My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 114: Accidentally Plagiarized (Update)
"Su Hanlin, please stay."

Zhang Hong called Su Ze and then took out another Dongzhu and said:
"Your Highness, the Crown Prince heard that Su Hanlin was engaged. This is the Dongzhu that the Crown Prince took from the Imperial Concubine's palace."

Su Ze looked at the huge Dongzhu. Could it be a gift from the emperor to Concubine Li?

Fat Jun, you are so filial.

But since it was a gift from a student to a teacher, Su Ze simply declined it and then accepted it calmly.

Seeing this scene, Huang Ji, who went out with him, looked gloomy.

But after Su Ze walked away, Zhang Hong came close to Huang Ji again.

"Huang Hanlin, this is a gift from His Highness."

Huang Ji saw Zhang Hong take out a sachet. This sachet was just an ordinary royal utensil and could not be compared with the Dongzhu given to Su Ze.

But this is the crown prince's personal belonging after all, and Huang Ji still looks excited.

Zhang Hong continued:

"The Crown Prince felt that Huang Hanlin's speech today was good, and he hoped that you could continue to do well."

Well said?

Huang Ji was even more excited! The Crown Prince recognized me!
The depression of losing the debate with Su Ze just now was swept away! He even subconsciously forgot that the Crown Prince gave him an ordinary sachet, while the one given to Su Ze was the priceless winter pearl.

In fact, Huang Ji didn't know that the reason why Zhu Yijun gave him the sachet was because he saw him jump out to challenge Su Ze today.

Although Huang Ji lost, he at least livened up the atmosphere of the imperial lecture and satisfied Zhu Yijun's need to watch the fun.

If there were no Huang Ji, wouldn't the imperial lectures be as boring as daily lectures?

So this time Zhu Yijun also gave Huang Ji a gift.

Huang Ji thought that the Crown Prince appreciated his talent. He held up the sachet and knelt in the direction of the East Palace, wishing he could die to repay the Crown Prince.
-
Su Ze didn't care about the trivial struggles in the Eastern Palace. He returned home and asked Xu Wei to add Dongzhu to the list of betrothal gifts.

The Zhao family in Neijiang is a large family. The more betrothal gifts Su Zejia brings, the more dowry the Zhao family has to prepare.

In order to avoid being accused of selling their daughter, the Zhao family even had to prepare a dowry that was larger than the betrothal gift.

Add a royal winter pearl that cannot be sold, and you can get back more dowry and make a lot of money!
At this time, with Tu Zemin's arrival in Denglai, the court officially issued the document opening the port of Denglai, and the settlement report popped up in the system.

The "Petition to Open Denglai to Trade" was implemented, and Tu Zemin was ordered to open ports in Denglai and trade with all nations.

[Trade brought a large amount of silver to the Ming Dynasty, and silver coins minted by the Denglai Mint began to circulate.]

[The circulation of currency provided the basis for tax reform, and the Ming Dynasty subsequently began tax reform by replacing silver with grain.]

[A few decades later, all silver flows into China were cut off, and severe deflation occurred.]

[The Ming Dynasty's finances eventually collapsed.]

[Ming Dynasty +10]

Ming Dynasty: 95 years

The country’s life was extended by ten years!

However, at the end of this settlement report, it was also stated that if the silver-based monetary policy relied solely on imported silver, it would still be too unstable.

Historically, at the end of the Ming Dynasty, the three silver trade routes into China, from Japan, Spain and Portugal, were all cut off. Severe deflation occurred in the late Ming Dynasty, which was also an important external cause of the financial bankruptcy of the Chongzhen Dynasty.

It can only be said that using silver as currency is a temporary measure.

The reason is that China is a silver-poor country, but there is too much silver in the world.

This monetary policy that is extremely dependent on external output is extremely unsafe.

The best way is to issue paper credit currency based on gold.

However, the credit of Ming Dynasty's paper currency had been destroyed by Baochao. Not only the common people, but even the bureaucrats of the administrative agencies were unwilling to accept paper currency.

Su Ze sighed and decided to take a long-term view. He would first use silver to solve the problem of insufficient currency. After the commodity economy continued to develop, he would reform the credit currency and gradually decouple it from silver.

This is the only solution Su Ze can think of to solve the monetary and financial problems of the Ming Dynasty.
-
November 3rd, Jingzhou.

Shen Shixing sat behind the desk, exhausted both physically and mentally, writing a letter to Su Ze.

Recalling the face-to-face conflict between the Chief Envoy to Liao, Hong Chaoxuan, and the Deputy Envoy, Shi Duchen, in court yesterday, Shen Shixing was filled with worry.

Shen Shixing and his group arrived in Jingzhou just yesterday. After arriving in Jingzhou, they should have interrogated the King of Liao and then quickly sent the case to the capital for the emperor to arbitrate.

Shen Shixing also thought so at first.

But when they arrived in Jingzhou, Hong Chaoxuan did not interrogate the King of Liao, but instead convened a meeting of the entire Liao investigation delegation.

