As the Confucian journals quietly increased the number of pages, the declining sales gradually stopped.
After the current political news of the Confucian journals, there were a lot of advertisements. Although many Confucians were dissatisfied with this, they could only accept it when they thought that the Mo Journal was pressing on and the sales of the Confucian journals were declining.
With the publicity of the Confucian journals, the shops of the aristocratic families offered discounts to attract customers. In addition, they paid a lot of advertising fees to the Confucian journals, so the profits were reduced. The previous era of huge profits was gone forever.
However, the aristocratic families did not spend the money in vain. Under the overwhelming advertisements of the Confucian journals, the shops and workshops of the aristocratic families gradually stopped declining. After all, the real rich people were the elites who studied Confucianism. They were the main consumption force of the Tang dynasty.
Moreover, the Confucian journals also specifically picked out the poor quality of the small workshops and publicized it. They tried to make the aristocratic families think that the goods of the Mo Journal were of good quality and high price. Although the Mo Journal was cheap, most of them were fake and inferior products.
The aristocratic families deliberately ordered their servants to buy the products of the Mo Journal. After they deliberately damaged the products, they reported it in the Confucian journals without compensation. This destroyed the reputation of the small and medium-sized workshops.
What's more, some people deliberately damaged the goods and sent a complaint to Chang 'an County, asking the Mo Journal to pay ten times the loss. Although these things were left unsettled, they caused a lot of trouble in the city, which greatly damaged the reputation of the Mo Journal and the small and medium-sized workshops.
"Your Majesty, there are many fake and inferior products in the Mo Journal in Chang 'an City. Once they are exposed to the market, it will certainly cause hidden trouble for the people in the Guannei Road. Merton can't absolve himself from the blame."
"Yes, Merton is eager for quick success and instant benefits in the Mo Family Village, but he ignores the safety of the people in the world."
"Your Majesty, please order a thorough investigation of the Mo Journal in Chang 'an and let the people in the world use the things they are assured of."
After the aristocratic families and the Confucian journals caused a lot of trouble in the city, the imperial censors of the aristocratic families heard the news and impeached Meton.
"Meton, do you have any excuse?" Li Shimin did not have the habit of taking the bullet for Meton. He directly pushed Meton to the front.
Modun frowned. He stood up straight and said, "Your Majesty, the goods in Mo's magazine are not fake or shoddy. On the contrary, they are all cheap and cheap goods that the people need."
"How fast and frugal?" Yu Zhining scoffed. "If that's the case, why are there so many inferior products on the market?"
"If there is a problem with the quality of the goods, the commoners can refuse to pay. Furthermore, some goods can be replaced within three months. Now, the Mo Periodical has been implemented for less than three months. The Minister doesn't know why these commoners don't apply to replace the goods, unless they damaged it on purpose." Meton looked deeply at the group of censors.
"Even if they aren't fake and shoddy products, these goods are still produced by small workshops. They cut corners and compete at low prices. The Mo Family is also adding fuel to the fire. The entire Guannei Circuit's business community is wailing. The merchants are filled with resentment. No matter what, this debt should be placed on the Mo Family!" Yu Zhining angrily rebuked.
"That's right. With the launch of Mo Jiu's Shopping and Jingdu Express, many shops in Chang 'an City have closed down and suffered heavy losses. What will Mo Jiu say?" The group of censors reported. In any case, the closure of so many shops was indeed related to the Mo Periodical, which Mo Jiazi could not dispute.
Meton was silent for a moment and said, "The closure of shops in Chang 'an City is certainly affected by the Mo Periodical, but it is also related to the high rent and cost of living in Chang' an City. After all, no matter how cheap the Mo Periodical is, it will not be sold at a loss. The merchants will also have a certain amount of profit. However, the high rent and cost of living in Chang 'an City eat up all the profits of the merchants. This is the whole reason why the merchants have closed down."
Yu Zhining frowned and said, "In any case, the Mo Periodical is directly related to the closure of the shops."
