The amount of messages received today was too much for Zhu Di.
But now, that anger has gradually dissipated.
Seeing the man in front of him who had made great achievements in identifying hidden people in the world, Zhu Di became more and more interested in Hu Mu.
Naturally, Zhu Di couldn't help but glance at Zhang Anshi from the corner of his eye.
He knew full well that what Hu Mu did was all under Zhang Anshi's orders.
Immediately, Zhu Di said slowly: "In the newspaper... what is the explanation for this?"
Hu Mu said: "Nowadays, Di Bao is becoming more and more popular. Not only that, the postal department now has another copy of "Legends of Modern and Ancient Times" printed in its workshop. The sales volume of this newspaper is also amazing, and the number of reservations has a tendency to gradually surpass Di Bao.
These two newspapers alone, plus some other books and periodicals, can easily sell a total of about two million copies of each edition."
Hu Mu paused and continued: "And according to the investigation of the ministers, when this newspaper is sold, someone will often resell it, or someone will dictate the contents of the newspaper to others. If we calculate it this way,
Then... the number of people who can find out the contents of this newspaper may not be two million, but may be five million, or even tens of millions."
In this era, the price of even the cheapest newspaper is still unacceptable to ordinary people.
However, the entertainment in this era is really shockingly low, coupled with the lack of spirit, newspapers, a platform that is clean enough to obtain external news, are definitely second to none in this era.
The speed and scope of this kind of spread have actually far exceeded the imagination of ordinary people.
Zhu Di listened, but was unmoved.
In fact, no matter how Zhu Di thought about it, he felt that no matter how widespread the spread was, it would not be of much use to him.
Naturally, perhaps the popularity of the Di Bao was quite effective in implementing the imperial decrees. At least the people of the world knew what the emperor was doing and what he planned to do.
Seeing Zhu Di's sullen face, Hu Mu felt nervous for a moment and started to choke up.
After a long time, he said: "Your Majesty, my explanation is not very clear. I'd better ask His Highness the King of Song to speak."
Zhu Di's eyes fell on Zhang Anshi with a half-smile.
Zhang Anshi naturally knew Zhu Di, and he also understood in his heart what Zhu Di wanted to know most, so he said: "Your Majesty, it is a huge wealth just because it is widely circulated. Naturally, the original intention of printing this newspaper is to
To carry out His Majesty's will, I would like to teach the world about Your Majesty's benevolence, so as to prevent the common people from being deceived by evil talk. But I suddenly thought that this newspaper is so widely circulated that it is exactly what merchants need."
"Merchant?" A look of surprise flashed across Zhu Di's face.
Zhang Anshi nodded and said: "Businessmen have produced goods and need to sell them. There are also many big trading houses that need goodwill. Naturally, they need to be known to the world. But it is so difficult to make it known to the world. It is even harder than climbing to the sky.
, Our Ming Dynasty has thousands of miles of land and thousands of people, and the territory is so vast. It is not easy to get deep into the hearts of the people..."
"But what if...the newspaper publishes their news?"
Zhang Anshi's rhetorical question suddenly aroused Zhu Di's interest, and he said: "This... businessman is actually willing to give me money?"
Zhang Anshi immediately said: "Why don't you agree? Goodwill is the most profitable. For this reason... I did an experiment with a merchant in Qixia."
"experiment?"
Zhang Anshi said: "More than half a month ago, I and Liu Ji Taofang of Qixia Trading Company published the information about Liu Ji Taofang in the newspaper in front of all the merchants. Although it was just a line of small characters, Your Majesty... guess what?
?The main business of Liuji Pottery is pottery, mostly dishes and water tanks. The daily sales are neither good nor bad. The monthly orders and revenue are relatively stable, about... January
When I got it, the amount of the order was around six thousand taels of silver... But who knew that this newspaper printed a line about Liu Ji Taofang was sold out in less than half a month, not to mention other places in the world, just here in Zhili, and Jiangxi
, Zhejiang Chief Envoy, a large number of merchants came to order this pottery!"
"This order volume has increased by more than ten times in only half a month, reaching as high as 60,000 taels. So now Liu Ji Pottery has to grit its teeth to open a new kiln and expand production. This is only half a month, and it is still
It’s just the Zhili generation. As for other provinces, Liu Ji’s business has not yet spread, otherwise... I’m afraid it will be even more shocking.”
Zhang Anshi paused and then said: "Your Majesty, when doing business, the most important thing is information. If the information is not smooth, then... this business will be difficult. The saying is that the alley is afraid of the smell of wine. This is the truth. Even if it is
In the relatively remote small counties of Zhili, there are also many demands for purchasing pottery in the market, and there are also some small merchants doing this business there. However, these small merchants, due to the poor quality of the goods or the production cost,
Not only are the prices sold at astonishingly high prices, but most of them are shoddily made.”
"But for many people and small merchants, they hope to be able to buy satisfactory goods, or... have better purchasing channels. But who knows where to buy high-quality and low-priced pottery?
?At this time, everyone saw this pottery workshop from the newspaper, knew the address, and saw it in the newspapers. Naturally, there is no problem with credibility, even if only a thousand people selling pottery have seen it.
