Chapter 1

Tan Weiming was writing diligently, chronicling the changes he had observed over the years in the areas under the jurisdiction of the Grand Canal Governor-General, especially the evolution of local customs. He found this task surprisingly enjoyable. Of course, as a crown prince rather than a scholar, he had many advantages. For example, whenever he had an idea, he could simply instruct his staff to consult local gazetteers, and their day's work might only result in a single sentence in his article. Naturally, such an article would be undeniably solid and profound.叶韬 (Ye Tao)'s photographers also traveled long distances to capture numerous photos of the places Tan Weiming mentioned in his articles. Undoubtedly, the cost of photography was quite high, especially the photographers themselves, a super rare profession. Operating a camera was complicated, but more importantly, almost all photographers were serving in the military. The Beijiang Pacification Office had a surveying team of over sixty people, who, escorted by the Pacification Office's direct guard, performed basic surveying and reconnaissance tasks. They also took many photos of cultural and human interest. In Danyang, the Intelligence Bureau, the Internal Affairs Bureau, the Ministry of War, and the Blood Kirin Army each had its own surveying teams, each with a different focus. Aside from these, there were almost no other photographers. A camera cost between six hundred and eight hundred taels of silver, and normal maintenance and supplies cost about one hundred taels per month. Currently, both photographic paper and developing chemicals had very low production and high costs. Photography, in any era, was an expensive endeavor. Under these circumstances, dispatching several photographers to Tan Weiming seemed even more peculiar. What exactly did 叶韬 (Ye Tao) want to do? Could this project be as significant as increasing the precision and coverage of map surveying? Even more puzzling, after making these arrangements, 叶韬 (Ye Tao) went to the workshops in Danyang to study color matching, seeking a particularly bright shade of yellow.

A small editorial team was formed, mainly consisting of students seconded from the Imperial Academy, especially those who had traveled extensively before entering the academy, as well as two officials from the Intelligence Bureau who were originally responsible for reviewing books. Before receiving Tan Weiming's articles, this small editorial team had to familiarize itself with the printing technology they would be responsible for. Everyone knew that Bao Wentang Bookstore was backed by the 叶 (Ye) Family Workshop and the Internal Affairs Bureau. In terms of background and technical support, it was absolutely invincible. Although 叶韬 (Ye Tao) had many things to manage over the years and might not have paid enough attention to the bookstore, the plate-making system and the team dedicated to studying printing technology that 叶韬 (Ye Tao) established for Bao Wentang Bookstore had been constantly pushing the boundaries of the technology. The thick paper and reliable hot-melt binding technology of books produced by Bao Wentang Bookstore had become a hallmark. The exquisite series of classics printed on watermarked Yunwen paper had been enriched over the years, with over a hundred titles published. Although the circulation of this series was very low and only distributed to a small number of people in Dongping, it undeniably achieved the ultimate goal of "knowledge influencing society."

In terms of pure printing technology, two-color printing was not difficult for Bao Wentang. This technology was widely used after the new printing mechanism was completed. Etched metal plate illustrations were becoming more common in various books. Although making metal etchings was still quite troublesome, the cost had been reduced to an acceptable range, making it profitable to use them in general book publishing. However, they were now facing another challenge: how to print photographs.

叶韬 (Ye Tao) had directly developed photography to the stage of using photographic paper, but at this time, photographic paper was not as useful as silver plate or tin plate photography. Fortunately, many experienced members of the workshop who were very familiar with all aspects of photography were very clear about the formation mechanism of photography. In addition to presenting the content on the glass negative on photographic paper, the craftsmen also washed another copy, directly washing the photo on a tin plate. Then, the image presented on the surface of the tin plate became the best material for making etching printing plates. After repeated attempts, the workshop finally developed a formula after hundreds of trials that minimized the damage to the image when etching the tin plate. In this way, although the process was very repetitive and the cost was very high, and no matter how much they tried, it was impossible to eliminate the loss of photo quality, it was no problem to print the original six-inch square negative into an eighth-open size. However, this method was somewhat clumsy.

