As soon as Emperor Jing finished speaking, Fang Zheng was the first to jump out!

“I’m willing to donate 500 dan! If there’s not enough grain, I’ll make up the difference in silver!”

“My family doesn’t have much grain, but I’m willing to donate it all! A complete donation! For the sake of feeding the people and easing Your Majesty’s worries, I’ll give it my all! The other ministers can do as they please~”

With that, Fang Zheng swept his gaze across the court with a smile.

I’ll set an example for you! Those with higher ranks than me, do you have the face to donate less?

Everyone glared at Fang Zheng hatefully.

You dog, you really know how to stir up trouble. If we don’t get rid of you in the future, we’ll never have peace!

The corner of Emperor Jing’s mouth twitched almost imperceptibly.

“Hmm, good! Excellent! Minister Fang’s love for the people and the country is evident. What about the rest of you?”

Li Yansong felt conflicted after hearing this.

He was in the first row. If Fang Zheng, a fourth-rank official, had donated 500 dan, how much should he donate?

A thousand? It really hurt to think about it. Of course, his clan had more than 2,000 dan in storage, but directly offering 1,000 would likely cause dissent within the clan.

After much deliberation, Li Yansong gritted his teeth and said, “I’ll donate 1,000 dan!”

The people next to him looked at Li Yansong in shock, not expecting him to be so generous!

They had no choice but to follow suit with 1,000, 900, 800 dan, and so on down the line.

By the end, some were only donating a few dozen dan.

In total, it didn’t even reach 20,000 dan. Fang Zheng made a rough calculation and sighed inwardly.

This amount of grain was a drop in the bucket. Looking at the big picture, it probably wouldn’t last more than a few days, but something was better than nothing. They’d have to think of other solutions.

Emperor Jing thought the same.

He stared at the number Guo Tianyang had tallied: a total of 17,800 dan.

Recently, Emperor Jing had been the most troubled.

Memorials about the southern grain disaster were piling up daily.

Local officials had finished requisitioning from the wealthy and had started taxing and requisitioning grain from the common people, causing widespread suffering.

Emperor Jing was anxious but helpless.

However, being able to collect some grain was already a good result. Without Fang Zheng’s move, they probably wouldn’t have gotten even half this amount.

After pondering for a moment, Emperor Jing spoke, “Good! The ministers have donated eagerly. Minister Fang, after you’re off duty, make sure to verify the grain reserves of the officials again and publish a clarification.”

“Today’s grain donations from the officials must also be published to quell public opinion!”

“I obey the imperial edict!” Fang Zheng replied.

Zhang Shi immediately spoke up loudly, “Your Majesty, shouldn’t the newspaper management be…”

“We won’t discuss that for now. You and Fang Zheng each submit a memorial, and I will consider it carefully!”

Emperor Jing cut off Zhang Shi’s words without hesitation. After all, the newspaper bore the Crown Prince’s name.

What are you and the Hanlin Academy up to, Zhang Shi?

Fang Zheng was secretly delighted.

Old fool, haste makes waste. You’ve lived to this age and still act like a dog.

It seems this publication really struck a nerve with him. Perhaps his family really does have something to hide?

I should have someone investigate.

Zhang Shi silently retreated, not saying a word.

Emperor Jing spoke, “Alright, let’s leave it at that for now. If there are any other matters to report…”

…

After the court session, Li Yansong returned to his office as usual. Today’s newspaper was already on his desk, as always.

After he sat down, he picked up the newspaper and began to read carefully.

Most others in the office did the same.

In just a few days, everyone had gotten used to reading the newspaper.

The content was not only interesting, but much of the information was also quite valuable.

For a while, only the sound of rustling papers could be heard in the office.

Soon, the sound stopped.

Everyone put down their newspapers and looked at Li Yansong with strange expressions.

Li Yansong had also put down his newspaper, but his gaze was blank.

The ranking list was still yesterday’s, completely unchanged. However, there was now a front-page headline next to it.

The story of Cabinet Elder Li shedding tears in the editorial department…

Zheng Qiao, who usually had a good relationship with him, walked over and said in a low voice, “Minister Li, could it be that you and Fang Zheng are working together…”

“Fang Zheng! That dog has ruined me!!!” Before Zheng Qiao could finish, Li Yansong let out a roar!

