Zhu Yuanzhang Returns from Modern Times

Chapter 75 Hey, you are really good at judging people!

“Are you Luo Guanzhong?”

Inside the Wuying Hall, Zhu Yuanzhang put down the red brush in his hand, looked at the person in front of him who saluted him and asked.

There was a lot of curiosity in his eyes.

What Zhu Yuanzhang asked was typical nonsense. If it weren't for Luo Guanzhong, he wouldn't have been brought to his presence at this time.

But he still asked this nonsense.

The reason is simple: Luo Guanzhong is too famous in modern times!

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has made countless people familiar with the history of the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period.

It also makes the Three Kingdoms theme enduring.

Whether it is a TV series, a movie, or a game, the density of memes on the Internet is far ahead of other dynasties.

During the Three Kingdoms period, many people spoke of a prefect of a border county, a minor general of a border county, or even a defeated general who was not even a minor figure among the Yellow Turbans, and they talked about him in a very logical way.

Some people can tell you all about their ancestral origins.

But in other dynasties, their civil and military officials could easily surpass theirs in many aspects such as status and military exploits. In terms of popularity, they could not even catch up.

For example, among the six founding dukes of the Ming Dynasty, except for Xu Da and Li Shanchang, the others are not comparable in popularity to the eighteen princes of the late Han Dynasty.

Even when he read the original version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms in modern times, he was amazed more than once.

The characters are so well-developed and so vivid.

So at this time, it was perfectly normal for Zhu Yuanzhang to have such a reaction when he saw the living Luo Guanzhong.

When Luo Guanzhong heard this, his heart skipped a beat and he thought to himself that something was wrong.

Zhu Yuanzhang called me here, it turned out that he had no good intentions!

He came here with the attitude of looking for trouble.

Otherwise, why would he ask me this question just after I told him my name was Luo Guanzhong?
Zhu Yuanzhang was indeed narrow-minded and was still brooding over what happened in the past. He was just like Cao Cao.

No, he is even more narrow-minded than Cao Cao!

"Your Majesty, I am Luo Guanzhong."

Suppressing his uneasiness, Luo Guanzhong answered carefully.

"Haha, it really is Mr. Guanzhong in person! Mr. Guanzhong, please raise your head and let us take a good look!"

In his previous life, Zhu Yuanzhang disliked Luo Guanzhong because of his experience in assisting Zhang Shicheng and his subsequent publication of Water Margin.

Therefore, although I knew the name of Luo Guanzhong, I had never met him in person.

Meeting at this time, I was naturally curious about what Luo Guanzhong, who wrote the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, looked like.

Zhu Yuanzhang's sudden change of attitude stunned Luo Guanzhong, who kept wondering how Zhu Hongwu would kill him.

Zhu Hongwu actually laughed? And he even called himself Mr. Guanzhong?

That would be fine, but what's the matter with asking yourself to lift your head up so you can see what you look like?

No... I have never heard that Zhu Yuanzhang had any special hobbies before!
I have to say, as a novelist, he is able to make random associations.

Luo Guanzhong took a deep breath, mustered up his courage, raised his head, squinted his eyes and looked hard at Zhu Yuanzhang, trying to see clearly what Zhu Yuanzhang looked like.

It will also help me accumulate more materials for writing about the Three Kingdoms in the future.

This time, it was Zhu Yuanzhang's turn to be stunned.

The reason was simple: Luo Guanzhong's appearance was far beyond his expectations.

Because of the filter that comes with the book Romance of the Three Kingdoms, he feels that Luo Guanzhong, who was able to write this book, may not be a handsome middle-aged man like Liu Bowen, but at least he would not be too bad.

But who would have thought that he was such an ordinary person, or rather, not even ordinary.

Because his narrowed eyes are so eye-catching.

This... Could it be that Lao Luo wrote Guan Gong's eyes slightly narrowed before he got angry and used his big move, and he wrote it based on his own image?
When he thought of this, Zhu Yuanzhang suddenly felt that something was about to collapse.

All the words that were about to be spoken came out at once.

"Give Mr. Guanzhong a seat."

Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed some strange emotions in his heart and gave orders.

Immediately, a eunuch brought a brocade stool for Luo Guanzhong to sit on.

Luo Guanzhong was dizzy because of Zhu Yuanzhang's action. He could not refuse, so he had to carefully put half of his butt on the brocade platform.

Don’t think that before this, when he mentioned Zhu Yuanzhang, he always called him Zhu Hongwu, and it seemed that he looked down on Zhu Yuanzhang.

But when I really saw Zhu Yuanzhang and stood face to face with him, all those things disappeared.

