Half a Spoiler Chapter 180

In recent days, Attendant Zhang, who still puts on a smiling face going to and from court every day, has increasingly given people a sense of unease. However, the other court attendants could well understand the changes in him – with the year’s end approaching, palace affairs were already exceptionally busy. Since the Sovereign had decided not to return to Jianping this year, Attendant Chi had no choice but to accompany Marquis of Fengsu back to the Emperor’s hometown. Aside from performing the sacrificial rites, they also needed to reassure the officials remaining in the capital. As a result, many of the affairs of the City Bureau fell upon Zhang Luo’s shoulders. On top of that, the Emperor had additionally summoned him to the palace to assign him a new task.

Due to the spread of woodblock printing technology, a large number of privately printed unofficial gazettes had emerged among the populace in both Jianping and Taikang. In these times, the regulation of private book printing was very lax. The Censorate had even submitted a memorial on the matter. However, the Emperor believed that blocking the trend was worse than channeling it, so she instructed the City Bureau to periodically print a more down-to-earth official gazette to compete for market share with the private gazettes, which offered little guarantee in either content or paper quality.

With Attendant Chi away, the task naturally fell to Attendant Zhang.

Since the Emperor had personally instructed it, Zhang Luo naturally applied himself wholeheartedly to the task. Unfortunately, the official gazette had gotten a late start and, compared to the private ones, had remained somewhat lackluster in popularity. He fully understood that while it was fine to be ruthless in other matters, selling newspapers ultimately relied on people’s free will – he couldn’t very well send the imperial guards to physically destroy the competition just because his publication couldn’t match theirs.

One day, Zhang Luo once again entered the palace to audience with the Emperor and report on the recent results of the gazette’s distribution.

Two days earlier, Wen Yanran had gone horseback riding on the outskirts of the capital. Upon returning, she had aches and pains in her muscles and bones, so she suspended court sessions to rest for a few days. However, during this time she did not remain idle; instead, she had the Ministry of Justice’s case files transferred to her and carefully reviewed them.

When many of the inner court attendants first came to the Emperor’s side, they often felt that the Emperor lacked personal hobbies. Later, some came to realize – there are all kinds of people in this world. Some enjoy cockfighting and dog racing, some enjoy riding and hunting, and naturally, some enjoy burying themselves in administrative affairs at their desks…

When Wen Yanran saw Zhang Luo approaching, he pulled one file out from the pile and smiled. “Since you have come, why not take a look at this together with me?”

Zhang Luo dutifully picked up the file and scanned it swiftly, reading ten lines at a glance. He found that it recorded the case of a young man surnamed Zhang from Zhuang Province. According to the file, the young man came from a poor family but was known for his filial piety. As a youth, he had sold his ancestral property to bury his parents. However, his parents, unable to bear the thought of their descendant living in poverty, appeared to him in a dream to tell him where gold was buried. The local officials mistakenly believed the money came from illicit sources and arrested the young man. Only later, after inquiring in his hometown, did they learn that the student’s filial reputation was widely known and many villagers had heard of it. Because the matter involved supernatural elements, it was compiled into a case file and sent to Taikang.

Wen Yanran thought to herself: truly, this is a limitation of the times. Supernaturalism is rampant in the Great Zhou. Local officials could actually place a memorial like this – one that would strongly trigger anyone’s awareness of fraud prevention – so brazenly on her imperial desk. No wonder Xuanyangzi was so popular in the provinces back in the day…

“Ah-Luo, go investigate who exactly is helping this person in the file build his reputation locally.”

Zhang Luo was not skilled at running a newspaper, but investigating and gathering information was precisely where the City Bureau excelled. After receiving his orders, Zhang Luo sent trusted people to leave the capital and conduct inquiries. In just over ten days, all the information was sorted out clearly and completely.

In that locality, there was a wealthy family surnamed He who were neighbors to the young man in the case file. They were the ones helping him build his reputation locally. Even after the young man surnamed Zhang was arrested and thrown into jail, they spent money to grease the wheels on his behalf.

Wen Yanran nodded. “That explains it. To make one’s filial piety known in one’s hometown, someone must help spread the word. If this family did not receive a favor from this man, then they must have a handle in his hands.”

Zhang Luo bowed deeply. “Your Majesty is wise. That large He clan originally had many immoral rogues in their midst. They took the lives of several traveling merchants. Afterward, not daring to keep the money at home, they buried it at night. As it happened, a neighbor who was wandering outside saw them.”

Thus, the gold that the young man surnamed Zhang excavated in the case file was actually the silver and money from the neighbor family’s murderous robbery. Heaven’s net is wide and coarse, but nothing escapes it. Before the culprit could enjoy his spoils for long, he fell into the hands of the authorities. The neighbor, seeing this, could hardly eliminate the witness root and branch. Instead, he had to find a way to cover for the young man. Unfortunately, he overdid it and ultimately triggered the effect of “reaching the ears of the Sovereign.”

This was merely one case among many in the files. Wen Yanran had long intended to reform judicial and prison affairs, and now was the perfect time to begin slowly taking action.

But aside from judicial issues –

Wen Yanran turned to look at the Cavalier Attendants-in-Ordinary who had been troubled for so long over his new assignment and offered him a pointer. “Ah-Luo, didn’t you say before that the official gazette was lackluster? You can use this case as a topic.”

Zhang Luo received the hint but was still somewhat at a loss. Nevertheless, following the Emperor’s meaning, he had someone write an article based on this matter. But just as he was about to have it printed, the Emperor stopped him.

Wen Yanran silently stared at that article for a long time. Finally, she sighed. Then she took up her brush and wrote out a detailed outline.

