My father Zhu Gaoxu

Chapter 520 Expanding outwards

"Newspapers are being sold! Newspapers are being sold! Yongle Daily is officially released, and His Majesty personally gave it his name. Come and take a look!"

On the street in the early morning, a skinny newsboy was running and shouting with a large bag of newspapers.

With the emergence of newspapers, the profession of newsboy also officially appeared. The income from selling newspapers was meager, and adults were generally too lazy to do it. It happened to be suitable for children from poor families to earn some money to supplement their families.

As soon as Zhu Zhanhe came out of the palace, he asked someone to buy a copy of Yongle Daily. Today was the first day of publication of Yongle Daily, so Zhu Zhanhe was still very interested in the contents of the newspaper.

Zhu Di was a fiery person. After he decided to run a newspaper, he quickly formed a team, including several officials from the General Affairs Department. In addition, Zhu Zhanhe and Xia Yuanji were transferred from the News and Confucian Daily News respectively. A few experienced people came over, plus some students recruited from the Imperial College.

So Yongle Daily started running like this. As for printing, it was not a problem. The palace originally had a printing bureau specifically responsible for printing. At the time of the Yongle Ceremony, the printing bureau had already mastered movable type printing.

Zhu Zhanhe opened the newspaper and saw the four characters "Yongle Daily" on the masthead at a glance. The handwriting was very familiar and it was indeed written by Zhu Di himself.

Under the masthead, there is an analysis of the grassland situation, and at the end of the article, it explains the necessity of the Northern Expedition. This is also Zhu Di's next plan, and it is also the reason why many ministers oppose it.

In the past, Zhu Di was alone and had no power to talk back to the ministers. But now with newspapers, Zhu Di can express his views. Regardless of whether anyone supports him or not, as long as Zhu Di is happy, it will be fine.

Except for this article about the Northern Expedition, most of the remaining articles are related to the policies of the imperial court. There is also a section on the back that specifically introduces some situations in the countries surrounding the Ming Dynasty. It looks like the news broadcasts of later generations.

After reading Yongle Daily, Zhu Zhanhe nodded in admiration. It was indeed not easy to publish this official newspaper in a short period of time.

As for the content in the newspaper, although it is still a bit boring, as an official newspaper, it cannot be too lively. Compared with the News and Confucian Daily, the news in Yongle Daily is extremely accurate, which is very suitable for those who like to understand national politics. People read.

It is also worth mentioning that although Zhu Di initially solicited some opinions from Zhu Zhanhe and Xia Yuanji, and even transferred people from the two newspapers to join Yongle Daily, he did not let them interfere with Yongle Daily.

If Jin Yiwei is Zhu Di's eyes and ears, then Yongle Daily is his mouthpiece. Therefore, Zhu Di must keep Yongle Daily firmly in his hands from the beginning.

For example, the current editor-in-chief of Yongle Daily is Lu Yan, the nephew of Lu Zhen, the Minister of Rites. Lu Zhen has always been Zhu Di's best confidant. Although many people say that he is talented but not moral, he still firmly holds the position of Minister and has always been in the cabinet. among.

Zhu Zhanhe read the newspaper, and finally the carriage arrived at the news office. Ma An and Liang Xin were already waiting for him.

"Your Majesty, I heard that the imperial court's Yongle Daily will be published once a day. Is this news true?"

Liang Xin was the first to ask.

The release of Yongle Daily has also put great pressure on Xinwen and Confucian Daily. Although the three have different positionings, the market for newspapers is so big now, so they are also worried that the emergence of Yongle Daily will crowd out their own market.

"It's true. I came to the newspaper office to ask you, can you publish it once a day?"

Zhu Zhanhe nodded.

As early as when he founded the newspaper, he wanted to publish it once a day, but due to manpower and other reasons, it was impossible to do it, so he had to publish it every other day. But now with the strong Yongle Daily joining, they will definitely have to keep up. Otherwise, you will be eliminated sooner or later.

"Don't worry, Your Majesty. I discussed it with Liang Xin just now and feel that the problem is not big. We have recruited some more people before, so it will not be a problem to issue it once a day!" Ma An immediately patted his chest and assured.

Benefit from the huge sales volume of the newspaper before, the newspaper also began to make a profit, and as long as you have money, everything will be easier to handle.

"It would be great if it can be done. There is also the matter of publishing in Tianjin. How are you considering it?"

Zhu Zhanhe nodded first, and then asked Ma An again.

Nowadays, whether it is Xinwen or Confucian newspapers, or even Zhu Di's Yongle Daily, their distribution is limited to Beijing and cannot be purchased outside the city.

Of course, there are also some smart businessmen who buy large quantities of newspapers in Beijing and then sell them in other places to make some profit from the price difference.

Zhu Zhanhe had long thought that the news could not be limited to one place, but should be distributed nationwide. Although it may be very difficult with current technical means, it is still possible to expand to cities around the capital. Tianjin was his first stop.

"I am also planning to report this matter to you, the Crown Prince!"

Ma An once again said that in addition to the layout of the newspaper, he is responsible for all other matters of the newspaper, including its expansion.

Ma An then reported the situation in Tianjin to Zhu Zhanhe in detail.

As early as a month ago, Zhu Zhanhe asked Ma An to consider how to distribute the news to Tianjin?

Regarding this matter, Ma An really used his brain. For example, he came up with two plans.

The first plan is that after the newspaper has arranged the layout, it will be printed in two copies, one of which will be printed in the capital, and the other will be sent to Tianjin on a fast horse. If you change horses on the way, it can be reached in half a day, and then printed in Tianjin.

However, doing so requires building a special printing workshop in Tianjin or cooperating with a printing workshop in Tianjin. The cost is relatively high, but the advantage is that it can be released simultaneously.

The second plan is to print the newspapers uniformly in the capital and then transport them to Tianjin by horse-drawn carriage as soon as possible.

But there is a problem. It is nearly three hundred miles from Beijing to Tianjin. In later generations, it would take less than two hours to drive there. It is said that some people in later generations would simply sleep in Tianjin and then go to Beijing to work in the morning. It can be said that it is very Convenient.

But in this era, the speed of carriages cannot be compared with fast horses. Even if you change horses on the road, it may take a day to arrive. Therefore, if this method is used, Tianjin newspapers will be one day later than Beijing newspapers.

There is also an advantage to doing this, that is, someone in Tianjin only needs to receive the newspapers and then sell them. There is no need to build another printing workshop, which can save a lot of costs.

"Your Majesty, these two methods have their own advantages and disadvantages. I can't make up my mind at the moment. Which method do you think is better?"

Ma An finally asked Zhu Zhanhe.

(End of this chapter)