In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

In the Salt and Iron Division, more than a hundred officials were dismissed?

Word spread quickly.

There was an earthquake in the entire officialdom.

You must know that these are not more than a hundred soldiers, but more than a hundred officials.

Many of them were scholar-bureaucrats with noble status and came from Jinshi.

With so many people being dismissed at once, their network of connections will inevitably form a huge force.

Therefore, this is tantamount to causing huge waves in the morning the next day.

But Zhao Jun didn't care about this, and left after the Imperial City Secretary ordered a strict investigation of Liu Yuanyu.

He planned to go back and write an article, but it happened that there was still a lot of blank space on the first page of the newspaper. In addition to reporting on the Bianliang underworld, the officialdom must also report.

Newspapers were made with movable type printing, and the Song Dynasty had the conditions to make mature newspapers.

It's just that the imperial power system requires public opinion control, so these things are not allowed to appear in the market.

But after Zhao Jun mentioned to Zhao Zhen that the government must have its own mouthpiece media, the printing shop became a permitted existence under the imperial power system.

At present, the main reason is that the news media within the Song Dynasty have not yet formed a system. Only printing houses can make newspapers. If other newspapers appear in the future, an Information Agency will be established to control them.

At this moment, more than a hundred officials in the Salt and Iron Division were driven out of the palace. Then the Political Council worked overtime and immediately transferred elite troops from redundant officials to fill the Salt and Iron Division.

At the same time, Yan Shu temporarily took control of the third division, and the unstable factors below were quickly eliminated. By the next day, all the new officials had arrived.

This is also one of the benefits of redundant officials.

There is really a shortage of officials. There are more than 40,000 officials and tens of thousands of people waiting in line to be dispatched. Suddenly there are more than a hundred positions here. Wouldn't those idle officials be very happy?

As a result, many officials happily took up their posts.

Many of them are even idle officials from Bianliang. They used to have nothing to do every day, but suddenly received an order and went directly to the Salt and Iron Division to report in the afternoon.

The next morning, in the Chui Gong Hall, many censors actually fired shots on the grounds that the Political Council had dismissed so many officials.

Zhao Zhen sat high on the stage.

The three groups of ministers below each stood in their own positions.

Following Wang Shouzhong's words: "If you have something to do, leave early to play, if nothing happens, roll up the curtain and retreat."

Supervisory censor Zhang Zongyi stood up first, raised his hands to Zhao Zhen and said: "In the official family, I have my own rules to start the memorial!"

"explain."

Zhao Zhen responded calmly.

Zhang Zongyi said: "Yesterday, the Constitutional Yuan dismissed more than a hundred officials from the Salt and Iron Department. This is by no means a regular occurrence. Once this was opened, wouldn't everyone in the officialdom be in danger and ask the officials to make a decision?"

His words were almost equivalent to the start of a war.

Han Qi, the admonisher, also said: "The late emperor has always been unable to punish officials. Officials should follow the late emperor as an example. They must not treat officials like this. Even if they make mistakes, they should issue orders to punish them. How can they be dismissed and humiliated like this?"

"Moreover, this dismissal of more than 100 officials involves an unprecedented range of officials. These people have not done anything wrong, they are just under orders. Should they be dismissed even if they are difficult to lead?"

"I think that the Constitutional Yuan is arrogant and domineering, and immediately dismisses and removes officials for the slightest disobedience. This is really against the holy will, so please remove the Constitutional Yuan."

"Yes, the Constitutional Yuan is so powerful that I fear there may be some disobedient behavior. I also seconded the proposal to dismiss the Constitutional Yuan."

In an instant, several censors and admonishers stood up to impeach.

But before Zhao Jun said a word, other officials stood up to defend the Constitutional Yuan and said: "What? When did the officials' corpses sit on a plain diet, sitting like a monkey, living like a dog, and being shameless, and we have to defend them? Your integrity Woolen cloth?"

"I think it's you who are disobedient. The Constitutional Yuan only administers policies, not the Privy Council. Not to mention that even the Privy Council can't mobilize troops and horses. Without soldiers and horses, where can you be disobedient?"

"False accusations by people in the Yushitai have become common. Officials and ministers suggest that the special exception of non-innocence in the Yushitai should be abolished. They can frame whoever they want to frame. Are there not many people who have been caught and falsely accused by the Yushitai in recent years? It has been so long. , This is where everyone in the officialdom is in danger.”

"I second the motion to cancel the privilege of censor Tai Yan's non-innocence!"

Many officials from the other group came forward one after another. In addition to the people from the Three Phases and Three Cantons group, there were actually many neutral officials. Zhao Jun didn't know why they stood up to speak for the Political Yuan.

Only Lu Yijian and others have eyes to look at their noses, and their noses to look at their hearts. Most of these officials have extraordinary relationships with the newly appointed officials of the Salt and Iron Department.

