Jiajing Chengming

Chapter 102 Yan Song wanted to make progress so much that the Kong family was asked by the gentry to give in!
Yang Tingyi knelt down hurriedly: "Your Majesty, please forgive me!"

"I am only publishing this Wen Bao on the orders of my brother."

"My brother's intention is to compete with the Yumin Newspaper!"

"Since the imperial court has not issued any relevant prohibition, I will follow your orders and do it."

"But I am afraid of being accused of interfering with public opinion, so I only reprint other people's articles and do not comment on current affairs."

"So what do you think? Should this ban be in place?"

Zhu Houcong asked Yang Tingyi.

Yang Tingyi, feeling a chill on his back, quickly replied:

"Of course there should be!"

"Since I started the Wen Bao, I have become increasingly aware that public opinion can be easily manipulated."

"If it is really used by evil villains, the consequences will be disastrous!"

"So I have long wanted to ask for an imperial decree to ban private newspapers and posters, but because there have been so many things going on recently, I have not yet had time to submit a report."

"In addition, I also intend to ask for your approval to revoke the Wen Bao and punish me!"

Zhu Houcong smiled and said, "There is no need to cancel them. I will issue an order to allow only the Yumin Newspaper and the Wenbao Newspaper to exist."

"But you, Wen Bao, must tell me the people behind those articles published under pseudonyms."

"Also, you can publish articles criticizing the government and officials in the Wen Bao, but before such articles are published, they must be reviewed by officials directly appointed by me to check whether the criticism is pertinent!"

"also!"

"I know that civil officials and scholars like to express their opinions on government affairs and ministers, and they especially want to criticize them."

“I also hope that my critical voice will be known to the world.”

"In this case, I will also give them a channel to vent their anger, and that channel is the Wen Bao!"

“But you can’t give it away for free!”

"The Wen Bao has to charge a large sum of money to those who want to publish such articles. I need to use this large sum of money to appease the court officials who have been scolded."

"at last!"

"The Wen Bao will be funded by the internal treasury from now on. Your investment will be converted into equity, and you can share the profits together in the future."

"But in order to make people in the world more willing to believe that the existence of Wen Bao has nothing to do with me, you have to cooperate with my mother's family, the Jiang family, and ask them to contribute some money. Even if it is a favor from me to the Jiang family, let people in the world only think that it is the Jiang family that is protecting Wen Bao and providing a window for scholars and officials to discuss state affairs."

Zhu Houcong said at this point: "If you still want Wen Bao to continue to exist, do this."

"How dare I disobey? I will do as you command and thank Your Majesty for your grace and for bestowing wealth and honor upon me!"

Yang Tingyi immediately kowtowed, his heart filled with joy, and asked, "Your Majesty, the scholars are now quite critical of Wang Yangming. I would like to ask, how should we judge whether Wang Yangming's articles are fair or not?"

"What do you say?"

Zhu Houcong asked with a smile.

"I think so."

"Anything that is consistent with national policy is pertinent, and anything that is inconsistent with national policy is not pertinent!"

Yang Tingyi replied.

Zhu Houcong secretly thought that Yang Tingyi was quite sensible, so he waved his hand and said, "Go down."

Yang Tingyi agreed and left.

The next day.

Yang Tingyi submitted a petition requesting an imperial decree to ban private newspapers throughout the country.

Zhu Houcong approved his request and instructed that Wen Bao could be allowed to exist as a window for listening to opinions from all over the world.

Bureaucrats and gentry all over the world therefore widely praised the emperor as a wise ruler and were willing to accept advice from all over the world. At the same time, they blamed Yang Tingyi for having evil intentions, as he published a newspaper but blocked the way for others, depriving other people in the world of the opportunity to publish a newspaper.

What made the bureaucrats and gentry even more angry was that Wen Bao also clearly stated that in the future, anyone who submitted an article to Wen Bao would have to pay money after it was reviewed and approved, and the payment would be calculated by the word.

in this way.

Many bureaucrats and gentry could not help but scold Yang Tingyi for being too greedy, saying that he was obsessed with money and brought disgrace to his brother.

"So, should we still submit articles to this Wen Bao?"

Hanlin Yang Weicong could not help but ask about Xu Chengming and other colleagues who used to contribute to Wen Bao. Xu Chengming sneered and said, "I just want to stay silent. I can only write records in the Hanlin Academy and no longer contribute to Wen Bao. Instead, I give money to Yang Tingyi, a greedy person!"

"That's exactly what it should be!"

"Submitting articles to Wen Bao now is equivalent to giving money to the Yang family. The key is to see their faces. Scholars can be killed but not humiliated. There is no such thing as treating scholars in this way in the world!"

Hanlin Cui Tong also echoed it.

However, Yan Song, who was also a Hanlin official and recorded the daily affairs, took the initiative to send the article to Yang Tingyi.

This was because Yan Song felt that since the emperor wanted Wen Bao to exist, he would definitely need some officials to preach about the government in a way that was apparently critical but actually praising, so as to achieve the goal of further controlling public opinion.

