The Song Dynasty on the Sand Table

Chapter 184 Books are Cheap
In the third year of Jianyan (1129 AD), late February.

In Jiaoshui County, Madam Gong Er was training her troops as usual.

Yue Wenxuan, possessed by his figurine, strolled through the county town. As he walked, he discovered that the bookstores had a large number of new books, the kind that still had the scent of ink, including "The Analects," "Mencius," "The Great Learning," and "The Doctrine of the Mean."

The printing quality of this batch of books is obviously better than before, but the price is much cheaper.

Some poor readers were crowding in front of a bookstore, happily choosing books. Before, they couldn't afford to buy books, so they would buy different books separately and borrow them from each other. Now that the prices have come down, they want to buy the few books they need.

One scholar even asked the shopkeeper cheerfully, "Boss, why are these books so cheap? The paper is even better."

The shopkeeper laughed and said, "Do you know about the new Zheng Yuanwai Paper Mill in the east of the city? The paper they make is cheap and good. I used to use the paper made by the government mill to print books, so they were more expensive. Now that I use Zheng Yuanwai's paper, the books are naturally cheaper."

The scholars suddenly realized that Zheng Yuanwai's newly opened paper mill was undercutting prices to steal business from the official mill. No wonder.

Yue Wenxuan thought: The first batch of "bamboo paper using Ming Dynasty technology" has been produced.

The "immortal papermakers" provided by Yue Wenxuan were divided into two groups, one group was given to the government workshop, and the other group was given to the private capitalist Zheng Yuanwai.

"State-owned" and "private" paper mills began producing Ming Dynasty bamboo paper almost at the same time and began to train apprentices.

The "state-owned" bamboo paper was managed by the Jiaoshui County Magistrate. The official workshop had more resources, but in terms of papermaking efficiency, it could not compete with the "privately owned" Zheng Yuanwai. No matter in terms of quantity or quality, it could not compete with Zheng Yuanwai's private workshop.

Moreover, the official workshops were very arrogant. The bamboo paper they made was obviously much cheaper than the mulberry bark paper, but the price they charged when shipping it was still the same as the paper made from mulberry bark.

Zheng Yuanwai, however, was not arrogant and was very flexible in his approach to business. Since the cost of his papermaking had dropped, he had a more flexible pricing strategy and directly lowered the price of paper by one level, seizing the market share of the official workshop.

Bookstores, paper shops, lantern shops... the shopkeepers of each private shop are not fools. They will definitely go to whichever shop's paper is cheap and easy to use. In just one month, Zheng Yuanwai's goods have been distributed to every corner of the county.

The paper from the official shop couldn’t be sold for a while!
Even in this situation, the government office still doesn't want to reform. It doesn't matter whether the papers can be sold or not. Just send these papers to the government office and let the county magistrate use them.

Yue Wenxuan was not surprised by this result at all, and even felt like laughing.

This is also the result he wants to see. The big catfish of private capital will be thrown out to stir up the stagnant water. In the end, the people will definitely benefit. Readers can buy cheap and high-quality books, which is a very good thing.

Moreover, when paper becomes cheaper, large-scale novels will begin to emerge.

The explosion of vernacular novels in the Ming Dynasty was due to the cheapness of paper.

He would love to see such a cultural explosion happening in his own area.

but……

We cannot allow Zheng Yuanwai to take over the entire market alone. Without competition, a monopoly will be formed. Once a monopoly is formed, Zheng Yuanwai's paper mill will become a second "official paper mill" and become arrogant and stupid.

Yue Wenxuan thought to himself: I need to urge the official workshop to come out and compete with Zheng Yuanwai. Or I can find another private investor, support them, and let them compete with Zheng Yuanwai... I can't let any one faction monopolize the papermaking business in Jiaoshui County. First, I'll start by urging the official workshop. I need to discuss this with the Jiaoshui County Magistrate.

However, the Jiaoshui County Magistrate is not in a good condition now. This guy still regards Madam Gong Er as a thief, and Wang Zhaoye as an "overstepping prince". In the eyes of this county magistrate, the prince and Madam Gong Er will sooner or later be dealt with by the court. He is a clean and honest county magistrate who came from the imperial examination system, and he cannot mix with these two people who have gone astray.

Yue Wenxuan is thinking about this matter...

Then he saw a fat little scholar running over, bowed deeply to him, and said quickly: "Master Yue, I have been looking for you in the city for a long time, and finally you are here selling books."

Yue Wenxuan: "Oh? What do you want from me?"

The little fat man said, "Regarding the report on the spring plowing work in the two states and eight counties, you said last time that this matter is very important. I must find you as soon as possible and report it to you clearly."

This fat little scholar was one of the dozen or so scholars who attacked the Khitan city gate guards in Changyi County. He used to be Ji Menghan's follower. Now Ji Menghan went to Jimo County and became a "palace staff member", but the fat little scholar did not make a living in the palace. He returned to Jiaoshui County and became a staff member for Madam Gong Er.

Hearing him talk about spring plowing, Yue Wenxuan nodded and said, "Tell me about it."

The little fat man quickly reported...

The spring plowing work in two states and four counties is being carried out vigorously under the leadership of eight directors, eight deputy directors and sixteen agricultural officers.

As the saying goes, a new official starts with three things to do. The sixteen agricultural officers, newly appointed, were at their most enthusiastic. Every day was packed with activity, not only teaching students but also personally leading teams to organize the people to carry out spring plowing using the "new farming method."

They obtained their official positions thanks to the "New Farming Law", so naturally they highly praised the "New Farming Law". If any farmer did not listen to them and used the old method to farm in a hypocritical manner, he would be punished if caught by them.

Of course, they were new officials, with shallow roots, inadequate means, and weak ability to arrest people. They could not reach the rural areas that were a little further away from the county town.

Thus, an interesting scene was born.

In rural areas close to the county seat, the new farming methods were being promoted very smoothly. However, in rural areas a little further away, farmers continued to farm using the old methods, avoiding the supervision of agricultural officials.

After listening to this, Yue Wenxuan nodded and said, "That's quite interesting."

The little fat man lowered his voice and said, "Master Yue, why don't we send more soldiers to those rural areas far from the city, arrest a group of fools who refuse to use the new farming methods, and beat them with sticks in front of the whole village, so that we can..."

"No need!" Yue Wenxuan interrupted him. "A forced melon is not sweet. If they really don't want to, just let them be. Anyway, they will cry in the fall."

The little fat man saluted and was about to step away.

At this moment, someone came running from a distance. This time it was an island refugee soldier under Wu Zhan.

This soldier had come from Laizhou City. When he saw Yue Wenxuan, he shouted anxiously, "The Laizhou magistrate left his official seal and uniform on the yamen desk and ran away!"

(End of this chapter)