Chongzhen Chat Group

Many propaganda methods of later generations are not suitable for this era. And if it costs too much to control public opinion, although it is necessary, I cannot afford it at this time.

So is there any way that can control public opinion without too much cost? In other words, let as many people as possible in the Ming Dynasty understand the court policies. Someone can provide special answers to prevent those scholars from controlling public opinion and prevent those who are interested. What about tampering with the court's intentions at will?

Unable to think of a good way for a while, Emperor Chongzhen asked his eunuchs to pass on relevant information about public opinion control in this era, and studied it carefully.

In this era, the court's policies were communicated through ancient newspapers, called Di Bao. Starting from about the Tang Dynasty to the Song Dynasty, a relatively complete system was formed.

That is to say, the Jinzou officials stationed in the capital city from all the prefectures and counties of the Song Dynasty were responsible for distributing it, and they were under the jurisdiction of the Jinzou Courtyard in Shangdu. They report once a day, every 5 days, every 10 days or every month according to different regulations in each period. Before sending the report, the Ministry of Menxia will be responsible for reviewing it, which is called "judgement report". The contents of Dibao mainly include the emperor's edicts, daily words and deeds, government decrees and communiqués, memorials of ministers at all levels, work reports of provincial temple supervision departments and other agencies, and battle reports of border garrison troops. The original copy of the Di Bao was only sent to the top leaders of the yamen at all levels. Bureaucrats and gentry other than the top leaders often saw only copies of it.

During the Song Dynasty, some unofficial newspapers also appeared, called tabloids or news. The publishers of tabloids are naturally people with news channels. They mainly report on "court affairs" that are not disclosed by the government, emperor's edicts, ministers' statements, and official appointments and removals that the official newspaper is not prepared to publish or has not yet published. During the Southern Song Dynasty, tabloids often carried news about the northern army and civilians fighting against the Jin soldiers and memorials from warring officials opposing the peace talks.

When combing through this point, Emperor Chongzhen's eyes couldn't help but light up. This point can be borrowed.

Tabloids are generally not allowed by the court, and will be charged with "fabrication of falsehoods" and "dissemination of random information", and will be severely suppressed. However, this thing cannot be banned. At most, it can only reduce the scale of its spread.

In the Ming Dynasty, the Di Bao was in charge of the General Affairs Department, and in theory it could only be issued with the consent of the emperor or the cabinet. In addition, starting from the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the "Beijing News" appeared, and its contents were mostly edicts, memorials copied from the cabinet, and news about the appointment and dismissal of officials, which were sold publicly. Newspapers published by newspaper houses can be sold publicly and accept subscribers. The readers are mainly officials, gentry and businessmen.

This was almost the same as the newspapers of later generations. Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but be a little surprised. He didn't know about the private publication of the "Beijing News" without checking it.

However, the limitations of the "Beijing News" are still very obvious at present. Not to mention the content, the main reason is that the audience is limited, and it can only be officials, gentry and literate businessmen. It would be great if other people could read newspapers!

Thinking of this, Emperor Chongzhen couldn't help but curl his lips and reveal a wry smile. To achieve this level, education must be popularized and everyone must be literate. But now, is it possible?

If that's not possible, it's okay to have literate people read it to illiterate people! Emperor Chongzhen continued to sort out this idea. But first, why should literate people read to illiterate people? More importantly, why do illiterate people spend time listening?

As for the first problem, it can be easily solved. Yamen at all levels can allocate an official to do this and read newspapers at a fixed time every day. But the second question seems to have no solution. Are red envelopes and lottery draws available on site to attract the audience? hehe……

Emperor Chongzhen shook his head, feeling that this idea was nonsense. He frowned, and just when he was thinking of another way, an idea suddenly flashed in his mind, and his eyes lit up.

Then Sihailou said that bookmakers are similar to this, and they also share the knowledge in books with others. Regardless of whether they are literate or not, they will listen, and they have to pay for it!

There was a "pop" sound, and Emperor Chongzhen clapped his hands excitedly, which frightened several eunuchs who were responsible for grooming. But when they looked up and saw the emperor looking happy, they felt relieved.

Emperor Chongzhen stood up and walked back and forth in the palace excitedly, continuing his thoughts. Educational and entertaining, haha, entertaining and educational, and publicity, public service announcements, yes, just combine these, maybe you can make money while guiding public opinion and interpreting the imperial decree.

So how can this work better? Let most people hear it! Emperor Chongzhen thought, his thoughts racing, thinking of the most appropriate solution.

It wasn't until the next morning that Emperor Chongzhen had a method he thought was feasible. So, he immediately issued an order to the Ministry of War to give Liu Mao an audience.

Liu Mao was originally assigned to establish the Daming Road and Bridge Company to innovate the existing post station system. Now, he is still recruiting people in the capital and selecting a suitable area in the south as the first experimental field.

He was originally in a very bad situation. Not only was there a lot of people at the door of his house, but others looked down upon him when they saw him, scolded him behind his back, and some even tried to bully him in person, making it impossible for him to step down. But since the news spread, the situation has suddenly changed, and it has completely become two extremes.

Not only did people start lining up to visit his home, but whenever he appeared in public, his colleagues would greet him warmly, like a real brother. Those who had publicly embarrassed him even apologized to him, not to mention hosting banquets and so on.

All these made Liu Mao very emotional. In the past, when I abolished the inn, I was treated like that; now that the inn innovation method has changed, the treatment I received is so different. The emperor's ability has really reached the level of turning his hands into clouds and rain, which is extremely admirable!

Sometimes, when Liu Mao thinks about this in the dead of night, he becomes very curious. The emperor is so young, why is his brain so easy to use? In addition, he was also curious, why did the emperor not seem to have such fantastic ideas before, but now he has such a method? This is really strange!

At this time, he suddenly received a decree that he should go to the palace immediately to see him. He couldn't help but be a little curious and a little expectant. Is there any good way for the emperor to find him?

With this in mind, he hurried to the Forbidden City and was informed by the eunuchs who took him to the Wenhua Palace.

Emperor Chongzhen was smiling all over his face, and he couldn't help but be a little surprised when he saw Liu Mao entering the palace to attend the ceremony. A few days ago, when I summoned Liu Mao, his energy and spirit seemed to have been sucked dry by something, but now, his demeanor and expression were like a completely different person.

This feeling was actually due to his own good mood. After Liu Mao saw the ceremony, Emperor Chongzhen said straight to the point: "I have a new idea, and I want you to do it!"

The next update is estimated to be around 11 o'clock.