Eight hundred and ninetieth chapters each for the formation
Early the next morning, Zhang Lei and Li An found Yan Shuo, a doctor in the Ministry of Education. With Guo Song's note, they got the first quota for a private newspaper, and the newspaper was named "Chang'an Express".
The second indicator was jointly won by the Dugu family and the Dou family. This was also Guo Song's carefully considered decision. He implemented the principle of balance. While suppressing the Guanlong nobles, he should also appropriately retain this force to contain the family.
In order to prevent the aristocratic family from becoming powerful, the Guanlong nobles had a newspaper and actually had a certain amount of public opinion power.
Chang'an's handicraft workshops are mainly concentrated in several nearby suburban counties, especially Xinfeng County and Xianyang County. Several large papermaking workshops are concentrated in Xianyang County.
In the afternoon, two large carriages, escorted by dozens of black warriors, drove into Xianyang County. Xianyang County is not small, with a city circumference of more than 20 miles, a population of more than 100,000, and various handicraft workshops.
, basically provide various products for Changan.
When Zhang Lei took over Jubao Pavilion, the carving workshop and jewelry workshop of Jubao Pavilion were also in Xianyang. He often came to Xianyang and was very familiar with it.
After the carriage entered the city, it turned left and stopped slowly in front of a small river. There were several large courtyards here, and the sign Liu Ji Zhi Fang hung on the door of one of them.
Zhang Lei got off the carriage and looked at the surrounding environment. The house was dilapidated, garbage was everywhere, and the river was dirty. There was a pungent smell in the air. He frowned slightly. The surroundings were really messy, which made him feel sad.
Not happy,
"Lao An, is it necessary to buy it? Just ask them to provide us with paper."
Li An said calmly: "You don't know that the Changsun family's Daminglou Paper Mill is the largest paper mill in Chang'an. Basically, every paper mill has been swallowed up by it, and this one is the only one left. If we don't buy it, what will happen in the future?"
We have to buy paper from Changsun’s family.”
Zhang Lei is also a very shrewd businessman. He is just talking. The core things still have to be in his own hands.
"Are you familiar with the owner of this workshop?"
"I'm relatively familiar with it. The owner's name is Liu Fen, who is from Hedong. I bought my leather tanning workshop from him."
"Is he willing to sell this paper mill?" Zhang Lei asked again.
"If he doesn't want to sell it, he has to sell it. It's not up to him."
The two walked into the yard and saw that the yard was filled with layers of paper and dozens of craftsmen were busy.
"Who are you looking for?" asked a foreman.
"Are you, Mr. Liu, here?"
"Who's looking for me?" A gray-haired old man walked out of the hut next to him.
"Liu Laoxi, do you still know me?" Li An stepped forward and smiled.
"You are, you are Manager Li!" The old man blinked and recognized Li An.
"Huangshang has been disbanded, and I, Manager Li, am no longer worthy of my name. Liu Laoxi, we haven't seen each other for more than ten years!"
"No, we haven't seen each other for more than ten years. Please come in and sit down."
Dongzhu Liu quickly invited the two of them to sit in the room. The room was relatively clean compared to the outside. It had a square table and several benches around it.
"Who is this?" Liu Dongzhu glanced at Zhang Lei and asked.
"This is my good friend Zhang Yuanwai, the owner of Meishou Wine."
When Dongzhu Liu heard that he was the proprietor of Meishou Wine, he immediately stood in awe and quickly said, "It turns out to be proprietor Zhang Da. Sorry! Sorry!"
Zhang Lei laughed, gave him a salute in return, and the three of them sat down.
"I asked Liu Xi, how come your paper mill is still the same as it was more than ten years ago, and has not expanded at all?"
Dongzhu Liu gave a wry smile and said: "More than ten years ago, I had more than 240 people, but now there are only 130 left. Four large courtyards have become two courtyards, and they are still expanding! If they don't die out,
Not bad.”
"Why?"
"I can't compete with others! The price of a pound of white linen paper in Daminglou is 40% lower than mine, and I only have a small profit of 10%. How can I compete? If their production is not enough, some small shops can't buy their paper, so we have to
Come to me, I would have been dead a long time ago."
Li An nodded and said: "The fallen leaves return to their roots, Liu Laoxi, is it time for you to return to Fenzhou?"
"Of course I want to go back to my hometown, but I just can't leave behind this paper mill, a lifetime of hard work!"
Speaking of this, Boss Liu suddenly came to his senses and said with a vigilant look on his face: "Boss Li, you won't be interested in my paper mill again!"
Li An nodded, "I do plan to open a large paper mill, so I thought of you. I want to buy your paper mill."
