Thief Emperor

Chapter 1092 Frankness

Minister Du coughed and bowed slightly, saying, "Your Majesty, the difficulty lies here. We have discussed it briefly, but we have not been able to select a suitable candidate."

He hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head and said, "Your Majesty, Imperial Censor Cao Yu is currently inspecting the three circuits of Jiangnan. He is upright and honest and has a reputation for integrity. Should we issue an imperial decree to directly appoint him as Imperial Censor and give him full authority to handle this case?"

Upon hearing this, Emperor Li raised an eyebrow: "These are the people selected by your Secretariat?"

Du Qian thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "Yes, we all think Cao Yu is suitable."

Li Yun shook his head: "Cao Yu won't do."

Just kidding. This junior censor, for the sake of His Majesty the Emperor, directly exposed the imperial examination fraud case of the seventh year of Zhangwu. In a short time, countless people fell from power because of him. Even Duke Ying, Zhuo Guangrui, lost his title and almost lost his life because of him.

That one incident alone offended countless people. Even Li Yun was worried about him continuing in the court and sent him to the three circuits of Jiangnan as an inspector.

Over the past few years, wherever he went, people from the Nine Departments would secretly follow him.

More than three years have passed, and Xiao Cao has experienced countless dangers in the three provinces of Jiangnan. Fortunately, he was protected by the Nine Departments and barely survived.

This man, Li Yun, will be of great use to him in the future; at the very least, he will be in charge of the Censorate, and he may even become prime minister in the future.

At this point, Li Yun could not allow him to offend the scholars of Jiangnan. If he offended so many people, not to mention whether he could survive, even if he could, his chances of becoming prime minister would be almost nil.

The prime minister's job is to coordinate all parties.

It's difficult to force someone who is disliked by all factions into the Secretariat.

Upon hearing Li Yun's words, Prime Minister Du's gaze also shifted.

He knew Li Yun well, and hearing Li Yun's decisive refusal, he knew that Cao Yu had a bright future ahead of him.

After thinking for a moment, Minister Du asked, "Does Your Majesty have a preferred candidate?"

Emperor Li thought for a moment, then said calmly, "Minister Yao is from Jiangdong. Let him handle the affairs of Jiangdong. Let him choose a capable person from among his students to deal with this matter."

At this point, His Majesty the Emperor emphasized, "Firstly, we must not cause chaos in Jiangdong Province, which would ruin the court's new policies."

"Secondly, there are those who trample on the law and act recklessly."

Emperor Li said in a muffled voice, "They must be punished. Those who instigated the trouble should be barred from taking the imperial examinations and holding official positions for five generations."

Both gentlemen were overjoyed upon hearing Li Yun's words, especially Minister Du.

In recent years, Yao Juzhong's influence has grown, and he is now the leading scholar in Jiangnan.

Clearly, His Majesty the Emperor also saw this trend, which is why he made this arrangement.

Both gentlemen bowed their heads and replied, "Yes."

"My minister obeys."

Emperor Li looked at the two men and said, "Prime Minister Guo is in charge of education. You go and talk to Prime Minister Yao about this matter. The two of you can discuss it and handle it."

"I still have some things to say to Prime Minister Du. You may go now."

Guo You quickly bowed his head deeply and replied, "Yes."

After he left, Emperor Li looked at Minister Du and said, "This newly appointed magistrate of the Agricultural Affairs Bureau in Jinling..."

Minister Du bowed slightly and said, “Your Majesty, the Academy of Agriculture is itself part of the new learning and new policies. Now that the new policies are being implemented in Jiangdong Province, it is reasonable for the Ministry of Personnel to send county magistrates to implement the new learning.”

Li Yun thought about it for a while, but still couldn't find a flaw in the logic. After shaking his head, he didn't ask any further questions, but just said helplessly, "It ruined my good mood for nothing."

Prime Minister Du bowed slightly: "This is our fault."

After saying that, he looked at Li Yun and asked, "What makes Your Majesty so happy?"

Emperor Li then beckoned to Prime Minister Du and said with a smile, "Brother Shouyi, come and see."

Du Qian stepped forward and walked to Li Yun's side. Emperor Li unfolded the four-page newspaper and handed it to him. Du Qian took it and looked at it. He saw four large characters written on the far right page.

The official gazette of the Tang Dynasty.

The book was further divided into many sections, containing more than a dozen articles, including current events and some beautifully written pieces.

The fourth section is entirely composed of poetry and prose.

Minister Du glanced at it briefly, then looked up at Emperor Li and asked, "Your Majesty, what is this...?"

"My third son did it."

Emperor Li said with a smile, "Last year, didn't he go out of the palace to do some business for me?"

