Chapter 135: Determining the Content of the Premier Episode

Geng Yunqiang had also heard that this Her Royal Highness was a disciple of the renowned general Liu Rengui.

Although he had no idea why she wanted to come to him, a Gate-Guard Officer, for sparring practice, since the matter had reached this point, he had no room to refuse.

Moreover, ever since arm-wrestling with the Princess, Geng Yunqiang felt that this Princess was not someone so easily injured.

With such immense physical strength, her body’s defensive capability naturally went without saying. He might even have to be careful not to get hurt by Her Royal Highness instead.

Therefore, he nodded and said, "In that case, this subordinate will naturally obey your command!"

Li Yuetchen waved her hand, took the spear and staff handed over by Fulai, twirled it around in her hand, and said, "Then let's hurry up and give it a try."

Seeing Li Yuetchen's skillful movements, Geng Yunqiang formed a rough judgment of her current level.

He thought to himself that she truly lived up to being a disciple taught by Liu Rengui, as her fundamental skills were extremely solid.

Shortly after, he sent someone to fetch a training spear and staff, saying, "There are no rattan armors here that fit Your Highness's figure, perhaps..."

"No matter, let's try it today and talk about it next time." Li Yuetchen waved her hand, holding the spear and staff as she assumed a stance.

...

About half an hour later, Li Yuetchen walked out of the training ground looking thoroughly satisfied.

She twisted her neck, producing a series of cracking sounds, and returned to the palace with a satisfied smile on her face.

Inside the training ground, Geng Yunqiang pressed his hands against his knees, steadying his somewhat hurried breathing.

Sweat dripped from the tip of his nose down to the ground. Even now, astonishment lingered in his heart.

He truly could not imagine that Her Royal Highness not only possessed innate divine strength, but her stamina was also this ferocious.

She had actually performed nearly half an hour of practical combat training with almost no breaks... Given time, this Princess might truly be able to claim the title of the greatest martial artist in the world!

Meanwhile, Li Yuetchen also felt that this kind of practical combat training was completely different from her usual routine practice. It consumed physical energy very quickly, and after just half an hour, she could sense a wave of fatigue.

Upon returning to Anfu Hall, Li Yuetchen lay straight down on a mat, intending to get a good rest.

To be honest, ever since she began practicing martial arts until now, this was the first time she had experienced the feeling of total physical exhaustion.

Shangguan Wan'er knelt beside her and reminded, "Your Highness, the weather is starting to turn cool. It's best not to lie on the ground."

"Mm, I know," Li Yuetchen acknowledged, closing her eyes of her own accord.

...

Just at the beginning of the ninth month, the weather had noticeably begun to cool down. Although the noon sun was still scorching hot, chilly breezes blew in the mornings and evenings.

During this recent period, Li Yuetchen went to the Gate-Guard training ground almost every other day to engage in practical combat sparring with Geng Yunqiang.

Now, whether using the spear and staff or the twin hammers, Li Yuetchen felt she was becoming increasingly fluent in wielding them.

The only somewhat awkward thing was that every few days when she went to her master Liu Rengui's residence, she always felt as though he was avoiding something.

Li Yuetchen did not wish to expose it, only practicing her routines for his critique as usual, after which the master and disciple would pull out a sand table to run some military strategy simulations.

As for the practical combat training, Liu Rengui seemed to have completely forgotten about it lately, never mentioning it at all.

...

On the ninth day of the ninth month—in this era, the term Double Ninth Festival was just beginning to emerge, and among the common people, it was more commonly called the Height-Ascending Festival.

It was mainly because people generally had the habit of climbing up high on this day, which presumably originated from some form of mountain worship.

As long as their family financial conditions were not too terrible, commoners would run over to Mang Mountain for a stroll on this day.

However, officials could forget about it, as today was likewise a sacrificial holiday.

The Emperor still had to lead all the officials in offering sacrifices to heaven and ancestors, expressing gratitude for the harvest and remembering the ancestors.

On this day, Li Gao still ascended the sacrificial altar to yearn for his mother, Empress Zhangsun.

At the same time, he banqueted the officials within Taoguang Garden, bestowing chrysanthemum wine and Double Ninth cakes.

This thing was somewhat like steamed rice cake, except it was stacked layer by layer, and as for the taste... one could only say it was acceptable.

Today's banquet was not much different from usual, but one point was that such banquets were generally quite solemn, and the Emperor would not lead the flock of officials in disco dancing.

While gracefully eliminating the food before her, Li Yuetchen thought to herself that ancient sacrificial activities were truly numerous and terribly troublesome.

After eating at noon, the imperial court also went on holiday.

However, the Directorate for Palace Buildings brought back good news: during this period, quite a few artisans had helped out with the work, and the production of movable type had accelerated greatly. By now, there were already over a thousand characters.

