The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

Chapter 172 Eight hundred miles to Fuzhou

Nowadays, some people regularly send "Xunbao" to Quanzhou and Zhangzhou for sale. There are even bound volumes of "Xunbao" in Jianyang - they are all made into pirated books, and they even sell better than "Xunbao" in Fuzhou City. The original version of "Xunbao" is still expensive, but the sales volume is actually very good.

Even "Xunbao" has traveled across the ocean, and many businessmen brought "Xunbao" on board ships, making it gradually circulated.

There are some readers in Korea, Japan, and Western Chinese. Although the number is not large, it will definitely increase slowly in the future.

This has led to Xundao making more and more money.

Nowadays, the average sales volume of "Xun Bao" is [-] copies, and there are more than [-] taels of advertising fees for each issue. After deducting the operating costs, "Xun Bao" brings more than Sixty taels.

Three issues are issued every month, and the monthly income is a small two hundred taels.

Xu Xueju was certainly worried about the poor sales of "Xunbao", but the good sales also caught Xu Xueju off guard.

Because this fund is a bit difficult to pay.

The reason for all this is because the local government itself does not have the money.

The salaries of local officials were distributed by the court. In addition, the porters, boatmen, laborers, and printers in the yamen, and even the cattle, pigs, fish, and sheep needed for the yamen’s annual banquet—all had to come from the local area. Collection from the common people.

For example, at this time, Songjiang Prefecture had to transport more than [-] taels of gold and silver to the inner prefecture a year. However, in fact, the local government would collect nearly [-] taels more silver as "unloading silver" to pay for the local government's expenses. Human overhead.

Similarly, when collecting grain, the local government also levies additional fees for "rice consumption" and "rice pounding". Depending on the final direction of transportation of the grain, the local government may also charge "vessel silver", "car foot silver" and "Datong bridge price silver". And many more names.

If the journey is too far, the additional levy collected by the local government may even exceed a quarter of the regular tax.

As the superior administrative unit of the Chief Envoy Si Yamen, its Tangbao House is a place supported by the common people. It is good if it does not collect more taxes every year. Xu Xueju initially felt that there were so many redundant staff in the Tangbao House and he had to give them to them. Looking for something to do, Wang Wenlong started the "Xun Bao". As a result, the income from "Xun Bao" can now exceed [-] taels per month, which is [-] taels a year. The more he earns, the more he earns.

Xu Xueju had spent as much as he could, selling rice and noodles to the yamen, and he could only use up one or two hundred taels a year, which was enough.

As for putting money into their own pockets, neither Xu Xueju nor Wang Wenlong would do that.

The two of them already made a lot of money by supplying wax paper and ink to "Xun Bao".

What the yamen are most afraid of when doing things is that someone will take advantage of them. If they put the money from the "Xunbao" in their pockets, their subordinates will definitely follow suit in a few days. In a few days, "Xunbao" will not want to make money. It will be good if it can not lose money. It will definitely end up going bankrupt in the end.

Both of them knew the importance of public opinion, but they didn't want to kill the "Xun Bao" they had raised so hard.

Wang Wenlong suggested: "The one or two thousand taels of silver every year must be found somewhere to go. It is better to invest in other things."

Xu Xueju nodded: "It doesn't matter if you leave it alone. If you can't spend it, you will naturally invest again. You just need to think carefully about what to invest in."

Wang Wenlong said: "Since we are doing things in the yamen, we always have to consider our reputation. It is best to do something that the people like to see and that is beneficial to us."

"With Jianyang's words, I feel relieved." Xu Xueju laughed.

Xu Xueju was not stupid. He didn’t need to ask Wang Wenlong to figure out the idea of ​​yamen running the tertiary industry. As long as money can be invested in a way, no one has the right to take the money from the hands of the chief envoy Si Yamen. Get rid of it, as long as it doesn't contain any insects.

The key is that he doesn't have time to bother to intervene in this matter. He still thinks that Wang Wenlong will handle the funds, so he naturally has to know what Wang Wenlong thinks. Now that Wang Wenlong had exactly the same idea as him, Xu Xueju breathed a sigh of relief.

The two discussed for a while, and Wang Wenlong put forward a few suggestions, such as building a sweet potato vermicelli factory. However, this scale could not consume an investment of two thousand taels a year. This amount of money was enough to start a big business.

The discussion lasted for a long time without reaching a conclusion. Fortunately, he was not in a hurry. Wang Wenlong got up and sent Xu Xueju away.

The two of them had just walked out of the newspaper office and before they turned into the Yamen, they saw a strong man riding over.

The horse had obviously been running for a long time, and it was breathing hot breath from its mouth. The rider on the horse was also similar. It was almost winter, but he was sweating profusely.

I saw the knight wearing a thick leather belt around his waist, a big bell hanging on his body, and a backpack on his back, which contained a raincoat, a blunderbuss, a torch, and dry food.

Seeing how he was dressed, Wang Wenlong and Xu Xueju looked startled at the same time, and then Xu Xueju's subordinates quickly went up and asked, "But are you looking for Master Fantai?"

When the man saw Xu Xueju, he knew he was a high official. He quickly dismounted and knelt down, presented a letter protected by a pair of plywood, and took out his own talisman and Muharram calendar.

"I am from a delivery shop in Fuqing. I have a letter from the capital that is [-] miles away and must be urgently sent to Xu Fantai in Fuzhou."

Xu Xueju nodded and quickly took the splint.

During the period of Zhu Yuanzhang, the Ming Dynasty established a very complete post station system.

At this time, the nearest post station to Fuzhou was the express delivery shop in Fuqing. This kind of place was set up next to the official road, and each shop soldier would hang a bell.

