Chapter 1181: Inspiration
Little Madam Xia was very excited the entire day. It was only upon returning home that she remembered that she had not mentioned this to Fan Zijin.
With her husband’s personality, she knew she’d have a hard time getting him to agree to this.
Little Madam Xia became nervous and stayed in the study to think of countermeasures. Naturally, she forgot to receive Fan Zijin when he returned.
When she suddenly saw Fan Zijin appear in the study, Little Madam Xia was still a little panicked and stood up helplessly.
Fan Zijin frowned even more and asked, “What happened?”
Little Madam Xia shook her head repeatedly. “No, nothing happened.”
“If nothing happened, why are you so flustered?” Fan Zijin pulled a chair over and sat down. He frowned at his helpless wife standing in front of the desk, then rubbed his forehead and asked, “Tell me, what exactly is it? Do you want me to ask your servant girl?”
If her husband asked, they would definitely not be able to hide it.
Little Madam Xia’s lips trembled. She carefully glanced at Fan Zijin’s expression and whispered, “I-I want to be the Deputy Editor-in-Chief of The Lily Times.”
Fan Zijin shook his head, touched his ear, and asked, “What did you say just now? I didn’t hear you clearly. Say it again.”
The timid Madam Xia lowered her voice and said almost like a mosquito, “I want to work at The Lily Times.”
Fan Zijin’s expression changed a few times as he asked, “Is this another one of Mu Yangling’s lousy ideas? Which woman do you see working outside? Do I starve you or deny you of adequate clothing?”
“Her Majesty has agreed to be the Publisher of The Lily Times. Ah Ling, too, will be working there as the Deputy Publisher.”
Fan Zijin snorted softly. Surprised at the unexpected news, his expression eased. He tapped on his knee and asked, “Has she been busy with The Lily Times these few days?”
Little Madam Xia nodded hesitantly. “She’s also busy with The Great Qi Times and the other newspapers. The manager has been here frequently.”
“Hmph, it has been so many days since the starting of additional newspapers and recruitment of the Publisher were announced. The ministers in the court are restless. Never mind The Lily Times, since it’s new and thus understandable that it takes some time. However, the matter with The Great Qi Times hasn’t been settled yet, after all this time. It can be seen how unconcerned she is.” Fan Zijin glanced at his wife. Seeing that she was looking down at him timidly, he was exasperated. Did he hit or scold her? Did she have to be so afraid of him?
Perhaps she wouldn’t be so timid if she went out and saw the world.
After all, Mu Yangling had been roaming outside since she was young and was very bold.
At this thought, Fan Zijin was no longer against Little Madam Xia working at The Lily Times. He asked, “What position did Ah Ling offer you?”
“Deputy Editor-in-Chief.” Little Madam Xia carefully glanced at her husband’s expression and said, “Ah Ling said that when The Lily Times’s operations stabilize, she will promote me to Deputy Publisher.”
“Take over her position?”
Little Madam Xia nodded.
Fan Zijin seemed to be deep in thought. “Then what’s she planning to do afterwards?”
“Ah Ling said that she can’t sit still and prefers to ride horses and shoot arrows. Even shopping is better than sitting in the newspaper office.”
Fan Zijin snorted softly. He did not show it on his face, but he did not believe it in his heart. Having been a princess consort/queen consort for so many years, she had been sitting most of the time.
Although Fan Zijin’s intuition told him that something was amiss, he could not pinpoint exactly what it was. As such, he could only cast this doubt aside. He stood up and said, “Forget it. Since you desire to do so, go ahead. However, you have to take care of the matters at home.”
Little Madam Xia nodded repeatedly. “Don’t worry, work at the newspaper office only takes six hours a day. If needed, I can always apply for leave and only go for half a day.”
Fan Zijin’s eyes widened slightly. “Six hours? The staff at The Great Qi Times work ten hours a day.”
Even the officials worked 10 hours a day.
Little Madam Xia smiled and said, “Ah Ling said that it’s because we women have a heavy responsibility and our families can’t do without us. That’s why the working hours are shortened. She said that she believes in our efficiency.”
Fan Zijin snorted. “She said that to win people’s hearts.”
“Then Ah Ling has succeeded in doing so. When she spoke, many people were touched.”
