How many readers are there in Datang?

No one has made specific statistics, and even the imperial court cannot have an accurate number. But there is one thing that everyone agrees on, that is, there are definitely not too many readers in Datang, at least not so much that they can print 5,000 copies of "University" at one time!

Reading and literacy has never been easy.

Needless to say, the restraint on the gentlemen alone is enough to keep most people out of the door of reading - many people can't even feed their own children, where is there money and food for the gentlemen?

Even if you have the ability to solve the problem of bundling, you still have to buy books, pen, ink, paper, and inkstone...... Although many poor scholars have learned the ability to write on the ground with tree branches, this is not a long-term solution, after all, in this era, in addition to the amount of knowledge, whether the handwriting is good or not is also one of the important factors to measure a person's level.

The probability of practicing a good handwriting with a twig is incredibly low.

Even for an ordinary small landowner, it is quite a luxury to support a child to read and write, let alone an ordinary farmer. Therefore, even if Emperor Ping of the Han Dynasty already had a national education system and began to establish it, Li Yuan in the seventh year of Wude promulgated the "Edict on the Preparation of the School Officials", stipulating that schools should be placed in the state, county, township, and li, but how much did it really work?

So when they heard that the king said that they would print 5,000 copies, Han Lucheng and Li Zhong were shocked.

With so many books printed at once, who are they sold to?

They all know the mind of their own king, and when they were asked to make movable type and open Xinhua Bookstore, they must have printed books and sold them in the bookstore.

There are only two sources for the book written in these years.

One is made by people who make a living copying books, who buy their own blank paper, and then copy one book after another every day, and then sell it to those who read it. In addition to the thickness of the book, the price of the book is also related to the paper used in the book, as well as the font of the copyist, the better the handwriting, the higher the price of the book, and vice versa.

But no matter how cheap it is, it must be several times higher than the price of blank paper, after all, how many words can you write in a day with a brush? How many days does it take to copy a book?

In the other case, it is naturally engraving printing.

But unfortunately, engraving printing also has a fatal flaw - it is too expensive and too easy to break.

It is easy to understand that it is too expensive, after all, the content of the entire book needs to be written first, and then carved out by craftsmen word by word, which requires a lot of labor and time; In addition, the engravings that appeared in the former Sui were not very reliable, and could easily be damaged, and even a slightly thinner ink could corrode it.

So now craftsmen are looking for more reliable engraving materials to try to solve these problems.

But in any case, the things that are printed by engraving will not be cheap, and even if it is a book with a relatively large demand, it is only a little cheaper than the book copied by the copyist. If it is the kind of "unpopular" book that is not in high demand, printing with engraving is a pure loss-making business, and not many people are willing to do it.

Paper is not cheap in the first place, and if it is turned from a blank sheet of paper into a book, its value will roll upward, and even fewer people can afford it. So in these days, there are fewer people who read books, and even fewer people buy books, and most people are used to "copying books" - that is, borrowing a book from someone else, and then copying it down themselves for later reading.

Self-reliance is the mainstream of the moment.

So don't look at Chang'an is now the most prosperous metropolis in the world, but the number of books that can be bought is really not much, and even if there are, they are expensive, and there are not too many people who buy them.

Even if it is a "mainstream textbook" like "University", it is too exaggerated to print 5,000 copies at one time!

After all, it's only a few thousand words, where would a scholar with a slightly worse family background be willing to spend money to buy it? I must have copied it myself. As for those second-generation or wealthy businessmen who don't care about the money for books...... Well, who would want to buy a copy of "University" printed in Han Wang's style?

Although they didn't dare to say such disrespectful words, Han Lucheng and Li Zhong knew very well that the font created by the king was easy to carve, but it looked too ugly!

The lord who is not bad for money, I'm afraid no one can take a fancy to it, right?

Anyway, the two of them couldn't figure out who they were going to sell if they really printed 5,000 copies.

Their surprise was so obvious that Li Yuanjia could see it at a glance.

However, he also has a general idea of the Datang book market...... If then the point supply can also be called the market...... And Li Yuanjia is also very clear about the treatment of Song Tizi, so it is not surprising that his two loyal servants are so surprised by the number of five thousand volumes, or they are not optimistic.

Suddenly, the corners of his mouth twitched: "Li Zhong, how much do the "University" on the market usually sell for now?" ”

"Back to the king, about forty dollars."

Li Zhong immediately understood what he meant, and after thinking about it carefully, he continued: "However, our movable type is relatively small, so the paper used is relatively small, only seventy percent of the ordinary engraving, and more than fifty percent less than the books of those copyists...... The advantage of this is that the price of our books can be set lower? ”

When he said this, Li Zhong's cousin instantly became a lot brighter, and even Han Lucheng, who was next to him, lit up in front of him, and his expression became excited.

That's right!

Although those nobles look down on our Han Wangti, and those poor ghosts can't afford it no matter what, why don't you target those guys who are a little distressed when buying books and tired of copying books?

If the price is 30% cheaper, will they be tempted?

"Hehe, of course it's lower!"

After hearing the words "forty yuan", Li Yuanjia's eyebrows suddenly raised, and then asked: "But first I want to know, if we print this book, how much will it cost us?" ”

After hearing this question, Han Lucheng's eyes immediately looked at Li Zhong.

They are quite studious, so they naturally know what cost means. After carefully calculating, Li Zhong said with some uncertainty: "Wang, we use the best paper, so the cost is higher, about six yuan; In addition, the cost of the ink required is also expensive, not to mention two or three dollars, plus various losses during the period...... At least ten dollars! ”

"Ten cents? So cheap? ”

"King, we have to think about other costs!"

The corners of his mouth twitched twice, and Li Zhong hurriedly explained: "Needless to say, the expenses of the craftsmen, how much did it cost us to make those movable types alone?" If you sell it for 30 yuan a copy, I think it's better to use inferior paper, otherwise it will be too much of a loss! ”

"Hehe, no need."

After hearing these words, Li Yuanjia's eyes flashed, and he quickly made up his mind: "Just use our good paper, and the price can be cheaper, I think twenty yuan is good......