There is an old saying in Beijing that the east is rich and the west is expensive, and the south is poor and the north is cheap.

The meaning of this sentence is that there are nine gates in the inner city of Beijing. According to the direction, there are four urban districts in the east, west, north and south, commonly known as "four nine cities". In different periods, the residents of each urban area have their own characteristics, but generally speaking, the two urban districts in the east and west are inhabited by high-ranking officials and wealthy people, while the southern and northern urban districts are mostly inhabited by ordinary people, artisans with relatively lowly status, and low-class artists.

At the beginning, when Yang Feng placed the headquarters of the newspaper in Nancheng District, it was opposed by many people, but at Yang Feng's insistence, everyone had no choice but to give up, in fact, Yang Feng not only placed the headquarters of the newspaper in Nancheng District, but even the newly built printing house was also placed there.

The newly built printing factory is a place with an area of six courtyards, especially in the middle of which there is a large warehouse that covers an area of more than 500 square meters, and in this warehouse is placed a circular flat letterpress that Yang Feng got from the modern society.

This kind of printing press, commonly known as the embossing cylinder, was invented by the Germans in another time and space in the nineteenth century, and what Yang Feng values most about this printing press is that it can not only be powered by electricity, but can also be driven by manpower and even animal power when there is no electricity, which is the most important reason why Yang Feng chose this printing press.

These days, the news that Yang Feng is looking for an engraving and typesetting master leaked out for some reason, and then Chen Tian, who was transferred by Yang Feng to assist Da Yuer and Zheng Toniang, suddenly found that the engraving masters and typesetting masters on the market suddenly became in demand.

Things have come to this point, if Da Yu'er, who was originally in charge of this part, didn't know that someone was making trouble, it would be in vain, and she felt that the gaffe was serious, and she immediately informed Yang Feng of the matter.

"Husband...... I'm sorry I messed up what you gave me. ”

Looking at Da Yu'er, who was standing next to him with her head down, Yang Feng only felt a little funny, he stretched out his hand and pulled her into his arms and comforted: "Bumu Butai, you don't have to be frustrated, if the opponent will do this, it proves that they have noticed something, but it doesn't matter, the more they do this, the more it proves that they have begun to be afraid." Isn't it just a few typesetting masters, I don't believe it, they can poach all the typesetting masters, is it possible that they can also poach all those apprentices? In the next step, we will not invite typesetting masters, let's dig dozens of apprentices in one go, train them from scratch, I believe that it will not take half a month for them to start our printing press. ”

"Really?"

Da Yu'er, who was nestled in Yang Feng's arms, looked at Yang Feng with a pair of big round eyes, although she always looked disobedient to Yang Feng on weekdays, but in fact, it was still the girl's rebellious heart that was making trouble, in fact, she had already admitted her ability to Yang Feng in her heart, otherwise she would not have willingly followed Yang Feng to the pass with Da Yuer's stubborn temper.

"Of course!" Yang Feng's tone was still so sure: "You have to believe that the machine that Xianggong got back, although we don't have a skilled typesetting master, but this is not an insurmountable difficulty, although the apprentice will operate it slower in speed, but as long as more people are assigned to this difficulty, it is not impossible to serve customers." It doesn't matter if there is no typesetting master, I will teach them. ”

"You're going to teach?" Da Yu'er's eyes widened, he couldn't believe that his man could even typeset.

"What, you don't believe me?" Yang Feng's hand around Da Yu'er's slender waist tightened.

Yang Feng was also ruthless, although he had expected that the opening of his newspaper would not be so smooth, but in his expectation, those civil officials would not reflect it until at least a period of time after his newspaper was published, but what he didn't expect was that the reaction of these civil officials was greatly unexpected by him.

But this is not difficult for our Yang Daguan, it's just a typesetting, don't forget that behind Yang Feng is standing the entire modern civilized world, when Yang Feng bought the machine, the manufacturer came with a full set of instruction manuals. can't help but have written, even videos, Yang Feng doesn't believe that he can't fiddle with an antique-level printing press according to these videos.

