Fox of France

To be honest, the British are not unaware of the activities of the French media and the political conspiracy behind them. After all, when it comes to conspiracy, in the whole world, if the British consider themselves the second, no one dares to call themselves the boss. In this regard, whether it is a natural lower limit or the skills accumulated over the years, the British are the world's best in this conspiracy.

So when the French came to the UK to run the media, the British naturally also went to France to run the media. Some British newspapers also established various French-language newspapers in Paris. But the circulation of these newspapers in France is far less than that of French newspapers in England, not even a fraction. Even in England, not to mention France, they were beaten back by the French press.

The main reason for this phenomenon is that the cost of these British newspapers has not been reduced.

For various newspapers and periodicals in France, except for "purely academic" things like "Nature", the main source of their income is not the selling price, but the advertising income. (Of course, "Nature" or something, they are "non-profit social organizations", which are "not making money".)

For a newspaper, the larger the circulation, the more valuable and valuable the advertisements it publishes, the higher the income it can get from advertisements, and the more it has the ability to set the price of its own newspapers. get lower. On the premise of ensuring the quality, the cheaper a single newspaper, the easier it is to increase its circulation.

Under the leadership of Lucien, with the support of the enterprises of the military-industrial complex, when the French newspapers landed in the UK, they brought not only reporters and editors, but also a whole advertising support team. Therefore, on the premise that the French don't think much about making money for the time being, they can also lower the price of newspapers by a lot.

But in the UK, they don't have a monopoly monster like the "military-industrial complex", and naturally they don't have the support of the "advertising support group", so a cycle that makes newcomers headaches appears in those British newspapers. in front of.

After those British newspapers were published in France, the first problem they faced was the price of the newspaper. In France, low-priced newspapers have gradually become the norm. The selling price of each newspaper is often only equal to its material cost, that is, the cost of paper plus printing cost. The money is made by advertising. But the new British newspapers cannot do this, which leads them to rely on the selling price of newspapers to make money. This leads to a consequence: their newspapers are more expensive than French newspapers.

This is a fatal consequence, which brings a series of subsequent problems.

Because the selling price is high, no one buys it; because no one buys it, no one wants to advertise; because no one wants to advertise, so the price must be high... Although these newspapers struggled hard at one time, they also resorted to eating. The strength of the milk is pulling advertisements everywhere. However, even British businessmen are unwilling to advertise here-why can't you sell it? They would rather spend a lot of money to advertise in those local newspapers in France than to give these British fellows a penny.

As for the French merchants, of course it was the same, they were as fastidious as the English. Therefore, what these British newspapers and periodicals can get are advertisements with a very low total price such as "advertisement of missing person" and "advertisement of dog search". Even entertainment companies such as the Moulin Rouge in Paris disdain to be in the British. Mess" in the "not worth mentioning tabloid" advertising. In the French entertainment scene, there is a sarcastic saying for those low-end entertainment companies, young girls who are not popular, or old beauties who have expired: "It can only be advertised in British newspapers."

Therefore, although Lucien seems to have set up a flag irrationally, but at present, the chances of stuffing him into the cannon and shooting at the sun are really not very high. Unlike someone, it's enough to go to the sun for a week.

In fact, even in London, British newspapers are feeling the pressure of cheap papers from France. Buying two copies for seven pennies and quoting this price, if the advertising revenue is not counted, it is a complete loss. Even taking into account advertising revenue, the two papers are basically unprofitable.

However, behind these two newspapers are the French "Science Pravda" and "French Kommersant". M. Nucingen, director of Kommersant, is said to have said at the board:

"The UK is a brand-new market. Here, the most important thing for our newspapers at present is not to make profits, but to grab as much share as possible. Gentlemen, if we can make less money temporarily, or even make no money temporarily, or even Small losses to force our competitors to make large losses or even go bankrupt. These losses are all worthwhile and should be regarded as successful investment behaviors.

Gentlemen, once those traditional British newspapers went bankrupt under our attack, they all withdrew from the market in the end. At that time, you still have to worry, can't we make money? By that time all advertisements will be known only through us, and all MPs, Whigs and Tories, will have to have their voices widely heard through us . At that time, do we still have to worry about not making money? "

The British certainly knew the dangers of such a situation continuing. However, Britain has not formed a large-scale newspaper trust at this time. To be more specific, Britain is still in the most classic period of liberal capitalism. The indescribable with all-pervasive tentacles has not yet had time to take shape. Then suddenly encountered an invasion of foreign gods.

Only nuclear weapons can stand against nuclear weapons, only retreating furnaces can stand against retreating furnaces, only the Great Old Ones can stand against the Great Old Ones, and only trusts can stand against trusts.

Only relying on the British newspapers to fight alone, none of them will be the opponent of the French media trusts. So, on the very day Fagin left Paris, in London, a group of British newspapers came together and held a successful, triumphant general meeting to announce the formation of an institution called the "English Press Union." On the same day, the "England Press Union" announced that the assets under the alliance will be optimized and combined, and many poorly managed newspapers will be shut down one after another. Some incompetent personnel will be dismissed, and forces will be assembled to start somewhat new newspapers-the Times Review and the Economic Observer of England.

Apparently, these two papers were directed against the two papers of the Sevenpenny League.

In addition to the original bosses of several newspapers, some gentlemen who were originally engaged in other industries also joined the alliance and invested in it. The highest-ranking investor in the alliance is the former British Prime Minister Pitt Jr.

It was a well-known fact that Pete Jr. had no money. Because of previous investment failures, Pete Jr. is a famous negative man. Therefore, many people speculate that most of the money that Pete invested was lent to him by the king.

Because of the joining of Pete Jr., this coalition is naturally full of Tories.

The emergence of such a newspaper alliance full of Tory colors first alerted the Whigs. Although this "English Press Union" seems to have been aimed at the French "Sevenpenny League", they are not deadly enough to the French today, but they are much more deadly to the Whigs.

Obviously, just as the scattered British media could not defeat the "Seven Penny Alliance" in the past, once the media on the Tory side form a major alliance, even if they cannot repel the French for the time being, they can easily Crush the rest, the small papers that lean toward the Whig Party.

So a few days later, another press union, the "England Free Press Union", was also proclaimed in London. Perhaps because of the haste of its establishment, its various organizational regulations and measures are almost copied from the "England Press Union".

Its main convener was the leader of the Whig party, Charles James Fox, and of course there were many wealthy people behind him.

As a result, England's news battlefield suddenly appeared in a three-legged state.

"Mr. Fox is a very interesting person. In concept, he is closer to the French, even closer to Jacobin. When North America became independent, he openly praised the resistance of the North American people to the tyrant. When he was in the head of Louis XVI, he openly said in the parliament that it was Louis XVI's fault. This extreme attitude caused him to lose many friends, and also allowed the Tories to always have the upper hand in the parliament, and even, Many Tory MPs, who were originally Whigs, became Tories because of their ideological contradictions with him.

Well, the guy is a pretty good speaker and debater. In parliamentary debates he never lost, and anyone who came up against him was stunned by him, but when it came to voting, he was almost never successful.

Because of his pro-French stance, this time, there are also some textile merchants and steam engine merchants behind his alliance. But on the whole, his alliance is still far inferior to the 'English Press Union'. Well, Joseph, Napoleon, I think we can give them a little support, let's design a conspiracy against the "English Press Union", just use Joseph's new discovery that has not been made public. "