Freedom Fighter

Denico hurried over and yelled at the bewildered foreman, "What are you standing there for? Apologize now! This is our Newspaper Office's boss."

"Yes, yes." The foreman nervously took a few steps back, bowing repeatedly. "I'm so sorry."

Joseph gestured to the surrounding workers, "You should apologize to them."

"Ah, yes." The foreman turned and bowed to the simply dressed people, saying, "I'm sorry..."

Denico frowned and gestured, "Let's go."

The foreman hurriedly retreated from the storeroom, nearly falling to the ground as he stepped on a rope binding a roll of books.

The workers all cast grateful glances at Joseph. Some of the bolder ones even bowed to him and said, "Thank you, sir, you are a truly kind and benevolent man."

Joseph noticed the workers' cracked skin and instructed Denico, "Mr. Denico, please buy some Lanolin and give it to everyone to use for free. Make sure they don't get frostbite."

"Also, from now on, during the coldest month of each year, we'll give everyone an extra week's wages as a winter allowance."

Denico nodded hurriedly, "Yes, I understand."

The workers could hardly believe their ears; they felt that this young, Nobility boss was an angel incarnate, not only stopping the overseer from beating people at will but also being so generous to everyone.

These simple workers weren't very talkative; they just silently got back to work, but their speed was noticeably faster than before, and they were much more careful when bundling and arranging the books.

Joseph continued walking through the gaps between the stacks of books, picking up Pamphlets at random. He noticed that the paper was grayish-yellow and rough, clearly the lowest quality kind, and the printing was also very rudimentary, with only a simple stitch of some kind of plant fiber at the center seam to barely keep it from falling apart.

However, this booklet has 16 pages, including 5 illustrations.

He glanced at the mountain of books, then turned and asked, "Mr. Denico, how many copies were printed this time?"

Denico quickly stepped forward. "Your Highness, 30,000 copies of each booklet have been printed, which should be enough for sales in Paris and the surrounding towns."

Joseph nodded. "What was the cost of this volume?"

"Because there are quite a few pages, it will cost 1 sou and 5 Denier," Denico added. "The Lithographic Printing you invented is truly amazing; without it, the cost would definitely exceed 3 sou."

In fact, if copperplate printing were used in the past, no Pamphlets would dare to include five illustrations—the cost of engraving the copperplate alone could increase the booklet's cost several times over.

It can be said that the Pamphlets launched by Paris Business Daily this time is absolutely the most luxurious benchmark in the Pamphlets industry.

Joseph replied without hesitation, "Then sell it at cost price."

"Yes, Your Highness." Denico was already used to his boss's extravagance. The last time, the newspapers were priced so high that if shops hadn't been scrambling to advertise, they would have lost money.

Joseph opened the Pamphlets in his hand. The first few pages were filled with exciting novels, with an article titled "How Much Money Did the Judges of the High Court Actually Embezzle?" inserted in the middle.

Four such articles were inserted between the fast-paced, lighthearted stories.

Joseph skimmed through the articles and found that several of them were rather unsatisfactory; the writing was rambling, failed to provoke anger in the readers, and were unlikely to resonate with them.

He frowned slightly. "The article needs to be even more sensational."

Denico nodded awkwardly, "Yes, I will do my best."

Joseph knew it wasn't his fault; the Paris Business Daily had previously been a small newspaper with a circulation of only a few hundred copies, and that was just the extent of its editorial capabilities.

He thought for a moment, then pointed to the Pamphlets in his hand and said, "We can start by improving the title."

For example, this article titled "How Much Money Did the Judges of the High Court Embezzle?" could be changed to "Outrageous! They said if you don't have money, get lost, you don't deserve to win."

The following article, "The Truth About Grand Justice Vezinier's Trial of the Leon Inheritance Case," is titled "Shocking! The Untold Story Between a Widow, Two Men, and Grand Justice Vezinier."

The article titled "The Impact of the Inability to Registration Tax Law on State Finances" should be revised to "It's Terrifying! They're Stealing Money from France, and We Don't Even Know..."

Denico's eyes widened instantly.

These topics seem to have some connection to the content of the article, but they don't quite seem to be.

But most importantly, these titles are so tempting that anyone who sees them will definitely be unable to resist reading the article!

He sighed inwardly: If the Crown Prince were to become a reporter, his ability to generate such a headline alone would make him a sought-after figure by major Newspaper Office.

As Joseph was speaking, he saw a Newspaper Office executive gesturing to Denico from a distance, who then quickly said to Joseph:

"Your Highness, the guest you've been waiting for has arrived."

Joseph nodded and went to the Newspaper Office office with Denico.

A middle-aged man with disheveled hair and deep nasolabial folds was already waiting here.

Seeing the two men enter, he quickly rose and bowed to Denico, saying, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Denico. Thank you for publishing my article. May I ask what brings you here?"

Denico immediately followed Joseph's instructions and said to him, "Mr. Xavier, this is Mr. Marat."

He then pointed to Joseph, who was wearing a Tricorn Hat: "Mr. Marat, this is Mr. Xavier, the owner of our Newspaper Office."

"Oh, so your article was published because of his instructions."

Marat bowed to Joseph and said, "Thank you very much, Mr. Xavier. You are truly young and capable, managing the Paris Business Daily so well."

Joseph smiled and returned the greeting, gesturing to the chair beside him. "Mr. Marat, please have a seat."

Yes, his main purpose in coming to the Newspaper Office today was to meet Marat —the historically infamous Jacobin leader, a killer who could have three thousand heads roll with a mere signature.

Marat's article analyzing the Tax Law encountered numerous rejections, and he finally submitted it to the Paris Business Daily.

Denico needed this type of manuscript at the time, so he published it directly.

When Joseph saw Marat's name in his newspaper, he suddenly had a flash of inspiration and asked Denico to arrange a meeting with him.

Joseph knew very well that although Marat was only a sharp-tongued journalist on the surface, he actually had a great deal of power and connections, and was especially influential among the lower classes. If handled properly, he could play a significant role in Joseph's battle with the High Court.

However, given Ma Shashen's extreme aversion to the Royal House, he had no choice but to meet him under a different identity.

After Marat sat down, Denico made an excuse that he had something to do in the storeroom and turned to leave.

Joseph looked at Marat and smiled, "I have always admired you greatly, Mr. Marat. You are a true Freedom Fighter."

Marat clearly appreciated the title and immediately bowed, saying, "It is my honor to fight for justice and rights for the France people."

Because this book will be available for purchase tomorrow morning, I'm begging for first-day subscriptions. This is extremely important to the book, and I would be incredibly grateful for everyone's support!

(End of this chapter)