Liu Dongzhu shook his head like a rattle, "I lost money when I sold the tanning workshop. I can't sell it to you this time no matter what."
"Dr. Liu, I bought your store because of our old friendship. Let me tell you this! Each state will publish Di Bao, and the amount of paper used will increase greatly. The Changsun family has decided to double the production. Daming Tower
They have technology, various paper-making equipment, and no shortage of mulberry and hemp raw materials. They will not buy your paper mill, but they will poach all your more than one hundred craftsmen. You can give them 2,500 yuan per month.
Money! Daming Tower will offer you four to six dollars, do you think they will continue to do it with you?"
Li An said it very implicitly, and the implication was that if you don't sell it, I will poach all the craftsmen at a high price, and you will have nothing when it goes down.
Dongzhu Liu was stunned. Of course he knew that there were nearly 2,000 craftsmen in several large paper mills in Daming Building. They had abundant capital and completely crushed him. They annexed other workshops. This is what they did, draining the bottom of the cauldron and then using extremely low prices to
Bought from the workshop.
After a long while, he said with a bitter look on his face: "I have been making paper for decades. I can make any kind of paper. I have accumulated a lot of technology. My tools are all old-fashioned and the paper will not lose shape when dried.
I won’t sell my baby cheaply.”
Zhang Lei said a little impatiently: "What are you talking about these nonsense for? Just give me a price."
The price offered by Dongzhu Liu was beyond Zhang Lei's expectation. For five thousand guan, they got five acres of land, all the technology and equipment, as well as a large amount of raw materials and finished products in the warehouse.
When everyone sadly watched the old boss ride away in an oxcart, Li An immediately announced that everyone's monthly salary would be doubled, and the yard was filled with joy.
Affected by Xi'anmen Street, various industries in the East City were in a very depressed state. Most of the shops were closed. The original shop owners moved to Xi'anmen Street to rent shops. The rents were canceled and large signs were hung on the doors.
Lock,
At the same time that Li An and Zhang Lei went to Xianyang, Du Guqiu and Dou Yi also came to Dongshi. The row of shops on the left side of the gate of Dongshi is a paper and stationery store. Paper and stationery are mainly concentrated in the West City, and there are also a few in the East City.
, it could barely survive before, but after the stationery and paper shops on Xi'anmen Street opened, students basically stopped coming to Dongshi, causing most of the paper and stationery shops in Dongshi to close their doors.
Du Lingqiu and Dou Yi came to a deserted paper and stationery street, where only two of the twenty-odd shops were still struggling.
"Brother Dugu, I heard that Fatty Zhang and Li An's "Express News" head office is located on Xi'anmen Street. Why do you want to put the "Xinbao" head office here?" Dou Yi asked puzzledly.
Zhang Lei's Li An's newspaper was called "Chang'an Express", while the Dugu family's and Dou's family's newspapers were more popular, called "Tianxia Xinbao". The two newspapers had not yet been published and had become competitors.
Of course it is not vicious competition. They all know that their two newspapers actually serve the Jin Dynasty and are the right-hand man of the Jin Dynasty. They have never thought about making money from the newspapers.
Du Lingqiu smiled and said: "It's the same everywhere. I think Dongshi is too deserted and needs a little popularity."
Dou Yi sighed and said: "That's okay! In fact, the place is not important. The key is engraving, writers, spies, paper, printing, and sales. These things are intertwined, and even a newspaper cannot be run."
Du Lingqiu laughed and said, "Brother Dou, are you mistaken? Are we two old men running errands and filing newspapers?"
Dou Yi burst out laughing. Two people from the Dugu family and the Dou family each formed a preparatory team, and more than a dozen civil servants participated in the work. A total of 30,000 guan was invested as capital. In fact, of the 30,000 guan capital, ten
All the eight Guanlong nobles have a role. They need money, people, and resources. Their strength is much stronger than Zhang Lei and Li An.
Today, Du Qiu and Dou Yi just came to take a look, so they don't need to worry about the specific matters.
The place has been chosen. It is a row of two-story shops, consisting of ten shops, with a warehouse at the back. The second floor is the clerk's room and the detective's room, which will be the editorial office in later generations. The reason why the newspaper office was chosen here is also
One reason is that there is also a large printing shop here.
The current director of the newspaper is Dugu Jing, the great-nephew of Dugu Qiu, who was born in the Ming Dynasty. The deputy director is Dou Hong, the grandson of Dou Yi, who was born in Taixue. The two of them not only have a good literary background, but are also very smart and capable. Especially Dugujing, who is cautious in thinking.
He will be the chief editor of the newspaper.
Dou Hong is responsible for newspaper operations and coordinating all aspects of relations.