Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 46 Your workshop is great, it will be mine in the next second

“Taking credit in person is too low.

"The best effect will be achieved if he can 'discover' everything I have done for him step by step through his own grandson and other channels.

"To some extent, winning people's hearts is the same as being the top singer in a brothel. You can't be too conservative, but you can't take off all your clothes right away."

In the shop behind the Xishi Soup Shop, Li Ming was summing up his experience, tapping his fingers on the dining table that served as a makeshift desk.

Wei Daijia rushed in sweating profusely, without even bothering to bow or kowtow, and said:

"Zhang's Bookstore is also in trouble. We can't print more new flyers!"

During the time that Li Ming was doing ideological work for Hou Junji, he became the actual chief planner of this public opinion war.

He organized the children to write short essays, contacted printing bookshops, and coordinated with Lai Junchen to distribute flyers... He was busy all day long.

After being busy for a period of time, his skin became tanned, he worked much more efficiently, and even his voice became louder.

"Do they know how to do business? They can't even catch the money falling from the sky." Li Ming said with disdain:

"It's just a few flyers. Don't all the bookstores in Chang'an have enough time to print them?"

As the war of public opinion reached a fever pitch, the Fourteenth Emperor Party encountered some minor troubles:
The production capacity could not be increased and the bookstore was unable to print enough flyers every day.

Before the first wave of leaflet attacks, Li Ming could ask the bookstore to prepare for a few days in advance and stock up enough ammunition for a wave of launches.

But if the popularity is to be sustained, firstly, the flyers must not be discontinued, and secondly, the content must be changed every few days.

Otherwise, if it's the same old stuff every day, people will get tired of it and it will go out of fashion.

The problem lies in this update.

"Gulp gulp~ Ha!" Wei Daijia gulped down the cold tea, completely free of the restraint he had shown in front of his superiors, and spoke clearly:
“It’s not the boss’s fault. The problem mainly lies in the following two aspects:

"First, the number of flyers is too large. Tens of thousands of flyers are distributed every day, and there is a shortage of ink, paper, and manpower. Many bookstores have given up other businesses and only focus on our business, but they still can't make it;
"The second problem is more serious, which is that to print a page, you need to carve the content of the page on the clay plate first.

“You ask for new content to be printed every few days, and the clay tablets need to be re-carved, which is very time-consuming.”

After spending a long time with Li Ming, Wei Daijia also learned the half-baked official tone.

Are you too busy to update once every few days? This doesn't even include asking you to update twice a day... Li Ming complained in his heart.

But he could only complain in his heart, because overcapacity in modern industrial society was an accident.

Throughout the long course of history, insufficient production capacity has been the norm...

"Wait, you said that every time we change a page, we have to re-carve a batch of printing plates?"

Li Ming discovered the bright spot.

"Yes, otherwise?" Wei Daijia was puzzled by Li Ming's doubts:

“The entire content of the page had to be carved onto a clay block, which was then dried over firewood for several days before it could be printed.

"Because His Highness needs it urgently, the bookshop uses charcoal to bake the books so that the engravings can be formed in advance. This cycle repeats over and over again, and the old book plates are discarded after use, which is very costly..."

He introduced the basic process of woodblock printing.

Before the Song Dynasty, all books were printed using this cumbersome and inefficient method.

Li Ming began to think.

Although he is not a student of science and engineering, he has studied history.

Every top student who has successfully completed a primary school degree should be familiar with the fact that after woodblock printing, the ancients invented a more efficient printing method...

"Wei Dianqian! Everyone has finished writing the article, why don't you take a look first."

Class monitor Chang Sunyan came in with a new batch of copywriting, interrupting Li Ming's thoughts.

"Hey, Brother Ming, you're here?"

Young Master Changsun's originally fair face looked a little more sloppy than before, his hair was messy, and his bloodshot eyes emitted a strange light.

He and his friends have been working all night to finish their manuscripts.

"Okay, put it on the table first." Wei Daijia completely entered into the role of class teacher and could order Changsun Wuji's eldest grandson around at will.

"Okay." The tired nobleman put down the copy.

