I

The magazine "King of Chu Literature and Art" sold out so fast that 3,000 more copies were printed.

Many readers bought this magazine because they heard about the emperor's articles. After reading the emperor's articles, I found that other articles were also good, so wealthy people wrote letters to order them.

Fixed section design, including jokes, poems, operas, essays, and novels.

From time to time, there are also travel notes and the like. With the popularity of travel, a number of travel writers have emerged. Most of them are not short of money, and they are young. When they feel lonely on the road, they rest in the inn, write articles, and then send them to some magazine.

This kind of travel journal is popular among readers, especially school students.

There is also a kind of "exile literature". In the winter in Heilongjiang and Tibet, the weather is freezing and you can only stay indoors. I can write dozens of articles in one winter, mostly poems, and occasionally prose. The content is about anything, and most of them are full of homesickness.

There is also military literature, which is basically published in military publications, and most of it is not well written.

There are a bunch of soldiers with elementary school education, some of whom have not even graduated from elementary school. The army's missionary system ran a magazine and encouraged them to write articles, so some big soldiers actually contributed to it. The content is mostly related to the military, and the writing style is very simple, just like talking in daily life.

There are also arty ones who write a lot of military limericks.

With the increase of military students, this kind of military literature has improved. However, the missionary department has requirements. No matter how good you are, your articles must be written so that even a small soldier can understand them. If you really write high-quality classical Chinese articles, you will not be able to pass the draft.

Zhao Kuangping has contacted Sihai Trading Company and asked Li Quan to provide some navigation articles.

Because last year, a navigation novel was a big hit, and more and more readers like to read this stuff.

After being at sea for several months, I had plenty of time to write articles. In order to attract people to go to sea, Li Quan asked the scholars on the ship to collectively create the best-selling novel.

It tells the story of a farmer who graduated from elementary school and went to America on a ship to engage in trade in order to make a living. On the way back home, he encountered a storm, was swept into the sea by big waves, and drifted to a small island. He taught the islanders how to grow crops and how to weave cloth, and was favored by the chief as his son-in-law.

The chief was killed in battle. This farmer's son worked as a peasant soldier and fought bravely to avenge the chief. Finally, he was elected as the new chief by the natives. He also organized military formations, unified the entire island, and conquered nearby islands by ship. In the end, he established a country and became king, with a group of wives and concubines, and was supported by all the people.

It's a really cool article, and what's even more rare is that it writes the local customs, customs and myths of the island in such detail that it makes people feel like it's a true story. In fact, the islands in the book are based on the Hawaiian Islands, and even the chief’s name didn’t bother to change.

This novel was first serialized in Shanghai and quickly became popular among the lower class people, and was also read by the middle class and wealthy people. Firstly, the storyline was very exciting, and secondly, people were very curious about overseas, and it was quickly reprinted in various provinces in the next six months.

At first, the title of the book was "The Farmer's Son Becomes King Overseas", but when it was compiled into a book and published, it was changed to "A Life in the Sea".

The popularity of the novel really sparked a craze for going overseas. Because before going to sea, there was always a fear of the unknown, but now I have fantasies and feel that there are opportunities for development overseas.

…

"Your Highness, we sent someone to contact Shanghai, and Sihai Trading Company gave this." Wu Rui came over with a stack of manuscripts.

Wu Rui is a relative of Zhao Kuangping's middle school classmate. He used to work as an editor at another newspaper and was recruited by Zhao Kuangping to serve as the vice president (deputy editor-in-chief).

Zhao Kuangping took it and took a look, but it was a picture with annotations: "This is indeed interesting."

Wu Rui said: "These are the original manuscripts, and copies have been made and sent to the Qintianyuan Geography Museum. Sihai Trading Company said, please keep them in a safe place."

Zhao Kuangping casually pulled out the middle one, and what he saw was a picture.

The large picture shows the entire tree, while the small picture shows details such as leaves, branches, flowers, and fruits.

The text annotation is——

"Eastern bay laurel: Found on the west coast of North America, its leaves are similar to bay laurel, so it is named after it.

The height of the tree can reach more than ten feet, and the diameter of the tree can reach two and a half feet. The texture is hard and can be used to make furniture. According to the carpenter on the ship, this wood is a good quality for making pianos, but the authenticity is not yet known.

