Chapter 127: Huang Zhong took the lead in the Qingbao newspaper incident and put in a lot of effort...
Huang Zhong took the lead in the newspaper project and put a lot of effort into it. He collected all kinds of equipment and talents, set up a newspaper office on Fuyou Street, and devoted himself to the newspaper. When Huang Zhong was not on duty, he would stay in the newspaper office. He really finished a prototype within three months.
According to the princess's idea, this newspaper should earn money through advertising while spreading news - she did not intend to make this newspaper a purely public welfare newspaper funded by herself, but planned to add some commercial elements. The newspaper office made several revisions and finally decided on the design, which was submitted to the princess's residence for the princess's decision.
Mu Xue opened the sample and nodded slightly. This was a large piece of folded paper, which felt a bit like a modern newspaper, not like the thin book of today's Beijing newspaper. The newspaper was divided into regions. Page 1 was about current affairs, publishing important events of the court such as the Emperor and Empress Dowager's birthday. Page 2 was the highlight, including livestock prices, tea brick prices and other price information. Local merchants had frequent trade, and these market prices would always attract the attention of merchants and make them willing to buy. Page 3 was reserved for stories, the experiences of farmers, herdsmen and merchants, or short novels and scripts, and Page 4 was a special advertising section, which was paid for.
"It does sound a bit like a newspaper." She stared at the name of the newspaper on the front page, Guihua Newspaper, and read it twice, but she felt it was not very easy to pronounce. Thinking of the local name Qingcheng, she said, "Let's call it Qingbao, which is easier to pronounce and remember."
Huang Zhong read it twice and praised: "Qing Bao, Qing Bao, what a good name."
He hunched his back slightly and said, "I, your servant, would like to ask for a favor from you, Master, and have your calligraphy used as the title of the newspaper."
"That's not difficult."
The attendants prepared the pen and ink. Mu Xue pondered for a moment in front of the desk, then wrote the two big words "Qing Bao" with ink.
Now that we have newspapers, the question is how to sell them. How can we attract people to buy a new-style newspaper?
Huang Zhong and the people who reported the house thought for a long time and felt that they could rely on their personal relationships to recommend it to Dashengkui, Fan's Trading Company and officials. This was a small amount of money, and they would support it for the sake of the princess's mansion. For the rest, they hired a few children to sell candy and other things in crowded places such as shopping streets and teahouses.
Mu Xue felt helpless after hearing their plan.
It was certainly right to rely on the support of these subordinates to ensure that the newspaper had a basic subscription volume. However, if that was the case, her newspaper would become a toy for her own amusement, which was not acceptable.
"You should broaden your horizons. Although this is just a small newspaper now, it may shine brightly in the whole grassland in the future. It may even be distributed in neighboring provinces such as Shanxi. You can't just rely on Dashengkui, Fanji, and the officials of the Dutongfu. Can they order a hundred copies for you? You have to make these ordinary merchants and even ordinary people interested in buying this newspaper before you can succeed."
She frowned and thought for a while, then called the Princess Mansion Chief, Shi Musen, and told him about the publication of Qing Newspaper: "Since it is the first issue, it is inevitable that there will be something that attracts people and makes people buy it. I remember that the trading city north of Kulun seems to be releasing some new tickets so that merchants who apply for them can go north to trade, whether it is to the entire Mobei or even to trade with Tsarist Russia."
Mu Sen nodded: "It is true. Some people have used roundabout ways to get in touch with others, and even came to me to get some inside information."
"It seems that there are more ways to find the princess's mansion than just yours." Mu Xue smiled.
Because of this, Yunqi and his men have been disturbed more or less recently. Some people came with real money. They were sure that the Fourth Princess could definitely intervene in the distribution of tickets. Of course, Muxue naturally had this ability. The original trading city was set up under her suggestion. The people from the Dutong Mansion and the Lifanyuan had come to the Princess's Mansion to report on the increase of tickets. Basically, their stewards would come to the Princess's Mansion to pay their respects once on the first and fifteenth day of every month, and twice more when there was something going on.
But Mu Xue just listened to it, she was too lazy to add or remove any specific business. After all, Dashengkui and Fanji already had a dozen tickets firmly in their hands. There was no need to bother about these petty profits. Therefore, when facing the people from the Dutongfu and Lifanyuan, she just said: "I know, just follow the rules. If there is anything, let me know and I will coordinate."
After that, I never cared about it again.
However, the first issue of a new newspaper must contain big news that is big enough to attract the interest of merchants and common people in the city.
Huang Zhong speculated: "I am a dull servant. According to the master's intention, is it to make a fuss about adding a ticket office in the trading city?"
"That's right." Mu Xue said, "Mo Sen, you should go to the Military Governor's Office and the Lifanyuan later. Ask them what the rules are for adding ticket offices in the trading city? What are the requirements for merchants? How to select them? Make it clear, write it down in black and white, and publish it as an article in the newspaper."
She had also looked at the list of people who reported to the office. Many of them were selected from the school. Although they were energetic, they were still a little immature. The main article of the new issue was written by someone like Mu Sen who was very mature in writing.