"Bumu Butai, you gather those apprentices immediately, and tomorrow I will personally teach them how to operate these things." Yang Feng's eyes were full of confidence.

The next day, in the newly opened printing plant in the south of the city, Yang Feng began his teaching career in front of more than 30 young apprentices standing in front of him.

"The reason why typesetting is difficult is that it is difficult to find and combine, our ancestors have handed down a lot of Chinese characters, how to find out a man from the vast sea of words has become a big problem in front of us."

Listening to Yang Feng, who was talking about the above, the apprentices below all nodded with affection, there are too many men in Huaxia. According to incomplete statistics, there are tens of thousands of Chinese characters, and there are more than 3,000 words that are commonly used alone, and the reason why typesetting masters are respected as masters is that they can pick out the Chinese characters they need from the endless font library in the fastest time and then put them into the machine.

If you are an unfamiliar person, I am afraid that you will not be able to find the Chinese characters they need in a day, even if you find and use them, but when you want to put the Chinese characters back in place after the typesetting is completed, it is difficult to climb to the sky, which is also the reason why a good typesetting master is difficult to find.

A good typesetting master from the apprentice to the master, at least five to six years to learn, and some typesetting masters are not necessarily taught, the Chinese people have long pursued the custom of passing on their sons and daughters, so that they are more willing to pass on their unique skills to their sons, which is also the reason why there are not many typesetting masters on the market today, now Yang Feng a dignified uncle can actually teach them this technique in person, regardless of the level of the other party, this heart alone is enough to make these apprentices grateful.

"First of all, I'll teach you radical lookup......

In this way, Yang Feng taught these apprentices from scratch how to find the Chinese characters they needed from the font as quickly as possible, how to place the lead characters on the printing press, how to ink how to make the whole typesetting look better, and how to put the movable type printing back into the font after printing.

And during the period, it was not all smooth sailing, after all, Yang Feng is also learning and selling, and he sometimes doesn't understand many things, he has to go back to check the video materials and books, and most of the months have passed like this......

The editorial office of the newspaper's headquarters on the first day of August

Yang Feng sat on the main seat, Da Yu'er and Zheng Tuoniang sat on either side of him, and Lu Zijian and other editors sat on both sides, and at this time they were holding the manuscript paper in their hands and looking at it one by one.

Liang Jiulu Zijian was the first to put down the manuscript paper in his hand and let out a long sigh, the expression on his face was mixed with surprise, approval and aftertaste, and after a while he exclaimed: "Uncle, this script is so well written, it can be described as lifelike, especially the joys and sorrows of a big family The love of men and women is depicted to the bone, and the person who can write this book is really a great talent." ”

A middle-aged Xiucai sitting next to Lu Zijian also showed a hint of intoxication on his face and muttered: "Full of absurd words, a handful of bitter tears!" Duyun is an idiot, who understands the taste? After watching the first dozens of times, the students seemed to see the intrigues, grievances, and hatreds in a big family, which kept rolling in the students' minds. Uncle...... Students admire! ”

Zheng Toniang and Da Yu'er, who were sitting on both sides of Yang Feng, looked at Yang Feng, and their faces also showed a trace of pride and admiration. When Yang Feng took out this Dream of Red Mansions to show them a few days ago, they also showed such expressions, especially Zheng Tuoniang, who had also read a lot of scripts when she was in Qinhuaihe before, but it was the first time she had seen a script like this Dream of Red Mansions, and she still clearly remembered that when she saw this script for the first time, she shed tears of emotion for the story of Jia Baoyu, Lin Daiyu and Xue Baochai.

Looking at the people who looked at him with admiration, Yang Feng's old face turned red, and he waved his hand: "Everyone, this book was not written by Benbo, and Benbo can't write such a delicate thing, now Benbo just wants to ask you, if this book is published in our newly launched Pravda, will anyone read it?" ”

"There's no doubt about it!"

