In the early morning, after breakfast, as usual, I walked slowly to Huimin Pharmacy.
There were still many people queuing up for vaccination early in the morning. I crossed the crowd and went to my office. There were some documents on the table, all of which required Zheng Xiong's signature.
I picked it up and looked at it. They were all normal purchase lists, including the purchase of raw materials for the glass factory, the purchase list for Huimin Pharmacy, and the outsourcing purchase order for movable type. Just when I was about to sign, something seemed wrong.
It has to be said that the pseudo-eight-core processor of Zheng Xiong's brain, which is fused with another soul, is really easy to use. As long as he is willing, the bills he has seen in the past will appear clearly in front of his eyes, and he can quickly find the problem. location.
There is no problem in the glass factory. So many materials are used for experiments every time. There is no problem in Huimin Pharmacy's purchasing curve. There are many people coming and more medicinal materials are consumed. The problem arises in the movable type.
The movable type purchased is also increasing at a curve. It has been almost two months, so how much has been collected.
I didn't have time to think, so I called Qianwu. On Saturday, I went to the movable type warehouse with Ergou. It would be better if there were more people, but it would be unsafe if there were fewer people.
The master engraving master I hired earlier was sitting at the table, holding the movable type for trial printing and acceptance. There was also a basket of copper plates beside him. If he passed the test, he would give him money. The two parties seemed to be very harmonious, and they were still talking when they took the money and left. Don’t forget to say something.
"Thanks, Uncle Zhang, come to my house for a drink in a few days."
Zheng Xiong and others came closer. When they saw Zheng Xiong coming, several old masters quickly stood up and saluted.
Zheng Xiong waved his hand, no nonsense.
"What's going on with you? Why are there more and more movable type acquisitions recently, and no one has reported it to me yet."
Several people looked at each other, and finally the older one stood up.
"Sir, it was okay at first. We collected movable type, and not many people knew about it. Later, when we saw how profitable it was, more and more people made movable type. It is not difficult to make movable type alone, and wood can be found everywhere. People who know each other It's easy to teach them. Nowadays, more and more people are making movable type. Many craftsmen are also having a hard time, so they make a few movable types to supplement their family income. Now they can't stop even if they want to. But the quality of today's movable type has improved. A lot of money has been allocated each time. The money allocated each time is selected from the best. However, there are many people making it, and some of them are fellow villagers. It is really difficult to refuse, so I can only apply for more money to buy movable type. But don’t worry, sir. , the movable type collected is of good quality, and the villain has absolutely no favoritism.”
The old man who was introduced as the representative explained carefully and waited for Zheng Xiong to reply.
Zheng Xiong's head was as big as a bucket. At that time, he only thought about the convenience of movable type and easy access to materials. He wanted to prepare some movable type for future use, but he did not think of setting a quantity limit.
There are not many ways for these craftsmen to make money. They have been motivated by these movable types, and now they are almost forming an industry. If they cancel it rashly, I am afraid that the reaction will be fierce. This kind of feeling of being too big to lose is very bad.
"Take me to the warehouse and take a look."
The old man led the way, and the others followed behind, heading towards the warehouse.
He took out the key and opened the warehouse. There was a room full of movable type. I'm afraid it would be full in a few days.
Pointing at the house, Zheng Xiong asked angrily.
"The movable type in this room is what you call the best of the best. How much does it cost?"
"Sir, these are all normal collections. At the beginning, our quotations were basically at normal levels. Later, when there were more movable types, some people sold them at a cheaper price. From two per cent, to three per cent, and now to one cent. With five movable types, there are still many people coming to sell them.”
Zheng Xiong was speechless when he heard this, his anger was gone, he followed suit and followed the same trend, and he was speechless and sighed.
"Just maintain this scale, the budget is fixed and don't increase any more."
He stopped looking at the warehouse, his head hurt. Zheng Xiong walked quietly in front, and the others followed silently.
Such movable type has to be processed. As the pharmacy purchases more medicinal materials, although it consumes more, the already small warehouse is still under pressure.
It is not easy to consume so much movable type. The only way to consume movable type is to publish books.