As soon as he left, a scoundrel boy with shifty eyes and a shiny tan rushed in from the door.

"Wei Daijia, the last batch of articles have all been published, and the guys asked me to come and collect their wages. The new articles haven't been printed yet? Hey, Master Ming, you're here."

Lai Junchen said in a vulgar tone.

Wei Daijia shook his head:
"I've asked Di Renjie and the others to prepare the money. You don't need to pass it through your hands. Let the kids handing out the bills come in one by one to get it." Lai Junchen immediately frowned: "Do you suspect that I'm withholding money from them?"

Wei Daijia was unmoved and said seriously:

"No, it's to make those kids remember that it's not you who gave the money, but Master Ming... Brother Ming... No, His Highness Li Ming!"

Lai Junchen was stunned for a moment, then he resumed his playful smile:
"Well, wait for your words. I'm just doing you a favor. If you think it's not okay, then it's okay.

"Master Ming, please believe me, I definitely don't mean to use flowers to offer to Buddha!"

He turned around and tried to leave, but Li Ming stopped him:
"Wait a minute, you all take a break first."

"Whoo~"

Wei Daijia was so busy that his mouth was dry. He gulped down another pot of water, wiped his sweat, and could not help complaining to Li Ming:
"Alas, Your Highness, all you have assigned to me are trivial matters...

"I have been wasting my time here all day, and I don't know how I can live up to the Wei family's reputation in the future..."

Li Ming looked at him meaningfully:
"Aren't the abilities you've developed here much better than just standing there watching the gate?"

Wei Daijia looked pleased:
"Really?"

"Really? You couldn't even keep an eye on a kid before, but now you can command hundreds of kids."

Wei Daijia's face fell again.

Li Ming patted him comfortingly:

"Relax, you have the qualities to be a prime minister."

"Really?"

"real."

"Mr. Fang also told me the same thing. You two wouldn't be conspiring to deceive me, would you?"

"How could that be? If you have nothing to do now, come with me to Zhang's Bookstore. Lai Junchen, you can come with us."

Call that gangster?

Wei Daijia instinctively disliked these lowest-class rats.

But he dared not disobey the order of His Highness Li Ming.

Lai Junchen was sitting on the ground drinking water. When he heard there was work to do, he stood up quickly:
"Well! Old Zhang's bookshop is so slow at work, and the words they print are often smudged. It's time to punish them!"

…………

Zhang's Bookstore is located near the porridge stall. In addition to selling books, it also runs a printing shop.

As soon as Li Ming and his three companions entered the workshop, they started coughing due to the smell of ink mixed with hot air.

The bookshop owner, Lao Zhang, was directing the furnace workers to bake the clay plates. When he saw the sponsor coming, he came up to him with a nasty look on his face:

"Gentlemen, you guys are really good at assigning tasks! You've just changed to a new version after just a few days, and the engravers' chisels are almost smoking! You don't know anything, you just assign tasks blindly..."

"If you want to do it, then do it. If you don't want to do it, then forget it!" Lai Junchen confronted him directly.

Don’t think you can insult me ​​by giving me money… Lao Zhang wanted to scold loudly like this.

But they gave too much.

"Then...what can you three do for you?" Lao Zhang's attitude softened.

It takes another evildoer to deal with a bad person. Wei Daijia understood Li Ming's purpose of bringing Junchen here.

But although Lao Zhang's words sounded more pleasant, his position was still firm:
“If you three are here to urge us to speed up the progress, I’m afraid you will be disappointed.

"I've turned down all my book printing jobs and am only printing yours... those weird papers. It can't be printed any faster."

Li Ming glanced at the crowded and chaotic workshop and shook his head slightly.

"I'm not here to rush you to work."

Old Zhang was a little puzzled: "Then why did the three of you come here in person?"

Li Ming's mouth curled up into a smile:
“I think your workshop is great.”

what?
Old Zhang looked at the other two blankly.

Lai Junchen's eyes flashed with ferocity, and he said viciously:
"Mr. Ming is asking you a question! Are you selling this shabby place or not?!"

(End of this chapter)