A big event happened in Chang'an in the past half month. I don't know when it started. Many children selling newspapers suddenly appeared on the streets of Chang'an. A newspaper cost ten cents. The newspaper boys shouted loudly, "Selling newspapers, "Chang'an Express"
, "Tianxia Xinbao"!"
This scene should have only appeared in Bianliang during the Song Dynasty. It appeared on the streets of Chang'an more than two hundred years in advance. The officials and people of Chang'an were extremely surprised. Everyone had heard of the imperial court's "Di Bao", which was a newspaper dedicated to conveying important events of the imperial court.
, but what are the newly emerged "Chang'an Express" and "Tianxia Xinbao"?
Ten cents was not much, so many people paid for two copies, and soon they knew what it was. The "World Xinbao" compiled the world's major events, which was definitely of concern to the scholars of Chang'an and officials from both the government and the opposition.
content.
However, the style of "Chang'an Express" is refreshing. The trivial anecdotes on the streets and alleys are either pungent or witty. They are written with superb writing style and strongly attract the attention of women. In fact, many men also like this style.
For example, the title of the first edition, "How to train your son to become the number one scholar", immediately attracted everyone's attention. The content was about several short stories about Choi An-ryeol, the number one scholar in the current class, who studied diligently, which is of course true.
For more than ten days in a row, the whole city of Chang'an was talking about these two newspapers. This was definitely a new thing that came out of the blue. Almost everyone realized that these two newspapers would change people's lives.
Especially for various stores, when they discovered that the "Chang'an Express" was full of advertisements for various products and stores, everyone's eyes lit up. They could actually promote their own stores and products in this way.
These two newspapers were suitable for all ages. They were quickly accepted by the people of Chang'an and quickly became popular among the people. Scenes like this soon appeared in various shops in Chang'an. Many old people, children and men sat around and listened to a scholar with great interest.
Read the newspaper aloud.
The women were not willing to be lonely. They gathered in small groups by the well, by the laundry pool, and in the front yard, chatting about the stories they had heard from their men.
In the evening, Guo Song sat in front of the terrace in Xue Tao's room and read the newspapers of the past few days. Their family ordered four copies of each of the two newspapers. They will be on sale before noon every day. The newspapers are about the size of two A3 papers and are ordinary.
White linen paper. The cost of this kind of paper is five cents a piece. Including ink, labor, and rent, a newspaper of ten cents not only makes no profit, but also probably loses a few cents. However, it can be made up with advertising revenue.
It is basically a capital-guaranteed operation.
The layout of the newspaper seems relatively simple, but the content is relatively rich. Compared with the "Tianxia Xinbao", Guo Song paid more attention to the "Chang'an Express" run by Zhang Lei. This newspaper was closer to the market, and he gave Zhang Lei many ideas.
, they basically use it.
For example, newspapers are divided into several major sections, including parenting, makeup, clothing, story serials, street anecdotes, medical advice, life tips, people's livelihood concerns, and of course product information.
This kind of product information is not advertising, but food prices, meat prices, cloth prices, rent prices, land prices, house prices, etc. These are the prices that the newspaper scouts go to the West Market to inquire about every day. Finally, of course there are various
The advertisement occupies an entire page.
"Husband, these two newspapers are really good and the content is very practical. Xiaowei had a toothache two days ago. I suddenly remembered a folk remedy introduced in the newspaper. Cut a piece of ginger and let Xiaowei bite the painful tooth. It took less than a cup.
During tea time, the toothache really stopped."
Guo Song smiled slightly and said: "It seems that the lady likes "Chang'an Express" more."
Xue Tao drank the tea, put down the tea cup and said with a smile: "Of course, I also read the "World News", but I only scanned it briefly to know what happened, but I read the "Chang'an Express" carefully.
I read it, and a lot of the content in it is of great interest to me. I didn’t know how much rice cost outside before, but now I know it, and I can know what’s going on around me without leaving home.”
Next to her, Dugu Youlan also laughed and said: "There are also things like childcare, medicine, clothing, makeup, and serialized stories. It's like grabbing people's hearts. I look forward to the newspaper delivery every day."
"Where are you two?" Guo Song asked Minqiu and Liu Caichun with a smile.
Min Qiu nodded, "When I got the newspaper, I read the story series first, and then slowly read other content after lunch."
"Me too!" Liu Caichun said with a smile: "Many serialized stories are based on military dramas, but they are richer and more content than military dramas, because a military drama only lasts a quarter of an hour, but it takes five or six days to write a story and serialize it.
, a lot of things have been added to it, making it more interesting.”
“Tell me about your shortcomings and areas you want to improve!”
Guo Song smiled again and said: "I'm going to the newspaper office tomorrow to take a look and I can put forward your opinions."
Xue Tao thought for a while, "If it's insufficient, I think the printing is still a bit lacking. Many words are interrupted. This obviously shows that the printing craftsmen are inexperienced. It's best to improve it. Especially in the newspaper the day before yesterday, many words were missing. I relied on
Guess it."
