Wealthy beyond measure, yet you call me a sister-supporting-brother demon?

Five taels of silver? Why is this storybook so expensive?

"This is already a fair price. The storybook you have here is printed. How many copper coins would it take to print the whole storybook? Unlike the imperial examination books commonly used by scholars, which are in high demand and the copper coins can be reused many times, it's hard to say how many copies of a storybook we can sell, so the price is naturally higher. If you want something cheaper, you can buy this handwritten copy for only two taels." The waiter pointed to another book.

Yuan Sheng picked it up and looked at it. There were some corrections on a few words, but it looked pretty good. If he was really buying a storybook to read, this kind of handwritten copy would be more cost-effective. If he was buying it to collect, then a printed copy would naturally be better.

It seems that the main cost of the high price of vernacular novels was not paper or creative expenses, but printing costs. Movable type printing did not yet exist in this era; copperplate printing was still used. Each time a new book was printed, new copper plates had to be engraved, making printing costs extremely high.

Unless the book is widely distributed and the copper coins can be reused multiple times, printing costs cannot be reduced.

Yuan Sheng asked, "What about the fees for writing story authors?" This was what he was most concerned about.

Just as the waiter was about to speak, a middle-aged man dressed in a brocade robe, wearing a white jade crown, and sporting a beautiful beard stepped forward. "Young scholar, you're not here to buy a book, are you?"

Yuan Sheng bowed respectfully. Judging from the man's attire and elegant demeanor, his strength was definitely extraordinary. "Greetings, shopkeeper. I would like to know how your esteemed bookstore pays writers for their writing. I'd like to see if I can take on a story writing project."

Yuan Sheng was dressed in a blue robe and a square scarf on his head. With his extraordinary demeanor and self-proclaimed "young scholar," he looked quite like a scholar.

It wasn't that Yuan Sheng thought scholars were of a noble status and wanted to pretend to be a scholar to deceive people; it was just that he wanted to write vernacular novels, and the employers knew he hadn't read any books, so they wouldn't even bother with him.

Yuan Qingfeng sized up the young man before him. He was handsome, had a dashing demeanor, and bright, piercing eyes. He seemed quite good.

“I am the owner of a bookstore. Generally, there are three ways for bookstores to cooperate with authors. The first way, which is what many bookstores do now, is to support a group of scholars who have no hope of passing the imperial examinations, provide them with a fixed monthly salary, and let them create vernacular novels. Based on their creative performance, they are divided into three different monthly salaries: high, medium, and low. This kind of cooperation stifles the authors’ talent, and I don’t like it, so my bookstore does not have this kind of cooperation.”

"My studio uses the second and third cooperation methods. The second method is to pre-order and buy out the manuscript. If I think the author's ideas and writing style are good, I will pay the author in advance to commission the manuscript, and pay the manuscript fee for each issue. Of course, if the novel is a bestseller, the pre-order manuscript fee will naturally continue to increase."

"The third type of cooperation is a profit-sharing arrangement, where I do not pay the author a reservation fee, and after deducting the cost of the novel, my studio and the author split the profits 50/50."

Yuan Sheng nodded. So this was the owner of the bookstore. No wonder he was dressed so well. "Thank you for clearing up my doubts. I have an idea for a story novel. Do you have time to listen to it?"

Yuan Qingfeng waved his hand, "Go ahead." He felt an affinity for the young scholar in front of him.