Mu Sen immediately agreed: "I will do it right away."
Mu Xue looked at Huang Zhong and said, "The Chief Secretary is writing an article for Qing Bao, so you should prepare your pen, ink and silver. This is a rare masterpiece."
"I will definitely prepare it, and I will pay for the writing materials according to the strict regulations." Huang Zhong said.
"We are all working for the princess, how can we be embarrassed?" Mu Sen said.
"Just accept it with peace of mind. This is the rule. If you set a precedent here, you will know how to give them money in the future, and it will be easier to answer when they ask." Mu Xue said, "Public affairs should be handled impartially, whether it is this newspaper or anything else."
"I will remember the princess's teachings."
Huang Zhong and Mu Sen said the same thing. They both knew what was going on in their minds. The princess was taking this opportunity to point fingers at them!
Nowadays, the Princess's Mansion is in charge of more and more industries, and different departments occasionally shirk responsibility or give each other convenience. It seems that the princess has seen all these situations, and she will have to act more cautiously in the future. If one day the old accounts are brought up, or if she is killed as an example, it will be difficult.
Mu picked up the silver-carved birch wood bowl and took a sip of milk tea, then said leisurely, "Just remember this. In addition to writing this article beautifully, there is another plan that can help Qing Daily open up the situation."
In midsummer, the weather in Guihua City was fine and it was a prosperous time for business. Merchants from the south and north were selling livestock, carrying silk and tea bricks to Khalkha, or collecting wool. All kinds of business were going well. Camel caravans and horse caravans never stopped, leaving deep traces on the dirt road of Guihua City with the tinkling of bells.
The teahouse business is also very good at this time. No matter you are coming back from the north or preparing to go north, in such a hot and sweaty season, you are willing to go to the teahouse to have a cup of tea and rest your feet. By the way, you can also inquire about some business information.
Businessman Xiao Shen is one of them.
He was busy looking for a place to settle his camel caravan and instructed the other guys to feed the livestock with bean cakes and water. After everything was done, he finally found time to go to the teahouse.
Walking out of the blazing sun to the eaves of the teahouse, Xiao Shen heaved a long sigh of relief and took off his hat to fan himself. The teahouse was packed and noisy. Looking around, Mongolians, Han merchants, and some Manchus were sitting there drinking tea and eating snacks. It was very lively.
Xiao Shen finally found a seat and sat down, and ordered a pot of jasmine tea. After leaving Guihua City and going to Mobei, I guess the only things you can drink are brick tea and milk tea.
While waiting for the tea to be served, I suddenly heard a half-grown child outside shouting: "Newspapers for sale! Newspapers for sale! Pick up money! Pick up money! For the newly published Qing newspaper, you can spend five cents and very likely get one or two taels of silver!"
As he spoke, he waved a large piece of paper in his hand, his voice was penetrating. Especially the two words "picking up money" made many people who were discussing things turn their heads to look at him.
"What are you selling?" asked the businessman at the nearby door.
"The newspaper is the official gazette of our Guihua City."
"What does it mean to pick up money? What does it mean to spend five cents and possibly get one ounce of silver?"
The newsboy smiled and said, "This new newspaper is having a promotion. Every day, twenty people are picked to receive one tael of silver for free. You can see there is a code on the corner of the newspaper. If the code matches, you can go to the newspaper office to get one tael of silver. Five coins for one tael of silver, isn't this picking up money? And this newspaper contains a lot of market information, such as the price of livestock, the price of tea bricks, and the latest requirements for issuing tickets in the trading city."
"Don't make fun of us. Five cents for one ounce of silver. Is there such a thing?"
"Why not? This newspaper was published by the guard of the princess's mansion, Master Huang Zhong. If he plucks a hair, ordinary people would have thick waists. How could he owe you a tael of silver?"
The guard Huang Zhong was a very sociable person. Some big businessmen in the teahouse had had dealings with him before, and he thought this sounded quite credible. One tael of silver was a small matter, but it was an opportunity to curry favor and get closer to him, so he stretched out his hand and called the newsboy in: "Give me two newspapers."
When the others saw him opening his mouth, they followed suit and shouted, "It's only five cents, give me one too."
Xiao Shen also paid for one. He had done business in the capital with his father and had read the capital's newspaper. But the newspaper he got was completely different from the newspaper.
Before he could appreciate the freshness of the newspaper, his eyes were first attracted by the headlines on the front page.
"Merchants in the city need to know about the free tickets."
Isn't this exactly what his father was planning? He slapped his thigh, looked at it excitedly, and immediately took out money to buy two more newspapers.
The newsboy scratched his head and said apologetically: "I'm sorry, sir, we're sold out."
…
With the dual support, Qingdao Newspaper had a great start. The printed newspapers were quickly sold out. Huang Zhong smiled from ear to ear, and even when he was on duty, he was in high spirits.
Mu Xue smiled when she heard the news and said to Yun Qi, "It's good that it can be promoted. You can find a way to spread some newspapers along the post road later."
"I understand," Yunqi said, "Maybe I can even bring you a new front-page headline."
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