Chapter 1 Another Historical Record

On the day *National Geographic* was published, another historical record was made. Feng Zi, having learned the news a bit late, sent a series of telegrams to solicit the opinions of his colleagues at the Northern Frontier Pacification Office. Then, in the name of the Northern Frontier Pacification Office, he sent a telegram to the headquarters of Baowentang Bookstore, ordering a total of one hundred copies of the trial issue of *National Geographic*. In addition, he also inquired about the possibility of a long-term subscription and related postage costs. This was probably the first time in Dongping's history, and perhaps in all of history, that a mail order had taken place. Fortunately, the telegram was quite convenient, and the entire process was completed that day. The purchase of the publication and the subsequent subscription fees were all settled directly from the Yunzhou Bank branch in Danyang. The Northern Frontier Pacification Office was now Yunzhou Bank's largest depositor, with an astonishing amount of funds in its account.

Afterward, Feng Zi sent another telegram to Ye Tao about the matter, clearly complaining that such an interesting thing had excluded him. Having married Wei Zhi, the chief accountant of the Ye family, Feng Zi could no longer resign or threaten to resign to demand fun jobs. He diligently managed the Pacification Office's large and bustling registry, and he was quite happy with it. However, the magazine affair still made his heart burn.

"Quickly hand over your work and bring Wei Zhi to Danyang. I will entrust you with all matters concerning the magazine," Ye Tao quickly replied in a telegram, completely igniting Feng Zi's enthusiasm. Everyone knew that Feng Zi had a characteristic way of handling work: assigning responsibility to each person and clearly explaining each step. He rarely intervened in ongoing matters unless there was a problem that required him as a leader to take responsibility. He sorted out the backlog of work and handed it over to Liu Qing, who immediately began to complain bitterly. Liu Qing's cooperation with Feng Zi was now the closest. Although they were not in the same department, he was the one who could take over Feng Zi's work at any time without making major mistakes. However, Liu Qing, who managed the entire Pacification Office's administrative personnel and other affairs, was indeed busy. Taking over Feng Zi's work meant that six hours of sleep a day would be out of the question. However, since it was Ye Tao's order, Liu Qing would never argue. On the other hand, Wei Zhi had a pile of things to deal with, especially now that Ye Tao's family was moving their permanent residence to Gondor, but the various arrangements at Ye Family Fort had to continue and could not be left idle. She was in charge of all these matters. To explain these matters clearly and entrust the relocation arrangements to Dai Shizong, who had rushed over, took her about five days.

Feng Zi traveled to Danyang by airship. When he and his wife strolled leisurely along the avenue and entered the city gate, Feng Zi saw other similar publications next to the brightly colored *National Geographic* in the nearest bookstore.

"Boss, when did these come out?" Feng Zi picked up a magazine called *City of Books* from the shelf and asked. The words "City of Books" stamped in bright red seal script on the gray kraft paper cover were followed by "Trial Issue No. 1" in a smaller Wei Bei typeface. The contents of the magazine were all about books, book collecting, and analyses of various viewpoints presented in books, which were very fascinating.

"The goods just arrived yesterday and were put on the shelves today. Not many people have seen them yet. Well, you came early. Want to buy a copy?" the bookstore owner, a simple and honest man in his forties wearing a coarse cloth robe, replied.

"What about this one?" Feng Zi pointed to a thick stack of *Tiangong* trial issues next to it.

The owner casually replied, "Also yesterday, haha, this one has already sold several copies. Mostly to those masters who live nearby."

Feng Zi flipped through it. It was a magazine about technology, with quite specialized introductions to carpentry, machinery, carving, lacquer work, and so on. The main article was about the Gondor city sewer project, detailing why the cross-section of the sewer was shaped like an inverted egg, introducing the approximate materials and firing methods of the special bricks used to build these sewers, and how many other methods were used to prevent sewage from seeping out of the pipes. This article clearly came from Ye Tao's hand. The article on how to train basic carpentry skills was written by Zhao Dazhu, or rather, he asked people about relevant questions and then recorded them.

Both of these magazines also had a considerable number of targeted advertisements. *City of Books* contained a catalog and pricing of Baowentang's various new books, while *Tiangong* featured illustrated introductions to various artisan supplies that Ye's Workshop could sell to the public, as well as a catalog of courses open to the public by Ye's Workshop.

