My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 44: Troublemaking

Xu Wei still picked up the pen and began to polish Su Ze's memorial. Clerical work was his duty as a secretary.

In fact, the purpose of this memorial was very simple. It was to request the court to publish a "Yuefu New News" in addition to the official newspaper.

The Ming Dynasty already had official gazettes similar to official newspapers.

The Dibao originated in the Tang Dynasty. In fact, it was a newspaper that recorded important events in the court and sent them to local governments. It was an important means for local officials to understand important events in the court.

The Tongzhengsi was responsible for publishing court bulletins in the Ming Dynasty. The bulletins were published every five or seven days. The Tongzhengsi collected and compiled important events from the court, and then printed them after engraving them. The reports were then sent to the government offices of various prefectures and counties via post stations.

In Su Ze's view, the Dibao is not actually a newspaper, but a document system similar to that used to transmit official documents. It is conveyed from top to bottom step by step and has nothing to do with newspapers.

The "Yuefu New News" that Su Ze proposed to publish was to collect public sentiment and opinions from the bottom up and compile them into a local newspaper reporting news from the capital.

Su Ze wrote in his memorial:

"The Book of Rites says, 'Order the masters to recite poetry to observe the customs of the people. Order the merchants to collect the goods to observe the people's likes and dislikes, their aspirations for lust and rebellion.'"

"In the past, the Zhou Dynasty established an official to collect poetry, and Emperor Wu of Han established the Music Bureau. Both of them used colloquialisms and local discussions as a reference to observe the differences in local customs."

"The Holy Emperor now rules the country with ease, but the territory is vast, and the prefectures and counties are numerous. If we want to understand the sufferings of the people, we must establish new systems."

Don't you Confucian scholars always want to go back to the old ways? Su Ze brought up the "collecting folk songs" system from the Zhou Li, and, using the Han Dynasty Yuefu as a name, proposed setting up an institution to collect folk customs, emulating the ancient sages. You scholars can't object, can you?

This was also Su Ze's work experience in his previous life, as well as the routine he learned from observing the memorials submitted by important officials of past dynasties in recent days.

Even if it is reform, a politically feasible plan must be put forward first.

Either look for it in classics or in ancestral laws. Even if it is a brand new policy, it must be advertised as retro.

In fact, this has been done throughout history, both in China and abroad. Before Su Ze traveled through time, didn't America also debate every day using the two-hundred-year-old Constitution?
After talking about Zhou Li, Su Ze talked about "the laws of ancestors".

"Emperor Taizu established the Tongzhengsi (Comprehensive Administrative Office) with the intention of communicating with the four corners of the country. However, as I observe the government in recent years, the suffering of the people seems to be surging like an undercurrent, and the grievances of the countryside are often silent like cicadas in winter."

"In the past, the Yuefu was able to collect the songs of Zhao, Dai, Qin, and Chu. Now we should follow their example and publish the Yuefu New Report, so that common people can express their opinions."

After discussing the legal and political feasibility, Su Ze began to discuss the specific implementation plan.

"From the Imperial College, we select scholars who are well-versed in literature and calligraphy as interviewers. They are given a monthly stipend and are solely responsible for collecting folk songs, gossip in the market, and trivial matters in the countryside. They are to record only the facts, without embellishment."

This is Su Ze’s strategy of division and disintegration.

The Imperial College of the Ming Dynasty was an important channel for officials to enter the officialdom in the early days of the country. As long as they completed their studies at the Imperial College, they would be granted official positions and enter the officialdom.

Many ministers in the early Ming Dynasty were promoted from students.

But by this time, high-level official careers were almost monopolized by officials who were Jinshi graduates, and the value of the Imperial College was greatly reduced. Even if one obtained the qualification of a student, one could only seek some minor official positions.

After its future became hopeless, the Imperial College gradually deteriorated, from a national cadre training school to a fake university that only gave out diplomas for free.

Many students who were interested in taking the imperial examinations were unwilling to study at the Imperial College, and preferred to study in academies in their hometowns.

