People in the Song Dynasty loved poetry almost to their core.
For example, Liu Sanbian's words.
For a time, Bianliang's paper was so expensive that everyone from the princes and nobles to the common people, especially Miss Goulan and the ladies in the boudoir, liked it.
Even when Liu Yong was at the height of his power, there was a saying in the market that "where there is a well, there will be willows, where there is wine, there are words."
Compared with poetry, words not only have a different flavor when read, but can also be sung in a song.
Therefore, the lyrics of Song Dynasty are actually the same as modern lyrics. Whether it is a brothel or a rich and powerful person, the singers are all known for their beautiful lyrics and music.
It is not only loved by brothels and wealthy and powerful families, but also by ordinary people in the market.
For example, at the head of Bianliang Bridge, there are four channels and twelve channels.
For two hundred years, Bianhe Road has been filled with sand, grass and smoke. How can the later king learn from the previous king? Please look at the tree that destroyed the country in Sui Dynasty.
The flower boat under the bridge is melodious, the boatman at the bow is rowing, and the girl at the stern is singing romantic lyrics, which is beautiful and charming. The green willows and peach blossoms on the shore, the deep ancient temples, the white walls and black tiles, and the curling smoke from cooking stoves are the grand scene of Bianliang poetry.
The merchant girl does not know the hatred of the country's subjugation, but she still sings the flowers in the backyard across the river! Therefore, Bianliang and later Lin'an in the Southern Song Dynasty, this word accompanied the prosperity of the Song Dynasty and the rise and fall of the Song Dynasty.
Meng Chengqi was a big collector of books and naturally loved poetry. After just reading a few of the poems Zhao Jun gave him, he was so excited that he wished he could write his own name on the author's signature and spread it around the world.
It's a pity that it can't be signed.
The other person is a bit awesome, I'm afraid it's not the kind of good poetry you can buy with money.
Meng Chengqi felt very regretful and said to Zhao Jun: "Young master Zhao has such a great talent, it is really enviable. If this printing shop is bought by the master, I am afraid it will be like Liu Sanbian in the past, Bianliang paper will be expensive."
Zhao Jun smiled and said: "My boss appreciates it. Poetry is a boring pastime, not a great talent. If my boss likes it, I can just sell it in your bookstore in the future."
Meng Chengqi thought about it and said hesitantly: "If Mr. Zhao wants to buy this printing shop, that's fine. I just have a merciless request."
"oh?"
Zhao Jun said in surprise: "Is there something wrong with my boss?"
Meng Chengqi smiled and said: "I want to trade stocks with the young master. From now on, the young master's poetry will be managed by our own family."
As he spoke, he said with an embarrassed expression: "Of course, Mr. Zhao is very talented in literature. If he buys this printing shop, he won't have to worry about having nothing to do in the printing shop. But I am a businessman after all, and I am in business. If Mr. Zhao doesn't want to, then Never mind."
At first, Meng Chengqi didn't want to sell the printing shop. After all, losses are losses, but the Meng family is also a wealthy family and cannot afford to lose money, especially because he is afraid that it will be bought by some people who don't like books.
But now that he saw that Zhao Jun was also a man of letters, and his literary talent was so good, he readily agreed to sell the printing shop, which was a money-loser.
It's just businessmen chasing profits.
Although Meng Chengqi was reluctant to sell the printing shop before, under the pressure of his father, he would probably sell it all.
Now after seeing the poems given by Zhao Jun, Meng Chengqi realized that the printing shop would probably not lose money in the future, but like Liu Yong did when he was in Bianliang, the new poems would be popular throughout Tokyo.
As a businessman, of course he wants to get involved and make money together.
"Price maker shares?"
Zhao Jun thought about it. He set up a printing factory mainly to run a newspaper in the future and occupy the high ground of public opinion.
In the future, when newspapers spread, there will be many benefits.
For example, if the Song Dynasty became stronger in force and prepared to destroy Xixia and Liao, it could guide public opinion in newspapers, promote Xixia and Liao as enemies, mobilize the enthusiasm of the people, recruit more troops, and fight wars, which would be very helpful.
Also, if you plan to open up sea all over the world in the future, you can also use newspapers to publicize that there is gold everywhere on the other side of the sea, attracting landless people to expand overseas, and alleviate the increasingly acute internal conflicts.
This is what the West has done historically.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the West was in the Age of Discovery. The propaganda in the West was that the East was full of gold, which made the people of the old colonial powers in Europe excited, and their citizens went to sea to pan for gold.
