Section 84 Cultural Bookstore
After seeing the new domestic servants who had taken refuge, Zhao Yingong had already made a mental calculation - judging from the resources he currently had, it was not feasible to directly intervene in the circulation of raw silk and cocoons. [Full text reading] His capital is limited. Delong’s local foothold is not stable at the beginning, and he will definitely not be able to mobilize too much funds. In the end, the capitalists in Jiangnan will definitely be more difficult to deal with than those in Leizhou. Not only do they have strong capital, but most of them have people behind them. Many wealthy and powerful gentry and bureaucrats were in the background. The situation is much more difficult than that of Leizhou Station and Guangzhou Station. We cannot directly touch the interests of local powerful people to avoid strong backlash and failure.
After thinking about it, the most suitable thing right now is to get involved in the production of raw silk. Of course, the most advantageous thing as a time traveler is to use Lingao's technological capabilities to open a modern semi-mechanized silk reeling factory to produce high-quality raw silk. Judging from Wang Siniang's description, local silk reeling is not only low in production efficiency, but also of poor quality. If we use cheap and high-quality products produced in an industrialized manner to impact the existing market. From quantitative change to qualitative change is a very quick thing.
The people most hurt by this are self-reliant silkworm farmers like the Shen family. Zhao Yingong has no doubt that once the silk reeling factory is put into operation, the impact will cause thousands of silkworm farmers to go bankrupt, lose their land and property, and live on the streets. And he was the one who started it all.
However, this situation is beneficial to the crossing group. The Senate's consistent policy on agriculture is to destroy small production. A large and stable class of small farmers, whether they own land or sharecropping, is something the Senate does not want to see - the Senate needs a lot of free people. Employed labor.
In addition to silk reeling, there is also great potential for intensive sericulture cultivation. Zhao Yingong has witnessed the explosion of productivity brought about by agricultural improvement and agricultural technology promotion by the Agricultural Committee in Lingao. If similar practices are introduced to Hangzhou, the yield and quality of mulberry leaves and silkworm cocoons will definitely be greatly improved.
However, both of these links rely on Lingao's technical and material support. Zhao Yingong himself knew nothing about silk reeling machines or sericulture. Zhao Yingong decided to use the old method and go to the field to investigate first.
He has made up his mind to open a silk reeling factory, but to open a silk reeling factory, he must solve a series of problems such as land, factory buildings, equipment, workers and sources of raw materials.
The technical content of the silk reeling factory is limited, so it is not difficult for a machinery factory to imitate a set of silk reeling equipment from the late 19th century. The silk reeling factory does not need much power equipment. It does not need a steam engine, and water wheels are enough. Zhao Yingong had considered hydraulic turbines when he originally designed the "Through Textile Industry".
To set up a factory and use water turbine power, you need land. The land needs to be large enough, and there must be a river nearby - whether you are growing mulberry or running a silk reeling factory, you do not need a large amount of water. To meet these conditions, Hangzhou is obviously not suitable. You have to look outside the city.
Zhao Yingong had long planned for this piece of land - he had long been interested in Fenghuang Mountain outside Fengshan Gate. This was the original location of the Southern Song Dynasty, and it was within the city during the Song and Yuan Dynasties. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, when Zhang Shicheng built the new city wall of Hangzhou, he blocked Phoenix Mountain outside the city. The Southern Song Dynasty Palace on Phoenix Mountain suffered a fire in the 14th year of the Yuan Dynasty, and most of it was destroyed. Ten years later, Yang Liangzhenjia petitioned the Yuan Dynasty to build five Buddhist temples on Fenghuang Mountain using the building bases, remaining buildings and building materials from the Southern Song Dynasty. These five temples were also annihilated one after another during the Yuan Dynasty, and were finally completely destroyed in the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty. By the end of the Ming Dynasty, Phoenix Mountain had completely become an inaccessible and desolate land. Zhao Yingong had already inquired - although this place is close to the city, it is a very lonely place, with almost no human habitation except for a few small villages.
But for Zhao Yingong, this place is very suitable. The land price in the deserted land will not be high, which meets his current limited economic conditions. Since he can build a palace, it can be seen that the local terrain will not be rugged and must be a relatively flat slope. In addition to building houses, a large number of mulberry trees can also be planted on slopes to provide mulberry leaves for sericulture. Moreover, Fenghuang Mountain is adjacent to Zhonghe River on one side and Qiantang River on the other. It is more convenient to divert water for power or production and domestic water. If more factories are to be opened in the future, they will be able to collect water and drain water nearby.
In the future, Hangzhou Station will also handle population transfers - it would be inappropriate for the purification camp to be located in one's own residence. First, there is not such a big place. Second, this is a high-end residential area in the city. It would be too annoying for a large number of poor people to enter and exit Zhao's residence. Attention. Phoenix Mountain is a place that is very close to the city and not attracting attention.
