On April 10th, when the people were busy farming and merchants were busy buying and selling goods, the newly established government council launched an epoch-making new thing-newspapers!
Liu Heng personally picked up the pen and wrote the name " Xin Bao " for it. Thus, the first official newspaper appeared in China.
This was a trial release, mainly to prepare for the election in May. It would only be officially released on May 1st.
The newspaper mainly published various government decrees, policies, personnel appointments and dismissals, as well as the functions of the government and the introduction of officials at all levels. In addition, there was also the progress of the case, the government's statistics and guidance on farming and sowing, various applications, approval conditions, and related requirements. It almost included everything related to the government. The first issue printed two pages.
The newspaper was printed on rough paper that had not been bleached or softened. The cost was low. Each copy cost two yuan, less than half a bowl of noodles.
Novelties often needed a period of time to gain the approval of the people, and the New Paper was no exception. Only a few big families bought it in the first phase. However, as the rumors spread on the streets, the sales increased rapidly.
Seeing that the time was ripe, Liu Heng personally wrote an article in Xin Bao to propose a new organizational concept:
Mutual-aid organizations-agricultural associations, trade associations, and workers 'associations.
For the sake of explanation, Liu Heng gave a virtual example to explain, emphasizing the many advantages of agriculture, industry, and chambers of commerce, such as mutual assistance and mutual benefit, mutual exchange, unity and cooperation, good management, and good communication with the government.
Farmers could use this to negotiate better with merchants.
Merchants could use this to reduce costs and increase profits.
The workers could use this opportunity to discuss salary issues with the owner.
The membership fees of the three guilds were shared equally by the members. Apart from being protected, the members could also obtain the explanation of many relevant policies and regulations. They could communicate with the government within an overall framework to maximize the protection of the members 'interests.
All in all, the concept had attracted the attention and support of the people of the three counties as soon as it was proposed. Coupled with the good image Liu Heng had established in the hearts of the people, various associations had sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and everyone was scrambling to join.
After that, the self-discipline regulations of each association were formulated and introduced one after another, becoming the foundation for the operation of various industries in the three counties.
Needless to say, the merchants and the sharp-eyed ones had already seen the many benefits of this method. Youbei, Liaoxi, and Xuantu each established their own chambers of commerce. The president of Youbei was the Qian family, the president of Liaoxi was the Xu family, and Xuantu was the Wang family.
The peasant associations are much more complicated. Some are divided by region, others by county or township.
The union was mainly concentrated on Xuantu, and its scale and power were far inferior to the former two.
However, Liu Heng knew that with the expansion of the industrial scale, the union would sooner or later become a force to contend with the former two.
As the sales of the newspaper steadily increased, its influence became greater and greater, becoming an important carrier for the spread of news.
A shrewd businessman would naturally not let go of this business opportunity. Those with far-sighted vision could see the huge benefits brought by the successful publication of the New Paper.
After the first heated debate since the establishment of the three counties 'Chamber of Commerce, they decided to apply to the government to start their own newspaper.
Therefore, the presidents of the Youbei Business Association, Qian Ping, Xuantu Business Association, Wang Hao, and Liaoxi Business Association, Xu Yi, visited together, hoping that the prefecture government would approve the establishment of their own newspaper.
The government council immediately started a discussion, but Xun Yu firmly objected,""My lord, you must not do this! Merchants running newspapers would only destroy the atmosphere and corrupt morality.
If merchants slandered the words of saints in the newspapers and wantonly advocated for everything to be profitable, causing the common people to follow suit, wouldn't the world lose its principles and become chaotic?”
Qiushou also raised his doubts."This is indeed inappropriate. If someone has ulterior motives and uses the newspapers to slander or even attack the prefecture, or even spread rumors to cause dissatisfaction among the people, it will be too late to regret once the people are in turmoil!”
The other old officials also did not approve of the merchants running newspapers. Liu Heng listened to them one by one, memorizing them with his heart.
Finally, it was Zhao Feng's turn to speak. Among the more than ten people present, only Zhao Feng agreed." Allowing merchants to publish newspapers can better spread the news, allowing merchants and citizens to understand the latest prices, origins, varieties, and other information. Not only can it improve the reputation of the goods, but it can also promote commercial exchanges. The taxes of the prefecture government will also increase accordingly.
As for slander and slander, the newspaper only needed to submit it to the county government for review before publishing it.”