After going to sea for a period of time, a large amount of land resources were developed and fed back into the country, spawning a large number of adventures and works, which in turn continued to stimulate everyone to take risks. This kicked off the great Western colonial era, discovered the New World, and colonized the world.
Although Zhao Jun does not necessarily want to colonize the world, at least the surrounding countries do need to be occupied by Han people. For example, the Northeast and Northwest have been territories of China since ancient times.
The Song Dynasty only had more than two million square kilometers, so we should restore the territory to the New China period no matter what.
Therefore, public opinion offensive is indispensable.
He plagiarized poems first to make money first, but now Zhao Zhen has no money, the national treasury is running out of money, and he has to face the upcoming war with Xixia. I am afraid that the Song Dynasty's fiscal expenditure will be in deficit again in the future.
The Imperial City Division currently still has more than one million yuan of money from confiscated houses, but it can only cover five years of expenses. If this continues, sooner or later it will be empty, so we must increase revenue and reduce expenditure.
Therefore, it's not that Zhao Jun likes to copy poems, but there really aren't many things that can make money on hand, so he can only copy some poems and use them first.
Moreover, Zhao Jun did not intend to plagiarize from the Northern Song Dynasty, or rely on plagiarism to pretend to be famous. He would use pseudonyms such as Lu Xun or Zhejiang Zhou Shuren, copy some poems from the Southern Song Dynasty, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and make a small profit first.
Secondly, in order to build the reputation of the newspaper, he planned to use poetry, serialization, etc. to attract a large number of readers after the newspaper was launched in the future.
This was also a common marketing tool in the golden age of newspapers in later generations.
For example, Jin Yong and Gu Long were serialized in newspapers, attracting countless readers to subscribe to newspapers every year.
Therefore, once a newspaper's reputation is established through poetry and the like, it will become a top priority in the field of publicity in the future, and the printing house will definitely become a key protection target.
In the future, Zhao Jun also plans to classify this place as a government agency, directly state-owned, like a news and publishing house.
Just like the later People's Daily, if it becomes an official mouthpiece, it will naturally have to be mainly state-owned, but the private sector cannot be allowed to participate.
Thinking of this, Zhao Jun shook his head and said: "I have great use for this printing shop, I'm afraid it won't be able to price commercial stocks."
"I see, I was the one who was abrupt."
Meng Chengqi felt a little regretful.
Seeing his appearance, Zhao Jun thought for a while and said, "But maybe we have other businesses we can do. I heard that Meng Dong's family is a grain merchant?"
Meng Cheng nodded and said, "Yes, our Meng family did start by selling grain."
"If the owner is willing, we can talk about jointly selling grain with the imperial court in the future. Li Xiang is currently talking to some tea merchants and plans to join some big tea merchants in taking shares, half private and half official."
Zhao Jun suggested: "Like grain, salt, tea, etc., there are big problems in pure official or private sales. Semi-private and semi-official sales can solve many disadvantages. If Meng Dong's family is interested, I will find them when the time comes. Let’s talk to Mr. Li and see if we can change the policy on government-owned grain and grass.”
"ah?"
At that moment, Meng Chengqi was not panicked, but dumbfounded.
Chat with Li Xiang directly?
Who is this person?
"how?"
Zhao Jun asked: "What do you think, Master?"
Meng Chengqi's thoughts changed in an instant, and then he said with a smile: "If we can meet Prime Minister Li and talk about this matter, then of course it's okay."
"Um."
Zhao Jun didn't hear the implication, so he said, "I'll ask Prime Minister Li tomorrow. There are too many shortcomings in the grain, salt, and tea businesses in the Song Dynasty, and they really need to be changed."
This is also what he told Zhao Zhen and the others before, and then Zhao Zhen relayed it to Li Shen.
Because official sales lead to rampant corruption, people are more willing to sell grain, tea and salt to private merchants. In addition, there are many forced purchases and sales in official business, and officials do business in person, etc., which is very detrimental to people's livelihood.
Therefore, Zhao Jun also plans to gradually liberalize the state-owned sales system and introduce private businessmen to join the official sales ranks. This will prevent the complete capital market like in the West from causing big businessmen to monopolize and drive up prices. It can also prevent the rampant corruption of government officials and the control of government capital.
Then the two chatted about other things, and finally agreed to buy the printing shop from the land deed to all the tools, real estate, etc. for a price of 7,000 guan. There were also more than 20 workers who signed contracts with Meng Chengqi and were transferred to Zhao Jun.
The labor contract of the Song Dynasty was similar to that of later generations. It was no longer a contract for selling one's body like before, but a work contract. Workers can come and go relatively freely. Now that the contract is in Zhao Jun's hands, he will naturally pay the wages in the future.