Lu Zijian replied with some hesitation: "But the students think that we named this newspaper Pravda, so the articles published in this newspaper are naturally more serious and serious, and it is a little inappropriate to publish even the script." ”

"Students don't see it that way!" The middle-aged Xiucai raised an objection: "Our newspaper has just been established, and there is no fame at all, and publishing some scripts on it can just attract the attention of ordinary people, which is very useful for expanding our fame, and the students think that publishing scripts is not contrary to our original intention of running a newspaper." ”

"That's a good point." Yang Feng looked at the middle-aged talent approvingly and asked, "Ben Bo still doesn't know your name?" ”

Seeing that Yang Feng took the initiative to ask for his name, the middle-aged Xiucai quickly stood up, with a flattered look on his face, and arched his hand: "Don't dare to ask Uncle Lao, student Liang Zixin." ”

"Liang Zixin, yes, very good."

Yang Feng nodded, and then said to everyone: "Everyone, Ben Bo said earlier that our Pravda is facing the vast number of ordinary people, if we always publish some boring words of saints, I'm afraid few people will like it, so we first have to publish some things that the people like to see, this book is just a stepping stone." Its purpose is to let the common people get acquainted with our newspaper, and only after our fame is known, can we talk about ideals. And let's not just say this, after you go back today, each of you will write a view on the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, and hand it over to the editor-in-chief tomorrow, and wait for the editor-in-chief to review it and publish it in Pravda, do you understand? ”

Editors, look at me, I look at you, and everyone's faces showed a look of surprise. They are just a group of ordinary readers, and there are too many people like them in the whole city of Beijing, and now Yang Feng actually told them that the articles they wrote can be published in the newspaper and widely published all over the world, which is simply the greatest praise for them.

I only heard a loud voice in the room: "Understood...... Thank you for your grace! ”

After the editors left, Yang Feng looked back and saw two pairs of shining eyes.

Zheng Toniang cautiously pulled Yang Feng's sleeve and asked, "Xianggong, the concubine also wants to publish an article in the newspaper, do you think it's okay?" ”

"You want to publish an article too?"

Zheng Tuoniang lowered her head a little weakly: "The concubine also knows that she has a bad background, but the concubine thinks that even these editors can publish their own articles in the newspaper, and the concubine should be able to be the editor-in-chief, right?" ”

"And me...... And me! Da Yu'er on the side was not to be outdone: "I've been studying hard lately, and I also want to publish my own articles on it." ”

"You guys!" Looking at the second daughter's eager eyes, Yang Feng thought for a while before nodding and said: "You can naturally publish, but you must remember that all articles must be handed over to me for final review before they can be published and distributed, and you can't use your own real name to sign it, do you understand?" ”

"Understood, thank you!"

When Zheng Tuoniang and Da Yu'er heard this, a smile appeared on their faces. Especially Da Yu'er was so excited that she took the initiative to kiss Yang Feng's face.

Weather on the fifth day of August in six years

On this day, a new thing appeared on the streets of Beijing, that is, the first newspaper of the Ming Dynasty was born, and this first 3,000-point newspaper began to be distributed in Beijing under the shouting of dozens of newspaper boys hired by the newspaper.

Of course, since it was the first issue, these newspapers were given away for free, and the main objects of gifts were various teahouses, taverns, inns and crowded places. When people get their hands on it, their first reaction is curiosity, and then it starts to be circulated. Soon, the content published in these newspapers began to spread slowly.

"Dream of Red Mansions? This is a very well-written book, but unfortunately it was only published twice. ”

This is the surprise of those young people or women in the boudoir after seeing the dream of the Red Mansion.

"Huh? Who wrote these articles about the current situation of the Ming Dynasty, it's simply ridiculous, and the old man can't stand it! No, the old man wants to write an article to refute them, isn't there the address of the newspaper here, and the old man will write an article and send it to that newspaper tomorrow! ”

This is the reaction of some veteran literati gentry after seeing those articles about the current situation in the Ming Dynasty, all in all, the first newspaper of Pravda did attract some people's attention after its release.