Chapter 963: Media

Early the next morning.

As the sun climbed over the willow branches, Zhao Xu woke up from his bed.

Yang Susu, Feng'er, and Luan'er had risen earlier than him and were chatting and laughing in the outer room.

Hearing the movement inside, Feng'er and Luan'er brought over a set of casual clothes to attend to him as he dressed.

After washing up, Zhao Xu went to the outer room.

Looking at the three of them, he suddenly remembered something and sighed, "I actually forgot one thing; I had originally intended to bring back a few kangaroos for you all to relieve your boredom, but I forgot."

"Kangaroos?" Yang Susu was stunned for a moment and asked, "What are those?"

Upon hearing this, Zhao Xu explained it to them.

The three of them immediately showed expressions of astonishment.

Feng'er said, "I never imagined there were such strange animals in the world."

"That is not all; this is just Australia. There are many more interesting things in other places." Zhao Xu then told them about the customs and culture of Luzon, making the three of them exclaim in wonder repeatedly.

"If there is a chance, Your Highness must take us to see them," said Feng'er, who had always been lively by nature and could not sit still.

If she were not a woman, she would have long since followed a merchant caravan to Gaoli or Dongying, wandering to the ends of the earth.

As the three were chatting, someone reported that Mi Wen had arrived.

Zhao Xu remembered that it was he who had instructed Mi Wen to come over during the banquet yesterday.

So, he went to the study.

"Your Highness."

Before long, Mi Wen arrived, entered the study, and bowed in salute.

"No need for formalities." Zhao Xu looked Mi Wen over.

This young man had been in Yanzhou for three or four years now; the callowness had faded, replaced by a touch of maturity, and overall, he looked more like a refined scholar.

In this regard, he was somewhat similar to his grandfather, Mi Zhuang.

"I had you come here so that you could promote Luzon and Australia in the newspaper, especially Australia," Zhao Xu said.

Hearing this, Mi Wen smiled and said, "Your subject guessed that Your Highness would surely want to discuss this matter."

Zhao Xu nodded.

Ever since the newspaper offices blossomed all over Da Song, and even established branches in Gaoli and Dongying,

the newspaper had become the main channel for the common people of Da Song to obtain news.

And because it was officially run, the authority of the newspaper naturally needed no questioning; it had basically become the mouthpiece of the Imperial Court.

This time, having gone south, he had seized control of Luzon and occupied the Australian continent, so naturally, he had to make it widely known through the newspaper.

This would allow private merchants to receive the news in time, head to Luzon to seek business opportunities, and thereby transport goods there.

As for the Australian continent, merely staking a claim was not enough; after all, that land was too vast.

If there were Da Song merchants willing to go over and develop it, it would be more conducive to Da Song's control over this continent.

However, besides this purpose, he had another idea, which was to formally rename the Australian continent through the newspaper this time.

So he said to Mi Wen, "I will dictate some features and policies regarding Luzon and the Australian continent; you write them down and publish them in the newspaper."

"Yes, Your Highness." Mi Wen took out the notebook he carried with him.

Zhao Xu then explained Luzon and Australia to Mi Wen.

As for Luzon, he did not say much, merely revealing the news to the merchants.

For Australia, he had Mi Wen emphasize one policy: merchants who went to Australia to develop the land would be allowed to purchase pastures and hold them as private property.

At the same time, they would be exempt from taxes for five years.

"Mention in the article's headline that I will formally rename the Australian continent to Nanzhan Continent," Zhao Xu said with a smile.

This Nanzhan Continent was an abbreviation of Nanzhan Buzhou.

The name came from Journey to the West; he was merely borrowing it for use.

From this day forward, there would be no more Australian continent of the British in the world, only the Nanzhan Continent of Da Song.

"Yes, Your Highness, your subject has noted it all down," Mi Wen said. "I can send the first draft over for Your Highness to review by this evening."

"Very well," Zhao Xu smiled. "Additionally, you can also set up newspaper offices in Luzon and Nanzhan Continent. Your duty is not just to be the mouthpiece of Da Song, but to build a world-class mouthpiece."

"Your Highness, rest assured, your subject will certainly achieve this." Hearing this, Mi Wen felt a surge of excitement; this was also the goal he was striving toward.

During this period,

the newspaper offices had become increasingly formalized under his management.

Following the instructions of Yan Wang, every newspaper office now had a director, an editor-in-chief, editors, and reporters who ran to the scenes.

And because it was under the direct supervision of Yan Wang, the newspaper offices, like the Censorate of the Imperial Court, had taken on some of the characteristics of the censorate officials.

Facing various problems among the people, their newspaper offices dared to directly expose them in the paper, working with the Censorate to clean up corrupt practices.

This was their duty within the borders of Da Song.

As for Gaoli and Dongying, besides publishing news occurring locally, they would also reprint important news and events from within Da Song.

Of course, their most important task was to promote the reforms of Da Song, reverse the impression Gaoli and Eastern Japanese had of Da Song, export culture, and subtly influence the thinking of the people of both countries.

At the same time, they published articles in the newspaper exposing the brutal colonial history of the Westerners, their white-supremacist, self-centered thinking, and so on, to clear away the lingering poison left by the Westerners in both countries.

The two discussed some more matters regarding the newspaper offices, and Zhao Xu let Mi Wen return.

He, under the protection of Xu Lie, left the Prince's Mansion and headed straight west.

Now, besides the war at hand, what he was most concerned about was, without a doubt, the construction of the thermal power station.

After riding for half an hour, he left the old city walls and arrived at the new city in the west.

Since Yancheng was designated as the Imperial Capital, the number of common people moving to settle in Da Song had increased with each passing day.

The old city, which had originally been bounded by the city walls, naturally could no longer support such a large population.

Consequently, Yancheng had no choice but to expand in all directions.

He also intended to break the city model of the feudal era and introduce modern urban planning.

After all, Great Song no longer needed city walls to protect the safety within the city.

In the expanded urban area, the Thermal Power Plant was built on the edge of the new district.

By the time he arrived, the Thermal Power Plant was under construction and already had a general outline.

Seeing Zhao Xu arrive, a Ministry of Works official who was supervising the site immediately came over to greet him.

"Approximately when will it be completed and put into use?" Zhao Xu asked.

Before him stood a slender chimney structure, though it was still under construction, utilizing a Steel Bar and Concrete structure.

The entire Thermal Power Plant building was of this architectural structure.

With the major infrastructure projects having been carried out for so long, the Ministry of Works had long since mastered this construction technique.

"Replying to Your Highness, the main structure should be completed by the middle of summer," the Ministry of Works official replied flawlessly.

They were only responsible for the main building; as for when it could generate Electricity, that depended on the installation of the power generation equipment.

Zhao Xu nodded; this Thermal Power Plant was built according to his plans.

The slender chimney on the left was the exhaust pipe connected to the Boiler; the two-story building in the middle was for housing the Generator and the Steam Engine, and there were three one-story buildings on the east side of the house used for storing coal.

To the right of the boiler room was a water tower, used to supply water to the Boiler in the middle.

Beyond that, there were buildings such as the Substation room.

If one followed the construction completion date given by the Ministry of Works official, then this Thermal Power Plant would only be able to supply Electricity to the entire Yancheng and the surrounding counties by the end of next year.

Letting Yan Commandery be the first to enter the Electric Age.

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