If this pace continued, all the necessary movable type could probably be manufactured before the New Year.

Li Yuetchen told them not to blindly pursue speed, but to strive to ensure that the quality of each individual character met the standard.

Otherwise, when the newspaper started publication and printing issues arose, it would become quite troublesome.

After receiving the artisans' guarantee that they would do a good job, Li Yuetchen nodded to indicate her peace of mind.

Thinking that the time was about right, the training of reporters should also begin. On the afternoon of the following day, Li Yuetchen hurried over to Xiejian Lane.

...

Lai Chao, who had received notice in advance, waited at the entrance with his son to welcome her. Seeing Li Yuetchen leap down from her carriage, he immediately pressed his son's head down to bow in salute together: "Greetings, Your Highness. This is the unworthy dog of a son."

Li Yuetchen turned her head to look at the young man in his early twenties standing beside him.

His appearance was passable, but since he hadn't started growing a beard yet, he looked quite spirited.

"Does he have a name?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, this subordinate..."

Before he could finish speaking, he received a slap on the head from Lai Chao: "Are you an official that you call yourself 'this subordinate'? What kind of official are you?"

After taking the slap, Lai Junchen suddenly realized something was amiss and hurriedly changed his words: "This humble commoner, Lai Junchen, pays respects to Your Highness."

"Rise," Li Yuetchen raised her hand and led the two of them into Lai Chao's office.

After sitting down, she raised her head to look and asked, "Your grandfather has already told you why I called you here, hasn't he?"

"Yes!" Lai Junchen nodded. "Gathering intelligence and news? I'm familiar with this!"

As he spoke, he pulled a piece of paper from his bosom, respectfully offering it with both hands.

Seeing Li Yuetchen nod, Fulai stepped forward to receive it and handed it to Li Yuetchen.

Unfolding it, the first thing that met her eyes was handwriting resembling chicken scratches, making Li Yuetchen, who was accustomed to beautiful calligraphy, feel extremely uncomfortable.

Fortunately, though the writing wasn't much to look at, the characters were still recognizable, so she exercised her patience and read on.

The more she read, the more wrong things felt. About five minutes later, Li Yuetchen raised her head with a furrowed brow.

"Is this the intelligence you gathered?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, indeed it is!" Lai Junchen replied respectfully.

"Are all these pieces of news true?"

"They are all things this humble commoner witnessed with his own eyes!"

Li Yuetchen nodded, looking somewhat uncertainly at the slip of paper in her hand as she asked, "Old Suntou who sells flatbreads across from your house is plotting a rebellion? Xiaopox has already broken out in the Eastern Capital? The wells connected to the Luo River have all been poisoned?"

Hearing Li Yuetchen's continuous barrage of questions, Fulai, standing nearby, could not help turning his head away, curious as to what on earth was written on that paper.

"Yes!" Lai Junchen replied with an unchanged expression.

"Sigh..." Li Yuetchen sighed. To be honest, with talent like this, why come be a reporter? Wouldn't it be better to go write fiction?

Thus, she could not help turning her head to give Lai Chao a sympathetic shake of the head: "Raising such a mentally challenged person must make life extremely difficult, right?"

Lai Chao hurriedly bowed in salute: "Please forgive me, Your Highness. This rebellious son just loves to exaggerate things on ordinary days..."

"Exaggerate things?"

Li Yuetchen retorted, "If this Palace remembers correctly, that Old Suntou across from your house seems to be blind, doesn't he? And this smallpox—the current Emperor and Empress are completely unaware of it, yet you actually knew? Is this exaggerating things, or is it fabricating something out of thin air?"

Hearing her retort, Lai Junchen suddenly lowered his head and stopped talking.

"Please forgive me, Your Highness. I will definitely discipline this rebellious son severely..."

"No need," Li Yuetchen waved her hand. "Send him back. This line of work isn't suitable for him."

At the same time, she could not help muttering inwardly that this fellow was purely an idiot; she genuinely had no idea how he had survived until now.

It was only because he ran into her that she could let it slide.

If it were any other princess, daring to fabricate lies so brazenly, getting executed on the spot wouldn't matter at all.

Lai Chao nodded hastily, then proceeded to chase Lai Junchen out with a combination of slaps and kicks. Upon returning, he apologized repeatedly: "Your Highness, rest assured, the others are guaranteed to be reliable and don't have these flaws."

Li Yuetchen waved her hand: "If this matter isn't handled well next time, you can pack up and get lost."

"Yes!"

Lai Chao hurriedly bowed in compliance, then quickly called in the other reporters waiting outside.

There were eleven of them in total. According to Lai Chao's introduction, these individuals were all literate ruffians and local rascals who did not engage in productive labor, though most of their families ran some small businesses.

Li Yuetchen raised her eyes to look at these small-time thugs who, despite being timid and well-behaved in front of her, still exuded an aura of hoodlum swagger, and sighed helplessly.

