Hongwu Survival Guide

Chapter 182 "Da Ming Monthly"

The exam was completed in one day on September [-], followed by intensive review of the test papers, and the time soon entered October of the first year of Hongwu.

There are more than 27 test papers. After careful consideration, the officials in charge of reviewing are only 27 people personally selected by Lao Zhu. Mathematics is faster and there are standard answers. In terms of policy theory, according to the speed of [-] to [-] copies per person per day, [-] people It will take nearly a month to complete all of them.

Therefore, the entire marking process will roughly last until mid-November.

Don't be in a hurry.

This is the third day of October.

After getting up early, Zhu Yuan left the mansion on the lake, which was officially renamed Xuanwu Lake from the back lake after talking with old Zhu. He didn't go to Jinling University, but rushed to the imperial palace.

Lao Zhu mentioned that if you are too busy, you don't have to go there.

Zhu Yuan still insisted that he would go to the palace to report to Lao Zhu when he was free, and the interval should not exceed three days at most.

Show your face often.

This is not only official knowledge that has been used since ancient times, but Zhu Yuan is even more so in consideration of Lao Zhu's character.

If you don't see each other for a long time, people will become alienated.

In the East Pavilion to the left of Fengtian Gate, Lao Zhu still started his day's work early.

When Zhu Yuan arrived, he briefly talked about yesterday's grading situation, and also presented a few copies of the excellent test papers that were carefully selected and transcribed. : "Ancestor, this is about the planning, sample chapters and topic selection of "Da Ming Monthly". Take a look."

"Da Ming Monthly" is exactly the project that was determined after discussing the "right to speak" with Lao Zhu.

If the newspaper cannot be produced for the time being, we will make a monthly magazine.

Lao Zhu didn't forget about this matter, he had asked several times before, and immediately took it and opened it.

According to the model of later magazines, Zhu Yuan divided "Da Ming Monthly" into different columns, covering various aspects such as politics, economy, military affairs, and culture.

Old Zhu was flipping through the pages, and Zhu Yuan also explained: "My ancestor, according to my vision, this magazine must not be stingy about the cost. The first thing to be sure is to use the best paper to make it."

"Why?" Old Zhu didn't look up, and his habitual frugality made him mutter, "What a waste."

"Since it is a competition for the right to speak, of course the more attractive the better, and at the same time, it must be preserved as long as possible and made of high-quality paper. On the one hand, it gives people the impression that this magazine is very formal and stylish. , so much so that a kind of authority can be produced without knowing it. On the other hand, the quality is good enough to attract people to collect it. The monthly magazines issued now, even after 100 or even 1000 years, still exist in some people's study rooms. In the collection, then, it means that 100 or even 1000 years later, even if we are no longer here, this 'right to speak' is still there, and it still continues to exercise its role."

"You... well, that's all." Lao Zhu thought that the court is not short of money at the moment, and quickly agreed, and in a blink of an eye, he signaled the plan in front of him: "'Current political news', 'military dynamics', these, I can understand , this...'Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio' column, tell some ghost stories, what is the purpose of this, don't you know 'you don't talk about strange powers and chaos'?"

"Of course Yuan'er knows that 'Zibuyu is strange and chaotic'," Zhu Yuan said with a smile, "but most of the people don't know, and not only don't they know, they also prefer to read these news rather than political information. Strange things."

Lao Zhu knew that his precious 23rd grandson hadn't finished talking, so he looked up.

Zhu Yuan also continued: "Ancestor, imagine a strict old pedant and a witty and lively little teacher. Which one do you think students would prefer to listen to?"

"Little gentleman who is witty and lively, are you talking about yourself?" Old Zhu smiled, understood a little bit, then looked at the column planning of the 'Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio', and still muttered: "It's just...too serious."

"If you want to compete for the right to speak, you must first ensure that the people like to read this magazine very much, not like the Four Books and Five Classics, which have a wide range of reasons, but ordinary people are not willing to read it." Zhu Yuan said, facing the old Zhu He gestured with his hand: "People love to read it. After reading 'Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio', it is inevitable that they will turn forward and read 'Current Political News' and 'Military Trends'. Unknowingly, they will be indoctrinated. Ancestors, This is the accumulation of hundreds of years of experience in later generations. In addition to this "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio", there is another column at the back, which is a long series. I plan to find someone to write a million-word novel. It will also ensure a kind of continuity, and after one issue, people can’t wait for the next issue, which can increase the sales volume of this magazine.”

