Da Ming: Father, step aside, I'll be the prime minister!

Chapter 14 Beijing Merchants
"Who are you? Show yourself!"

Downstairs at the inn, porters in blue robes and short jackets squatted or formed a semi-circle, among whom one or two men with a rough understanding of literature were reciting "The Cases of Judge Dee of the Tang Dynasty" in a rhythmic and expressive manner.

Sometimes he would imitate the official in the book, slamming his fist on the table, and other times he would imitate the prisoner, trembling like a leaf.

Cheers erupted from the crowd, and several children squeezed to the front, their eyes wide with surprise.

The sounds of storytelling filled the air in the marketplace.

But Fourth Brother Zhang Jianxiu's happiness was not the same as theirs.

On the contrary, he felt his intelligence had been greatly insulted.

He even felt that Zhang Yunxiu was playing some kind of word game with him.

His nostrils flared like an old ox as he spoke angrily.

"Start a newspaper? Isn't it all about making money by selling newspapers? You can't even break even with five coins!"

Five coins! Zhang Jianxiu felt his heart bleeding.

Given the popularity of the Wanli Xinbao, even if the price were 100 or 500 coins, there would definitely be people willing to buy it!
But Zhang Yunxiu disagreed and insisted on setting the price at five coins.

Zhang Jianxiu couldn't understand it and just thought his younger brother was a bit dim-witted.

"Big brother still doesn't understand!"

Zhang Yunxiu sighed, picked up a newspaper from the table, and tapped on the blank space at the top.

"Our newspaper"

Just as I was about to explain, I heard hurried footsteps coming upstairs outside.

"Boom boom boom!"

"It's all over, it's all over." Zhang Jianxiu's face turned deathly pale with fright, and he immediately wanted to jump out of the window.

Just then, a familiar voice came from outside.

"You two are me, sirs. I am the clerk under Master Yu."

Hearing this, Zhang Jianxiu finally breathed a sigh of relief. He angrily opened the door and spoke to the outside.

"Why are you in such a hurry? Are you rushing to be reincarnated?"

The clerk shrank back, noticing that the Jinyiwei official seemed to have a bad temper, so he turned to Zhang Yunxiu and said.

"My lords, Master Yu has asked me to bring you a message."

As they were talking, the clerk stepped forward and handed a slip of paper to Zhang Yunxiu.

Zhang Yunxiu took it and smiled.

"What did I mean? It's just the number of newspapers printed and shipped!"

"How much did you sell?"

Fourth Brother Zhang Jianxiu immediately came over, his bull-like eyes widening in surprise.

"More than 33,000 copies!"

The clerk laughed and said, "Thanks to the two gentlemen, the Wanli New Daily is a huge hit in the capital! In just one and a half days, it sold more than 30,000 copies. In the past, a single edition of the Liangshan Marsh storybook could only sell three or four thousand copies."

"This newspaper, sir, is truly admirable."

There's no specific reference point, but it's certainly a terrifying number.

The capital city has a population of only about one million, which means that one in thirty people bought a newspaper.

This is enough to show just how popular the Wanli Xinbao was.

But Zhang Jianxiu, the fourth brother, showed no joy. Instead, he felt even more remorse, and his hand holding the note trembled slightly.

"Money~ It's all money~ My money~"

He was heartbroken.

"Fifth Brother, if you had priced the newspaper at five hundred cash, that would have been over ten thousand taels of silver! But now, it's only a little over one hundred taels!"

Zhang Yunxiu looked at his fourth brother as if he were a fool, and explained helplessly.

"When prices rise, sales fall; it's a trade-off, so there's actually no difference."

“The money we make is a bit less,” the clerk added. “But it’s a steady stream. We publish every three days, and we can make a gross profit of over a thousand taels a month, which is already a pretty good business.”

In the Ming Dynasty, a bookseller in the capital city who could make four or five hundred taels of silver a month was considered to be among the top earners.

Therefore, this income is certainly acceptable for Jianyang Bookstore.

“Distant water can't quench immediate thirst,” sighed Zhang Jianxiu, the fourth brother. “If this drags on for a few months, Father will have already dislocated my leg.” Ignoring his brother, Zhang Yunxiu looked at the clerk and asked, “What about the matter I asked Yu Xiangdou to handle? Has he arrived?”

