My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 53: Begging for Alms
For these scholars who are still preparing for the provincial examinations, what educational resources are the most valuable?

Famous teachers are certainly one thing, but in fact, what they lack more than those children from wealthy families is teaching supplementary books.

By the Longqing period, the imperial examination had spawned many industries related to the imperial examination. Among them, the teaching supplementary book industry was definitely the most prosperous cultural industry, without a doubt.

Bookstores across Jiangnan would compile some excellent eight-part essays into a book, named "Zhuangyuan Ce", and then invite so-called "famous teachers" to comment on it, using it as a teaching aid for scholars to study eight-part essays.

Su Ze's fellow townsman, the great writer Wang Shizhen, was an official in the capital at the time. A smart Suzhou bookseller paid him a large sum of money to write eight-part essays, which were then sent to Jiangnan as quickly as possible for printing and compilation. These books were sold out in Jiangnan.

Even a top scholar like Shen Shixing was offered a large sum of money to write for him, but most scholars who passed the imperial examination were unwilling to write these things for businessmen.

Su Ze said that he would publish the eight-part essays of the Hanlin Academy officials in the "Yuefu Xinbao", and the eyes of the tribute students present immediately lit up!

To be able to enter the Hanlin Academy, one must start as a Shujishi!
They are all poor students, and they are lucky enough to have enough food and clothing, let alone buy teaching supplementary books.

Moreover, there are a lot of mixed books on the market, and it is difficult to distinguish between pirated and genuine books. If you accidentally buy the wrong book and learn from a pirated book fabricated by a failed scholar, your life will be ruined if you learn eight-legged essay according to that book.

Apart from anything else, at least within the Imperial College, the Yuefu New Newspaper was a hot seller!
Zhang Chun, the leader, didn't care whether Su Ze was treacherous or not, and said directly:
"I'd like to collect folk songs for Yuefu Xinbao!"

Hearing Zhang Chun taking the lead, the tribute students present nodded in agreement.

Shen Li touched his beard. He didn't expect that Su Ze could use such a method to make his students work for him.

But thinking that if the eight-legged essays of the Hanlin Academy officials were really published in the "Yuefu Xinbao", it would also provide a way out for those poor scholars who could not afford teaching supplementary books, Shen Li felt a sense of sympathy for Su Ze again.
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Coming out of the Hanlin Academy, Shen Yi Guan was greatly impressed by Su Ze's ability to turn things around. He quickly asked:
"Brother Zilin, where are we going next?"

"Go to the Ministry of Rites."

"Ah? Ministry of Rites?"

The Minister of Rites was Zhao Zhenji, the boss of Su Ze's immediate boss. It was well known that Su Ze was a member of the Gao Party and did not get along with Zhao Dazhou. Zhao Zhenji also tried to make things difficult for Su Ze.

Shen Yikuan originally thought that Su Ze would go to the Ministry of Personnel and the Ministry of Revenue first, which were departments controlled by Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng. Unexpectedly, Su Ze would go to the Ministry of Rites first?

Shen Yikuan still obediently accompanied Su Ze to the Ministry of Rites.

The doorman brought in the visiting card, and after a while, he saw Shen Shixing hurriedly walking out of the Ministry of Rites.

"Brother Su, why are you here?"

Shen Shixing's personnel relationship had been transferred to the Zhanshi Mansion, but perhaps Zhao Zhenji thought he was too useful, so he kept him to continue working in the Ministry of Rites.

There is no way, since Zhao Zhenji is the Chancellor of the Chancellery.

But this also shows Shen Shixing's ability.

Both the court and the public said that Shen Shixing was a disciple of Zhang Juzheng, but Zhao Zhenji, who also did not get along with Zhang Juzheng, also had a favorable impression of Shen Shixing.

Su Ze quickly gave up the comparison, it must be the problem of Gao Gong and the elder Gao!

It’s because my backers are so unpopular!
It’s definitely not my problem!
Su Ze bowed his head and said:

"I'm here to pay my respects to Lord Zhao."

"The elder is currently attending the court. Please follow me in."

As a cabinet minister, Zhao Zhenji basically worked in the cabinet, but he also served as the Minister of Rites. Every now and then, he would come to the Ministry of Rites to inspect and declare his power.

Su Ze saw that the Ministry of Rites was in a commotion, but he never expected that he would run into a huge team as soon as he entered.

