My Portable Ming Dynasty

Chapter 55 Stress

In the next few days, Su Ze took Shen Yikuan and Luo Wanhua to beg for alms in various government offices in the capital.

The Ministry of Personnel, headed by Gao Gong, gave Su Ze one thousand taels of silver for newspaper subscription. The Ministry of Revenue, headed by Zhang Juzheng, had the largest number of staff members and was given one thousand five hundred taels at once.

The six departments are ranked in order.

The Ministry of Personnel, which is in charge of official promotions, is undoubtedly ranked first, but it has the fewest staff members.

The Ministry of Revenue has the largest number of officials and holds the second most important financial power, but is nominally ranked third because the Ministry of Rites is nominally more important.

These three are the top three works of the Ming Dynasty.

The Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Works, and the Ministry of War are naturally the lower three ministries.

There were few people in the Ministry of Justice, so Su Ze begged for 500 taels. There were many people in the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of War, so they all gave 800 taels in the end.

In addition to the Six Ministries, the Ming Dynasty also had the Nine Great Ministers and the Nine Small Ministers.

The Nine Great Ministers are the heads of the six ministries plus the heads of the Censorate, the Ministry of Public Security, and the Supreme Court.

The Nine Minor Ministers are the Minister of Taichang Temple, the Minister of Taipu Temple, the Minister of Guanglu Temple, the Chancellor, the Hanlin Academician, the Minister of Honglu Temple, the Chief Academician of the Imperial College, the Minister of Yuanma Temple, and the Minister of Shangbaosi.

Su Ze did not let these government offices go. Except for the Censorate and the Six Ministries, which had the same tough attitude, the other departments also paid money.

Su Ze was ordered to beg for alms, and he actually collected nearly eight thousand taels of silver from the nine government offices!

This amount of money shocked Shen Yikuan and Luo Wanhua, who came from wealthy families!

This newspaper was not even sold, but he actually asked for eight thousand taels of silver!
Now everyone in the government and the public says that Su Ze is a "killer who has come down to earth", but now it seems that he is the God of Wealth who has come down to earth!
However, Su Ze knew that this money was the annual funding for running the newspaper. In fact, after taking into account the typesetting and publishing costs, as well as the staff salaries, there would not be much left in the end. But at least the start-up capital was gathered.

Immediately afterwards, Su Ze ordered his men to call those tribute students from the Imperial College who were willing to serve as folk song collectors to the newspaper office and assigned them the task of collecting folk songs. He also brought Shen Yikuan and others from the newspaper office and finally published the first issue of "Yuefu Xinbao".

Next up is woodblock printing!

Yes, woodblock printing.

In fact, movable type printing has existed for a long time, but it was not until the end of the Wanli Dynasty that movable type printing was used to print court bulletins.

Today's official gazettes and most books are still printed using woodblock printing.

Especially for woodblock printing of books, the book can be printed directly after the woodblock is carved. In fact, it is more convenient than movable type printing, which requires typeset after each printing.

A skilled woodblock printer could complete a page of woodblock printing in a day. Today's official reports and court documents are all completed by these woodblock printing craftsmen.

Su Ze had no idea of ​​improving movable type printing for the time being. Clay movable type wore out too severely, and only lead alloy movable type was worth using on a large scale.

However, Su Ze did not know how to make lead alloy at the moment, so in order to print the newspaper quickly, he still used the woodblock printing method.

When we have enough funds in the future, we will find a way to let craftsmen study movable type printing.
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Su Ze is busy running the newspaper, and Zhao Zhenji has been very worried these days.

The Kedao, which had been quiet for a few days because of Zuo Shunmen knocking on the palace gate, suddenly started to attack again. The target of this attack was the Ministry of Rites, which Zhao Zhenji also served as. The attack was on the issue of the children of officials in Beijing participating in the provincial examinations in Shuntian Prefecture!

As we all know, the imperial examination system concerns the most fundamental interests of scholars and is the most important fundamental system of the Ming Dynasty.

