newspaper and said.

"It's clearly written on it that newspapers are published every other day, which means there will be new newspapers the day after tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)