The Ming Dynasty started with saving the eldest grandson

Chapter 377 Untitled
In the next few days, Chen Jingke wrote down the concepts of internal and external circulation, and then convened the Cabinet, the Ministry of Revenue and the Gold Banknote Bureau for consultation.

As expected, this strategy once again shocked everyone.

No one expected that the economy could be played this way.

If this circulation system can really be established, the Ming Dynasty will usher in an unprecedented great era.

And all of them will leave a mark in history books because of this.

As for Chen Jingke who proposed this theory... they have become numb.

Don’t be surprised by any theory proposed by Chen Bandu.

Now everyone knows that he has a complete set of strategies for governing the country in his mind, which he is throwing out bit by bit.

Everyone is looking forward to what groundbreaking policies he will come up with.

Time quickly came to the beginning of October. Chen Jingke was on a day off and had nothing to do, so he went for a stroll on the street.

I met several people holding watches on the road, and their walking postures were so proud.

He wanted to let everyone in the world know that he bought a watch.

As the first batch of merchants who bought the watches successfully imitated them, this thing finally became popular all over the country.

The imperial court also let go and took advantage of the last period of time to sell off large quantities of goods to generate as much revenue as possible for the national treasury.

However, the court will adjust its strategy and specialize in producing luxury watches.

No one else can snatch this job away. There is no other way. Only the imperial court can make the glass surface.

As long as the method of glass production was kept secret, only the imperial court could make the most luxurious clocks.

The watch workshop of Luoxia Academy has also been put into operation. It is not large in scale, but it follows a trendy style.

It is unique in appearance and material and is very popular.

After all, others can only copy it, but it is difficult to modify the movement.

The academy has mastered the principles of clock manufacturing and can make adjustments according to actual needs, as well as carry out a series of upgrades and improvements.

For a long time to come, the academy's watch workshop will set the trend.

With the share given by the imperial court, the academy’s funding problem has been solved and it only needs to wait for its fruits to come to fruition.

Watches have had a special status since their birth.

Scholars and businessmen are very fond of it.

Scholars use this to show that they value time, while businessmen use it because punctuality is a must in business activities.

As for officials, they all had a clock at home, and there was at least one clock in the government office.

This is used to determine the working hours.

When the middle and upper classes of society all start to pursue something, a trend is created.

The clock soon became an iconic object in the family, somewhat similar to the three-turn and one-ring clock of a certain period in the previous life.

But this thing is really not cheap. Even a strong man who works hard for a year without eating or drinking cannot afford to buy one.

It's really not something that ordinary people can afford.

Therefore, buying a watch became a symbol of strength and something very glorious and worth showing off.

Every family that can afford it will be envied by everyone.

In fact, compared to making money from watches, what makes Chen Jingke happier is that watches have improved everyone's sense of time.

In the past, when people made appointments to meet, they would always give a more general time.

For example, meeting in the morning or afternoon rarely requires a specific time.

Then a situation will arise where some people go early in the morning, while others go at noon.

It is very inconvenient and will cause unnecessary trouble.

It’s not that they don’t want to make an appointment for a more specific time, but that they lack convenient and accurate timekeeping tools.

The emergence of clocks has solved this problem to a certain extent.

Subtly, it strengthened everyone's sense of time.

Of course, this trend has just begun to emerge.

If we really want the entire nation to strengthen their sense of time, clocks need to be further popularized, and we may even have to wait until more convenient pocket watches and wristwatches appear.

But at least, the Ming Dynasty was on the right track.

Not long after I walked out, I saw a few children about eleven or twelve years old with a cloth bag hanging around their necks, which was filled with thick newspapers.

"Selling newspapers... selling newspapers... the Ming Weekly, edited by the Hanlin Academy..."

"My dear, please buy one, eleven cents each..."

Chen Jingke stopped to watch. This scene was both strange and familiar.

It felt strange because he had never seen a newsboy in his previous life, and it felt familiar because he often saw him in movies and TV dramas.

The first issue of the Ming Weekly was finally published, and it was Chen Jingke’s suggestion that newsboys sell newspapers.

Although the Ming Dynasty adopted many policies to benefit the people, most families were still below the poverty line.

Hiring some teenagers from poor families to sell newspapers can increase sales and generate income for poor families.