Dugu Youlan also said: "Let me mention something too! You need to be careful about the fun things on the street. In a few issues, they mentioned climbing the widow's wall, newlyweds having a wedding, and boring people getting under the bed to eavesdrop. Xiaowei was also reading the newspaper. She also
Asked me what the drill press was eavesdropping on, I couldn’t answer and suggested they not get involved in that aspect.”
Min Qiu and Guo Caichun also put forward their own ideas. Min Qiu hoped that the restaurant's advertisement could list the names of their respective signature dishes so that she could send people to buy them. Guo Caichun hoped that it would be best to publish a collection of stories that would include all kinds of interesting dishes.
stories are gathered together.
Guo Song smiled and said: "I know what you are thinking. I guess the newspaper office is also very busy during this period, but I still want to give my opinions and let them improve."
.........
The newspaper office of "Chang'an Express" is indeed a mess. Everyone is extremely busy. The newspapers to be published every day are like a mountain weighing on everyone's head. The most tiring and painful job is printing, which takes twelve hours and thirty.
The rest of the printers were printing around the clock.
Unexpected things happen every day, and many readers even come to the newspaper office every day clamoring for opinions, which seriously interferes with the operation of the newspaper office, which makes them realize that they need to arrange escorts for the newspaper office.
Early the next morning, Guo Song, accompanied by Zhang Lei, went to inspect the newspaper office. This inspection was in his private capacity and was not accompanied by other officials.
Li An should also come to accompany him, but he has been in Xianyang these days, negotiating with Daming House to purchase paper. The production capacity of the paper mill they bought is far from enough, and the stock of white linen paper is almost running out. They need to increase equipment, raw materials, personnel, etc.
It took time, but they had no choice but to ask Daming Tower for help.
Fortunately, they had a background and the Changsun family did not deliberately create difficulties. They just needed to negotiate the price.
In front of the newspaper office stood eight burly and strong warriors, holding white wax sticks in their hands. These were guards invited from the Xishi Martial Arts School. Each one was nearly two meters tall, bringing great pressure to people.
Guo Song frowned slightly, walked into the newspaper office and said to Li Liancheng: "Isn't it a bit exaggerated to have eight fierce-looking men standing at the door?"
Li Lian smiled bitterly and said: "There is no way. People come to cause trouble every day. There are at least a dozen people and as many as dozens of people. They are noisy and noisy. There is no way to do anything at all, so I have to take this last step."
"Not necessarily everyone is here to cause trouble!"
Guo Song said calmly: "Perhaps many people came to complain because the serialization whetted their appetite. By doing so, you scared away many readers who care about the newspaper."
"This..." Li Lian was speechless for a moment.
Guo Song added: "Let me think of a way for you. You open a room next door and find a person who can answer readers' questions.
In addition, I suggest that these eight big men should stay inside, and then arrange a receptionist at the door. If someone comes to inquire, give him a friendly reception, and advise them to go to the next door for consultation. If someone comes to cause trouble, the guards will come out, so that there is order."
Li Lian nodded repeatedly, "It's because we didn't think carefully. We will implement it according to His Highness's plan today."
Guo Song did not go upstairs, but came to the backyard first. Li Lian led the way. He sighed and said: "In the back is the warehouse, the printing shop, and the innermost is the dormitory, which is mainly for the printing craftsmen to rest. Our biggest headache now is printing. Thirty
Six craftsmen take turns to work twelve hours a day, and now we have reached the limit. If the sales of newspapers continue to increase, we will not be able to bear it."
"How many sales are there now?" Guo Song asked.
"Twelve thousand servings a day!"
Guo Song shook his head, "Can't we support only 12,000 copies? I also want to remind you that by this time next year, I'm afraid there will be more than 100,000 copies or more, because there are still counties in Guanzhong, what should you do?
?”
Guo Song was experienced. The "tabloid" published in the Song Dynasty had a huge sales volume, with a daily circulation of hundreds of thousands. It was also printed by hand. How did they do it?
Zhang Lei said from the side: "My dear nephew, let me tell you! There is no point in thinking about making money now. Before it's too late, hurry up and find a big place outside the city. At least hundreds of printing craftsmen will work together."
.
Li Lian nodded silently, the pressure on his shoulders became even greater.
Guo Song asked again: "How many engravings do you have for printing together now?"
"Your Highness, there are four sets of boards in total, divided into four groups of nine people, and one thousand copies can be printed in one hour."
"But I found that you often have word hyphenation, and only half of a word is printed. There are more or less printing problems almost every day. Haven't you found the reason?"
Li Lian sighed, "We also found out that the reason is that the ink is unevenly applied. Only half of the ink is applied to some words, and there will be problems with word breaks during printing."
"Is it because the craftsmen are not capable enough?" Guo Song asked.
Li Lian shook his head, "Our printing craftsmen are all experienced craftsmen. The main reason is that the printing volume is too large and there is no time to apply it evenly, so we can print it directly after brushing it once."
"Then the problem still lies in too few manpower and too few engravings. You need to solve this problem as soon as possible. After everyone's novelty of newspapers wears off, the quality requirements will increase."
"I'm going to find a place tomorrow, recruit craftsmen, and buy tools."
Guo Song nodded, turned around and walked towards the second floor, saying as he walked: "In addition, I have a few suggestions that you can consider."