Chapter 332: Show off your skills

Style: Historical Author: Nancy BeiqingWords: 7134Update Time: 24/02/20 17:14:27
Fuck beliefs and hobbies.

Shortly after the release of this issue of the News, six of the eighteen clubs in Tokyo immediately switched to the football league.

One thing to say.

In fact, these six clubs have always been at the bottom in Cuju competitions, with no chance of success.

Because this Cuju competition is a pure skill sport with extremely high talent requirements, but it is also very single. In the competition, the proportion of luck is very low, resulting in Qiyun Club's perennial monopoly on the number one spot.

Unlike football, where there is a huge chance of being upset, the requirements for talent are also relatively broad. Fast running, flexibility, and good footwork are all talents that can shine on the football field.

The audience is much larger.

And having said that, studying with the prince involves hard work and no merit, but the annual profit earned by the six companies that are always at the bottom is very limited, almost a charity.

Unlike the football league, even if you are at the bottom, you can still get huge profits.

First of all, the league will give you part of the money to subsidize you based on your ranking. Secondly, every time you play a game, you can get 20% of the ticket price if you lose, and the winner gets 50% and the rest. Thirty turned in to the league.

It’s a lot of subsidies, but it’s more wins.

We still need to encourage them to become stronger.

However, in addition to these six clubs, there are many Cuju clubs that are also considering transformation.

After all, the Song Dynasty was a commercial society, and there was a boss behind the Cuju club. They also wanted to make money. Now it seems that the rewards are obviously more generous in football.

The only reason for their hesitation is that the Cuju competition has existed for a long time and is relatively stable. There has only been one football match. Whether it can continue for a long time is a question.

But this caused the Cuju Club Alliance to feel great panic.

Cuju clubs can transform, but they cannot transfer. If all Cuju clubs transfer to the football league, then they will be completely ruined!

But these people are not fools. The Cuju Club’s annual bonus depends on them.

They took the initiative to spread the news that Cuju was about to end and that Zhang Fei was plotting to eliminate Cuju.

It must be said that this trick is very effective, and these remarks immediately triggered widespread controversy. After all, Cuju was the number one sport in the Northern Song Dynasty.

Moreover, the vast group of scholar-officials is filled with a large number of Cuju enthusiasts. If they are asked to play football, they will die or be disabled. The key opponent is Zhang San.

Although now the reformists and conservatives are competing for Zhang San.

But that is limited to political battles and does not represent class issues or business competition.

As a result, many scholar-bureaucrats expressed their support for the Cuju Alliance by raising funds.

This has caused many Cuju clubs to change their minds. After all, after playing Cuju for so many years, this is the comfort zone. Going to football is full of uncertainty.

Zhang Fei did not respond to this. He believed that this did not require a response, and he had not thought about eliminating Cuju. The key lies in what games the audience likes to watch.

Moreover, he has too many things to be busy with right now, and the football league has to be postponed for a while.

Today Zhang Fei and the major donors of the Da Song Charity Fund came to the movable type workshop in the west of the outer city.

"So big!"

"This place looks like a manor, not like a workshop."

"This is the first time I've seen such a big workshop."

"Saburo, how big is your workshop?"

...

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "It's not very big. It only covers an area of ​​five acres. It has ten courtyards and seven stoves."

These ancient workshops are all based on the family model, that is, each yard. Even commercial workshops still maintain the family production model. This is the case with genuine bookstores. Zhang Fei has not made any changes in this and has to do it. A large factory building, because it involves many health and fire hazard issues

.

Just use the yard as a unit to divide the production area.

In fact, he did not design this workshop, but the two masters Bai Ban and Hong Zhong designed it based on the movable type production model.

It is now open for business.

The key movable type production workshop has been in preparation for a long, long time.

Fan Yong asked: "How much is the rent?"

Zhang Fei looked directly at Chen Maoqian.

Chen Maoqian said: "Twenty strings per month."

"It's not expensive!"

"Yes! Although it is relatively remote here, the land is not small after all. It is really worth it!"

"This place was originally a warehouse. Later, the family moved the warehouse outside the city, so it was vacated. If they want to build a house to rent out, the housing prices in the surrounding area are the highest. It will take a lot of money to build a house. The cost is just a piece of rent to us."

