In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

Most of the bookstore owners in the Song Dynasty were literati. Some literati did not like to serve as officials in the court, but liked to write their own articles or poems, so they opened a bookstore to cultivate their sentiments.

But what they have in common is that most of them have other industries.

For example, Chen Qi, the owner of "Chen Daoren Bookstore" in the Southern Song Dynasty, was a local gentry, and his family had numerous properties and shops.

Because I like engraving, copying, and collecting books, I thought it was too troublesome, so I just opened my own bookstore and set up a printing factory to print books. As a result, it became popular all over the country and opened many chain bookstores.

The same is true for the owner of Yuanjing Bookstore. His surname is Meng, and his name is Meng Chengqi. His family is a grain merchant in Bianliang.

He is the second eldest son of the Meng family, in his forties. While helping his father with some shop business, he opened his own shop because he loved collecting books.

At the moment, he is carving books by himself at home. In the afternoon, he plans to go to various shops to check the accounts, and by the way, he will go to the printing factory to send the newly carved books today to be printed.

Printing factories in the Song Dynasty were relatively loss-making. They did not have major customers printing books for them every day. The business relied entirely on bookstores to maintain their business. However, when the literacy rate was low in the Song Dynasty, the business of bookstores was not necessarily good.

Unless people like Liu Yong's poems are submitted to the publishing house, and the poetry collection suddenly becomes popular all over the country, ordinary bookstores and printing houses will suffer losses.

This is also the reason why bookstores and printing shops in the Song Dynasty were often opened by wealthy owners who loved books.

The shopkeeper went all the way to Meng's house, and because he was familiar with the family, there was nothing to stop him.

When he learned that the shopkeeper was coming, Meng Chengqi put down the engraved printing plate, raised his head and asked, "What's wrong?"

"My boss, there is a noble man who wants to buy our printing shop."

The shopkeeper said.

"oh?"

Meng Chengqi asked: "Which noble son is he from?"

The shopkeeper replied: "I don't know. I only know that he has more than a hundred followers around him when he travels, and even the Heavenly Holy Army is his guard."

"Oh, such a grand display."

Meng Chengqi shook his head and said: "I guess it's some government official who wants to be arty. I hate these people the most. They can't read books clearly, can't write a few lines of poems, and just want to promote their literary names all day long."

The shopkeeper said cautiously: "If I don't meet my boss, I might not be able to offend him."

"Um."

Meng Chengqi thought for a while, then put down the carving and stood up, saying, "Okay."

It doesn’t hurt to meet.

If the other party is really a big government official, making him happy will also be beneficial to their family's business.

The most important thing is that although Bianliang's literary style is flourishing, there are not many printing factories. The money and cost required to do this business are too high, and ordinary people cannot afford to operate it.

Although the Meng family was rich, it was not built like this. The old man had already complained about his printing factory, so Meng Chengqi had no choice but to spread the word and wanted to sell the printing factory.

It's just that I've always been a little reluctant to give up, so I'm quite resistant. I hope to meet a book lover and buy the printing factory.

But since the other party is a noble prince and cannot afford to offend him, even if the other party is not a book lover, there is probably nothing he can do.

Soon Meng Chengqi arrived at the shop of Shuxiangfang.

When he was outside, he saw the bodyguards on three levels inside and outside the door. Then he realized the seriousness of the matter. He quickly quickened his pace, put on a smile and walked in. He cupped his hands and said to Zhao Jun: "I felt the magpies calling this morning. , It turns out that a distinguished guest came to the door, and he came a little later, so I asked Haihan. "

The voice arrived before the person arrived. Businessmen did not want to offend the powerful, so even if they felt that Zhao Jun was an arty second generation ancestor, they still had to remain respectful.

Zhao Jun saw that the other party was very enthusiastic, so he put down his tea cup, stood up and returned the greeting: "I have met my boss, my name is Zhao Hanlong."

"It turns out to be Mr. Zhao."

Meng Chengqi smiled and said: "I, my courtesy name is Yanzhi, and my friends all call me Nanshan Individual Guest."

"Mr. Meng is polite."

Zhao Jun responded. He knew that the Nanshan individual was his nickname. At that time, literati liked to give themselves nicknames, such as Dongpo layman, Tieguan Taoist, Dongshan individual, etc. Fortunately, this was just a Nanshan individual, not a foreigner. Nanshan Pizza Hut.

"I heard that the young master wants to buy a printing shop?"

Meng Chengqi asked.

"Yes."

"This printing shop is not a simple thing."

"Oh? Sir, can you tell me something?"

"Although the literary style of the Song Dynasty was flourishing, if it could be printed, it would require engraving templates, so the cost was extremely high."

"How high?"

"According to the number of words, the engraving can range from a few or dozens of words to hundreds or even thousands of words. Therefore, ordinary people will not come to the printing shop at all. On weekdays, the business of the printing shop is very busy, and it may take several months to lose money before there is work. "

"So the printing shop is losing money most of the time?"

Zhao Jun was curious. No wonder he heard that there were not many printing houses in Bianliang when he asked people to find them. It turned out to be the case.

