In his life, Li Shimin had seen too many courtiers who spoke righteously and impassionedly, but it was rare to see people like Li Mu who were so artificial every time they spoke righteously. The artificiality did not make him feel that
The only annoying one is Li Mu. Because Li Mu's righteous words and impassioned words have never let him down so far, while other people's words are empty words nine times out of ten.
"Then tell me, how does Datang Daily serve the people, me, and Datang?"
"Your Majesty, this is also an inspiration that happened by chance. That day you told me that in the local area, the power of aristocratic families is greater than that of the imperial court. Why does this happen? I think it is simply because the imperial court is far away.
, and the aristocratic families are very close to the common people. When the imperial court has decrees, the common people do not know or know them late. When something big happens, the aristocratic families know first and then selectively inform the people. Over time, in the hearts of the people,
It creates a sense of alienation.”
"I was thinking about how to establish a direct communication channel between the court and the people across the aristocratic family. It happened that I was assassinated and wanted to take revenge, so I came up with this idea. If the court could run a newspaper, it would directly inform the court of major events in the country.
If the people can prevent the wealthy and powerful families from getting involved, wouldn't it be possible to get past them? Wouldn't it be great for the common people and the wealthy and powerful families to know what happens in the future?"
After hearing this, Li Shimin pondered for a while and said: "But the people are the people after all, and knowing about the major events in the court is unnecessary and inappropriate."
Changsun Wuji also nodded, and Li Mu said: "Your Majesty, you have misunderstood what I meant. As the old saying goes, three people can make a tiger. If something has not happened, as long as someone believes that it happened, it will happen.
The results have already occurred. Usually, wealthy families use this trick to defraud the court of the popularity it deserves. But with the Datang Daily, the court does not necessarily have to deal with all major events.
When publishing reports to inform the people, you only need to pick up relevant information, such as the imperial court's promotion of new plows, the imperial army's pacification of the Turks, and other things that will help establish the prestige of the imperial court and increase your majesty's glory.
The connection will naturally become closer.”
"And if a wealthy family makes any small moves, they can be pointed out in the newspapers and corrected, so that their dirty thoughts can no longer be exposed. From now on, they can no longer deceive the people. Given time, the popularity of the court will surpass that of the wealthy family and replace them in the local government.
The advantage! After all, ordinary people are the majority in this world. I believe that what the people want is the right path!"
The four words "what the people want" hit Li Shimin's mind exactly. He glanced at Changsun Wuji and asked, "What do you think the auxiliary machine thinks?"
Changsun Wuji was very shocked. He didn't expect that Li Mu could think about the people's popularity at such a young age. Now he is more and more afraid of Li Mu, and he is also undecided in his heart, not knowing whether to support or oppose. He
Subconsciously, he felt that he should not support it, but his reason told him that Li Mu's move was to suppress the powerful family, and nobles like Yu Longyou were of great benefit and should be supported.
After thinking for a while, Changsun Wuji did not express his position directly, but asked: "Although this move is good, there are two problems that need to be solved."
Li Mu said: "I wonder what problem Uncle Guo is talking about?"
"The first problem is money. At present, the national treasury is not very full, and printing newspapers costs a lot of money. Craftsmen, ink, paper, etc. all require money. If you do it occasionally, you can still afford it, but if you print it every day,
I can't afford it. Furthermore, if this newspaper is only distributed in Chang'an City, it will be of limited use, but if it is distributed throughout the country, how can it be spread quickly across the vast territory of the Tang Dynasty?"
After hearing this, Li Mu secretly gave a thumbs up. Changsun Wuji was indeed Li Shimin's most confidant, and his vision was really different. He was able to find the two biggest problems in publishing newspapers in such a short period of time, and they hit the point. But
Li Mu has already thought about these two questions, so it is not difficult to answer them.
"There is no need to worry about money. I have already calculated the cost. Newspapers are for transmitting information, so they do not use fine paper. The poorest paper can also be printed. If ten thousand copies are printed at a time, the cost is less than a penny.
.One penny is not a big burden for the literate people. Besides, the newspaper is not read once and the words are gone. It can be circulated. I believe that people have the nature to spread news. One person reads the newspaper
Afterwards, when he learns new news, he will definitely not be able to help telling those who don’t know the news, so it doesn’t matter even if he is illiterate, as long as the news is spread, the purpose will be achieved.”
"Moreover, this newspaper can also make money." Li Mu pointed to the place surrounded by lace on the Datang Daily and said: "Your Majesty, uncle, please look here. This is the way I thought of to make money. This lace circle
The place where people stand up is called "advertisement", which means "advertise widely". I will give you an example. A businessman from Luoyang came to Chang'an to open a shop. His biggest worry should be that the people of Chang'an would not
We know that he has opened a shop, but we don't know where his shop is, but if he publishes the news in Datang Daily, the people of Chang'an will know about his shop after reading the newspaper, and they will buy it if they need it.
Printing newspapers costs money, so naturally you can’t help him for free, so..."
"This businessman has to pay, right?" Changsun Wuji answered and said with a smile: "You kid, you are always thinking about how to make money!"
Li Mu chuckled and said, "Isn't it because I have been afraid of being poor since I was a child? After I have enlightened myself, the first thing I think of when I look at anything is making money."
As an emperor whose treasury and internal funds were never full, Li Shimin was very moved when he heard this and said: "How much money can you make from this 'advertisement'? Will anyone pay to publish the advertisement?"
"Your Majesty, when it comes to making money, I am very confident. If it is run properly, the annual income from this advertisement alone will definitely not be lower than that of Bashang Winery."
When Li Shimin heard this, his eyes lit up and he said, "You mean, this advertisement can earn a net profit of 100,000 yuan a year?"
"Maybe more than that."
Now Li Shimin was really interested and asked: "Tell me, how can we operate it properly?"
"Three conditions are required. First, His Majesty's support. Second, private newspapers are prohibited from being published by private individuals. Third, as I have said before, the government resolutely prohibits private publishing by private individuals. If caught, no matter what identity he is, he will be punished as treason."
"Rebellion?" Changsun Wuji frowned and said, "It's a bit exaggerated."
"No." Li Musurong said: "Uncle Guo, when I talked about printing before, I said that printing is easy to copy, but it is a weapon used by the court to break the monopoly of knowledge by wealthy families. And I also said,
If people want to print books, etc., they can leave it to the Printing Supervisor. As long as they comply with the rules and they pay, the Printing Supervisor can print for them. If you have news you want to publicize, you can come to the newspaper and place an advertisement. Under these conditions, if
Someone wants to print books or newspapers privately, what is his purpose? I can't think of a reasonable explanation."