Many people say that party strife was serious in the Ming Dynasty and there was a complicated network of relationships among officials.

In fact, party strife has been very serious since the Song Dynasty, with Qingli's New Deal and Wang Anshi's Reform. Fighting to the death between the new party and the old party has long been the norm in official circles.

At that time, the officialdom included classmates, fellow villagers, fellow students, in-laws, etc., and they colluded with each other to form countless interest groups, large and small.

Today Liu Yuanyu and more than 100 people from the Salt and Iron Department were dismissed, and they mobilized their connections to cause trouble. But the newly appointed officials are not vegetarians. They only have fellow villagers, classmates, and close friends, don’t we?

The result was that the two factions were fighting each other one after another, and Yushitai participated in it in order to protect his own rights and interests, making the whole court a mess.

Everyone was quoting scriptures and talking at length.

You talk, I talk.

The court hall was made to look like a vegetable market, while Zhao Jun, Lu Yijian and other people from the Constitutional Yuan looked on indifferently, silently as if they were watching a play.

really.

As long as there is interest, there will be great scholars to argue for me.

At the end, Wang Shouzhong struck the gong, signaling the court to be quiet, and barely suppressed the noise.

Han Qi said: "No matter what, dismissing so many officials is too harsh. Their crimes should not be so serious. Please think twice!"

"Humph!"

Lu Yijian snorted coldly and said: "You are really ignorant and fearless. The Political System Institute only asked Liu Yuanyu to submit the annual count, which was originally his job, but he refused to do it. Not only can we not teach him a lesson, but we even just say a few words to him? If everyone is like this, then where is the authority of the Political System Institute? Where is the power of the government?"

Han Qi argued: "The power of the government does not come from dismissing officials, but from the saintly character that makes the world submit. If the government leads all officials as gentlemen, how can all officials have resentment?"

This sentence means that the people in the Political System Institute are not gentlemen. He even scolded Fan Zhongyan in one sentence, which made him very unhappy.

"Nonsense, I don't know what you mean."

Yan Shu stood up and said coldly: "Gentlemen cherish virtue, villains cherish land; gentlemen cherish punishment, villains cherish favor. The country has established legal systems and has relevant regulations. Since Liu Yuanyu does not abide by them, what qualifications does he have to be an official?"

Fan Zhongyan also refuted: "This is exactly the reason, the so-called "gentlemen are not respected if they are not serious, and their learning is not solid." An official who is well-read but can't even do the basics should be dismissed!"

"What does the Salt and Iron Bureau have to do with it?"

Zhang Zongyi said: "If Liu Yuanyu is incompetent, the Censorate will impeach him. The Political System Council is now powerful, and it should not easily decide the careers of so many officials!"

"The Political System Council exists because it represents the government to lead all officials and rectify officials to maintain order in the world."

Wang Zeng sneered: "In the final analysis, your Censorate speaks for a group of inactive officials just to maintain its power of impeachment. But those who do not disobey orders, the government can't even punish them. This world belongs to the government. , or your world?

This statement is quite murderous. If Wang Zeng had said this before, he would definitely not have said this.

Because he used to be a member of the scholar-official camp. In the same camp, he naturally had to protect the interests of his own camp. Therefore, Wang Zeng would definitely stand on Han Qi's side and think of reasons and excuses to defend Liu Yuanyu.

But now he found that his camp seemed to have changed. When he really sat in the position of the co-director of the Political System Council, he found that it was wonderful to hold power.

As the saying goes, the butt determines the head. In the past, they wanted to assimilate Zhao Jun. But unknowingly, they became Zhao Jun's interest alliance, so they unconsciously began to maintain the authority of the Political System Council.

Because the power of the Political System Council is really fascinating, not to mention that as long as you are in the Political System Council, you almost have a golden ticket to avoid death.

Then why move your butt to the side of the scholar-officials?

Zhang Zongyi said: "Counting is not a big deal. Although Liu Yuanyu's character is average, he has not made a big mistake. Why should he stick to it? His reasons are also very sufficient. The Salt and Iron Bureau is short of staff, which is understandable."

"I'm sorry, I can't understand. ”

Zhao Jun stood up and said coldly: "Believe it or not, I have summoned more than a hundred officials yesterday afternoon. They just started their duty today. Tomorrow they will be able to finish the work of the Salt and Iron Bureau on weekdays, and do the things required by the Political System Institute? This task is what they should do. If they can't do their job, what does your majesty want these good-for-nothings for?"

"Besides, how can counting not be a big deal?"

Wang Zengyi retorted: "This is the standard for measuring whether the Song Dynasty is making progress. The Political System Institute was established to make the country strong. If we can't see where the country's problems are, how can we talk about prosperity?"

"Okay."