Zhao Jun left the printing shop after making an agreement with Meng Chengqi to go to the government office tomorrow to make a contract, hand over the money in one hand and the land deed in the other.
Song Cai did not intervene in the conversation between him and Meng Chengqi throughout the whole process.
Watching honestly.
Even when talking about some of the more important content, he would deliberately walk away to see what was in the printing shop.
After he came out, Zhao Jun saw that he had been silent, so he smiled and asked: "Brother Song, what's wrong? You used to talk a lot, but today you are silent."
Song Caixan said with a smile: "I originally thought that Brother Zhao was going to buy books, but it turned out that he directly bought the printing shop with such a generous deal. I feel ashamed. I have never seen Qiqian Guan in my life, and I can't help much."
"It doesn't matter."
Zhao Jun smiled and said: "You and I are good friends, and Brother Song also kindly introduced books to me. If I didn't help, I didn't help. There is no need to blame yourself."
Song Cai hesitated for a moment, but in the end she didn't ask what she wanted to ask, but whispered: "If Brother Zhao has any use for me in the future, please give me your instructions."
"It's not like giving orders."
Zhao Jun thought for a while and said, "Brother Song, what are your future plans?"
Song Cai said: "The results of the examination will be released in October. If I can pass the examination and become a candidate, I will concentrate on preparing for next year's Jinshi examination."
"Well, that's good too."
Zhao Jun nodded, and then asked: "Are you a native of Bianliang?"
"Yes."
"Then do you know who are the foreigners in Bianliang?"
"Foreigner?"
Speaking of this, Song Cai immediately became energetic and said, "Brother Zhao is asking about those Zhu Fans? It turns out that Brother Zhao likes Fan people. When it comes to this, no one knows better than me."
As he spoke, he winked and said: "There are two kinds of books, black and white. The white ones are beautiful, and the black ones have a different flavor."
Zhao Jun: "."
Zhu Mu of the Song Dynasty recorded in his "Fangyu Shenglan": "There are two types of Tibetans, black and white, and they all live in Quanzhou, named 'Tibanren Alley'. Every year, large ships float to and from the sea, bringing elephants, rhinoceros, tortoiseshell, and pearl turtles." , glass, agate, exotic fragrance, and pepper."
It can be seen that Guangzhou was already an international metropolis in the Song Dynasty, with Western whites, Central Asian Arabs, Jews, Persians, and even black Africans already present.
But these were still too far away. Zhao Jun had no intention of moving for the time being, so he said angrily: "I mean the Japanese."
"It turns out they are Japanese."
Song Cai suddenly realized: "The Japanese are not bad, but they are a bit short. Those Japanese women especially like the Song Dynasty. It is said that there are often wealthy Japanese businessmen who come to the Song Dynasty with their wives and daughters, and they borrow seeds from those scholars, but I have never met them. I've been there, if Brother Zhao likes it."
"never mind."
Zhao Jun rolled his eyes, I'm talking about national affairs with you, why don't you just let me have sex with you?
That's outrageous.
"No, Brother Zhao, what do you want to know about Japan? I know everything."
Song Cai saw that he seemed a little unhappy, so he quickly said: "I have a friend named Da Jian San Lang, who is the son of a Japanese businessman. He knows everything Brother Zhao wants to know."
"Big Health Saburo? This is a weird name. Where is he from?"
Zhao Jun wondered.
Song Cai smiled and said: "His surname is Dabao, and his name is Kenzaburo. He is from the Izumo Kingdom. That's the name of the Japanese people. I heard that they are still Japanese aristocrats, and their commoners don't even have names."
"Izumo people? Are you far away from Ishimi?"
"Brother Zhao also knows about Iwami? It's not far away. It's right next to Izumo. The family of Saburo the Great also has land in Iwami. It is said that Iwami and Izumo are both mountainous areas. Farming cannot sustain survival at all, so they just Able to go overseas and do business.”
"Um."
Zhao Jun pondered.
The reason why I asked Song Cai casually is because Song Cai is a nice person and has a wide range of friends. Maybe it will be of great use in the future.
Unexpectedly, he actually gave me a surprise.
Zhao Jun had mentioned the national policy of mining from Japan before, but when it was brought up again at the Political Council meeting this morning, Lu Yijian and the others explained the situation to him in detail.
It is indeed a feasible plan to go to Japan in the name of a company or a business group and buy their Iwami area.
Including economic invasion, cultural invasion, political invasion, etc., it should be relatively easy to deal with Japan.
However, Zhao Jun only considered the situation in Japan and did not consider the Liao Kingdom.
