Emperor Ming Dynasty

Chapter 904 The Female Consort

Zhongshu Sheren, who was in charge of the bulletin, described the situation in detail:

"As long as they run newspapers, they are local gentry, or rich merchants, such as Anhui merchants, Shanxi merchants, etc. They are all rich owners, but they are not short of money."

Yan Chongxin has basically been in charge of money and food in the cabinet these years. Hearing this, his eyes lit up:
"Looking at it this way, if all the deposits are added together, it may be worth the tea tax."

Chai, rice, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, tea, salt and tea, one is the most popular and the other is the most expensive, and it is the most powerful in commercial tax collection.

Compared with the previous dynasties Chongzhen and Tianqi, the Shaowu Dynasty collected the most commercial taxes.

Of the [-] clean-up departments of finance and taxation, one is responsible for collecting commercial taxes.

Each county has set up a branch office, which is responsible for collecting a certain amount of commercial and agricultural taxes, and will never let the local government get involved.

In the 16th year of Shaowu alone, the tea tax of the entire Ming Dynasty exceeded one million yuan, reaching a huge amount of 200 million yuan.

But among them, the main producing areas come from Anhui, Fujian, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places.

As long as the tea is harvested, a commercial tax is levied immediately, which is called tea tax; and if it is exported, it is a customs tax, and if it is sold locally, it is a sit tax.

In other words, just for tea leaves, you have to go back and forth three or four times, or even four or five times to pay taxes, which can be described as the treasure of the court.

Like wine, most of them are sold locally, and only a few can be circulated. Although the tax is high, it cannot be exported, and the sales share is also small, at most one million yuan a year.

"Since they are not short of money? Why not collect it annually?"

Zhu Mou nodded in agreement, and then showed a smile: "As far as I know, a newspaper can cost as much as a penny, and as little as ten texts. If you sell a few copies a month, the profit for a year is not small!"

Yan Chongxin laughed softly: "It's not impossible if you kill the chicken to get the eggs, but you have to be careful in everything."

"A deposit of [-] yuan is just the threshold. If you want to organize a newspaper, you must pay a tax of [-] yuan a year."

"For better or worse."

With these words, everyone nodded.

To put it bluntly, the most taboo in official circles, especially the central court, is the imbalance of power, so naturally they are not happy with newspapers.

There are many restrictions, which coincide with the emperor.

Du Yinxi said optimistically: "There are 4 counties and [-] prefectures in the country. If each prefecture has a newspaper, it can earn [-] yuan a year, which is simple and convenient."

"And if there are thousands of copies, it will be terrible."

These words made everyone chuckle.

However, there is still a consensus in everyone's mind: commercial taxation does make money.

After that, Zhongshu Sheren, who was in charge of the bulletin, carefully explained the management rules.

First of all, newspapers cannot involve Yujia and slander important officials of the court.

"Wait—" Feng Xianzong objected to the first article: "As far as I know, newspapers also have the responsibility to supervise officials, so that they are restrained."

"In my opinion, let's set the rank at the fourth rank?"

"But——" Zhu Mou nodded and said, "It doesn't involve the provincial government, but it's feasible for people-friendly officials like magistrates."

Zhongshu Sheren could only continue:
Second, do not spread rumors and slander others.

Third, newspapers must not be insulting to the style of writing...

Fourth, newspapers are not allowed to cross county boundaries for the first three years...

The terms and conditions are extremely detailed.

"What if the official's home also runs a newspaper?"

Du Yinxi saw a loophole: "Using this to attack political opponents is not a good way."

"What you said is true." Zhongshu Sheren explained: "The rules of the court, officials are basically officials in other places, and the newspapers are temporarily out of the county, so it seems unnecessary to attack colleagues."

Speaking of this, Yan Chongxin added: "Officials are not allowed to write articles and other things privately to report, and they must have their real names."

After tossing for half an hour, the discussion on the management rules of the newspaper was completed.

The cabinet was then submitted to the emperor.

After reading it several times, the emperor added another article: "Adopt a responsibility system."

"If there is a mistake, such as rumors causing losses, the editor-in-chief and the shares will be held accountable together."

Let's look at the details of the process. I thought that the public opinion of the people would calm down, but I didn't expect it to become more surging.

Because everything is formal and transparent.

Everyone is not afraid of a lot of money, but is afraid of black box operations.

In just one month, more than [-] newspapers were registered in Beijing.

Obviously, the city of Beijing has a population of one million and all kinds of people. Even if there are not many people who can read, the market is vast enough to make newspapers eat it.