The newspapers were wholesaled to newspaper boys for ten cents, and they sold them for eleven cents, making a profit of one cent per copy.

Of course, if the buyer doesn't mind the trouble, he can go to the local newspaper outlet to buy it for ten cents a copy.

Most people who need newspapers don't care about this penny.

So, it's a good business.

But newspapers were a new thing after all, and no one paid any attention to them.

Not a single copy was sold in half a day.

Chen Jingke stepped forward and took out a ten-cent note and a copper coin:
"Give me one."

A newsboy excitedly handed over a newspaper: "Thank you, sir. I wish you success in the imperial examination."

Chen Jingke smiled in his heart, this boy is very smart.

He rolled up the newspaper and held it in his hand, saying, "How many copies have you sold?"

The young man said somewhat dejectedly: "You are the first one to buy it."

Chen Jingke was a little confused and asked again: "How long have you been out?"

The young man replied: "I came out early in the morning..."

Although Luoyang is the capital, there are also poor people.

And as it is a big city, the poor are even poorer.

Since the implementation of the equal-field system, all the people in the countryside have been allocated land.

As long as you are willing to work, you can have something to eat.

It’s different from big cities. The poor here are real proletarians, and their poverty is heartbreaking.

Children from poor families have to grow up early. They heard that the imperial court was recruiting people to sell newspapers and they could earn one penny for each copy.

The key is that you can take the newspaper first and pay after selling it.

How could they miss such a good opportunity which was almost equivalent to making money with no cost? Families sent their children over one after another.

These children also came here with dreams.

After all, even if only three or five portions are sold a day, it is enough for a family of three or five to have a meal.

If I could sell ten copies, the money I earned would be enough to cover my father’s daily salary.

However, reality poured cold water on them.

From morning till now, only Chen Jingke bought one.

Most people don't even glance at it, and a few people will ask what a newspaper is.

However, how could these children who could not read a single word know any of this?

It was the same few sentences repeated over and over again: a weekly newspaper sponsored by the Hanlin Academy, something not to be missed if you pass by.

Hearing this, Chen Jingke had roughly guessed where the problem lay, and asked one last question:
“Where do you sell them?”

The young man said, "I went to places where there were a lot of people, such as markets, places where people worked... I went there."

Chen Jingke thought to himself that it was indeed so.

Although there were many people in the market, most of them were ordinary people. In the era when literacy rate was low, most of them were illiterate. They would not spend a day's salary to buy a weekly newspaper that they didn't know what it was.

To put it bluntly, the place where people work is a coolie market, and there are even fewer people who can read and write.

In these places, there's no chance of selling it.

So he said:
"You have chosen the wrong place. Newspapers can only be understood by literate people. You should go to a place where there are many literate people."

"Or you can go to a place where there are more merchants."

The young man said timidly: "The scholars are all masters, we dare not go."

Chen Jingke was silent for a moment before continuing:
"But you sell newspapers for the Hanlin Academy. They don't dare to do anything to you."

"If someone steals your newspaper, just remember what he looks like and then go find the person who gave you the newspaper."

"They will naturally go looking for trouble with those scholars."

The young man's eyes lit up, and he still couldn't believe it and asked, "Really?"

The other kids selling newspapers also looked very excited.

Chen Jingke smiled and said, "Of course it's true... But there's something wrong with what you're shouting about. You should tell your customers what a newspaper is."

Then, he told the teenagers the specific meaning of the newspaper.

I also designed a few new advertising slogans for them.

For example, when facing a scholar, he would shout: The handwritten articles of the Supreme Emperor, the Emperor, or the Crown Prince... should not be missed.

When facing businessmen, they shout: national policies, business information, price changes...

Although they did not fully understand what it meant, driven by the interests at stake, they still tried hard to memorize it.

Seeing that they had memorized it, Chen Jingke said, "Go ahead. If you delay any longer, you won't have enough time."

The young man bowed deeply to him and said, "Thank you, my lord. You are a good man."

Chen Jingke smiled and waved, watching them leave.

This clever young man left a good impression on him.

But he did not ask the other party's name, nor did he play the role of an old grandfather and give the other party any great opportunity.

Forcing things to grow is not necessarily a good thing.

It is enough to give him a little help and let him earn money within his ability.

