Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

At this time in the capital, the discussion about the fifth level of needs was still raging.

Especially after Zhu Youjian led newspapers to discuss the relationship between survival needs and security needs, and used it to explain the court's disaster relief and immigration policies and promote the principle of "land to the tiller", many scholars realized that the five-level needs theory would become a popular subject, and it might even be tested in next year's palace examination.

Therefore, these scholars had a very heated discussion on this issue, using the knowledge they had learned from the sages to explain the theory of the five levels of needs.

Of course, because of their backgrounds, these scholars rarely discussed survival and security needs, but mostly discussed the need for respect.

They highly appreciate the fact that the current emperor respects his subjects and discusses ideas with them. They believe that the emperor is a wise ruler who respects scholars and is practicing the demand theory.

Some young scholars paid more attention to emotional needs and regarded the emperor's words as a guideline for their unrestrained behavior.

Some people who like to read stories about talented men and beautiful women also link emotional needs with marriage autonomy, advocating that both men and women should make their own decisions in their relationships and opposing interference from outsiders.

This even led to some women writing articles in newspapers to express their support.

This matter caused some discussion again, and many scholars realized that they were not the only ones who could write articles, but there were also talented women who could read and write.

Some old scholars were worried about this, and even quoted Chen Jiru's "Women's virtue lies in their lack of talent" to criticize it. They also launched another attack on women's schools and called for their closure.

Seeing that some female students were about to drop out of school due to family pressure, Zhu Youjian ordered the Beijing News Group to help the women's school to publish the "Women's Journal", focusing on women's education and technical research in industries such as needlework, believing that women also have the right to learn.

At the same time, the Maternal and Child Health Association chaired by the Queen founded the "Maternal and Child Newspaper", which focused on maternal and child health care, women's rights, and child care, attracting many noble ladies to subscribe.

Especially the articles on elderly health care mentioned above are not only loved by old ladies, but also by some old gentlemen. Many elderly people who have never been to the hospital have started to go to the hospital.

Zhang Jingyue, who was good at warming and nourishing, was very popular with these people. They even supported Zhang Jingyue in publishing articles on nourishing the body and supported the Imperial Hospital in founding the "Medical Journal".

With the support of these influential elders, the attack on girls' schools naturally came to an end.

Even some newspapers that were not favored by scholars began to take a different approach and actively solicit articles from women who were willing to write.

The types of newspapers and periodicals in the Ming Dynasty became more diverse and began to move towards specialization.

Especially after Zhang Pu's Ming Pao opened up the market in the south and founded Su Bao, many newspapers began to move south and set up branches in the newspaper and periodical industrial parks established in the new district, publishing newspapers and periodicals targeting the south and opening up this market.

Zhu Youjian's idea of ​​using the new district as a bridgehead for advancing into the south of the Yangtze River was supported by these people.

The new district has added a new pillar industry, namely the newspaper and periodical publishing industry.

The related papermaking and printing industries also flourished, driving the prosperity of the new district.
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Zhu Youjian saw all this and was very happy.

With land and capital, the most crucial factor for the development of a new district is talent.

The newspaper industry is undoubtedly talent-intensive and can attract many scholars to participate, allowing them to find a livelihood.

As long as these people stay in the new district, they can contribute to the development of the new district. At the very least, they will not join the rebels.

As long as these scholars who control knowledge continue to support the Ming Dynasty, even if there are turmoil in the local areas, they will not be able to develop at all.

Zhu Youjian, who was already stepping up the production of new muskets, was able to calmly mobilize troops to wipe out these rebels.

Of course, we must also guard against traitors in public opinion. Zhu Youjian decided to strengthen his control over public opinion and hang a sword over the heads of newspaper practitioners.

Soon, at the suggestion of Zhu Youjian, the Minister of Public Administration Yang Suoxiu instructed the Supervisory Censor Yang Weiyuan to submit a memorial, arguing that since newspaper practitioners regarded themselves as civilian censors, they should be supervised like officials.

Otherwise, if power is not supervised, some people will abuse it for personal gain, causing chaos.

To this end, he cited the attack on girls' schools some time ago as an example, believing that some people were abusing their power for personal gain and suppressing women to satisfy their own desires.

Therefore, he believed that newspaper industry practitioners should be supervised like officials. The censors could supervise and impeach them, and they should also declare their assets.

After this memorial was published in the "Dibao", it caused an uproar.

Naturally, most people working in the newspaper industry are opposed to this.

However, officials who were extremely disgusted with the so-called "civilian censors" all agreed with this. They believed that these increasingly bold people should be supervised and their words and deeds should be restrained.

