Zhongshu Sheren, who is responsible for the communiqué, described the situation in 1511:
"Everyone who runs a newspaper is a local gentry or wealthy businessman, such as Huizhou merchants, Shanxi merchants, etc. They are all wealthy owners, but they are not short of money."
Yan Chongxin has been basically in charge of money and food in the cabinet these years. When he heard this, his eyes lit up:
"Looking at it this way, all the deposits added together may be enough to cover the tea tax."
Firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar, tea, salt and tea, one is the most popular, the other is the most expensive, and they are the most intensive in collecting commercial taxes.
Compared with the previous dynasties Chongzhen and Tianqi, the Shaowu Dynasty collected commercial taxes the most.
Among the fourteen official departments of finance and taxation, one is responsible for collecting commercial taxes.
Each county has set up branches responsible for collecting commercial and agricultural taxes, and will never let the local governments get their hands on them.
In the sixteenth year of Shaowu alone, the tea tax in the entire Ming Dynasty exceeded one million yuan, reaching a huge two million yuan.
But among them, the main production areas come from Anhui, Fujian, Sichuan, Jiangxi, Zhejiang and other places.
As long as the tea is harvested, a commercial tax is levied immediately, which is called tea tax; if it is exported, it is a customs tax, and if it is sold locally, it is a sitting tax.
In other words, just tea has to be taxed three or four times, or even four or five times, which can be said to be a treasure of the imperial court.
As for wine, most of it is sold locally, and only a few can be circulated. Although the tax is high, it cannot be exported, and the sales share is also small, at most one million yuan a year.
"Since they are not short of money? Why not collect it annually?"
Zhu Mou nodded in agreement, and then showed a smile: "As far as I know, a newspaper can cost as much as a penny or as little as ten yuan. If you sell several copies a month, the profit in a year is not small!"
Yan Chongxin laughed softly and said: "If you kill the chicken to retrieve the eggs, it is not impossible, but you have to pay attention to the steady flow of water in everything."
"The deposit of one thousand yuan is just the threshold. If you want to run a newspaper, you must pay a tax of one hundred yuan a year."
"No matter how good or bad the business is."
At these words, everyone nodded.
To put it bluntly, the most taboo thing in the officialdom, especially the central court, is the imbalance of power, so newspapers are naturally not happy about it.
There are many restrictions, which coincide with the emperor.
Du Yinxi optimistically said: "There are 1,600 counties and 400 prefectures in the country. If each prefecture has one newspaper, it can earn 40,000 yuan a year. It is simple and convenient."
"And if it's thousands of copies, that would be huge."
These words made everyone chuckle.
However, everyone still has a consensus: commercial taxes do make money.
Afterwards, the person in charge of the communiqué, Zhongshu Sheren, carefully explained the management details.
First of all, newspapers cannot involve the emperor or slander important members of the court.
"Wait a minute -" Feng Xianzong raised an objection in the first article: "As far as I know, newspapers also have the responsibility of supervising officials and making them restrained."
"In my opinion, let's set the grade at the fourth grade, right?"
"But -" Zhu Mou nodded and said, "It doesn't involve the provincial government, but it's just a people-friendly official like the prefect, so it's feasible."
Zhongshu Sheren could only continue:
Second, you must not spread rumors or slander others.
Third, newspapers must not insult literary style and morals...
Fourth, newspapers are not allowed to cross county lines for the first three years...
The terms and conditions are extremely detailed.
"What if officials also run newspapers at home?"
Du Yinxi saw the loophole: "It is not a good way to use this to attack political opponents."
"That's what you are saying." Zhongshu Sheren explained: "According to the rules of the imperial court, officials basically work in different places, and newspapers do not leave the county for the time being, so it is unnecessary to attack colleagues."
Talking about this, Yan Chongxin added: "Officials are not allowed to write articles or other things without permission and report them to the public, and they must use their real names."
After struggling for half an hour, the discussion on the newspaper's management rules was completed.
The cabinet was then submitted to the emperor.
After reading it several times, the emperor added another one: "Adopt a responsibility system."
"If there is an error, such as a loss caused by rumors, the editor-in-chief and the shareholders will be jointly responsible."
Once the process was detailed, I thought the public opinion would calm down a bit, but I didn't expect it to become even more violent.
Because everything is formal and transparent.
Everyone is not afraid of having a lot of money, but they are afraid of operating in secret.
In just one month, more than 30 newspapers were registered in Beijing.
Obviously, Beijing has a population of one million and all kinds of people. Even though there are not many literate people, the market is vast enough for newspapers to make a living.
