Chapter 1042: Newspaper Chapter 1042: Newspaper Editor: Atlas Studios Mu Yanglingâs expression was a little ugly.
âJust to reduce the possibility of embezzlement, weâre going to sit by and watch while they dodge taxes?
Isnât this drinking poison to quench oneâs thirst?â Seeing that the coupleâs expressions were equally ugly, Fan Zijin sighed and said, âI know you canât accept it for the time being, but this is the truth.
Great Qiâs situation is actually much better than previous dynasties.â âBullsh*t.â Mu Yangling couldnât help but curse.
âNot only do officials have a salary of grain stipends, but they also have stipend land.
Their salary is so generous that they can even afford to feed ten families, let alone one.
What right do they have to be greedy?â If it was the Ming Dynasty, officials could still use their low salaries as an excuse to embezzle.
However, the salaries of the Great Qi officials were extremely generous.
Not only for those with high ranks, but it also applied to low-ranking officials.
Their salaries and grain stipends were also not small, more than ten times higher than the salaries of civil servants in her previous life.
She could not find any reason for them to embezzle.
âIf one is only concerned about money, why did they become an official in the first place?
In addition to fame and status, they also refuse to let go of money and riches.
Dream on!â Seeing that she was so angry that her breathing was getting heavier, Qi Haoran hurriedly held her.
âDonât be angry lest it affects the baby in your stomach.
If they are greedy and go against the law, just punish them according to the law.
Itâs not worth it for you to be angry.â Fan Zijin shook his head.
âItâs not that simple.
Donât mess around and offend more people.
Those aristocratic families and civil servants have been holding back their anger ever since the Emperor cut off a lot of their interests.
If provoked further, they might resort to extreme means.
Youâve never been censured by civil servants.
Didnât the Great Zhouâs Emperor Shizong also mention collecting taxes on fields owned by officials?
In the end, they were buried by tons of memorials by the civil servants and left unsettled.
If not for the fact that Great Jin happened to attack at that time, that matter wouldnât have ended just like that.â Fan Zijin said, âWith their eloquence, those civil servants wouldnât have left Emperor Shizong alone.
The officials in the world listen to the orders of the civil servants and the commoners are ignorant, easily fooled with just a few words.
We canât compete with them.â Qi Haoran didnât believe him.
âYouâre just unwilling to put in the effort to fight for it, right?â Fan Zijin cried out in grievance.
âOne fist canât defeat four legs.
Itâs the same in a battle of words.
I only have one mouth.
Can I win against all the civil and military officials in the court?
Can you defeat thousands of soldiers and horses alone?â Qi Haoran choked.
Mu Yangling gritted her teeth and sneered.
âOf course, one person canât defeat the entire court.
Similarly, even the entire court canât defeat tens of millions of commoners.
Isnât it just a competition of saliva?
Then Iâll let them be drowned by the saliva.â Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin were embarrassed and had to remind her, âAh Ling, who else in this world is more eloquent than the civil officials?â Mu Yangling snorted coldly: âOf course, the scholars and the commoners.
I never liked to fight verbally, but since they like it, I will fulfill their wish.
I have decided, I want to set up a newspaper!â She was not good at talking, but there would always be people in this world who were good at it.
Didnât those civil officials rely on their mouths to turn black into white and vice versa?
In that case, she would find some people to play this game with them.
Thanks to the open environment established by Emperor Shizong, the people enjoyed freedom of speech in this country.
Hence, everyone would definitely accept this very well.
In terms of guiding public opinion, what could compare to the newspapers?
Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin were confused.
After pondering for a while, Qi Haoran asked hesitantly, âAre you saying that you want to set up an imperial bulletin?â âThe imperial bulletin disseminates information from the Imperial Court to the officials.
Why would I bother with that?
Besides, I donât have the right anyway.
What I wish to set up is a newspaper for the commoners.
A newspaper for the commoners to borrow and buy.â Qi Haoran looked at his confident wife and couldnât help but say, âAh Ling, nine out of ten people in this world canât read.