Speaking of this, realizing that he had entered a new knowledge point, Zhu Yuan paused for a while, and added: "This magazine, in the short term, we mainly focus on official distribution, but we want to continue to expand its influence for a long time. , it is necessary to carry out a certain commercial operation, that is, to sell this magazine to the market. Under such circumstances, if it is all boring current affairs information, ordinary people will not be willing to buy it.”

While listening, Lao Zhu also turned to the column of long serials, skimmed through the content roughly, and said with a grin: "I listen...it seems nonsensical, but it still makes sense."

Zhu Yuan also laughed: "Ancestor, anyway, you have to be sure, Yuan'er will only do things that are beneficial to our Zhu family and even our Daming."

"I know you are sincere."

Lao Zhu nodded, continued to flip through the next few sample chapters, just glanced at them and said with a smile: "This...horizontal version?"

"If we want to further promote hard pens and punctuation in the future, horizontal writing from left to right is the most scientific," Zhu Yuan said, "However, there must be some transitions. When I started planning, there were both horizontal and vertical writing. In addition, There are simplified characters, Zushang, when I finish it, we should promote it as soon as possible.”

Old Zhu nodded again.

About simplified Chinese, about punctuation, about hard pen, etc., and the motivation behind it, Zhu Yuan carefully discussed with him.

Basically, it's all about efficiency.

The final improvement is the production efficiency of the entire Ming Dynasty, which is still the category of economics.

Thinking of this, Lao Zhu couldn't help asking: "Have you made any progress in your economics in the near future?"

Old Zhu Ke never forgot about it.

The two cores of economics, Zhu Yuan only completed a part of the 'production' at the beginning, and the follow-up 'distribution', although there are many discussions on a daily basis, Zhu Yuan has not yet written it down.

On the other side of the desk, Zhu Yuan made a bitter face on purpose: "My ancestor, I'm too busy, so I don't have time."

"This is a big deal," Lao Zhu understood, but couldn't help muttering: "Besides, there are some women around you who can write and draw, and they can always help you write."

"But they can't get into my head either."

Ok.

This is a problem.

Thinking about it again, I really can't make the child on the other side too tired, so Lao Zhu didn't mention it anymore, and he has already turned to the follow-up selection materials. As expected, the recent imperial examinations and the war in the north are all among them.Lao Zhu couldn't help but look for the connection between "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" and "Long-form Serialization".

Sure enough, it was mentioned.

This "Strange Tales from a Liaozhai Studio" gave a story called "Taochenghuang", which roughly has an outline of more than a hundred words, and Lao Zhu Ben read it with relish.However, I noticed the classic couplet among them, 'If you do good with your heart, you will not be rewarded for being good.If you do evil unintentionally, you will not be punished even though you are evil."He couldn't help frowning, shook his head and said: "This couple, it's not good. Doing good is doing good. If you do good intentionally and don't reward them, how many of the people are willing to do good?"

I specially wrote this couplet, and I expected Lao Zhu to boast a few words, but I didn't expect it to be this.

Zhu Yuan had no position, and nodded immediately: "Master, this is written by the girl at home, it has nothing to do with me, I also think it's inappropriate, and I agree with the one that's all good and filial piety first, regardless of the heart, regardless of deeds, there is no filial son in the world ;All evils and adultery are the first, regardless of the deeds, regardless of the heart, no one is perfect in the world'."

"That's the reason," Lao Zhu said, then reacted, and stared at the opposite side: "You wrote it, push it on some girl."

"Well, it was written by Pu Songling. My ancestor, this is a failed scholar in the later dynasty. He failed the scientific examination for many years and started making up stories. You see, he deliberately instilled incorrect values, and his psychology was distorted... "

Lao Zhu was too lazy to listen to someone's nonsense, so he said directly: "Just change it, or change this pair."

"Just change it to 'Hundred Kindness and Filial Piety First'?" Zhu Yuan thought for a while, and said: "How about changing the story, "Xiaoqian", which was later also called "A Chinese Ghost Story", this story must be liked by the people more, and there is another story. The first poem: The ten miles of Pinghu is full of frost, every inch of the blue silk is worried about the new year, looking at each other in the shape of the moon, I only envy the mandarin ducks but not the immortals."

"I only envy mandarin ducks but not immortals...that's good," Lao Zhu nodded, and asked, "What's the general story?"

Zhu Yuan didn't quite remember the related novels and movies of later generations, so he adapted it casually: "Let's say a scholar rushing for an exam passed by a temple occupied by tree demons, called Lanruo Temple..."

At the end of the story, Ning Caichen was admitted to the first prize and won the beauty.

Ok.

There is also a swordsman among them, called... what is his name.

Zhu Yuan couldn't remember for a while.

