Zhao Zhen was the first to agree with Li Zhang's suggestion to build a professional navy. He did not blindly hate the Hu people, but also knew that Hu merchants also brought considerable benefits to the Song Dynasty. If they wanted to replace Hu merchants, or completely eliminate Hu merchants in the Song Dynasty, they had to let the merchants of the Song Dynasty go out, and the navy could ensure the safety of these merchants at sea.

Lu Yijian and others were still a little worried, but when Li Zhang showed them the current situation of the navy he recorded, the ministers also showed silent expressions. In fact, they were not completely unaware of this situation. After all, the military preparations of the Song Dynasty were all known to everyone. Even the imperial guards in the capital could not fight a war, let alone the remote southern coast.

However, Lu Yijian and the others did not expect that the situation of the navy would become so corrupt. In particular, Li Zhang mentioned that he had only used a few hundred people to pass through the Quanzhou Navy camp and then controlled the commander of the Quanzhou Navy. Although this was a good thing for Li Zhang, it was enough to show how relaxed the navy was.

So after thinking about it, Lu Yijian and others finally decided to rectify the navy and build a professional navy. However, this matter is easy to say, but it requires a detailed plan to do it, and a lot of manpower and material resources must be used. Li Zhang also took the opportunity to suggest to Zhao Zhen that a naval major could be set up in martial arts, mobilize some experienced naval generals to teach martial arts, and specialize in cultivating talents for the navy.

Zhao Zhen agreed to Li Zhang's suggestion without considering it. As the influence of martial arts became greater and greater, he gradually realized the convenience brought to him. Not to mention anything else, martial arts alone greatly improved the loyalty of the generals, which made him wake up in his dream.

After discussing the matter in the south, Li Zhang heard Zhao Zhen and Lu Yijian and others discuss some recent government affairs. The main thing is that Fan Zhongyan, a person who rectified the officialdom, reported on the recent rectification affairs of the officialdom, such as the appointment and removal of officials, the division of positions in various yamen, etc. These things are both cumbersome and important. If handed over to Li Zhang, they might drive him crazy. On the contrary, Fan Zhongyan was very light and organized, so this kind of thing should be handed over to professional officials like them.

"In order to let more people know about the latest laws issued by the court, I have built 371 signs in the capital according to His Majesty's instructions. These signs are not much cost but have a huge effect. There is no need to worry that the court's laws are distorted by people with ulterior motives, and can also publish some official documents from the court. I think this example can be promoted in other prefectures." Fan Zhongyan finally spoke again.

When Li Zhang heard this, he realized that the signs were actually suggested by Fan Zhongyan. Although these signs were still not as good as newspapers, Fan Zhongyan was only limited by the limitations of this era. If Li Zhang was also an ancient person, he might not have thought of such a good idea.

"Your Majesty, I have also seen those signs on the way I came before. There were indeed many people watching, and even literate people took the initiative to help people interpret. It seemed that the effect was quite good!" Li Zhang suddenly stood up and said.

Fan Zhongyan didn't expect that Li Zhang would take the initiative to speak for him. He looked at him in surprise, and Zhao Zhen smiled with satisfaction when he heard Li Zhang's words. After all, he believed Li Zhang's words more than others.

However, Li Zhang did not finish his words. He paused for a moment and then said, "But I also thought of something from the signboard minister, which may play a better role!"

"Oh? What?" Zhao Zhen also asked curiously when he heard this.

"I call it a newspaper, but it actually prints laws issued by some countries or major events that have happened in China, including some anecdotes, even poems, songs, etc. on a large piece of paper, and issuing them every day or several days. Those who want to read can spend money to buy them. In this way, it can spread quickly, and the court can also use newspapers to control the direction of public opinion!" Li Zhang immediately introduced the general situation of the newspaper.

"Newspaper?" Zhao Zhen couldn't help but repeat the name of the newspaper when he heard this, and a look of interest flashed in his eyes. Although it was the first time he knew about the newspaper, he instinctively felt that this thing might be of great use to the court.

"Although Dingbei Hou's idea is good, it may be difficult to truly implement the newspaper!" However, at this time, Fan Zhongyan suddenly stood up and expressed his opinion.

"Why?" Before Li Zhang could speak, Zhao Zhen frowned and asked.

"Your Majesty doesn't know anything. Not to mention anything else, just printing newspapers is a big problem. If you want to print newspapers, you must first collect the contents in the newspaper. This is easy to deal with. However, with content, you must first make the carved boards for printing. However, it is not easy to make carved boards. Even the most skilled craftsmen will take several days to carve a carved board. Moreover, the carved boards are expensive, and the cost of a newspaper is definitely not cheap. If it is published every day, I am afraid that not many people can afford it." Fan Zhongyan immediately explained the biggest shortcomings of the newspaper, that is, the cost and time.

However, Li Zhang was prepared for this. He smiled calmly and said, "Mr. Fan really hit the nail on the head and said that the newspaper had a big loss-making difficulty. However, some difficulties can be overcome by technology. For example, when Huangdi fought against Chiyou and encountered heavy fog, he couldn't tell the direction, so he made a guide car to find the direction, thus defeating Chiyou in one fell swoop. The same is true for the newspaper's solution."

"Oh? I wonder what the Dingbei Hou could do?" Fan Zhongyan also showed a curious look when he heard this. He had no bad views on Li Zhang. Although Li Zhang was a relative of the foreign country, he also saw his contributions to the Song Dynasty over the years, not to mention that even the rectification of the officialdom was proposed by Li Zhang.

"I didn't think of this method, but it was created by a printing craftsman named Bi Sheng in Qizhou, Hubei. He thought of movable type printing based on carving printing. However, this method has not been promoted yet, so not many people know it!" Li Zhang immediately smiled.

Bi Sheng also lived in this era, and just last year, Bi Sheng had already invented movable type printing, but he used clay movable type, which made it difficult to use, which led to not many people using this printing method, which was mainly spread in Hubei.

"Volatile type printing?" Everyone present showed puzzled expressions about this strange name.

"The so-called movable type printing is actually like a seal, but each seal is only engraved with one character. When it is necessary to type, these seal-like movable types are arranged to form articles. The reason is very simple, but no one has thought about it before!" Li Zhang smiled again and explained the general principle of movable type printing.

All the smart people present, and they immediately understood when they heard Li Zhang's explanation. Although the principle of printing movable type is very simple, they took a different approach based on what predecessors had never thought about it. This also surprised the officials present. After all, everyone is a scholar and is naturally very interested in printing books.

"Your Majesty, movable type printing was invented by Bi Sheng. It not only makes printing more convenient and faster, but also greatly reduces the cost of printing. If it is promoted, it will definitely reduce the price of books, so that more people can afford to read books. For such things that are beneficial to the present and the future, I think it should be rewarded!" Li Zhang took the opportunity to suggest again.

"Reward! Bi Sheng's move is beneficial to the country and the people, and I will never be stingy with rewards!" Zhao Zhen said generously.
Chapter completed!