Wang Printing House
Movable type printing also emerged at this time.
However, when movable type first appeared, it was not cheaper than woodblock printing.
Not to mention that each printing requires typesetting, since clay movable type is generally used, once a character is fired, it can only be printed a few times before the characters become blurry and unclear, requiring a new character to be fired. The same applies to wooden movable type.
Copper movable type can print a good number of times, but the initial investment for such a complete set is too high. Most workshops dare not produce it, fearing that business will be poor and they will go bankrupt before they can make a profit.
Furthermore, if there are patterns or if you want the text to be printed smaller, movable type printing simply cannot do that.
On the contrary, with woodblock printing, once a stone block is carved, the cost decreases as the number of prints increases. For example, the Four Books and Five Classics were in high demand and there was no fear of them not selling, so printing houses all used woodblocks.
But regardless of whether movable type or woodblock printing is used, the cost is expensive.
Historically, it wasn't until 1450, when the Germany Gutenberg invented movable type and ink, and built the first printing press, that printing costs decreased, thus promoting the cultural prosperity and social progress of Europe at that time.
Now, Grand Princess Shangde and her group are facing just such a problem.
Women's newspapers, published once every ten days, were only good if they sold a hundred or so copies at the beginning because they were aimed at women and women's literacy rate was low at that time.
Even if it wasn't profitable, a newspaper would still cost one or two hundred coins. Apart from wealthy noblewomen, how many common women would be willing to buy a newspaper?
If they were only distributing a hundred or so copies of the newspaper, they could have used a handwritten format. But their original intention was to enable all literate women to acquire knowledge through the newspaper, thereby becoming self-reliant. A small number of copies would not have much effect.
To achieve a large circulation, printing is necessary.
This creates a vicious cycle.
The fact that the newspaper stand could not break even meant that it wouldn't last long and would probably die out after a few issues.
This is also why there were no newspapers in ancient times. They were entirely limited by objective conditions.
The imperial court did produce official gazettes. In ancient China, during the Song Dynasty, these gazettes were all handwritten. It wasn't until the late Ming Dynasty, when movable type from the West was introduced to China, that movable type versions of the gazettes were published.
In ancient times, officials below a certain rank could not access the official gazette.
Zhao Ruxi is the kind of person who thinks ten steps ahead before taking a single step. When she was giving advice to Madam Cui, how could she not know the difficulties that would be faced in running a newspaper? She was already here waiting for this.
She created movable type, produced ink, and built and improved Gutenberg's printing press.
She suggested that Grand Princess Shangde and Madam Cui start a newspaper, not only to provide women with intellectual nourishment and employment opportunities, but also to bring this printing technology and printing press to the Great Jin, thereby promoting the cultural development and social progress of the Great Jin.
So although her printing workshop opened before the new year, she didn't go around soliciting business; she just quietly printed some of the Four Books and Five Classics and piled them up there. She was waiting for Grand Princess Shangde and Madam Cui to bring up this issue.
"I thought of this problem as early as when I suggested that you start a newspaper," Zhao Ruxi said with a smile.
She walked to the table, took out a charcoal pencil and a notebook, wrote down an address, tore off the page, and handed it to Madam Cui.
"I stumbled upon this printing shop by chance. I've inquired for a long time but still don't know who the owner is. But they seem to use a new printing technique that produces extremely high-quality text and images. The price isn't high, and the speed is fast. Go and ask them about it."
Madam Cui was overjoyed. She took the address, glanced at it, and discovered it was located in the south of the capital. She stood up impatiently. "I'll go right now."
Zhao Ruxi bowed and took her leave, saying, "I'll go to class now."
Ever since returning from the New Year, Grand Princess Shangde and Madam Cui have stopped letting her attend classes with her classmates and instead have a tutor give her private lessons.
The teachers, emboldened by the rare opportunity to encounter such a student, devised a plan for Zhao Ruxi after examining her learning progress and grasp of the knowledge. They were determined to ensure that she would achieve excellent results in the preliminary examinations.
During this period, the training courses were not held, Zhao Ruxi was completely immersed in the ocean of the Four Books and Five Classics.
When Madam Cui arrived in the capital, she found the printing shop in the south of the city. She discovered that the printing shop was located in an alley, with a plaque hanging at the entrance that read "Wang Printing". The plaque was old, and the walls of the house were mottled, making it very inconspicuous.
Wang is a common surname. Zhao Ruxi's mother in her previous life had the surname Wang, so she used this surname to avoid the workshop being easily linked to her, the Xu Family, Xiao Lingyan, and others when others investigated it. The first reaction of people who saw this workshop was to investigate the Wang family in the capital.
This is an eyesore.
Madam Cui has clearly been infected.
Upon seeing the plaque, her first thought was to search her memory for prominent families with the surname Wang before she had her servant knock on the door.
They knocked for a long time, so long that they thought no one was inside, before the door finally opened with a "creak," and a thin, middle-aged man came out and asked them, "What is it?"
"Is this a printing shop? Our lady would like to have some things printed," the servant said.
The man glanced at Madam Cui standing beside the carriage, then nodded and said, "Come in."
Madam Cui, accompanied by three guards, a maid, and an old woman, was not afraid and went straight inside.
After leading Madam Cui entourage to sit in the hall, the man went to the back and returned after a while, following an old man in his sixties.
"You need something printed?" the old man asked directly, skipping all pleasantries.
Madam Cui nodded. "Exactly."
What to print?
Madam Cui took out the newspaper that she had shown Zhao Ruxi and handed it to the old man.
The old man glanced at it and asked, "How many copies do you want to print?"
Madam Cui hesitated for a moment, then said, "Three hundred portions." She looked up at the old man, "How much do you want?"
The old man stroked his beard. "Three taels of silver."
Madam Cui looked at him in disbelief. "Is three taels of silver the total price, or...?"
One tael of silver equals one thousand cash. With three hundred newspapers, the average printing cost per newspaper is only ten cash. This price is completely impossible. It doesn't even cover the cost of the paper, let alone the printing cost.
But if three taels of silver is the price of a single newspaper, that's too expensive and seems impossible.
"Total price," the old man said.
Madam Cui frowned.
Is this guy a conman? He took three taels of silver and a newspaper from her, then denied ever taking her the job. She couldn't very well report him to the authorities for the sake of three taels of silver, so she had to suffer in silence.
The old man, seeing her expression, knew what she was thinking and said impatiently, "Print it if you want, otherwise leave. If you want it printed, pay a deposit of one hundred coins first."