Wan Lang came earlier than Li Ling's judgment. In late April, he brought more than a dozen of his servants and bookstore talents to Luoyang, the capital.

When Li Ling heard the news, he rushed to meet him. It was already dark. He came out of the Ministry of Revenue and did not even have time to change his official uniform. He met his good friend in Rugui Inn in Dongcheng.

"Brother Wan, your action is really beyond my expectations. It came in just two months." Li Ling smiled and exclaimed after seeing the person.

Wan Lang also met him with a smile, and bowed and clasped his fists as if he was surprised: "Where is it? You are Li Wenzhong. This time, he came to the capital to take the imperial examination. As a result, he not only successfully won the high position of Tanhua, but also got this bookstore for our brothers. That is the bookstore we are always thinking about in the city. How can I sit still after knowing this?"

Looking at this friend who was obviously more mature than before, Li Ling smiled happier: "It just happened that someone helped me. I didn't put much effort into it when it comes to the truth."

"Then I have to listen carefully to how you can make friends with a large gang like the Cao Gang. You must know that it is my Wanjia. Although he has had many business dealings with them over the years, he can't do that at the same time. Come on, let's sit down first and drink while talking."

The two entered the room side by side, and all kinds of wine and food were already placed on the table there. Li Ling, who had worked hard in the yamen for half a day, was not polite. He immediately drank and picked up food, and had a lot of fun. He also briefly explained some of his relationships with the Cao Gang.

Although he had made the matter as simple as possible, Wan Lang still heard the dangerous situation and couldn't help but sigh: "What a risk, I was fascinated by hearing it."

"Uh, this matter sounds exciting, but it's really dangerous when I encounter it. Looking back now, I'm still scared."

"As it is, after all, we are not people in the world, so we shouldn't have mixed in such a thing. Come on, I'll give you a cup and congratulate you on this great luck. The risks you took are finally worth it."

After the two had another drink, they officially got to the topic: "So this time our bookstore deal is working with the Cao Gang people?"

"That's right, after all, this bookstore belongs to them, and with them taking care of them from the side, it's better to solve any difficulties. Because we are not from the capital, I, as an official, don't have any intimidation effect now. Once you can really make money, you will inevitably not encounter any trouble."

Wan Lang naturally understood Li Ling's words, so he nodded slightly: "Actually, as long as you have money to make money, I don't mind working with others. But are those people from Caobang really trustworthy? Also, what newspaper you mentioned in your letter can really make a bookstore that is about to go bankrupt?"

"There will be no problem with the Cao Gang. They have decided to leave all major business matters to us. As for whether the newspaper can make money, I will use reality to give you the answer. By the way, you are here at the right time. Someone from the Cao Gang happened to be in the capital. We will meet each other tomorrow, and then we can start to arrange the newspaper-related matters."

Seeing him say this, Wan Lang smiled again: "It seems that your relationship with them is really good, which really gives me a little more confidence."

Turning around, Li Ling, Wan Lang and Yang Qingxiao, who was still dressed in men's clothes, met their heads at Li Ling's current residence. Speaking of which, since Yang Qingxiao sent Li Ling home, she actually took advantage of the opportunity to move into the yard.

This is the property of the Cao Gang, and Li Ling just stayed there, so naturally it was impossible to refuse. What was even more surprising was that after living there for a few days, Yang Qingxiao became friends with Yue'er. Perhaps because the two were about age and were both women, she quickly talked about everything and even slept together at night, which shocked Li Ling to drop his chin. He really didn't expect that the Cao Gang Miss, who had acted decisively and cruelly, had such a girlish side.

However, just looking at the condition of the two of them when they were together, Li Ling felt that this was actually quite good. At least this would make Yue'er's friends not too lonely on weekdays. Because since they arrived in the capital, Yue'er was actually quite lonely. Even if she always went out to stroll, she didn't have a girlfriend of the same age to accompany her. Now Yang Qingxiao's arrival has made both of her companions.