How many people are going to buy this newspaper?â Mu Yangling glanced at him from the corner of her eyes and said, âThis matter isnât about making profits.
Itâs about venting our anger.
Even if the population is largely illiterate, arenât there still storytellers?
The storytellers will only be glad to be provided with content for free.â Fan Zijin stroked his chin and calculated the audience in his heart.
âThis way, there will indeed be more people participating.
With one sentence from each person, it can indeed drown those civil officials.
But if itâs not controlled well, Iâm afraid it will cause a riot.â After all, the commoners hated corruption.
It was already very dangerous to lure everyone here to discuss the topic.
If they encountered someone with ulterior motives to stir up the commoners, he feared that there would be a siege on the government office.
Mu Yangling looked at him disdainfully.
âI didnât say that I would strip the topic naked for everyone to see.
Not to mention the commoners, even someone like me who has been through a lot wonât be able to stand it.
Instead, Iâll peel it off layer by layer.
If they can accept it, Iâll continue.
Itâs only a matter of time everything is peeled off.â Fan Zijin blushed.
Qi Haoran coughed lightly and said in a low voice, âAh Ling, be more reserved.â Was this something a girl should say?
Mu Yangling glared at him and said, âJust say yes or no.â Fan Zijin was helpless.
âIf we say no, are you going to not do it?â âNo,â Mu Yangling said firmly.
âFine.
Then we can only agree.â After looking around, Little Madam Xia finally looked at Mu Yangling and asked weakly, âAh Ling, is there anything I can help with?â âYes.â Mu Yangling said, âI donât lack anything, but Iâm short of people.
See if thereâs any extra people among your dowry.
Choose a few capable ones for me.â âWe have to consider this matter at length.â Fan Zijin glanced at her stomach and said, âLetâs wait until you give birth.
We have to recruit people, set up an office, and even set up the newspaper all over Great Qi.
This is not something that can be done in six months to a year.
Coincidentally, although the revised merchant tax has been set, itâll take two to three years for it to be confirmed.
Weâre not in a hurry.â Mu Yangling glanced at him smugly.
âSix months to a year?
I can do it in a month.
Iâll just get some scholars or some knowledgeable people to write the articles.
As long as thereâs no problem with the outline, itâs fine.
Then, Iâll sort out the recent Imperial Courtâs decrees, the corrupt officials, and more important criminal cases.
Iâll hand over some rumors and anecdotes from various regions to the publishing house.
Once theyâre printed, theyâll be sent to various bookstores, academies, schools, teahouses, and various government offices.
All that can be done in a month.â Fan Zijin and Qi Haoranâs jaws dropped.
Mu Yangling said smugly, âIf it werenât for the inconvenient transportation and the long travel time, this time could be shortened even more.
You have to know that my publishing houses are like the grain storesĂąâŹâtheyâre spread all over Great Qi.
Printing newspapers can be done with just a word from me.â Fan Zijin and Qi Haoran shut their mouths and said dryly, âSince when have your publishing houses opened all over Great Qi?â âThereâs no choice.
Little Treasure and Little Bearâs wish is to open Treasure-Bear Academy all over Great Qi.
In order to buy books at a low price, they could only get me to open publishing houses all over Great Qi.
Anyway, there are students everywhere who want to study.
If they want to buy books, theyâd need a publishing house.
The cost of opening a publishing house isnât high, so they can open one if they save some traveling expenses.
Hence, I agreed.â So they were supposed to thank the two brats for their great aspirations?
Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin looked at each other and felt that the matter seemed to be blowing up.
They had allowed Mu Yangling to set up a newspaper to guide public opinion, but that was under the premise that it would be done in a year or so.
Wouldnât it obviously intensify the conflict if the newspaper was founded now?
The two of them couldnât help but hold their foreheads and apologize to Qi Xiuyuan in their hearts.
Seemingly having ruined their his plan, they couldnât help but wonder if they would be whipped for that.
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