blogombal Chapter 132 The Influence of the Beijing Daily
Chapter 132 The Influence of the Beijing Daily
"Brother Zhou, have you read the Beijing Daily?"
"Of course we read it. Which of us scholars preparing for the exams would dare not?"
"That's right. Who would have thought that the imperial court would produce something like the Beijing Gazette, and that a copy only costs three coins? Even those poor, pedantic scholars who stayed at Xiangguo Temple would buy a copy."
"I read the political section of the Beijing Gazette, which is full of the court's recent decisions and the appointment and removal of some important officials. In the past, we had to spend a lot of time finding out this information, but now with the Beijing Gazette, it saves us a lot of trouble."
"Absolutely. I've decided to buy every issue of the Beijing News from now on. It's such a steal to get such important information for just three coins."
"By the way, have you guys noticed the literature section?"
"Of course I paid attention. As always, Scholar Jiang's articles are very insightful. I read them several times and still couldn't help but sigh."
"If it's not an article, I saw a line at the end of the article that said the Beijing Daily accepts article submissions, and as long as they are good enough, they can be published in the Beijing Daily."
Upon hearing this, some questioned, "Who is Scholar Jiang? How can an ordinary person's article be compared to his? Surely the Beijing Gazette wouldn't just publish any article for sensationalism?"
"I also think that with Scholar Jiang leading the way, future published articles should at least be those of renowned scholars or great Confucian masters. How could our articles possibly qualify?"
However, some people felt that the Beijing News Bureau wouldn't add such a sentence for no reason: "The Beijing News Bureau must have a purpose. It's just submitting articles to the Beijing News Bureau, and there won't be any loss. Anyway, I plan to give it a try."
Hearing this, the person who was initially very determined began to waver.
As this person said, it's just submitting an article, and there's no loss involved.
at the same time
In a somewhat dilapidated courtyard outside the outer city of the capital
A tall, strong man stood with his head down in the room. On the bed in front of him lay a woman, who looked very pale and weak.
The tall, burly man clenched his fists, his eyes filled with despair and rage, like a powder keg about to explode, needing only a spark to ignite.
"Big brother, big brother—"
Just then, a boy ran in, holding only an excessively large square piece of paper in his hand.
Upon hearing the voice, the man subconsciously suppressed his fierce aura and forced a smile: "Second brother, are you hungry? I'll go make you something to eat."
The boy shook his head, smoothed out the slightly crumpled copy of the Beijing Daily he was holding, and placed it in front of the man, his expression excited: "Brother, look, this Beijing Daily's legal section tells a case about a man who was injured while working for his employer. The employer refused to pay compensation, so the man sued the employer in court. The court punished the employer according to the law and ordered him to compensate the injured man for all his losses."
"Brother, my sister-in-law fell ill because of that wicked woman from the Wang family. All the neighbors and villagers can testify to this. As long as we take this to the authorities, that wicked woman will have to pay for my sister-in-law's medical treatment."
The man was taken aback: "Sue the government?"
Despite living under the emperor's nose, this area is actually very close to the city gates and belongs to the slums. Poor people have a natural fear and resistance towards the government.
Compared to officials who are supposed to uphold justice for the people, they are more inclined to believe in mutual protection among officials and that no one gets up early without personal gain.
These poor people have neither money nor power, so why should the government stand up for them?
This is the common sentiment among ordinary people.
Upon hearing this, the man instinctively wondered, "Would the government side with us?"
The boy was younger than the man; he had the spirit of youth and was still full of hope for the world.
He said firmly, "Definitely! If the government ignores it, then I'll go find the official who publishes this Beijing Gazette and ask him if the contents are meant to fool us."
The man's gaze dimmed again: "Don't talk nonsense. Do you think you can just see someone as you please?"
The boy pointed to the bottom right corner of the Beijing Daily: "The address of the Beijing Daily is written here. As long as I stay here, I'll always be able to see it."
The man picked up the Beijing newspaper. He wasn't very literate, but he recognized some simple characters. Seeing that it actually had an address written on it, he hesitated.
Perhaps, he could trust him just this once?
The young man advised, "Brother, sister-in-law's illness can't be delayed any longer. We have to try, no matter if it's not possible."
The man turned to look at his weakened wife, gritted his teeth, and said, "Fine, let's go report to the authorities!"
Similar incidents occurred in various corners of the capital. Within just a few days, the Shuntian Prefecture received several times more reports than in the past, and the number increased day by day.
……
With the rise to fame of the Beijing Gazette, the Beijing Gazette Office, which was originally a transparent entity within the Ministry of Justice, suddenly attracted everyone's attention.
However, those people still had some sense of shame, and it was only the first issue of the Beijing Daily. It was uncertain whether the Beijing Daily could gain a foothold in the future, so no one took the initiative to curry favor with them.
However, the cold and sarcastic remarks of the past have decreased significantly. At least when communicating with them, people speak politely now.
The staff of the Beijing Daily felt very pleased, as if they had finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"My lord, you didn't see how they looked. They even smiled when they were presenting their memorial to me, but their smile was so ugly that I almost couldn't help but laugh."
"Haha, me too. They've even started saying polite things now."
Wen Zongji listened to their conversation about the changes in the other people in the Office of Transmission, and only after they finished speaking did he say, "All of this is because our Beijing Gazette has been well received by the people and has truly helped some people."
"In this way, everyone's attention will be focused on the second issue of the Beijing Gazette. We can't relax. Everyone should work hard these next few days, read through the memorials, and look for suitable content. Also, make more trips to Shuntian Prefecture and talk to the constables there. Perhaps we can get some unexpected results."
"Yes, sir."
After everyone went to do their work, Yao Maofang said, "Sir, we have received many submissions these past few days. We have read quite a few, and there are some well-written articles, but none of them can compare to Scholar Jiang's."
Wen Zongji said, "I never expected to receive articles comparable to those of Scholar Jiang. Good articles are hard to come by. If we change the Beijing Daily to a daily publication, we won't be able to get good articles every day. We'll have to find another way."
"I plan to create a section called 'Recommended by Great Confucian Scholars,' which means we will select the best articles from these submissions, then have them reviewed by great Confucian scholars. If an article receives praise and approval from a great Confucian scholar, we will publish it in the Beijing Daily, specifying which great Confucian scholar praised it, what its strengths are, and what its weaknesses are."
Yao Maofang's eyes lit up as he listened: "You're amazing, sir! If those scholars knew about this, they would probably be scrambling to submit articles to the Beijing Newspaper Office, and we wouldn't have to worry about running out of articles."
Wen Zongji smiled and said, "This matter is still in the planning stage. We need to determine which great scholars are willing to do this and how much compensation is appropriate for them. We can't let them help for free."
Scholars are generally proud, especially those who have become renowned Confucian scholars. To win them over, besides offering benefits, someone also needs to act as a go-between.