Shen Shixing wanted to pull Su Ze away, but was met with Zhao Zhenji's gaze.

Only officials from the Ministry of Rites were seen standing behind Zhao Zhenji according to their official rank. Zhao Zhenji led this group of officials to inspect the public housing one by one. This scene reminded Su Ze of the director's ward rounds in the hospital in his previous life.

In fact, the process is similar to the director's ward rounds. Zhao Zhenji will also ask about the officials' work at hand and inquire about their work progress and work ideas.

Seeing Su Ze, even Zhao Zhenji, who was very cunning, frowned. He said to the left and right assistant ministers, "That's all for today."

Everyone nodded in agreement, and Su Ze finally saw the majesty of a cabinet minister.

"You come with me."

Although Zhao Zhenji disliked Su Ze, he was afraid that he would cause trouble, so he took him to the flower hall of the Ministry of Rites.

The flower hall was the place where the government served tea to guests, but Zhao Zhenji didn't seem to be planning to keep Su Ze for tea at this moment. After sitting down, he said:
"Why do you want to see me?"

"Grand Master of the Imperial Household, I have come here today to ask the Ministry of Rites to order a few copies of the Yuefu New Report."

"Subscribe to a newspaper?"

Zhao Zhenji frowned. He wanted to refuse, but Su Ze said:

"Your Majesty has ordered this humble official to raise funds on his own. I dare to speculate on your intentions. The most important part of the word 'raise' is the word 'raise'. Your Majesty is asking this humble official to beg for alms from the various government offices in the capital."

Zhao Zhenji stared at Su Ze. He almost laughed out of anger at what Su Ze said.

Is this what you mean by self-financing?

Shen Shixing, Shen Yikuan and others standing by also turned pale. Shen Yikuan had not expected that Su Ze's way of raising funds was to ask the Beijing government to levy a levy?

No, it has always been the major government offices in the capital that have to bear the responsibilities. When did a small newspaper company turn against Tiangang and ask them to bear the responsibilities?

“How much does it cost to subscribe to a newspaper?”

Su Ze counted on his fingers and said:

"Not expensive, Grand Master. The Ministry of Rites has the second largest number of people among the six ministries. I estimate that the Ministry of Rites will need to subscribe to fifty newspapers, so I will give it one thousand taels of silver as an annual allowance."

Zhao Zhenji slammed the table and said:
"The Ministry of Rites doesn't have this kind of expenditure!"

Su Ze continued:
"Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, the Yuefu New Newspaper was approved by His Majesty and spearheaded by Prime Minister Li. Publishing a newspaper is also a good thing for promoting education and upholding good morals. An office as large as the Ministry of Rites must have some money for emergencies, right?"

Even with Zhao Zhenji's skill in cultivating his Qi, he could hardly bear it anymore.

Su Ze changed the subject and said:
"Grand Master of the Imperial Clan, Wang Xuetaizhou once said, 'The daily lives of the people are the Dao.' But look at all the people in the Ministry of Rites. Which one of them isn't a figure at the top of the cloud of our Ming Dynasty? How can they even know what the daily lives of the people are?"

"Grand Master, do you remember when you were young, you wanted to become Wang Shouren's disciple, determined to read thousands of books and travel thousands of miles?"

"Now that you are in the position of Prime Minister, managing the affairs of state, when have you not witnessed the suffering of the people?"

"Have you not seen the saying 'It is easy to cross the Compassionate Boat, but it is difficult to cross the world'?"

Zhao Zhenji was stunned for a moment. These two lines were the verses of a poem he wrote to bid farewell to his friends when he was young.

He is not known for his poetic talent, so few people know him, but he did not expect Su Ze to quote his poem casually.

Su Ze looked at Zhao Zhenji and knew that his guess was correct.

It is indeed difficult to describe Zhao Zhenji's poems. They can only be regarded as orthodox poems written in response to imperial orders. He never wrote a single famous line in his entire life.

However, he left behind many poems, and in his later years he even published a collection of poems at his own expense. It was obvious that he valued his reputation in poetry very much.

After Su Ze's actions, Zhao Zhenji's expression eased a little. He said:
"Five hundred taels, from the paper money of the Ministry of Rites."

Seeing Zhao Zhenji nod, Su Ze said again: "This humble official has another matter."

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(End of this chapter)