"Yes."

Meng Cheng nodded, and then talked about the other shortcomings of the printing plant. It is best to say: "I dare not deceive Mr. Zhao. If you want to publish poetry collections and articles, there is really no need to buy a printing shop."

He spoke out the problems of the printing house without reservation. In fact, he was still reluctant to sell it. Although his father was dissatisfied that the family business was always losing money, he was a book lover, so how could he really be willing to sell the printing house to others? ? Unless that person is a bibliophile like him.

Zhao Jun thought for a while and said, "Then let's go and have a look."

For others, the printing house would definitely lose money. But for him, it was different. Publishing newspapers could bring back funds, and printing textbooks could also bring back funds. At most, he could make some poems to sell.

With the poems he knew, if they were placed in the Song Dynasty, they would probably have the effect of Liu Yong. Would he still be afraid that the things would not be sold?

Seeing that Zhao Jun insisted on going to see the printing house, Meng Chengqi had to lead the way.

The printing house was not far from the book club. It was in the Qiaobeifang market north of the Xiaoheng Bridge in the outer city. Next to it was the outer city wall, close to the outside of Bianliang City, and it was convenient to enter and exit. It was the edge of the outer city, and the land price was relatively cheap, so there were many workshops in it.

Unlike the literati in Shuxiangfang, the people coming and going in Qiaobeifang were obviously mostly workers, all kinds of workers, including printing workshops, weaving workshops, porcelain workshops, tea workshops, iron workshops, smelting workshops, etc.

There are many such markets near the city wall of the outer city of Bianliang, all of which are handicraft workshops. Their existence also supports the prosperity of commerce in the entire Bianliang.

Meng Chengqi took Zhao Jun and Song Cai through Qiaobeifang and crossed two streets before arriving at his Mengjia Printing House.

There was a smell of ink from a long distance.

The workshop covers a large area and is located on the bank of Wuzhang River. The remaining waste ink is basically discharged into the river. In addition, the other dyeing and weaving workshops, porcelain workshops, and smelting workshops nearby will discharge wastewater, causing the water in the lower reaches of Wuzhang River to be muddy and yellow with various colors.

Entering from the gate, there is a huge courtyard with many sheds in the courtyard, and paper is drying under the sheds. In addition to printing books, the printing workshop also has to bind them by hand, so after printing, they have to be dried and then sewn.

Seven or eight printing workers are working in the courtyard. Since there is no work recently, Meng Chengqi asked the workers to print some old books, which seems not so busy.

Seeing Meng Chengqi coming, the workers greeted him one after another. The manager came over and bowed, saying, "Boss!"

"Let's get to work."

Meng Chengqi signaled everyone not to worry about them, then turned to Zhao Jun and said, "Young Master, you see, the printing house is actually very idle on weekdays. It may take three to five months for big work. If we don't open a bookstore or no other bookstores come to buy goods, we will basically lose money."

"Yeah."

Zhao Jun asked, "What do we lose on weekdays?"

Meng Chengqi smiled and said, "I bought this land and spent more than 3,300 guan. If you rent it, the annual rent will probably be 70 or 80 guan. You have to pay salaries to workers, support more than 20 people, and pay land taxes and business taxes to the government. I'm afraid you will lose 500 to 600 guan in a year."

It doesn't look like much, but in the Song Dynasty, a family of three could earn 20 to 30 guan a year. At that time, working a month only earned one or two guan, and the total assets of a middle-class family were only 2,000 to 3,000 guan. The loss this year was equivalent to one-fifth of the family property of a small boss.

For example, Meng Chengqi's family, although they are grain merchants, only have a few tens of thousands of guan a year, and the entire family industry may be around 400,000 or 500,000 guan. It is no wonder that Meng Chengqi's father does not like this printing factory. It is really a waste of money if it continues to lose money.

As for the prime minister's annual income of 20,000 to 30,000 guan, ordinary officials earn hundreds or thousands of guan a year. That is the official's business, and it has nothing to do with ordinary people, so this amount of money is actually very much.

Zhao Jun frowned.

Even though he confiscated millions of guan from the family, there are still so many people to support in the Imperial City Department.

The fixed salary of 3,000 guards is about one guan a month, plus various allowances, about 30 to 40 guan a year, and the annual expenditure of 3,000 people is 120,000 guan.

Then there are more than 2,000 inspectors. The salary of inspectors is slightly lower than that of the guards, but it is basically maintained at more than 30 guan per person per year, so the more than 5,000 people in the Imperial City Department have to pay out about 20 guan every year.

At the beginning, Zhao Zhen approved 100,000 guan, which was enough for half a year's expenses. If Zhao Jun did not confiscate the family within half a year, he would have to disband the Imperial City Department.

But relying on confiscation of property is like killing the goose to get the eggs, which cannot last long. You still have to have your own way to make money.

Zhao Jun has been in business for a short time now, although he knows that he can intervene in the highly profitable industries such as tea, salt, and grain to make money. But these industries are easy to affect people's livelihood. Once they are not done well, it is easy to cause instability in people's livelihood, so they need to be treated with caution.