We all come from the imperial examination system. If you pass the imperial examination, your descendants must also take it.

In the case of the Northern and Southern Lists at the beginning of the Republic of China, Zhu Yuanzhang had killed many people. The emperor would not kill people for the provincial examinations nowadays, but the participation of the children of officials in the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examinations did affect the fairness of the imperial examinations.

Moreover, the investigation by the Ministry of Justice was very thorough. Among the people who had falsely assumed their identities to participate in the Shuntian Prefecture's provincial examination in the previous session, some were not children of officials, but children of merchants doing business in the capital.

If being children of officials can be considered as a favor, then these people who are impersonating others are blatant dereliction of duty.

First, the educational commissioner of Shuntian Prefecture was attacked crazily by the officials of the Ministry of Rites, and then the Ministry of Rites, which was in charge of the imperial examinations, was also attacked fiercely!
It seemed that the six subjects and thirteen questions had vented all their anger from the previous failed attack on Su Ze onto the Shuntian Prefecture's education commissioner and the Ministry of Rites.

It is obvious that the six subjects and thirteen questions were right this time. They helped the people of the world to ensure fairness in the imperial examination and prevailed both morally and logically.

Zhao Zhenji was very troubled, and he also knew who was behind all this.

Su Ze's instigation in the six departments naturally could not be hidden from Zhao Zhenji, the cabinet minister.

At this moment, Lord Zhao felt a little regretful in his heart. If he had known earlier, he would have agreed to Su Ze's request and allowed those tribute students from the Imperial College to participate in the Shuntian Prefecture's provincial examination.

What a waste of trouble!

Zhao Zhenji sat in the cabinet. The educational governor of Shuntian Prefecture had already resigned from his post due to impeachment by these censors. Now some censors had begun to impeach him as the Minister of Rites.

Zhao Zhenji also clearly felt the unfriendly gazes of officials in Beijing towards him.

He glanced at Zhang Juzheng next door. Zhao Zhenji's sons were not good at studying, but it was said that Zhang Juzheng's son had inherited his father's style and was very hardworking in his studies. Maybe he would also take the Shuntian Prefecture's provincial examination in the future!

There are people who really want to take part in the Shuntian Prefecture's provincial examination!
Now that the matter has become so serious, if this path is really cut off, he, the Minister of Rites, will definitely be criticized.

This Su Ze is really disgusting!
But no matter how much he scolded Su Ze, it was of no use. The matter had already become a big deal, and Zhao Zhenji was thinking about how to end it.

Looking at the cabinet chief Li Chunfang sitting in the upper seat, Zhao Zhenji shook his head again.

After his last brief effort, Prime Minister Li once again entered a state of quietness and inaction, not participating in cabinet drafting and remaining silent on this matter.

Li Chunfang's family is similar to Zhao Zhenji's. Their three sons are incompetent and have all become officials through imperial favor. They probably will not take the imperial examination.

Let’s take a look at Gao Gong again.

This one is even more amazing. Gao Gong's son, Gao Wuguan, was known as a child prodigy at a young age and passed the county examination in his teens.

However, in order to protect himself from being attacked by his political enemies for favoritism, Gao Gong forced his son not to take the imperial examination and gave his son an official position at an early stage.

Gao Gong should be thankful that he did not help these censors to attack him.

Zhao Zhenji felt exhausted both physically and mentally, so he simply opened his memorial and prepared to write a petition requesting leave to recuperate.

At this moment, Zhang Juzheng suddenly said:
"The Ministry of Public Administration has just sent Su Zilin's memorial regarding the Shuntian Prefecture provincial examination. I believe his proposal is feasible. Please take a look at it, my Lords."

Su Ze submitted another memorial?

This time Li Chunfang put down the pen in his hand and took Su Ze's memorial.

After reading it, Li Chunfang said, unusually:
"Bring me the peeling paper."

I am taking care of my kids today, the weekend. I will update on the weekdays next week.

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(End of this chapter)