The clerk immediately replied respectfully, "Reporting to you, sir, Master Yu has already gone to make preparations and should be arriving at the inn soon."

“Alright!” Zhang Yunxiu nodded and said. “Then let’s find a spacious room and properly entertain our God of Wealth!”

"The God of Wealth?" Zhang Jianxiu frowned.

Two incense sticks later.

Seeing a group of merchants from the capital sitting in the hall, Zhang Jianxiu belatedly realized what Zhang Yunxiu wanted to do.

Zhang Yunxiu sat in the most prominent position, looking at the overweight merchants of Beijing with great enthusiasm, as if they were a flock of delicious little lambs.

Yu Xiangdou was already prepared. He bent down and introduced Zhang Yunxiu to each person.

"Let me introduce you, sir. These are all prominent merchants in the capital: Mr. Zhao of Ruijin Silk Shop, Mr. Wang of Cuiyu Tower, and Mr. Xie of Xiangmingju."

The merchants he pointed to all stood up and bowed to Zhang Yunxiu.

"I've met Mr. Zhang."

Zhang Yunxiu glanced at the merchants and nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, let's all sit down and talk."

The merchants then obediently sat down, not daring to show the slightest disrespect to a powerful scion like Zhang Yunxiu.

After glancing at the personnel again, Zhang Yunxiu said with a hint of dissatisfaction.

"Where is Chen Mama from Huayue Residence?"

Yu Xiangdou's face stiffened, and he said somewhat awkwardly, "Well...Mother Chen hasn't been feeling well these past few days, so I'm afraid she can't come."

Zhang Yunxiu said angrily, "Is Mother Chen feeling unwell? I think you just don't want anyone to come?"

"I, a commoner, deserve to die!" Yu Xiangdou was startled and immediately knelt down.

"Alright then." Zhang Yunxiu blew on the steaming tea. "Let it go this time. We're out doing business, we can't discriminate against people. We're open to business, anyone can come in. As long as they're honest, I, Zhang Yunxiu, am very easy to get along with."

Yu Xiangdou tried to play a trick, but Zhang Yunxiu saw through it. He immediately kowtowed and said, "Don't worry, my lord, I will keep it in mind."

Zhang Yunxiu coughed once and then looked gently at the merchants.

"Gentlemen, you should know the purpose of this trip, right?"

The owner of the Jade Pavilion, a senior figure and leader, said in a respectful but hoarse voice, "It must be about the Wanli New Daily, right? I have read the newspaper published by you, sir, and it is truly ingenious! In just one day, who in the capital does not know about it?"

This newspaper is a new thing, and a good thing. We lowly merchants also hope to share in the good fortune of this newspaper, following in the footsteps of our lord!

Wang Dongjia's words were clearly prepared in advance.

In this world, businessmen have the keenest sense of smell. Before Zhang Yunxiu even released the news, they had already caught wind of it and approached Yu Xiangdou.

Another merchant said, "What Boss Wang said is true. This newspaper is selling nearly ten thousand copies. For a time, paper was scarce in Luoyang. If we merchants could place one or two advertisements, we would definitely benefit greatly!"

"Please have mercy, Your Excellency!" Wang Dongjia immediately stood up, bowed, and paid his respects.

The other merchants also stood up and cheered.

"Please, Your Excellency, have mercy!"

Fourth Brother Zhang Jianxiu was stunned, his mouth agape.

It can still be like this?
So, the money Zhang Yunxiu was talking about was made by relying on these merchants?

Placing advertisements in newspapers and leveraging their publicity to sell advertising space is an absolutely brilliant idea!

Advertising did exist during the Ming Dynasty, but it was still rare.

It's normal that Zhang Jianxiu, who isn't involved in business, couldn't figure out the reason.

But the businessman was very astute and immediately figured out the trick.

"In that case."

Zhang Yunxiu smiled slightly and clapped his hands.

"Master Yu, please display our prices."

"Got it."

Yu Xiangdou was as docile as a kitten at this moment. He took out a scroll from his pocket, slowly unfolded it in front of everyone, and then held it up to show it off.

"Please take a look."

(End of this chapter)