A book costs about ten dollars, and a set of more than a dozen books.
If we assume that there were 300,000 scholars in the Tang Dynasty, and each person had a set, a total of more than 3 million books would be needed.
And every time the imperial court sells a copy, it must lose about five guan of money. This is five guan of money, and it must not lose more than 10 million guan in a year.
According to the original tax revenue of the imperial court, which was about 20 million guan, even if the taxes paid by Junyangfang were nearly 10 million guan, it would still be insufficient to make ends meet.
How dare Li Er and Yang Fan sell at such a low price, without losing all their family wealth and emptying the national treasury?
No wonder Cui Yonghui said that Wu Meiniang secretly hid some money in her parents' house, and Yang Fan was such a waste of money.
The Tang Dynasty does not belong to Yang Fan, so why is this guy working so hard?
Then, everyone listened to Cui Yonghui continue his analysis: "Brother Lu is just talking about the investment in books. Everyone knows that for us scholars, paper, pen, ink and inkstone are a continuous consumable."
"The imperial court sells writing brushes, paper and ink, and other reading supplies. The sales of each pen, each piece of paper, and each drop of ink are less than half of the manufacturing cost of my Cui family."
"This also means that every time the imperial court sells something, it will lose at least a few copper coins. This is an astronomical figure."
hiss!
Cui Yonghui and Lu Shanchen's analysis made the children of the aristocratic families present take a breath of cold air.
For a book that costs ten guan, the Information Department sells it for only five guan, and the price of paper, pen, ink and inkstone is an astronomical figure.
Although books can still be used in the second year, things like paper, pen, ink and inkstone are disposable.
In other words, this year, in addition to allocating more than 10 million yuan to print books, the imperial court will also allocate additional money to subsidize the consumption of paper, pens, ink and inkstones.
It shows that the court will lose at least nearly 20 million yuan a year. How is this possible?
Could it be that Li Er ignored other aspects and focused on the reform of the imperial examination?
Everyone's first reaction was disbelief, with their mouths wide open in surprise.
After a while, Zheng Kai couldn't help but confirm: "Brother Cui, Brother Lu, are you sure there is nothing wrong with the analysis just now?"
"If the imperial court costs ten guan to publish each book, then they will lose at least five guan for each book."
"I heard that Yang's Enlightenment, Yang's Arithmetic, and some paper, pen and ink were all produced by a certain marquis."
"If the emperor is trying to make the poor family rise in order to check and balance our family, then what is the purpose of Marquis Zhongyi doing this kind of loss-making business?"
Cui Yonghui sneered and said: "That guy Yang Fan became the Minister of Rites at a young age. He didn't come just to flatter the emperor."
"Although he lost money this time, Yang Fan can gain a good reputation. This is a business that is sure to make money without losing money."
"What's more, Yang Fan has Junyangfang, the hen that lays golden eggs, so it doesn't matter if he loses some money. Not only can he get Li Er's admiration, but he can also gain a good reputation. It's like killing two birds with one stone!"
"The reason why Li Er did this must be because we have raised the prices of imperial examination books and paper, pens, ink and inkstones, so that those poor people cannot afford them."
"In order to ensure the smooth progress of the imperial examination reform, we have to lower the prices of books, paper, pens, ink and inkstones at the expense of losing money."
After listening to Cui Yonghui's analysis, everyone nodded as if they suddenly understood.
In fact, it's not that Cui Yonghui is smarter than others. The main reason is that Cui Yonghui himself deals in these school supplies. He knows best the cost of books, paper, pen, inkstone.
In addition, everyone also knows about the entanglement between the Cui family and Yang Fan. It can be said that the Cui family knows Yang Fan best.
After all, as Yang Fan is an enemy of the Cui family, Cui Yonghui will certainly make great efforts to figure out and analyze.
Speaking of which, Cui Yonghui is definitely not a fool to be the representative of the younger generation of the Cui family.
But he was indeed confused by the smoke bomb released by Yang Fan.
Zheng Kai pondered for a while and couldn't help but asked hesitantly: "If the cost of books is so high, why doesn't the court print the books worse? This will not only reduce the cost, but also save a little money. Of course, paper, pen and ink The same goes for inkstones.”
At this time, Wang Lun explained with a smile: "Actually, this is easy to understand. If the imperial examination books printed by the imperial court are much worse than those printed by us, I am afraid that all the scholars in the world will laugh at Li Er."
"For the sake of the court's face and to gain the support of scholars, Li Er had no choice but to break his teeth and swallow it. Who asked him to modify the imperial examination books without authorization?"
"Think about it, everyone, there are not many scholars in the entire Tang Dynasty, and it's not like everyone buys one set, only those from poor families who need to take exams buy one."
