My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 510 Confucian Journal

Xia Yuanji was moved. Since Zhu Zhanhe could run a newspaper, why couldn't he?

There is actually nothing mysterious about newspapers. They just have people write articles, format them, send them to the printing workshop, and then wait for the newspapers to be printed.

Moreover, the investment in newspapers is not large. The most expensive ones are the cost of labor and printing newspapers. Compared with those businesses that invest huge amounts of money at every turn, the initial investment of newspapers is actually very small, and as long as they can sell the newspapers, they should be able to Support the operation of the newspaper.

Xia Yuanji was a person who knew how to settle accounts, so he made some calculations in his mind and quickly decided that he would start a newspaper, and he would be able to write whatever he wanted, and he would no longer have to be controlled by others.

Whatever he wanted to do, he did it, so after going to court, Xia Yuanji excitedly found Jian Yi who was on duty in the cabinet, then pulled him aside and whispered his idea of ​​starting a newspaper.

"Publish your own newspaper?"

Jian Yi was shocked after hearing this, and then asked: "Brother Xia, are you kidding me? You are an official. Although newspapers are not considered business, they still need to sell newspapers to make money. If anyone knows about this, I'm afraid it will offend people." Criticism."

"It doesn't matter. I just want to run a newspaper, and I don't want to do it myself. At worst, I can just find a disciple to run the newspaper office."

Xia Yuanji said indifferently.

Officials of the Ming Dynasty were not allowed to do business. Although this was an iron rule, many people would bypass this iron rule and put their property on unrelated people. In this way, the court could not do anything to them. Many distinguished officials in the capital were like this. Dry.

"But even so, we don't have experience. Besides, the Prince of Han is behind the news. If you run a newspaper, wouldn't you be competing with the Prince of Han's business for business? I'm afraid this will make the Prince dissatisfied?"

Jian Yi asked again. He knew that Xia Yuanji and Zhu Zhanhe had a good relationship and there was no need to become enemies over such a trivial matter.

"Don't worry, the prince reminded me about running a newspaper. The newspaper he runs is too small and many articles are not published. But I want to run a newspaper with a larger format where everyone can speak freely. I will definitely be able to compare with him!"

Xia Yuanji said confidently.

"Can……"

Jian Yi still feels that this idea is unreliable, but he doesn’t know what to say?
"Brother Jian, do you want to come with me? You can also write some articles and send them to my newspaper. Of course, don't write about strange powers and gods."

Xia Yuanji smiled and invited Jian Yi. In his opinion, with Jian Yi's talent and knowledge, it was too unfair to write about things about strange powers and chaos.

"I'd better forget it. The newspaper is just a pastime for me. I have enough business dealing with it, and I really don't have the energy to write any more articles."

Jian Yi thought for a while but declined.

His views on newspapers were different from Xia Yuanji's, and at the same time he didn't want to wade into this muddy water.

Seeing Jian Yi's refusal, Xia Yuanji was a little disappointed, but he didn't force it, so he went to the Hanlin Academy to find a few officials. Most of these Hanlin Academy officials were number one or number two, and all of them were talented.

And like Xia Yuanji, they had also noticed the newspaper for a long time, and some people had even submitted articles to the newspaper. However, because of the style of writing, almost no one's articles were adopted.

So now that they learned that Xia Yuanji was going to take the lead in building a new newspaper, these people also responded one after another. Among them, Lu Xiu, the number one scholar in the above subject, was the most active. He even proposed that he would personally serve as the editor-in-chief of the newspaper.Although officials cannot engage in business, newspapers are more like associations among scholars, so in Xia Yuanji's view, it is not considered business at all. After all, the affairs of scholars are reasonable no matter how you explain them.

With like-minded people in their sights, Xia Yuanji and the others immediately took action.

Although Xia Yuanji was the Minister of the Ministry of Household Affairs, his family was actually from a poor family. Even after having the Yanglian Bank, most of his income was used to subsidize his brothers and sisters. His family was not well off.

But although Xia Yuanji has no money, he has connections. He has been in the court for many years, and his disciples and former officials can be said to be all over the world. Coupled with his own reputation, he can immediately attract many people as long as he comes forward.

Lu Xiu of the Hanlin Academy came from a wealthy family and had more than one residence in the capital, so he packed up a relatively large house and used it as the residence of the newspaper office, and then personally recruited people.

Lu Xiu was known as a child prodigy when he was a child. When he grew up, he won the first prize. His reputation among scholars was not much lower than that of Xia Yuanji. He was even better than Xia Yuanji if we only talked about articles and poems.

After Xia Yuanji, Lu Xiu and others called on them, many people rushed to their newspaper offices to sign up. The scene was much more lively than when Zhu Zhanhe first opened the newspaper office.

Moreover, Xia Yuanji, Lu Xiu and others quickly gave the newspaper a name, "Ru Bao". After all, they were all disciples of Confucianism, and the newspaper was mainly for scholars, so the name Ru Bao was very appropriate.

"Your Majesty, the Confucian Journal founded by Xia Shangshu and others has been filled up and will be published soon. Why aren't you in a hurry?"

Ma An complained to Zhu Zhanhe sweating profusely.

"What is there to be anxious about? As soon as they heard the name, they knew that their Confucian newspaper was aimed at scholars, but our newspaper is mainly aimed at ordinary people. The positioning of the two newspapers is different, and there is not much competition at all."

Zhu Zhanhe said with a smile.

"But if the other party's newspaper becomes more popular than ours, then the market we have finally captured will be given to others."

Ma An still said uneasy.

Liang Xin, the editor-in-chief of the Xinwen newspaper, was just a failed scholar in the past, and the remaining editors were also unsuccessful scholars. In contrast, the editor-in-chief of the Confucian newspaper was Lu Xiu, the number one scholar, and the other editors were also famous. Talent, it can be said that the difference in strength between the two sides is too big, that's why Ma An has no confidence.

"Don't worry, you don't have to be a good newspaper just because you have literary talent. Just like someone who has literary talent doesn't necessarily make you a good official. Otherwise, all the cabinets would be top picks."

Zhu Zhanhe smiled and encouraged. He knew that Ma An was intimidated by the formation of Confucian Press, but he was not worried at all. A group of great talents gathered together. No matter how good the article was, there must be someone to appreciate it. Just fine.

Hearing what Zhu Zhanhe said, Ma An finally calmed down a little. At this time, he suddenly thought of something, so he said again: "Your Majesty, Confucianism Newspaper is looking for printing workshops during this time, and even found the head of our printing workshop. , the people below can’t make up their minds, should I reject them directly?”

"No, agree to them and let the Confucian newspaper be printed in our printing workshop, and the price will be the same as that of the news newspaper. After all, this is a business, and we can't take advantage of others!"

Zhu Zhanhe immediately shook his head and said that he was actually looking forward to the release of Confucian Journal.

(End of this chapter)