Although the Song Dynasty occupied the Central Plains, it claimed to have inherited the style of the Tang Dynasty. But in fact, due to poor military ethics, its status in neighboring countries plummeted.
Although the Liao Kingdom only occupied the northeast and the Mongolian grasslands, it was regarded as a superior state by the surrounding countries at that time due to its abundant military virtue.
The result was that the Song Dynasty, Xixia, Japan, Korea, the Western Regions, and even Dashi and Persia all paid tribute to the Liao Kingdom. This is clearly recorded in the "History of Liao".
Therefore, during the Song Dynasty, the official relationship between Japan and the Song Dynasty was not close. Only the people had close contacts because they admired the Song style more.
If Japan were sent to Japan under an official situation to lease or buy the Iwami area and start mining, given the situation of the Liao Kingdom, they would definitely get involved, and they might even directly take away the minerals by force.
After Zhao Jun was persuaded by everyone, he realized that he had thought too much. He only thought about the domestic situation in Japan and did not think about the diplomatic situation of the Song Dynasty.
Therefore, at least until the Song Dynasty could defeat the Liao Kingdom, they certainly could not go to Japan to mine with great fanfare. They could only do it secretly and let private businessmen go to Japan to explore the bottom.
It is definitely not possible to contact Japanese private businessmen in an official situation, as it is very likely to be discovered by the Liao people in Bianliang.
Therefore, Zhao Jun planned to let Song Dynasty private businessmen communicate with Japanese private businessmen.
When I met Song Cai today, I just asked casually.
The result was an unexpected gain.
Thinking of this, he said to Song Cai: "Can you handle a task?"
Song Cai was overjoyed and said: "Brother Zhao gave orders."
Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "I remember your family is in business."
"Yes, we did do some business."
Song Cai looked embarrassed.
Their family is not particularly wealthy, but they are basically middle class.
The family has several shops and assets of about two to three thousand guan, otherwise it would not be able to support him in studying and visiting brothels.
But compared with Zhao Jun, he is nothing.
Zhao Jun said: "In the name of planning to do business in partnership with the great health-conscious Saburo, ask him about the basic situation of Iwami and Izumo Country."
"Only this?"
Song Cai wondered.
"Well, that's all for now."
Zhao Jun thought for a while and waved to the captain behind him.
Na Dutou came over, Zhao Jun wanted to pass his waist badge, and then handed it to Song Cai and said: "If you want to find me in the future, you can use this token to go to the Imperial City Division and let people look for me. Although this is the Shijian area, It is very mountainous, but it is of great use to me. If you understand the situation well, it would be best if you can follow the great health-conscious Saburo to Japan next time to actually investigate the local situation and report to me one by one."
"yes"
Song Cai suppressed the ecstasy in her heart and carefully took the badge.
He naturally knows Zhao Jun's identity.
Last time he had exposed the identity of Imperial City Sizhisi.
Now the news that Zhao Jun, the magistrate of the Imperial City, is in charge of the Constitutional Yuan has spread throughout Bianliang.
Song Cai naturally knew that Zhao Jun was now like a prime minister.
Of course he knew what it meant to be appreciated by the prime minister.
And the most important thing is that he knows his own ability. He is not a good student, otherwise he would not be able to write such a poem, and he would not take the "Filial Piety Classic" exam.
To be admitted to the Juren Examination is just a matter of ancestors. To be admitted to the Jinshi Examination, even a great talent like Liu Yong had to be forty-eight years old to be admitted, let alone him.
So Song Cai felt that now was a good opportunity to get on his lap.
As long as he can complete the tasks assigned by Zhao Jun, he may have a prosperous future, so he is naturally ecstatic.
For Zhao Jun, it is difficult to contact Japan in an official capacity. Once the Liao Kingdom discovers something, I am afraid it will be a situation of "my neighbor is hoarding food and I am hoarding guns, and my neighbor is my granary."
After working hard for a long time to dig out the money, the Liao army came and took it all away, which made me want to cry without tears.
So official action is not advisable.
Then let’s infiltrate it among the people.
Slowly let private businessmen first settle in Japan, and then use the lease and purchase situation to mine minerals on a small scale and secretly transport them back to the country.
Although it feels a bit like mold stealing petroleum, it doesn't mean that we are taking things from the Japanese for nothing.
They can conduct business activities with the local area. After finding out the situation later, Song Cai can hire local people to mine, and then transport grain, porcelain, and silk fabrics from the country to Japan to exchange for minerals.
In this way, just like the private trade between the Ming Dynasty and Japan, silver would flow into the country openly and openly, alleviating the increasingly acute money shortage problem.
(End of chapter)