Around the 7th century AD during the Tang Dynasty, China invented block printing. With printed books, a formal publishing industry began to emerge. After the mid-Tang Dynasty, in today's Sichuan and other places, the private publishing industry engaged in engraving printing has become very common. Most of the early printed publications were almanacs, calligraphy books and Buddhist scriptures that were widely needed by the public. It was not until the 1030s, that is, during the Five Dynasties and later the Tang Dynasty, that engraving printing became widely popularized and had a role and influence that cannot be ignored. It attracted the attention of the government and was used to engrave Confucian scriptures. From then on, the publishing industry sponsored by the government came into being.
From the second half of the 10th century to the middle of the 19th century, including the Song Dynasty to the middle of the Qing Dynasty, it was a period of comprehensive development of the publishing industry in ancient China. During this period, movable type printing was invented, and printing technology was continuously improved and improved. Later, set printing appeared, which was in a leading position in the world's printing history. During this period, the publishing industry sponsored by the government became increasingly prosperous, and many comprehensive collections, books, and series were edited and published; there were also many privately-engraved books; the private publishing industry developed rapidly. Book engraving locations are almost all over the country, and the variety and quantity of books published greatly exceed those of previous generations.
In the early Ming Dynasty, the Nanjing Imperial College collected the Song and Yuan book editions from Hangzhou and other places in the south of the Yangtze River and continued to print and publish them, known as the "Nanjian Edition". Many skilled book engravers from Hangzhou also followed the West Lake Academy's book editions to Nanjing, and Nanjing replaced Hangzhou as the most important publishing center in the country at that time. In the mid-16th century, a large number of illustrated novels and opera books were published in the Jiangnan area centered on Nanjing. Skilled printers from neighboring traditional engraving areas such as Huizhou in Anhui and Jianyang in Fujian also came to Nanjing. Nanjing has become the center of color overprinting of woodcuts. The prosperity of publishing promoted the prosperity of book trade. At that time, there were many bookstores in Sanshan Street and Neiqiao area of Nanjing, and the sales volume of books was very large.
In the Ming Dynasty, official engravings began to have imperial engravings, which were in charge of the eunuchs who were in charge of the ceremonial department. The Si Li Jian Jing Chang Treasury had an admiral in charge of its affairs, and the books it engraved were mostly imperial edicts, legal decrees, classics and historical essays, etc., which were called "Si Li Jian Ben", also known as "Jing Chang Ben". Most of them are huge volumes with large characters, broad layout, sparse lines, large black margins, and circles in the main text and small notes. They are made of good white cotton paper and fine ink, and the binding is gorgeous. However, many of them are not well collated and have many errors. . In the Ming Dynasty, all departments of the central government had books engraved on them, and the Qin Tian Jian and Imperial Hospital also had books on their professions. The "Yongle Dadian" compiled by the Ming Dynasty government is the largest such book in ancient China. The book contains seven to eight thousand kinds of ancient books, 22,937 volumes, about 370 million words, handwritten and bound into 11,095 volumes.
Engraved editions of local officials were also common in the Ming Dynasty. The chief secretaries of various provinces, the administrative departments, the prefectures and counties, the Confucian schools, the academies, the supervisory departments, etc. all have engraved many books. Each feudal prince's palace also had books engraved on them, which were called "the feudal palace edition" or "the feudal engraving edition". Most of the books engraved by the vassal government were based on rare books from the Song and Yuan Dynasties awarded by the central government. In addition, they had excellent material conditions and the vassal king himself had a certain amount of knowledge. Therefore, many of the books engraved were top-grade among the official engravings of the Ming Dynasty.
You can consider setting up a printing factory first, but the prosperity of the printing industry is inseparable from paper. The legendary paper in Luoyang is expensive, and it is just as expensive now. Printing and papermaking also complement each other.
Our own movable type is also an advantage at this stage. Although its service life is not long, it can print books quickly. This is a great advantage for small-scale printing. Nowadays, paper cannot meet the conditions for mass printing.
Zheng Xiong stopped.
"You guys, get ready. I'm going to build a printing factory. Do you have any familiarity with this aspect? Find some people to come over. There are a lot of literate people in the pharmacy. We can transfer a few to do typesetting and proofreading. If you have any candidates, please do it. You can report here and save yourself the trouble of transferring people."
"Yes, sir."
It is not difficult to set up a printing factory. As long as you purchase the required materials, you can start it. However, you can only make some manual money. You can make money, but not much. There is no huge profit like alcohol glass.
Next, it’s time to run some business.
