"Selling newspapers, selling newspapers! Lan City Daily, one copper coin for a fresh copy of Lan City Daily!"
Early in the morning, the streets and alleys of Lan City were filled with such voices. Groups of children in animal skin skirts ran around the streets with thick stacks of newspapers, shouting non-stop.
"Lan City Daily? What's that? "The passersby were puzzled. What was this?
"Black Bamboo Academy's new daily. It has the latest information on all the big and small things happening in Lan City. The Minister of Revenue and the Minister of War fought in the imperial court. The Minister of Rites returned home drunk from a brothel last night and was kicked into the gutter by his wife. The Minister of War challenged an unknown expert last night and was kicked in the balls. Protector Zi Donglai won consecutive battles in the Yun Nation and conquered seven cities …"
"Kid, come here. Is what you just said true?" a burly man asked.
"Of course, it's all in the newspaper." The person who was called was a seven or eight-year-old child. He looked up at the burly man expectantly and asked, "Do you want one? One copper coin. "
"I don't know how to read!" the burly man laughed heartily.
The child's face darkened. "Why are you asking if you don't know how to read?"
"I'm asking if it's true." The burly man didn't mind.
At this moment, another little girl ran past and shouted, "Selling newspapers! There's a half-length portrait of Her Majesty in the newspaper! There's also all kinds of news in Lan City! "
"Give me one!" The burly man threw a copper coin at her without hesitation and walked away happily with a newspaper.
Although he couldn't understand what was written on it, it was good to see the empress's half-length portrait!
The first page of this so-called Lan City Daily was a half-length portrait of the empress. Although it was black and white, everyone could imagine that she was wearing a bright red dress. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, and it seemed as if a cold glint flashed across them.
Those who bought this newspaper could even feel the aura of the empress through this portrait.
They didn't know who the person in the portrait was, but it was like a real person. This was the so-called lifelike.
When they got back, they would place the paper on the table and offer flowers and tributes in the morning and evening. More than one person thought so. Some people even made a wooden frame and placed the newspaper in it.
It was easier to place it this way.
"Sir Si, the newspapers are selling well, but most of them are buying for His Majesty's bust. Not many people are literate. I'm afraid we won't be able to sell so much after tomorrow. "
In the afternoon, more than half of the newspapers had been sold out. Zhu Zhuo, the director of the Department of Commerce, reported to Ren Baqian.
"It doesn't matter. If you can't sell them, send them to various places and paste them on the streets and find someone to read them," Ren Baqian said.
The newspaper could, on the one hand, enlighten the people, and on the other hand, it could be used as a source of persuasion. It didn't matter even if they lost money.
Moreover, this thing could not be used for compensation.
However, Ren Baqian had the foresight to publish the empress's half-body photo in the newspaper. At the very least, the reputation of Lan City Daily had spread.
After the martial arts center opened for business, another month had passed in Dayao. During this period of time, Ren Baqian had built a paper mill that mainly produced two types of paper. One was to make newspapers … and the other was to make toilet paper! After that, he left Paper Mill to the Ministry of Works.
If it wasn't a very valuable item or a luxury item that could only be used for a short period of time, such as mirrors and glass, he didn't intend to get involved at all. This was to prevent him from getting a reputation of competing with the people for profits. It didn't matter to him, but he still had to consider the empress.
This also gave the Ministry of Works and the Ministry of Revenue some benefits.
As for the content of the newspaper, it was basically provided by the students of the academy.
The students were very interested in these new things during their spare time and brought out a lot of the secrets of the various residences. For example, Tong Lan didn't hesitate to reveal the dark history of her grandfather, Tong Zhenye. It was enough to write a special column for several issues of the Tong Residence.
Ren Baqian left the office of the Ministry of Commerce and went to the area between Beihong District and Zhulian District. There, a small area of houses had been cleared and a circular plaza had been emptied. In the middle of the plaza were piles of cement, red bricks, and thick tree trunks. There were also many aboriginals coming and going.
The clock tower was currently being built here.
Currently, more than half of the 60 meters tall clock tower had been built. It was estimated that it would be completed in another month.
The Zhang family was also busy building the huge tower clock on top of the clock tower.
If everything went smoothly, the clock tower would be completed within two months. It could also be said to be a landmark of Lan City.
After looking around the clock tower for a long time, Ren Baqian returned to the palace and saw the empress standing in front of a table. The table was covered with brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. The empress stood there for a long time with a brush in her hand before moving it swiftly.
Ren Baqian walked over and saw the empress drawing something. He immediately laughed and said, "Your Majesty is actually drawing. Why are you in such a good mood today?"
"Well … I have to calm down. It is said that drawing has this effect." The empress quickly finished drawing and threw the brush aside. She stretched her body and waist, exposing the beautiful curves of her upper body to Ren Baqian's eyes.
The empress felt that her cultivation level was still increasing recently, which made her somewhat vexed.
She almost didn't need to cultivate. It seemed that her cultivation level was increasing casually, regardless of whether she was happy or angry.
Occasionally, she would have an epiphany, and her cultivation level would increase substantially.
If she hadn't forcefully restrained herself previously, she would have broken through to the Cardinal Heaven level and reached the level of the late emperor.
However, despite restraining herself, her strength was still gradually increasing, which made her somewhat vexed.
Recently, she had been worrying about her rapid growth.
If others knew about her troubles, they would probably vomit three liters of blood and hang themselves. How many people were stuck at a bottleneck and couldn't advance an inch? How many people worked day and night in order to advance further?
On the other hand, the empress was vexed that she couldn't control the speed of her growth!
"Your Majesty, is this drawing … comical?" Ren Baqian looked at the thing on the paper and was immediately shocked. It was a round ball with two crescent eyes and an arc at the bottom. If this wasn't comical, what was?
"What's comical?" The empress was a little puzzled. She then pointed at the balls on the paper and said, "The sun, the red moon, and the yellow moon! Don't they look like them? "
Ren Baqian was silent for a long time.
Well, there are indeed two moons in this world, one red and one yellow. The red moon can be seen every day, while the yellow moon can only be seen once every three days.
However, no matter how I look at it, your drawing is comical! The standard is equivalent to a kindergarten!
However, you are the empress, and you have the final say.
"It looks like it, but I was too stupid and didn't think of it for a while. After hearing what Your Majesty said, it was indeed like this. If it was colored, I would have been able to recognize it at a glance. Your Majesty is able to draw such a picture with just one hand. Ordinary people can't compare to you. "
"Do you think I'm a fool? You are fooling me again! "The empress glanced at him, flicked her sleeves, and walked back to the couch.
"How can that be? It's impossible to draw such a round sun without practicing for eight to ten years! In the past, there was a great painter who drew eggs for several years but couldn't draw two identical ones. Later on, he became one of the most famous painters.
Look at Your Majesty's drawing, it's almost the same as a compass. If Your Majesty were to draw another one, I'm sure you would be able to reach this level. Look at these two moons — even the angle and size are exactly the same. This level of control is beyond the reach of others, and it's natural to get twice the result with half the effort! "Ren Baqian exclaimed seriously.
"Your Majesty, regardless of whether it's martial arts or painting, you are much better than ordinary people."
"Does the great painter you mentioned really exist? What's his name? "the empress turned her head and asked.
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