Chongzhen revived the Ming Dynasty

The Huangjintai Forum is hosted by the Jintaifang Temple.

Because they represent the gods, as long as the priests of the Fang Temple come forward, the debaters on the stage will basically obey. If someone still insists on making trouble, it will be considered disrespectful to the gods and they will have to apologize in the temple.

So although the debate on the Golden Stage was fierce, the order was relatively good. Basically no one made a move, interrupted or suppressed others' speech.

Liu Qiao read it for a while and found it very interesting. Thinking about the newspaper that Jinyiwei was going to publish, he said to Wu Mengming:
“If the manuscripts for the Security Newspaper are insufficient, you can write more debates.”

"Find someone to record the debate and publish the interesting ones."

Wu Mengming nodded repeatedly, pointed at the people who were taking notes nearby, and said:
"These people are all journalists. Some newspapers in Beijing have already started publishing these stories."

"The Jintaifang Temple also published a "Golden Terrace Weekly" that specifically reports on the debates on the stage."

"I thought I could work with them to repost some security-related content."

“They even paid to set topics for debaters to discuss.”

These were all what he had just found out, and he also had someone buy a few copies of "Golden Platform Weekly" and presented them to Liu Qiao for reading.

Liu Qiao looked at the thick publication and recorded almost the entire debate on the stage.

This made him secretly astonished, knowing that the Jintaifang Temple alone could not afford so much money to print such a weekly magazine.

After reading the daily records, he also discovered the emperor's handwriting from this recording style.

Obviously, there was an emperor's instruction behind this. The current emperor really attaches great importance to public opinion and has arranged countless things.

Looking at the temple in front of Golden Taipei, he said to Wu Mengming:

"Let's go!"

"When we come here, we also have to worship God."

"Spend money to set up an agenda and recruit a spokesperson for the Weiwei Temple."

The group left the Golden Terrace and headed towards the temple in the north.

This temple looks very new, but its structure is extremely simple. It is a Spring and Autumn and Warring States style building built according to the records of Zhou Li and Eastern Zhou classics, in order to match the identity of King Yan Zhao, the god of Jintaifang.

However, its interior is made of reinforced concrete and bricks and wood, just like the main building of the townhouse. Therefore, the construction cost is very low and the speed is very fast. In just a few months, the Jintaifang Temple and the Golden Terrace outside were built.

The Golden Terrace was also built of reinforced concrete and bricks and stones, but the exterior was painted gold to live up to the name of the Golden Terrace.

The styles of this group of buildings are extremely simple and ancient. Together with the bell tower built in imitation of the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, they form a complex of buildings in a simple and ancient style.

Liu Qiao and others did not know the inside story, but after they walked in, they felt that although the Jintaifang Temple looked simple, it was actually extremely majestic.

This is because when Zhang Wenyu designed the Fang Temple, he directly used the two-story building design of the townhouse, the height remained the same, but it became a single-story building. This makes the temple look extremely tall and shows a sense of mystery and magnificence.

It is hard for people who see it for the first time not to be shocked, after all, it is something that has never appeared in the Ming Dynasty.

Liu Qiao led his men to burn incense respectfully in the temple, then revealed their identities and met the temple priest.

Looking at this old temple priest with a celestial appearance, Liu Qiao said respectfully:

"The Imperial Guards want to publish a "Safety Newspaper" and want to cooperate with the Fangshen Temple to reprint news from the Golden TV."

"If you have any conditions, please feel free to ask."

King Zhao of Yan's offspring cannot be found now, so the temple priest of Fangshen Temple was sent by the City God's Office. He was a Confucian scholar who had left home to practice Taoism. When he got old, he still wanted to seek an official position, so he was absorbed by the City God's Office.

When he heard the commander of the Jinyiwei was so polite to him, he quickly said "I dare not" and said to Liu Qiao:

"You're welcome, Commander Liu. Just pay for the reprint. You can select excerpts."

"The commander came here specifically for more than just this matter, right?"

Liu Qiao laughed, and after understanding this man's background, he made a request without hesitation:
"Your 'Golden Platform Weekly' records it in such detail. It should also record all the talents who became famous in Golden Platform, right?"

"Give us a copy. The Weiwei Temple is going to set up a press office and recruit a spokesperson."

The main task of the Fangshen Temple was to do this, so of course there were records of this. The old temple keeper sent someone to get the list while explaining to Liu Qiao:
“Although the Golden Terrace was built a long time ago, there were debates before. But because the Fangshen Temple has been under construction, it was officially established in August, and now it attracts young people.”

