Chapter 202: Establishing the Daming Commercial Bookstore to have the final say over industry standards
Zhu Biao sat upright in the court, his eyes instantly covered with a layer of gloom.

That gaze was like a cold wind, sweeping across every minister present.

His eyes revealed an invisible pressure that made people shudder.

Civil and military officials gradually felt Zhu Biao's aura, and their bodies began to tremble involuntarily.

Those ministers who usually acted arrogantly lowered their heads at this moment and dared not look Zhu Biao in the eye.

They knew very well that the dignity of His Royal Highness the Crown Prince could not be violated.

Zhu Biao's gaze finally stopped on Zhou Kangyu, the former censor of the Imperial Censorate, and the other party suddenly felt a chill in his heart.

His face turned pale and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.

Zhou Kangyu wanted to explain, but found that his throat seemed to be blocked by something and he couldn't make a sound.

The entire court fell into deathly silence at this moment, with only Zhu Biao's breathing echoing in the air.

His eyes were filled with anger and disappointment, and he was extremely dissatisfied with the performance of these ministers.

After a long while, Zhu Biao slowly said: "I hope you can understand that the authority of the Ming royal family cannot be challenged.

If there is a next time, I will never let you off easily!"

His voice was deep and powerful, irresistible.

All the civil and military officials knelt on the ground and shouted in unison: "Your Highness, please calm down. We are guilty!"

Their voices echoed in the court, as if they were trying their best to show their awe for Zhu Biao.

Zhu Biao looked at these ministers and the anger in his heart gradually subsided.

“I know that although you ministers have your shortcomings, you are also the pillars of the Ming Dynasty.

I hope you can learn from this lesson and contribute your own strength to the prosperity of our Ming Dynasty!"

However, as soon as Zhu Biao finished speaking, a bone-chilling chill suddenly surged through the originally warm hall.

The cold air seemed to come from all directions, spreading instantly and making people shiver.

Everyone turned their eyes in the direction of Zhu Gang, but did not see anything unusual.

Immediately afterwards, an invisible sense of solemnity and murderousness began to spread throughout the hall.

This breath was like a cold wind in winter, icy and biting, making everyone feel unprecedented pressure and fear.

The faces of the ministers turned pale, their heartbeats quickened, and cold sweat began to appear on their foreheads.

They felt as if they were in a world of ice and snow, surrounded by endless danger and cold.

At this moment, the atmosphere in the hall was extremely solemn. The ministers did not dare to speak easily for fear of angering the prince.

They could only lower their heads silently, feeling the increasingly strong sense of solemnity and murder.

This feeling was like an invisible hand tightly strangling the throat, making it impossible for civil and military officials to breathe.

At this moment, a voice broke the silence: "Your Highness the Crown Prince..."

A minister tried to speak, but his voice was trembling so badly that it was almost inaudible.

Zhu Biao raised his head slightly, a cold light flashed in his eyes, scaring the minister so much that he immediately shut his mouth.

Seeing this, the others became even more silent, not daring to make the slightest move.

At this time, the temperature in the hall seemed to have dropped a few degrees. The ministers' hearts were in their throats, not knowing what would happen next.

They prayed silently in their hearts, hoping that this sudden change would end as soon as possible and everything would return to normal. "Your Highness Zhu Gang has a memorial to report!"

When they heard His Royal Highness the Prince of Jin speaking to break the deadlock, almost all the civil and military officials showed expressions of relief.

A smile quickly appeared on Zhu Biao's face. "Third brother has always been resourceful. If you have any suggestions, please speak up."

Zhu Gang took out a memorial from his sleeve and read it directly: "I propose to set up the Daming Commercial Bookstore on the basis of the Jinling Printing House, which will be responsible for reviewing and regulating publications circulating in the market.

At the same time, publication business licenses will be issued to booksellers and book clubs that meet the standards to ensure that the relevant industries can develop in an orderly and healthy manner.”

Although the Ming Dynasty had a complete book publishing system and a wide range of publications, this does not mean that book publishing could be free from the control of the court.

After all, it was a feudal dynasty, and literary and artistic works that disrupted the government and slandered the emperor were absolutely not allowed to appear.

According to the "Great Ming Code", anyone who privately collects mysterious objects, banned books on astronomical prophecies, as well as items such as emperors, generals, gold and jade talismans and seals of past dynasties will be punished with 100 strokes of the cane.

Anyone who creates prophecies, evil books, evil words, or spreads them to mislead the people will be beheaded.

Lyrics, music and novels that blaspheme emperors and sages are also not allowed to appear.

Among them, "Jian Deng Xin Hua" and "Jian Deng Yu Hua" were banned because they contained a lot of anti-imperialist ideas.

It is easy to cause unrest in the situation and make people feel uneasy.

In the ninth year of Yongle, the Ming Dynasty issued a notice in various places: "Any lyrics or songs that blaspheme the emperor, saints, or sages are not covered by the law.

Anyone who dares to collect, circulate, print or sell it will be sent to the court for investigation."

Secondly, for some book contents, as long as the government has established the printed version.

After this, no unauthorized changes can be made and only the official version can be used.

There is a supervisory agency, the Censorate, which conducts regular checks on relevant booksellers and takes corresponding actions. Once it is discovered that the printed version has been changed without permission, the relevant books will be dealt with immediately.

It is not allowed to appear on the market, and there are corresponding punishment measures for booksellers and shops.

Under such circumstances, Zhu Gang's proposal to establish the Ming Commercial Bookstore did not cause much stir.

However, this is only the first step in the plan. Once the publishing business license is issued, the interest relationship between booksellers, book clubs and publishing houses will be automatically destroyed.

After all, the Ming Commercial Book Bureau holds the final right of interpretation for industry standards, so even the upstream publishing houses responsible for investing in printing books have to be cautious.

At this time, the Minister of Revenue, Qie Si, stood up and refuted: "In our Great Ming, there are already special inspection offices in various parts of the country responsible for this work. Setting up the Great Ming Commercial Bookstore is really superfluous.

Moreover, adding new departments will also require filling some officials, which will undoubtedly increase the burden on the national treasury.”

Zhu Gang said confidently: "It always takes a process for the Censorate to discover banned books, and often the relevant publications have been circulating in the market for some time.

Moreover, some illegal printing houses would take risks for profit, and the Censorate could easily lose sight of the big picture.

As for the situation of increasing the burden on the national treasury, the Daming Commercial Bookstore was established on the basis of the Jinling Printing House and can fully bear its own profits and losses. "

Zhu Biao, who had been watching from the sidelines, said at the right time: "Since the Daming Commercial Bookstore can be responsible for its own profits and losses and can fill the management blind spots of the Censorate, then submit a specific charter.

In addition, the Jinyiwei also recently discovered that the Jiangnan Su family had very close contacts with Zhu Xi's descendants.

Once they risked the world's condemnation and spread literary works that blasphemed the emperor.

You can't wait until it circulates in the market for a while before the Censorate comes forward to deal with it, right?"

Qie Si quickly thought of Su Cheng, who had been sent to the Jinyiwei prison, and immediately gave up the idea of ​​continuing to give advice.

(End of this chapter)