Chapter 319: The Great Han Times

Time passed so quickly!

Yan Liqiang’s training in Deer Villa grew more intense and challenging after he was apprenticed to another master. Apart from eating, sleeping, and training, Yan Liqiang didn’t even have half a minute of free time in Deer Villa.

Yan Liqiang was stressed every day — not only in reality, but also in the Heavenly Realm. Even so, Yan Liqiang would still leave Deer Villa to visit the Imperial Capital once every three days to meet Fang Beidou, Hu Haihe, and the rest to discuss all the problems that needed to be resolved to publish their first batch of newspapers.

During this period, Yan Liqiang paid Xu Enda a few visits. His condition had been improving every day. When Yan Liqiang visited him the second time, Xu Enda could get out of his bed and move around. Under Fang Beidou’s arrangements, Little Wu and the others started working at the manor on Mount Longqi.

Hu Haihe requested his friends in the Imperial Capital to keep an eye out for Guo Si. However, it was uncertain if Guo Si had escaped from the Imperial Capital knowing he had committed a crime because there was no news about him.

The wordsmiths hired for the newspaper business arrived very soon and Yan Liqiang even personally conducted interviews with them…

The informants that Hu Haihe found in the Imperial Capital also started feeding him all kinds of news that they had gathered…

The artisans in the printing workshop quickly got to work too. After a few good pounds, the printing tools used to print books in the workshop were modified and adjusted according to Yan Liqiang’s requirements so they were a better fit for a newspaper layout.

On the evening of the 30th day of the sixth lunar month in the 13th year of the Yuanping reign in the Great Han Empire, the printing workshop in the manor on Mount Longqi was brightly lit. Yan Liqiang, Fang Beidou, and the others had their rapt attention on a sheet of gray hemp paper. The paper was aligned and pressed against two metal movable blocks which had been inked. In just the blink of an eye, it was fully filled with words…

“Owner, we’re done. I guarantee you that there won’t be any problems this time…” The great master in the printing workshop personally handed over the first freshly-printed newspaper to Yan Liqiang respectfully.

The printing workshop had been busy making the prototypes since noon today. Since this was their first time printing on a huge piece of paper that was seven to eight times larger than normal books, problems were inevitable. However, after making continuous adjustments to the movable blocks and plate [1], the artisans in the printing workshop were able to finally produce the first printed newspaper when Yan Liqiang arrived at the workshop after nightfall.

The newspaper felt light in his hands, devoid of the weight of creating history. The hemp paper was still a little different than the newspapers in Yan Liqiang’s previous world. Not only that, the print quality of a movable type was also inferior to that of a laser printer. Despite lacking vibrant images, the object in his hands was still undeniably a newspaper with clearly-printed words, a headline, and a date. There were all sorts of news and information on every page and the decorative patterns on the print layout were flawless.

‘The Great Han Times’ was in large font on the masthead of the newspaper’s front page.

On the footer was the official publication date — tomorrow, on the first day of the seventh lunar month in the 13th year of the Yuanping reign.

Below the date was a row of smaller text that clearly conveyed the objectives of The Great Han Times — ‘Presenting impartial news and information from all corners of the nation for your reading pleasure.’

There was only a single row of bold text on the front-page headline —‘Congratulations to The Great Han Times on its initial publication!’

The other printing spaces on the front page were filled with fresh information that Yan Liqiang and the rest had gathered.

In the politics section, there was the original recruitment announcement for an underground water channel reconstruction from the Ministry of Revenue, as well as the latest changes regarding two provincial governors in the Great Han Empire.

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In the welfare section, there was information about the newly-opened Yunfeng Rice Shop in Tonghui Square. For the sake of gaining popularity, the owner of the rice shop was giving discounts on husked rice for the grand opening. Apart from that, the section also included news on the recent big harvest of peaches and plums around Jingling City…

In the entertainment section was a report and commentary on the new performance that one of the ‘famous courtesans’, Yan Feifei, would be performing at the Misty Rain Tower in two days.

In the editorial section was a report on the elimination of pirates by the distant Qiong Province’s navy last year…

……

Despite knowing the content of the newspaper, Yan Liqiang still carefully read through all the pages. There was no shocking news on the first publication and the content on every page was normal. Even so, with all these combined, this newspaper was still great pioneer work for this era.

Yan Liqiang handed over the first printed newspaper to Fang Beidou. “Thank you everyone for your hard work in the printing workshop today! Master Guo shall be rewarded with three taels of silver while everyone gets a tael of silver each! I hope that everyone will keep up the good work to constantly improve our newspaper!” Everyone in the workshop cheered upon hearing Yan Liqiang’s words.

Fang Beidou looked at the newspaper, then passed it to the other wordsmiths who were craning their necks from the side. Hu Haihe, Little Wu, and the rest also flocked over to them, curious to see what the end product looked like.

“I didn’t expect the day would come for the writings of I, Fang Mouren, to be published. I guess with this… I have left behind a legacy…” An old man held the newspaper Fang Beidou passed to him with his trembling hands. He was extremely emotional and he even shed a few tears. The other literati who penned the content on the newspaper were also very excited to see their own writings printed on the papers. Their happiness and excitement were probably difficult for outsiders to understand.

Although Hu Haihe and the rest were filled with curiosity, they weren’t as excited as those wordsmiths. They just looked at the newspaper, then exchanged silent glances with each other, looking rather skeptical and doubtful that this thing could be sold for money.

Yan Liqiang signaled to Fang Beidou with his eyes. Both of them then exited the workshop.

Outside the workshop was a large yard. At this moment, the sky was full of stars. The birds on the trees and the bugs among the flower bushes in the yard were chirping.

“Will… Will this really work?” Fang Beidou didn’t ask the question in front of everyone because he didn’t want to affect the mood. Now that they were alone, he voiced his concern on this new invention. Although he participated in the makings, he wasn’t as confident as Yan Liqiang.

“It will definitely work out as long as we handle it well!” Yan Liqiang gave him a positive nod.

“How many shall we print for the first issue then?”

“Let’s make it three thousand first. We shall increase the quantity for the next issue if the sales volume is great!”

“Understood! We will do it as instructed. The workshop will work overtime to print all of the newspapers so they can be distributed at a few locations early tomorrow morning. We’ll let people peddle them at a few restaurants and teahouses!”

“Yes, that’s the gist of it. I will come here again tomorrow afternoon if I can make it. Then we can discuss any problems you might have encountered!” Yan Liqiang patted Fang Beidou’s shoulder and winked at him. “Oh yes, save me a copy of the newspaper and keep it for me. After all, this will be the first-ever copy and it may fetch a fortune in the future. Well then, I’ll leave this place in your capable hands and return to Deer Villa…”

Yan Liqiang left the manor and returned to Deer Villa after briefing Fan Beidou. He didn’t take any breaks in the afternoon because he had rushed here without dinner after completing his afternoon training. Now that this matter had been settled, he could finally breathe out a sigh of relief.

The printing workshop was brightly lit throughout the entire night. The morale of the artisans who had just been rewarded was high. Working overtime in the workshop, they managed to print all three thousand copies of ‘The Great Han Times’ at midnight instead of daybreak…