This proposal was so popular with the officials that even the Donglin Party members in the court did not raise any objections to the memorial submitted by Yang Weiyuan, a remnant of the eunuch party.

Obviously, officials are unanimous on this point, believing that those in the society who can challenge them should be suppressed.

Wang Zaijin, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Censorate, even wrote a strongly worded memorial, arguing that not only newspaper and magazine practitioners should be subject to supervision, but also members of parliament, candidates, and even association members.

The intention was to use this incident to expand the power of the Censorate and catch all those who were capable of challenging the authority of officials.

This memorial was supported by many ministers, and all the ministers in the court made suggestions one after another.

Zhu Youjian looked at these memorials and felt that things were out of control. He also realized that this was another counterattack by the conservatives:
"Some people are taking advantage of this to stir up trouble and want to overthrow and remake the rituals and music!"

"These civilian forces were supported by me after I ascended the throne in order to check and balance the bureaucracy."

"It seems that the officials saw the signs and wanted to suppress them, and even overturned the policy of re-establishing rituals and music."

Zhu Youjian vigorously promoted the support of civil forces and bureaucratic checks and balances after he ascended the throne.

The reason why he agreed to establish a congress was to use the public opinion represented by the congress to check and balance the bureaucracy.

Some bureaucrats agreed with this because they also wanted to use public opinion to restrain the emperor.

Moreover, the status of a bureaucrat in the Ming Dynasty was difficult to inherit. It was difficult for a family without hereditary official status to produce officials from generation to generation.

In order to ensure the wealth and prosperity of future generations, these people naturally supported the emperor and the people to rule the world together.

But there are also some officials who are extremely sensitive about the power they possess.

When they sense that their authority is challenged, they instinctively want to suppress the challengers and repress them.

Even though these people did not openly oppose the re-creation of rituals and music, they actually stood on the opposite side of the re-creation of rituals and music.

Because the core of Zhu Youjian's reform of rituals and music was to establish a parliament and transform the Ming Dynasty from a monarchy to a system of co-governance between the monarch and the people.

So when Zhu Youchao noticed this trend, he immediately decided to further strengthen the parliament to prevent some people from misunderstanding and wanting to overthrow and re-establish the rituals and music.
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Soon, a young eunuch named Fang Zhenghua arrived at Qian Qianyi's home. He said to Qian Qianyi:
"The Emperor knows of Mr. Qian's loyalty."

"This time I came to see Mr. Qian, first of all, to congratulate your beloved son on his first birthday and give him a birthday gift."

"Secondly, I hope Mr. Qian will not only focus on his own duties, but also participate in the affairs of the Etiquette and Law Committee."

"Sir, you are a master as famous as Mr. Liu. You must care about the reconstruction of rituals and music." Qian Qianyi was flattered when he heard this.

Because he knew that the emperor was mainly using him and had never cared about him so much.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have not even known that his son turned one year old last month, and only given him a birthday gift now.

But this attitude was very useful to him, especially when Fang Zhenghua said that he was as famous as Liu Zongzhou, which made him interested in re-making rituals and music.

This was obviously intended to give him greater power and a greater say in the remaking of rituals and music.

Thinking about what happened a few days ago, Qian Qianyi speculated:

"Could it be that the Emperor is dissatisfied with the progress of the implementation of 'land to the tiller' and wants me to take charge of this matter?"

"This is a tough job that offends people. I can't get stuck in it."

Qian Qianyi had already discussed countermeasures with his disciples. Even in the face of the emperor's favor, he still did not lose his mind and said to Fang Zhenghua:

"Qian is naturally responsible for the formulation of etiquette and laws."

"But once it is formulated, it will be up to the government office in charge to implement it."

"As the Minister of the Imperial Household, Qian has been busy with religious and sacrificial matters, and inevitably neglected other matters."

"I will certainly pay more attention in the future and urge them to act according to etiquette and laws."

As if he didn't understand the hidden meaning in Qian Qianyi's words, Fang Zhenghua said:

"That's a good thing, sir!"

"It is true that etiquette and laws cannot be formulated without enforcing them."

"The Emperor intends to establish supervisory committees in the National Assembly and parliaments at all levels to supervise the implementation of ritual laws and to monitor parliamentarians and executive officials to prevent them from breaking the law."

"Mr. Qian, how to formulate the etiquette and laws for supervision and which personnel to supervise are up to you, the deputy director of the etiquette and laws committee, to propose!"

"We can't let the world only know Mr. Liu and forget that you are also involved in remaking the ritual music."

As soon as these words were spoken, Qian Qianyi suddenly understood why the emperor sent Fang Zhenghua over.

