By a twist of fate, the illegitimate son of the Marquis's family marries the county princess.

Wen Zongji only requested the memorials from the past month, but there were still many.

These memorials included not only the decrees issued by Emperor Shun'an and official documents concerning the promotion and demotion of various officials, but also memorials submitted to the capital by local government offices.

The most important task of the Office of Transmission was to select the important and necessary ones from the large number of memorials and submit them to the cabinet. The cabinet would then select those that they could not handle and present them to Emperor Shun'an.

Looking at the numerous memorials before them, the staff of the Imperial Gazette Office asked, "Sir, with so many memorials, how are we supposed to choose?"

They needed to know Wen Zongji's plans regarding the contents of the Beijing Daily.

Wen Zongji had already planned ahead: "The Beijing Gazette is aimed at all the people, and it cannot be as dull as the Imperial Gazette. The people are not officials; they care about important court affairs, but they care even more about things that are closely related to themselves. Therefore, I plan to create multiple sections in the Beijing Gazette, including people's livelihood, government decrees, and criminal cases, etc."

"In addition, I plan to change the layout of the Beijing Gazette. It will not be compiled into a book like the Imperial Gazette, but will be published on a single sheet of paper, with the content on both sides. In this way, the content will be less than that of the Imperial Gazette, since the Beijing Gazette could not possibly cover every important matter like the Imperial Gazette."

Yao Maofang asked, "Sir, you just said that you would publish criminal cases in the Beijing Daily, but it seems that we do not have the right to access the files from the Ministry of Justice."

Wen Zongji raised his hand: "I will find a way to handle this matter. Now, let's select what we need from these memorials. There are two key points: first, memorials concerning people's livelihood should not be selected; second, memorials involving military affairs are not needed at all."

Ordinary people do not need to know the military movements of the imperial court.

"In addition, we should also select memorials concerning other small countries, as I believe the people are very interested in those from small countries who appear in the capital. In particular, we should select memorials concerning people from other countries who have violated the laws of our Great Chu or have repeatedly refused to correct their behavior."

"In addition, any other memorials involving conflicts should also be brought out first."

Wen Zongji further explained: "For the Beijing Gazette to become an official gazette recognized by the people, in addition to its content being truthful and impartial, it also had to be interesting and able to attract the people to keep reading."

Yao Maofang and the others understood Wen Zongji's meaning and replied, "We understand."

Wen Zongji said, "Let's begin. We should try to officially publish the first issue of the Beijing Daily at the beginning of next month."

"Yes."

Having received the order, everyone returned to their desks and sat down.

Yao Maofang said, "Sir, your office is not here. I will show you the way."

Wen Zongji nodded and left the large central office room with Yao Maofang.

Wen Zongji's office was on the east side of the courtyard. There were three rooms in the east wing, all of which belonged to Wen Zongji.

The central lobby is used for receiving guests, while the two side rooms are used as offices and for taking a midday nap.

After showing Wen Zongji the way, Yao Maofang, who was about to leave, was stopped by Wen Zongji.

"Maofang, we're the same age, so we're naturally closer than others. The Crown Prince appointed you as the head of the Capital Gazette Bureau, which clearly shows he trusts your abilities. How do you think we can make the Capital Gazette more readily accepted by the people and get them willing to pay for it?"

"Thank you for your trust, sir. I will certainly do my utmost," Yao Maofang first expressed his sincerity, then continued, "The common people are all calculating. If we want them to buy the Beijing Gazette, we must make them believe that it is worthwhile. You just mentioned that you want to publish government decrees and memorials concerning people's livelihood in the Beijing Gazette. This is very good. The common people's vision is not broad; most of the time, they are only concerned with their own little corner of the world."

Wen Zongji nodded: "It seems that Mao Fang understands the people very well."

Yao Maofang frankly said, "Because my parents are ordinary people, they worked day and night to support my studies. They were working in the fields from dawn till dusk every day, and during the off-season, they would try to find other ways to earn money."

"Their only thought was making money. They didn't care what major events were happening in the court, or which officials were promoted or demoted."

"To get ordinary people like my parents to willingly buy the Beijing Daily, you have to have something that is attractive enough to them."

Wen Zongji did not expect that Yao Maofang's family background was similar to Lu Nian'an's; both had used the full resources of their families to support their children's education.

Wen Zongji didn't ask further questions; he simply inquired, "Then what kind of content do you think is more likely to attract the public?"

"These are just idle gossip and rumors."

Wen Zongji waved his hand: "The Beijing Gazette is, after all, an official gazette. Certain unsubstantiated claims and unverified information should not be published."

Yao Maofang said, "Sir, not all folk rumors are unfounded."

Wen Zongji pondered: "Then you can take some people to collect some rumors. If you can find evidence to support them, I can decide to reserve a space for them."

Wen Zongji never intended to make the Beijing Gazette too serious; serious matters were handled by the Imperial Gazette.

Since the Beijing Daily is aimed at all citizens and aims to get them to pay for it themselves, it must be entertaining.

However, the Beijing Daily was, after all, an official newspaper, and its purpose was to facilitate future control of public opinion, so its reputation and word-of-mouth were extremely important.

Some eye-catching rumors are acceptable, but not too many, otherwise the public will lose faith in the orthodoxy and impartiality of the Beijing Daily.

Yao Maofang was clearly interested in the rumors circulating among the people. After obtaining Wen Zongji's permission, he returned to his office and left the courtyard with two other people.

Wen Zongji looked around and found that the desk was very clean, and there were also signs of cleaning in other places.

It's likely that Yao Maofang had specially ordered a cleaning session before he arrived.

Wen Zongji was very satisfied.

It wasn't because Yao Maofang was flattering him; more importantly, he was a man with no background who could only rely on Wen Zongji at the moment.

Yao Maofang's attentiveness was an attempt to curry favor with Wen Zongji.

For Wen Zongji, having a loyal deputy would make things much easier.

Changdong went to check the inner room and asked, "Young Master, would you like some bedding brought from the manor?"

Wen Zongji was taken aback and asked, "It's not in the room?"

Chang Dong said, "Of course there are, but who knows who used them before? It's better to get a new set."

Even those with a slight obsession with cleanliness would find it unbearable.

Wen Zongji was no exception: "Then let's change it."

Afterwards, Wen Zongji handed over the trivial matters to An Feng and Chang Dong, while he sat behind his desk reviewing memorials.

The densely packed characters on the memorial reminded Wen Zongji of his days in the Hanlin Academy.

Now that he has left the Hanlin Academy, his job hasn't changed much. In the Hanlin Academy, he reads classics, and in the Office of Transmission, he reads memorials.

You have to use your brain and your heart to see it.

Chang Dong quietly placed a cup of tea beside Wen Zongji without making a sound.

Having served Wen Zongji for a long time, Changdong knew very well that Wen Zongji did not like being disturbed by others while he was reading.

Wen Zongji didn't notice the extra cup of tea beside him, and continued flipping through the memorials...