At once, everyone seemed to understand. He must have been tricked by that dog. So they all silently raised their newspapers to cover their faces.

Zheng Qiao also sheepishly returned to his seat.

At this moment, Li Yansong’s curses echoed throughout the office.

On Fang Zheng’s side, as soon as the court session dispersed, he and Li Yuanzhao raced back to the newspaper office on swift horses.

Many people had wanted to find Fang Zheng to recheck their family’s grain reserves, but when they turned around, he was gone!

They cursed at Fang Zheng’s retreating figure.

After rushing back to the newspaper office, Fang Zheng stood in the center of the room and shouted, “Everyone, stop what you’re doing!”

“Get the backup drafts ready! You have two quarter-hours to prepare another edition of the newspaper and send it to the printing shop!”

“Today, the court officials made donations! I’ve noted down the numbers. This will be today’s front-page headline!”

“Brothers, let’s get to work! Whether the disaster victims in the south can eat an extra mouthful of grain depends on you!”

The reporters’ emotions were immediately stirred up, and they plunged into a new round of frantic work.

Fang Zheng took paper and brush and began to carefully write down the amounts donated by the court officials today and their corresponding names.

Fortunately… the donations were all round numbers, and they were easy to remember when divided by official ranks.

Otherwise, with Fang Zheng’s memory, it would have been difficult to remember everything clearly.

After finishing the draft, Fang Zheng handed the paper to Shen Yi to process.

Li Yuanzhao, who had been standing beside him for a long time, finally spoke up, “Old Fang, why did we rush back here? Couldn’t we publish this tomorrow?”

“We could, but didn’t Your Highness see those people in court today? They’re already dissatisfied with us.”

“The more time we waste, the more unfavorable it becomes for us. So we need to find a way to make them donate more.”

“If they really find a point of attack, we might not be able to keep running the newspaper. So we must seize the time now and do as much as we can!”

Li Yuanzhao thought for a moment, “That makes sense! Let them hurry then. There’s no time to find paperboys now, I’ll go get the sanitation team. Let’s try to sell the newspaper across the city by this afternoon!”

Fang Zheng said approvingly, “Your Highness thinks thoroughly. You go ahead and take care of that. I also have an article to write!”

…

By the afternoon, with the near-frantic work efficiency of the newspaper office and printing shop, today’s second edition of the newspaper made its dazzling debut.

Countless sanitation workers, each holding a stack of newspapers, took to the streets to sell them.

They shouted along the streets, “Extra! Extra! Big news, court officials eagerly donate grain!!”

For many people, having two newspaper editions in one day felt extremely fresh.

So they were even more eager to buy!

In less than an hour, this batch of extra newspapers was sold out. The printing shop was still printing non-stop, selling each batch as soon as it was printed.

At this time, the newspaper readers in each district had received their copies.

Seeing the news, they were overjoyed. With such explosive content, today’s reward money would likely be substantial!

So they all went out to the streets and started calling out.

Soon, people on the streets flocked over as usual.

“Why are there two newspapers today! How fresh! Read it quickly!”

Seeing more and more people gathering, the newspaper reader looked pleased and said loudly, “Don’t rush, everyone! Today’s extra edition has big news!”

“The court officials have donated a large amount of grain to aid the southern disaster! Let me read out the donations from each family!”

“The Zhang family…”

“The Zhang family…”

After the reader finished reciting one by one, the crowd first let out a huge gasp of admiration. A total of 17,800 dan, that’s such a generous amount of grain!

But soon after, people started to realize something.

On that ranking list, each family had at least 20,000 dan, and after all that fuss, they only donated this much?

The crowd let out a huge sound of dissatisfaction.

The reader smiled, seizing the opportunity, “Everyone! That’s not all! The celebrity interview column, which has always been empty, finally has content today. It’s about this grain donation. Don’t rush, let me read it to you. I hope those with money can show their support, and those without can lend their ears!”

The crowd began to anticipate again.

The reader cleared his throat and began to read aloud again!

“Ahem! Celebrity Interview”

“Regarding this shameful grain donation in court, which will likely become the biggest topic among the people for the next two days, let’s see what Fang Zheng, the Junior Grand Tutor of the Imperial Clan Court, has to say about it!”

“The always straightforward Grand Tutor Fang bluntly said: If the court officials only donate this little, I’m afraid they’ve lost all face!”