“Before the New Year, I asked him to find artisans in the workshop to start this newspaper. Now, the first edition has finally been published.”

Minister Du looked at the newspaper and asked, "Your Majesty, is this... easy to print?"

In this era, woodblock printing was no longer a rarity. Some bookstores were able to survive from generation to generation by relying on the woodblocks of a few best-selling books passed down from their ancestors.

However, printing newspapers was still not enough; no workshop could do it.

But Li Yun could. To be precise, it should be said that the emperor could do it.

Li Yun had too many skilled craftsmen under his command, and he could easily produce these things whether using woodblock printing or movable type.

For a while, Li Yun didn't have a suitable person to handle this matter. Now that his third son is able to go out and work, it's perfect for him to take charge of these miscellaneous tasks.

"There are many people in the workshop, so it's quite easy to recruit more people."

Emperor Li said with a smile, "Printing at least two editions a month is no problem."

He pointed to the newspaper and said, "I plan to print it in all the prefectures and then sell it in each prefecture. This will be the first official newspaper of our Great Tang Dynasty."

"The name will be 'The Official Gazette of the Tang Dynasty'."

"One seal every half month..."

Prime Minister Du carefully examined the document in his hand. He was quick-witted and quickly deduced its power. After a moment of contemplation, Prime Minister Du looked at Li Yun and said, "Your Majesty, my fourth son is about twenty years old this year. He only reads miscellaneous books and does not take the imperial examinations. I would like him to help the Third Prince with this matter."

Li Yun was very generous and said with a smile, "Just let him go find Sanlang. Brother Shouyi should know where Sanlang lives."

Du Qian nodded quickly and said, "Furthermore, I believe that this thing should be officially designated as a government-run enterprise."

"Private operations are not allowed."

Emperor Li said with a smile, "In the short term, even if ordinary people wanted to run this privately, they wouldn't have the ability. Anyone who wanted to run it privately would probably lose everything."

“In the past few years, there were no restrictions.”

His Majesty the Emperor said slowly, "Once people from the common folk have developed a printing technology that won't lose money, the court will then issue regulations, and the Ministry of Rites will review the eligibility for entry."

He looked at Du Qian and said with a smile, "Only newspapers approved by the Ministry of Rites are allowed to be published."

Du Qian seemed to be deep in thought, and asked, "Does Your Majesty mean that the court is losing money by doing this?"

Emperor Li stroked his chin: "I haven't calculated it in detail, but with so much manpower and resources, it's likely to be a loss, unless this thing sells exceptionally well and at an exceptionally high price."

"Whether I make money or not doesn't matter."

His Majesty the Emperor smiled and said, "As long as industry and commerce flourish, such new things will emerge sooner or later."

Upon hearing this, Minister Du was taken aback. Then, he looked at Li Yun seriously, hesitated for a moment, and then said, "Your Majesty... has also seen this thing before."

He pointed to the Tang Dynasty official gazette on the table.

Emperor Li said with a smile, "Brother Shouyi, some things can be deduced through speculation."

Du Qian shook his head slightly: "I cannot deduce it."

"Moreover, even if one had considered similar possibilities, it would be impossible to be as certain as His Majesty."

Emperor Li waved his hand and said indifferently, "Just consider it as if I had seen it in a dream."

Du Qian looked at Li Yun thoughtfully: "Your Majesty... you once saw... many things in your dreams?"

Upon hearing this, Li Yun remained silent for a moment, then shook his head and sighed, "Dealing with intelligent people really requires careful word choice."

Du Qian looked around and then said, "Back in Jiangdong, I had similar doubts, but Your Majesty was quite cautious at that time, and most of your actions were reasonable."

"Now, especially after the seventh year of Zhangwu, as the court has gradually stabilized, His Majesty's ideas have become increasingly unconventional."

He looked at Li Yun, his eyes flashing: "I am very curious, Your Majesty... what exactly have you seen?"

Emperor Li glanced at him, took a sip of water, and then sighed: "I have indeed seen a lot of things, but if I had told you these things before, you would probably have thought I had lost my mind."

"Some things will only be believed when they are reproduced."

Du Xiangong nodded: "For example, that iron box that can move on its own."

He sighed softly, "I am truly very curious."

Li Yun chuckled and said, "We've been close friends for many years, so I shouldn't hide anything from you, and I don't need to hide anything from you. It's just that the timing isn't right yet."

He looked at Du Qian and said quietly, "When I succeed or fail in the future, I will tell Brother Shouyi what I have seen."

Du Qian nodded silently.

"It must be completely different from this world, right?"

"It just looks different."

Emperor Li smiled and said, "The inside is exactly the same."

Du Xiangong hummed in response, slightly lost in thought.

"Then there must be many people who are not doing well, right?"

(End of this chapter)