Yin Lian's capital is, of course, papermaking technology and printing technology that are more advanced than this era.
This booklet was made casually by Yin Lian. Taking into account the various technical levels of this era, it was modified to a certain extent based on the use of some ready-made technologies. Generally speaking, printing technology itself is very flexible, and the technical difficulty is not very high. More sophisticated technology can indeed bring a lot of convenience, but it consumes more manpower and cannot replace these technologies.
Of course Yin Lian didn't want to waste more manpower, so she chose a mixture of the two. Considering that she currently does not want to show off technology that is far ahead of this era in front of people, customizing a printing press is not only easy to leak the technology, but also too time-consuming. If the customized machine is used rashly, there may be errors, no It must be really useful, so Yin Lian chose to play tricks on the design.
Relying on the help of the guard robot, she manually designed a human-powered printing machine—using the wax-melting principle of mimeograph technology and special metal movable type to temporarily print the booklet. Compared with the various color prints of later generations, it is of course still not exquisite and realistic enough, but in this context where photography has only just begun to take shape and the telephone has only appeared in prototype, such a printed product is already a surprise.
Although the era feels similar to the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China, the technological development of Xia Kingdom is not exactly the same as that of the earth. Some technologies are much earlier, and some technologies are much later. Some technologies have similar functions but completely different functions. Others have been invented, but there is a big gap in the actual development process.
When Yin Lian applies technology, he doesn't mind whether it comes from Earth or Xia. In fact, some Earth technologies are even more suitable than Xia's, because Xia's technology is a bit too advanced and the age gap is too far, so it is often difficult to get started.
For example, when it comes to books, Xia Guo uses completely paper-like e-books. Although they look like books, they are actually electronic devices with much higher technical content than e-books on Earth. And compared with 3D films, the difficulty of manufacturing these "e-books" is no less difficult, or even more difficult.
Chi Hui looked through the brochure and felt that the printing on the brochure was so exquisite that it was almost impossible to imagine that it was printed. It looked more like it was drawn by a highly skilled painter. No matter from which angle you look at it, some of the drawings on the brochure are very beautiful, and the color transitions are extremely natural. It is impossible to see the errors and omissions that may be caused by complicated printing procedures.
But he could tell that it was indeed printed, because the way the ink penetrated was very different from drawing.
Chi Hui thought for a moment and said: "This brochure is indeed beautiful, but newspapers are different from other books. Low cost is also one of the important features. The printing cost of this should be high, right? How much do you plan to price it, owner?"
Yin Lian said: "I want to price it between eight silver cents and one point and two silver dollars. The specific details will depend on the response in time."
The silver coins issued by the Xia Kingdom at this time were different from those on the earth. They were in the shape of copper coins with a circle on the outside and a square on the inside. They were also called silver coins. Because of the different history, they did not have the name Ocean. The silver dollar is connected to the "silver dollar", which is the same as the earth. The purchasing power of a silver dollar is a little lower than that of the earth at about the same time, and its mass is also much lighter. However, because the resource output in various aspects of the two worlds is different, prices are also different.
Calculated in terms of food prices, the current price of food in Xia is about 4.5 cents per catty, and one silver dollar is worth almost twenty-three catties. This is almost 60-80 of the original world currency. A newspaper is normally priced at 5-8 It is about 3-5 silver dollars, which is equivalent to 3-5 yuan of soft girl coins. This is already more expensive than modern times, but the price of books is on average between 1-2.5 silver dollars, which is at least 60 to 150 yuan. It is expensive. The price of a hardcover book can even be as high as 8 silver dollars, which is nearly 500 yuan.
Yin Lian pretended to say before that he didn't know if eight thousand silver dollars would be enough, but he was actually not joking. Of course, you don’t need so much for daily consumption, but if you want to set up a factory and do business, land will not be too expensive at this time, but various machinery, equipment and raw materials will definitely constitute the bulk of the expenditure.
Chi Hui came to Yin Lian on the recommendation of someone. He only knew that she was a rich girl who wanted to start a publishing house, but he did not know her specific identity. When he heard the price, he was stunned. He didn't think it was too expensive, but I think it’s too cheap!
This price is relatively expensive compared to ordinary books and periodicals with the same number of pages and positioning, because the price of normal periodicals is generally around 5 silver cents. But just looking at the printing, the price is absolutely ridiculously cheap.
He asked in astonishment: "Isn't this price a loss?"
Yin Lian said: "We have adopted new technology, so we do not lose money, and there is even a lot of profit margin. Of course, the specific profit depends on sales, so subsequent operations are also very important, at least to ensure that our magazine has enough There is a market and it can attract the interest of the corresponding readership.”