"Fang Yuanshi is the most talented among them, but his purpose in speaking on stage is to find like-minded people, not to ask for an official position."

"Commander Liu wants to find a spokesperson, so he can only choose someone else."

This is the same as what the previous person said. Liu Qiao hummed and said:

"You don't need a talent like Fang Yuanshi, as long as you are good at speaking and eloquent."

"It's better to have someone who knows military knowledge or is from a garrison."

The old temple keeper thought for a moment, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and he said:

"There is no one from the garrison yet, but there is one who is eloquent and knowledgeable about military affairs."

"You know Gu Yuanshi of the Yingyang Army, right? He has a good friend, known as 'Gui Qi Gu Guai'."

"This 'Gu Guai' refers to Gu Yuanshi, and 'Gui Qi' refers to his good friend Gui Zhuang, the great-grandson of Gui Youguang."

"This person is good at writing and eloquent. Also, because Gu Yuanshi served in the army, he knows a lot about military affairs."

"Commander Liu is looking for a spokesperson, and this person is the most suitable."

Liu Qiao's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he already accepted this person in his heart.

He had heard of Gu Yanwu's name a long time ago and knew that he was a young man who had shown great potential in the Yingyang Army.

The predecessor of the Yingyang Army, the Patrol Battalion New Army, was led by him, the governor of the Western Office. When the new army was first established, he used his family property to make up for the embezzled money and grain.

So he felt very close to Gu Yanwu, knowing that he was the man under his command.

Gui Zhuang was a good friend of Gu Yanwu, so naturally he could also be considered as one of his men.

This made him nod and say:

"Gui Zhuang is a good person, we can invite him over."

"But there is more than one spokesperson for the Weiwei Temple, so we need to recruit a few more people."

"Send invitations to everyone who is interested and ask them to come and debate."

"The topic is about the public's security needs and how the Weiwei Temple should maintain public safety."

"Anyone who can make a point and cannot be refuted by others can come to the Weiwei Temple to serve as a spokesperson."

"The highest rank he can be granted is the ninth rank, and he can serve as a section chief."

This official position can be said to be very low, but Liu Qiao could not offer higher conditions.

The current emperor has tightened the rank system since he ascended the throne. For each rank below the fifth rank, one must follow the gradual process of examination and approval.

Even the Yuanshi, who was highly valued by the emperor, could only be granted a ninth-rank official rank at first. If Liu Qiao offered a higher rank, the Southern Office of Officials would not be able to accept it.

The old temple keeper also knew this situation, because his priest level was strictly equivalent to a seventh-rank official. However, the City God Division did not follow the official rank, but had a different system. In order to avoid losing the mystery and being looked down upon by officials and dignitaries.

Just now, he behaved a little bit fawningly, but Liu Qiao saw through his true colors and no longer treated him as an old immortal.

So he didn't mention anything about the grade, but said:
"The high or low official position does not matter to these young people." "The most important thing is to give them the opportunity to make meritorious contributions, especially the opportunity to become a Yuanshi."

"There are special Yuanshi in the army. The Weiwei Temple should have the same opportunity, right?"

Liu Qiao did not respond when he heard this, because there was no one in the Weiwei Temple who was specially granted the status of Yuanshi.

Wu Mengming said:

"Of course, some people in the Jinyiwei were specially granted the title of Yuanshi. The famous Gu Yuanshi came from the Yingyang Army under the command of the Weiwei Temple."

"This Yingyang Army comes from the Patrol Battalion. According to the internal classification of the Weiwei Temple, it belongs to the armed police, that is, the armed police."

"If the ordinary police of Weiwei Temple cannot catch the criminals, they can ask the Yingyang Army for support."

"Do you think there have been any Yuanshi in our Weiwei Temple?"

The old temple keeper was frightened by his words and thought that Gu Yanwu really belonged to the Weiwei Temple. He said happily:

"This will make it easier!"

"As long as we spread the word about Gu Yuanshi's name, those people from Guizhuang will definitely come."

"The two commanders, please wait for good news. You can also leave the request from the Weiwei Temple."

"You can also check the resumes of these people."

As he spoke, he handed over the list he had taken, wanting Liu Qiao to see it.

Liu Qiao waved his hand and asked Wu Mengming to take over and be responsible for this matter. He also instructed the old temple master:

"Old Immortal, please pay more attention to the affairs of our Weiwei Temple."

“If you have any troubles in the future, you can ask the Jintaifang Police Station for assistance.”

"Also, the shrine for the dead in your temple must be set up as soon as possible."

"All deaths in Jintaifang must be reported to the police station."

"If you find an abnormal death, you should pay special attention and let the police station's coroner perform an autopsy."

