"Journey to the West: The Legend of Shie? I've never heard of it. Is it a biography book?"
"You don't even know this? No wonder. Judging from the shabby clothes on your body, you must be a poor noble. Of course you despise this new book."
"What do you mean? It's just a book. As long as it's available in the market, I can still afford it even though my family is in poverty."
"Tch, don't brag. That is Xiao Yushi's latest book of stories about ghosts and monsters. It is only up to the tenth chapter. It has just leaked out on the market, but it is not printed. It is all carefully copied by someone who has found it. They all sold for ten gold."
What? ? ? Ten gold coins per book? What about grabbing money?
Not only the passers-by who were watching were so amazed, but the author Xiao Rui himself could not have imagined that just one volume of the first ten chapters could be sold for a sky-high price of ten gold. Isn't this Pei Ji so dark? You used to be the prime minister and helped plan the Jinyang uprising, which is absolutely unworthy of your talent. You should create a business empire and rule the world.
Yes, this idea came from Pei Ji.
While everyone in Xiaojiazhuang was obsessed with the exciting plot of Havoc in Heaven, Pei Ji had already seen the business opportunity in this storybook. It is suggested to open a bookstore and publish and sell the novels.
But when he heard that the story contained eighty-one chapters and approximately 900,000 words, Pei Ji gave up the idea of publishing it.
The reason is that it is too difficult, and engraving and plate making are secondary. After all, as long as it sells well, the cost can be recovered, and repeated printing will not delay making money.
But the difficulty lies in paper. The early Tang Dynasty continued the technological level of the previous Sui Dynasty. Although the current paper has become popular, it is not affordable for ordinary people.
It has been 500 years since Cai Lun of the Eastern Han Dynasty improved papermaking by the early Tang Dynasty. Although progress and development occurred during this period, there were great constraints. Most literati used hard yellow paper with very poor quality. To put it in Xiao Rui's words, it's so stupid that even if you wipe your butt, you'll get scum. For a piece of this quality, the imperial court also issued an order stating that in order to protect the inheritance of writing, it was a crime to destroy the paper.
Is there no good paper in the world? No, there is still high-quality paper for imperial use and official documents, but due to extremely low output, many official documents and court documents still have to use silk (silk fabric).
The famous rice paper is top quality. But now it is the second year of Zhenguan, and rice paper has not yet become famous. It is only a prototype. It is a place of good paper, but it does not have the reputation of rice paper.
Historical records: Rice paper began in the Tang Dynasty and was produced in Jing County. Because Jing County was under the jurisdiction of Xuanzhou in the Tang Dynasty, it was named Xuanzhi.
The main material of rice paper is green sandalwood bark, mixed with straw, etc. It can be made after a series of complicated processes, which is very time-consuming and labor-intensive. The number of local wild green sandalwood is limited, so the output is limited.
In this way, the raw materials are stuck. Not to mention that Xiao Rui wants to use this paper to print a book. It is a thousand-year-old family known as the Five Surnames and Seven Hopes. Is it rich enough? Many of the ancient books in the collection cannot be printed or published, so they are still preserved on bamboo slips. And the paper their ordinary family members use is also straw paper of limited quality. For this reason, the price is not low.
Want to reach the level of printing, 900,000 words? How much does the paper for a book cost? How much does it cost? How many people can afford it? How many can be sold?
After making these calculations, Pei Ji gave up, and Xiao Rui also gave up. They gave Pei Ji a sum of money and a shop and asked him to find someone to copy and run it.
But Xiao Rui didn't expect that this old man was so black-hearted, ten gold? Was this all robbed? Not enough to sell. Are the people in Chang'an stupid and rich? If I had known it was so profitable, why did I close the Four Treasures Shop?
Xiao Rui slapped his thigh directly, as if he missed a hundred million.
But then I suddenly thought, yes, paper making! Datang paper is so precious, but I have excellent papermaking technology, so I should enter the papermaking industry.
Tsk tsk... isn't rice paper limited by its raw materials? Don’t worry, future generations will use wood to make paper, bamboo to make paper, cotton stalks to make paper, etc. Are you still worried about the raw materials?
After thinking for a while, Xiao Rui wrote quickly, and in two hours, he formulated the plan for opening the bamboo paper workshop. This matter was not hidden from Pei Ji, which really shocked him.
When I heard that Xiao Rui was going to hand over the papermaking matter to the Ministry of Industry of the Imperial Court, just like the veteran workshop by the Bahe River, the papermaking workshop also used veterans. Killing three birds with one stone, it can not only help fill the national treasury, solve the problem of paper shortage in the court, but also feed retired veterans. Pei Ji was convinced, impressed by Xiao Rui's selfless demeanor.
Having been prime minister for many years, he dared to assert that no one in the civil and military dynasties had such a big heart. Whoever gets this recipe will open a private papermaking workshop. It will be absolutely huge profits in the future, and it can even prosper the family for generations and not worry about food and clothing! Xiao Rui just gave it away?
Not to mention Pei Ji, even the emperor was shocked. Paper is different from salt and iron. This can be privately owned. Even Xiao Rui is willing to give up this thing? No, Li Er saw three words from Xiao Rui's eyes: look down on him!
This bastard doesn't care about official positions, titles, or gold and silver wealth, so what in the world can catch his eye? Shouldn't this be the seat I take? Li Er was muttering in his heart.
Xiao Rui didn't care what others thought. Papermaking was time-consuming and labor-intensive, and required a huge amount of manpower and material resources. Although he made money, it involved fighting with a wealthy family, and Xiao Rui didn't want to be the victim of a fight. Money, there are many ways to earn it, not only must it be earned, but it must also be earned neatly and effortlessly.
If Li Er knew Xiao Rui's true thoughts, I wonder if he would be pissed to death. Do you find it troublesome to co-operate with you? Am I picking up your rags?
Let’s get back to business, let’s talk about Xiao Rui publishing a book.
From the time when the latest chapter of the story was told in Xiaojiazhuang, it spread to Chang'an, where people copied it into multiple copies and made it into a book. Then it bound several chapters to make a book, and then sold it. There is a delay of several days during this period.
And those who have read the story have long been stuck in it and can't extricate themselves. Not to mention the delay of a few days, even an hour feels like a year, so everyone wants to catch up with the original author and hear it first-hand wonderful story. Even if you set out early in the morning, you won’t have to eat anything, and it won’t be a problem to drive dozens of miles.
From the third day of the first book sale, loyal book fans appeared in Xiaojiazhuang. They found out when Xiao Rui would give lectures every day, rented a place in the village to stay, grabbed seats an hour in advance, etc...
Xiao Rui was shocked when he went out. What was going on? Are they my first big fans in Datang?
No, this doesn’t seem to be a big fan. If it is, it is by no means the first group. The first group may be the people of Chang'an, or the young officials of Yushitai, or the fans of Xiao Rui's "Xia Ke Xing"... In short, these people are not counted.
"Xiao Yushi, can you tell us more? I will come here every day to listen to your stories."
"Yes, I only teach two chapters in one day, which is too little..."
"Xiao Yushi, has Marshal Tianpeng succeeded in obtaining Fairy Chang'e?"
Um? ? ? What the hell kind of way is this?
When there are more people, there are more ideas, more things to do, and more demands.
Xiao Rui narrowed his eyes, hey, moral kidnapping? Or is it a blade reminder? My mouth is dry when I tell stories, so you are allowed to listen to books for free at my doorstep, and there are so many things? In a word: I’m used to it!
He decisively stretched out a finger. Everyone was puzzled. Xiao Rui's mouth slightly curved: "One tael of silver!"
ah? What's the meaning?