Chi Hui nodded and said: "I need to understand the printing process in detail, including the original manuscripts used before printing, the process time consumed by the entire process, and the labor costs required. Only after understanding these can I roughly decide on the publishing process. Let the entire journal achieve the best effect."
...so reliable.
Yin Lian couldn't help but ask: "Have you done similar work before?"
Chi Hui said: "No, I just left the academy this year. I just learned about the specific process of running a bookshop from others before I came here... It may not be all accurate. I still need to learn slowly in the future."
Yin Lian nodded.
She admired Chi Hui's attitude, including being honest and not exaggerating about himself. Although he confessed that he had no experience, Yin Lian didn't think this was a disadvantage - after all, she had a complete set of advanced publishing house operation tutorials. Although she might not be able to get it right, she could generally make up for the knowledge she needed to learn. Complete.
Maybe even better than some indigenous publishing industry people. Although in practical terms, they are definitely more experienced than Yin Lian, but sometimes, macro-level experience - that is to say, the wisdom of countless people derived from the times cannot be accumulated purely through time.
After everyone's interviews were over, Yin Lian went to the publishing house with several new employees who were selected. The publishing house used a new printing method, and the workers were directly selected from the princess's servants. Although it is undemocratic to judge loyalty based on a life contract, it is undeniable that this really saves Yin Lian a lot of energy.
According to the original history of the Xia Kingdom, the patent law would not be approved for at least seven years, and the complete abolition of the slave system would have to wait at least six years after the crown prince came to power. Li Laixi is only twenty-one years old now. He passed away at the age of thirty-six. It was five years after his death that Taizu finally established a democratic constitution. And that was already twenty years later.
Even if the historical development of this plane will be different, we can't expect too much.
Among the applicants, Yin Lian finally hired eight people. Among the four editors and two reporters, Lin Jiale was appointed editor-in-chief, responsible for content review and finalization, as well as the planning and arrangement of each column. Chi Hui was assigned by Yin Lian to the position of Xuanfa, specifically responsible for the market.
She distributed learning materials for different positions to all eight people, hoping that they would at least familiarize themselves with the materials before officially starting work.
Although the magazine has not been published yet, Yin Lian has not been idle. She coaxed Li Lici to compile a copy of her poems and essays, intending to print them into an anthology. Although Li Lici was a famous poet in later generations, she was still a young girl at this time. She was quite flattered by Yin Lian's recognition of her talent. She refused twice out of lack of confidence before finally agreeing and spending a lot of time. A small volume of past works, which took a few days to complete, was handed over to Yin Lian.
When the new employees were recruited, Yin Lian took them to visit the printing shop. What was being printed at that time was the "Qingling Poems and Essays" that Yin Lian privately designed using cheating typesetting software of later generations - Qingling was Li Lici's nickname.
The layout design left a very deep impression on the new editors.
After that comes the specific design plan for the magazine. After holding a meeting for about two days and referring to the specific work capabilities and efficiency of the printing house, Chi Hui convinced everyone, including Yin Lian and Li Lici, and decided not to directly produce a longer periodical at the beginning. , and first produce a four to eight-page color newspaper—first of all, although Yin Lian has collected a large number of articles now, they include the past accumulation of many literary societies. Even if they can all be printed without selection, the next There may not be so many articles in this issue.
What's more, after reading these articles, everyone feels that many of them are not suitable for printing directly in newspapers.
Secondly, when you start a new newspaper, you always need to test the market first. If the length and number of pages are reduced, not only can the cost be reduced, and the selling price can be reduced, making more people affordable, but the content can also be refined, making the theme clearer and easier to grab people's attention. The large amount of content makes some female readers who usually do not read much feel exhausted.
Although Li Lici felt a bit harsh about his statement, she had to admit when she calmed down that even a wealthy woman with a good literacy rate did not read very much at this time, and most of them studied with her family. Rarely make their own choices.
Of course, there are not many choices in the first place, which is also an important reason.
She finally adopted the other party's suggestion.
In comparison, Lin Jiale spoke much more pleasantly. He said: "Since this is the first issue, we must be the first to win. The subsequent content can be more diverse, but the first issue must be something that can attract everyone's attention. After I went back, I talked with my sisters at home Their classmates and friends also inquired about it, attended several parties, and got some ideas.”
He showed off his previous work results.
When Yin Lian saw the title he highlighted, he was stunned and slowly opened his mouth.
When she hired Lin Jiale, she had no idea that this guy had the talent to be a gossip reporter.