Evergreen all year round, with small yellow flowers.

The leaves are insect repellent and will not bite mosquitoes or fleas.

The fruit is round, green when unripe, and turns purple when ripe. The kernels are edible but should not be eaten raw. The indigenous people store them as winter food. This fruit can refresh your mind. When roasted, ground into powder and soaked in water, the effect is like drinking tea. "

Zhao Kuangping took out another piece of paper——

"Raccoon cat: common in America, often living near water. It has four legs and five toes. It washes fruits like a woman washing her clothes. Its shape is like a cat, hence its name.

The face is dark, and the forehead and jaw are white. The tail is long and has black and white stripes.

I have never eaten it, so I don’t know the taste of its meat. "

The so-called raccoon cats here are actually raccoons.

The more Zhao Kuangping looked at it, the more interesting it became. There were all kinds of strange animals and plants overseas, which made him want to go out to see them. I couldn’t help but ask: “Other publications don’t want to publish these?”

Wu Rui said: "When publishing such articles, the text comes second, and the main purpose is to sell pictures. Printing pictures is too expensive."

Zhao Kuangping made a decision and said: "If others don't print, we will print. Each issue of the magazine will print two kinds. Tell Sihai Trading Co., Ltd. and let them draw the natives from various places and bring them back. When drawing, pay attention to appearance, clothing, and text. The customs must be written clearly. These contents are basically overseas customs, and one picture will be selected as the cover of each issue."

At this time, books and magazines did not pay much attention to the cover. They just wrote the title, author and other information.

If "Chu Wang Literature and Art" created a special cover using overseas characters, animals, and plants, it would definitely make readers' eyes brighten.

As costs rise, prices rise as well. Those who can afford it will still buy it, and they may even have more desire to buy it. As for those who can't afford it, you can go to a rental bookstore to read. Rental bookstores not only rent magazines, but also have expired newspapers.

"Your Highness, I have a guest to see you."

"Invite him in."

Jin Shengtan strode into the room and bowed his hands in greeting: "I, Zhang Cai, have met His Royal Highness the King of Chu."

"I've admired you for a long time!" Zhao Kuangping said.

Jin Shengtan stroked his beard and laughed: "Zhang Cai is not famous, so how can he be admired for so long? I also have another nickname, Kunpeng Sanren."

Zhao Kuangping's eyes lit up, and he didn't care about the rudeness of this person, and said happily: "It turns out to be Mr. Kunpeng!"

Jin Shengtan is very famous in the literary criticism circle. He wrote four reviews a few days ago, praising Emperor Zhao's four works. One after another, they have been published in newspapers and magazines, attracting more readers to order the next issue of "King of Chu Literature and Art".

Jin Shengtan did not play tricks, and directly stated his purpose: "The King of Chu magazine is newly established, and I think there is still a shortage of people. I came to recommend myself and would like to review the manuscript for the magazine. I wonder what the King of Chu wants?"

"Welcome!" Zhao Kuangping was overjoyed.

Jin Shengtan suddenly asked: "Is the "Calabash Baby" on the market really written by His Majesty?"

Zhao Kuangping couldn't help laughing: "Yes."

"Calabash Baby" only came out in the past few years. Because it is a children's story, many people do not believe that it is the work of the emperor. Because they were unclear, the local officials were very strict and were not allowed to sign Zhao Ziyue or Zhao Yan. As a result, no one can be sure of the truth now.

"Written by His Majesty when he was a child?" Jin Shengtan seemed to be very interested. In other words, one of the reasons why he came to the magazine to apply for a job was to find out about "Calabash Baby".

Zhao Kuangping said with a smile: "I heard from my uncle that at that time, my father was still working as a book boy. He could earn a lot of money by telling "Calabash Baby" to children in school."

"That's it!" Jin Shengtan finally found out.

He felt that even if the emperor did not rebel, he could still live comfortably by writing novels.

"Huh!"

Jin Shengtan scanned the manuscripts on the table, put on his glasses and looked at them carefully. After reading a few pictures, he asked: "Aren't these made up?"

Zhao Kuangping said: "From Sihai Trading Company."

"What a good thing!" Jin Shengtan said, "It's a pity that there are too many pictures, otherwise it would be compiled into a book and it would be a big seller."