Obviously, the emperor did not want to give the Censorate more power, but he felt that the people mentioned by Wang Zaijin should be supervised. So he wanted to set up a supervisory committee in Congress to supervise those people.

If this thing succeeds, he can also leave a mark on the establishment of the National Assembly. He will have a greater say in the re-creation of rituals and music, and the emperor will value him more.

The only concern was that setting up a supervisory committee to supervise officials, parliamentarians, newspaper practitioners, etc. would obviously offend some people. No wonder the emperor did not hand this matter over to Liu Zongzhou, but to himself.

After thinking about it for a while, Qian Qianyi felt that this matter should be done, and decisively said to Fang Zhenghua:
"I understand your Majesty's intention."

"Please go back and tell His Majesty to rest assured that Qian will definitely take care of this matter."

"Supervisory rituals and laws should indeed be established, and both officials and influential people in the society should be subject to supervision."

He assured Fang Zhenghua of this matter and then started to chat with him to build a relationship with him.

As a disciple assigned by the emperor to Gao Shiming, everyone with a discerning eye knows Fang Zhenghua's future prospects.

Qian Qianyi thought that when he entered the cabinet, Fang Zhenghua might become the Prime Minister, so naturally he wanted to make good friends with this person.

Fang Zhenghua has seen this many times, so he can handle it with ease.

After returning to the palace, he reported to the emperor, saying that he had dealt with Qian Qianyi.

Zhu Youjian nodded and asked him to be responsible for this matter together with Wang Chengen and Cao Huachun.

While dividing the supervisory power of the Censorate, he planned to hang the sword against the newspaper industry.

Qian Qianyi will know in the future why he was asked to bring up this matter. People working in the newspaper industry will probably scold him in the future.

After all, this is an investigation targeting them, how could these people not bear grudges?
However, Qian Qianyi's methods were more sophisticated than Zhu Youjian expected.

After all, he is the organizer of Datong Daily and has a deep understanding of the newspaper industry.

After discussing with his disciple Qu Shisi and others, he proposed in the court to formulate relevant supervision rituals and laws, clarify the supervisory power, and at the same time suggested that civilian personnel be classified:

“Although civilian personnel such as parliamentarians, association members, journalists and writers do not hold official positions, they have a certain influence on the public and can be called public figures.”

"I think public figures should be rated and their powers of supervision and obligations to accept supervision should be made clear."

“The National Assembly should set up a supervisory committee to rank these talents in the same way as the nine-rank system of the Wei and Jin dynasties, dividing them into nine ranks: top-top, top-middle, top-bottom, middle-top, middle-middle, middle-bottom, bottom-top, bottom-middle, and bottom-bottom.”

After hearing the above words, Zhu Youjian nodded repeatedly, believing that public figures should indeed be classified.

But the following words that imitated the Nine-Rank System made him almost unable to hold back his expression, and he almost laughed:

Qian Qianyi is really the same old guy. The opinions he puts forward are always half angel and half devil.

Although the Nine-Rank System was indeed used to select talents and was an evolution of scholar evaluation, it was an improvement over the previous practice of allowing certain scholars to hold the power to select scholars in the hands of the court.

However, in history it was linked to official selection and became a tool for aristocratic families to maintain their status. Zhu Youjian obviously could not restore this.

However, many officials supported this, and Zhu Youjian finally decided after careful consideration:
"The Nine-Rank System is too much. Who is Qian Qing going to rate as the lowest rank?"

"I think it would be sufficient to roughly divide public figures into three categories, using stars to distinguish them and printing them after their names."

"One-star people only need to be literate, just like Confucius said: I was fifteen years old and determined to learn, and I will give it to those who are still learning. As long as they are not deliberately spreading rumors, they are allowed to express immature opinions."

"Two-star figures are required to assume corresponding public responsibilities, report their family property and tax status to the supervisory committee, and become self-reliant and qualified public spokespersons who can stand up for themselves and the public. This can be regarded as the achievement of independence at the age of 30."

"Three-star people go a step further on this basis. They are not confused by external things and have their own opinions. They are awarded to people who are at the age of forty and above. They must be awarded after being reviewed by the National Assembly and the Censorate."

"Public figures such as parliamentary candidates, association members, and newspaper industry practitioners should all be subject to review, and the National Assembly and parliaments at all levels should set up ethics committees to be responsible for this matter."

"For details, we can refer to the Beijing inspection method and add the four-dimensional inspection of propriety, righteousness, integrity and shame. The star rating can be raised, lowered or even cancelled to limit the influence of unqualified public figures."

"The National Assembly and the Censorate jointly formulate measures to clarify the supervision power of the people and the power to supervise and inspect public figures." (End of this chapter)