Different from the tense atmosphere in Dongjiang Town before the war, at this time, the people in the capital were eating and drinking, and there was no sign of the Ming Dynasty's unrest.
It's dinner time now. There are many diners sitting in the lobby on the first floor of the restaurant, including a strong man and a short man.
A diner who had just entered the lobby entered the restaurant and saw the strong man and the short man dining here again. He couldn't help but joked: "Hey, you two have become rich and treat the restaurant as their own home."
When the strong man heard this, he recognized that he was a regular customer here. His family was wealthier than his own. Normally, he would show off in front of small businessmen like them.
After he recognized the person, he pretended not to care and replied: "It's nothing, I just happened to buy some road construction funds."
When the man heard this, he immediately showed an envious look. It was a business where you just wait and get paid. Unfortunately, he got the news too late and had already finished the purchase when he rushed there.
With a hint of jealousy, the man called the shopkeeper to order food and went to eat.
"Third brother, don't go around shouting, don't you understand that wealth is in vain if you don't reveal it?" the short man lectured.
"Haha, I just want to make him envious. Normally I wouldn't say that!" the strong man replied with a smile, and then started to put vegetables into his mouth.
At this time, the curtain at the door was lifted, and a man came in. He stood at the door and shouted: "Shopkeeper, come and get the newspaper."
The shopkeeper raised his head when he heard the movement at the door, and found that the person who came was a government servant. Hearing him speak again, he was curious, and hurriedly came over and said with a smile: "Brother, are you mistaken? Our store does not sell steamed buns."
, please also Haihan."
When people at several tables in the hall heard this conversation, they all looked over. Don't come here to cause trouble!
If this were the case, this government official would be very courageous. He didn't realize that this store was so big and had so many customers. It must have a backstage. How could he just rip it off casually?
Unexpectedly, the yamen servant was stunned for a moment, and then explained with sudden realization: "It's not the buns you're eating. Well, it's this newspaper."
As he spoke, he raised his hand high and shook the stack of paper in his hand.
"Take the new newspaper published by the imperial court. Hurry up and stop the ink stains. I have to rush to the next one." The yamen officer then said with a slight complaint.
The shopkeeper smiled bitterly in his heart, took it, and then asked: "Brother, how much does this newspaper cost?"
He thought that if he didn't have enough money, he would just pay for some peace and quiet. They were using the name of the court to oppress people, so it wasn't worth alarming his employer.
The yamen servant was stunned again after hearing this, then shook his head and said: "No money, it's free."
This time it was the shopkeeper's turn to be surprised and repeated: "No money?"
The yamen servant didn't waste any more time, opened the curtain and walked out. However, he still said a word: "Nonsense."
The brawny man's table was closer to the shopkeeper. He asked curiously: "Shopkeeper, what is the newspaper in your hand?"
The shopkeeper was also trying to figure it out, so he immediately picked it up and looked at it.
The surrounding diners were also very curious as to why the imperial court sent out free newspapers. This seemed to have never happened before.
They waited for a while, but saw that the shopkeeper made no movement and was still looking at the paper in his hand.
The strong man couldn't bear it anymore and asked directly: "Shopkeeper, what on earth is this thing that you can't stop looking at and you are obsessed with it?"
The short man glared at the strong man and whispered: "Be more virtuous."
The strong man laughed when his second brother lectured him. Although he said no more, he still looked at the shopkeeper.
In addition, some diners followed the strong man and started making noises, which brought the shopkeeper back to his senses.
"Haha, it says "Ming Pao", the Ming Dynasty's Ming Dynasty, the newspaper that reports information. There are many things written on it. I was fascinated by it for a while. I really neglected all the guests." The shopkeeper explained, and then clasped his fists and saluted.
lock up.
The strong man glanced at the short man and saw that he was also curious, so he asked again: "Tell us what is written on it."
Other diners also asked together with the strong man again, leaving the shopkeeper unable to resist, so he could only smile and said: "Okay, let me tell all the guests."
The shopkeeper walked to the gap in the middle of the hall and said loudly: "The first thing written here is that Denglai won another battle and killed many Jianlu, and his reputation made all Korean people defect to him."
When the diners heard that it was about killing Jianlu, they immediately asked the shopkeeper to explain it in detail. The short man was particularly concerned and said loudly: "Shopkeeper, read it to us exactly as it is."
The shopkeeper had no choice but to read it to them.
The reports published in newspapers are all treated with literature, and because they are for the common people, they are written in an easy-to-understand manner.
All the diners listened with gusto and cheered endlessly. After listening, they even shouted for more wine and more food to celebrate.
The shopkeeper didn't expect that his thought would have such an effect. He happily ordered the waiter to serve quickly, and then he started to read the next report to them.
The next two reports are almost the same. They both talk about how two people worked hard and contributed new ordnance manufacturing methods and invented high-power lenses to the imperial court. They made outstanding contributions to the imperial court, so they were named Gunbohe.
Weibo.
Of course, the specific content is briefly mentioned. It just explains such a thing and highlights how hard they worked and how the court rewarded these two aspects.
This in turn caused many diners in the hall to express waves of exclamation and envy. They discussed, guessed what it was, and commented on the reward from the court.
There were also literate diners who felt that just listening was not enough, so they asked the shopkeeper for a newspaper and went to read it themselves. The shopkeeper was also happy to have a break and hurriedly delivered the newspaper.
Then I saw the literate diners exclaiming in amazement while reading the newspaper, which made the illiterate diners anxious. They didn't know what else was going on, so they asked those who read the newspaper to read it out.
Discussions are fine, but reading newspapers is a tiring job, and in the end it's the shopkeeper's turn.
The diners were his food and clothing parents, so the shopkeeper had no choice but to continue reading until he had finished reading everything in the newspaper.
The progress of road construction and the anecdotes from overseas all attracted the attention of these diners. In the end, they even talked about the collection of manuscripts. Doesn't this mean publishing a book?
This meal was the longest the shopkeeper had ever eaten, and he was also the most tired of waiting. After all the diners dispersed, he took a breath and secretly complained about the newspaper for causing so many things.
But then he immediately changed his mind, and those diners attracted new diners, all of whom came here to eat and listen to gossip. The number of customers was much greater than before reading the newspaper.
The shopkeeper also gradually discovered the secret, and hired a storyteller to read the contents of the newspaper. He even raised the price of drinks, but the business was still booming, which made him happy.
So, he began to complain about why the newspaper was so slow to come out, and it took seven days to get one copy.
Later, when the newspaper charged for money, he paid for it without saying a word.
Although more and more stores ended up buying newspapers, which caused many of his customers to return, because the price of drinks increased, he still made more money than he did without newspapers.
Newspapers slowly penetrated into the lives of the people in the capital, and then slowly spread.