"The business world is like a battlefield. Even if there is no Mo Periodical, there will still be shops that close down. Not to mention the distant ones, even the Mo Family Village has been on the verge of closure several times." Meton did not hide anything.
The officials with five surnames and seven looks suddenly became embarrassed. They could not get away from the difficulties of the Mo Family several times. What made them more embarrassed was that Mo Jiazi applied the art of war to the business war and defeated them.
"Business war!" The officials nodded. These days, they had broadened their horizons. The technical war, the price war, and the market war. The advertising war was endless, and the business war was even more exciting than the sand table military exercise.
"Even so, the Mo Family still owes the merchants of Chang 'an City an explanation." Yu Zhining argued.
Meton had already expected this and said, "What explanation is needed? It's just survival of the fittest. Besides, the Mo Periodical is not only impacting the merchants but has no benefits."
"Humph! Benefits? Merton must be joking! "Yu Zhining sneered.
Many officials also laughed out loud. Mo Jiazi was too thick-skinned. He squeezed the merchants' shops out of business and still said there were benefits.
Meton explained, "What you don't know is that the Mo Periodical is not only for ordinary people. There is also a merchant edition. The merchant edition only publishes the price of the workshop. In the past, merchants often had to travel hundreds of miles to buy goods, and a round trip would take more than half a month. They also needed to hire workers, carriages, food, drinks, and accommodation, and that was not a small expense. With the merchant edition of the Mo Periodical, merchants only need to make a reservation on the Capital Express. They only need to sit in their shops, and the Capital Express will deliver the goods to the door of the shop. Moreover, the goods are sent directly by the manufacturer, and the price is the lowest. The merchant's capital is reduced, and even if the price is lowered, they will still benefit a lot. "
"The merchant edition!" The officials were stunned. They did not expect the Mo Family to have such a move. In this way, it was indeed beneficial to the merchants. In this era, transportation was inconvenient, and long distance travel was not an easy task.
With the merchant edition of the Mo Periodical, merchants could save ten days to half a month of practice each time they bought goods. Compared to the cost of the journey, the Capital Express' little transportation fee was negligible.
"The price is the lowest? Don't tell me it's those low-quality goods again!" Yu Zhining sneered.
Meton looked around and proudly said, "In this world, the high price does not represent the good quality of the goods. The price is determined by the labor time the worker spends on the goods. "
"The labor time determines the price? Is Merton joking?" Immediately, many officials were surprised. It was the first time they had heard of such a thing, and they all doubted it.
Meton looked at the confused elites of the Tang dynasty and suddenly felt a sense of superiority. He said, "If you don't believe me, perhaps you will understand a little after listening to the story of Mo Zi's secret book."
"Mo Zi's secret book!" Hearing this, the officials could not help but listen. They may have some opinions about Mo Jiazi, but no one doubted Mo Zi. Especially the popular secret book of Mo Jiazi, it was thought-provoking and made people look forward to it. Unfortunately, Mo Jiazi revealed it bit by bit like squeezing toothpaste.
Merton said, "It is said that when Mo Zi was young, he did not like to read. He often threw away the bamboo scroll and went to play. One day, the young Mo Zi met a white-haired old woman by the river. She was sitting on a stool on a whetstone, holding a very thick iron rod in her hand. She was sharpening up and down on the whetstone with a focused expression. Even if the young Mo Zi looked at her for a long time, she did not notice.
The young Mo Zi asked, "Old woman, what are you doing?"
"Grinding needles!" The old woman answered without raising her head, still seriously sharpening the iron rod in her hand.
The young Mo Zi said in surprise, "But you are holding a huge iron rod in your hand. Needles are thin and small. Can such a thick iron rod be ground into needles?"
The old woman said as she sharpened, "Yes, the iron rod is thick and big. It is very difficult to grind it into a needle. But I persisted in sharpening it every day. One day, I will grind it into an embroidery needle."
