"Confucian journals! Could it be that the Confucian journals also want to carry out newspaper shopping? " Zheng Chang looked at Wei Sian with surprise. If the Confucian journals could also carry newspaper shopping, their aristocratic family would have a way to contend with the House of Mo.
"Of course not. The Confucian journals are the orthodox journals of Confucianism. How could they do things that betray the classics?" Wei Sian shook his head. Although he was quite tempted by the Mo Journal's shopping method, those old fogeys of Confucianism would not agree. The Confucian journals were established with the support of some great Confucians. They were arrogant and naturally did not want the noble journals to be tainted with the stench of money. Advertising was already the limit of those old fogeys.
Moreover, even if those old fogeys of Confucianism were willing, they would still need to build a huge express delivery service in the capital. This was an astronomical sum. Even if the House of Mo had a large business and was backed by the House of Mo bank, they could only build the Guannei Road. He was just the third son of the Wei family. How could he control so much money?
"Then what does Brother Wei mean?" Zheng Chang was puzzled.
Wei Sian proudly said, "The only thing that can help the Zheng family now is the Confucian journals. Those small and medium-sized workshops rely on the low price, but in terms of quality and reputation, they cannot compare to the aristocratic workshops. Now, the small and medium-sized workshops rely on the Mo Journal to soar into the sky, while the aristocratic workshops are mostly old shops. What they lack is fame. As long as they advertise in the Confucian journals, this is the only way for the aristocratic families to keep the small and medium-sized workshops in check."
"Advertise?" Zheng Chang could not help but frown. Originally, the aristocratic families mostly monopolized business and had never thought of advertising.
"That's right. Not only do we have to advertise, but we also have to do a lot of advertising! Only by increasing the reputation of the aristocratic workshops can the goods be sold at a high price and the sales will not decrease. Brother Zheng also knows that most of the customers of the Confucian journals are people who do not like the House of Mo. They are also people who are well-educated, so naturally, we have to use the best goods. "Wei Sian reminded.
It must be known that those who subscribed to the Confucian journals were people who were deeply educated in Confucianism. Most of these people were the elites of society, so they naturally looked down on the goods of those small workshops. The cooperation between the Confucian journals and the aristocratic workshops was a perfect match.
Zheng Chang's heart moved. He looked at Wei Sian and said with a faint smile, "Brother Wei is so active in helping the Zheng family. I'm afraid it is more for the Confucian journals!"
Wei Sian's eyes flashed as he asked with a puzzled expression, "Why does Brother Zheng say that?"
"As far as this humble one knows, the Mo Journal's sales have increased greatly recently, while the Confucian Journal's sales have decreased instead of increasing!" Zheng Chang said with a smile that was not a smile.
Wei Sian could not help but snort coldly and said, "Isn't it all because those bumpkins coveted small profits?"
What Wei Sian meant by greed was not that the common people were buying cheap goods from the Mo Periodical. What made him even angrier was that when the common people compared the Mo Periodical with the Confucian Periodical, they found that the Mo Periodical was twice as thick as the Confucian Periodical. Just by looking at the thickness, they thought that the Mo Periodical was more conscientious. They all chose the Mo Periodical, which greatly increased the sales of the Mo Periodical.
"This is it! You should know that half of Mo Magazine's extra pages are advertisements. Could it be that advertisements are also so popular? "Zheng Chang was stunned.
"Who would have thought that there would be people who like to watch advertisements?" Wei Sian said gloomily. It was said that most of the people who liked to read shopping advertisements were women. For a long time, the reading group of newspapers and periodicals had been men. However, when the Mo Magazine was launched, it directly opened up the female market. Although the female literacy rate in the Tang dynasty was not high, it could not withstand the large base. In an instant, it led to a huge increase in the sales of the Mo Magazine and became the main source of shopping for the Mo Magazine.
"Maybe women are born to love shopping!" Zheng Chang could not help but click his tongue.
"What's even more hateful is that some people buy the Mo Magazine just to have a few more pieces of useless newspaper." Wei Sian gritted his teeth.
"Useless newspaper? What's the use of it?" Zheng Chang said in surprise.
"This is also what I don't understand the most." Wei Sian looked up at the sky and sighed.
Uncle Zheng, who was standing at the side, had an idea and said, "I may know a thing or two about this."