If he really has the ability, we will see each other again sooner or later.

And don’t think that selling newspapers has no future. Once the reputation of Daming Weekly spreads, there will be people waiting for them on the street.

It’s no problem to sell dozens of copies a day.

That is a profit of several dozen cents, more than what several coolies earn in a day.

Moreover, selling newspapers is itself a writing-related job.

If you are really determined and slowly learn to read, it will be easier for you to succeed than ordinary people.

After the children disappeared from his sight, Chen Jingke opened the newspaper and started reading.

The layout and content have not changed at all, it is exactly the same as the last time I saw it.

The difference is that the quality of the paper is much worse and it feels noticeably rougher.

Of course, the deterioration is only relative.

There's absolutely no problem using this thing to paste walls or something like that.

Pasting newspapers on the walls is also a memory of several generations.

The ink also lost its fresh fragrance and became just the smell of ink, and it had obviously changed to the most common one.

But it does not affect reading.

This is a real newspaper.

Let’s talk about those young men. They came to a place where scholars gathered with trepidation and shouted a few times bravely.

Originally, the readers were not interested and even thought they were a bit noisy.

After hearing what the weekly report was and that it contained articles by the retired emperor, the emperor and the crown prince, people came to buy it immediately.

Eleven cents is nothing to them.

Understanding the thoughts of the Supreme Emperor, the Emperor and the Crown Prince will be beneficial for the imperial examinations and future political career.

Must buy.

After I got it, I found that the content was so rich that I felt it was worth the money.

After all, it usually costs dozens or hundreds of coins to buy a book, and a large book may even cost several strings of coins, dozens, or even hundreds of strings of coins.

The content of this newspaper is equivalent to several books.

The fonts in books are usually large, with only a few words on a page. Newspapers use tiny fonts and are compactly laid out.

Hence, it is full of content.

So, for these readers, newspapers are really good value for money.

The only question now is what the content will be.

Many people are also doubting whether the content is worth spending the eleven cents.

Although this amount of money is nothing, no one wants to be taken advantage of.

If they have a good relationship with the person, they can go to the person who is buying the newspaper and ask for help, but if they are not familiar with the person, they will not be able to bring themselves to do so.

You can't just go over and say, how about lending it to me and having a look?

Just as they were hesitating, they heard the teenagers shout: Look before you buy.

Can you actually see before you buy?

Now many people who were still hesitating immediately gathered around, ordered one and started watching from the side.

They didn't dare to take the money and run away. After all, there were educated people around them, and it would be very embarrassing if they did such a thing.

The key point is that these newsboys appear to be employed by the Hanlin Academy, and no one knows what kind of employment relationship they have.

Don’t dare to bully these children casually.

The layout of the newspaper was still a little unfamiliar to them, and it took them a while to find the beginning.

Then I discovered that the first article was actually written by the emperor.

There are articles by the emperor and the prince.

Many of the subsequent articles were compiled by senior officials in the court.

Chen Jingke, Li Shanchang, Qiu Guangan and others all have articles on it.

The content is also very diverse, some talk about official administration, some talk about governing the people, some talk about new policies, and some talk about academics.

Among them, Li Shanchang talked about the idea of ​​rule of law.

Lan Yu actually also wrote an article about civilized military management.

After reading this, everyone is basically convinced that this newspaper is useful, very useful.

There was no hesitation and many people bought one.

Soon, all the newspapers of these newsboys were sold out, and many people who heard the news later sighed with regret because they didn't get a copy.

The clever boy rolled his eyes and shouted loudly:
"We will come again early tomorrow morning. Gentlemen, if you want to buy, you can find us here."

When the readers heard this, they were naturally very happy and ordered a copy one after another.

Until someone asked, "About what time can you arrive?"

The clever boy looked confused: "Huh?"

He had no idea what time it was.

At this time, another scholar said:

"Do they look like someone who can afford a watch? Don't ask. If you want to buy one, come here early."

The clever boy felt a little ashamed, for he knew about clocks, and there was one right where he got the newspaper, but he did not recognize it.

I couldn't help but secretly make up my mind that I must learn to recognize clocks and keep track of time more accurately.
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At this moment, Zhu Chong in Anxi Bay faced a crucial battle.

(End of this chapter)