As long as the salary is paid, the monthly salary will be doubled and I can even sleep in the company for 24 hours.
With the salaries paid, the first edition of the newspaper was quickly printed out, filled with all kinds of news. The two major events were naturally the underworld and the earthquake in the officialdom.
Zhao Jun thought for a moment and said, "Boss Meng, I have a favor to ask of you."
"Please give your instructions, Dean."
Beneath the ginkgo tree in the courtyard, Meng Chengqi lowered his brows and smiled ingratiatingly, saying, "As long as the Magistrate is satisfied, that's all that matters. Now everything is ready. As long as the Magistrate gives the order, we can go straight to printing. Tomorrow, Bianliang will be filled with newspapers."
"The sales of this newspaper will be a problem for the time being."
Meng Chengqi nodded repeatedly and said, "Leave this matter to me. But can I enter the editorial office?"
Zhao Jun smiled and said, "If the boss likes you, you can be the editor-in-chief."
Meng Chengqi's attitude was extremely respectful.
Zhao Jun said, "The boss is good at writing, so he must know a lot of scholars. We can recruit some scholars from relatively poor families, buy a yard next to the printing house, and set up an editorial department to review manuscripts. Any news, poems, or stories worthy of publication can be reviewed."
Zhao Jun then said, "If we want the newspaper to become famous in Bianliang and become the mouthpiece of the Song Dynasty to spread information to the people, we must have a corresponding strategy. High-quality content alone is not enough. After the newspaper is printed, send people to every teahouse in the city and give each one a free copy so that they can share it with their customers."
"Free?"
"Thank you, Master Zhi."
Meng Chengqi was very happy.
But there are so many workers in the printing house, and the monthly salary for them is only more than 100 guan, which basically cannot even cover the minimum cost. No wonder there is not much profit in running a printing house.
However, Zhao Jun laughed and said, "It's too small. The scale is too small. Besides newspapers, the printing house has been printing normal books. Then there is advertising income. In addition, our audience is not just Bianliang, but also the entire Jingji Road. Jingji Road has a population of millions. With only 100,000 customers, the printing house can earn more than 1,000 or 2,000 strings of cash per month. Why worry about not making money?"
Meng Chengqi hesitated and said, "Master, our initial investment is already so huge. Each copy of this newspaper costs 10 wen, but we only sell it for 12 wen. Even if we sell 10,000 copies, we'll only make 23 guan. At the end of the month, it's barely enough to cover the basic expenses of the printing house. I'm afraid we won't be able to recover this initial investment."
Many people think that one guan in the Song Dynasty was worth 1,000 copper coins. In fact, the official value was 770 wen, but among the people it was basically maintained at around 850 wen. So if a newspaper was published four times a month and each issue sold 10,000 copies, the income would be about 23.5 guan.
Zhao Jun said without hesitation, "We're giving it away for free in the early stages to make them dependent on us. Besides, we have an exclusive monopoly. As long as people want to read news and read poetry, we'll have no problem selling the newspaper."
His eyes dropped, staring at the newspaper in his hand. Controlling public opinion was extremely helpful, whether in official circles or in many other matters.
Meng Chengqi was surprised and asked, "But will so many people really buy it?"
"Yes."
At least if overseas land is opened up in the future, with the publicity in newspapers, countless people from the Song Dynasty will rush to distant places.
By then, the entire world will be filled with Han Chinese, and there will be no need to worry about overseas expansion.
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