"Li Chuan, a poor scholar, came from a family that had produced two scholars who passed the imperial examinations. Later, his family fell into poverty, and he often went hungry, suffering bullying from his neighbors. By chance, he learned that the Immortal Sword Sect of Qingyun Mountain was recruiting disciples with good aptitude, so he went to try his luck. The Immortal Sword Sect of Qingyun Mountain practiced Taoist techniques, seeking transcendence from the mortal world and the path to immortality. Li Chuan was fortunate enough to possess immortal bones, but because his bones were of average quality, he was only allowed to remain as an outer disciple. By chance, Li Chuan obtained an ink bottle, which he discovered could condense spiritual liquid. Drinking the liquid directly could enhance his cultivation. Watering plants with the spiritual liquid could yield immortal herbs, which could also aid in cultivation. Li Chuan's cultivation rapidly increased, and he was promoted to an inner disciple by the sect leader. With the sect leader's guidance and the blessing of the spiritual object, Li Chuan's cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds. At this time, however, he discovered that Zhang Qiang, an inner disciple who had entered the sect at the same time as him, had disappeared. It turned out that Zhang Qiang had been refined by the sect leader, and the sect leader's purpose in recruiting these disciples was not pure..."

The story Yuan Sheng was telling was adapted from a later novel, "A Certain Immortal's Journey to Immortality." The original novel's protagonist was a young boy from a mountain village, but Yuan Sheng changed him to a poor scholar. After all, the main buyers of storybooks were scholars, and a poor scholar could increase their sense of identification with the story, while a commoner's son would lack so much.

Yuan Qingfeng listened intently, "And then?"

Yuan Sheng kept everyone in suspense, saying, "I haven't figured out the rest of the story either. What do you think of my script?"

Yuan Qingfeng stroked his beard. “Your book is very captivating. Although today’s students take Confucianism as the orthodox school, many are also familiar with Taoist teachings. If I’m not mistaken, Li Chuan’s cultivation levels are divided into: Self-Refining and Foundation Building, Refining Essence into Qi, Refining Qi into Spirit, Refining Spirit into Emptiness, and Ascension to the Dao.”

“That’s true. Of course, there are also some smaller cultivation levels. You are indeed very knowledgeable, and so proficient in Taoist teachings.” Yuan Sheng gave a small compliment.

Yuan Qingfeng smiled and waved his hand, "You're the one who's amazing. The mainstream market for storybooks these days is all about romance between scholars, but you've managed to find a different angle and come up with a storybook on the theme of cultivating immortality. It's truly ingenious! I'm willing to offer fifty taels of silver to commission you to write one."

Yuan Sheng thought to himself, it's not that he's amazing, it's that Wang Yu is amazing.

"The concept for this story is extremely long. How many words are you asking for with this fifty taels?"

Yuan Qingfeng held up one finger, "Ten thousand words."

The waiter could tell that his employer was genuinely interested. "Young man," he said, "usually, the payment for commissioned articles is five taels or ten taels per ten thousand words. I've never offered such an exorbitant price as fifty taels before. Please consider it carefully."

"Moreover, think about it, the early handwritten copies of the storybooks were in small quantities and were easily bought and pirated for resale. Printed versions, on the other hand, could be published in large quantities at once. However, due to the high cost of producing copper plates, and not knowing the market response in the early stages, we dared not produce copper plates. The price the employer offered already carries the risk of losing money."

Yuan Sheng knew that what Xiao Er said made sense. The fee of fifty taels for ten thousand words was already very high. It seemed that this bearded uncle really liked this story. However, he wanted to choose a third way of cooperation. "Fifty taels for a manuscript is already high enough. However, I would like to choose a profit-sharing cooperation method."

Profit sharing? Profit sharing is actually the most preferred cooperation method for the study, as the study does not have to bear any risk and gets the money for free.

Yuan Qingfeng's eyes widened in surprise. "Are you sure you want to choose the revenue-sharing cooperation method?"

"determine."

Yuan Qingfeng admired Yuan Sheng even more, because only someone with enough confidence in their own story would choose a revenue-sharing partnership.

Yuan Qingfeng was unaware that Yuan Sheng's choice of a profit-sharing arrangement was primarily to test the character of this bearded man. Yuan Sheng possessed movable type printing technology; if he was certain that Yuan Qingfeng was honest in business and not greedy for small profits, he would utilize the movable type printing technology to significantly reduce printing costs.

Only then will their profits be truly substantial.