"We built this house?"

"Mostly yes, there are also some converted houses and warehouses."

"We spent money, but what will we do if the landowner takes it back?"

"Don't worry, if he takes it back within ten years, he will have to subsidize the cost of building our house."

As Chen Maoqian spoke, he pointed to Zhang Fei and said, "This condition is set by San Lang."

Zhang Fei chuckled and said, "If you can't make back this little money within ten years, then there's no point in doing this business."

Timber merchant Zhou Yan said: "Do we need such a big workshop? Can this movable type make so much money?"

The others nodded, expressing doubt.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "In the past three days, we have received orders of approximately 2,000 guan."

"...?"

"How...how much?"

"Almost two thousand strings."

Everyone is looking at me and me looking at him.

There seems to be some doubt about life.

Huang Can, the paper shop businessman, said: "You may not know, but on the first day our movable type workshop opened for business, the government received applications from fifty newspaper shops. Twenty-one of them have been approved."

"Why do so many of them appear at once?"

"Actually, many people have wanted to print newspapers for a long time and have been waiting for this movable type workshop."

"I heard that most of the proprietors of these newspaper shops are scholar-bureaucrats from Tokyo."

...

Nowadays, everyone is fully aware of the power of this newspaper, and they all understand that whoever controls the newspaper in the future will control public opinion, and public opinion is very important to scholar-bureaucrats.

Although the genuine bookstore accepts all comers, as long as you are willing to spend money, you can scold Zhang Fei.

But almost everyone agrees that genuine bookstores must not be allowed to monopolize newspapers.

He can agree today, but he can not agree tomorrow!

However, they just wanted to print newspapers and did not want to find another group of craftsmen to carve movable type. This was not cost-effective because after the carving was completed, the craftsmen could not be driven away. You must know that the clay movable type has a lifespan. , if it breaks, you will have to hire someone to carve it. The key is that this person is not easy to hire.

Due to the large-scale recruitment of genuine bookstores in the past, the wages of craftsmen with this craft have been rising steadily.

But it’s not cost-effective to keep it all the time.

Just in time, they heard that Zhang Fei was going to build a movable type workshop.

Buying ready-made is the most cost-effective option.

In particular, this movable type workshop is controlled by a charity, and many scholar-officials are also donors.

They are not afraid of Zhang Fei's monopoly.

Zhang Fei also explained to everyone: "If our workshop sells it in complete editions, the price of a movable type is ten cents. For commonly used characters, one edition costs two thousand characters, and one edition costs twenty cents. If you buy it alone, one The word is fifteen cents.

Generally speaking, a bookstore must buy at least two pages, or even three pages, in order to print newspapers quickly. Everyone should know that today's newspapers must be fast.

At the same time, they also need to buy some different

It is a less commonly used character, but it is not an uncommon character. Therefore, a newspaper shop will spend at least fifty dollars on movable type. "

"A family with fifty guan needs to have forty bookstores to have an income of 2,000 guan."

"Fifty guan is just the lowest cost for movable type. One company ordered a complete set of movable type, a total of ten editions, as well as auxiliary materials, such as adhesives and typesetting trays."

"What is the typesetting tray?"

"Everyone, please come with me."

Zhang Fei led them into a small courtyard, and saw that the craftsmen inside were making large roulette wheels. There were small squares on the roulette wheels, and they could tell at a glance that they were for storing movable type.

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "Have you seen any clues?"

Huang Can, a paper shop merchant, asked: "Radical side?"

Zhang Fei chuckled: "Huang Yuanwai is indeed a seller of the four treasures of the study. He can see this at a glance."

Huang Can pointed to the logo on the roulette wheel and said, "It's all engraved on it."

Everyone looked closely and discovered that various radicals were engraved on the top of the roulette wheel.

Zhang Fei nodded and said, "That's right. This roulette wheel is classified by radicals and divided by strokes, making it easier for typesetting staff to search. Since this can reduce a lot of manpower, all newspaper shops have also purchased this roulette wheel. .”

This is actually the word-finding method introduced into the dictionary, and then used to rotate the wheel for easy access.

Huang Can suddenly said: "This seems to be the calligraphy of Bachelor Sima?"

Zhang Fei shrugged and said, "Yes, Academician Sima has an edition, and Academician Wang also has an edition."