Truthfully, if she had a choice, she really would not want to employ these people.

However, there was no help for it. In this day and age, anyone with even a shred of culture basically had their mind set on taking the imperial examinations and would never do this kind of work.

As for the honest folk, the majority were illiterate, and teaching them from scratch was far too laborious, so she had no choice but to use these hooligans temporarily for now.

"Very well, listen up!" Li Yuetchen put on a majestic expression. "The news you record must be things that genuinely happened. You cannot fabricate things out of thin air, and you certainly cannot alter or exaggerate them at will..."

Hearing the Princess lecture them with a majestic expression, these hoodlums stood obediently in their spots, listening with extremely earnest expressions.

After finishing, Li Yuetchen waved her hand at them: "If you have any questions, bring them up now. Don't go stirring up trouble for this Palace later..."

They all expressed that they had listened very clearly and had no questions whatsoever.

Li Yuetchen nodded, gave a few more instructions, and told them to go gather recent news first and then hand it over to Fulai.

Leaving Xiejian Lane, on her way back to the palace, Li Yuetchen calculated what method should be adopted to launch the very first newspaper.

Should it be with great fanfare, or done quietly?

Although in terms of the outcome it made no difference... yet Li Yuetchen knew very well that the emergence of this thing would deal a considerable blow to the social influence of the aristocratic clans.

Perhaps it wouldn't be too obvious at first because, after all, the number of literate people in this era was limited. To the majority of commoners, a newspaper and an official government notice were fundamentally no different.

The difference, however, was that the dissemination effect of a newspaper was far superior to official notices, especially in places like teahouses and taverns. If there was a newspaper there for people to discuss among themselves, the speed of spread would be quite terrifying.

As the literacy rate of the people grew higher and higher, the sales volume of newspapers would naturally increase as well.

By then, it would undoubtedly deal a massive blow to the social influence of those great aristocratic clans.

What a pity, though—the Emperor's move was an overt strategy. Even if they clearly knew what was happening, there was nothing they could do about it.

Upon returning to the palace, Li Yuetchen calculated with Princess Yiyang and Shangguan Wan'er that the inaugural issue of the newspaper could entirely be published on the fifteenth day of the tenth month.

By then, they would also need the postal couriers from the post stations to cooperate, with each person carrying some newspapers to sell in other prefectures and counties.

At the same time, if anything happened over there, they could roughly investigate it before returning to compile a summary. Through this back-and-forth exchange, news from all over the country could be distributed via the *Great Tang Daily*.

When that time came, people living in the south could learn about events happening in the north, and northerners could likewise know what was happening in the south.

Once the exchange of information began, it could also enhance the common people's pride as subjects of the Great Tang.

As the three of them discussed, they finalized the content that should be published in the premiere issue of the *Great Tang Daily*.

There was no major news worth paying attention to in the imperial court recently, so Li Yuetchen's research on crop yields would serve as the front-page headline.

Li Jingxing's crushing defeat of the sieges by Silla and Mohe could also be publicized, and the matter of his wife being created as the Lady of Yan could be written about as well.

As for the other sections, Li Yuetchen published some selected market gossip, alongside some implicit product promotions, which also served as a bit of self-advertisement.

At the same time, she didn't forget to trot Lu Zhaolin out for some marketing, clarifying to the public that he had already brought his wife to join him and was no longer a heartless man.

Shangguan Wan'er suddenly asked, "Your Highness, if someone writes poetry in the future, can it be published in the *Great Tang Daily*?"

"Of course!" Li Yuetchen nodded. "You are the editor; just handle it as you see fit. If you think something is well-written, you can naturally publish it."

"Then... can Wan'er's poetry be published too?" she asked, seeming somewhat expectant.

Li Yuetchen nodded encouragingly: "If you consider your own writing to be good, you can naturally do so as well."

After chatting for a while, in order to boost sales, Li Yuetchen decided to serialize the full-length novel *Romance of the Three Kingdoms* in the newspaper.

"In these next few days, I will bring over the manuscript for the first installment, but you must be sure to append a note saying 'This story is not official history, but a fictionalized and adapted vernacular tale.' Do not forget this."

Shangguan Wan'er seemed to understand her meaning and nodded earnestly: "Your Highness, rest assured, I remember."

...

Days passed one by one. On this day, after finishing her lessons, Li Yuetchen did not leave as usual. Instead, she clapped her hands and had the students gather around.

"It will be October very soon. Half a month from now, I have a task for you," Li Yuetchen said. "The Great Tang is about to issue a newspaper. When the time comes, your task will be to carry the newspapers and hawk them on the streets..."

Because these students had been studying under Li Yuetchen and were influenced by her subtle guidance, they did not harbor any disdain for merchants. Instead, they began asking earnest questions one after another about what they should do and how to do it well.