In the next few days, except for returning home to meet the princess at night, Gong Yonggu stayed at the newspaper office all day, but to his disappointment, the newspaper sales were decreasing day by day.

On the second day, about 10,000 copies were sold, on the third day it dropped sharply to more than 5,000 copies, then 4,000 copies, then more than 3,000 copies, and by the fifth day, in a whole day, the whole city of Beijing sold less than 1,000 copies. The total sales volume is only about 30,000 copies!

"That's good enough." When she went home and talked to Princess Anle about it, the princess comforted her softly.

"Although it is true that there are nearly one million people in the whole city of Beijing, how many people are literate? At most, there are two or three out of ten, this newspaper is all in the vernacular, and people who read it generally disdain to read it, and most of the people who buy the newspaper are those servants, craftsmen, subordinates, and ordinary people, who read and play as a pastime when they have nothing to do, and you still expect each of these people to buy a copy? ”

Gong Yonggu thought about it and felt that what the princess said was right.

However, it only sold so much in Beijing, and even more so in other places, and he wanted to sell the newspaper to other places at first.

"Tianjin Wei is very close to Beijing, I heard that there are hundreds of thousands of people, there should be a lot of sales, as for other places, I heard that the south of the Yangtze River is prosperous, and there are many literate people, but from Beijing to the south of the Yangtze River thousands of miles, is it not cost-effective to transport the newspaper thousands of miles away?" Princess Anle said.

Gong Yonggu said: "At present, the post stations in various places have been reorganized into brocade guards, and it is a matter of the way to transport some newspapers to various places by the way, that is, they have to send people outside to operate, after all, this stall needs a lot of people." ”

Princess An Le said: "So you better run the Gyeonggi piece first, if the newspaper can really make money, after you have the silver, you will send it to other places, and there is no need to transport newspapers, so you can set up a printing workshop in the field, as long as the manuscript is sent by post, and it can be printed and sold on the spot." ”

"Okay, just do as the princess says, princess, you are really my Zhiduoxing." Gong Yonggu said with a smile.

......

On the sixth day, the editorial, printing, and sales departments of the Royal People's Newspaper held a joint meeting, and Cao Huachun, the governor of Dongchang, who was responsible for supervising the newspaper, also attended the meeting.

At the meeting, Gong Yonggu, the president of the newspaper, took the lead in speaking and introduced the sales of the first edition, and to his surprise, both the editor-in-chief Gao Qiqian and the supervisor Cao Huachun expressed great satisfaction.

"If you can sell 30,000 copies at once, this first shot can be regarded as a fire. In the future, I know that the royal people will report more and more, and the sales will get better and better. Cao Huachun said with a smile, "In that case, let's print the next edition, change the monthly newspaper to the tenth newspaper, and then every ten days." ”

Gong Yonggu said: "I have no problem here, the engraving is a little troublesome, but it is only a matter of two or three days, and the printing is even faster, the more it is sold, the higher the salary of the craftsmen and men, they can't wait for it." Is it the review editor's side? ”

Gao Qiqian said: "There is no problem with the manuscript for the time being, the children have worked hard these days and have written a lot of articles, which is enough to engrave another edition." Moreover, some people have taken the initiative to submit articles to the newspaper, but the level is generally poor, and a few articles have not been hired. ”

"Is there really anyone who has contributed?" Cao Huachun said with interest.

"Yes, the factory officer, the manuscript fee is quite high, at least one or two silver," Gao Qiqian said with a smile, "There is a guy with the pen name Lao Wang next door, who has been sending articles to the newspaper every day for five days, and he is simply persevering, and the level has improved rapidly, I have decided to hire him." ”

As he spoke, Gao Qiqian picked up an article and handed it to Cao Huachun, Cao Huachun read it roughly and said with a smile: "It's okay, it's okay as a popular reading material for ordinary people." ”

Whether it is Gao Qiqian or Cao Huachun, they are all studying in the inner study, and the professors are Hanlin Jinshi, and their knowledge is very good, and the quality of the articles can naturally be seen.

Compared with them, Gong Yonggu's knowledge is much worse, and when he picked up Lao Wang's "Picker Monopolizes the Oiran" and read it, he felt very good-looking. The writing is popular, easy to understand, the plot twists and turns, inspiring and motivated, and the idea is actually very good.

It's about a picker named Wang Lang, who inadvertently saved an Oiran lady, and the two had a good impression of each other, but Wang Lang was so poor that he couldn't even go to the Qinglou to see the Oiran Lady's silver, and every time the Oiran Lady paid for him. The old bustard of the Qinglou was extremely dissatisfied with Wang Lang and often insulted him, for the sake of the Oiran lady, Wang Lang endured it.

On this day, when Wang Lang was in the room with the Oiran lady and the concubine, a rich boy arrived at the Qinglou and named the Oiran Lady to accompany him, and Wang Lang, who had no money, could only helplessly watch the Oiran Lady accompany other men to laugh, his heart was full of desolation, and when he left, he was habitually humiliated by the bustard, Wang Lang swore angrily to the sky that he must get ahead and redeem himself for the Oiran Lady.

In the following days, Wang Lang studied hard while selling goods, and after hard study, he was admitted to Xiucai a year later, and was admitted to Juren three years later. Wang Lang finally had money, raised his eyebrows and came to the Qinglou to redeem the Oiran lady, the old bustard accompanied the smiling face, the Qinglou teapot everyone flattered, and the girls were very envious of the Oiran lady......

"Hahaha, although one is an oiran and the other is a merchant, the relationship between the two is comparable to Jin Jian, and they finally keep the clouds open and see the moon, what a good article!" Gong Yonggu laughed.

Cao Huachun and Gao Qiqian glanced at each other, and both pouted, what kind of good article, is it completely illogical? A salesman, after reading a book for a year, he can be admitted to show talent and raise people, is it really so good to be famous? Besides, since he has become an official, some of them are young ladies from big families to marry, and what are you doing with the Oiran that 10,000 people ride? Such an article can only deceive ordinary people who have no brains.

But.

"The royal people's newspaper, what is the people's newspaper? It's for ordinary people, and since the horses have said it's good, such articles can be charged more in the future, so that the newspaper can sell more hot. Cao Huachun said with a smile.

"Yes, Factory." Gao Qiqian hurriedly agreed.

"A newspaper connects the royal family with the common people, not only to write articles that the people love to read, but also to open up the eyes of the royal family. Your Majesty is well-fed and diligent in political affairs, cares for the people and loves the people, and has saved so many people who are dying of hunger in northern Shaanxi, and these things should be written more, so that the people know how much His Majesty has done for them. The royal people's newspaper is to promote His Majesty's benevolence and virtue, and to open up the eyes of the people! Cao Huachun continued.

"Don't worry, my subordinates know." Gao Qiqian responded with a group of editors.