Fan Yong said: "It must not be cheap to ask them to write it, right?"

Zhang Fei sighed: "Since I have a good relationship with them, I don't have the nerve to ask for their money."

"...?"

"Wha...what?" Fan Yong said in shock: "You still have to ask them for money?"

"Of course!"

Zhang Fei said: "Do you think I should still give them money?"

"Um."

Everyone nodded in unison.

"What are you thinking about?"

Zhang Fei said: "For a literati, if newspapers all over the world use their words, what kind of reputation will it bring to them? If I don't ask them for money, it is already considered kind. They still ask me for money? We Let me tell you, this is only temporary, after all, their calligraphy is just like that, let’s make do with it for now, and we will use better calligraphy in the future.”

You will still use the words of Wang Anshi and Sima Guang.

overbearing!

It's so overbearing!

we like!

But that was really the case. Zhang Fei just mentioned it to them and they immediately agreed.

Opening the newspaper, there are all my own words.

How good it feels.

In fact, what they wrote is not bad, but this was the golden period of the Northern Song Dynasty.

There are many great calligraphers, such as Su Shi, Mi Fu, Cai Xiang, and Huang Tingjian. In the future, the price of movable type will definitely be calculated according to whose calligraphy it is. By then, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang may be the representatives of cheap calligraphy.

There is no way.

People are so irritating!

Next, Zhang Fei took them around again.

Basically all movable type printing tools are sold here, and these are also profits.

It even includes the production of withered plates.

But for those scholar-bureaucrats, it was absolutely a bargain to hire a few typesetting craftsmen to print newspapers for less than a hundred guan.

After all, they themselves are experts when it comes to content.

Moreover, one problem with movable type printing is that the clay movable type is relatively easy to break. If only one is broken, the production cost will be very high, but it can be bought here at any time, and each one only costs fifteen cents.

Very worry-free.

surprise!

This comes as a great surprise to donors!

After all, his

The expectations were too low, but now it seems that I can still make a lot of money.

What a big surprise!

The next day, they went out of the city with great expectations to inspect the second important project invested by Da Song Charity Fund, which was carriage and horse leasing.

This is also the reason why we have to leave the city, because this headquarters cannot be located in the city. After all, if we want to raise horses and donkeys on a large scale, the land in the city will definitely not be enough.

It happened that Cao Ping directly donated a small pasture to charity, located in the west of the city.

Zhang Fei used it as the headquarters for carriage and horse rental.

This small ranch owned by Cao Cingjia is very interesting. It was originally a large ranch and belonged to the imperial court. However, later on, the ranch was all occupied by dignitaries and even common people, or bought with money and turned into cultivated land.

The Cao family also got a piece of land, but the Cao family was from a family of generals, so they wanted to keep this small pasture to raise some horses for themselves, but the key point was that the surrounding area was all cultivated land, so the horses were not released, and they could be released as they were. Went to other people's fields.

There were many accidents.

It has almost become a worry for the Cao family.

The point is, this pasture is still slowly getting smaller.

The Cao family originally planned to turn this pasture into farmland, but happened to find this charity, so they donated the pasture to the charity, which can be used for farming or grazing.

It can be seen that in fact, the existing territory of the Song Dynasty does not mean that there is no place to raise horses.

At the beginning of the founding of the People's Republic of China, there was a super large horse farm to the west of Kaifeng, and the horse herding supervisor is still located there. Many states and counties in Shanxi, Hubei, etc. also have places to raise horses, and they can also raise relatively high-quality horses.

But why is it said that there was no place to raise horses in the Song Dynasty?

The reason is that the pastures have been turned into farmland.

There is no other way. If people want to eat, and the territory cannot be expanded, they can only convert pasture into cultivated land.

And from a financial perspective, cultivated land does produce more economic effects than pasture.

The imperial court turned a blind eye to this.

"coming!"

Zhang Fei looked to the west and smiled.

Everyone immediately turned their heads to look.

But I saw a very impressive four-wheeled carriage slowly coming this way.

"A carriage?"

Chen Maoqian was slightly surprised.

Fan Yong immediately said: "Sanlang, this four-wheeled carriage looks impressive, but it also has a lot of flaws. I have personally seen a four-wheeled carriage flip over when the horse turned a corner."