With such a large annual expenditure, it is not a good idea to open a printing factory that loses hundreds of guan a year.

However, Zhao Jun did not immediately say that he would not buy it. Instead, he looked around in the yard, asking Meng Chengqi about the situation of the printing factory, and observing their operation methods, printing conditions, and engraving templates.

The two chatted for a while, and Meng Chengqi took Zhao Jun to the inner room to see that there was a yard behind. This is where engraving is made, and engraved printing plates are placed everywhere.

These engravings are basically the size of a palm, and every word must be engraved, which shows how difficult it is.

There are six engravers engraving inside.

At that time, the engraving plates could not be used forever after they were completed. Not only would they wear out, but also because the books were updated every year, such as annotations and interpretations, new templates had to be carved frequently, which was a huge undertaking and cost.

Zhao Jun noticed a large disc in the corner next to him. The disc seemed to be able to rotate, and hundreds of Chinese character modules were densely placed on it. He couldn't help but ask curiously, "What is that?"

Meng Chengqi took a look and said, "It was invented by an engraver in Hangzhou. It's called movable type printing. This old craftsman has good engraving skills, but it's a pity that he didn't use it properly. He had to do some useless things. I always wanted to invite him to Bianliang, but he declined, saying that he was old and didn't want to leave Hangzhou, which was even more regrettable."

"Is this old craftsman called Bi Sheng?"

Zhao Jun opened his eyes wide.

Meng Chengqi was surprised and said, "Sir, do you know Bi Sheng?"

"I've heard of him a little."

Zhao Jun replied vaguely, and then said, "This movable type printing is pretty good, why is it useless?"

Meng Chengqi smiled bitterly and said, "When I went to Hangzhou to invite Bi Sheng, I really thought it was good, so I bought some back. But when I came back, I found that the cost was even higher than engraving, so I couldn't afford it."

He only bought a few hundred Chinese characters, but a set of movable type printing that meets typesetting needs must have at least tens of thousands of movable types, and different movable types are arranged in sets.

Such a large quantity requires a high production cost and a long time, which is not affordable for private printing workshops.

Moreover, ordinary engravings are made of clay. The main problem of clay movable type is that it is easy to break and damage. The texture of wooden movable type is uneven. After contact with water, it is easy to be uneven. Metal movable type is water-based ink. The adhesion of copper movable type is very problematic.

So in fact, movable type printing sounds good, but in ancient times when a whole set of books was needed, engraving costs were lower and took less time. This is also the main reason why movable type printing was not popular in ancient China.

Unless it is to print articles, not books, the demand for movable type is relatively small to meet.

But isn't this a coincidence?

Zhao Jun plans to print notices against Wuyou Cave and Guifan Tower, and plans to start a newspaper in the future, so movable type printing comes in handy.

He immediately made a decision and said, "This is a good thing, Mr. Meng, what is the price of your printing house? I will buy all the things at once. Please give me a fair price."

"Good things are good things, but they are a bit expensive and have no use on weekdays. Wait, what did you say just now?"

Meng Chengqi didn't hear clearly at first, then looked at Zhao Jun in surprise and said, "If you really want to buy this printing house, the annual deficit is not a small number."

"Meng, do you think people in Bianliang like poetry?"

Zhao Jun asked.

Meng Chengqi said with a smile: "If it is a good poem, everyone likes it. Just like when Liu Tuiguan was in Bianliang, a few of his poems came out, which made paper expensive in Bianliang. No matter if it was a prostitute or a lady from a wealthy family, everyone was vying for his collection of poems. At that time, our printing house also made a lot of money. Unfortunately, Liu Tuiguan passed the imperial examination and went to serve as an official in another place. We no longer have such a prosperous scene in Bianliang."

"You mean, if there are new good poems, the printing house can start printing and sell a large number of poetry collections? Make a lot of money?"

"Of course!"

"Haha."

Zhao Jun laughed, took out a small stack of papers from his arms and handed it over, saying: "Boss, why don't you help me see how much these poems can be sold for?"

Meng Chengqi took the papers with a little doubt, looked at the first page, and widened his eyes.

Then the second page, the third page, and the fourth page.

His breathing became more and more rapid, and his face gradually became flushed. In this late autumn and early winter, his two nostrils seemed to be able to emit hot air.

"Mr. Zhao, these poems"

Meng Chengqi raised his head and asked with surprise: "Did you write them?"

"Yes."

Zhao Jun smiled and said: "If you want to use these poems to become famous in Bianliang, my printing house will make money."

I'm sorry to the famous poets of the Southern Song Dynasty, Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty after the Northern Song Dynasty.

In order to maintain the expenses of the Imperial City Bureau.

In order to have a small industry.

In order to start a newspaper in the future and occupy the high ground of public opinion.

I can only wrong you for now.

Oh.

Of course, there are also students in the future.

I think that even if the future poets are copied, with the talents of Su Shi, Li Qingzhao, Lu You and Xin Qiji, they may be able to write better ones.

So the students will feel double happiness, don't thank me too much.