Early the next morning, Zhang Lei and Li An found Yan Shuo in Shibu Shilang, and with Guo Song's note, they got the first place for a private newspaper, and the newspaper was named "Chang'an Express".

The second indicator was jointly won by the Dugu family and the Dou family, which was also Guo Song's thoughtful decision, he implemented the principle of balance, while suppressing the Guanlong nobles, it was also necessary to properly retain this force, which was used to contain the family and prevent the family from sitting big, and the Guanlong nobles had a newspaper, in fact, they had a certain right to public opinion.

Chang'an's handicraft workshops are mainly concentrated in a few nearby suburban counties, especially in Xinfeng County and Xianyang County, where several large papermaking workshops are concentrated.

In the afternoon, two wide carriages under the escort of dozens of black-clothed warriors, drove into Xianyang County, Xianyang County is not small, the circumference of the city is more than 20 miles, the population of the county is more than 100,000, all kinds of handicraft workshops are intensive, basically to provide various products for Chang'an.

When Zhang Lei took over the Treasure Pavilion, the carving workshop and jewelry workshop of the Treasure Pavilion were also in Xianyang, and he often came to Xianyang and was very familiar with this side.

After entering the city, the carriage turned left and slowly stopped in front of a small river, where there were several large courtyards, one of which had a signboard hanging on the gate - Liu Ji Paper Mill.

Zhang Lei stepped out of the carriage, he looked at the surrounding environment, the house was dilapidated, garbage was everywhere, the river was dirty, and there was a pungent smell in the air, he frowned slightly, the surroundings were really a little dirty, which made him unhappy.

"Lao An, is it necessary to buy it? Just ask them to provide us with paper. ”

Li An said lightly: "You don't know, the Daminglou paper mill of the eldest grandson family is the largest paper mill in Chang'an, basically every paper mill has been swallowed by it, and there is only this one, if we don't buy it, we will have to buy paper from the eldest grandson's family in the future." ”

Zhang Lei is also a very shrewd businessman, he is just talking, and the core things still have to be in his own hands.

"Are you familiar with the proprietor of this workshop?"

"I am more familiar, the proprietor's name is Liu Fen, a native of Hedong, and my leather tanning workshop was bought from him."

"Is he willing to sell this paper mill?" Zhang Lei asked again.

"If he doesn't sell, he has to sell, and he can't help it."

The two walked into the courtyard and saw that the yard was covered with layers of paper, and dozens of craftsmen were busy.

"Who are you looking for?" A foreman asked.

"Is your proprietor Liu here?"

"Who's looking for me?" An old man with gray hair came out of the next hut.

"Liu Laoxi, do you still know me?" Ang Lee stepped forward and said with a smile.

"Are you..... You're the big steward of Li! The old man blinked his eyes and recognized Ang Lee.

"The imperial merchant has been disbanded, and I, the chief steward of Li, is no longer worthy of my name, Liu Laoxi, we haven't seen each other for more than ten years!"

"But no, I haven't seen you for more than ten years, please come in and sit."

Liu Dongzhu hurriedly beckoned the two of them to come into the house and sit, the room was relatively clean compared to the outside, a square table, and a few benches were placed around it.

"This is ......," Liu Dongzhu glanced at Zhang Lei and asked.

"This is my friend, the proprietor of Meishou Wine, Zhang Yuanwai."

When proprietor Liu heard that it was the proprietor of Meishou wine, he was immediately in awe, and hurriedly arched his hand and said: "It turned out to be Zhang Da proprietor, rude!" Faux pas! ”

Zhang Lei said haha, gave him a salute back, and the three of them sat down.

"I said Liu Xi, why is your paper mill still the same as more than ten years ago, and it hasn't expanded at all?"

Liu Dongzhu smiled bitterly and said: "More than ten years ago, I had more than 240 people, but now there are only 130 people left, and the four large courtyards have become two courtyards, and they are still expanding!" It's not bad if it doesn't die. ”

"Why?"

"The competition is not enough! The price of a pound of white linen paper in Daming Building is forty percent lower than mine, and I only have a small profit of one percent, what can I compete with? If it weren't for the fact that they didn't produce enough and some small shops couldn't get their papers, so they had to come to me, I would have died a long time ago. ”

Li An nodded and said, "Fallen leaves return to the roots, Liu Laoxi, is it time for you to go back to Fenzhou?" ”

"Of course I want to go back to my hometown, but I can't leave this paper mill behind, a lifetime of hard work!"