At this meeting, Hong Chaoxuan set the tone:

"The King of Liao is a relative of the Ming Dynasty and should not be insulted lightly. We should first interrogate the other witnesses and then try the King of Liao."

As soon as this was said, the smart people in the delegation understood that Hong Chaoxuan was going to go easy on the King of Liao and was not going to dig deeper.

Many of the crimes impeached by the local people in Huguang were private prosecutions. It was difficult to obtain evidence during the trial of such cases, and it was time-consuming and ineffective. Moreover, if even the criminal King of Liao was not allowed to be touched, the case could not be advanced at all.

The fact that Hong Chao chose this sentence actually showed that he was biased towards the King of Liao.

As soon as Hong Chaoxuan finished speaking, Deputy Envoy Shi Duchen immediately jumped out to object.

"The crimes of the Liao King are known to everyone in Jingzhou. If we don't bring the Liao King to trial, how can we uncover the truth?"

"Before we set out, the elders held a public meeting, 'Restore justice to Jingchu, and do not tolerate the persecution of evil.' When Minister Hong arrived in Jingzhou and did not try the King of Liao, was he biased towards him?"

Shi Duchen's words completely broke off relations with Hong Chaoxuan.

As expected, Hong Chaoxuan said directly:
"The Prince of Liao is a relative of the clan, yet he hasn't even been found guilty, yet the cabinet has already labeled him a traitor. Distancing oneself doesn't mean alienating relatives. What is the cabinet's motive in doing this?"

Since the relationship had already fallen out, Hong Chaoxuan simply said:
"I'm afraid there's someone in the cabinet who's deliberately plotting to eliminate Liao Fan to avenge a personal vendetta!"

After saying this, Hong Chaoxuan turned away, leaving Shi Duchen so angry that his face turned pale.

Shen Shixing wrote about the dispute that happened yesterday in the letter, and then wrote about what happened today.

The news of the King of Dai's abolition of his fiefdom had also reached Jingzhou along with the diplomatic envoys, and changes had also taken place within the Liao king's vassal clan in Jingzhou.

Some of the high-ranking members of the Liao vassal state who had once accused the King of Liao no longer said anything.

They were also afraid that the King of Liao would be like the King of Dai, and that the imperial court would find a reason to eliminate the entire Liao vassal state, and then they would lose their status as senior royal family members of the Liao vassal state.

As high-ranking royal family members, they were treated quite well, and those who could not afford to eat were the lower-level royal family members.

If they followed the method of granting land according to their rank, even if they were allocated land, they would definitely not be able to live the same extravagant life as before.

These high-ranking clan leaders were also well aware that a large part of their extravagant lifestyle was achieved by relying on clan privileges and oppressing other lower-ranking clan members.

The accusers withdrew their complaints one after another, and even the family of the county lord who was raped by the Liao king was detained at home and refused to let her come out to testify. On the first day of the trial, the case reached a stalemate.

However, Hong Chaoxuan, the envoy to Liao, became excited and quickly asked these people to sign and withdraw the lawsuit.

After writing everything down, Shen Shixing became very anxious.

Since entering Huguang, he has heard a lot about the illegal acts of the King of Liao.

In fact, it was not just the King of Liao, the entire Liao vassal state could be said to be rotten to the core. The people of Jingzhou were tortured to death by the King of Liao's Mansion.

If the King of Liao escapes this time, we don't know when we will have the next opportunity to abolish the Liao vassal state.

Shen Shixing also understood why his teacher Zhang Juzheng was so obsessed with overthrowing the King of Liao. In addition to personal vendettas, it was also out of the public interest of the people of Jingzhou. The Liao Palace was really too inhumane!
Shen Shixing finished writing the letter with a worried look on his face, and asked his personal attendant to send it to the capital by express horse and deliver it to Su Ze.
-
November 11th, Imperial College.

Today is a day off, but Su Ze did not rest. Instead, he took the time to go to the Imperial College. At the invitation of Shen Li, he gave a small lecture to the tribute students of the Imperial College.

These tribute students were all talented students selected by Shen Li.

Su Ze taught some of his own techniques for the imperial examinations, and also disassembled his eight-part essay for the provincial examination on the spot.

The tribute students were all scholars who did not pass the imperial examination. They were taught by Su Ze, a second-class Jinshi who was also a lecturer in the Eastern Palace and a Hanlin. These tribute students listened very attentively.

Unlike Donggong's lectures, Su Ze's lectures this time were very conventional and covered the most basic things, even including methods to adjust one's mindset in the exam room.

But for these poor scholars, this is a very important lesson.

After Su Ze finished his lecture, he left some time for questions and answers, allowing the tribute students to ask questions. Everyone felt that they benefited a lot.

When the students dispersed, Shen Li, the director of the Imperial College, bowed to Su Ze and said:
"Thank you, Hanlin Su, for clearing up the confusion for the students."

Su Ze looked at Shen Li. He had a good impression of Shen Li, the director of the Imperial College.