Even though Zhu Yuanzhang treated him very kindly, he was still extremely reserved.

Are you kidding? How many people can face Zhu Yuanzhang calmly?
"Mr. Guanzhong is writing the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, right? It's really good."

Seeing that Luo Guanzhong was too nervous, Zhu Yuanzhang took the initiative to bring up the topic and talked about Luo Guanzhong's expertise in creation.

Isn't that nonsense? This is my own meticulous creation, how could it be bad?
Sure enough, when talking about Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Luo Guanzhong immediately became excited.

After meeting Zhu Yuanzhang, their dizzy minds were cleared up by Zhu Yuanzhang's series of unconventional actions.

"It's just a few random words, unsightly, and unworthy of your praise, Your Majesty."

Luo Guanzhong said this with great humility.

However, Zhu Yuanzhang could see the uncontrollable pride hidden in Luo Guanzhong's humility.

"Mr. Guanzhong is too modest. If you just write a few random words, the rest of your novel will only be fit to be used as toilet paper."

Zhu Yuanzhang was not specifically praising Luo Guanzhong. His words came from the heart and were his true opinion.

The emperor has a good eye! He has a keen eye for talent!

It turns out that Zhu Yuanzhang was not that annoying after all.

Luo Guanzhong's mood improved overall.

"However, there are some flaws in your Three Kingdoms."

Upon hearing this, Luo Guanzhong immediately withdrew his praise for Zhu Yuanzhang.

A mere emperor, who just started studying halfway through his life, dares to give him orders?
"I am a humble person with limited knowledge and experience, so it is inevitable that I may not have considered things carefully. I don't know where I made the mistake.

Please point it out, Your Majesty, so that I can make corrections."

Although he said this, he was actually waiting to see how the emperor would say something ridiculous to point out his mistakes.

"Guan Yu rode alone for a thousand miles from Xudu to Jizhou to find his brother Liu Bei.

You just need to go north from Xudu, pass through Chenliu County and Dong County, and you can reach Baima directly and cross the Yellow River from here.

But you wrote that he ran west from Xudu all the way to Luoyang, then turned northeast from Luoyang, made a big circle and ran to Baimadu River.

This distance is enough for him to travel north two or three times.

Is he in a hurry to see his brother, or is he deliberately taking a detour on his road trip?

Also, when the eighteen princes were fighting against Dong Zhuo and Dong Zhuo was moving the capital to Chang'an, he passed through Xingyang on the way. Li Ru suggested that Xu Rong set an ambush there, and almost all of Cao Cao's troops were wiped out.

There is no problem with the plot.

But the key point is that Xingyang is to the east of Luoyang, and Chang'an is to the west of Luoyang.

Dong Zhuo moved the capital to Chang'an, so how did he end up east of Luoyang?

The plot of the Three Kingdoms is very exciting, but there are many geographical errors.

It would be fine if he didn't know the geographical location, but Zhu Yuanzhang traveled around begging for food in the early days and later fought wars everywhere, so he knew the location of each place very well.

This made him feel extremely uncomfortable when watching Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

But there is no way to change it.

Now that he has finally found a living author, how can he not criticize him?
Luo Guanzhong, who was originally very confident and felt that there was no way he could be wrong, looked embarrassed.

“That… Your Majesty, you are right. This is indeed my negligence.

But...but what I wrote is a novel after all, not real history, so the main thing to watch is the plot.

The route and other things are secondary. The main purpose is to arrange the battles and defeat the generals..."

He tried to justify himself.

"This isn't a minor issue! Details are crucial. Please correct them when you get back! No more mistakes in geography!"

Luo Guanzhong was so frightened that he trembled and knelt down before Zhu Yuanzhang.

"Change, change, I will definitely change!"

But I was confused. Wasn't it just a small geographical mistake?
Is it really necessary for Emperor Zhu to do this?
Why are you yelling so loudly?
Zhu Yuanzhang was in a good mood after he scolded the author who made him unhappy in person and got the other party's promise to change the parts that made him uncomfortable.

For a moment, I felt refreshed.

As a result, there was a clear difference in attitude towards Luo Guanzhong.

Let Luo Guanzhong not kneel, sit back on the brocade platform and continue talking.

"Mr. Liu has told you everything, right?"

"Your Majesty, I have said everything."

"Don't be suspicious. Everything Mr. Liu said is true. We asked Mr. Liu to call you here because we are planning to publish your teacher's Water Margin and your Romance of the Three Kingdoms."

Zhu Yuanzhang revealed the truth to Luo Guanzhong, giving him a shot of confidence.

After hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's personal admission, Luo Guanzhong was surprised and delighted, and his heart, which had been hanging in the air, instantly settled down.

You bet right!
I really made the right bet!
I was finally able to explain to the teacher. I finally did not let the teacher down and did not let the teacher’s hard work go to waste!

He didn't know how much suffering he had endured over the years because of this incident.

I even fell into despair at one point, thinking that I would never be able to fulfill my teacher's last wish in this lifetime.

If it were anything else, it would be easy to deal with, but the book Water Margin was banned by His Majesty, the founding emperor.

He was just a novelist, how could he go against the emperor?
Who would have thought that in such an unexpected turn of events, the emperor actually took the initiative to publish this!

The huge stone that was weighing on his heart was finally removed. He felt relaxed all over, but at the same time, he couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat and tears in his eyes.

I tried to hold it back for a while, but in the end I couldn't hold it back and burst into tears.

This made Zhu Yuanzhang sigh that the person who wrote the novel was very emotional.

"Your Majesty, if you give me any orders from now on, I will obey them without hesitation!
Even if I have to climb mountains of swords or plunge into seas of fire, I will never blink an eye!"

After a moment, Luo Guanzhong, trying hard to hold back his tears, bowed to Zhu Yuanzhang again with a firm tone.

He knew that nothing in the world comes for free.

The emperor in front of him was not a magnanimous person at all.

On the contrary, Zhu Yuanzhang's stinginess was well-known in the Jiangnan area, especially among those with a certain social status.

This is especially obvious when compared with Zhang Shicheng.

Not to mention, the other party had specifically banned Water Margin.

Under such circumstances, he suddenly took such an action, which showed that Zhu Yuanzhang must have some plans for him!
Moreover, the plan is very grand!

But so what?

As long as the teacher's Water Margin can be published and circulated openly throughout the world, everything will be fine.

Let him pay any price!
"Why would we ask you to go through fire and water? Not only will we not let you do these things, we will also give you an official position!"

Luo Guanzhong was stunned.

He had already made up his mind to agree to any excessive conditions proposed by the emperor and to carry them out without any discounts, but his mind was completely confused and he couldn't come to his senses for a while.

This was completely different from what he had imagined! The emperor was helping him fulfill his long-cherished wish, not only without any special or excessive demands, but he was also offering him an official title?

Am I stupid, or is the emperor stupid?
Is the emperor such a kind person?
This matter...why is it so weird and shrouded in mystery that it's impossible to see clearly?
Even though he had a strong ability to think divergently when writing novels, in other words, he was good at making random associations, Luo Guanzhong was completely confused at this time.

Zhu Yuanzhang's completely unconventional approach could not be dealt with.

"Your Majesty, I'm just a novelist. Apart from writing novels, I can't do anything else. This... sudden appointment to an official position, I'm afraid I can't handle it, and I might even cause trouble for Your Majesty."

Unable to figure out what Zhu Yuanzhang was trying to do, Luo Guanzhong simply stopped thinking about it and continued speaking according to what Zhu Yuanzhang said.

Anyway, after what happened today, he no longer had to think about it. From now on, he just had to work hard for Zhu Yuanzhang.

Do whatever he tells you to do.

"Don't be so modest. I've heard of your talents. Otherwise, how could you be Zhang Shicheng's staff?"

"Zhang Shicheng was destroyed by Your Majesty. Doesn't this further prove that I am incompetent and unfit for official duties?"

"Haha, you're right to say that, but Zhang Shicheng is just not ambitious enough. He just achieved some success, but he was dazzled by the world and started to enjoy himself wantonly.

Lack of ambition and short-sightedness.

With a person like him, let alone having people like you assisting him, even if we replace the civil and military officials under our command with his, Zhang Jiusi will still not be able to achieve anything!
The incompetence of the leader cannot be shifted to the people below...

Besides, we gave you the position because we valued your ability to write novels."

Zhu Yuanzhang's previous words made Luo Guanzhong nod secretly.

I think what Zhu Yuanzhang said is very pertinent.

As someone who had been with Zhang Shicheng for quite some time, he had only been in contact with Emperor Zhu for a short time when he had already clearly felt the huge gap between Zhang Shicheng and Emperor Zhu.

It is not hindsight, but success or failure determines who is the hero.

But compared with Zhu Yuanzhang, Zhang Shicheng really cannot compare with him in many aspects, such as breadth of mind, courage, pattern and skills.

He also believed what Zhu Yuanzhang said that if they swapped their civil and military personnel, he would still be able to defeat Zhang Shicheng.