This is where the functions between the Weiwei Temple and the Chenghuang Division overlap the most.

The emperor handed over all matters related to death to the City God Department, including some forensic duties.

Therefore, when the Chenghuangsi performed rituals, it was their responsibility to check the condition of the deceased and issue a death certificate. These records had to be transferred to the Weiwei Temple and cancelled from the household register.

If an abnormal death is found, a case must be filed for investigation. The emperor's instructions to them were "murder cases must be investigated" and the investigation lasted for sixty years. This was to protect the personal safety of citizens and ensure their lives were protected.

Although Liu Qiao felt that this request was difficult to achieve, he had to show his attitude. He planned to include the City God Division when establishing the Public Security Committee. In this way, many things could be handed over to the City God Division, reducing the manpower required for this matter.

In actual implementation, he also planned to focus on investigating the murders of hereditary nobles and officials, and complete the requirement of investigating for a period of sixty years. For officials, it was reduced to half a sixty years, and for ordinary citizens, it would be five to ten years.

In this way, the Weiwei Temple can focus on other things instead of having all its energy consumed by murder cases.
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Thinking about this, Liu Qiao was about to leave after visiting the Fangshen Temple. He saw the old temple keeper smiling and saying:
"It's a rare visit from Commander Liu, so why don't you pick some local specialties?"

"We don't have anything else in our Fangshen Temple, but the accuracy of our clocks is first-rate."

“Many craftsmen who want to get the reward for the clock stay here.”

“The clocks and watches they make are sometimes placed in the temple for consignment sale.”

"If Commander Liu sees anything he likes, I can help you buy it."

When Liu Qiao heard this, he looked at the new bell tower still under construction in front of the temple, nodded slightly, and said:
"In that case, I will take a look."

"I heard that the highest reward for this clock is a count. I wonder who will get it?"

Under the guidance of the old temple keeper, we came to the consignment office of Fangshen Temple and saw a variety of clocks and watches.

Some of these clocks were copied from Western models, while others were made by ourselves. The dials were of different styles, not just the 24-hour earthly branches dial.

Liu Qiao was amused and pointed at a small clock with a strap and said:

"Take this out and have a look at it. If it suits you, buy it."

The old temple priest took it out from the shelf and praised it:
"What a good command!"

“This is a new type of watch that can be worn on the wrist.”

"This was invented by the current emperor, and it's now popular in the palace."

“Although it has only twelve hours on one circle, it can also display twenty-four hours on the inner circle.”

“The skilled craftsmen who used to make pocket watches have now switched to making wristwatches.”

Liu Qiao had a new clock at home, and he also knew the numerical symbols promoted by the emperor, so of course he could understand this dial.

However, he didn't know what the numbers in the small box on the right side of the dial meant, so he asked:

“What are the numbers in this?”

"Does it mean the date?"

"The 10 above refers to today being the tenth day?"

The old temple keeper smiled and said:

"Exactly. This is a watch that can display the date."

"The emperor said that the more functions a clock has, the better. It should not only be able to display the hours, minutes, and seconds, but also the year, month, and day."

“So some craftsmen specialize in making this kind of watch.”

"After the new calendar is implemented, the date is the easiest to display."

"Every month has a 30th day, and soon someone put it into the clock."

"As long as the dial moves twenty-four hours, it will turn one day."

"After thirty days, start again from the first day of the new year."

He explained in detail how the date is displayed on this watch, and showed Liu Qiao a larger and more complex alarm clock, saying:

"The date in the watch can only display 30 days, and cannot display the leap day at the end of the year. It must be manually adjusted back in the first month of the year."

"Some craftsmen are already thinking about this, wanting to put leap days into clocks, and even incorporate leap years into them, so as to make a clock that can be used for decades or hundreds of years without the need for manual adjustment."

"It is said that someone wants to use this to compete for the four-faced clock on the clock tower!"

"That's a huge project worth a million taels of silver. If you can be selected, you won't have to worry about anything for the rest of your life."

The bidding for the four-faced clocks of the bell tower is also the reason why many craftsmen are enthusiastic, because everyone knows the symbolic significance of the bell tower, and whoever is selected can leave his name on the tower, or even be enshrined in the Jintaifang Temple.

When building bell towers in other places, they would also give priority to the same four-sided clock. That would really ensure a lifetime of food and drink, and also gain fame.

So many people were thinking about the complex function clocks proposed by the emperor, adding calendars, moon phases, etc.

There are more people who study precision chronographs and clocks, hoping to reduce the error and obtain the rewarded title. (End of this chapter)