"Besides, some people who don't have money will inevitably buy a set together in groups of three or five. This has often happened in the past."
"So, in real terms, the money lost by the court is probably not as much as we imagined."
"Over the past year or so, Junyangfang has paid a large amount of taxes to the court, and Li Er has received more than 90% of the share. If it is only a thousand or ten thousand yuan, they can probably afford the compensation."
Everyone analyzed each word and expressed their opinions based on their own understanding of the situation.
Being able to become the person in charge of major aristocratic families in Chang'an City, everyone is not stupid, so they couldn't help but think about it.
They are all outstanding beings in their respective families. Through layer-by-layer analysis, they believe that the analysis they just made must be correct.
Now, they have to use the analysis just now to find and formulate corresponding countermeasures.
After consolidating his opinions, Wang Lun said: "Although the imperial court has earned a lot of income over the past year, the expenses in various aspects are also large, not to mention that the expedition to Tibet is also a waste of people and money."
"Everyone says that the national treasury has been very full in the past two years, but after all, time is still short, and how much savings can be made."
"Think about it, everyone. Li Er and Yang Fan will lose five guan for a book. Can they really afford the loss?"
Zheng Kai smiled slightly and said firmly: "If there are few people buying, they will naturally suffer a loss. If there are many people buying, they don't have our thousands of years of heritage, and they can't afford to lose even if they sell themselves!"
These words couldn't help but make everyone laugh!
Cui Yonghui also smiled and said: "Yang Fan is not without merit. Although he is reckless, he is not without brains."
"They stipulate that everyone who buys books needs to be registered, and each person is limited to purchasing one set within three months. This ensures that no amount of compensation is required."
"It's a pity that they missed something, because this set of books can be purchased by everyone, not just scholars."
"Although the imperial examination reform launched by His Majesty Li Er provides a good opportunity and channel for poor students, it also leaves fatal loopholes."
"Since anyone with muddy legs can study, of course the imperial court cannot restrict others from purchasing books, paper, pens, inkstones..."
After hearing this, everyone nodded in praise and showed an expression of sudden realization.
Lu Shanchen squinted his eyes and said with a smile: "Brother Cui means that as long as we find more people to buy books and paper, pens, inkstones."
"The treasury, which the imperial court cannot make ends meet, cannot sustain it for long. Once the imperial court has no money, printing books and manufacturing paper, pens, ink and inkstones can only be a fantasy."
"At that time, people will not be able to buy books, and the reform of the imperial examination for our family will only become a complete joke."
Cui Yonghui smiled brightly and said confidently: "Those mud-legged people who can't buy school supplies will definitely cause trouble with the court. Doesn't Li Er also want our family to solve it?"
As soon as he finished speaking, everyone in the study burst into triumphant laughter.
They have already foreseen the time when Li Er and Yang Fanzai will fight... The battle between the family and Yang Fan has officially begun at this time.
In the following days, although the books, paper, pens, ink and inkstones taken from Junyangfang remained unchanged.
However, the books and paper, pens, inks and inkstones on the market are even more nervous, as if the supply exceeds the demand.
The school supplies that used to take a whole day to sell out are now sold out in just one or two hours.
In fact, many ordinary people complained because they could not buy books, paper, pens and inkstones, and conflicts with sales staff often occurred.
Although the inventory in Junfang is now sufficient, Yang Fan has not increased the quantity for sale.
Even if the people are causing trouble, Yang Fan continues to sell according to the original quantity every day, as if this is their maximum production capacity.
As time went by, the strange phenomenon of sales increasing instead of decreasing certainly attracted the attention of His Majesty Li Er.
In the Manlu Hall, His Majesty Li Er frowned as he looked at the information in his hand, his face full of murderous intent.
At the bottom, Fang Xuanling lowered his head, looking a little frightened.
After His Majesty Li Er put down the memorial in his hand, Fang Xuanling asked cautiously: "Your Majesty, rumors are spreading now that the imperial court does not distribute so many low-priced books at all because many students from poor families cannot buy them! What should we do now? ?”
His Majesty Li Er, with a livid face, gritted his teeth and said from the back seat: "As expected by Marquis Zhongyi, these aristocratic families will not just sit idly by and will definitely come up with tricks to stop them. I didn't expect them to be too shameless!"
"I didn't expect that these aristocratic families would unite and mobilize ignorant people to help them buy it. Those from poor families who really wanted to learn couldn't buy it at all."
"The states and counties in the Tang Dynasty have distributed enough books for all scholars. Now the books, paper, pens, ink and inkstones have been sold for half a month. It is simply the aristocratic family that is at work, preventing people who want to study from buying books."