But when he heard Zhu Yuanzhang change the subject and say that he wanted to give him an official position because he was impressed by his ability to write novels, he was stunned again.

I have never heard of an official who specializes in writing novels.

Moreover, it is a shame to say that in today's social atmosphere, writing novels is not a very good profession.

No serious scholar would do this.

This can be well proven by the fact that his prices have been declining since he started writing novels, to the point that he would have to bargain for half a day over a bowl of dumplings that cost five cents.

But now, he suddenly heard this news from the emperor. How could he not be surprised?

Could it be that... the emperor thought the novels he wrote were good, and was planning to use an official position to keep him by his side, so that he could write novels specifically for him according to his opinions in the future?
When this thought came to his mind, Luo Guanzhong suddenly felt that he might have hit upon the idea.

This is not difficult for him.

The only thing he was worried about was that if he wrote too slowly or stopped at some critical moment, given the current emperor's temper, he might hit him.

Or, you can lock yourself in a small dark room and not come out until you can write a certain number of words a day.

These concerns are not without reason, as Emperor Zhu is definitely capable of doing such a thing.

"We plan to establish the Daming Daily and let you be the editor-in-chief, specifically responsible for this matter."

Zhu Yuanzhang revealed his true intentions.

Having lived in modern times for so many years, he knows only too well how important public opinion is.

If we don’t occupy the position of public opinion, the enemy will.

When Zhu Yuanzhang first read this sentence, combined with the various situations in the Ming Dynasty, he was deeply touched.

For this reason, on the third day after returning in the eighth year of Hongwu, when he met Liu Bowen, he asked Liu Bowen about Luo Guanzhong's news.

He offered conditions that Luo Guanzhong could not refuse and lured him over.

What they are doing is controlling public opinion.

In modern times, he has seen various social media and means of public opinion dissemination.

Many of them are very clever and efficient.

But unfortunately, the Internet, which made Zhu Yuanzhang marvel at the power of immortals when he first came into contact with it, is undoubtedly a pipe dream for Zhu Yuanzhang today to replicate it in the Ming Dynasty.

Zhu Yuanzhang himself was a pragmatic person.

Therefore, after secretly drooling over the Internet, Zhu Yuanzhang immediately decided to establish a newspaper to serve as the emperor's mouthpiece, in order to expand the emperor's or the central court's voice and influence across the country.

Even if you can’t touch the Internet, you can still touch the newspaper.

Before the rise of the Internet, even with the emergence of radio and television, it was still difficult to shake the status of paper newspapers.

Therefore, newspapers still have a lot of potential and a long life cycle.

Speaking of which, he was the emperor of the Ming Dynasty, and the founding emperor. It seems that he had a lot of say and a great influence on public opinion.

In one sense, this is true, but in another sense, it is not.

As the founding emperor who achieved great unification, he conquered the country by himself and led his people, rather than inheriting it from anyone else.

This naturally determined his power and influence.

However, when it comes to influencing public opinion, it still fails.

Nowadays, it is the numerous scholars who truly control public opinion.

In other words, many dynasties ago, those who truly controlled public opinion were generally scholars.

Why did he kill Gao Qi so resolutely last year?
Is it just because this guy is Zhang Shicheng's old subordinate?

Just because I wanted to give him a high official position, this guy refused and insisted on returning to his hometown to teach, not even giving me, the emperor, a good face?
Is it just because he wrote an article "Raising the Beam" when he restored the Suzhou Prefecture government building on Zhang Shicheng's old palace?
These are all superficial reasons. The real reason is that Gao Qi, a very famous person in the literary world, did not teach honestly after returning to his hometown.

Instead, he and a group of scholars from Jiangnan were pointing fingers at the government affairs.

No matter what policies the court implemented, these people were full of sarcasm, ridicule and cold remarks.

Criticizing the court's policies is worthless.

It just so happens that these people are very famous and have a great influence in Jiangnan.

It seriously affected the implementation of the court's policies.

He had no other choice but to find an excuse and, regardless of the uproar and shock among the scholars, arrested Gao Qi and beheaded him to silence him.

At the same time, it is also a warning to others to make them shut up and stop complaining.

At the very least, don't complain about state affairs.

Zhu Yuanzhang also knew that although killing Gao Qi would be a relief, it was only a temporary solution and could only provide a temporary solution.

It won’t be long before those people return to their old ways or even launch a counterattack.

In fact, whether it was the crazy counterattack of the literati who were suppressed by him after his death, or the fact that his Ming Dynasty actually became a world controlled by literati later, it proved that his worries were correct.