Finally, Fenghuang Mountain is close to the Qiantang River and is a commanding height of Fengshan Gate. When the Taiping Army attacked Hangzhou, they seized this place as an important siege base. Controlling this place is equivalent to preparing a suitable dock for transferring refugees and receiving naval ships. For Zhao Yingong, who claims to be a descendant of the Song Dynasty, Phoenix Mountain also has special political meaning. He must take this commanding heights.
Of course, the entire remaining site of Fenghuang Mountain Palace starts from Tiaobi Bay in the south, reaches Wansong Ridge in the north, along the west bank of the southern end of Zhonghe River in the east, and reaches the east foot of Fenghuang Mountain in the west, with a circumference of nine miles. With such a large area, Zhao Yingong certainly had neither the strength nor the need to buy it all - after all, he was here to run an industry, not to build a Southern Song Dynasty palace ruins park for his own enjoyment. He immediately ordered Cai Shi and Sun Wangcai to go to the local area to inquire about the land ownership and approximate land prices in the Fenghuang Mountain area, and at the same time explore "places where manors can be established."
He then drafted a telegram and reported his ideas and plans to the Foreign Intelligence Service. Including all kinds of support he expects: funds, machinery and equipment, and specialized technical personnel.
While waiting for a reply, Zhao Yingong looked around for other business opportunities - not only to make money, but also to try to open up a local social circle.
He has considered setting up a printing factory - movable type printing and lithographic printing are the easiest money-making technologies mastered by the time travel group in this time and space, not to mention that they also have a large number of resources that can be "plagiarized". In particular, there are many original copies that have been carefully collated in the old time and space. These versions are reprinted in large quantities. The quality of the content can overwhelm the ordinary books sold in this time and space bookstore, not to mention the printing quality of the book itself.
The engraving and printing industry in Jiangnan was famous at that time. This has a lot to do with the prosperity of Jiangnan's writing style. Nanjing, Suzhou and Hangzhou all have large-scale bookstores, which integrate editing, publishing, printing and sales. A sizable industry has been formed. So there is absolutely no shortage in the market.
Moreover, books were an "elegant thing" in the concept of the time. After all, books were related to readers. In a society where knowledge was monopolized by a few people, books not only had practical value, but also had cultural and psychological significance, so printing books, Bookshop owners who compile and sell books are relatively more "elegant" and are likely to be "highly regarded" when interacting with literati.
But printing plants still need equipment, technology and personnel. These things are currently only available in Lingao. As far as Zhao Yingong knows, so far, the problem of engraving typefaces in movable type printing and movable type casting has not been well solved. For this reason, before leaving the printing house, the person in charge of the printing house specifically asked him to pay attention to whether he could find some master engraving craftsmen from Jiangnan to work in high places. A good engraver might also be able to carve lettering.
Thinking of this, Zhao Yingong couldn't help but secretly smile bitterly - it seemed that it was really not easy to accomplish things by himself. It is indeed very difficult to wear it alone.
However, the difficulty of opening a bookshop was much smaller after all. Zhao Yingong thought that even if there was no movable type printing, it would not be a bad idea to directly adopt the woodblock printing industry. This is a ready-made technology in the local area. According to modern terms, the industrial chain is complete, whether it is the raw materials for woodblock printing or printing. The paper and engraving workers are readily available, you just need to invest.
After all, simply opening a bookstore is still a businessman's business. At best, the scribes were "highly optimistic" and did not truly treat them as equals. Still have to do it a little more elegantly. Zhao Yingong suddenly thought of some so-called "cultural bookstores" opened in the old days, which all had tea seats or coffee seats. People who bought books could read at will, make a cup of tea and flip through the books. It was okay not to buy, and the boss would earn money for tea. ...Everyone also thinks it is very elegant and artistic. I don’t know how to introduce this idea into the Ming Dynasty?
To further expand my thinking, this bookstore should have as many books as possible to create a library atmosphere. Not only should there be books such as a collection of classics and history, but we might as well introduce some so-called "Australian books" printed in Lingao. These books are much better than the books in this time and space in terms of printing quality, paper and content. They can be used as a "rare object" to attract readers - any business must have a "selling point".
In addition to books, he thought he could also sell Australian paper, stationery and other small items. This makes it easy to distinguish it from ordinary bookstores and avoids taking business from ordinary bookstores. We can also develop a membership-based book lending mechanism that allows readers to borrow books for free and read them home without buying them. Then, conduct a general survey of local acquaintances in the name of registered members. Of course, the biggest benefit is "fame". Books in ancient times are rare. Not only are they few in variety, but they are also expensive. The average poor scholar only has a few Four Books, Five Classics, and contemporary essays that are necessary for exams. If he wants to read more books, he has to find someone to borrow books, especially Some large and rare books can only be borrowed from someone who has a library at home. Precisely because books are so rare, people who have them are generally reluctant to lend them out easily. During this period, they inevitably have to talk and ask for help. In ancient China, collecting and borrowing books gave rise to countless topics, stories and legends. Roa.