Fan Zijin knew at a glance that Little Madam Xia was one of the touched people. Never one to see eye to eye with Mu Yangling, he stood up and said, “Let’s go eat.”
The next morning, Fan Zijin entered the palace and planned to dig a hole for Mu Yangling. However, before he could start digging, Qi Haoran came to look for him excitedly. He placed his hand on his shoulder and asked in a low voice, “Zijin, are you interested in The Great Qi Times?”
Fan Zijin raised his eyebrows.
Qi Haoran said, “I just remembered that The Great Qi Times is a good place to boost your reputation. Do you want to take on a role there or something?”
Fan Zijin asked, “Can you make the decision for The Great Qi Times?”
Qi Haoran raised his head and puffed out his chest. “The Great Qi Times belongs to Ah Ling and Ah Ling listens to me. Of course I can make the decision. Although the Minister of Revenue is old and will retire in a few years, there’s a long way to go for you to go from the Minister of Revenue to the position of Prime Minister. There’s no harm in boosting your reputation.”
Fan Zijin snorted and did not comment on the first half of his sentence. As for the second half, Fan Zijin thought for a moment and finally shook his head. “I’m busy enough, so I won’t go to The Great Qi Times to join in the fun. There are many ways to boost my reputation, so I’ll pass on this one.”
Seeing that his good brother was so considerate of him, Fan Zijin thought of his own thoughts and felt a little embarrassed. “I saw that Ah Ling doesn’t seem to care much about The Great Qi Times anymore. In terms of importance, The Great Qi Times surpasses The Lily Times. So, I felt that if she’s not capable enough, it’s best to hand The Great Qi Times over to His Majesty as soon as possible. It’s better for the Imperial Court to take over than for her to be halfheartedly in charge.”
Qi Haoran immediately shook his head. “Ah Ling said that the newspaper office cannot be handed over to the Imperial Court alone.”
He looked around and whispered, “The newspaper office was originally set up to report on injustices in the officialdom and injustices suffered by the commoners. If it was handed over to the Imperial Court, it wouldn’t be effective anymore. Therefore, Ah Ling had long said that the newspaper office could not be handed over to the Imperial Court.”
“However, the newspaper office’s ability to control public opinion is getting stronger and stronger, so we can’t completely hand it over to the commoners to prevent others from exploiting it.”
Seeing that he couldn’t get to the point after talking for a long time, Fan Zijin asked, “So?”
“That’s why Ah Ling asked us to think of a solution ourselves.”
Fan Zijin’s face contorted as he asked, “She doesn’t have a solution?”
Qi Haoran shook his head. “She said that she only has one head and is only capable of coming up with the questions, but she doesn’t have the answer. She wants us to brainstorm.”
Fan Zijin snorted. He did not believe that Mu Yangling had no solution at all. Most likely, the solution she came up with was very flawed, so she was unwilling to propose it.
He cast this matter aside and asked, “Then the Publisher of The Great Qi Times should be confirmed, right?”
“It’s decided; she has chosen Lin Weide for the role. Ah Ling is planning to meet him at Pine Mountain Academy today.”
Fan Zijin seemed to be deep in thought. “Compared to the ministers in the court, she’s more inclined towards the common people.”
Mu Yangling had always doted on Little Treasure. Logically speaking, if this position was handed over to Grand Tutor Fang, not only could it boost the reputation of the Crown Prince’s Grand Tutor, but it could also consolidate the Crown Prince’s status. However, instead of choosing Grand Tutor Fang, she decided to appoint Lin Weide, who had always been unwilling to become an official.
Fan Zijin had a vague idea in his heart. Although he wanted them to control The Great Qi Times, Mu Yangling’s worries were not unfounded. The prosperity of their era only belonged only to their era, and they could not leave a mess for their descendants. No one knew what the Imperial Court would be like in the future, so it wasn’t ideal to put everything in the hands of the officials or the royal family.
What was best for Great Qi’s future development was what was best for the present.
It was best to let all three parties jointly control the newspaper office. It should be run by civilians and supervised by the Imperial Court and the royal family.
This way, it would be the opposite of the existing norm. This was because now, it was the Imperial Court and the royal family running things, with the civilians supervising.
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