The Imperial College had a mixed bag of students, and some wealthy merchants, out of vanity, would purchase student status for their children. Consequently, the Imperial College was home to a large number of idle and dissolute young men. These men, despite failing the exams, felt they were Imperial College students, disciples of the emperor, and thus formed a significant force in oppositional public opinion.

What the censors liked most was to mobilize the "opinion leaders" among the students and have them protest in public.

Throughout history, young people have been hot-blooded and impulsive, and easily used as tools by those with ulterior motives.

Su Ze's move is to give the students of the Imperial Academy a job. As long as the "Yuefu New News" is published, will these students of the Imperial Academy still surround Su Ze's house?
After winning over the grassroots Imperial College students, Su Ze continued to write:

"Imitating the tabloid system of the Song Dynasty, the Hanlin Academy compiled the contents, including poetry, lyrics, folk songs, and even slang, novels, and storybooks, to describe the customs of the people."

This is an opportunity for those frustrated old Hanlin scholars in the Hanlin Academy.

There are so many scholars in the Hanlin Academy, but only a few of them can attract the attention of the emperor and the cabinet ministers.

As long as "Yuefu Xinbao" was published, even if the emperor and the prime ministers could not see it, people who bought the newspaper could see it. This was an endless temptation for literati.

Setting up the editorial office of Yuefu Xinbao in the Hanlin Academy was also to give these noble Hanlin scholars something to do and a channel for them to become famous.

After winning over the lower and middle levels, Su Ze finally wrote:
"A scholar from the Wenyuan Pavilion will be in charge of this work. He will compile a collection of important points each month into a 'Summary of Civil Customs' and present it to the emperor for his personal review. This will be similar to the way Xie Jin compiled the 'Yongle Encyclopedia' during the Yongle period. This will be compiled and catalogued into categories for the emperor's benefit."

Su Ze sent the final authority to the cabinet. Presumably, those cabinet ministers who wanted to do something, such as Gao Gong and Zhang Juzheng, would be happy to hold this power in their hands.

For the emperor, this "Yuefu Xinbao" also provided an additional way to understand public sentiment and public opinion. In the future, if the cabinet wanted to promote certain policies, it could use the public opinion in the newspaper to influence the emperor, instead of having public opinion controlled by censors as before.

After painting the pie, it’s time to sing praises in a formulaic way:
"These three benefits are: first, they enable the sage emperor to see thousands of miles away, as if looking into a mirror; second, they make all officials vigilant, and by listening to the people's satire, they will learn to be diligent and honest; third, they can preserve the customs of the time, so that they can be used as a reference for future historical compilations."

When Xu Wei finished polishing this part, he rubbed his eyes. He used to be an aide to Hu Zongxian, and Hu Zongxian was no better than him in politics.

If this were really done, the Kedao who had been besieging Su Ze would inevitably suffer heavy losses.

Without attacking any censor, he directly dismantled the platform of the censors!

Su Ze is young, but his methods are so sophisticated.

It is no wonder that he was able to "shock the world with his five memorials" and become a rising star in the political arena that attracted the attention of both the government and the public.

But can this memorial really succeed?

The right to public opinion is the greatest power in the hands of the six departments and thirteen departments. Su Ze wants to destroy them, and the six departments and thirteen departments will definitely fight back with all their might.

Xu Wei also knew that Emperor Longqing was not a strong-willed emperor and was easily swayed by the wind, as was the case when he was forced to dismiss Gao Gong.

Even his favorite minister, Emperor Longqing, could not withstand the pressure and forced him to retire. Now that Su Ze wanted to publish the "Yuefu New News", how could the Kedao sit idly by?

If he fails, Su Ze will become a thorn in the side of the Kedao. What confidence does he have?
Of course Xu Wei didn't know that Su Ze was cheating.

On August 1st, Su Ze stuffed the memorial into the [portable Ming Dynasty court].

(End of this chapter)