"We are selling newspapers. Wen Cai Bao, the latest novel about the Three Kingdoms, you can read it to your heart's content——"
"Gods and ghosts, Nezha is making trouble in the sea, the story of the gods is in Yaxianji——"
"A sow came out of Wanping County and gave birth to nine piglets in a row. The exclusive secret recipe is in Xiahuazhai..."
"Oh, it's quite lively."
King Qi sat by the window, looking at the scenery on the street, and heard a lot of shouts in his ears.
Children of all kinds, holding newspapers in their arms, shouting different slogans, shouted loudly in the streets and alleys.
Some of the passers-by stopped to buy, while others kept scratching their heads and asking questions.
When Zhu Cunhua saw it, he felt extremely sad for a moment.
At the beginning of the year, the emperor decided to get married in the twelfth lunar month.
He felt uncomfortable thinking about having someone to control him at home in the future.
But at the same time, after getting married, he would be able to join a vassal and control a country with great power, which made him itchy.
"Sir, these days, there are so many newspapers that people can't even read them."
The waiter brought some snacks and said softly: "In the past, there was only one communiqué to read, and it was all about the imperial court. If you only read one for half a month, it would have lost its taste."
"It's good now. There are all kinds of newspapers. Why, ghosts, gods, Three Kingdoms, etc., if you are literate, you can read them by yourself. A newspaper only has about ten words. If you go to a bookstore, you won't be able to spend a few bucks."
The waiter recounted his joy.
With the development of the commodity economy, especially grain from the south, it is continuously transported to Beijing through sea transportation, resulting in the long-term stability of grain prices in the capital.
In other words, as more people engage in handicrafts and commerce, market culture rises, and many people's material base is satisfied, their spirits begin to feel empty.
But now the emergence of newspapers has quickly filled the gap, making them happy.
In the past, drama and other genres also emerged in the capital.
There are no less than a hundred teahouses and restaurants with stage sets in Beijing, which can be said to be very lively.
"Does this newspaper make money?"
King Qi sipped the tea and asked with a chuckle.
"Look what you said, if we don't make money, how can there be so many people doing it?"
The waiter felt that this young man was probably a very unscrupulous person and didn't even know this bit of common sense.
"Don't forget that there are many newspapers on the market, but more people buy them. Restaurants and teahouses of all sizes must have tea doctors to read and interpret them, and many people will listen to them."
"And each newspaper publishes different things. Some are novels, and some are short stories. I also heard that there are some obscene newspapers, such as Jin Ping Mei..."
"Everyone must buy at least three to five copies. Do you want to make money?"
King Qi listened with a smile on his face.
He is also planning to start a newspaper.
As for the content posted, it is naturally not about politics, but articles about casual chatting, such as cricket fighting and dog fighting.
In the entire capital, there are no less than 100,000 people who have fun like this, and they are all wealthy owners. If everyone buys one, wouldn't that mean they are getting rich?
The more he thought about it, the more he thought it was feasible.
As a vassal king, although he will go to the country in the future, now he can only receive a salary every year. After excluding some daily expenses, there is not much left at all.
It is important to find a source of wealth.
Moreover, when he goes to Qi State in the future, he will also need to have an informant in Beijing to keep an eye on major domestic events.
And what could be better than a newspaper?
The more he thought about it, he got up and went down the stairs.
On the other hand, he bumped into a noble gentleman.
Grandson of the King of Chu.
The old King of Chu passed away in the early years of Shaowu. Because he died at an advanced age, the prince was almost sixty when he came to the throne.
Therefore, today's grandson is also in his twenties, a time when he is young, energetic and fun.
"Second Master——" When Shisun saw King Qi, he raised his hands in surprise, then stepped forward and said, "Are you also coming to see Yutangchun?"
"What Yutangchun?" King Qi was stunned and couldn't understand what he was talking about.
"Hey, this is the signboard of Huaiqing Building, Yutangchun!"
Shisun said softly, with a silly smile on his face: "Recently in the capital, I don't know who the great talent was, and he wrote a book called "The Female Consort". What a great guy, it has become popular throughout the capital."
"You think, in this world for thousands of years, there have been so many Jinshi and No. 1 Scholars, but where can there be a female consort or a female No. 1 Scholar? Who wouldn't want to see what they look like?"
"And Yu Tangchun is the one with the most iconic appearance and handsome person. There are so many people who want to come and listen to the show every day——"
When King Qi heard this, he couldn't help but show some interest.
"Okay, I would like to see this one now -"
After saying that, the two of them came to the stage one after another, ready to listen to the play.
