My father, Li Shimin, please call me Crown Prince

Chapter 179 What is Personality Cult?

Newspapers are terrible things.

Because he broke the information barrier between classes.

It is the only matter that can currently control public opinion.

As the saying goes, being criticized by thousands of people will lead to the end of one's life.

Sometimes, public opinion can kill people invisibly and be sharper than a sword.

For example, now, if Li Chengqian wanted to discredit the King of Wei, he only needed to write some ridiculous things about the King of Wei in the official newspaper.

Then the King of Wei’s reputation would be completely ruined.

If it is targeted at officials, it will be even more serious.

Officials are literati themselves, and a single word from the imperial report can ruin their lives.

Not only in career, but in life as a whole.

Of course, the current King of Wei is not worthy of Li Chengqian doing this.

Tai Chi Palace, Liang Yi Palace.

In the study room.

Li Shimin was reading a court newspaper in his hand.

Li Shimin was no stranger to court reports.

During the Han Dynasty, each county set up a "district" in the capital, which was responsible for conveying various news from the court.

Information was written on bamboo slips and cloth, which was called Dibao.

At that time, the court bulletins were mainly used to convey court news to local officials for reading. Later, they were also posted on the palace gates for public copying and circulation, so the court bulletins were also called palace gate copies and Yuanmen copies.

The situation in the Tang Dynasty was similar. After the court affairs were passed by the morning court or the council of the monarch and his ministers, they would be sent to the Secretariat, which would be responsible for drafting the imperial edicts.

Officials of the Secretariat would write the content of the notice in rigorous wording and standardized format according to Li Shimin's instructions to ensure that the emperor's intentions were accurately expressed.

After Li Shimin read it and thought there was no problem, he would pass it to the Menxia Province to review the notice drafted by the Zhongshu Province.

Officials from the Menxia Province will carefully review the content of the notice, including whether it complies with legal provisions, whether it is in the national interest, and whether there are any unreasonable aspects.

If officials of the Ministry of Personnel think there are problems with the notice, they can propose amendments or even reject it and send it back to the Ministry of Central Secretariat for redrafting. Only notices approved by the Ministry of Personnel can be passed on.

This is why the fifth-rank Jieshizhong could refute Li Shimin's imperial edicts to a certain extent.

Once approved by the Menxia Province, it will be passed to the Shangshu Province for execution.

The Secretariat will assign tasks to specific departments based on the specific content of the notice.

The Ministry of Personnel is responsible for the appointment, transfer, and assessment of officials.

If it is an imperial edict concerning finance, taxation, disaster relief, etc., the Ministry of Revenue will be responsible for it.

Ceremonial celebrations, imperial examinations, etc. were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Rites, while military deployments, troop mobilizations, etc. were under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of War.

The Ministry of Justice is responsible for the revision of laws, the trial of major cases, etc., while the Ministry of Industry is responsible for engineering construction.

It will then be transcribed and distributed to states and counties across the country.

This is the current "Dibao" of the imperial court. Strictly speaking, the Tang Dynasty does not use Dibao as a name.

The circulation of court reports was mainly among officials.

"The prince is quite clever. He uses common characters to write. This must be the simplified Chinese characters that he promoted in the Military Academy."

"It is indeed much simpler to look at this painting. It is not that difficult for ordinary people to understand it, and it is more conducive to promotion."

"Ten cents a copy, for such a large piece of paper, it's not expensive. The prince is interested in this business, and I heard he has some ideas."

"The content of this court report is also good. It will let the people of Chang'an know about the Goryeo situation. I think it will win the support of the people."

"I heard that the prince placed an order with the people, saying that in order to facilitate the people's travel, he built hundreds of carriages, which could be ridden for a few coins. I wonder if it will be a loss."

"When it comes to making money, I am not as good as the prince."

Li Shimin said with a smile.

Ever since seeing the benefits of the coal mines, Li Shimin basically did not restrain the crown prince in many matters as long as they did not involve specific power.

Li Shimin did not have much opinion on the content of the court report.

After all, the above mainly introduces Goryeo, as well as Goryeo's massacre of border civilians and assassination of the crown prince.

These things are not secrets.

The curved plow, the making of bamboo paper, and the jade table on the Lantern Festival are nothing new.

The only thing that stands out is the praise for the prince when he was assassinated.

Li Shimin did not balance the prince's power by using his reputation.

On the contrary, he was satisfied with the prince's good reputation.

This is because Li Shimin was constrained by the times and was unable to make sufficient judgment on the possible impact on newspapers.

After all, official reports have a long history, and now the prince is just using it as a means of profit.

It also has something to do with Li Shimin’s background.

Li Shimin was born into a noble family, so he was not good enough to say that he understood the sufferings of the people.

The environment he grew up in made him believe that if the emperor's orders were announced throughout the world, then everyone in the world would know about it.

