A Golden Road
As her capable assistant, Grand Princess Shangde would not forget Madam Cui Madam Cui when good things happened. Wang Printing House. Madam Cui was somewhat aware of the fierce competition between Wang Printing House and other aristocratic seal engraving shops.
She said, "Putting everything else aside, just consider Wang Printing House. If more people could know about Wang Printing House, they would all come to Wang's for printing anything, making Wang's business even better. They would be willing to spend some money."
"And those jewelry stores and shops in the capital, I imagine they'd be happy to run that kind of advertising you mentioned."
Madam Cui hadn't thought of it that way. But after Zhao Ruxi brought it up, she realized it was an excellent way to solve the cost problem.
You see, people who can read and afford newspapers are generally well-off. Jewelry shops and other similar businesses primarily target this demographic. If there's a place to advertise, and the cost isn't too high, those jewelry and silk shops will definitely be willing to spend the money.
Madam Cui seemed to see a golden road ahead.
It's not a golden road to making money, but a golden road to the healthy development of newspapers.
With funding secured, the cost of the newspaper could be solved. Who wouldn't want to buy a newspaper that's published and sold regardless of cost? Even without reading the content, it's extremely worthwhile to buy it just for wallpaper, toilet paper, or starter tools, not to mention the many interesting stories inside.
Getting excited, Madam Cui couldn't sit still any longer. "No, I have to go back and discuss this with Grand Princess Shangde, and get this done as soon as possible."
"Master, please wait a moment," Zhao Ruxi called out to her.
"To run an advertising campaign, the newspaper's sales must first increase significantly. Besides redesigning the layout, there are a few other tricks."
Then, Zhao Ruxi told Madam Cui all the ways to increase engagement, such as lotteries, adding crossword puzzles, and serializing suspense novels.
Madam Cui quickly took out her notebook and wrote down everything she said before taking her leave with great excitement.
Lady Zhu was already dumbfounded, having listened from the side.
Zhao Ruxi's big businesses were all kept in the shadows, and this was the first time Lady Zhu had witnessed her daughter's earning power.
She has such a brilliant mind; I don't know how her brain works, how she can come up with so many ideas.
Turning her head and seeing her mother like this, Zhao Ruxi went over and took her arm, saying in a coquettish tone, "Mother, do you want to start a business and make money? If you do, I can give you some ideas."
Zhao Ruxi is a person who is used to being independent, strong-willed, and capable. Therefore, she is used to shouldering everything on her own and charging towards the highest goal.
Even if she transmigrated to ancient times and told the system she wanted to be a lazy bum, she would never be a lazy bum, not only in her past life and this life, but probably not in her next life either.
The same applies to making money.
She felt that she was already very capable of earning money and could provide a good life for her family. The old lady, Zhao Yuanxun, and Lady Zhu should just enjoy their lives peacefully and take care of their health.
The fact that they lived like that before she arrived proved they weren't ambitious or capable people. So she didn't expect them to be particularly competent; she just hoped they would be able to manage without holding her back.
Therefore, she never even considered giving Lady Zhu any advice, suggesting that she should work hard to earn money.
But if Lady Zhu really wanted to do business, she wouldn't object.
Some people aren't necessarily greedy for money or power; they simply want to prove their abilities through these means and achieve a sense of psychological satisfaction and accomplishment. What capable person wouldn't want to stand at the pinnacle of success, admired by all?
Therefore, if Lady Zhu were suddenly inspired to have a desire to accomplish something great, Zhao Ruxi would naturally be willing to do her best to help.
"Really? Okay, give me some ideas." Lady Zhu said, half teasing and half expectant, and pulled Zhao Ruxi down to sit down.
She was already exhausted from the mundane affairs of the Earl of Suiping's Residence, struggling to make ends meet and support her large family. She had neither the energy nor the courage to start a business, fearing that a single misstep would leave her family destitute.
Now that the family has separated, expenses are low and income is high. She also knows that her daughter has a large sum of money, and her daughter has repeatedly said that if the family needs money, they can just ask her. With her daughter as a safety net, and with the successful examples of opening a rice noodle shop and a roasted nuts business before her, she has become bolder.
Now that there's really nothing for her to worry about at home, she wants to try and see if she can earn more money.
"Please tell me first, what kind of business do you want to pursue?" Zhao Ruxi asked Lady Zhu, searching her mind for ways to make money.
She wasn't smarter or more capable than others. She simply came from a modern world with a highly developed commercial sector and had witnessed countless business tactics. She stood on the shoulders of giants. This is the advantage of all time travelers.
"I don't have the abilities of the Eldest Princess or Madam Cui," Lady Zhu said clearly. "I'm better off doing small businesses like rice noodle shops or roasted nuts."
Small businesses can be very profitable if run well. The most important thing is that you're doing business with ordinary people at the bottom of society, so you won't clash with powerful families or influential figures, and you won't get into trouble.
Lady Zhu said he couldn't do or dared to get involved in things like printing shops or running newspapers, which competed with powerful families and were deeply intertwined with imperial power.
"Then how about we make canned goods?" Zhao Ruxi suggested.
Even if Lady Zhu doesn't do it, she would still want to do this business.
Compared to her other large businesses, this small business has a thin profit margin and requires a lot of attention, so she simply doesn't have the time or energy to manage it. Even if she doesn't have to personally take charge and instead hire people to manage it, she still needs to come up with ideas and solve many problems in the early stages.
She found it troublesome and looked down on it, so she simply handed this business over to the servants of the Little Peach Manor to improve their lives, without any intention of expanding or strengthening it.
Since the Lady Zhu wants to do it, then naturally they should keep the benefits within the family.
"I'm having the people from the Little Peach Manor try making it, but it's not in production yet. I'll have them test it first. If it works, you can send someone to learn how, and once they've learned, they can open a workshop in the south. Anyway, there are people and shops there; they can just put the products on the roasted nuts and seeds shop and sell them, which can save on extra expenses," she said.
Upon hearing this, Lady Zhu hesitated. "You're already doing it? Then you do it yourself, I won't get involved."
Zhao Ruxi waved her hand. "Look how busy I am, how could I have the energy? It's just that the yellow peaches in the Little Peach Manor ripen quickly, but the taste is just so-so, and selling them like this would yield too little profit. So, following the idea of processing rice noodles, I thought of processing the peaches a bit before selling them, and I came up with a recipe. A couple of days ago, they made two cans according to the recipe and sent them to me to try. They weren't very good, so I asked them to improve them. Once they're done, I'll send them to your residence for you, Grandmother, and Father to try."