Yan Song, who had finally returned to the capital with the help of his students, knew that if he wanted to make progress, he could no longer be cautious. He had to seize the opportunity and show his talents when necessary. He should learn from his student Zhang Cong.

This was the conclusion Yan Song came to after he went to Nanjing and carefully reflected on it after learning about Zhang Cong's story.

then.

Not long after, Wen Bao published Yan Song's article on the front page.

The article written by Yan Song was apparently criticizing Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong, criticizing them for going too far in Lianghuai.

But in fact, this article implicitly said between the lines that he criticized Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong not because he thought Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong did something wrong, but because he thought they did not consider their own personal safety!

Don’t you know that the wealthy and powerful businessmen in Lianghuai are all well-connected and dare to do anything?
Don’t you know that all the powerful bureaucrats in the world are in cahoots with them?
He also directly said that the attack in Shandong was probably related to the Kong family, and not the work of some bandits, because what kind of bandits could know the itinerary of the imperial envoy's boat so well, and what kind of bandits would appear in Dongchang Prefecture so brazenly?
Only the most powerful family in Shandong - the Kong family - can do this and make the governor dare not provoke them.

Yan Song also stated in the article that the assassination attempt against Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong would not just happen this time, but would happen many times. The powerful bureaucrats and wealthy businessmen in the world would not let them live. Even the emperor should not protect them, because if he did, it would affect his own safety. Although the emperor must have them if he really wanted to be a sage and benevolent ruler, that would only encourage those people to commit regicide!
Therefore, Yan Song also said in the article that he felt that Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong were too radical and too reckless!
He underestimated the reactionary nature of corrupt officials and evil gentry, and did not consider how much trouble this incident would cause to the emperor.

As a person who won the favor of Emperor Jiajing by writing Qingci in history, Yan Song was very talented in writing.

Therefore, once his article was published, it quickly caught the attention of many people, and made many people who were relatively neutral in political stances couldn't help but praise it. They felt that what Yan Song said made sense, and began to lean towards Wang Yangming's side. They also began to think how upright and brave the emperor was for blaming the Shandong gentry for Wang Yangming, and they couldn't help but admire the current emperor even more.

Yan Song himself was criticized by many neutral people. Some people began to write articles criticizing him for being weak and afraid of corrupt officials and evil gentry. He did not feel ashamed, but instead blamed Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong who were braver than himself.

What a bad conscience!
It is not a pertinent statement at all that he does not have the integrity that a scholar should have.

Yan Song did not mind these criticisms, but rather enjoyed them because this was exactly what he wanted.

but.

After reading this article, the conservative civil servants who did not support Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong could not help but curse Yan Song behind his back, and even cursed Wen Bao for not being as good as before.

Because they were not stupid, they could naturally see that Yan Song was deliberately exposing their ugly side and deliberately speaking well of Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong in a critical way.

"Father!"

"This Fourth Uncle is going too far. Even if he wants to sell us out, he shouldn't do it like this!"

"He had Wen Bao publish some articles that secretly scolded all the officials and gentry in the world, and also hinted between the lines that if the emperor did not protect people like Wang Yangming and Zhang Cong, he would not be an upright monarch!"

"And the emperor just recently blamed the Shandong gentry for Wang Yangming!"

"Good fellow, this is nominally criticizing current affairs, but in reality it is flattering the emperor and deliberately guiding the public to understand and respect His Majesty."

On this day, Yang Shen hurried to Yang Tinghe with the Wen Bao newspaper which contained Yan Song's article.

Yang Tinghe actually read the article, and then said with a smile: "What a good article!"

then.

Yang Tinghe said with a sullen face: "There are more and more treacherous villains in the court. Your father must return to the court as soon as possible."

"Father is right. The two capitals and thirteen provinces of the entire Ming Dynasty still have to be managed by you!"

Yang Shen replied.

Yang Tinghe then ordered in a serious tone: "Find out who is the author behind this article!"

"Also, in the name of your father, write a letter to the Kong family and ask Duke Yansheng to submit a letter of apology himself, saying that Wang Yangming was attacked on his boat in Shandong. He said that the Kong family, as a family of saints, did not do enough to help the people in the local area, which led to this disaster. Therefore, he is willing to apologize and is willing to marry Wang Yangming to correct the world's views!"

Yang Tinghe continued.

Yang Shen hurriedly praised: "Father is wise!"

"In this way, the views expressed in this article will be self-defeating! And His Majesty will also know that my father did not go against him, but has been secretly working for the country. Only in this way will he have the opportunity to return to the cabinet in the future!"

Yang Tinghe was very pleased to hear what Yang Shen said, nodded and said with a smile: "That's right, as long as we can return to the cabinet, we must compromise when we should! We must pretend when we should!"

soon.

Duke Yansheng Kong Wenshao received letters from court elders such as Mao Ji, Wang Xian and Yang Tinghe, all of which advised him to show goodwill to the emperor and admit defeat.

(End of this chapter)