Coaxing the flow of people, in the private room of a restaurant in Suzhou.

A middle-aged businessman in a gray silk robe stands on the railing of the second floor with his hands behind his back, looking out at the hustle and bustle of Suzhou City.

"Huang Dong's family came early!"

A deep voice came in, and when he heard the words, Huang Huatang's body trembled slightly, and immediately, he said with a chuckle:

"Who doesn't know that the first newspaper room in Suzhou Mansion is your Julong, Zhao Dongjia is a distinguished guest, and it is difficult for others to see each other, can you not be careful?"

Zhao Rang listened to him silently, found a seat and sat down, and waited for the following.

Feeling the scrutinizing gaze of the person behind him, Huang Huatang turned around, stood still, and said:

"You Julong is a time-honored brand, there are ready-made old engravings, this time let's get straight to the point, how much silver do you want?"

"How much silver?" Zhao Rang seemed to have heard something very funny, put aside his gaze, and said playfully:

"Huang Huatang, Huang Huatang, you underestimate me too much."

"And what do you want?"

As he spoke, Huang Huatang felt a sense of foreboding in his heart.

Zhao Rang thought for a moment and replied:

"Today is a big day, not only in Suzhou, but also all over the country are carrying out the Beijing newspaper reform, and you have taken such a hard porcelain without preparing the engraving first, which is not like your style."

"Huang Huatang, I didn't say you, you are also a big businessman with a head and face, how can you let me seize this opportunity?"

As he spoke, he sneered and said in a rhetorical tone:

"Do you think I'm a person who can be sent casually for a few thousand taels of silver?"

Huang Huatang was silent, looked at him with a triumphant face, pondered the minimum conditions that could be accepted in his mind, chuckled, and said:

"It seems that I still think of your Zhao Dongjia as simple..."

"Say, what conditions."

"When a wise man speaks, he is a fast man, and that's fine—"

Zhao Rang put one foot on the other chair, refilled a full cup of Biluochun for himself, broke three fingers, and said:

"I want your profit."

Huang Huatang frowned slightly: "Sancheng, it's too much." ”

The corners of Zhao Rang's lips raised slightly.

"That's more?"

"Beijing newspapers and periodicals are all over the world, and Suzhou Mansion is just one of them!"

"There are businessmen who cooperate with the Metropolitan Prison Government in various places, and if my expectations are good, Di Bao and Tang Bao will be restructured, and their future development will be unlimited."

"You don't care about that profit, do you?"

The breeze blows in, and there is the faint fragrance of flowers and plants, which surrounds the private room.

Huang Huatang naturally knew the benefits of taking the big ship of the imperial court, otherwise he would not have donated grain in the provinces of Huaibei and the southwestern provinces.

He turned around again and said quietly:

"Thirty percent of the profit is okay, but only for one year, and I only use your old engraving for one year."

Now, it was Zhao Rang's turn to make a mistake.

It is not difficult to make engraving, but it is quite time-consuming, and it really makes Juxing urgent, go to other places to buy at a high price, and find others to cooperate, which is not impossible.

Juxing has taken over the printing rights of the imperial court Beijing newspaper in Suzhou this year, and there are still many newspapers that want to cooperate with him, and if you don't do it, there will naturally be others rushing to find it.

As a businessman, you know best when to stop.

He put his feet down, his face was much more sincere, and he smiled: "Since Huang Dongjia is fast-talking, then it is not good for me to continue to bargain." ”

"Just one year!"

......

In addition to a round of reshuffle in the newspaper offices in various places, printing technology will also be passively developed.

Beijing newspapers and periodicals are all over the country, and the busiest are these conscientious "courier brothers".

In the Ming Dynasty, there were post stations built in various places, and people called post delivery at the time.

The imperial court stipulates that every ten miles in the country is set up with a shop length, and every sixty miles there is a post, and there is a post every sixty miles.

According to the survey and verification of the Ministry of Industry in the 48th year of Wanli, a large-scale post station should be set up every 80 miles in the Ming Dynasty, a total of 1,936.

In addition, express delivery shops and delivery offices have been set up to strengthen logistics information and specialize in the delivery of urgent official documents and military newspapers.