In the study room, Wan Lang, Yang Qingxiao, and several smart subordinates they brought together, all of whom were looking at a piece of paper on the desk in front of them that had drawn a lot of things. Li Ling was doing the most detailed narrative next to him:

"Please read, this is what I call a newspaper. It is not a book, but a piece of paper like a name, and most of it is articles or pictures. The biggest difference between this newspaper and booklet is that the content on it does not have to be completely consistent, and different articles can be placed according to the page - that is, this page.

"For example, on this first page, we can cover some interesting stories and anecdotes inside and outside Luoyang City recently into small short articles; the second page is some views on city affairs in the officialdom; the third and fourth pages, I plan to publish the contents of my two novels first... Of course, these contents can be flexibly changed, and we can optimize and adjust them based on the feedback of the newspaper readers. In the final analysis, it is one purpose, that is, to make literate people in Luoyang City like our newspapers, and even develop the habit of reading newspapers in the future!"

Such new things have a great impact on everyone. Even people like Yang Qingxiao and Wan Lang who have vaguely known some of the inside stories have struggled to understand the profound meaning at this moment, and the others frowned repeatedly, wondering whether the newspaper is reliable.

This is how many things in the world are. It is actually not difficult to make changes and improvements, but the most difficult thing is the process from scratch. And this is what Li Ling is doing now.

After thinking about it for a meal, a man who was working in the bookstore said, "Mr. Li, the newspaper you mentioned doesn't seem big, but it's not a book after all, so I'm afraid it's hard to collect it after reading it? In this way, its positioning will be too difficult."

Li Ling nodded and smiled, "So my ideal newspaper must be cheap, and it will be in quantity. Luoyang is just the beginning. If it goes well, it can be spread to many prefectures and counties along the Caohe River through the water transportation channel..."

"Critical? But the printing and paper costs of this newspaper must be quite high."

"There is also the consumption of the carved version. If Lord Li said, the newspaper will inevitably have a new one for a while, and the old ones will definitely be useless after use. This consumption is too great."

These people who came with Wanlang North were veterans in the local bookstore in Fucheng. They were a little restrained or doubted at first, but now they can't stop once they speak, and they can't stop and directly explain many questions to the point.

Now even the Cao Gang who didn't know much about book printing frowned, and Yang Qingxiao also coughed lightly: "Brother Li, according to what you said, why do I feel that this newspaper will not only make money, but will lose money?"

Faced with the doubts of many people, Li Ling did not feel panic at all, but smiled more and more confidently: "Indeed, if we publish this newspaper according to your inherent ideas, then let alone our bookstore that is about to go bankrupt, even a large bookstore with a large scale and strong capital will probably be dragged down by the newspaper. However, newspapers and books have always been two kinds of things, so it is naturally impossible to print them in the same way. Lao Zhou, do you still remember the tanks of ink that broke the big things in our bookstore?"

Zhou Ji, who was also beside him, replied quickly when he asked: "Of course I remember this. Although those cylinders of ink save 40% of the cost of printing ink, the printed books are very easy to print elsewhere, and even the books will be printed and dyed inside each other, which is really useless..."

"That's because it is used in books, so it becomes a problem, but it is different when it is placed in our newspapers. Because it is extremely cheap, even if it is contaminated, the people who read the newspaper will not take it seriously. In this way, the cost of printing the newspaper can be reduced by a lot.

"Then there is paper. As far as I know, although the paper is used in different printings in different places, it is mostly divided into four or five levels. The best one is naturally jade paper. It costs about three cents of silver to be a square foot, which is only the best-selling or the classics that can be used in the world. As for other papers, even the worst grass-edged paper requires half a cent to buy a square. It can be said that paper is the largest piece of the cost of a book. I am right?

"But our newspapers actually don't need such high-priced good paper. We can use woven paper that is better than woven paper as the raw material for our newspaper. I have inquired about it. The price of woven paper is 30% of that of woven paper... In this way, after the price of ink and paper, our cost will naturally drop by a large amount."

"Woven paper, that's the paper used by street vendors to wrap some food. The paper is very thin and crispy. How can it be printed into newspaper?" someone asked quickly.
Chapter completed!