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "This is the latest four-wheeled carriage developed by our carriage rental. It can cope with steering problems very well."

If you want to monopolize leasing and gradually phase out private carriages, you must come up with something new.

"Yeah?"

Fan Yong said in surprise.

Zhang Fei nodded, pointed to the two wheels in front and said: "Look, the front wheels are small and the rear wheels are large. This is all to deal with the steering problem. However, this is only a semi-finished product, but I believe that it will not take long. The carriage can appear in the rental service."

This four-wheeled carriage steering device is actually very simple. Zhang Fei, a liberal arts student, knows this. He has never ridden in a carriage or driven a car. However, there are still many details to be solved, such as firmness, shock absorption, etc. .

Zhang Fei also knows some methods, but the current technology cannot realize his method, and the current craftsmen can only figure it out by themselves. But as long as there is money to burn, he believes that success will come sooner or later.

After all, this is not a problem that current technology cannot break through, but the research and development costs are relatively high.

But as long as it is made, people will naturally consume it.

It turned out to be just a semi-finished product.

Everyone was a little disappointed.

As they approached, everyone discovered that there were two two-wheeled single-passenger carriages following behind them. They were also the mainstream carriages at present, but one had a shed and the other did not.

But the wheels are very large, making the cabin larger than an ordinary cabin.

What can be seen with the naked eye is that these three carriages are all striving to pursue the same thing, which is comfort.

But no matter what, the four-wheel carriage is obviously more luxurious and elegant, and its carriage is the longest.

Huang Can said: "If there are these four wheels, who will ride in a two-wheeled carriage?"

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "The cost of a four-wheeled carriage is five times that of a two-wheeled carriage, and can be up to ten times more, depending on whether you ride on four wheels or two."

Huang Can immediately said: "Then...then it's better to have two wheels. At worst, I can rent two. It's a lot cheaper."

Chen Maoqian said: "The land is so expensive, will anyone rent it?"

Zhang Fei chuckled: "We developed this four-wheeled carriage mainly for the dignitaries in the capital. They don't need this little money. What they pursue is comfort. I can guarantee that our carriage is better than their sedan." It's much more comfortable. If that's the case, why do they still ride in sedans? The law cannot prohibit them from riding in sedans, but more spacious and luxurious carriages can eliminate most of the sedans."

Fan Yong said thoughtfully: "The comfort of a sedan is that it is not bumpy, but if the two-wheeled carriage encounters a pothole, it will bump once, and the four-wheeled carriage will bump twice."

Zhang Fei smiled and said, "But if the sedan is spacious, it will require a lot of people to carry it. But if you don't pursue spaciousness, even if the carriage is a little bumpy, the comfort of the sedan will not be as good as this spacious carriage."

Zhou Yan said: "But this carriage is not allowed to turn around on the small road, and the turning range is much larger than that of a two-wheeled carriage."

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "The member is right, so this kind of carriage can only run within the scope of our metropolitan Tokyo. After all, the roads in our Tokyo are still very flat and wide. If you want to go to Jiangnan, wouldn't it be nice to go by boat? .”

"That's true."

"Can I ride in this carriage now?"

"Okay! Please."

"Hey, hey, side door!"

Zhang Fei stopped Chen Maoqian who wanted to take the lead.

"Oh, it turns out this car door opens to the side."

"Comfort is not just about sitting in it, but also about getting in and out of the car."

The side door opened, and the servant immediately put a small wooden ladder up.

"Ouch! This experience is really good!"

Chen Maoqian hurriedly got on the carriage.

After that, Fan Yong, Huang Can, and Zhang San got on the carriage one after another.

The rest can only wait for the next one.

"Ouch! The seats are soft and spacious, and the windows can be opened. It's really comfortable!"

Chen Maoqian sat in the car, opened the window, looked around, and was very happy.

Fan Yong said: "But leasing is inconvenient. If it cannot provide convenience to those dignitaries, it will be difficult to replace private carriages."

Zhang Fei nodded and said: "It's impossible to completely replace it all at once, but we will try our best to do it. We will set up multiple rental points in wealthy areas. Rich people generally have servants. , as long as a notification is given, the carriage will be on time and parked in front of their house. As long as the planned itinerary is planned, whether it is long-term or short-term, it will not be affected at all. For temporary travel, we can also be able to do it in the middle of the night at the latest It will be resolved within an hour."

