The scene was in chaos. Dong Si stood up leisurely, looking down at the bustling crowd. "Since you're all busy, let's discuss the matter of the ships later."
Jiang Jin had no idea that Dong Si, with just one move—no, one word—had made Sheng Chi cough up blood and thrown Ze'a Commandery into complete disarray.
At that moment, she was discussing the establishment of a newspaper with Luo Qingci and Chen Xi.
With the population growing, ideological guidance had to keep pace. Proper ideological direction would ensure the people's unwavering cohesion around her.
"What is a newspaper?" Luo Qingci asked without hesitation.
Chen Xi also looked at Jiang Jin with bright, eager eyes.
Jiang Jin organized her thoughts. "A newspaper is a regular publication that records social events, disseminates information, and provides commentary on current affairs."
"It can document battlefield changes—not just ours, but those of other prefectures and even other nations, so the people understand the outside world and realize how turbulent the times are."
"It can also publish our policies and laws, sing the praises of war heroes, and commemorate the martyrs of our Yan Kingdom."
"In short, big events, small matters, past gains and losses, future predictions—all can be printed. It could be issued every few days, every half month, or even daily."
Luo Qingci and Chen Xi immediately grasped the immense potential of the newspaper.
Luo Qingci, in particular, had a sharp political mind. She now deeply understood that possessing such a powerful tool as the newspaper was like holding a sharp sword to easily manipulate public opinion.
It could transmit various pieces of information to people of all social strata, guiding them to form specific views and perspectives, uniting all groups around Jiang Jin and strengthening cohesion.
With a newspaper, promoting new policies or spreading new ideas would become twice as effective with half the effort.
Once again, she marveled at the wisdom of the literacy campaign. It was precisely because of that foundation that the newspaper could truly fulfill its role.
Most of Gofeng's citizens had already undergone literacy training. While not everyone could recognize all characters, and many had dropped out after a few days, there were still plenty who had studied diligently.
Moreover, the children in Gofeng were all in school and could help read newspapers aloud. There were also simplified character dictionaries; if someone encountered a character they didn’t recognize, they could look it up.
As for Shanguan County and Chunrong County, academies had already been established there. Once the construction was complete, literacy training would inevitably follow.
By the end of this winter, all three counties' residents would have passed literacy training and be able to read the newspaper. Just thinking about it made one’s heart burn with excitement.
"The Lord is exceptionally wise," Luo Qingci exclaimed.
Chen Xi held a pen, his eyes shining as he looked at Jiang Jin. "Lord, should the format of the newspaper be like a book?"
Jiang Jin shook her head. She took a brush and paper, drawing as she spoke. "Of course not. Look, you can divide it into sections like this..."
It took Chen Xi a while to fully grasp the format and layout of the newspaper. "Then our movable type printing will be incredibly convenient for this!"
Luo Qingci agreed. "Indeed. But the layout and editing will require a lot of manpower."
Jiang Jin nodded. "That's right. I plan to establish a dedicated department for the newspaper."
"But there's no rush. We'll do it after the construction is complete. Keep an eye out for talent, and we can recruit through examinations when the time comes."
Luo Qingci asked, "Lord, will this department be set up within the county office?"
Jiang Jin already had a plan. "No. I intend to build it in the new city. The newspaper work involves printing, editing, layout, and so on, so it needs a sizable space."
Chen Xi’s eyes lit up. "Can the bookstore also be built separately?"
With the increasing number of students and literacy graduates, the demand for textbooks and literacy materials had grown rapidly, making the existing bookstore insufficient.
Jiang Jin agreed. "Yes. The bookstore and the newspaper department will both be built in the new city. The current bookstore in town will only sell books, paper, and pens from now on."
She had originally considered placing them in the industrial zone. But with more and more workshops cropping up—for example, after acquiring sweet potatoes, they had added workshops for sweet potato noodles and dried sweet potatoes—the industrial zone was now completely full, with no space left.
Chen Xi smiled with joy, her eyes curving like crescent moons. "I can’t wait. Lord, what will the newspaper be called? Just 'newspaper'?"
Jiang Jin thought for a moment and decided. "Let’s call it the 'Jinyang Times'."
Back in Ze'a Commandery, after making Sheng Chi cough up blood, Dong Si began his next outrageous move.
At that moment, he stood not far from the East City gate, watching the Jinyang Army set up tents.
Sheng He, who was responsible for receiving him, was completely exasperated.
This guy had only just arrived in Ze'a Commandery and already made them "eat shit," then insulted everyone in sight, finally driving the family head to vomit blood—and yet they couldn’t do anything about him. After all, circumstances dictated their actions.
Just as Sheng He was sharpening his knives, planning to fleece Gofeng through their inn to avenge the family head’s humiliation and settle the score from when they were bilked at Gofeng's inn, Dong Si—that bastard—had brought his own tents!
Sheng He felt a vein throb in his forehead. "Ambassador Dong, what...what is the meaning of this?"
Dong Si looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"
Sheng He sucked in a cold breath. "No, you’re not suggesting we’ll charge you for camping outside the city, are you? Don’t tell me you will! If so, just tell me where camping is free, and I’ll set up camp there."
Ha! Try to make money off him? Don’t even think about it—not through the door or even the window.
Of course, besides saving money, there was another important reason: safety.
To be blunt, he didn’t trust Ze'a Commandery’s powerful families. Who knew if they’d tamper with the food or even the water?
Plus, conversations wouldn’t be free, as they were on someone else’s turf, with who knows how many eyes watching him.
Setting up tents outside was the best option. Besides, it wasn’t that cold yet.
Sheng He: "..."
He gritted his teeth. "No! There’s no charge!"
Dong Si finally let out a huge sigh of relief. "Good, good. Hey, your family head really isn’t in good health. How could he just randomly vomit blood like that? People might think I did something to him."
Sheng He nearly vomited blood himself. The family head wasn’t in good health? Back when Qu Zhao’s army had taken several counties and Ze'a Commandery was left with only two cities, the family head hadn’t vomited blood.
But the things Dong Si said—to the ever-self-righteous Sheng Chi—were nothing less than grinding his face into the dirt. No, stomping on it again and again. How could anyone bear that?
Sheng He suppressed the anger in his chest. "Ambassador Dong, what you said earlier about high-yield grain seeds—is it true? How high is the yield?"
Dong Si was quite smug. "Of course it’s true. You might not believe it, but with sufficient fertilizer, the yield can reach ten thousand jin per mu."
"Ten thousand jin!" Sheng He exclaimed. "Ten thousand jin—how is that possible?"
Dong Si shook his head. "Whether you believe it or not, it’s true. Think about it: we had only Gofeng City before, with so little farmland. How did we feed so many people?"
Sheng He grumbled inwardly: by fleecing Ze'a Commandery’s grain.
But then he thought again—the timing didn’t match up. They had only handed over their grain a month ago.
If they were really living off Ze'a grain, how had Gofeng managed for the past year?
Could their grain really be that productive?
Seeing that Sheng He had figured it out, Dong Si smiled. "Alright. If you’re sincere, we’ll continue. When the time comes, I’ll prove the yield myself."
He shook his head. “If there’s no sincerity, then forget it. We’ll head back tomorrow. After all, the ship was only bought as a precaution.”
As expected, Dong Si was soon sent back.
Sheng Chi’s face was visibly pale. When he saw Dong Si, a shadow of gloom flickered in his eyes, though his expression remained restrained.
