"Sell newspapers! Sell newspapers! "Jingshi Daily"!"
"A major event in the world! Take full advantage of it!"
After a quarter past two o'clock the next day, many newsboys wearing aprons appeared on the main streets of the inner city. There was a big kangaroo-like pocket on the front of the apron, which was filled with heavy newspapers. The small pocket around the waist was Specially used to collect copper coins.
Newsboys are actually young men of fourteen or fifteen years old. Almost all of them have no father or mother. They usually rely on begging and stealing to survive. Gong Yonggu followed the prince's instructions and recruited hundreds of such little guys. .
First, let the doctor treat their sores, then take a bath and change clothes, and then teach them some shouting and selling skills. After two days of training, they can sell on the streets. It is a good thing to do good deeds, and it is better than just burning incense at home. Much more.
"What object?"
"Capital Master?"
"Day...what?"
Passers-by were very curious about what these newsboys were shouting about. They seemed to be holding up a few pieces of paper in their hands, saying they wanted to sell them, but it was unclear what they were.
"Sir, a copy of "Jingshi Daily" costs ten cents! Would you like a copy?"
A newsboy saw that the middle-aged man opposite him was very well-dressed and had a shiny face. He seemed to be relatively rich. He was not very different from the target audience mentioned by the teacher before, so he went over to chat with him with a smile on his face.
"Ten cents? Just a few pieces of paper?"
When the middle-aged man saw that the thing in the newspaper boy's hand was very thin, probably less than ten pages of paper, and seemed to be densely packed with boys, he felt that it was not worth the price.
"Sir, you have misunderstood. What is printed in the "Jingshi Daily" is an imperial edict. Just because of the imperial edict, ten cents are sold at a low price! Don't you want to buy a copy?"
The teacher said that the gimmick of our newspaper is the imperial edict. As long as the other party thinks it is expensive, you will be right to mention the imperial edict. So the newsboy did not remember anything else, just remember this. Remember this to sell newspapers.
"...That's...ok! Don't lie to me, or you will look good!"
As soon as they heard that there was an imperial edict printed on it, the middle-aged people did not dare to use the price to justify it. If they were selling newspapers under the edict, if they did not buy it, they would be disobeying the edict.
At the moment, the factory guards are arresting people everywhere, and the families of suspects who have been taken to the Third Law Department can be seen everywhere. She must not get into trouble. If they don't get in together, they will never get out again.
"Don't dare! Don't dare!"
The newsboy took the copper coin humbly and kindly and put it into his pocket. After completing a transaction, he could earn a penny. It didn't seem like much, but as long as he sold twenty newspapers, there would be no difficulty in feeding himself. , if we sell more, we can eat meat every day.
For all the newspaper boys, the purpose of selling newspapers in the early days was to eat meat every day. With eating as a source of motivation, everyone mustered up their energy. What's more, newspapers were a new thing, so there was no need to worry about selling them and taking them to the streets. How much can be sold.
"Um!"
The middle-aged man took the newspaper grandly and read it carefully. Sure enough, what caught his eye was the imperial edict on the front page. The two bold black words bigger than his thumb made the reader almost stand in shock. Kneel down, this content is really amazing.
The vast majority of the people have never seen the true face of the imperial edict in Mount Lu, and the same is true for the gentry who basically have status and wealth. They have only seen the notices posted by the government.
Not to mention touching the imperial edict with your own hands, even taking a look at it from a distance will make you so excited that you won't want to leave it. You will be blown away by your relatives and friends when you see it in the future.
Although the current imperial edict is printed in the newspaper, it is also the imperial edict of the Erba Jing. At least there will never be a single word wrong in the content.
The middle-aged man stood there and read carefully word by word. He was still unfamiliar with the punctuation marks between sentences, but it did not delay his reading. Moreover, it seemed that with these things to break up sentences, reading seemed more convenient.
"oh……"
It turns out that the emperor really went to the fairy world as the rumors said, and now the prince is supervising the country. The middle-aged man is still very convinced by the extremely formal official announcement. The imperial edict has made it very clear about the future, and he is relieved. .
After reading it from beginning to end again, he was completely relieved. The ten cents he bought was still very affordable. He could actually see the imperial edict. It was indeed worth the money spent.
"Brother Fan? Brother Fan? Brother Fan???"
The middle-aged man didn't hear his old friend's greeting at first, and was still engrossed in the newspaper. It wasn't until the other party finally raised his voice in anger that he came back to his senses.
"Oh, who was I at that time? It turned out to be Brother Feng!"