In fact, as long as the sales volume is large enough, printing pictures is completely feasible. There were many children's literacy books in the Ming Dynasty, with a little person drawn next to the character "人" and a mouth drawn next to the character "口", just like the literacy books hundreds of years later.

But this kind of overseas scenery is destined to be unable to recover its original cost. There were too many pictures, and they had to be printed very finely. If the price was too high, sales would drop, so the books had to be printed by the authorities.

However, Zhao Kuangping had an idea. He could have the official engraving of the book. He would go and beg his father. Emperor Zhao would definitely agree to print this kind of book.

At that time, a batch of official woodcut picture engravings can be printed every few years and published as a long-term issue.

Zhao Kuangping's magazine, on the other hand, borrowed official engravings and printed two or three articles in each issue of the magazine, without having to bear the cost of engraving the pictures at all. Not only "Overseas Scenery", but other contents are also available. The official has many similar engravings. Just borrow some and don't wear them out.

Special patterns cannot be printed with movable type and must be carved by craftsmen. And the identity of the King of Chu lies here. His magazine can easily obtain rare engravings. This alone can make his peers stand out from the crowd.

Zhao Kuangping has decided that he will run a magazine now and a newspaper in the future. When he earns enough money, he will start his own publishing house. He is a man who wants to become a media tycoon!

After becoming extremely rich, you no longer need to be greedy for cheap or borrow engravings from the government. You can hire craftsmen yourself to build an engraving library.

"Your Highness, someone has sent money again!"

Just as he was talking, someone from the magazine came again and sent him a fee for reprinting the article.

Whenever excellent works appear, newspapers and magazines like to reprint them.

At first, no reprinting fee was paid, and many lawsuits were filed. Later, a consensus gradually formed that reprinting was allowed, but money must be paid. These reprint fees are paid according to the market price, and the first publication and the author share the profit.

Sometimes, it will also indicate "reprinting prohibited", but the fee for exclusive publication will be higher.

This time Emperor Zhao's article was circulated among the people. There are countless reprinters, and they are all very honest. They offer sky-high reprint fees. It seems that the price given is too low, and the publications themselves have no face.

A publishing house even came to me and wanted to buy the complete manuscript of "The Female Consort".

Even an opera writer has been found, and he plans to compile it into an opera. The story written by the emperor will definitely be a hit in the theater.

The article "The Emperor's New Clothes" also sparked a wave of fable creation.

Fables originally belonged to Taoist writing themes and were not very popular among Confucians. Now that the emperor has died in person, the Confucian scholars no longer have any psychological burden. This thing is very interesting to create.

Moreover, fables are suitable for children to read, and children always make the best money!

Zhao Kuangping's newly opened magazine is almost full of visitors, with people visiting every day. In the end, he was unwilling to receive him in person and only saw those well-known cultural figures.

Another day, at dawn, a visitor squatted on the roadside, waiting for a long time to finally see the king of Chu driving his car.

He rushed forward desperately and was immediately intercepted by the guards.

Although Zhao Han was stingy about his children, he still had to provide several bodyguards, and the imperial court paid for their maintenance.

"Your Highness, I have something to ask for. I haven't been able to see you in the past few days. I had no choice but to rush into the car today..." The visitor was pushed to the ground and still yelled.

Zhao Kuangping asked the guard to let go and asked, "What do you want to see me for?"

"A big deal," the visitor said, "I have invented a new type casting method that can quickly cast large quantities of movable type. I am from Foshan and have applied for a patent, but I am unwilling to cooperate with Foshan businessmen because they often cheat inventors. I wanted to dedicate the patent to Long Live, but I couldn’t help but not see Tianyan. I heard that the King of Chu started a magazine, so I will dedicate the patent to His Highness the King of Chu today!"

It is said to be a contribution, but in fact it is cooperation.

This is due to Zhao Han's prestige and credibility. Otherwise, who would take the initiative to invest in technology and do business with the prince in other times?

Zhao Kuangping was dubious: "What kind of new calligraphy method?"

The visitor said: "A steam engine is required. The steel mold is cast first, and then the steel mold is used to punch the copper mold, and then the copper mold is used to make movable type in batches. This is hundreds of times faster than the traditional type casting method, and the movable type is clear and clear every time. There are only subtle differences between the two movable types!”

(I recommend a new book "The Sword Is a Demon". It is a very good fairy tale work and worth reading.)