"Tell me quickly!" Wei Sian said in surprise. He was worried about this matter. When he heard that Uncle Zheng knew the reason, he could not help but be overjoyed. Only by understanding the reason could he find a way to deal with the Mo Magazine.
Uncle Zheng thought for a moment and said, "The news on the useless newspaper has already expired. However, the useless newspaper itself has a wide range of uses. The most important use is to paste windows!"
"Paste windows?" Zheng Chang and Uncle Zheng could not help but frown. They looked at the huge glass window in front of the living room. The sunlight shone through the glass without any obstruction. Although they did not like Mo Jiazi, they had no resistance against the products of the Mo Family Village.
Uncle Zheng smiled bitterly and said, "Young Masters, how can ordinary people use such luxurious accessories like glass? Most of them use paper to paste windows. Of course, the best effect is naturally white paper. However, in front of such a thick Mo Magazine, which costs one copper coin, the commoners naturally want to save as much as possible. Not to mention the useless newspaper, which is probably the reason why the Mo Magazine is so popular."
"It's actually because of this reason?" The two of them were in disbelief. As top-notch young masters, they could never have imagined that the reason was so simple. The commoners needed a large amount of useless newspaper to paste windows, and the Mo Magazine happened to provide this. Although it was not as transparent as white paper, and was even worse than transparent glass, the key was that it did not cost money! To the commoners, things that did not cost money were good things.
"Brother Wei, don't worry. When the commoners finish pasting the windows, they will naturally not use the Mo Magazine anymore." Zheng Chang comforted him.
Uncle Zheng said, "Young Master, after pasting the windows, you can also paste the walls. The walls pasted with newspapers are beautiful and clean. It's much better than mud walls."
The corner of Wei Sian's mouth could not help but twitch.
"There will be a time when they run out of pasting!" Zheng Chang said dryly.
Uncle Zheng continued, "Even if the windows and walls are all covered, there won't be enough newspapers. Waste newspapers can be used to make calligraphy brushes, children can use them to fold toys, and it's also the best material to start a fire …"
Uncle Zheng spoke eloquently, listing out the benefits of using useless newspapers one by one. It seemed that he usually used newspapers for such things.
"Other than that, newspapers have another biggest use, and that is to go to the toilet." Uncle Zheng said with some difficulty.
"Go to the toilet?" Zheng Chang and Zheng Chang could not help but frown when they heard this indecent thing.
Uncle Zheng said awkwardly, "Young Masters, you may not know, but going to the toilet was very boring in the past. Now that newspapers exist, many people have developed the habit of taking a few newspapers to the toilet. They often squat for nearly an hour and only get up when they finish reading the newspapers. As for the Mo Magazine and comics, even illiterate people like to take the Mo Magazine to the toilet."
Meton did not expect that the newspaper he founded would actually start the toilet culture in advance. Before newspapers appeared, going to the toilet was extremely boring and smelly. Most people rushed to finish their business. After newspapers appeared, they did not expect to stay in the toilet for such a long time. Reading the Mo Magazine was no longer so boring. They did not even let go of a small advertisement. The stench that surrounded them seemed to disappear without a trace. They only got up when they finished reading all the newspapers or their feet were numb.
"Ah!" Wei Sian could not help but be stunned. He did not expect the Confucian Magazine to lose to the Mo Magazine because of such an insignificant matter.
"More importantly, after the commoners are done using the toilet, they tear off a page of newspapers to wipe their buttocks. The commoners only hate the lack of useless newspapers. When they see that the Mo Magazine has double the number of pages, they naturally buy it first," Uncle Zheng continued.
"That's really strange!" Zheng Chang was also speechless.
However, he did not know that for the commoners, this was not a trivial matter. The young masters of aristocratic families usually had silk and the like to use the toilet, but the commoners probably only had bamboo, leaves, and soil. Although the useless newspapers would be stained with ink when they wiped their buttocks, it was much better than bamboo and the like.
Zheng Chang and Wei Sian looked at each other and immediately understood that the two of them were destined to cooperate. The Zheng family needed a large number of advertisements in the Confucian Magazine to attract the huge readership of the Confucian Magazine as customers, and Wei Sian needed to increase the income to expand the pages of the Confucian Magazine so that the commoners could use the toilet …
"No, it's competing with the Mo Magazine!" Wei Sian tried hard not to let himself go astray, but the image in his mind could not be removed.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