The young Mo Zi was deeply moved and said, "As long as one works hard, an iron rod can be ground into a needle. Everything in the world is like this."
Thus, the young Mo Zi worked hard and finally founded the School of Mo, becoming one of the scholars. "
"As long as one works hard, an iron rod can be ground into a needle!"
When these words were said, the entire court fell silent. They were in high positions, so naturally, they could understand these words better than others. They were able to occupy high positions, not because they were born lucky, but because they put in more effort than ordinary people. In the end, they were able to grind a useless iron rod into an embroidery needle.
"Mo Zi's great wisdom, I am deeply impressed." Li Shimin said with emotion.
Everyone else nodded. Mo Zi's secret book did not disappoint them once again.
"These words will definitely inspire all the students in the world to work hard!" Kong Yingda sighed. All along, Confucius' words and deeds had always been the role model for all the students in the world to emulate. However, Mo Zi's words were not inferior to Confucius'.
"Thank you for your recognition of the School of Mo. Mo Zi's thoughts are indeed very beneficial. However, I have another thought." Meton sighed. "In Mo Sheng's era, how expensive was an embroidery needle that the old woman did not hesitate to grind it with an iron rod?"
"How expensive was an embroidery needle!" The officials could not help but be stunned. They all looked at Meton angrily. Mo Jiazi's words suddenly interrupted their thoughts. One was to work hard and was extremely inspirational. The other was to stink of money and was extremely indecent. It was like the difference between heaven and earth, making everyone feel uncomfortable.
"Mo Bian once said that everything can be divided into two parts. This kid's view is not wrong. Moreover, aren't we discussing the price of goods?" Meton said weakly as he looked at the officials' unfriendly eyes.
Only then did the officials remember that they were discussing the price. They had been led astray by Mo Zi's secret words.
"As you can imagine, the old woman spent several years to grind an embroidery needle. I'm afraid it's not excessive to sell it for at least a hundred copper coins!" Merton said.
The officials fell silent. Asking a person to spend three years of her time, paying her a hundred copper coins was already extremely cheap.
"The forging technology of the Tang dynasty was very mature. Take casting needles for example, the best blacksmith could only forge eighty needles a day. Therefore, the embroidery needle of the Tang dynasty is now sold for one copper coin."
The officials were moved. According to Meton's words, the less time it took to make goods, the cheaper the goods would be.
"One copper coin for one needle. That was the price before." A censor snorted. He happened to hear his wife and daughter happily say that the price of embroidery needles had dropped greatly.
Meton nodded and said, "You are right. The price of embroidery needles has dropped greatly because the workshop used the Mo family's latest ink technique and assembly line production. Now, one person can make one thousand needles. Not to mention one copper coin for one needle, even if it's ten needles for one copper coin, those workshops will not lose money! "
"One thousand needles!" The crowd gasped. It had to be said that the Mo family's ink technique had become the determining factor of the price of goods. In recent years, the price of goods in the Tang dynasty had generally dropped, which was directly related to the widespread use of ink technique.
"As you can imagine, the old woman spent several years to grind an embroidery needle. It's worth at least a hundred copper coins. An ordinary workshop can make eighty needles a day, and embroidery needles are worth one copper coin each. However, a workshop using ink technique can make one thousand needles a day, and one can buy ten needles for one copper coin. It can be seen that the less time we spend on making goods, the cheaper the goods will be. It's not that the higher the price, the better the quality, and the lower the price, the worse the quality."
The censors looked at each other. They were naturally not inferior to anyone when it came to words, but they were all confused about the economic knowledge and could not argue at all.
Only Dai Zhou took a deep look at Meton. The officials all thought that Mo Zi's understanding was as long as he worked hard. It was a wise saying that grinding an iron pestle into a needle contained great knowledge.
However, he thought that Mo Jiazi's understanding of labor time determined the price from this story was not inferior to Mo Zi's. None of the officials present noticed this.
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