Chapter 1028

Small newspapers appeared during the Song dynasty, but were mostly popular among entertainment quarters and scholarly families.

After all, ordinary people couldn't read.

But after the Ming dynasty was established, because Old Zhu promoted community schools and military academies, more common folk learned to read and write, and small newspapers spread widely.

At first, they were mostly hand-copied; later, as printing and papermaking industries developed, and culture became more diverse, they began to be printed.

Yet in early Ming, there were many heretical sects that used small newspapers to recruit followers; to suppress them, Old Zhu severely banned small newspapers, and civilian journalism never took off.

Civilian newspapers didn't develop, but official newspapers did, with the court bulletin (dibao) being the main type.

Unfortunately, the court bulletin (dibao) mostly contained policy-related content and was typically circulated among officials.

In the past two years, as anti-piracy activities in the Jianghu increased and imperial court policies shifted dramatically, coupled with Pan Yun's widespread calls for new devices, civilian small newspapers spontaneously revived.

At first, teahouses and bookshops collaborated, compiling collected information into booklets for sale.

Storytellers could either buy from these booklets or write down their own material and sell it to bookshops to be printed into booklets…

Initially, these booklets came out every half-month, then evolved to every ten days, then every three days…

Eventually, various small newspapers emerged, mostly one sheet per day, distributed at bookshops and teahouses, and became very popular.

After civilian journalism further developed, some local government offices recognized its potential and moved in ahead of the capital.

For example, Nanchang Prefecture in Jiangxi commissioned their prefectural school to publish the Ganjiang Academic Gazette.

Though called an academic gazette, it covered all sorts of topics.

Prefect Lu Junning of Nanchang, remembering Pan Yun was half a fellow townsman, sent her ten sheets of the gazette after its first issue—content was quite lively.

After reading them, Pan Yun couldn't help teasing Seeing Miao Zhen: "No wonder Jiangxi is the richest and has the most officials—this vision, this sharpness, it's impossible not to win."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "Isn't the Jiangnan region the richest?"

Pan Yun clicked her tongue: "Jiangxi isn't bad either—it's just not as flashy as Jiangnan. Count the officials from Jiangxi in the court; it's flashy in officialdom."

Seeing Miao Zhen: "In any case, ordinary folk suffer just the same."

Pan Yun nodded in agreement: "True enough—wheat ripens five thousand times, but 'Long Live the People' only once."

"Huh?" Seeing Miao Zhen looked puzzled.

Pan Yun waved her hand, dismissing the topic, and asked: "How's your stargazing project going?"

Seeing Miao Zhen: "I observed the night sky and found the stellar configuration wildly altered, Master Xiao Shu—the heavens may be changing, and so may the dynasty."

Pan Yun flipped through her notes, her gaze sharpening.

Seeing Miao Zhen glanced and said: "Last spring, the hibernating insects stirred three days later than the year before; in winter, the rivers froze two days earlier than the year before, but the Great Heat was hotter than the year before, because the palace used three cubic units more ice."

Pan Yun: "You mean winters will get colder and summers hotter?"

"No," Seeing Miao Zhen shook her head, "I think last summer's heat was an anomaly; the overall trend will be a gradual cooling throughout the year. I've checked the Imperial Astronomical Bureau's historical records—each year had abnormal weather, ups and downs—but if you trace from Hongwu Year Two, a clear trend emerges."