After all, there would be notices in every district of Chang'an, and local government offices in each state would also post and read notices according to the emperor's edicts.

"Your Majesty, the Crown Prince has issued a decree to all post stations, ordering the local government offices in all states to help sell the court newspapers."

Zhang Ananda said.

This kind of prince's decree that was to be announced throughout the country generally had to be approved by Li Shimin before it could proceed.

Li Shimin asked, "The Crown Prince asked the government offices of each state to sell a copy of the official newspaper for how much money?"

Zhang Anan said: "It's still ten cents."

Li Shimin nodded: "Then let the prince go."

At this point, Li Shimin asked again: "There are so many people in Chang'an City, aren't they enough for the prince to sell court reports? He also needs to send them to various states."

"How many copies of this court report did the prince make?"

Zhang Ananda replied, "I heard that the Eastern Palace has made 400,000 copies."

Li Shimin was a little surprised: "So many? How did the prince make so many rubbings?"

Zhang Ananda explained: "The East Palace has been recruiting craftsmen since last year, and there are more than 300 papermakers."

"The East Palace made its own bamboo paper, but it was never sold to the public. Instead, it was printed on books and sold to bookstores at a price of 100 coins per volume."

“Nowadays, there are more than 200 carpenters who carve woodblocks alone.”

"There are also more than 200 people who are specifically responsible for rubbings."

"Once these craftsmen become proficient at their work, they can make more than a hundred copies a day, or 20,000 copies a day. The prince started making copies last month, and has already reached this number."

Li Shimin asked: "In Chang'an City, how are the sales of the prince's official newspapers? How are the sales of the previous books?"

Zhang Anan said, "It is said that the prince built a small wooden house next to the notice board to sell court newspapers."

"When the sale starts early in the morning, there are long queues. By noon, most places are basically sold out."

Li Shimin interrupted, "Selling so fast? Are all the people in Chang'an buying them?"

He couldn't understand why the people were so keen on buying official newspapers.

Ten cents is not a lot, but it can buy two dou of rice.

Why buy this newspaper?
Zhang Ananda explained: "It's mainly for the sake of novelty. I also thought that having a copy of the court newspaper could also teach people how to read. After all, books are expensive and ordinary people can't afford them."

Li Shimin nodded. This made sense.

Then he calculated, "Four hundred thousand copies of the court bulletin, ten cents per copy, that's four million coins."

"There are only about 700 papermaking craftsmen in the East Palace. Even if they are all paid monthly wages, 500 coins for each, it would be less than 400,000 coins, and they can earn more than 3 million coins."

At this point, Li Shimin asked, "Did the prince make money by copying books in the past?"

Zhang Ananda didn't understand, so he thought for a moment and said, "Perhaps it can make more money than the imperial newspaper. After all, a scroll of a book costs a hundred coins, and I heard that the students are always in great demand for the rubbings sold in the East Palace."

Li Shimin suddenly felt a little warmed up.

The emperor is also short of money.

What's more, this is a long-term and stable source of income. Selling books can't be called a business.

"Ananda, what do you think of me hiring some craftsmen and paying them wages, like the prince, to make bamboo paper and print books?"

Bamboo is the least valuable because its growth cycle is too fast, and it grows very tall almost overnight.

Therefore, the cost of bamboo paper is mainly labor cost. There is also a bamboo forest in the palace, and the bamboo can be cut down at will.

Zhang Ananda immediately said, "Your Majesty is wise, and all the students in the world will be grateful to you."

Upon hearing this, Li Shimin's eyes lit up and he said, "Ananda, your words have reminded me."

"The people of the Tang Dynasty are all my subjects. How can I favor one over the other? This must be done, and in addition to Chang'an, other prefectures and counties must also do so."

"Go to the Ministry of Works and pass on my imperial edict. Do not let the Secretariat draft it. Ask them to recruit more craftsmen and open paper mills in Chang'an, Luoyang, Taiyuan, Yangzhou, Yizhou, Guangzhou and other places."

"All the money needed in the early stage will come from my inner treasury."

The prince could earn millions of dollars a month from his paper mill with only 700 employees.

What if there are ten?
Even if the population of other cities is smaller, it is not as large as Chang'an.

Earning tens of millions a month shouldn't be a big problem, right? That's ten thousand strings of cash.

That’s 120,000 strings of cash a year.

The costs go through the internal warehouse, so the profits will naturally go into the internal warehouse as well.

The imperial treasury and the inner treasury are two different things.

Li Shimin also wanted his treasury to be more fully stocked.

The expenses of the inner treasury were very high. The luxurious consumption of the royal family, including the food, clothing, housing and transportation of the court, the repair and decoration of the palace, the rewards of royal members, etc., were all paid from the emperor's inner treasury.

Sometimes when the national treasury did not have enough money, the emperor would have to take money from the inner treasury.

The source of money for the inner treasury, in addition to tributes from various countries, also included many royal properties.

