Because there were only ten sheets of printed paper, Lin Yi finished cutting them all in one go. However, he only bound one book with his own hands and handed it to Kabanbai, who had just entered the door. The rest was done by the ten apprentices who were in charge of the printing.
It was just that the group of people were in a mess, and they finished this simple task in a hurry. But even if they finished, they still couldn't believe that a book with dozens of pages was finished just like that, even though it looked very inelegant and could even be said to be crude.
After finishing five volumes, Lin didn't stop and controlled the printing machine to print another five volumes. This time, he also wanted to let the dean see how the machine worked and record the consumption of the Molding Power to control the Manroland Metal Printing Plate. And the rest of the work was also done by the apprentices.
But this time, no one made a move. Because when Lin Yi was demonstrating just now, their minds were in a daze. Who could remember the whole process?
Lin Yi didn't rush them, nor did he show any disdain. He just watched everyone's performance. Finally, a young apprentice walked forward and fumbled with the paper cutting machine. There were two types of pressboard, one was movable and the other was fixed.
Lin Yi used the fixed pressboard just now. It was embedded in the paper cutting machine, and when it was needed, he just had to lift it up and jam it. The fixed pressboard had several pieces. It was just the right length to cut the paper from big to small.
Not long after, the young apprentice figured out something. He pulled out the farthest piece of pressboard and found an apprentice who was closer to him to carefully put the newly printed product on the paper cutting machine. Cut by cut, the pages were cut out. At this time, the others also came to help, and the group was still in a mess.
After fiddling with it for a while, they finally finished the second batch of five volumes according to the standards of the first batch. There were ten volumes in total. Even if the ten people who weren't very familiar with it did it intermittently, it still took them less than an hour to finish it. Speaking of which, it took a lot of time to assemble the printing machine this morning.
Everyone looked at the finished product, and from their initial daze, they became very excited. It was as if as long as a certain someone spoke, it would do its best to imprint continuously.
However, the most important thing was to operate the control panel. Other than the mage himself, no one else knew how to do it. Therefore, everyone stared at a certain someone with bright eyes. Lin naturally knew what this gaze meant. It wasn't because of the great cause of mathematics that he threw himself into it without a care for his own safety. It was just that he couldn't bear to let go of a new toy.
However, Lin did not satisfy these people's requests, because before that, there was still a very important task.
He took back the ten completed journals, including the one in the dean's hands. The people who had been flipping through the books looked a little reluctant. Lin Xiang said to the crowd, "Don't be in a hurry to print books. Before that, there was a very important job to do. – "
He distributed the ten journals in his hand to the ten apprentices that Kabanbai had brought with him.
"… Everyone can see that printing books is just a labor. Everyone might find it refreshing now, but they would get tired of it after a while. Moreover, this was a job that anyone could do. It did not necessarily need a magic apprentice to do it. However, in order for this book to be published, we still need to rely on the help of the elders. In fact, this is only the first draft, and you still need to carefully proofread it. Of course, I don't need you to catch mathematical theoretical errors, but to catch spelling errors, grammatical errors, as well as mistakes that are easy to misunderstand. As for contradictory errors, if you can find them, then find them and correct them. "
The matter of proofreading seemed to be unfamiliar to the people in the Maze. He saw a group of people looking at him suspiciously with a 'what are you talking about?' look in their eyes. After all, before today, the completion of a book depended entirely on the copyist. Even if there was a mistake in the copying process, it didn't necessarily mean that others would follow suit, unless everyone copied the same erroneous copy.
However, printing was not like this.
Lin Xiang had to explain more: "Mathematics is a subject with correct answers. It would be a disgrace if there were some laughable mistakes in a book focused on mathematics. Therefore, before the book is officially published, a first draft must be made, and people must read the text, find the superficial mistakes, and correct them. This kind of proofreading work is crucial to the printing industry. Because if there is a mistake, the number of copies printed will be the same. Can you understand the seriousness of this? "
After hearing Lin Xiang's explanation, everyone suddenly understood the importance of proofreading. If there was a mistake in the original copy, then there would be a mistake in the original copy. If this kind of thing was published, it would only become a laughing stock. Moreover, everyone could imagine that this first issue of a mathematics journal would definitely be the focus of a lot of people. Any small mistake in it would become the target of everyone's criticism.
