Most of the bookstore owners in the Song Dynasty were literati. Some literati did not like to serve as officials in the court, but liked to write articles or poems, so they opened a bookstore to cultivate their sentiments.
But what they have in common is that most of them have their own industries.
For example, Chen Qi, the owner of "Chen Daoren Bookstore" in the Southern Song Dynasty, was a local gentry himself, and his family had countless land and shops.
Because he liked engraving, copying and collecting books, he felt it was too troublesome, so he simply opened his own bookstore and set up a printing factory to print books. As a result, his bookstore became popular all over the country, and he opened many chain bookstores.
The same is true of the owner of Yuanjing Bookstore. His surname is Meng, and his name is Meng Chengqi. His family is a grain merchant in Bianliang.
He is the second son of the Meng family and is in his forties. While helping his father run some of the shop business, he opened his own shop because he loves collecting books.
This is also the reason why bookstores and printing houses in the Song Dynasty were often opened by wealthy bosses who loved books.
The shopkeeper went all the way to Meng's house. Since he was familiar with the place, there was no one to stop him.
Upon learning that the bookstore owner had arrived, Meng Chengqi put down the engraved printing plate, raised his head and asked, "What's wrong?"
At this moment, he was carving books at home. In the afternoon, he planned to check the accounts of various shops and then go to the printing factory to send the books he had just carved today to be printed.
In the Song Dynasty, running a printing house was relatively unprofitable. It was not possible to have big customers who printed books for them every day. The business depended entirely on the bookstores. However, given the low literacy rate in the Song Dynasty, the bookstores' business was not necessarily good.
Unless a great poet like Liu Yong submits his poetry to a publishing house and his collection of poems becomes popular all over the country, ordinary bookstores and printing houses will suffer losses on weekdays.
Meng Chengqi asked, "Which nobleman is this?"
The shopkeeper replied, "I don't know. I only know that he is accompanied by more than a hundred followers when he travels, and even the Heavenly Saint Army is his guard."
"Oh, such a grand ceremony."
"Boss, there is a noble man who wants to buy our printing house."
The shopkeeper said.
"oh?"
Meng Chengqi thought about it, then put down the engraving and stood up and said, "Okay."
It wouldn't hurt to meet once.
If the other party is really a son of a wealthy family, it would be beneficial to their family's business if they could please him.
Meng Chengqi shook his head and said, "I guess this is just some young master from a wealthy family trying to show off his literary talent. I hate these people the most. They haven't read books well, can't write a few lines of poetry, and yet they spend all day trying to spread their literary fame."
The shopkeeper said cautiously, "Boss, why don't you meet him? I can't afford to offend this man."
"Um."
But since the other party is a nobleman, we can't afford to offend him. Therefore, even if he is not a book lover, I'm afraid there is nothing we can do.
Soon Meng Chengqi arrived at the Shuxiangfang shop.
He saw the bodyguards surrounding the door from outside, and then realized the seriousness of the situation. He quickly quickened his pace, put on a smile, walked in, bowed to Zhao Jun and said, "I heard the magpie calling this morning. It turns out that there are distinguished guests. I'm sorry for being late."
The most important thing is that although Bianliang has a strong literary culture, there are not many printing factories. The money and cost required to do this business are too high, and ordinary people simply cannot afford it.
Although the Meng family is rich, it is not built like this. The old man has already had some complaints about his printing factory, so Meng Chengqi had no choice but to spread the word that he wanted to sell the printing factory.
But I have always felt reluctant, which is why I am quite resistant. I hope to meet a book lover who can buy the printing factory.
Meng Chengqi smiled and said, "My name is Meng Chengqi, my courtesy name is Yanzhi, and my friends call me the Wanderer of Nanshan."
"Mr. Meng is polite."
Zhao Jun responded. He knew that Nanshan Sanke was the name of this person. At that time, literati liked to give themselves names such as Dongpo Jushi, Tieguan Daoren, Dongshan Sanren and so on. Fortunately, this person was just Nanshan Sanke, not Nanshan Pizza Hut.
The voice came before the person arrived. The businessman did not want to offend the powerful, so even if he thought Zhao Jun was a second-generation rich man who was pretentious, he still had to remain respectful in words.
Seeing the other party's enthusiasm, Zhao Jun put down his teacup, stood up, and bowed in return, saying, "Hello, Master. My name is Zhao Hanlong."
"It turned out to be Mr. Zhao."
"This printing house is not a simple thing."
"Oh? Can you tell me more, sir?"
"Although the Song Dynasty was a flourishing literary society, printing required engraving templates, which was extremely expensive."
"I heard that you want to buy a printing house?"
Meng Chengqi asked.
"Yes."
Zhao Jun was curious. No wonder when he asked someone to find a printing factory, he heard that there were not many printing factories in Bianliang. So that's how it was.
"Yes."
Meng Chengqi nodded, and then he talked about the other drawbacks of the printing house. Finally, he said, "I dare not deceive Mr. Zhao. If you want to publish a collection of poems and articles, there is really no need to buy a printing house."
"How high?"
"Depending on the engraving, the minimum amount could be a few or dozens of strings of cash, and the maximum could be hundreds or even thousands of strings of cash. Therefore, ordinary people would not come to the printing house at all. On weekdays, the printing house would be completely deserted, and it might have to lose money for several months before it could get work."
"So most of the time the printing house is at a loss?"
With the poems he knows, if they were put into the Song Dynasty, they would probably have the same effect as Liu Yong. Is he still worried that his products won’t sell?
Seeing that Zhao Jun insisted on visiting the printing house, Meng Chengqi had no choice but to lead the way.
The printing house is not far from the bookstore. It is located in the Qiaobei Market, north of the Xiaoheng Bridge in the outer city. It is next to the outer city wall and close to the outside of Bianliang City. It is convenient for access. It is on the edge of the outer city and the land price is relatively cheap, so there are many workshops there.
He spoke openly about the problems at the printing house, but he was actually reluctant to sell it. Although his father was dissatisfied with the fact that the family business was always losing money, he was a book lover, so how could he really bear to sell the printing house to someone else? Unless that person was a book lover like him.
My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
