Borrow the day to change the day

The gate of the Forbidden City of Emperor Chongzhen was always open for Zhong Jinwei. As soon as the servant informed Zhongxing Hou to see him, Emperor Chongzhen would immediately stop what he was doing and send Zhong Jinwei to see him.

This time was no exception, Zhong Jinwei soon came to Wenhua Palace and met Emperor Chongzhen.

Zhong Jinwei first nodded to Wen Tiren, the chief minister of the cabinet, and then looked at Emperor Chongzhen who was waiting for him to speak: "I found something in my home, and I came here to report to His Majesty."

"Oh, what is it?" Emperor Chongzhen asked a little curiously.Zhong Jinwei came to see him, obviously this thing should be quite special.

Zhong Jinwei pulled out the rolled newspaper from his sleeve, and presented it with both hands: "My family bought a few newspapers on the street, and they were not the "Ming Pao" issued by the state-owned enterprises by the imperial court. The most important thing is that there is no imperial court-issued newspaper Issue number."

Seeing Zhong Jinwei's movements, the servant on one side went over to take the roll of newspaper and passed it to the imperial court.

"Oh, what does Master Zhong mean?" Emperor Chongzhen didn't expect it to be a newspaper, he asked Zhong Jinwei a little strangely.

Zhong Jinwei frowned slightly, feeling that Emperor Chongzhen didn't seem to be insensitive to this.He turned his head to look at Wen Tiren, who was standing by the side, and found that his face also seemed to be a little fussy.

Therefore, Zhong Jinwei said solemnly: "Your Majesty, I still don't know whether these illegally published newspapers were only published in the capital, or they also learned from "Ming Pao" and distributed to the whole country? If they are distributed nationwide, this matter will be serious. !"

Emperor Chongzhen heard what Zhong Jinwei said so seriously, so he lowered his head and turned over the newspaper to check what it was about.

As soon as Wen Tiren heard it, because he couldn't see the newspaper, he asked Zhong Jinwei directly: "Marquis Zhongxing, but there are slanderous attacks on the government in the newspaper?"

Zhong Jinwei turned his head to look at Wen Tiren when he heard the words, shook his head and replied, "It seems not."

After hearing this, Wen Tiren shook his head, but he didn't say anything.

When Emperor Chongzhen was flipping through the newspaper, he heard the conversation between Zhong Jinwei and Wen Tiren.After listening to the conversation, he had almost flipped through the pages, so he closed the newspaper directly, then raised his head and asked Zhong Jinwei: "Master Zhong, since there are no problems in these newspapers, why are you making such a fuss?"

After all, in the Ming Dynasty, as long as they were not anonymous, big-character posters were posted casually. It is understandable that Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Tiren didn't pay much attention to them.

Zhong Jinwei saw that they were all so disapproving, so his face became serious, and he said solemnly again: "Your Majesty, if there is no such newspaper, it does not mean that there will be no future. If the newspapers are not regulated when they first come out, after the people of Daming get used to these newspapers, they will not be published again." It’s hard to regulate.”

When he said this, he asked Emperor Chongzhen, "I don't know if Your Majesty remembers that when I proposed to publish a newspaper, I said that the newspaper should be under the supervision of the imperial court?"

When Zhong Jinwei said this, Emperor Chongzhen remembered it, and he smiled and said: "Remember, Master Zhong said that he wants to control public opinion and guide it well, is that so?"

"That's right!" Zhong Jinwei raised his voice slightly, first affirming something, and then said: "Your Majesty, you must not underestimate the power of the newspaper! Isn't the Nanjing civil uprising caused by those students controlling public opinion?" Isn’t the Denglaiming Army’s deeds of resisting captives also publicized by newspapers? Now all the policies of the imperial court are also communicated to the people by newspapers. If the role of newspapers is underestimated, the consequences may be disastrous.”

Although Zhong Jinwei exaggerated a bit, he was right to emphasize the power of newspapers.

Emperor Chongzhen stopped smiling when he heard Zhong Jinwei speak so seriously, and with these examples he cited, his attitude became more cautious. He asked Zhong Jinwei, "Why did Master Zhong say it might be catastrophic?"

"Because the newspaper may become a tool for party struggle!" Zhong Jinwei's answer was so loud that Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Tiren were shocked when they heard it.

Before Zhong Jinwei came to Daming, both Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Tiren suffered from party struggles, and knew that party struggles would bring great harm to Ming Dynasty.

"Your Majesty, the news must be regulated. In Chen's hometown, no matter which country, no matter how free it thinks it is, the news is regulated." Zhong Jinwei emphasized again.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded and praised: "Thanks to Master Zhong's reminder, we were able to discover it in time and prevent it from happening."

He knew in his heart that as long as the court fell into party struggle again, no matter how good the current situation was, it would be destroyed.

"Actually, my original idea was to bring all publications, including poetry collections, editorials, etc., under the supervision of the court. However, I estimated that if this policy were to be implemented, it would be opposed by the ruling and opposition parties. Therefore, I didn't say anything. It is said that newspapers should be supervised. After all, this newspaper is a new thing, and if it is done at the beginning, the voice of opposition will be relatively small.”

Zhong Jinwei's words made Emperor Chongzhen and Wen Tiren relatively speechless. If he really wanted to do this, the officials in the court would probably object first.Because officials are all literati, literati all like to publish poetry collections and books.

Wen Tiren thought for a while, and said to Zhong Jinwei: "Marquis Zhongxing, in fact, this matter should not be as serious as you said. If there is something inappropriate in the newspaper, it is okay to seal it up at that time."

When Zhong Jinwei heard this, he immediately shook his head and said, "No, as His Majesty said just now, we must guard against the passing of time. If the matter is done, the bad influence will already be formed. If it is to be seized again, it will be a remedy after a dead sheep, not the best measure."

Emperor Chongzhen nodded again and again, and he asked Zhong Jinwei: "Then how should this matter be handled?"

On the way here, Zhong Jinwei had already thought about what to do, and he immediately replied to Emperor Chongzhen: "I have thought about four things. First, the newspaper must be guaranteed by someone with high morals and prestige before the application is allowed."

"Second, it is necessary to explain what kind of content the newspaper publishes. Only after the review is passed, can the newspaper be allowed to operate."

"Third, if something happens to the newspaper, the guarantor should be held accountable and given a heavier punishment, which can be monetary or even sentencing."

"Fourth, national newspapers must be approved by the court, and local newspapers can be reviewed by the local government and reported to the court for record."

After listening to Zhong Jinwei's four points, Wen Tiren said again: "Marquis Zhongxing, are you being too strict?"

Zhong Jinwei looked at Wen Tiren, shook his head and said, "Master Wen, it's easy to change from strict to loose, and difficult to change from loose to strict. And I think whether strict or not strict depends mainly on the management of newspaper content. For example, newspapers that comment on current affairs can With strict management, only "Ming Pao" can publish this kind of newspaper; and that kind of academic newspapers, that is, various newspapers of physics, chemistry, medicine, etc., can relax the conditions and allow them to publish more. After all, It’s still public opinion.”

Emperor Chongzhen had already made up his mind, and said to Wen Tiren: "Wen Qing, follow Master Zhong's instructions on this matter, make a regulation, and hand it over to the Ministry of Rites for implementation!"

"Yes, Your Majesty." Wen Tiren no longer had any objections, and directly accepted the order.

Emperor Chongzhen nodded. Forget about it. He turned to Zhong Jinwei and said, "Master Zhong, you came just in time. The governor of the three sides, Hong Chengchou, has a memorial. Come and see it."