After understanding this point, Archmage Kabambay also gave up on the idea of taking back the journal. Although he also wanted to take a copy and do the proofreading work together. The apprentices who took it also understood that the journal in their hands was still a half-finished product. In order to complete it, they still needed everyone's efforts.
Seeing that everyone's interest was waning, Lin Xiang knew that he had to talk about the real business next. "Of course, I will not ask for your help for free. There will be a reward. Of course, this reward will not be the same as in the past where you could get a high price of two to five kiels per copy. "
Lin Xiang also knew about the reward of being a copyist. Because this was the job that he wanted the most when he first came to the mysterious land. Not only was it safe, but it was also very profitable. However, in order to do this job, other than ability, one also needed some background. At that time, Lin Xiang did not have either, so he could only go to the uncivilized goblins and risk his life.
The reward of two to five kiels included the purchase of paper, ink, and other things that could carry magic words. But even so, there was still a considerable amount of profit in it. Moreover, this was only the price of copying general magic knowledge. If it was some high-grade magic knowledge, such as forbidden strategic magic, the reward would be even higher. It should be known that an average person's monthly living expenses were less than one kiel.
But obviously, the reward for printing could not be compared. Because the workload and the content of the job were too different. In the past, when they helped the association or Archmages copy magic knowledge, firstly, it was time-consuming. Secondly, the paper and ink had to be specially made and prepared by themselves. After all, the cost of the materials was included in the reward. But now, it was completely different. So how would this reward be calculated? Everyone's ears perked up.
"This time, for the first issue of the mathematics journal, I estimate that a thousand copies will be printed, and all of you will be responsible for it. As for the reward, each person will be twenty kiels (kiels). It is estimated that it will take about five to seven days, including the time to proofread the manuscript, to complete the production of one issue of the journal. If you are familiar with the overall operation process, it is estimated that the time can be shortened. "
The reward of twenty kiels per person was calculated by Lin Xiang. The foundation of the calculation included the experience of rolling around the bottom of the Sijia district in the past, as well as the information found on the forum index. Spending the same amount of time, a fast copyist copying magic knowledge using the usual method could probably earn between ten to thirty-five kiels.
But this also included the cost of the materials that had to be paid, which meant that there would be about half of the profit left, or even less than half of the net profit, depending on how low the source of the materials could be obtained. Even so, the income was still considerable at the level of the mysterious land.
The reward of twenty kiels was probably a little higher than the income of a copyist for the same amount of time spent. And this was a net profit that did not include the cost of the materials. As for twenty gold, it was roughly a month's worth of daily expenses for a Magic Apprentice to learn magic. This included the cost of the consumables needed for the meditation ritual, or some of the materials needed for practice and research, and of course, the cost of the purchase of magic stones.
So when Lin Xiang offered this reward, everyone felt that it was just okay. It was not worse than before, but it was not much more either. Seeing that their teacher came forward and asked for their help, they could still help. As for the astronomical figure of a thousand books, it had been ignored by everyone.
This was because in Lin's original calculation of the remuneration, he did not take into account the prices in the Holy City of Estali, nor did he consider how many tricks these experienced scribes could find in this job and how much profit they could squeeze out of it. Spending the same amount of time and working harder, they could earn more than twenty kiels.
For this part, Lin Xiang could only say that there was no need to compare the special case with the general case. In the field of statistics, using the special case to get through the general case meant that there was no comparison at all. But it was not impossible to arouse the enthusiasm of the apprentices. With the reward as bait, everyone would be hooked.
So, Lin Xiang said with a smile, "Although the basic reward is only twenty kiels, as long as you are careful enough to make this journal publish perfectly without any mistakes, you will receive an additional bonus."
Everyone's eyes lit up and their ears pricked up. Lin Xiang finally cleared his throat and said, "On a monthly basis, as long as no one publicly criticizes the mistakes in the text before the next issue is published, you will receive the same amount as the reward for this issue as the reward for this issue. That is to say, the reward for the first issue is twenty kiels. As long as no one criticizes anything other than the mathematical theory before the second issue is published, you will receive a bonus of twenty kiels next month even if you are not willing to continue helping. "
This meant that the meticulousness of the proofreading was related to whether or not their reward could be doubled! The ten magic apprentices who were involved in this work almost jumped to their feet and screamed.
Lin Xiang roughly explained how to record the mistakes in the proofreading, and someone couldn't wait to open the first draft and check the text.
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