Speaking of this, proprietor Liu suddenly reacted, and he said vigilantly: "Proprietor Li, you won't hit my idea of this paper mill again!" ”

Li An nodded, "I really plan to open a big paper mill, so I thought of you, I want to buy your paper mill." ”

Liu Dong's head shook like a rattle, "I lost money when I sold the tanning workshop back then, and I can't sell it to you again this time anyway." ”

"Lord Liu, I bought your store because of my previous friendship, let me tell you this! All states are going to issue "Di Bao", the amount of paper will increase greatly, the eldest grandson family decided to double the output, Daming Lou has technology, there are all kinds of paper-making utensils, and there is no shortage of mulberry and hemp raw materials, they will not buy your paper mill, but they will dig up all your more than 100 craftsmen, and you give them 2,500 yuan a month! Daming Lou will open to four to six dollars, do you think they will continue to do it with you? ”

Li An said very implicitly, the implication is that if you don't sell it, I will poach all the craftsmen at a high price, and you will have nothing when you fall.

Liu Dongzhu was stunned, of course he knew that there were nearly 2,000 craftsmen in several big paper mills in Daming Building, and they had a strong capital, completely crushing themselves, and they annexed other workshops, so they did it, taking wages from the bottom of the kettle, and then buying the workshops at a very low price.

After a while, he said with a bitter face: "I have made paper for decades, I can make any kind of paper, I have a deep accumulation of technology, and my equipment is old, the dried paper will not be out of shape, and I will not sell these treasures cheaply." ”

Zhang Lei was a little impatient and said: "What are you doing with all this nonsense, you just make a price." ”

The price offered by proprietor Liu was beyond Zhang Lei's expectations, and for five thousand yuan, they won five acres of land and all the technology and equipment, as well as a large number of raw materials and finished products in the warehouse.

When everyone looked sadly at the old proprietor and went away in an ox cart, Li An immediately announced that everyone's monthly income had doubled, and the courtyard was full of jubilation.

............

Affected by Xi'anmen Street, all industries in the East City are very depressed, most of the shops are closed, the original shopkeepers have turned to Xi'anmen Street to rent shops, this side has withdrawn the rent, and the door is hung with a big lock.

At the same time when Li An and Zhang Lei went to Xianyang, Dugu Qiu and Dou Yi also came to the East Market, a row of shops on the left side of the East Market Gate is a paper stationery store, paper stationery is mainly concentrated in the West Market, and there are a few in the East Market, which can barely be maintained before, but after the stationery and paper store on Xi'anmen Street opened, the students basically did not come to the East Market, making most of the paper stationery in the East Market closed.

Alone Qiu and Dou Yi came to the deserted paper stationery street, where only two of the more than 20 shops were still struggling.

"Brother Dugu, I heard that Zhang Fatzi and Ang Lee's "Express" headquarters are located on Xi'anmen Street, why do you want to put the "Hong Kong Economic Daily" headquarters here?" Dou Yi asked puzzled.

Zhang Lei's Li An's newspaper is called "Chang'an Express", and the newspapers of Dugujia and Dou's family are more atmospheric, called "Tianxia Xinbao", and the two newspapers have not yet been published, so they have become competitors.

Of course, it is not a vicious competition, they all know very well that the newspapers of their two companies are actually serving the king of Jin, and they are the right and left hands of the king of Jin, and neither of them has thought of making money from the newspaper.

Du Gu Qiu smiled: "It's the same everywhere, I think the East Market is too deserted, and it needs a little popularity." ”

Dou Yi sighed and said, "It's okay!" In fact, the place is not important, the key is engraving, writing, spies, paper, printing, and sales, these things are interlocking, and even a newspaper cannot be run. ”

Dugu Qiu laughed, "Brother Dou, are you mistaken, are we two old men running errands to run a newspaper?" ”

Dou Yi smiled dumbly, the Dugu family and the Dou family each sent two people to form a preparatory group, and more than a dozen scribes participated in the work, and a total of 30,000 yuan was invested as the capital, in fact, among the 30,000 yuan, the eighteen Guanlong nobles all had a part, asking for money, people, and resources, and their strength was much stronger than Zhang Lei and Li An.

Today, I'm just going to take a look at Lonely Qiu and Dou Yi, and they don't have to worry about the specific things.

The place has been chosen, it is a row of two-story shops, consisting of ten shops, there is a warehouse in the back, and the second floor is the clerk's room and the literary exploration room, that is, the editorial office of later generations.

At present, the director of the newspaper is Dugu Jing, the nephew of Dugu Qiu, who was born in the Ming Jingke, and the deputy director is Dou Yi's grandson Dou Hong, who was born in Taixue, and the two not only have a good literary foundation, but also are very shrewd and capable, especially Dugu Jing, who is cautious and thoughtful, and he will serve as the chief reviewer of the newspaper.

Dou Hong is responsible for the operation of the newspaper and coordinates the relationship between all aspects.