Hearing what the prince said, Gong Yonggu also had a general understanding of some of the characteristics of the new newspaper. His original intention was good, but he still had lingering fears: "Your Highness, this new newspaper spreads the holy decree and educates the people, which has many benefits. The minister is just worried that someone in the court will He will wait for an opportunity to criticize again, and then lash out, or form a clique, so I beg Your Highness to take back his orders!"
Although Gong Yonggu was just a prince-in-law, he had a clear mind about matters above the court. In the past few years, Wen Tiren and Dong Lin had attacked each other and made constant accusations, which resulted in the failure of many government decrees to be implemented. Delays were everywhere and involved a wide range of matters.
Now that the prince is supervising the country, those scheming people must have become more aggressive and spoke fiercely when they saw that the ten-year-old prince was not deeply involved in the world. If these important ministers showed some reason, even the emperor would be helpless, let alone the current prince.
Yaoji had already planned this on his mind, so naturally he would not be merciful. He smiled meaningfully and said, "Uncle, there is no need to worry too much. I'm afraid they won't have time to object to this matter by then!"
If I don't find some work for you, why don't you crazy dogs pounce on me and bite me to death?
If you bully the scapegoat, I can ignore you.
But if you copy it and bully me, don’t blame me for being ruthless...
Seeing that Gong Yonggu was still trying to guess the holy intention, Yao Ji said: "Uncle, just do this job well and don't worry about trivial matters. This is the appearance and content of my draft. Please take a look at it. If there is any Any deficiencies will be corrected immediately.”
After dinner, of course Yaoji did not design the women's projects in the room, but wrote the general framework of the layout and content of "Jingshi Daily". Gong Yonggu wants to use this as a template to fill in the content.
The newspaper is currently tentatively scheduled to have sixteen pages, with the first and second pages containing the edicts of the Crown Prince and the Queen, the third and fourth pages containing imperial decrees, the fifth and sixth pages covering official appointments and removals, the seventh and eighth pages covering important news from various places, and the ninety pages covering current affairs in the capital. , pages 11 and 2 are expert reviews, pages 13 and 4 are anecdotes, pages 15 and 16 are novel serials, the first eight pages have no advertisements, and one-third of the last eight pages can be used for advertisements.
The main reason for having so many editions is that the fonts printed with movable type are not as small as those of later newspapers. A large font takes up space. Even if one edition is as big as five ancient books laid out horizontally, it cannot actually contain much content.
And there is another problem that will arise from this, and that is cost. As more paper is consumed, the cost will inevitably increase. The audience of newspapers is middle-class people, so it needs to be reduced to a level that is acceptable to everyone. At least it will not be too expensive to buy every day.
Gong Yonggu saw the framework given by the prince and couldn't help but exclaimed in admiration: "Wonderful! Wonderful! His Highness is really talented, and the humble minister is not one ten thousandth as good as His Highness! The design of the new newspaper is excellent, and the content is exquisite. It is far superior to Di Bao. If it is released to the public, it will be a blessing to the people of Ming Dynasty."
He has never seen a text that combines "Di Bao" and a novel. If this thing comes from his own hands, it will be looked down upon by the scholars in the capital from now on.
Yaoji didn't enjoy such low-level flattery and asked humbly: "Uncle, thank you. I mainly want to hear about the shortcomings, especially the cost, which must be strictly controlled while ensuring quality. Because this "Jingshi Daily" not only has to be responsible for its own profits and losses, but if it makes money, 10% of the profits will be used as taxes, 10% will be handed over to the General Affairs Department, 10% will be submitted to Kunning Palace, the uncle and aunt will keep 30% for themselves, and the remaining 40% will be handed over to the I!"
How can there be such a good thing in the world? You have made money, and I still have to wipe your butt? Beautiful thought!
This is called taking your own risk and sharing the benefits!
Hearing that there was such a drawback, the prince-in-law, who had just been so elated, couldn't help but feel embarrassed frequently. He originally thought that all money matters would be borne by internal funds, but the prince said that the couple should pay for it out of their own pockets. This was actually quite different from what he expected, and he was a little discouraged.
For the sake of my aunt, I will only give you 30% of the profit. Otherwise, why would it be your turn to do such a good thing?
Yaoji used his pre-prepared words, not afraid that the other party would not take the bait: "If my uncle has something to hide, I will completely understand. I can just go back and find someone else. It doesn't hurt!"
This is considered an investment, do you understand?
Madan! If you don’t even want to pay a tael of silver and just want to make a lot of money, go ask Shen Wansan!
Hearing that there was something wrong in the prince's words, Gong Yonggu hurriedly shook his head and said with sincerity: "Your Highness, please don't misunderstand me. I am just calculating the cost of this new newspaper. I have just revealed the situation. I hope Your Highness will not take offense! If Your Highness appreciates it, Wei Chen, just leave all the new reporting matters to Wei Chen."
The prince has just supervised the country. If he offends himself, how can he be free and happy in the future?
Even if this new newspaper loses thousands of taels of silver every year, it must be persevered, otherwise it will be disobedient to the holy will.
