Chapter 2211 The new trend of Gui scrolls, "Northwest Times"

Even when Shaanxi government affairs were at their busiest, Feng Ziying never neglected to maintain her original connections.

In addition to Qi Yongtai, Qiao Yingjia, and Guan Yingzhen, Feng Ziying did not neglect several big shots in the DPRK and China who were becoming increasingly close, such as Zhang Huaichang, Chai Ke, Sun Juxiang, and Han Xu, and also maintained the rhythm of writing a letter every two months. Write a letter to the other party.

The letter should not only talk about daily affairs, but also inquire about the welfare, and also send some specialties from Shaanxi from time to time.

Millet from Mizhi, red dates from Qingjian, honey from Qinling Mountains, Liuba ginkgo from Fengxian County, Qingyang day lily, and Qinzhou walnuts. Although these things are not worth much, they are also famous local specialties. It can make the big guys remember you and express your feelings.

Of course, these things cannot be left out without the women in their own houses. If they are delivered to the hands of women, they may not care too much about the value of these things, but rather the affection contained in them.

In addition to the connections between these people, Feng Ziying also maintained close contact with military men of similar age and generation, such as Zuo Liangyu, Huang Degong, He Huchen, Yang Zhaoji, and even He Renlong from Liaodong, as well as old friends like Shen Yourong.

So many times when she returns home after finishing her official duties, Feng Ziying spends more time writing letters. She basically maintains the rhythm of one letter a day, and then accumulates about ten letters in about half a month, while preparing related gifts. Okay, let's arrange for someone to send it out.

 Feng Ziying has been in Shaanxi for almost a year, and her reputation has always been very good.

In particular, he has a reputation for being honest and upright. It's not that he doesn't accept gifts, but he doesn't accept valuables such as gold and silver. However, he does not refuse local specialties such as millet, walnuts, red dates, and honey. This unique custom also amazed the official circles in Shaanxi.

Feng Ziying also knew very well that in the officialdom of the Zhou Dynasty, collaborating with others was unacceptable, but being in harmony with others was indispensable.

You can't completely stop receiving gifts, which will make it difficult for you to move forward in the local area, but you can accept gifts selectively, and you can also create your own way of saying it. There is no shortage of gold and silver in the family, and he likes local specialties, and he is not stingy with them. It is these souvenirs that are presented to the big bosses in North Korea and China to show to the outside world.

Even colleagues and subordinates who were very close to each other gradually adapted to Feng Ziying's style after gradually understanding her style. Pan Ruzhen and Xu Junyang both used to provide Feng Ziying with beautiful maids. Under the circumstances at that time, , Feng Ziying was reluctant to refuse, but later returned it to the two of them, but the two refused to accept it, so Feng Ziying returned gifts of equal value in other ways, but Feng Ziying accepted the other souvenirs given by the two with great enthusiasm. .

In fact, Feng Ziying also knew that what she did did not make much sense in the officialdom of the Zhou Dynasty. Her father served as the commander-in-chief in Datong and Yulin, and as the governor in Liaodong and Sanbian. He also accepted offerings from subordinates and outsiders, and There is nothing against it. Of course, as the governor of Shaanxi Province, it is natural for me to accept some gifts during the holidays. If you don't accept them, it will make your subordinates uneasy, and the people below you will also have other objections.

But Feng Ziying felt that she still had to persist and have reservations, not that she wanted to be a pure minister, but that she should be cleaner in this regard. After entering the court in the future, she would be able to avoid being caught with too many handles, even if these handles were not enough. To fatally.

When Wu Yaoqing came in, he saw Feng Ziying finishing a letter with a pen and sealing it and giving it to Baoxiang.

“Are you ready?” Feng Ziying asked when she saw Wu Yaoqing coming in and motioned for Baoxiang to step back.

"It's almost done." Wu Yaoqing nodded, "It will be named "Northwest Times" and will be published every two days. It is initially planned to print 500 copies a day, and the first three months will be given away..."

 Determining to publish a newspaper in Xi'an was an issue that Feng Ziying had considered before coming to Shaanxi.

When you first come to Shaanxi, you need to leave your mark on Shaanxi. At the same time, if you want to maintain your influence for a long time, you must continue to maintain and enhance your control and influence even after you leave Shaanxi. You cannot limit yourself to officialdom and personnel and the military. Layout, the cloth on the public opinion front is very important and an indispensable part.

However, Xi'an is far from being comparable to the capital city. Not only is the population only one-tenth of the capital city, but the level of economic development is far behind. Although Xi'an has a large population and is considered the core of the entire Shaanxi Province, the real consumption in Xi'an city is There are really not many "upper-class" people who are interested in new things like newspapers.

Feng Ziying has initially estimated that the population in Xi'an does not exceed 100,000, among which are mainly guards and their families, provincial, prefecture, and county officials and their families, as well as industrial and commercial service personnel who serve such a large group. They are truly pure citizens. It's very small. If you include rural households in urban areas, there are probably 200,000 to 300,000 people. However, it is impossible for those groups to afford newspapers.