10% of the people, or a hundred people, are interested and want to visit us, and in the end, 20% to 30% of the people are willing to order and purchase goods. This order volume is also extremely amazing."
Zhang Anshi said: "Nowadays, these newspapers with such news are still on sale, not because people still buy old newspapers, but because many prefectures and counties in the country are relatively remote. If the newspapers half a month ago are distributed, I'm afraid it will be too late."
It takes half a month, so... the future impact of Liu Ji Taofang will be even greater!"
"Your Majesty, think about it. On the surface, this pottery-producing workshop has received more orders and received tangible benefits. And implicitly, its goodwill has also been greatly increased. Orders and sales
The number of merchants has increased, and his pottery has gradually gained popularity among ordinary people, and the hidden wealth in it is even more unknown."
Zhang Anshi's explanation was quite detailed. Zhu Di, his ministers and others listened attentively.
They were incredulous at first, and then slowly began to understand this logic.
At this time, I had to admire Zhang Anshi's flexible mind.
Just when everyone was still thinking about making money by selling newspapers, they had already switched to a new track.
While Zhu Di and others were still pondering what Zhang Anshi had just said, Zhang Anshi continued: "I have tried every means to keep the price of the newspaper down, even just to ensure that the sales volume of the newspaper is equal to the cost. Therefore, this cheap The wider the scope of newspapers, the more cooperation with merchants can be carried out."
"In fact, especially in Zhili and other places, many merchants have sprung up like mushrooms after a rain. Many merchants hope to promote their business to all parts of the world. There are also some merchants who do everything in order to build goodwill. What's more, the current cooperation with the newspaper! For them, it is a great good thing. In addition, the cooperation with the pottery firm has a very significant effect. This matter has been spread by word of mouth among merchants in Qixia and many places. , Therefore, it is not surprising that some people are rushing to come to this post office."
Zhu Di listened patiently for a long time, and finally couldn't help but said: "How much money can I earn from this?"
Zhang Anshi was not surprised at all by this straightforward question, but he was embarrassed and said: "This... is hard to say. I'm afraid we have to wait until we negotiate with the merchants today..."
Zhu Di's eyes lit up slightly, and without thinking, he immediately said: "Order the honor guard and the guards to return to the palace immediately, and tell others that I and the ministers have driven back to the palace."
After a pause, Zhu Di continued: "I and several members of the Qing family are here... Hu Mu, you go invite the merchants to talk, I am listening next door."
"..."
Whenever money is involved, Zhu Di is always anxious.
Hu Mu glanced at Zhang Anshi, who could only smile helplessly.
However, Hu Guang immediately stood up: "Your Majesty, this is unacceptable. If word spreads..."
Zhu Di was anxious for the answer. When he heard Hu Guang's words, he interrupted him with a cold face and said, "Why, are you teaching me how to do things?"
Hu Guang: "..."
This time, Hu Guang finally had the wisdom to shut up.
Yishiha understood the situation and hurriedly made arrangements. The eunuchs and guards who accompanied him returned in a grand manner with ceremonial guards. Naturally, some elite guards were left temporarily waiting in the warehouse.
Zhu Di and other scholars from Wenyuan Pavilion went to the next room and sat down.
Not long after, Nahumu invited many merchants to come.
These merchants all had a lot of backgrounds, and there were even a few of them. When they introduced themselves, Zhu Di actually had some vague impressions.
Nowadays...many big trading houses have begun to emerge in all walks of life. In the shipping industry, there is Ma's Shipping Company, in the ceramics industry, there are Zheng's, Liu's and Zhou's. In other industries such as tea, steel, textiles, machinery and so on, All big merchants gather here.
Some of these people are worth more than tens of millions, ranging from as little as one million. They came here at the same time, obviously they have already learned a lot of news.
As big businessmen, they are always well-informed. Naturally, they have heard about the cooperation between the Postal Department and a small pottery workshop and have long been concerned about it. Not to mention that they read newspapers on weekdays, and their vision is extraordinary.
Now among all walks of life, fighting among each other has begun to become quite serious.
If I want to occupy the market faster and expand production, I have to use the effects brought by this newspaper.
To put it harshly, even if you don’t use it yourself, you must ensure that your competitors don’t use it.
Especially in the textile industry, competition is the most fierce. There are more than a dozen large-scale textile workshops. At this time, many people have begun to sharpen their knives.
Therefore, the people who came this time were all personally present by the boss who usually hides behind the scenes.
After greeting each other, everyone showed polite smiles, and heard someone greeting: "When my servants arrived, I heard that Your Majesty actually visited the Postal Department in person. Ambassador Hu, it seems... is very favored by His Majesty. This Postal Department is just a mere postal department."
It took more than half a year to achieve this result, which even I admire."
Everyone laughed again.
Hu Mu knew in his heart that there was a giant Buddha sitting next door to him! Afraid that others would say something inappropriate, he immediately got straight to the point: "The distribution of newspapers is one page per day, and every seven days is one day."
The publication period means that if you want to publish it, the newspaper will publish it for seven consecutive days."
