Tibet

At this time, the Right Prime Minister Wei Jiansu and the new Minister of Rites Wang Jin also hurried over, and Li Ye gave them a seat.

The two of them greeted Gao Shi and then sat aside and stopped talking. They obviously knew what was going on and the emperor had talked to them in advance.

Li Ye then took a volume of documents from the imperial case. Wei Gao quickly stepped forward to take it and handed it to Gao Shi.

Gao Shi took the document and unfolded it slowly. He was stunned. The document turned out to be "Kaiyuan Miscellaneous News".

"Kaiyuan Zabao" can be said to be the oldest newspaper in history, but it is a bulletin that compiles and prints daily court developments, such as the emperor's decrees, appointment and dismissal lists, memorials, etc., and distributes them to various memorial halls in Dutai. Officials and officials of the Imperial Academy sent people on horseback to various states.

"Kaiyuan Miscellaneous News" can be said to be a symbol of the prosperous period of the Tang Dynasty, but it stopped within a few years and has never recovered.

Gao Shi suddenly understood that the emperor wanted him to restore the "Kaiyuan Miscellaneous News".

"Your Majesty wants to restore Kaiyuan Zabao?"

Li Ye smiled slightly, "That's right, that's not right either!"

Gao Shi did not dare to speak, and Li Ye slowly said: "I not only want to restore the "Kaiyuan Miscellaneous News", but also surpass it, whether it is for officials to read, but also for the people all over the world.

Gao Shi was shocked, how could this be done?

Li Ye smiled again and said: "Of course it is a long-term vision for the people of the world. It may not appear in ten years, but restoring the "Jiaxing Xunbao" now is a top priority."

Gao Shi breathed a sigh of relief and glanced at Wei Jiansu. Wei Jiansu nodded to him with a smile. Gao Shi quickly expressed his stance: "I am willing to share your worries for Your Majesty!"

Li Ye nodded, "Listen to me slowly and don't interrupt. I'll tell you some of my thoughts first."

Gao Shi nodded quickly, and Li Ye pondered for a moment and said: "First of all, this newspaper belongs to the Zhongshu Province, and I will also appoint you as the official position of admonishment doctor. Secondly, this is a ten-day newspaper. It is initially planned to print a thousand copies each time. I hope The content should be richer, including not only political commentary, but also literature, and I hope you will train more young newspaper backbones to create conditions for the distribution of various newspapers in the future.”

After Li Ye finished speaking, he smiled and asked, "What are your thoughts?"

Gao Shi pondered for a moment and said: "Wei Chen has kept the three points mentioned by His Majesty in mind. Wei Chen is only thinking about the issue of printing."

Li Ye laughed, "Wang Shangshu will help you solve this problem. In addition, if you have any difficulties or questions, you can raise them directly to Wei Xiangguo!"

Li Ye told Gao Shi very clearly that Wei Xiangguo is your immediate boss.

Wei Jiansu stood up and said with a smile: "Commander Gao, come with us! Let's go to the official office to discuss the specific matters of filing the newspaper."

Li Ye is the emperor. He only cares about the direction and how to do it. That is the next thing. If he can't do it well, he will be replaced.

Running a newspaper is something Li Ye has wanted to do for a long time. He was considering it in Jincheng, Lanzhou. At that time, he wanted Li Bai to run a newspaper. The cancellation of the plan was not due to Li Bai's ability, but because Li Ye discovered that it was a problem. It is a double-edged sword that hurts others and hurts oneself more. To put it simply, if the imperial court had learned how to run a newspaper from him at that time, then with the imperial court’s control and influence, the little Helong Jiedushi would definitely be defeated in the public opinion war. Beaten to pieces.

In particular, the imperial court used the power of public opinion to severely criticize the Helong Army's occupation of Bashu and Guanzhong. It is very likely that there will be no such thing as it is now.

So after figuring this out, Li Ye decisively gave up the idea of ​​running a newspaper and instead asked Li Bai to run a school in Sichuan.

Now the time has come to run a newspaper. When Li Ye and Zhengshitang discussed it, they unanimously thought of restoring the "Kaiyuan Miscellaneous News". The court and local governments allowed local officials to better understand the dynamics of the court, thereby increasing the court's control over local officials.