"Give me one of each of these three," Feng Zi paid cheerfully and picked up the three thick magazines. These magazines were quite expensive, each costing half a tael of silver, or half a Yunzhou silver coin. In fact, because Yunzhou Bank had not yet issued smaller denomination subsidiary coins, giving change became a headache. The magazines were so expensive because most of the advertisements were friendly sponsorships or covert operations from their own company's shops and had not yet generated much actual profit. The high printing costs of the magazines, however, were undeniable.

However, whether it was *National Geographic*, *Tiangong*, or *City of Books*, the sales seemed to be quite good. *City of Books* was very popular with some scholars, while *Tiangong* was the first time that artisans had been seriously treated as a group. As for *National Geographic*, it was now widely known and had even begun to be sold in Yu Hang.

"I'm increasingly unable to understand what you're doing again," Feng Zi sighed after meeting with Ye Tao.

"Oh? You don't understand? Then I wouldn't dare entrust this matter to you," Ye Tao said with a smile.

"...Is it to enlighten the people?" Feng Zi said seriously, "Before, it was because most people were illiterate, but now it's different. Even those artisans can understand books, and they can see more things by reading. However, you do have some opinions about scholars after all. Singling out artisans, giving them the same status as scholars, and creating a magazine specifically for them, aren't you afraid that some people will find it offensive again?"

Ye Tao said with a smile, "There are already so many people, do I care about a few more or less? I'm not doing these things to please anyone. Enlightening the people is just one aspect. In fact, the division between scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants is becoming increasingly clear in Dongping now. Scholars may still be aloof and look down on others, but in terms of contributing to this country, everyone is the same. Not only scholars and artisans, but I'm also thinking about having magazines for soldiers and military enthusiasts, and for those farmers and herders. Moreover, this is not only about spreading information, but also about communication. We all have many things that we hide, and the reason why we don't tell others may be for profit, but also because there is no such channel. And now, such a channel is in our hands."

"Making money?" Feng Zi curled his lip, looking disdainful of Ye Tao's grand pronouncements.

"By the way, it doesn't make much money. It's too expensive to print these things now. *City of Books* and *Tiangong* are fine, but *National Geographic* would definitely lose money without advertising. With advertising, hehe, it makes a decent amount. You have to say, that Du Fengchi guy really has an eye for business. He asked me for this advertising opportunity, and now, the business of Ru Jia's chain of inns has been more than 20% better than before. A hundred thousand taels of silver, I'm afraid it will be back in less than half a month," Ye Tao frankly admitted.

"It's good to make money. At least it has to break even, otherwise, it's not a long-term solution." Feng Zi nodded. He suddenly asked again, "Have you ever thought about publishing the imperial court's gazette in this way? I see that many of the latest news in your magazines should be possible. Officially... don't say you come forward, even if I go, there will be absolutely no problem. But spreading the imperial court's decrees, perhaps with some explanation, so that no one misunderstands, and so that ordinary people can know, and not be deceived by local officials with ulterior motives, that would be a great thing. And encouraging the people, to be of one mind from top to bottom, or dispelling rumors, can all be done with such things."

Ye Tao smiled. Sure enough, Feng Zi was an extremely intelligent person, and he immediately saw the power of information dissemination. What Feng Zi proposed was the newspaper, representing the official mouthpiece. But Ye Tao shook his head and said, "The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak. This is something for you to do later. The reason why I created magazines first is not because magazines necessarily make money, or are a better way of communicating, or the fastest channel for spreading news and knowledge, but because I can accurately target those who can afford magazines, so that these things can be self-sufficient. These things, once a month, require a small number of experts to compile, and the labor and printing costs are easy to control. But what you said, let me call it a newspaper. How often does it have to be published to satisfy the imperial court, or rather, to satisfy the basic need to transmit news? How many copies should be printed? What price should it be set at? If it's too expensive, ordinary people can't afford it and won't buy it, losing the possibility of widespread dissemination of information. If it's too cheap, constantly filling this bottomless pit with money, even the King of Heaven can't do it. Now, although printing is much cheaper than before, it's still very expensive."

Feng Zi shook his head helplessly and said, "Isn't it because you instigated His Majesty to issue an order saying that for every tree cut down, ten must be replanted... causing the price of paper to skyrocket? Now you're suffering the consequences, right?"

Ye Tao chuckled and said nonchalantly, "Do you think it's wrong?"

"For the sake of future generations, there's absolutely no reason why it's not good." He shook his head and said, "Then what did you bring me to Danyang for? Just for these few magazines?"

Ye Tao smiled and said, "Not entirely. The newspaper you just mentioned, you'll have to create it sooner or later. However, for the time being, it's these magazines first."