"Selling newspapers, Wencaibao, the freshest novels of the Three Kingdoms, you can read to your heart's content—"

"Fairies and ghosts, Nezha is making trouble in the sea, and the Romance of the Gods is in Yaxianji—"

"There was a sow in Wanping County, and she gave birth to nine piglets in a row. The exclusive secret recipe is in Gossip Studio..."

"Yo ho, it's quite lively."

King Qi sat by the window, watching the scenery on the street, and there were a lot of shouts in his ears.

Children of all colors, with newspapers in their arms, shouted different slogans, yelling in the streets and alleys.

Some passers-by stopped to buy it, and some kept scratching their ears and asking questions.

When Zhu Cunhua saw it, he was deeply moved for a while.

At the beginning of the year, the emperor made his marriage, and he had to get married in the twelfth lunar month.

Thinking of someone controlling the family in the future, he felt uncomfortable.

But at the same time, after getting married, he can go to the feudal clan, control a country alone, and have great power in his hands, which makes him feel itchy again.

"Master, in the past few days, there have been so many newspapers that people can't read them all."

Xiaoer brought some snacks, and said softly: "In the past, there was only one bulletin to read, and it was all about the court's affairs over and over again. One half a month, it has long lost its taste."

"It's good now. There are all kinds of newspapers. How about ghosts and gods? Three Kingdoms. If you can read and write, you can read it by yourself. A newspaper only costs about ten characters. If you go to a bookstore, you won't have much money to spend."

Xiao Er talked about her joy.

With the development of the commodity economy, especially the grain from the south, it was continuously transported to Beijing by sea, which led to the long-term stability of the grain price in the capital.

In other words, with more people engaged in handicrafts and commerce, and the rise of market culture, many people's material foundations are satisfied, and their spirits begin to be empty.

The emergence of newspapers now quickly fills in the gaps, making them happy.

In the past, dramas such as dramas also emerged in the capital.

There are no less than a hundred teahouses and restaurants like a stage set up in Beijing, which can be described as very lively.

"Is this newspaper making money?"

King Qi sipped his tea and asked with a chuckle.

"Look at what you said, if you don't make money, how can so many people do it?"

Xiao Er felt that this young master was probably a person with ten fingers not in the sun, and he didn't know this bit of common sense.

"Don't look at the newspapers on the market, but there are more people who buy them. There must be tea doctors in restaurants and tea shops, big and small, to read them, and many people listen to them."

"Then each newspaper publishes different stories. Some are novels, some are home affairs, and I heard that there are some obscene newspapers, such as Jin Ping Mei..."

"Everyone should buy at least three or five copies. Do you want to make money?"

King Qi listened, with a smile on the corner of his mouth.

He is also planning to run a newspaper.

As for the content of the post, it is naturally not about politics, but gossip, such as articles about cricket fighting and dog fighting.

In the entire capital, there are no less than [-] fun people like this, and all of them are not short of money. If everyone buys one, wouldn't that be a distribution?

The more he thought about it, the more he felt it was feasible.

As a vassal king, although he will go to the country in the future, but now he can only receive the annual salary every year, and after removing some daily expenses, there is not much left at all.

It is important to find a source of wealth.

Besides, when he went to Qi State in the future, he would also have an eyeliner in Beijing, and he would always pay attention to domestic affairs.

And what better than a newspaper?
The more he thought about it, he got up straight and went down the stairs.

But head-on, bumped into a noble son.

Grandson of King Chu.

The old king of Chu died in the early years of Shaowu, and because he passed away at an advanced age, his son was almost sixty when he came to power.

Therefore, today's grandchildren are also in their twenties, which is really a time of youthful vigor and fun.

"Second Lord—" The grandson cupped his hands in surprise when he saw King Qi, and then leaned forward and said, "Are you also here to see Yutangchun?"

"What Yutangchun?" King Qi was taken aback, unable to understand what he was talking about.

"Hey, it's the signboard of Huaiqing Tower, Yutangchun!"

The grandson whispered softly, showing a smirk: "Recently in the capital, I don't know who is a great talent, wrote a book called "The Female Concubine". Good guy, it is popular in the whole capital."

"Think about it, in this world for thousands of years, there are so many champions, how can there be a female consort, a female champion? Who doesn't want to see how they look?"

"And it belongs to Yutangchun, who has the most iconic appearance and is also handsome. There are a lot of people who want to come to the theater every day—"

King Qi couldn't help showing a little interest when he heard the words.

"Success, I want to see this one--"

After saying that, the two came to the stage one after the other, ready to listen to the play.

Sure enough, the woman's slender waist and jade face, although smeared with pastels, her every move is extremely tempting, especially when she comes out in a robe of the number one scholar, which makes everyone boil.