The lights of the courier shop are always on day and night, and there are more than two couriers on duty at any time. When you hear the ringing of the bells of the brothers from the previous courier shop, you will immediately get a full set of equipment, mount your horse, and sign the Hijri to accept the package from the previous courier shop. , hang up his own bell and rush to the next bunk, one bunk at a time to deliver important supplies or emergency information to the destination. The important supplies do not leave the road or take shelter from the rain during the whole process. Li Zicheng's postmen did this kind of work. The road was not calm these days, and Pu Bing went on the road alone, delivering important things. The work was very dangerous, and Pu Bing carried weapons and was ready to fight single-handedly at any time.

So don't think that a postman like Li Zicheng is just a postman who waits on the horse and behind the horse. He must have some skills, otherwise he wouldn't be able to do this job at all.

This is already the fastest express delivery system at this time. It takes [-] days to reach the Yunnan border from the capital, and only [-] days to Fuzhou.

Yu Shenxing, who became a scholar a few years ago, wrote a poem in Yu Ge Lao that can reflect the speed of the station: "The anchovies in June bring the snow and cold, and they travel three thousand miles to Chang'an." - Anchovies caught from Zhenjiang in the hot summer travel eight miles It’s been expedited from hundreds of miles away and delivered to the capital, and it’s still fresh, so you can make sashimi without any problem.

This was Wang Wenlong's first time in this era when he saw Xu Xueju walking into the Yamen in a hurry with a letter. Wang Wenlong helped Xu Xueju sign the calendar and then quickly followed in.

The cost of expediting at [-] miles is very high, and it will not be used unless it is an urgent matter. No wonder the expression on Xu Xueju's face is so solemn, and Wang Wenlong also feels strange, why is his name still included in the list of signees?

He didn't know anyone in the capital.

Entering the inner room, Wang Wenlong stared at Xu Xueju, wanting to know what happened. Xu Xueju opened the splint and glanced at the information inside. He was stunned for a long time. Then he looked at Wang Wenlong with a shocked look on his face, and finally wrote the letter with a wry smile. Hand it to him.

"Jianyang, take a look."

Wang Wenlong took it in confusion, took a look, and was instantly stunned.

The signature of the letter was that of Ge Lao Shen, and the content of the letter was to tell Xu Xueju and Wang Wenlong that Wang Wenlong's various documents written in Changzhou were orally issued by Wanli and then sent to the cabinet for approval...

When Wang Wenlong wrote this announcement, he never expected such a result, while Xu Xueju on the side was greatly shocked.

What kind of aide are you?

I asked for leave to go to Changzhou and was dragged by a group of bigwigs to attend the Zhusheng Conference. It didn't matter that I took the lead in writing the memorial. There were hundreds of memorials in the world, and Wang Wenlong's memorial actually came out on top.

He knew that Wang Wenlong was provocative, but this provocation was too exaggerated.

Xu Wei, as Hu Zongxian's staff, helped Hu Zongxian write "Into the White Deer Biao" and was appreciated by the emperor. It only caused some discussion in the court, while Wang Wenlong's text was directly handed over to the cabinet for approval.

This is even more powerful than Xu Wei and Xu Wenchang.

Wang Wenlong, a supervisory student, actually became the leader in the world among the high-ranking officials in the Manchu Dynasty!

Wang Wenlong was in a state of confusion after reading the letter. After a long time, he smiled awkwardly and said to Xu Xueju: "Dong Weng, let me tell you the content of this article first..."

Xu Xueju nodded and asked Wang Wenlong to sit down and listen attentively.

Shen always wrote to him because both of them were from Zhejiang, and Xu Xueju was considered a peripheral member of the Zhejiang Party. The letter also contained words of advice to Xu Xueju and Wang Wenlong.

Obviously Wang Wenlong's letter was somewhat unusual, and at this time Wang Wenlong also knew that the matter was serious.

If his article is sent to the cabinet, it will definitely cause discussion in the court. He has no chance to manipulate such a big matter.

Shen Guanhui's letter showed that Mr. Shen Ge had not assigned him to the enemy's side for the time being. At this time, it was natural to explain the matter clearly to Xu Xueju first.

Wang Wenlong explained the process of writing his proclamation in detail. After listening to it, Xu Xueju couldn't help but sigh and commented: "This encounter in Jianyang is really magical..."

He is almost fifty years old. Considering the marriage age of people at this time, Wang Wenlong's father is rich. His eldest son is even one year older than Wang Wenlong. When the two get along, Xu Xueju has always treated him as an elder. Wang Wenlong's.

But this time he was indeed a little envious of Wang Wenlong's fortune.

Xu Xueju also worked as a public official after passing the Jinshi examination. At that time, he also thought about doing something like this and being the leader in the world.

However, there are dozens of academic officials in the six subjects alone. The competition among the imperial officials in the Yushitai and various high-ranking officials in the Hanlin Academy is very strong.

It is not easier for Yan Guan to write a text and make it known to the world than to pass the imperial examination.

During Xu Xueju's career as a public official in science and technology, he cooperated with the Donglin Party in the court to save Li Sancai. At that time, he also put forward some suggestions that were praised by the court, but they were just suggestions from the crowd. Just one of the officials.

Until Xu Xueju went out to work as a local official, he never got a chance to shine in Qingliu.

But I didn't expect that Wang Wenlong was born in commoner, and his writing went straight to heaven.

Xu Xueju couldn't help but imagine that if he could achieve such glory at a young age like Wang Wenlong, it would be worth dying.

(End of this chapter)