Royal Gold Magistrate

“Mental attacks? There’s such a martial art?” Li Yuanzhao was dumbfounded.

Fang Zheng put on a mysterious air.

“Indeed! It’s a mental attack. My first martial art is called the ‘Woman’s Fist’! Once unleashed, it renders all heroes powerless.”

“This fist technique is incredibly powerful even for beginners. Mere parroting allows one to contend with the mighty. At a deeper level, one can wield it freely and dominate an area.”

“With more practice, one can transcend physical limitations, using grass, wood, bamboo, or stone as fists. At the ultimate level of ‘no fist surpasses having a fist’, a single word can make others feel utterly ashamed.”

“However, this technique only works on men, and it’s easy to enrage the opponent to the point of killing you, so it can only be used in conjunction with Zhang Biao.”

Li Yuanzhao’s jaw dropped. He stammered, “Then… what level have you reached?”

“Mere parroting…”

“Uh… What about the second one?”

Fang Zheng stood up and loosened his shoulders. “The second one is even more powerful! It’s called ‘Moral Coercion’!”

“This is my favorite skill. It works on everyone, regardless of gender or age, and is infallible! We’ll use moral coercion to requisition grain from the court officials.”

“This is an advanced version of ‘carving merits in stone’.”

“So, how do we coerce them?”

Li Yuanzhao sat in his chair like a schoolboy, listening with great interest.

Coercion sounds interesting. That Woman’s Fist thing just sounds like nonsense… Mental damage, what rubbish!

“Newspapers. And this must be done by Your Highness!”

Fang Zheng hadn’t wanted to reveal this. For Taoyuan County, the cost of papermaking was lower than elsewhere.

But Emperor Jing didn’t know this; he always thought Fang Zheng was just extravagant.

Fang Zheng had been waiting for the right opportunity to reveal this low-cost papermaking method.

Now, with enemies everywhere, he feared something might happen, and he might be attacked by everyone again at any time.

If things went wrong, this little trick of his would be a shield. Once used, it would be gone.

Printing newspapers would be convenient. The Jing Dynasty already had movable type printing, so printing large quantities of newspapers quickly wouldn’t be a problem.

Secondly, they didn’t need too many. There weren’t many literate people in the city, and the circle was small. People could easily share, so perhaps a few thousand copies would satisfy the entire capital’s needs.

Fang Zheng’s concern was that once the newspaper came out, it would have a huge impact. If things got out of hand, it would likely be nationalized or banned.

They couldn’t have things stop halfway; that would waste all their efforts.

Using the Crown Prince’s hand to start the newspaper would be somewhat safer.

Li Yuanzhao, not understanding, asked, “What’s a newspaper?”

Fang Zheng explained, “A newspaper is like the court gazette, but it records big and small events that happen every day.”

“And to ensure the newspaper’s effectiveness, we need to make it a daily, publishing a new edition every day.”

Li Yuanzhao still didn’t quite understand. “But what’s the point of doing this? There aren’t that many literate people in the capital, and news of major events spreads quickly anyway.”

“Besides, publishing every day, is there really that much to write about?”

Fang Zheng continued, “Of course it’s meaningful, and there’s plenty to write. Your Highness, remember, people aren’t actually interested in serious matters.”

“What people love to read most is gossip. For example, let me ask you, don’t you want to know exactly how much money is in Imperial Father’s private treasury?”

Li Yuanzhao’s eyes lit up. “I do! Do you know?”

Fang Zheng waved his hand. “I don’t know either. You see, this is it. Although no one is as rich as Imperial Father, everyone is interested in how much money he has.”

“Following this logic… How much money does the Li family have? How much does the Zheng family have? Who isn’t curious about these questions!”

“Also, what if a chicken grew six wings, or a sow gave birth to a human child? Isn’t Your Highness curious?”

“I am!”

“Want to see it?”

“I do!”

Fang Zheng nodded with satisfaction. “That’s right! This is one of the charms of newspapers. Besides conveying information, it also satisfies people’s curiosity.”

“First, we can hire a group of educated people to roam the streets and alleys, collecting news, then write it in the newspaper and publish it daily.”

“Besides news, we can also let scholars contribute, publishing some beautiful poems.”

“Thinking further, what else can Your Highness imagine it could do?”

Fang Zheng’s eyes glinted with greed.

Li Yuanzhao answered without hesitation, “We can also do advertisements and charge businesses!”

“Excellent! We can even charge for interviews. Let those talented but unsuccessful scholars buy a chance for fame!”

“At this rate, we’re going to make a fortune!”

Fang Zheng began pacing in the courtyard, imagining how to maximize the newspaper’s profits.

Li Yuanzhao spoke up again, “Yes, all you’ve said sounds good, and I understand. But how do we use moral coercion to make the court officials donate grain?”

Fang Zheng calmed himself. “Don’t rush, Your Highness. Let me explain slowly.”

“For a newspaper, we must ensure the information is true and effective to have enough influence.”

“So we must guarantee its authenticity. The capital is only so big. If we fabricate, anyone who investigates will greatly reduce the newspaper’s influence.”

“Therefore, we need to establish a dedicated news team to repeatedly verify events, ensuring accuracy before publishing.”

“For the poems we publish, we also need to set up a special judging team to score them. Only the best of the best can be published.”

“This way, it won’t take long for us to establish our reputation.”

“Then we can start ranking the grain reserves of various court officials. We need to record how much money and grain each family has and rank them.”

“At that time, we’ll use the newspaper to pressure them to donate!”

“We’ll also heavily publicize how much each family donates through the newspaper!”

“If anyone doesn’t donate, we’ll praise them openly but criticize them subtly, writing articles to satirize them!”

“We’ll also have people reading the newspaper aloud on the streets every day… I don’t believe they’ll dare not to donate after all this!”

Li Yuanzhao listened, feeling confused. He objected, “Nonsense! How would we know how much grain each family has? They won’t tell us!”

Fang Zheng’s expression turned cold. “That’s the point. Once the newspaper’s influence spreads, we can say whatever we want!”

“It’s like mud falling into your pants – even if it’s not excrement, it might as well be!”

“A bunch of shameless old fools, always talking about the common people. The problems caused by suppressing grain prices will only get worse.”

“If I, Fang Zheng, don’t expose them, I’ll change my surname!”

Fang Zheng paused, still feeling conflicted.

If they really did this, it would make enemies of all the court officials… The future path would be even more difficult.

After hesitating for a moment, he still spoke up, “This move will go against the will of the world. Whether to do it or not, the decision is in Your Highness’s hands!”

Li Yuanzhao’s eyes shone with excitement. “Let’s do it! I am the Crown Prince. There’s nothing in this world I don’t dare to do!”

“Old Fang, shouldn’t we give this newspaper a name?”

“I’ve already thought of one. Let’s call it the ‘BBC Daily News’.”