Let's call it Li Yingqiong.

The gender is changed to a male, anyway, this name is suitable for both men and women. By the way, next time I will come to a piece of "The Legend of Shushan Swordsman", and then give Li Yingqiong a junior, named Li Xiaoyao, and then extend a tear-jerking love story.

There is one more song.

The years are rare to be silent, the autumn wind is tired of wandering, the setting sun hangs on the wall, reluctant to part with me.

Ok.

Collect it, collect it, this is not "Cultural Entertainment 1368".

Compared with "Tao Chenghuang", which has a bit of preaching, Lao Zhu is more satisfied with "Xiaoqian", which has scholars, female ghosts, tree demons, and swordsmen. He also said that "A Chinese Ghost Story" The name is better.

So it's settled.

In the first issue, write this story.

Forget about the 'do not reward for being kind', it sounds boring.

Then turn to 'long series'.

The idea Zhu Yuan gave is also familiar to future generations. Of course, it is not "Water Margin", which has already been preliminarily written, but "Dream of Red Mansions".

Of course it's not the original "Dream of Red Mansions".

Zhu Yuan didn't bring the system with him, so he couldn't remember the whole book.Therefore, this time, I plan to super magic reform, which can be regarded as the level of magic reform in "Into the Red Mansion".

Of course, considering Lao Zhu's character, there must also be some entertaining nature, as well as the final ending, which should be changed. It should not be too "white and clean", and give people hope.In general, it is a story about the family of the founding duke, because of the various failures of a certain descendant named Jia Baoyu, which led to the decline of the family.

Among them, "Good Song" is indispensable.

Of course, sister Lin is also indispensable.

Baochai...be more positive.

One of the remaining hopes is that Jia Baoyu finally repented and became a monk. However, at the same time, Li Wan's son Jia Lan, who was named on the gold list, is expected to continue the incense of Jia's family.

On the other hand, even Zhu Yuan couldn't write a million words.

I intend to let the women in the inner house write it.

For example, Luoshui.

Coupled with the help of other girls and various poems provided by him, Zhu Yuan also believes that the new version of "Dream of Red Mansions", at least in terms of literariness, will not be much worse than before.

After the book case, Lao Zhu listened to Zhu Yuan's general introduction and was very satisfied: "This story is also a wake-up call for those meritorious families. After the founding of the country, they also need to be cautious at all times. You can't let your children do anything wrong. That's all. .”

After that, we continued to talk about some details, and the various related issues of "Daming Monthly" were basically finalized.

The first issue will be released in November.

It is planned to print [-] copies of the first issue at a time. In addition to distributing to various states and counties, some official sales will also be conducted experimentally.Next, there is still nearly a month to prepare. If there is no shortage of resources and manpower, it will be more than enough.

Having said that, the next topic is also related to Daming Monthly, the establishment of Daming Paper Group.

This is also something that I discussed with Lao Zhu before. These days, Lao Zhu has issued an edict to gather paper craftsmen from all states and counties and send them to Jinling. The relevant plan was also made by Lao Zhu to Zhu Yuan.

Together with Daming Paper Group, there are two other groups.

Both are detailed planning plans from personnel structure to equity distribution, one is Daming Iron and Steel Group, and the other is Daming Coal Group.

Just yesterday, General Secretary Zhang Wen, who went out to explore, returned from Taiping Mansion and brought back a batch of iron ore samples.

The Taiping Iron Mine was actually the later Maanshan Iron Mine.

It used to be the largest open-pit iron mine in southeastern China. This is one of the reasons why Zhu Yuan chose Taiping Iron Mine. The open-pit is easy to mine. Of course, there will be some problems in the future. For example, the open-pit is prone to water accumulation.

More on this later.

In addition, there are coal mines. The Linhao side mentioned earlier is of course the Huainan coal mine, with a level of [-] billion tons, and it is also the coal mine area with the richest reserves in the Central Plains.

Speaking of which, the two mines have already been used in this era.

Not to mention the open-pit Taiping Iron Mine, which has been used by small-scale mining for hundreds of years, and the Linhao side, in fact, earlier, let’s say that at present, there is an official iron smelting workshop in Linhao Prefecture, mainly using the Huainan Coal Mine .

The previous problem was that everyone didn't know how many reserves there were.

It is now determined.

The next step is to connect the two points together.

The two coal and iron related groups have long been coordinating the coal and iron resources of the entire Ming Dynasty, but in the short term, they are mainly connecting the Taiping Iron Mine and the Linhao Coal Mine, and then initially kicking off the prelude to the industrial age.

(End of this chapter)