Although her original work had nothing to do with creative writing, as a modern person who spent her leisure time surfing the internet and playing games, Wen Yanran might not have eaten pork, but she had certainly seen pigs run. She was fairly familiar with some classic crime-solving tropes.

She reorganized the key points of the story in chronological order:

• First part:Describe the protagonist’s daily life, focusing on the hardships of poverty. The wording and style should aim to evoke the reader’s sympathy.
• Second part:Through a third-person perspective, depict the protagonist’s joyful life after suddenly becoming rich, giving readers a sense of vicarious pleasure and satisfaction.
• Third part:Local officials find the protagonist’s sudden wealth suspicious and bring him to the county court for interrogation – a classic depiction of plot complication and setback.
• Fourth part:The county clerks discover that local rumors claim the protagonist’s filial piety moved his parents to appear in a dream, revealing the location of a large sum of buried money.
• Final part:Just when everyone thinks the case is closed and settled, there is a sudden twist and revelation. The truth of the events is laid out one by one, summarizing the entire story while elevating the theme.

To increase reader immersion, Wen Yanran suggested adding a traveling censor responsible for solving the case to the story.

After reading the outline Her Majesty had laid out, Zhang Luo bowed with genuine admiration. He was no longer the novice attendant who would be surprised by every move the Emperor made. The Sovereign was ordained by heaven – it was only natural that he possessed all kinds of talents.

After the official gazette was published, the readers in Taikang City went through a rollercoaster of reactions while following the serialized story:

“What is this even saying?” , “A sudden fortune really is joyous!” , “Those county clerks are utterly detestable!” , “Filial piety moves heaven – good people deserve good fortune.” , and finally, “!!! How can this be? Truly, the human heart is treacherous!”

Within just one month, the circulation of the official gazette increased tenfold.

Wen Yanran thought to herself: her judgment was correct. If you want to quickly grab readers’ interest, suspense and mystery are indeed a good entry point.

Inside the Southern School.

An erudite shook his head as he walked back toward the dormitory. From a distance, he saw his colleague Chu Sui sitting face to face with a person dressed in a blue robe.

Visitors often came to the academy, so the erudite thought nothing of it at first. After entering and exchanging pleasantries with the two men, he sighed and said, “These days, those official gazettes are becoming more and more popular in the academy. Perhaps you are unaware, Erudite Chu, but the students of the Southern School often write articles full of awkward, poorly rhymed prose and submit them to the gazette. Some even take pride in this. It is truly a disgrace to scholarly refinement.”

Plop.

As the erudite spoke, his arm gestures were so broad that an official gazette slipped out from his wide sleeve and fell to the floor with a soft sound.

“…”

The erudite could, in fact, have tried to blame the gazette on one of his students. Unfortunately, out of scholarly habit, he had made quite a few annotations in the margins while reading it.

Chu Sui paused for a moment, then still picked up the gazette for him.

The young man in the blue robe seated by the table observed this and smiled. “The words in that official gazette are indeed contrary to the classics and ancient teachings. I imagine, sir, that you must have been reading it carefully with a critical eye.”

The official gazette was printed, published, and sold by the City Bureau. By now, many court officials had also come to realize that this institution was essentially centered around the inner court attendants and functioned to carry out intelligence gathering and disciplinary oversight. Although Attendants Chi and Zhang were formidable in their methods, they lacked an advantage in public opinion. Coupled with the limited talent at their disposal, the development of the entire institution faced considerable obstacles.

However, with the publication and promotion of the official gazette, the two directors in charge of the City Bureau quickly recognized that a new channel of information lay before them. Taking advantage of the convenience offered by the official gazette, they could more easily and naturally come into contact with all kinds of people.

Zhang Luo himself had an epiphany. He finally understood what profound meaning had been hidden within the seemingly impulsive action Her Majesty had taken that day.

After the twelfth year of the Zhaoming era, both technological and cultural development in the Great Zhou entered an unprecedented period of flourishing. Some scholars even believed that the emergence of the official gazette was as epoch-making as the alchemical and pharmaceutical sciences.

The establishment of the official gazette certainly had political objectives. It greatly expanded the influence of the City Bureau while also extending the power of that institution. Beyond that, it directly stimulated the development of the Great Zhou’s cultural industry, leading to the birth of the earliest serialized novel, The Student Zhang Dreams of Finding Gold – which was also the earliest mystery novel in the world.

During later excavations of the old Jianping site, archaeologists found a batch of pottery jars containing paper in a certain Great Zhou tomb.

The jars held bamboo-mulberry paper that had been improved during the Zhaoming era – strong and flexible, as well as resistant to decay. The content written on the paper was highly interesting and played a key role in uncovering the true identity of the creator of the novel The Student Zhang Dreams of Finding Gold. The tomb’s owner was a minor eunuch from the imperial palace. According to his account, the conceptual layout of that story very likely came from Emperor Xiaoming herself.

After The Student Zhang Dreams of Finding Gold, a series of derivative works appeared in the official gazette. Most of them featured a fictional “Censor Jia” – a perceptive investigator capable of uncovering the truth in every case. Many scholars believe that the prototype of this character was none other than Emperor Xiaoming of the Great Zhou, also known as Shizu of Zhou.

The emergence of these new artifacts also had an impact on examination questions. By this time, students had long grown accustomed to the unavoidable and overwhelming presence of Emperor Shizu in every subject. Nevertheless, when they realized they had suddenly been burdened with a host of new exam topics – such as “The Positive Influence of Emperor Shizu of Zhou on the Development of the Novel,” and “On the Relationship Between the Official Gazette Novels and Judicial Reforms During the Zhaoming Era” – they could not help but feel a deep and sincere sense of misery.