Yaoji had already seen through everything and asked the idiot in front of him: "Are you worried about the loss of this newspaper? I can tell you responsibly that not only will this newspaper not lose money, but it will also make a lot of profits." rich!"
Gong Yonggu wanted to deny it, but was unable to argue. Looking at the prince's determined look, it seemed that he had already determined his thoughts, so he could only listen silently from the other side.
Yaoji pointed to a drawing he had drawn up spread out on the table and said: "The total cost of a newspaper is five yuan. Even if the selling price is only five yuan, it can actually make money, and the secret of making money lies in advertising! My uncle thought Think about it, there are hundreds of restaurants, inns, pawn shops, escort agencies, tea shops, and medicine shops in the capital. Which one doesn’t want to have a bustling crowd? How to get what you want? You can’t do it by just shouting. When a foreigner arrives for the first time, How do they know about the many merchants in the capital? Just spend a few dollars to buy a newspaper! This advertisement can spread the word widely, and it does not cost the merchants a few taels of silver. It can be said to be a huge profit and get twice the result with half the effort!"
In the pre-Internet era, newspapers were one of the most important communication media. They not only had low distribution costs, but also low customer purchase costs. They were also easy to carry and could be read at any time. Therefore, among all the businesses in the world, there are very few that have not advertised in newspapers.
Gong Yonggu then thought about it. This was indeed the truth. If you didn't spread the word, who would care about your family's business?
Thinking of this, he immediately understood and apologized: "Wei Chen is stupid, but after His Highness's advice, Wei Chen suddenly realized that this new newspaper does have a way to make money!"
Regardless of the industry, as long as there is only one merchant in the industry, a true monopoly will be formed, and the monopoly will inevitably bring huge profits. If merchants in the capital want to attract more customers, they can only spend some money to advertise in the "Jingshi Daily".
In order to mobilize the enthusiasm of this useless person, Yaoji made a calculation for him: "Uncle, there are ten taels of advertising expenses for this day. According to regulations, uncle can keep 30% of the profit. After one year, it will be thousands of dollars." A lot of two. But if I think about it again, there are so many merchants in the capital. Is it possible that I only receive ten taels of advertising fees a day?"
As long as you work hard, you can earn thousands of taels of silver a year.
Gong Yonggu suddenly realized that this new newspaper was a mountain of silver waiting to be mined!
No wonder the prince said it was a profitable business, and it was legitimate income, so it didn't matter how jealous others were.
Gong Yonggu was afraid that the prince would hand over such a lucrative job to someone else because of what happened just now, so he stood up and saluted: "His Highness has used me so seriously, and I am so grateful that I can't repay him, so I can only do my best to do this new job!"
For the prince-in-law, even if he only pockets three taels of silver a day, it is still a considerable income after a year of hard work.
At least I don't have to continue to eat the princess's soft food. I can stand up straight when I go out to play and brag to my friends.
Since the other party agreed, Yaoji took advantage of the situation and said: "Uncle, there is no need to be so polite. There are three things that need to be done now. If it is not easy to remember, let's take notes. The first is to summon editors to write Newspaper content. My uncle has many friends in this area. You can tell them about this. If you are interested, you can apply for the job, but you must pass an exam before you can take up the post. Second, you must carefully investigate the printing situation of newspaper samples, and every time a sample is produced , you must check it yourself. This newspaper is printed in large quantities, so uneven quality cannot occur. At the same time, costs must be calculated and controlled. Under the premise of ensuring printing quality, the lower the cost, the better. Thirdly, , find a good seller, that is, a person or store who is willing to sell, you must sign a long-term sales agreement, and pay the full payment for the goods on the day. The profit earned by the seller must also be finalized in advance and cannot be changed at will. The engraving required by the new newspaper and printing craftsmen, I will send them there myself. However, their monthly salary must be borne by my uncle. I can borrow three thousand taels of silver from my uncle in the early stage, but it is limited to one year, and I must return it in full when it is due!"
In ancient times, after dark, ordinary people had nothing else to do except sleep.
With newspapers, everyone can at least use them as an elegant pastime after dinner.
After being deceived by His Highness the Prince, the Prince Consort could not help but go back to dream of getting rich with a bunch of drafts. Analyzing it from the point of view of this useless person, today's prince still values his talent very much, otherwise he would not entrust such a profitable business to himself.
The specific amount of money you can earn depends on whether you work hard or not. Yaoji has given you countless instructions on what you should pay attention to. After Princess Le'an learned about this indirect edict, she also agreed, thinking it was a good thing that would benefit the country and the people. Therefore, even if all his property and his wife's dowry were bet on the Xinbao project, Gong Yonggu would not hesitate.
After sending the couple away, the beautiful biological mother worriedly asked, "Brother Hong, are you sure about this new report?"
When I think about it carefully, it seems that this is the first business that Brother Hong has done, because women's clothing has to wait for Brother Hong to complete the artwork before it can be published, but this new newspaper can be compiled by others. The progress may not be slower than other businesses.