"To save Li Lang from his homeland, who expects to be number one in the imperial list?"

After the play was over, King Qi remained calm, while the descendants beside him were inexplicably excited, a large amount of broken silver and golden hairpins were thrown on the stage like stones.

"Second Lord, are you going to fight dogs later?" Shisun continued to say, "I found a good dog recently, named Da Hei Shuai, and he has won two or three games in a row, earning hundreds of dollars... "

"No need." Qi Wang waved his hand: "If you don't come back at night, I'm afraid someone in the palace will go out with a change..."

He sighed in his heart, the group of disciples of the prince's family who stayed in the capital could be regarded as useless.

If he stays in Beijing, I'm afraid it will be the same in the future.

During the reign of Chongzhen, there was a great turmoil, Huguang in Henan and Shaanxi were almost reduced to white land, and the vassal kings were naturally miserable.

As for Shandong, it was because Jiannu repeatedly invaded the bandits, which caused many vassal kings to suffer heavy casualties.

In the early years of Chongzhen, there were only 28 princes entrusted to each mansion.

In the early years of Shaowu, there were only Chu Wang, Fu Wang, Rui Wang, Xiang Wang, Jing Wang, Yi Wang, Lu Wang, Tang Wang, etc., only a few dozen people.

As for the thousands of county kings, they suffered heavy casualties, not even one out of ten.

In order to resettle these vassals, the emperor moved them all to the capital, and then distributed some wasteland in Gyeonggi and Liaodong to them with a share of [-] hectares for the prince and [-] hectares for the county king, so that they could support themselves.

In order to prevent civil officials from saying that the emperor was cold-blooded and ruthless, the imperial court gave the prince [-] shi and the county king [-] shi a year, which was regarded as an arrangement.

As for those generals and lieutenants, as long as they are still in their clan, they will be rewarded with [-] mu of land and [-] yuan of silver, and they will move to Liaodong.

But the princes and county kings who stayed in the capital didn't want to go to Liaodong to join in the fun. They just arranged for someone to guard the farm. Where is the prosperity of the capital.

Therefore, although there are a large number of children from the royal family, although there are whips to be demoted to the ranks, they still go their own way, eating, drinking and having a lot of fun.

King Qi's newspaper customers are mostly them.

Obviously, although the life of Fan Fan is a little bit harder and not as happy as theirs, the future is even brighter.

It can be predicted that many of the emperor's more than [-] sons must be impatient and will definitely stay in the capital, and it will be the same at that time.

Thinking in his heart, King Qi couldn't help but feel sad for it.

Perhaps in the future, many descendants will become mat-weavers and shoe-sellers like Liu Bei, but how many Liu Beis will rise up in the hundreds of thousands of clans in the Eastern Han Dynasty?

"After all, they are relatives. I can't ignore them."

Qi Guo got into the carriage and thought about it.

In fact, with emotion, he also thought of how he would be a feudal state in the future, and his descendants would look like.

If the rules of the imperial court are followed, then it will inevitably be like this.

Although there is no princess, King Qi thinks further.

Hastily got on the rail carriage, King Qi came to Yuquan Mountain.

When he asked to see the emperor, he saw that the latter was wearing short clothes, holding a handful of rice, and was threshing rice with relish.

It's nothing, King Qi is used to the emperor's weird behavior.

However, the emperor was stepping on a wooden plank, a square wooden cabinet, and a cylinder in the middle, with a spiral iron rod on it, with thick fingers, and as the emperor stepped up and down, the iron cylinder also rotated.

And the rice in his hand was placed in it, and the crackling sounded non-stop, and the rice grains fell off.

Within a few breaths, a handful of rice is threshed.

King Qi was shocked.

"What are you looking at? This is a newly-made threshing machine. It is very convenient and can save a lot of manpower."

The emperor wiped his sweat and took a sip of salt water. Although he felt a little tired, it was exciting to experience the threshing in the previous life.

"Father is diligent in government and loves the people, and always cares about the affairs of the people. The ancient Yao and Shun are no more than this."

King Qi praised it loudly.

"Tell me, what's the matter." The emperor changed his clothes and said softly: "You are a person who does not go to the Three Treasures Palace for nothing, so tell me quickly."

"My son was in the capital, and he heard a play of "The Son-in-Law", but he ran into the grandson of King Chu..."

King Qi sighed: "The clans in the capital are now enjoying themselves to their fullest. Although they have been deposed, they have no worries, but my ministers are worried about their future..."

"Isn't there religion?"

The emperor said casually: "As long as you want to make progress, let them study for free. If you can't control yourself, you can only prodigal."

"This matter, can't control too much."

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