Xi'an is a city with military and administration as its core. The industrial and commercial service industries revolve around these two. Of course, there are also some surrounding gentry and wealthy businessmen living among them, but this proportion is very small.

Feng Ziying did not think that he could easily change the structure of this place when he came here. However, as the core of Shaanxi and the center of the Guanzhong Plain, Xi'an vigorously developed industrial and commercial industries and built roads along the Wei River, making Xi'an a veritable core of Shaanxi. As a transportation hub connecting the Central Plains to the Western Regions, we can still work hard to recreate the glory of the Tang Dynasty.

To reshape Xi'an's status, public opinion must be firmly controlled by oneself, so the Northwest Times, the first of its kind in Shaanxi, was put on the agenda.

Three backbones of the "Daily News" came from Beijing. Wu Yaoqing took the lead and guided them, and began to investigate and plan the entire situation in Xi'an in order to determine the content relevance and the number of publications of the "Northwest Times".

 After more than two months of preparation, it is now entering the results period.

“Five hundred copies is neither too much nor too little. The carrying capacity of Xi’an City is probably only this large, right?” Feng Ziying asked.

"It's not just Xi'an City. According to our assumptions, Xi'an Prefecture has 400 copies. It is estimated that there are about 300 copies in the city. After all, there are only so many people who can read. The other 100 copies are mainly from the states and counties in Xi'an Prefecture, about one state or county. Three or five copies, and a hundred copies are sent to Yan'an, Fengxiang, Qingyang, and Pingliang. Of course, it is impossible to send them to these places every day. It takes about ten days and a half to send them by post, or sometimes The appropriate evangelist will take you there."

Basically, we still follow the previous routine, including the provincial three divisions, the government offices, the two county offices of Chang'an and Xianning, plus the government schools and the gentry living in the city, a small number of merchants, and the guards, roughly these are the people. It is estimated that there are still 300 copies left.

What needs to be developed is a habit. If three months is not enough, give it half a year. It is necessary to cultivate these people's dependence on the "Northwest Times" for information, and cultivate the information authority of the "Northwest Times" in their minds, so that He believed that the news published in the Northwest Times was the golden rule and believed it without any doubt.

“Well, that’s indeed the case. The three northern Shaanxi prefectures and Fengxiang Prefecture cannot be ignored. Is one hundred copies enough?” Feng Ziying asked.

"For now, that's all we can do. The focus is still on Xi'an." Wu Yaoqing said with a smile: "Although the benefits and costs are not taken into account in the early stage, we still have to be targeted. The three prefectures in northern Shaanxi are far behind Xi'an. It would be good to train the officials in the yamen to get used to reading the "Northwest Times". Of course, the number will gradually increase in the later period. Gongchang Prefecture, Lintao Prefecture and even the three sides and four towns of the army will also consider starting to adopt this kind of initiative in half a year. Delivery and later order model.”

Wu Yaoqing paused, "Actually, if newspapers want to achieve a balance between input and output, they still have to achieve a balance between expenditure and income in cities with developed industry and commerce such as Beijing, Jinling, Yangzhou, and Suzhou, such as Xi'an or Datong. It’s difficult, of course I also know that your purpose is not economic gain, but social and political gain, which is immeasurable, so this can be ignored.”

"Yao Qing, just understand. Newspapers are actually a product of the development of industry and commerce. They are increasingly developed to meet the needs of commodity information circulation. Pure agricultural societies, or administrative and military functions, do not particularly need newspapers. Di Bao enough."

 Feng Ziying has been able to communicate with people around her such as Wang Wenyan and Wu Yaoqing using some modern vocabulary and expressions.

Although they were confused about the meaning of these almost made-up words and sentences at first, with Feng Ziying's explanation and frequent use, they gradually adapted to it, and felt that Feng Ziying's words were very appropriate and practical. Gradually, they also Use it constantly.

This situation is not limited to Wang Wenyan and Wu Yaoqing, but also to people like Zheng Chongjian and the original Fu Shi. Even Qi Yongtai and Qiao Yingjia were more or less affected.

"Industrial and commercial cities are very sensitive to commodity prices, and this kind of information becomes very valuable. If it can take into account both commodity information and political and military information, then the significance of a newspaper can be reflected. This is why This is why I want to run a newspaper in the capital now, and then places like Jinling and Yangzhou can follow suit."

Feng Ziying has never lacked patience with the people around him. People like Wang Wenyan, Wu Yaoqing and Cao Yu are loyal, so he takes pains to train and teach them, even more than Zheng Chongjian and others.

 However, due to their status limitations, their future responsibilities will be different from those of Zheng Chongjian.

 Including people like Fu Shi, Jia Huan, Jia Yun, Zuo Liangyu, and He Huchen. They will be an indispensable part of their system in the future. Dad has his network, and he also has his own.

 (End of this chapter)