Liu Heng finally heard what he wanted to hear, so he said with relief,""It's only right for businessmen to talk about profit. In fact, what about the actions of the prefecture? Giving preferential treatment to farmers was also to obtain more taxes.
Think about the Qin State of the Warring States Period, from the weakest in the beginning to the end, what did it rely on to unify the world?”
Xun Yu immediately replied,"Of course it's Shang Jun's reform!" Use the Legalism system!"
"That's only one aspect. It's a way to pave the way for the strong Qin." There were two aspects that made Qin rich and powerful: Farming, war, and commerce!
Needless to say, the Qin army was invincible. However, not many people in the industry and commerce industry understood. How could the strength of the State of Qin be attributed to these merchants?
In fact, the strength of a country not only required a solid foundation of agriculture and an invincible army, but also a large-scale industry and commerce. This was because industry and commerce created the wealth of the country, allowing the country to have the money to support the army, to fight for a long time, and to buy surplus grain from the farmers.”
However, Xun Yu was determined not to change his mind. He took out the big pretense of protecting the scholars and said righteously,"If you value business so much, then where are the words of the saints? How would the scholars of the world view it? One had to know that the influence of the scholarly debate was huge!”
Liu Heng also understood that this intellectual discussion was not to be trifled with. Before he had fully cultivated loyal and reliable supporters of the new law, he still needed to rely on the intellectual class.
After weighing the pros and cons, Liu Heng came up with a compromise."Since that's the case, why don't we also allow scholars to run newspapers and publicize the ideas of the Confucian sages and the etiquette of the sages?”
Xun Yu saw that Liu Heng was determined to support running a newspaper, so he couldn't oppose it to the end. Besides, it might be a good thing to allow Shilin to run a newspaper.
Qiushou, who had been silent for a long time, seemed to have heard something and nodded with a smile.
Soon, two more newspapers appeared in the three counties: "Business Daily" and "Scholar's Daily."
The newspaper was well received as soon as it was launched. It published the introduction and prices of various commodities, merchants recognized by the Chamber of Commerce, and information and treatment of workers recruited by factories and workshops, as well as business-related matters.
On the other hand, the Scholar's Daily recommended several influential Confucian scholars in the three prefectures to write articles to beat around the bush and even openly criticize the intentions of the Sage in the Business Daily. They opposed the Business Daily everywhere, slandered its actions, vigorously promoted Confucianism, and emphasized that scholars, farmers, and businessmen needed to occupy their own positions and perform their own duties in order to ensure the country's prosperity and peace.
As a result, these comments caused great dissatisfaction among the workers and farmers. If it was in the past, the craftsmen and farmers would only silently endure such comments, but now everything had changed.
In the gradual change of the three counties, the craftsmen and farmers gradually came to their senses. They had their own ideas from the beginning of the election of officials. The failure of a large number of scholars in the election was proof.
As a result, the newspaper's comments were immediately boycotted by the peasant association, trade union, and chamber of commerce. The trade union even sent representatives to the county government to request the closure of the newspaper.
Fewer and fewer people bought newspapers, and in the end, they relied on the scholar-bureaucrats to maintain their livelihood.
Seeing that the situation was not good, the Scholar's Daily could only change its direction and focus on promoting Confucian ideas. It published Confucian classics and the words of great Confucians, and gave annotations and explanations. It almost became a place to talk about etiquette and Dao, and thus barely survived.
Later on, every time the Scholar's Daily was mentioned, Xun Yu would feel embarrassed. The Scholar's Daily, which disdained profit, had no choice but to change for profit.
On the fifteenth day of the fourth month of the sixth year of Guanghe (183 AD), a strange announcement was made in the warm wind. It was like a huge rock falling into water and causing a thousand ripples.
County prefect order: May 10, all villages, pavilions, Li held a national election. For details, please refer to the New Daily's national election section from April 15 to 20.
After that, the election section published all kinds of knowledge related to the national election, including the candidate system, the review system, the filing system, the voting system, the electorate system, the election process, the supervision process, the statistics process, the results announcement process, and so on. Almost all the methods that could be used at that time were mentioned.
In order to ensure that the election was fair, just, and open, the National election law was issued and implemented on the same day.
At this time, Liu Heng had already firmly grasped the military and political power of the three counties. In addition, the spring sowing season had passed, so he decided to try out the township and pavilion election to lay a good foundation for the future county and county level election. He also examined the application effect of various election systems and laws, and any shortcomings could be revised at any time.
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