"Take Xinfeng County near Chang'an City as an example. There are only a thousand or so scholars at most in the county, but now there are more than 2,000 sets of imperial examination books not provided to Xinfeng County, and the supply exceeds demand."
"What's even more ridiculous is that according to Baiqi's investigation, many people who buy books are not literate at all, and the books and paper, pens, inkstones and paper supplied by the court were sold out as soon as they arrived."
"What makes me most angry is that the people who bought the books did not have scholars in their families. After they bought the books, they were secretly taken away. No need to guess, it must be a noble family that is behind the scenes."
"These aristocratic families are so abominable. Do they really think that this can stop the reform of the imperial examination? Do they really think that my sword and ax are harmful?"
"If Marquis Zhongyi hadn't told them not to act rashly, I would definitely let them know why the flowers are so red."
After a moment of silence, Fang Xuanling said comfortingly: "Your Majesty, fortunately Marquis Zhongyi had anticipated such a day, otherwise we would have been caught off guard."
"However, there are only three months left until the Spring Imperial Examination. If we cannot promote the imperial examination textbooks, it may make students from poor families feel resentful towards the imperial court. All our efforts will be in vain!"
His Majesty Li Er snorted coldly and said displeasedly: "It's all those aristocratic families' fault. If it weren't for them, how could such trouble have happened? I really want to kill them all!"
Fang Xuanling raised his eyes and asked, "Does your Majesty have any conclusive evidence pointing to the aristocratic family?"
His Majesty Li Er shouted angrily: "The aristocratic family did it very secretly and did not collect conclusive evidence. But except for the aristocratic family, who else has such huge funds for this matter? What's more, no one else has the motive to do such a thing! "
Fang Xuanling persuaded her kindly: "Your Majesty, the court sells books, and there is no rule that illiterate people cannot buy them, so it is impossible to catch the aristocratic family."
"Now they are completely acting within the rules. Even if they go too far, there is nothing we can do about it. How can we punish them?"
"If we move the aristocratic family without enough evidence, I am afraid it will cause uneasiness among all the aristocratic families in the world, and some aristocratic families who are waiting and watching will also fall to them."
Why doesn't Li Er know these truths?
This is also the reason why Li Er is afraid of the aristocratic family.
Although you are the king of a country, the higher you are, the less you can act on your whim, let alone do whatever you want.
As the saying goes, dogs have their own ways, and this is also true in the officialdom. You must abide by the rules of the game, especially as an emperor!
If the emperor does not follow the rules of the game and starts killing without evidence, it may lead to chaos in the world and the destruction of the country is not far away.
Although he was very angry, Li Er had no choice but to scream helplessly. This kind of frustration was what Li Er felt the most.
So he could only live with his words and said angrily: "Can't we touch them without evidence? If they make me anxious, I won't be able to control so much by then?"
Of course Fang Xuanling knew that His Majesty Li Er was just having fun, so he softly advised: "As the king of a country, of course your Majesty can do whatever you want, but it is not what your Majesty wants!"
"How about this? Let's discuss it with Marquis Zhongyi and see if he has a better solution?"
"If we can defeat others without fighting and allow poor students to successfully pass the imperial examination, this is our top priority."
Of course, Li Er also knew not to act on his own initiative, and sighed: "What good solution can that kid have? Forget it, let's go for a walk together and see what that kid says, whether we should increase production and sales."
Although he has all kinds of disgust in his mouth, Li Er is still very honest in his actions.
Not long after, His Majesty Li Er and Fang Xuanling appeared at the Zhongyi Hou Mansion.
Walking into the courtyard, His Majesty Li Er's anger that he had finally suppressed surged to the top of his head.
It turned out that Yang Fan, a young man surrounded by beauties, was very leisurely.
Wu Meiniang on the left, Princess Gaoyang on the right, and even Princess Changle and Xiao Sizi gathered in front of Yang Fan to listen to the story.
That little expression makes her look like a good little lady.
For some reason, at a certain moment, His Majesty Li Er had the idea that this family was so harmonious.
Shaking his head, His Majesty Li Er frowned and coughed twice.
When the girls saw His Majesty Li Er arriving suddenly, they bowed and ran quietly...
Regarding Li Er, who had no eyesight, Yang Fan raised his eyes and said, "Old Li! Why are you coughing so loudly? It's cold, so don't run around if you're sick!"
These words almost made Li Er angry.
Your boy has nothing to do all day long, either causing trouble or hooking up with beautiful women, not to mention, there are several of his daughters.
As a maniac who protects girls, it’s no wonder that Li Er is happy!
However, even if he was very angry, Li Er could do nothing. After all, when Yang Fan got angry, he would really get rid of him!
What's more, when he asked this kid for something, his voice dropped a notch.