After solving this epoch-making technology, 叶韬 (Ye Tao) finally officially began to manufacture this publication. 叶韬 (Ye Tao) declared that this was a magazine and would try to produce three trial issues starting this month, and then publish one every month. The name of the publication was *National Geographic*. The cover of the first trial issue was a very representative photo: on the Grand Canal, several boats of different sizes were docked together, and the people on the boats were chatting happily and conducting basic transactions, with the city tower of 溯风 (Su Feng) City in the background. The main article in the first issue was "Why the Grand Canal?" written by Tan Weiming himself, spanning forty pages. This article focused on the various changes brought about by the Grand Canal. While describing the improvements in life, it did not avoid the migration and changes in customs, the inconvenience caused by the transformation of originally peaceful villages into prosperous and disturbed places, and even the awakening of some dark sides of human nature with economic development and people's wealth. Even in later generations, the solidity and strength of this article would be enough for people to savor for a long time, let alone now. The article was accompanied by concise photo captions that directly pointed to the core of the problem, as well as illustrations and maps made using four-color printing technology.

The other articles in this 96-page publication were also of considerable quality. For example, "Summer of Snow Wolf Lake" described the life of various biological populations in Snow Wolf Lake in summer. The most eye-catching of these photos was a photo of a wild bison giving birth. The small bison landed with its front hooves first, with the back half of its body still in its mother's body. This photo was the result of a crazy photographer mingling with the wild bison herd for an entire summer. There were also shorter articles about various situations in different places in Dongping, some about geography and some about humanities. The magazine used four-color printing for most of the illustrations and charts. The layout of the entire magazine was not too dense, and about a quarter of the width was left blank on the sides of many pages, which were used for various annotations. Most of these annotations were added by the editors, and through these annotations, 叶韬 (Ye Tao) was actually training a professional editorial team, a professional editorial team that could provide readers with more content. These red-printed, concise annotations were equally fascinating.

As *National Geographic*, including maps was a must. This issue included a map of the territory under the jurisdiction of the Grand Canal Governor-General. Although it only briefly indicated the terrain, this accurately scaled map was more accurate and detailed than the military maps in the hands of generals from any country other than Dongping. The map was accurate to the county level. The Intelligence Bureau's reviewing officer reported the matter, and as a result,聂锐 (Nie Rui) muttered, "It is very accurate, but others can't use it anyway. I want to see who has the ability to attack the Grand Canal area." He easily approved the map. This map was very convenient for travelers and merchant groups, marking all the docks, markets, and warehouses in the Grand Canal area, as well as some famous inns. This map also led杜风池 (Du Fengchi) to invest 100,000 taels of silver in advertising fees, listing all the Rujia chain hotels in the Grand Canal area, with each location specially printed with bright yellow and red marks. Speaking of advertising, this first trial issue already had a total of twelve pages, including the back cover, which were all related to travel, such as the Tissot watch shop's pocket watch with temperature measurement function; leather and thick canvas travel bags operated by a business under the Seven Seas Trading Company; Bosch Tool Shop's outdoor tools; small binoculars from the Ye Family Workshop's optical equipment department, which was being reorganized and would be renamed "Ricoh"; FedEx's passenger transport services; and a luxurious resort built by the Internal Affairs Bureau on a scenic mountain near 春南 (Chun Nan)... This advertising mix was a classic.

Almost on the day of publication, the cover with its bright yellow frame conquered the entire Danyang. The first batch of 5,000 copies sold out in less than a day. The entire Danyang was immersed in various interesting cognitions about the Grand Canal area. Some impatient guys even packed their luggage and set off with the first issue of *National Geographic* in their arms, to experience the customs of the Grand Canal area and see for themselves whether what the book said was true. This was something that 叶韬 (Ye Tao), Tan Weiming, and others had never expected.