The middle-aged man closed the newspaper and greeted his old friend across from him, but the focus of his attention was still on the newspaper in his hand, so the greeting was a little absent-minded.
"What is Brother Fan holding in his hand? I was so engrossed in watching it just now that I turned a deaf ear to my greetings to Brother Fan!"
He arrived a step late. When he reached the main street, the newsboy had just left, so he missed the opportunity to be one of the first readers.
"This is the Capital Daily!"
The middle-aged man now has something to show off. No matter how he says it, he is someone who has read the contents of the imperial edict and is a leader in his circle of friends.
"Oh? Can I have a look next?"
When he heard the name, the other party was very interested. He felt that he had never heard of this object before, so he wanted to take it over and take a look at it immediately, so as to broaden his horizons.
"Hiss... I'm not stingy, it's just that this newspaper has an imperial edict! Fan doesn't dare to lend it to others for reading. If Brother Feng is interested, you might as well buy a copy from Children's. It's not expensive, only ten cents."
You can borrow newspapers, but there is an imperial edict on them, so you can't just borrow them casually. If the factory guards find out, it will be a crime that will cause your head to fall. If you go home, you have to offer the newspaper and burn incense. This is considered polite. .
"This... well, I don't know where the child Brother Fan mentioned is now, so I might as well buy one!"
When this man heard that there was an imperial decree above, he couldn't help but be shocked. He tried to calm down and didn't dare to say anything more. If this was really the case, he might as well buy one and use it as a talisman.
"Just... eh? Are you still here just now? How come... in the blink of an eye..."
The middle-aged man felt that he had just watched for a while, but he didn't know that five minutes had passed and the newsboy had already gone away. It was impossible for him to read with the customer in the same place. At this time, no one could be seen.
"Sell newspapers! Sell newspapers! "Jingshi Daily"!"
At this moment, another newsboy passed by. Since it was just the time of the curfew, there were still relatively few people on the street, and the shouts could be heard dozens of meters away.
Anyone who dared to show their face was an old man on this street. They had long been familiar with the patrolling guards, and these guards would not rush up to check their identities.
The breakfast sellers set up their stalls on the streets, and the guys began to take down the door panels of teahouses and taverns, planning to open their doors to welcome guests. The rebellion in the Beijing camp lasted just one night, and was immediately killed. It had little impact on the business of the inner city. Too big.
"Come here! I want to buy one!"
The fat man named Feng lazily walked over, stretched his neck and shouted, then raised his arm and waved it so that the newsboy could see his position.
"okay!"
When he heard that there was business to be done, the newsboy rushed over immediately. It was considered that he had not yelled in vain, and he sold three newspapers in just one stick of incense.
"Well, two servings! No, three servings!"
Considering the situation at home, the middle-aged man planned to purchase more.
"Brother Fan, what does this mean?"
His friend was very puzzled. Isn't one copy enough for one person? What's the use of buying so many.
"After returning home, a certain wife and concubine want to see it, and my son also wants to see it. It's best if everyone has a share!"
The middle-aged people have their own logic, and they sound very reasonable. Everyone should have a copy of the imperial edict.
"Oh~! That makes sense! Give me four copies, no, five copies, no, six... Forget it, let's just get ten copies. My father and father-in-law both want to see it!"
Fatty Feng listened to the other party's explanation, thought for a moment and agreed, so he sold a copy and took it home. He was afraid that his family would tear the newspaper into several pieces just to read it.
"Hey? Aren't these Brother Fan and Brother Feng? Are you..."
Two people came from the opposite side. They were both small business owners on this street. They said they were getting up for breakfast. In fact, they had already agreed to exchange information every morning, so as not to keep themselves in the dark if there was news in the market.
For businessmen, they can eat anything in the world, as long as they can make enough money, even cow dung can be swallowed, but this loss is the only thing they cannot afford, let alone eat continuously. With gossip, It can reduce the chance of suffering a loss.
"Okay! I'll buy a few copies too!"
After the two people who sold the newspaper first explained what was going on, the next two people naturally paid for it. For them, there were no reliable insiders in the government, and the cheapest way to get news from the court was to buy newspapers. .
The four people first went home and delivered the newspaper to their homes, and then went to the restaurant to have breakfast as agreed, where they could sniff out the news and discuss what was printed in the newspaper.
"This is……"
As soon as they crossed the threshold, they saw several people kneeling and kowtowing directly in front of them. The object of their kneeling seemed to be a dining table. They were really puzzled. They had never seen such a funny behavior before.
"The ceremony is complete!"
There was a waiter shouting next to him, and the man who was kneeling stood up, rolled out his sleeves, and breathed a sigh of relief before sitting down and starting to eat.
