The Ming Dynasty began from Sarhu

Chapter 793: Not afraid of cold wind, not afraid of dizziness

In the early morning hours, the streets of Shenyang were filled with the clatter of horse-drawn carriages, as convoys carrying grain, fodder, and weapons were bound for the Shanhaiguan front. Meanwhile, women holding lanterns formed long lines in front of department stores. The men had gone out to fight or maintain public order, leaving the task of scrambling to buy food, tea, and other daily necessities to the women.

The instructors painted notices such as "Sustain the People" on the walls overnight. When daybreak came, the white slogans on the walls were still not dry.

"The Ming Dynasty's rulers were incompetent and unkind. They favored eunuchs, emphasized imperial examinations, collected taxes lavishly, and imposed harsh punishments, failing to save the people from their suffering. They exhausted their troops day by day, plundered the people's property, raped the people's wives and daughters, and sucked their blood and skin..."

Qi Meng read the slogans on the wall while riding his horse slowly along the street. He had a pistol on his waist and wore a standard helmet on his head, looking very majestic.

When we arrived at the gate of Liaodong Newspaper Office, we saw the Marshal's Guard standing guard all around. The guards were holding rifles with fixed bayonets and wearing military helmets with tiger patterns engraved on them. Some special forces members in plain clothes were scattered around like a dark forest, keeping a close eye on the passers-by on the street.

"Evacuate everyone from the streets!"

Qi Meng waved his hand, and the special forces and guards retreated from the streets, leaving only five people around.
Pei Dahu, Kang Yingqian, Yuan Chonghuan, Zhang Chao, Sen Ti

These four people are Qi Meng's trusted ministers, responsible for all aspects of the Grand Marshal's government.

Kang Yingqian unfortunately suffered a stroke while drinking in Tieling last month. Now his left calf is out of control, he walks with a limp, and his mouth is crooked, with water leaking out from time to time. However, the Grand Marshal did not abandon him and still kept Old Kang by his side as a think tank.

At this time, Sen Ti and Zhang Chao supported Lao Kang on the left and right, walking on the bluestone road.

Sen Ti is thin, with sharp eyes and typical Cantonese looks. Zhang Chao is tall. He used to be a night watchman in Xuanfu, but now he is in charge of the Liaodong Special Service Team, which is equivalent to the chief of spies. He is wearing plain clothes and has a box gun holster hanging on his waist belt, which contains a new pistol from the arsenal.

The Grand Marshal dismounted, shook off the guard commander Pei Dahu who came forward to support him, took off his black leather gloves, pointed at the gilded plaque on the newspaper office, and said proudly:

"As the ancients said, rations and fodder go before the army moves. In today's wars, what's needed is newspapers before the army moves."

As he said this, he led the three of them into the newspaper office. The guard at the door immediately gave everyone a standard military salute, and Qi Meng nodded in return.

Kang Yingqian twisted his mouth—the wind on the horse caused the corner of his mouth to be crooked—and echoed with difficulty: "That's right...that's right. We must let the people of the world see the cruelty, corruption, and depravity of the Zhu Ming Dynasty! Victory belongs to...the Marshal's Office!"

After saying this, he placed his palm on his chest. Seeing this, Yuan Chonghuan and Zhang Chao also shouted slogans: "Victory belongs to the Marshal's Office!"

The Liaodong Newspaper Office is a large courtyard with six entrances. As you walk through the gate, you can smell the rich aroma of ink, hear the roar of printing machines, and hear workers covered in oil coming in and out. The building occupied by the Liaodong Newspaper Office was originally the residence of Xiong Tingbi, the governor of Liaodong. After Xiong Tingbi was imprisoned and sentenced to death, this place became the office of the Liaodong governor. Later, during the reign of the Grand Marshal, it was requisitioned and turned into a newspaper office.

The Liaodong Newspaper Agency did not have positions such as editor-in-chief and editor, but was entirely under military control.

When Qi Meng founded Liaodong Newspaper, he said, "Whoever controls the past controls the future, and whoever controls the future controls everything." Besides external output, internal control is equally important.

Although the literacy rate in Liaodong under the Marshal's Office had exceeded 39% (at one point reaching %), as a time traveler, Qi Meng knew very well that if the people were allowed to do as they pleased, the so-called "freedom", Liaodong would inevitably fall into chaos.

Once Liaodong falls into chaos, both the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty will take advantage of the situation and the people will be controlled and enslaved by these two evil forces.

Therefore, freedom means slavery.

Unlike the constitutional monarchy promoted by Zhu Youjian in the interior, Qi Meng must convince everyone that the Grand Marshal's system and policies are the only correct ones. All ideologies that differ from it cannot exist, and fighting them to the end is the only way to maintain peace in Liaodong.

Therefore, war is peace.

~~~~
Knowledge is power. The newspaper's own screw olive presses pressed the ink evenly onto the metal plates, making mass production of the newspaper possible and cheap enough.

The generalissimo said: “If you print 2000 copies of a book in Lushun, the captain of every merchant ship leaving the port can buy 5 copies.

These merchant ships and newspapers and periodicals carried the Marshal's institutional vision and will to power for the future world. Of course, they also published some serialized novels full of blue and blood-type styles. Sailors and merchants carried them to distant ports (mainly inland areas), and then local dealers resold them to inland readers, like viruses eroding the capillaries of the Ming Dynasty.

The people of the Ming Dynasty gathered in wine shops, brothels, teahouses and pleasure boats, spending a few copper coins to listen to storytellers telling news reported by Liaodong newspapers, covering everything from obscene scandals in the imperial palace to rebellions and wars on the border.

Regarding the death of Emperor Tianqi, Liaodong Newspaper is publishing a series, which will be published on the front page for the next six months. Through the novelist's writing style, it will expose to the world the heinous crimes of the tyrant Zhu Youjian, such as killing his brother, usurping power, and committing adultery with his queen.

Zhu Youjian strictly prohibited the publication of newspapers in Liaodong. Anyone who privately possessed or distributed them would be invited by the Embroidered Uniform Guard to "drink tea" (real tea, poured into the mouth over red-hot charcoal) once discovered.

The explosive growth of printing presses made newspaper production extremely cheap. The Ming court was unable to prevent the massive amount of smuggling and hoarding, and the Jinyiwei was exhausted.

The improvement and popularization of printing technology is the ultimate gift of the Grand Marshal and the greatest gift.

Liaodong's propaganda mouthpiece, Chief Instructor Mori Ti, believed that even illiterate peddlers could not resist the allure of palace secrets and wild obscenities. The more dangerous a book (or newspaper) was considered, the more common people wanted to read it. Therefore, whenever the Ming court published a list of banned books, booksellers in the interior knew what to print next.

The essence of publicity is to arouse people's curiosity.

Is the current Emperor Zhu Youjian actually Han Chinese? Did he abuse Empress Yi'an, Zhang Yan? Was there any fraud in the Ming parliamentary elections? How much wealth did the imperial family and officials possess? Was it all hidden in the Dutch Bank (with its Asian headquarters in Manila)? How many Ming officials from the interior of China smuggled themselves abroad each year, sending their sisters-in-law and their vast fortunes abroad, only to never return? Pick ten people on the streets of Beijing, and nine would likely be interested in these topics. The remaining uninterested person would likely be a member of the Imperial Guard.

(End of this chapter)