Ningxia, Yinchuan Station.

Ningxia is one of the nine border towns, border defense, copywriting are the focus of the imperial court, Yinchuan post as the largest post station in the region, naturally deserved.

In early spring, the lush trees are lush and rippling.

A post man dressed in gray-green clothing came to the front of the post house, turned over and dismounted, wiped his sweat with his dirty sleeves, and then strode in.

"Li Hongji, have all the Beijing newspapers been delivered?"

That's right, the sturdy man with a black and red face in front of him is the famous King Li Zicheng in later generations.

Who would have thought that this honest and honest pawn who only wanted to eat would overthrow the Ming Dynasty established by Zhu Yuanzhang in the future under the coincidence of karma and glory.

Li Hongji had already mixed up with the shopkeeper, spat on the ground, led the horse to the fixed position of Ma Peng, and said as he walked:

"It's all gone."

"He is begging, the imperial court is engaged in this restructuring, and three hundred copies of the Beijing newspaper will be sent every day, not counting the Tang newspaper and the military newspaper and documents!"

"What do you kid think?" Pu Chang's face was darker than him, and when he heard this, he patted Li Hongji's shoulder with a smile and said:

"Let's go, let's go home together."

Li Hongji stroked his mount, said goodbye to the horse in a low voice, lined up with the shop chief, and left the shop to walk to his home in the village and town in front of him.

"I didn't think about anything, just..."

"It's just that the imperial court is patronizing the restructuring, why didn't you think about it and increase the monthly money of the post guards in various places?"

"Tired and tired, just earn a few steel hammers!"

"Haha, I didn't make a few more big boys than you—" The shopkeeper smiled and walked to the door of the house first.

Li Hongji glanced at it and went back to the house.

In fact, it is said that it is the head of the shop, and his position is one level higher, and the food, clothing, and housing are all similar to those of Li Hongji.

Yinchuan is located in a remote area, and the sun sets early.

It was just dusk when Li Hongji came out of the shop, and when he said goodbye to the shop manager and returned home, it was already dark.

As soon as I entered the door, I smelled a fragrance.

He cooed in the house, hugged Han Jin'er from behind, and asked, "Didn't you say that the chicken would be saved until the first day and then killed and eaten meat?" ”

"You're back, thirsty, drink some water." Han Jin'er held her slender little hand in Li Hongji's rough big hand and said in surprise:

"Such a big thing, you don't even know about it, who is a post guard and eats court meals?"

"What's going on?"

Li Hongji looked confused, sat aside after drinking a bowl of cold water, and while talking, he stared at the meat tumbling in the pot and swallowed a few saliva.

"Look at you like that..."Han Jin'er covered her mouth and snickered, pointed to the side, and said, "This is the first issue of Beijing Daily, it is all written on it, you can take a look at it yourself." ”

Li Zicheng took the newspaper and said:

"What is written here, I didn't read a private school when I was a child, so I can't understand it."

Han Jin'er sneered a few times, stirring the pot with a spoon, and said, "You might as well be Gaihu next door, people can understand it." ”

"If you tell me to learn, I'll go to Ai Juren tomorrow to learn to read."

Li Hongji had doubts in his heart, and as soon as the words fell, it was Gai Hu who directly pushed open the wooden door with one palm and broke in, and said happily:

"Hongji, you're back, there's a big thing you don't know yet."

Li Hongji's hand froze and looked back.

"What did you all say?"

I only heard Gai Hu pick up the Beijing newspaper and say:

"Let's not talk about anything else, just say one that we are most concerned about, the imperial court has increased the monthly money of the post guards in various places, and has also increased the amount that can be received once a year, called... Labor and food silver. ”

"How much?" Li Hongji suddenly stood up.

"The Beijing newspaper said that since the second year of the Apocalypse, the post guards of post stations in various places can receive six yuan of labor and food silver every year, and even the monthly money has increased a lot." Gai Hu laughed, sat shoulder to shoulder with Li Hongji, and said:

"It seems that this is a good emperor, and our brother can live better."

Li Hongji froze in place and nodded.