The income from the emperor's estates, lands, mines, salt wells, etc. all went into the inner treasury.

"Yes, Your Majesty."

Upon hearing His Majesty's order, Zhang Ananda prepared to do it.

"and many more."

Li Shimin stopped Zhang Ananda and told him, "Go to the East Palace first and talk to the Crown Prince about this matter. Don't let the Crown Prince think that I am competing with him for profit and cause misunderstanding."

"Explain to him clearly that I gave up on printing books because I saw that he was working on the newspaper. Without cheap books, wouldn't that increase the burden on the students?"

"I am also considering the students of the Tang Dynasty."

Zhang Ananda nodded seriously: "I understand, and I will explain it clearly to the prince."
-
With His Majesty's instructions, Zhang Ananda came to the East Palace.

In fact, Taiji Palace is very close to the East Palace, only twenty meters away.

You should know that the distance between buildings in later communities is required to be fifty meters.

However, two towering palace walls divide the East Palace and the Taiji Palace into two large parts, as if they were two different worlds.

After receiving the message, Zhang Ananda came to the main hall of the Eastern Palace.

What you see is the prince sitting high on the throne, and below him are six painters who are painting him.

Among them is the Roman princess.

Seeing this situation, Zhang Ananda didn't want to disturb them and could only wait.

Why did Li Chengqian suddenly want to paint his own portrait?

This is the second step of the court report.

He printed his own portrait on the official bulletin so that everyone who saw the bulletin could know what the prince looked like.

The purpose of doing this is to promote personality cult.

What is a cult of personality.

Later, French Emperor Napoleon abdicated under pressure from the anti-French coalition and was exiled to the island of Elba in Italy.

After escaping from the island of Elba, he returned to France with only 700 men and was suppressed by Louis XVIII's Fifth Legion.

Napoleon came to the front of the two armies, dismounted and took off his hat, then roared to the opposite side: "Soldiers, shoot at me, shoot at your emperor."

Then all the soldiers in the army rebelled on the battlefield and surrendered to Napoleon.

He had 14 men when he set out, but when he returned to Paris, he had 20 regular troops and volunteers.

And then there is Hitler.

What level does Li Chengqian hope to achieve?
What he wanted was that there wouldn't be any guards around him.

When he limped and walked on the streets of Chang'an, or in any city in the Tang Dynasty.

There is no need for the crown prince's orders or the imperial authority's deterrence.

All it takes is a single call from a high place.

All the clouds responded.

When he limped and walked in front of any army.

No need for military orders or tiger talismans.

All it takes is an order.

All soldiers will obey his orders.

This is what Li Chengqian wanted.

Let the whole Tang Dynasty go crazy for him.

We must make the Tang Dynasty a place where everyone recognizes him, remembers him, and follows him.

Therefore, the dissemination of portraits is very important.

Before Zhang Ananda came here, he had actually painted quite a few, but none of them satisfied Li Chengqian.

This portrait is to be micro-carved, just like a seal.

More emphasis is placed on the reproduction of the face, so that people who have seen the portrait can recognize at a glance that this is the prince when they see him again.

Therefore, when it comes to appearance, you must be meticulous and rigorous, and also show your temperament.

The paintings of the Tang Dynasty focused on artistic conception, but they were also capable of realism.

These painters are good at realistic figure painting.

Soon, the portrait was completed.

Only then did Zhang Ananda come over and tell the prince what His Majesty was thinking.

When Li Chengqian heard that Erfeng also wanted to open a papermaking and printing factory, he couldn't help laughing.

"Father opened a paper mill for the benefit of the students in the Tang Dynasty. Of course I support it."

Hearing the prince say this, Zhang Ananda also breathed a sigh of relief.

"I will retire first."

He wants to report to His Majesty what the Crown Prince thinks.

Li Chengqian picked up the paintings of several painters and began to look at them.

After a comparison, Theodosius's was the most satisfactory to him.

This has a lot to do with the current painting concepts of the Byzantine Empire.

Religion is the core theme and spiritual connotation of Byzantine painting.

Most of the paintings are based on the Bible, aiming to spread Christian doctrines, depict the images and deeds of Christ and saints, etc., in order to enhance people's faith and understanding of Christianity.

For example, scenes depicting Jesus' birth, suffering, and resurrection, as well as the saints' experiences in practice and preaching, are all common painting subjects.

Influenced by such an environment, the portrait of the prince painted by Theodosius has a dignified posture, a serious and solemn facial expression, and a focused eye with a sacred glow.

When placed next to other portraits, the contrast becomes even clearer.

"Okay, this is it."

"Your painting is still the one that I am most satisfied with."

Li Chengqian said with a smile.

Hearing the prince's praise, Theodosius smiled happily.

Next, it was handed over to the master craftsmen of the Shaofujian for carving.

The second edition of the official bulletin will be left blank, and all official bulletins will be printed with the prince's image.

(End of this chapter)