Fatty Feng hurriedly called the waiters over, and after asking, he found out that because there was an imperial edict in the newspaper, they thought they had to kowtow. The restaurant owner and waiters had to kowtow before they dared to officially open the business.
Newspapers are also sold in the restaurant, and the price is still ten cents. There is no increase in price. Everyone who comes here to eat is a respectable person. No matter how old they are, everyone will buy at least one copy. It is not uncommon to kowtow. .
So the middle-aged man took the lead, and several people occupied a table in the corner, laid out newspapers with the imperial edict, and knelt down to kowtow. With the shopkeeper and the waiter as witnesses, others had nothing to gossip about.
"I heard that after the prince takes charge of the country, the business tax will change from thirty taxes to one to three taxes to one. This is incredible!"
"That's right, it's doubled ten times!"
"Still talking! I have a tea merchant friend who was ordered to pay back taxes for the past fifty years because of tax evasion. He was also detained by the factory guard!"
"...What happens next?"
“The day before yesterday, his family and other tea merchants’ families petitioned together, but they were all arrested and said to be sent to Shandong to mine!”
"Alas~! If this happens, won't there be no place for us anymore?"
"The prince said that he wants the factory guards to track down the merchants in the city who evade taxes!"
"No wonder the city gates are tightly closed, entry and exit are strictly prohibited, and there are a large number of soldiers at the door carefully checking!"
These were the whispers at the next table, and they could be heard clearly by the four people at this table. Although they were not tea merchants, they were still merchants. It might be their turn one day, and they would all have to pay back taxes. And the decision to go to Shandong to mine.
Having said that, the prince increased the business tax tenfold, which was equivalent to cutting off the flesh of the merchants. The tax of 30% was actually profitable, but everyone did not want to give up the huge profits to the court.
Is money or life more important? Faced with this issue, many businessmen are unable to make the right choice.
The four people at this table were helpless, and they were very reluctant to pay thousands or even tens of thousands of taels of silver at a time.
"Found it! It's on the sixth page! It's 20%! 20%!"
Suddenly, a table in the distance shouted, and everyone followed his words and turned to page 6, which was about taxes and fees.
The prince ordered merchants across the country to pay 20% tax. Although it was still much higher than the original level, it was still 10% lower than the rumors.
For the merchants at each table, this can be regarded as some compensation. The 20% tax is at least much better than the 30%. This means that the merchants can still account for the majority of the profits earned, as long as the cost is not higher than 60%. Just make it happen.
Correspondingly, those who report false accounting will receive 10% of the property of the person being reported. Regarding this drastic measure, everyone dares to be angry and dare not speak out. They gnash their teeth with hatred, but their mouths are tightly shut.
Nowadays, the streets are full of patrolling factory guards, and there are spies who sneak into teahouses and restaurants. If they listen to it, the whole family will not have to wait to pay back taxes, because their homes will be ransacked and their families will be wiped out.
“Locusts are nutritious!”
"This insect is actually edible?"
"Of course! I ate roasted ones when I was a kid, and they were really delicious!"
"Brother, do you feel sick after eating?"
"Uh... seems to be sick!"
"Oh? Are you okay?"
"It seems to have jumped farther than before!"
"Ha ha ha ha……"
Everyone is determined not to comment on the imperial decrees, but when it comes to eating locusts, there is nothing to worry about. You can brainstorm and talk freely.
It started as a group of people making jokes and reminiscing about childhood memories, but later it turned into a group of people having a tea party. Most people had eaten baked food, but few had eaten fried food.
Everyone was also whispering about the plan to purchase locusts that the prince had ordered for five cents per catty. Some thought it was a move that would benefit the country and the people, while others thought the purchase price was too high.
The guy who reads quickly has already finished reading "The Fate of Flowers in the Mirror" written by "The Old Man Riding a Donkey". He has a lot to say about the protagonist in it who wants to spend all ten thousand guan of money, which is ten thousand taels of silver, in one or seven days. Disagreement.
A group of people believe that this matter can be achieved, while others believe that it cannot be achieved. This is mainly due to the prerequisites.
Since the newspaper is a daily issue, everyone is eagerly waiting to see how the author will explain himself in the next episode.
Some people even told the shopkeeper that they must reserve a copy for themselves, and even paid a deposit in advance.
"...Kowtow to the newspaper?"
The news obtained by the spies reached the East Palace, and Yaoji felt confused when he heard the reactions of the NPCs outside.
If a fire breaks out because of offering incense, I will not build a new house for your family.