Chen Maoqian said: "There are also private issues. Some noble people don't want us to know his whereabouts."

Zhang Fei said: "As long as you pay the deposit, they can appoint a driver to drive the car away directly. We have calculated that as long as you don't have to go out and run around every day, from raising horses to raising a driver, it is definitely not as cost-effective as renting. Moreover, The services we provide are no worse than their private counterparts.”

"How can those dignitaries go out every day?"

"exactly."

Zhang Fei smiled and said: "At the same time, we will also provide rental services of different horse carriages and donkey carts specifically for families of all walks of life, including some public services, such as food delivery and short-distance delivery. On the way back and forth, we can provide services at every step." Li Lu gets profits.

In a year's time, we will probably be able to figure out which carriage needs more and which needs less, and we will make adjustments at that time. I am confident that our leasing can account for 70% of people’s travel choices.

In this way, those dignitaries will naturally rent their carriages to us, so

A virtuous cycle can be created. "

"That sounds pretty good."

"For things like leasing carriages and horses, the more we rent, the lower our costs will be."

"Not only that, the court will also like us. After all, it is much more convenient to collect the license plate tax from one company."

"That is it."

...

Sitting on this luxurious four-wheeled carriage, they were full of expectations for the rental of carriages and horses.

Again, their expectations were a little too low. They originally came here to avoid taxes, but now they are obsessed with big projects.

After a lap, they got off the carriage, and Zhou Yan and the other four people couldn't wait to get on the carriage.

Just as the carriage was leaving, I saw a man on horseback galloping towards me.

It was Fan Zheng.

The reason why he didn't come today was not because he had to look after the store at home, but because he had to negotiate with Ma Tianhao, so Ma Tianhao didn't come either.

"Uu...!"

When Fan Zheng got off his horse, his father Fan Yong asked anxiously: "Zheng'er, how was your conversation with the fourth child?"

Fan Zhengdao: "The interest payment is four thousand guan every year, a total of 20,000 guan for five years, and the principal will be returned in the fifth year."

After hearing this, Chen Maoqian became very angry and said, "This fourth man is too ruthless. He can make 20,000 yuan in five years just by sitting still. Selling salt is still profitable."

"Yes, we pledged so much land to him, he doesn't have to bear any risks, and he charges such a high interest rate."

...

This interest rate makes everyone unhappy.

It sounds like a lot, a full 20,000 guan.

Zhang Fei asked Fan Zheng, "What is his reason?"

Fan Zhengdao: "He originally wanted 6,000 yuan a year in interest, because our principal requires repayment after five years, unlike a mortgage, where the principal can be recovered every quarter."

Chen Maoqian snorted: "It sounds like he can lend out a hundred thousand dollars at once."

Zhang Fei glanced at it and said, "I respect the council's suggestion very much. Since everyone thinks it's expensive, forget it. Let's just pool the money together and let you make the money."

Everyone looked at each other, and no one agreed.

It's not that they care about mortgaging their land to themselves, but it's very important to return the principal after five years. Most of them are businessmen and they are in urgent need of cash flow.

In fact, Ma Tianhao couldn't afford this much money, but he had Xiangguo Temple behind him.

After the mortgage, the relationship between Xiangguo Temple and the Ma family became very close. Basically, Xiangguo Temple made loans through the Ma family.

Only Xiangguo Temple can spend so much money in it for five years. For Xiangguo Temple, this money cannot be used to make money at home.

In Zhang Fei's view, this interest rate is relatively reasonable. You must know that the annual interest rate of today's loan sharks is often 100%. However, the businessmen standing here today are all wealthy businessmen, and they are more or less involved in loan sharking. No amount is too much for the people, but if it is given to them, even if it is only 4%, they will be very unhappy.

Of course, it was also because he borrowed too much, a full hundred thousand strings, and 40% had four thousand strings.

Zhang Fei said to Fan Zheng, "Just this number!"

Chen Maoqian was worried again, "Can we make so much money every year?"

With only four thousand guan in interest, the annual net profit must be higher than this amount.

Zhang Fei said confidently: "If you can't even make this little money, why do you do charity? Just become a beggar."