After a pause, Hu Mu added: "It's just that there is one place on the front page of the newspaper, three on the side page, and five on each of the following three pages, four pages, and five pages. Each issue is seven days old.
Layout, settled by word count..."
He rambled for a long time.
Then I heard someone say bluntly: "Here at Ma's Trading Company, let's take the front page of the fourth issue first. As for the number of words, thirty is enough. Ambassador Hu... but I don't know what the price is?"
Ma's Trading Company is very wealthy and willing to spend money. Everyone knows this.
Hu Mu raised his head and glanced at the famous former number one scholar Lang Ma Yu, and said: "The front page price is as low as five hundred taels per word. If there are thirty words, each issue will cost fifteen thousand taels."
, if it is four phases... it will cost 60,000 taels."
Right now, there is only one such thing in the world. Whoever gets this front page position and publishes it continuously for a month, the effect will be absolutely amazing.
Suddenly, many people started talking.
Some people chewed on the words and immediately noticed that there was a word "lower price" in it, which meant that obviously...this was His Highness the King of Song's traditional arts at work.
Therefore, someone calmly said: "I would also like to try this front page. Brother Ma Xian, you are in the boat business. Why do you need a front page when you are running a boat? I am more than ten years older than you, but you are still
Save some money, you might as well give it to me! I have recently expanded several textile workshops, especially in Raozhou Prefecture. The new workshop there has a scale of 2,000 people, and I am now eager to find sales.
... Just give me some face..."
As he said this, the man Shi Shiran said: "This front page costs one thousand taels per word..."
In the blink of an eye, the price doubled. Obviously, he wanted to use his wealth to scare off his opponents.
But when he said this, someone sneered: "Your cloth needs to be sold, but mine doesn't need to be sold? One thousand, five hundred taels..."
The atmosphere suddenly became tense. Originally, after one month, a front page only cost 500 taels per word, and the total profit was only 60,000 taels. Now, in the blink of an eye, a front page can earn 180,000 taels.
.
Zhu Di was next door and couldn't help but feel frightened secretly as he listened. He couldn't imagine that these people were so willing to spend money just for a few dozen words.
Zhang Anshi looked relaxed and at ease. He knew in his heart that the people who came... were all business giants. Such people definitely had good vision. Presumably, they had already seen the commercial value in this.
What's more, their business is so big that even if they invest a month's profit, as long as their goodwill can be built up and their orders can increase dramatically, then... it will be easy to earn back the money.
At this time, the situation next door seemed to be getting more and more intense. After a brief silence, someone shouted: "Two thousand taels!"
Ma Yu listened as someone continued to bid. After he called for the first time, he began to remain silent.
Immediately afterwards, someone said: "Two thousand three hundred taels..."
"Two thousand four hundred taels..."
"Two thousand six hundred..."
Until this time, suddenly, Ma Yu, who had been silent, stood up and said: "Four thousand taels, this statement shocked everyone."
The voice was not loud, but it made everyone present look at him in stunned silence.
Four thousand taels means that in this month, Ma's Shipping Company will be willing to spend nearly half a million taels of silver just because of this advertisement on the front page.
This data is incredible!
All of a sudden, everyone stopped.
Ma Yu was calm, and just smiled and said: "Young gentlemen, it's better not to fight with the students, just treat them as gentlemen... and give them some face."
In fact, Ma Yu's bid and such a high price were unexpected by them!
These merchants actually thought that Ma Yu's main business was just running boats, and that the newspaper did not have much demand for him. After all, spending a lot of money to publish in the newspaper might not bring him many actual orders.
It's a pity that they only want to be half right.
The other half is that Ma Yu's boat company has a huge demand for funds. It is a heavy asset among heavy assets. It requires a huge amount of funds every year. Such a large amount of funds, except for banks, is some of its own
financing project.
To make people willing to invest money, it is necessary to maintain the goodwill of the world's largest trading company. The front page of the newspaper must be occupied by Ma's Shipping. Only in this way can everyone recognize that Ma's Shipping is rich and has enough money.
of goodwill.
The merchants finally fell silent this time. It was obvious that the front page could no longer compete with Ma Yu, so they remained silent and waited for the next competition for the side page.
When Zhu Di heard the four thousand taels, he was already numb. For a moment, he sat there blankly, with his mouth slightly open, but unable to speak.
Zhang Anshi, however, was thinking to himself, where is this little advertising fee? It seems... the merchants have not really tapped into the gold content brought by this universal newspaper.
You know...the cost of marketing, in the future, for most companies, is actually higher than the product itself.
After all, the merchants of the Ming Dynasty were not broad enough in thinking and timid.
It was noisy for more than an hour.
This negotiation has finally come to an end.
Then they made a covenant with each other. After Hu Mu taught people to do the calculation, he sent the merchants away and then immediately turned around and came to the penthouse.
"His Majesty……"
When Hu Mu came in, everyone looked at him with strange eyes, making him look a little nervous.
Hu Mu first saluted Zhu Di and then said: "This month's newspapers, Di Bao and Ancient and Modern Legends, have a total of fifty-seven large and small pages, and sold for 3,377,000 taels of silver."