But in my previous life, although I was worried about it, I had no way to break the deadlock.

Because in fact, public opinion is controlled by these people.

Even in the court, there are many of them.

Even if it was me, I could only use drastic measures to suppress it...

But now it’s different. I have returned from the modern era and my horizons have been greatly broadened.

Of course there are ways to deal with them.

Creating a newspaper is a very good way to allow the court's voice to reach the people more deeply and compete for the position of public opinion.

And having Luo Guanzhong come here would naturally be of great use.

In modern times, he has fully realized how important long-running serial novels are in increasing the popularity and sales of newspapers!

So at this time, what could be more appropriate than bringing Luo Guanzhong over?

Luo Guanzhong not only had The Water Margin in his hands, but was also in the process of writing The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Half of the four great classics are collected!
With these two books as a foundation and himself as the emperor backing him up, Zhu Yuanzhang still had great confidence in the future success of the Ming Daily.

Even though both Water Margin and Romance of the Three Kingdoms have been serialized, there is no need to worry.

Firstly, with these two classic works as a foundation, by that time, the Daming Daily had already gained fame.

Secondly...isn’t there Luo Guanzhong, who is good at writing novels?

In addition to what he had thought of before, he told Luo Guanzhong the idea of ​​Investiture of the Gods and asked Luo Guanzhong to start writing.

Zhu Yuanzhang thought that he could also tell Luo Guanzhong about the idea of ​​Journey to the West and let Luo Guanzhong write it.

Maybe the two of them, master and disciple, can take on the new four great classics.

Of course, if these two works were completed, Luo Guanzhong would still be able to start writing, and it would not be impossible to tell him the idea of ​​Jin Ping Mei.

However, because Water Margin was written by his teacher, I am afraid Luo Guanzhong would not accept this idea.

Of course, it is not impossible that someone may not accept it on the surface, but still write according to the idea in private and then publish it under a different pen name.

Because as far as he knew, most novel writing was not very serious.

If Luo Guanzhong really did such a thing in private, Zhu Yuanzhang would not be surprised at all.

In addition to these, you can also tell him some stories like The Legend of the Condor Heroes and The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber, and let him modify them and localize them for the Ming Dynasty.

According to Luo Guanzhong's skill, I think it will be a different experience...

Da Ming Daily? What is this?
The government had official gazettes, which had been passed down through many dynasties, so Luo Guanzhong naturally knew about them.

Since we already have the official gazette, why do we need this Daming Daily?
Isn't this a bit repetitive?

As if he could see that Luo Guanzhong was confused, Zhu Yuanzhang started to explain to him before Luo Guanzhong could ask.

"The Daming Daily is different from traditional court reports. It can be divided into several different sections. For example, one section can publish personnel changes in the Daming Dynasty, some memorials that can be made public, and the major policies of the Daming Dynasty.

Part of it is used to report on people's livelihood, and part of it is used for people to contribute articles and write poems and songs.

We are also planning to reserve a special section for you to publish and serialize your teacher's Water Margin, as well as your novel..."

Luo Guanzhong, who was originally preparing to offer some suggestions and ask the emperor to be cautious and think more about this matter, immediately bowed deeply to Zhu Yuanzhang after hearing Zhu Yuanzhang's last words, and shouted "Your Majesty is wise."

"When you serialize your novels in the daily newspapers in the future, you must be careful to end each time at a cliffhanger, so that people will feel itchy and uncomfortable if they don't read the rest."

Zhu Yuanzhang spoke out to Luo Guanzhong to give him instructions.

As he said this, a somewhat perverted smile appeared on his face.

It’s time to let the people of the Ming Dynasty experience the power of the method of breaking up chapters!
He couldn't be the only one who experienced this kind of pain.

Luo Guanzhong was stunned, and his eyes changed when he looked at Zhu Yuanzhang.

Your Majesty, why are you so proficient in these things?

However, this suggestion is really good.

In fact, he had originally planned to do so, and hearing the emperor's words, his confidence was strengthened...

From now on, the days of countless Ming Dynasty people chasing novels and enjoying the blissful pleasures of heaven and hell began under the personal guidance of the Hongwu Emperor, who, having been caught in the rain in modern times, would tear up other people's umbrellas...

……

In Fengyang, a carrier pigeon fluttered its wings and landed.

The person guarding the side did not dare to delay and immediately took the small and exquisite mailbox from the pigeon's leg.

He reached out and gently stroked the pigeon twice, as if to praise it.

Then he put the pigeon into a cage and fed it with a handful of millet.

After doing all this, he hurried towards Li Shanchang's residence...

(End of this chapter)