Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "Then let's go and take a look."
For others, the printing house would definitely lose money. But for him, it was different. He could make money from publishing newspapers and printing textbooks. At worst, he could make some poems and sell them.
A strong smell of ink could be smelled from a distance away.
The workshop covers a large area and is located on the bank of the Wuzhang River. The remaining waste ink is basically discharged into the river. In addition, other dyeing and weaving workshops, porcelain workshops, and smelting workshops nearby also discharge wastewater, causing the water in the lower reaches of the Wuzhang River to be muddy and yellow with various colors.
Entering through the gate, you'll find a huge courtyard with many sheds where papers are dried under the sun. Besides printing books, the printing house also does hand-binding, so after printing, the papers need to be dried and then sewn.
Unlike the literati in Shuxiangfang, the people coming and going in Qiaobeifang are obviously mostly workers, all kinds of workers, including those in printing workshops, weaving workshops, porcelain workshops, tea workshops, iron workshops, smelting workshops, etc.
There are many such markets in the outer city of Bianliang, close to the city wall. They are all handicraft workshops, and their existence also supports the prosperity of commerce in the entire Bianliang.
Meng Chengqi took Zhao Jun and Song Cai through Qiaobeifang and crossed two streets before arriving at his Meng family printing shop.
Meng Chengqi signaled everyone to ignore them, then turned to Zhao Jun and said, "Young Master, you see, the printing house is actually very idle on weekdays. It may take three to five months before there is any major work. If we don't open our own bookstore, or if there are no other bookstores to buy goods, we will basically be in deficit."
"Um."
Zhao Jun asked, "What do you lose on a daily basis?"
Seven or eight printing workers were working in the courtyard. Since there was not much work recently, Meng Chengqi asked the workers to print some old books, so it didn't seem so busy.
Seeing Meng Chengqi coming over, the workers greeted him one after another. The manager came over and bowed, saying, "Boss!"
"Let's all get to work."
As for the prime minister's annual income of 20,000 to 30,000 strings of cash, and ordinary officials' annual income of several hundred or a thousand strings of cash, that is the official's business and has nothing to do with ordinary people, so this amount of money is actually a lot.
Zhao Jun frowned.
Even though he confiscated millions of coins from the family's property, there were still so many people to support in the Imperial City Office.
Meng Chengqi laughed and said, "I bought this land for over 3,300 strings of cash. If you were to rent it, the annual rent would probably be 70 or 80 strings of cash. I'd also have to pay salaries to the workers, support over 20 people, and pay land and commercial taxes to the government. I'm afraid I'd lose 500 or 600 strings of cash a year."
It may not seem like much, but in the Song Dynasty, a family of three could only earn 20 to 30 strings of cash a year. At that time, working only earned one or two strings of cash a month, and the total assets of a middle-class family were only two to three thousand strings of cash. The annual deficit was equivalent to one-fifth of the small boss's assets.
For example, the Meng Chengqi family, although they are grain merchants, their annual income is only tens of thousands of strings of cash, and the entire family business is probably only around four or five hundred thousand strings of cash. It is no wonder that Meng Chengqi's father does not like this printing factory. It is really a waste of money if it continues to lose money.
But relying solely on confiscating property is like killing the chicken to get the eggs, which cannot last long. You still have to have your own way to make money.
Zhao Jun had only recently gained exposure to the business world, and although he knew he could make money by intervening in highly profitable industries like tea, salt, and grain, he knew these industries could easily affect people's livelihoods. If not managed properly, they could easily lead to instability in people's livelihoods, so he needed to be cautious.
With the annual expenses already so high, it is indeed not a good idea to open a printing factory that loses hundreds of strings of cash a year.
The fixed salary of the 3,000 imperial guards was about one guan per month, plus various allowances, which was about 30 to 40 guan per year. The annual expenses for 3,000 people was 120,000 guan.
Then there are more than 2,000 Chazi. The salary of Chazi is slightly lower than that of the Imperial Guards, but it is basically maintained at more than 30 strings of cash per person per year. Therefore, the more than 5,000 people in the Imperial City Bureau have to pay out about 20 strings of cash every year.
At the beginning, Zhao Zhen approved 100,000 strings of cash, which was enough for half a year's expenses. If Zhao Jun did not confiscate the property within half a year, he would have to disband the Imperial City Bureau.
There were six carvers carving inside.
The woodblocks at that time did not mean that they could be used forever once they were a complete set. Not only would they wear out, but books were also updated every year, such as annotations and interpretations, which meant that new templates had to be carved frequently. The workload and cost were very large.
Zhao Jun noticed a large disc in the corner. It seemed to be rotating, with hundreds of Chinese character modules densely arranged on it. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "What is that?"
However, Zhao Jun did not immediately say that he would not buy it. Instead, he looked around the yard first, asking Meng Chengqi about the situation of the printing factory while observing their operation methods, printing conditions, woodblock templates, etc.
The two chatted for a while, and then Meng Chengqi took Zhao Jun to see the inner room. There was a yard at the back, which was where the engraving was done, and carved printing plates were placed everywhere.
These carvings are basically palm-sized, and every word must be carved carefully, which shows how difficult it is.
Meng Chengqi was surprised and asked, "Young Master, do you know Craftsman Bi?"
“I’ve heard a little bit about it.”
Zhao Jun gave a vague response, then said, "This movable type printing technique is quite good, why is it useless?"
Meng Chengqi took a look and said, "It was invented by an engraver in Hangzhou. It's called movable type printing. This old engraver has good engraving skills, but unfortunately he doesn't use them properly. He insists on doing something useless. I've always wanted to invite him to Bianliang, but he declined, saying he was old and didn't want to leave Hangzhou, which is even more regrettable."
"Is this old craftsman called Bi Sheng?"
Zhao Jun opened his eyes wide.
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