Zhao Zhen looked at the quarrels below and finally said: "This matter was decided by me. The Political System Institute was originally established by me to control all officials. The decrees they issued are my orders. The officials of the Salt and Iron Bureau don't even obey my orders. If I don't dismiss them, what are I doing there? "

"Yes"

Many imperial censors looked at each other and had to retreat.

Because Zhao Zhen had already defined the matter.

To a certain extent, Liu Yuanyu and others were disobeying the emperor's order, which was a taboo in the Song Dynasty.

So as long as Zhao Zhen spoke, they naturally had nothing to say.

Then it was finally considered a normal morning court.

After the morning court, Zhao Jun did not go to the Political System Institute to work, but went straight to the printing house.

The article written yesterday has been delivered, and the workers are working overtime to re-typeset it. Today is the time to print the newspaper.

Meng Chengqi is still guarding the printing house.

Since he knew Zhao Jun's identity, he knew that he had encountered He was in a big position, and the biggest one in the whole Song Dynasty except the emperor.

So even though the printing house had nothing to do with him, he still got a supervisor in the printing house by using the prestige of his old boss and the reputation of working for Zhao Jun, and supervised the printing of newspapers for Zhao Jun.

The workers didn't dislike it.

The main reason was that Zhao Jun was generous. In addition to maintaining the original salary, if you work overtime, you can get overtime pay and bonuses.

People don't dislike 996, but they dislike that they only pay 4,000 to 5,000 yuan a month, and they still have to work 996 without overtime pay.

As long as the salary is in place, the monthly salary will be doubled, and you can sleep in the company for 24 hours.

With the salary in place, the first edition of the newspaper was quickly printed out, with all kinds of news on it. The two major events were naturally the underworld and the officialdom earthquake.

The rest included poetry, gossip, rumors, advertising space, and submission columns.

In the printing house, Zhao Jun looked at the first edition of the newspaper, which had added a lot of new content compared to yesterday. It was well filled, and nodded with satisfaction, saying, "Very good."

Under the ginkgo tree in the yard, Meng Chengqi lowered his eyebrows and smiled flatteringly, saying, "As long as the dean is satisfied, everything is ready now. As long as the dean gives an order, it can be printed directly. Tomorrow, Bianliang will be full of newspapers."

"The sales of this newspaper will be a problem for the time being."

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said, "Mr. Meng, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Please give your instructions."

Meng Chengqi's attitude was extremely respectful.

Zhao Jun said: "The boss is good at writing, so he must know a lot of scholars. You can recruit some relatively poor scholars, buy a yard next to the printing house, and set up an editorial department to review manuscripts. Any news, poems, stories, and novels worthy of being published can be reviewed."

Meng Chengqi nodded repeatedly and said: "Leave this matter to me, but can I go into this editorial department?"

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "If the boss likes it, you can be the editor-in-chief."

"Thank you, Dean."

Meng Chengqi was very happy.

Then Zhao Jun said: "If you want the newspaper to be famous in Bianliang and become the mouthpiece of the Song Dynasty to spread news to the people, you must have a corresponding strategy. It is not enough to have good content quality. After the newspaper is printed, you send people to each teahouse in the city and give each one a free copy so that they can let customers browse it."

"Free?"

Meng Chengqi hesitated and said: "Minister, our initial investment is already so huge. Each copy of this newspaper costs 10 coins, but it only sells for 12 coins. Even if 10,000 copies are sold, we can only make 23 guan. After a month, it is barely enough to cover the basic expenses of the printing house. I am afraid that this initial investment cannot be recovered."

Many people think that one guan in the Song Dynasty is 1,000 copper coins. In fact, the official price is 770 wen per guan, but the private price is basically maintained at around 850 wen. So if the newspaper is published four times a month and 10,000 copies are sold each time, the income is about 23.5 guan.

But with so many workers in the printing house, they only need to be paid more than 100 guan per month, which may not even be able to maintain the minimum cost. No wonder there is no profit in opening a printing house.

However, Zhao Jun laughed and said, "It's too small. In addition to newspapers, the printing house is printing normal books, and there will be advertising income later. In addition, our audience is not only Bianliang, but also the entire Jingji Road. Jingji Road has a population of millions. As long as there are 100,000 customers, the monthly income of the printing house can reach more than 1,000 or 2,000 guan. Why worry about not making money?"

Meng Chengqi was surprised and said, "But will there really be so many people buying it?"

"Yes."

Zhao Jun said without hesitation, "The free gift in the early stage is to make them dependent, and we have an exclusive monopoly. As long as the people want to read the news, novels and poems, there is no worry about not being able to sell newspapers."

His eyes drooped and stared at the newspaper in his hand. Controlling public opinion is of great help to the officialdom and many things.

At least in the future, if we open up overseas, under the propaganda of newspapers, countless people from the Song Dynasty will go to distant places.

By then, the entire world will be filled with Han Chinese traces, and there will be no need to worry about overseas expansion.