Sure enough, the woman's slender waist and beautiful face, even though she was painted in pastel, was extremely tempting in every move she made, especially when she appeared in a No. 1 Scholar robe, which made everyone excited.
"In order to save Li Lang from his homeland, who would have expected that he would be number one on the imperial list?"
After the play was sung, King Qi was calm, but the grandson beside him was inexplicably excited. A large number of broken silver and gold hairpins were thrown on the stage like stones.
"Second Master, are you going to fight with dogs later?" Shisun said, still unfinished: "I recently found a good dog, named Dahei Shuai. I have won two or three games in a row and earned hundreds of dollars...
"
"No need." King Qi waved his hand: "If you don't go home at night, I'm afraid someone in the palace will go out with some tricks..."
He sighed in his heart that these prince's children who stayed in the capital were considered useless.
If he stays in Beijing, I'm afraid the same will happen in the future.
During the Chongzhen period, there was a great turmoil. Henan, Huguang, and Shaanxi were almost reduced to a white land, and the vassal kings were naturally miserable.
In Shandong, the slaves invaded the country many times, resulting in heavy casualties among many vassal kings.
In the early years of Chongzhen, there were only twenty-eight princes assigned to various prefectures.
In the early years of Shaowu, there were only more than ten people left, including King Chu, King Fu, King Rui, King Xiang, King Jing, King Yi, King Lu, and King Tang.
As for the thousands of county princes, they suffered heavy casualties, with not even one out of ten left.
In order to accommodate these vassal princes, the emperor moved them en masse to the capital, and then gave them 200 hectares of wasteland in the capital and Liaodong provinces to the prince and 50 hectares to the prince, allowing them to support themselves.
In order to prevent the civil servants from saying that the emperor was cold-blooded and ruthless, the imperial court arranged an annual salary of two thousand dan for the prince and two hundred dan for the county prince.
As for those generals and lieutenants, as long as they are still registered in the clan, they will be rewarded with 500 acres of land, 100 pieces of silver, and moved to Liaodong.
But the princes and princes who stayed in the capital did not want to go to Liaodong to join in the fun. They just arranged for someone to guard the farm. There would be no prosperity in the capital.
Therefore, a large number of the prince's children, although they were whipped to be demoted to a higher rank, still went their own way, eating, drinking and having a lot of fun.
Most of King Qi's newspaper customers are them.
And obviously, although the life of the feudal clan was a little harder and not as happy as theirs, the future was brighter.
It can be expected that many of the emperor's more than 20 sons will be impatient and will definitely stay in the capital, and that will be the case when the time comes.
Thinking in his heart, King Qi couldn't help but feel sad for him.
Perhaps in the future, many descendants will become mat weavers and shoe sellers like Liu Bei, but there are hundreds of thousands of clans in the Eastern Han Dynasty, how many Liu Bei will rise up?
"They are still relatives after all. I can't just ignore them."
Qi Guo got on the carriage and thought about it in his heart.
In fact, out of emotion, he also thought of how he would vassalize the country and have descendants for generations to come.
If we follow the rules of the imperial court, this will inevitably happen.
Although there was no princess, King Qi thought further.
Hurrying on the railway carriage, King Qi arrived at Yuquan Mountain.
When he asked to see the emperor, he saw the latter wearing short clothes, holding a handful of rice, and threshing rice with relish.
This is nothing, King Qi is already used to the emperor's strange behavior.
However, the emperor stepped on the wooden board. It was a square wooden cabinet with a cylinder in the middle. There was a spiral iron rod on it. It was as thick as a finger. As the emperor stepped up and down, the iron cylinder also started to rotate.
The rice in his hand was placed in it, and the rice grains fell off with a constant crackling sound.
In a few breaths, a handful of rice is threshed.
King Qi was shocked.
"Look, this is a new threshing machine. It is very convenient and can save a lot of manpower."
The emperor wiped his sweat and took a sip of salt water. Although he felt a little tired, it was exciting to experience the threshing of grain in his previous life.
"My father worked diligently and loved the people, and was always concerned about their affairs. The ancient Yao and Shun were probably nothing more than this."
King Qi praised loudly.
"Tell me, what's the matter?" The emperor changed his clothes and said softly: "You are a person who doesn't go to the Three Treasures Palace for anything. Tell me quickly."
"My son was in the capital and listened to a play of "The Consort", and met the grandson of the King of Chu by chance..."
The King of Qi sighed: "The royal family in the capital is now enjoying themselves. Although they have been demoted, they have no worries, but their sons and ministers are anxious about their future..."
"Isn't there a religion?"
The emperor said casually: "As long as they want to make progress, let them study for free. If they can't take care of themselves, they will only ruin the family."