But if Li Ye wanted to make the newspaper better, not only for officials but also for students, he had to add literary content.

As a poet with experience as a court official and a world-famous poet, Li Ye first thought of Li Bai and Du Fu, but Li Bai was not stable enough and could not sit still, and Du Fu was inexperienced as an official. Li Ye then thought of Wang Wei. But Wang Wei was in poor health, so it was his father Li Dai who recommended Gao Shi to Li Ye.

Li Ye immediately issued an order and appointed Gao Shi as Zuo Jianyi doctor, in charge of the compilation and distribution of "Jiaxing Xun Bao".

Wang Jin, the Minister of Rites, took Gao Shi in a carriage to visit the printing house of the imperial court.

Wang Jin and Gao Shi were very familiar with each other, also because of their elder brother Wang Wei.

In the carriage, Wang Jin said with a smile: "Originally, I wanted to try to put the newspaper in the Ministry of Etiquette, but unfortunately I didn't succeed in the end. It's a pity!"

Gao Shi also smiled and said: "I also think it is more appropriate for the newspaper to be hosted by the Ministry of Rites. Why didn't it succeed?"

Wang Jin smiled bitterly, "At that time, Shangshu Pei was not very interested in running a newspaper. I mentioned it to him several times, but he just asked Wei Xiangguo. Wei Xiangguo said that the emperor was still considering it, so the matter was left alone, and then he moved on. A few days ago, I took the initiative to apply to the emperor. The emperor replied that he did not want to run the "Jiaxing Xunbao". The emperor wanted an independent government agency to be responsible for it. "

Gao Shi was startled and asked quickly: "The Emperor does not want to publish the Jiaxing Xunbao. What does this mean?"

Wang Jin said calmly: "The Emperor has already stated three principles. This is the meaning of the third principle. Do you remember it?"

Gao Shi thought for a while and said: "Training backbones and running many newspapers?"

Wang Jin nodded and said: "Jiaxing Xunbao is actually just the beginning, or just an experiment. The emperor told me that he wants to run several newspapers. There will be new newspapers every day, newspapers for literati and officials. Newspapers for people to read, newspapers for ordinary people to read, etc., so it is necessary to set up a special official office to do it, and it is not appropriate to put it under the Ministry of Rites. "

Gao Shi pondered for a moment and asked, "Did the Emperor ever say that private individuals should handle the filing of newspapers?"

Wang Jin shook his head, "I don't think I have this idea at the moment. I don't know if it will happen in the future because it involves public opinion. However, the Tang Dynasty is generally more tolerant. As long as a few red lines are drawn, such as not attacking the emperor, etc., I personally I think private newspapers may be allowed to run in the future.”

Gao Shi sighed, "Publish newspapers every day, how can you be rigid?"

Wang Jin smiled mysteriously, "That's why I took you to see the printing house. You will know after you go and take a look!"

The printing workshop they came to is called Chang'an Printing House. It is a government-run printing studio located in Yanzhengfang in the west of the city. There are several government-run printing houses in Chang'an, but today this one is the largest one, covering an area of ​​five acres. .

The current printing is still mainly based on engraving, such as literary works, the Four Books and Five Classics, Buddhist scriptures, and examination papers. There is no need for typesetting and the content will not change. Hundreds of thousands of copies can be printed at once, so engraving printing is of course very suitable.

But it's different for a newspaper. The content is different every day and needs to be typed every day. It would be inappropriate to use engraving printing. First of all, the cost would be unbearable. A set of boards costs hundreds of dollars and is thrown away after one day use. Who can bear it? ?

Therefore, real newspapers must be based on movable type printing.

But movable type printing can never replace engraving printing. For example, a set of "Three Character Classic" and Buddhist scriptures have the same content for thousands of years. Of course, a set of engraving boards can be used for decades or hundreds of years and is easier to preserve. Of course, it is better than movable type Printing is more practical.

The two walked into the printing shop and saw workers brushing ink, covering paper and printing. Every table was very busy.

They walked all the way to the backyard, which was the engraving area. The steward opened the door, and there were dozens of carving craftsmen sitting inside, each of them carving wooden boards attentively.

The steward took them to the small room next door. He pointed at the printing and engraving on the table and said, "This is what you two adults want to see!"