Shen Li's family was considered a prominent family in the local area. He had a smooth journey in the imperial examinations and a prosperous career in the government.

Such a winner in life can still empathize with these poor tribute students and work hard for their future.

Su Ze was also persuaded by Shen Li. Knowing that it was not easy for these tribute students to pass the imperial examination, he sacrificed his rest time to give them lectures.

Shen Li said, "Brother Su, does your newspaper still need a reporter?"

"Those students have become tribute students for your newspaper, and their lives have improved a lot. Several more students have come to me and asked to help collect folk songs for the Yuefu New Newspaper."

After a few issues of "Yuefu Xinbao", it became popular in the capital.

This was naturally something Su Ze had anticipated when he first started the newspaper.

In this era of lack of entertainment, the attraction brought by newspapers is probably something that people in the new media era cannot understand.

But before Su Ze traveled through time, he had heard from his old colleagues in the department that in that era of material scarcity, everyone was scrambling to read the limited number of newspapers.

Not to mention the Ming Dynasty, and the "Yuefu Xinbao" was the only newspaper in the Ming Dynasty.

Also, because every time the "Yuefu Xinbao" was delivered to the yamen, it would cause a scramble among officials, and several yamen went to the newspaper office to request additional subscriptions.

In addition to newspapers, associations in various places also subscribe to newspapers through various means.

When it was first published, the first issue of "Yuefu Xinbao" had a circulation of 500 copies. In addition to those subscribed by major government offices, Su Ze also sold and gave away some of them.

By the time the last issue was published, the print run of Yuefu Xinbao had reached one thousand copies! Privately printed and pirated versions were even appearing on the market.

The reward Su Ze gave to these tribute students for their field research was a few extra newspapers. However, these newspapers were in short supply in the capital, and he could easily earn a month's living expenses by reselling them.

The student who worked as a folk song collector had tasted the sweetness, so he naturally came to Shen Li for help.

Su Ze smiled slightly and said:

"It's just to investigate the prices in the capital, so it doesn't require so many reporters."

Shen Li showed a sad look on his face, and Su Ze said again:

"Since they are folk song collectors, they can submit their works to the Yuefu New Newspaper."

"Submission?"

Su Ze nodded and said, "I plan to add one or two more pages, turn the column originally placed on the second page into an independent page, and expand 'Voice of the City' to add a section for city news."

Because the paper and ink used in Yuefu Xinbao were relatively cheap, it could only be printed on one side. The original newspaper was two large sheets of paper with four pages.

Su Ze wants to add two pages, which means adding another newspaper.

Shen Li asked, "So Brother Su is saying that this urban news should be written by the folklore collectors?"

Su Ze nodded and said, "This section is not difficult. All you need to do is collect some local news and people's discussions. Focus on 'new and unique' stories. No matter how small the story is, it will be fine."

What Su Ze envisioned was the "Story Club" of his previous life, to create some eye-catching urban anecdotes to increase the entertainment value of the newspaper.

Shen Li thought about it and felt that there should be no problem for these tribute students to do this, so he prepared to agree on their behalf.

Su Ze added, "I'll trouble Brother Shen to select and proofread these manuscripts."

Shen Li was stunned for a moment. He had just helped Su Ze write an eight-legged essay last time. He didn't expect Su Ze to be so demanding and ask him to do free labor again.

Shen Li smiled bitterly, but agreed for the sake of his students.

With the increase in sections, it became difficult for the newspaper office to handle the workload with just a few people.

So Su Ze carried out reforms in the newspaper, appointing an editor for each page to be responsible for the selection, typesetting and proofreading of the entire page.

Su Ze also freed himself from the miscellaneous tasks of the newspaper and was specifically responsible for the new fifth edition, which is the popular science page.

So Su Ze set his sights on Shen Li and asked him to be the editor of the second edition of "Voice of the City".

Shen Li was dragged onto the "pirate ship" by Su Ze. He asked curiously, "Brother Su, you said there would be two more versions. What is the other version?"

Su Ze smiled and said, "I discovered that the Yuefu New Newspaper published a lot of overseas events, but did not introduce the mountains and rivers of our Ming Dynasty."

"Read thousands of books, travel thousands of miles, and there are so many paintings of the country, how can I not describe it well?"

"So the sixth edition is called 'Mountains and Rivers Geography'. Su commissioned articles from various guilds in Beijing to introduce the mountains, rivers, geography, customs and people of various places."

Shen Li murmured, "Read ten thousand books, travel ten thousand miles, and you will find so many beautiful landscapes. What a great sentence! What a great sentence!"

Su Ze then realized that this sentence was said by Dong Qichang, a poet and painter in the Ming Dynasty. Now Dong Qichang has probably just passed the provincial examination, and he has inadvertently become a plagiarist.

Judging from Shen Li's expression, this news will soon spread throughout the capital.

Forget it, what time traveler doesn’t plagiarize? Su Ze soon felt at ease.

Just at this moment, a young man broke into the side room where the two were talking.

(End of this chapter)