My uncle is Zhu Di

Chapter 181: Balance between the Emperor and His Subjects
Zhu Di was very surprised to learn that 220,000 taels were sold on the first day. He also heard that they were sold out, which meant that this company made money.

Zhu Di sat there stroking his beard, thinking about this matter.

The next day, after Zhu Di finished his morning court session, he walked towards the imperial study. The crown prince and some ministers followed him. However, what surprised Zhu Di was that during this period, those civil officials no longer impeached Xu Qin, but instead had been opposing the establishment of the Daming Daily, and they were still wrangling with each other.

Zhu Di wondered if they had forgotten about the Trade Bureau and the high salary there.

With doubts, Zhu Di called Xia Yuanji to the imperial study. Zhu Di wanted to find Xia Yuanji to find out something. He knew that Xia Yuanji had gone to find Xu Qin. Zhu Di wanted to know how Xu Qin talked to Xia Yuanji and made Xia Yuanji give up his opposition?
However, on the way, Zhu Di suddenly said to Zhu Gaochi behind him: "Boss, did you hear that the mirror of Sakyabao was sold out yesterday?"

"I know! But there's nothing we can do. We can't produce enough. Although we sold 220,000 taels yesterday, it took several days of work, and the profit is only 20%. I prepared goods for five days in advance, so the profit for one day is only about 8,000 taels!" Zhu Gaochi knew what his father was going to ask when he heard it. He thought that it was a good thing that he had prepared in advance and had informed Xu Qin, otherwise, his father would be worried about his money again.

"That's not a small amount. In a year, it's about three million taels. If you get 30%, it's eight or nine hundred thousand taels. But, is it only a 20% profit? That's what Shakyabao said? It's unlikely, right? How could this guy do something with such low profit?" Zhu Di asked as he walked with his hands behind his back.

Zhu Gaochi's scalp tingled. His father was really obsessed with money, but he didn't believe it. And he was right. However, Zhu Gaochi still answered Zhu Di with a stiff upper lip: "Yes, I heard that it is this much. However, when the craftsmen are familiar with the work, it may be higher. This is the amount now."

"Oh, well, this guy is really capable. He can make millions of taels of profit a year by just doing any business. Tell me, with so many ministers in the court, how could they not think of it? There were so many people in the Weaving Bureau before, how could they not think of it?" Zhu Di continued to ask.

"Well, Sakya Bao is indeed very proficient in the study of things. One day I went to see Sakya Bao, and found him lying on the ground with stains all over his face. It is really not easy for a count to repair those machines. I guess few people can do it!" Zhu Gaochi nodded and said.

"This kid is so serious about his work. No matter what he does, he can do it well. So it is indeed very correct to let him be in charge of the Trade Bureau. But this time, um, has the Eastern Palace received any memorial impeaching Sakya Bao recently?" Zhu Di continued to ask.

"Almost none. Now everyone seems to be against the Ming Daily. However, the first edition of the Ming Daily is expected to be issued the day after tomorrow. Now, we have also sent people to publicize it. It’s just that officials from all over the country will each receive one copy. In addition, we will also arrange for post station personnel to sell those newspapers and call on the people to subscribe. However, some businessmen have heard the news now, and I heard that they really want to subscribe. It’s only two or three hundred coins a year, and many people can afford it." Zhu Gaochi reported. He didn’t want to tell Zhu Di about Xu Qin, but needed to change the subject. Who knows what kind of trap his father would dig for him by then?

"Well, you have to hurry up on this matter and publicize it as well as possible. If it really doesn't work, let the Jinyiwei publicize it." Zhu Di nodded and said.

Xia Yuanji and others who were behind heard this and were also very helpless. They opposed the Ming Daily for one reason. There were many things that could not be known to the people. If they knew, it would be bad.

But Zhu Di didn't think so. He didn't want to be controlled by those civil officials, and he didn't want to let the civil officials control the mouthpiece of the Ming Dynasty. The mouthpiece of the Ming Dynasty needs to be in the hands of you, the emperor. Only in this way can you fight against those civil officials. Otherwise, who knows what they will say about the emperor in front of the people.

Soon, Zhu Di arrived at the imperial study. After Zhu Di sat down, he asked the ministers to sit down.

"Everyone, at this morning's court, you have been opposing the establishment of the Daming Daily. I find it hard to understand. You have always said that the people can be made to follow the rules, but not to know them. However, the people of Daming need to know the policies of the court, such as why the maritime ban is not lifted now and what the court is concerned about. The court needs to let the people understand it, not oppose it.

In addition, this time the Ming Daily has also opened a column to discuss court policies. I also hope to hear the voices of the people. Moreover, you can earn a fee by writing a column. According to the rules I set, you get one cent for one word. For many readers, this is also a way for them to understand court policies and participate in court policies. At the same time, they can also get a fee. Isn't this better?

I have never understood why you have always been against it? " Zhu Di sat down and asked the ministers. Zhu Di wanted to persuade them and did not want to tear them apart directly. After all, the affairs of the court still needed them to deal with, and these ministers also needed to be appeased.

Many people have misunderstandings about the power of the emperor. Since ancient times, the imperial power has needed the support of the prime minister, that is, the ministers. If the imperial power and the prime minister's power conflict, then the court will be in constant quarrels, and many policies cannot be implemented. Since ancient times, either the imperial power completely crushes the prime minister's power and forces the ministers to work with a knife, or the prime minister's power exceeds the imperial power, the ministers override the imperial power, and the imperial power cannot leave the palace. The rest is mostly a balance between the imperial power and the prime minister's power. The emperor needs to consider the ideas of the ministers and form a balance of checks and balances.

It is true that the emperor has the power to kill ministers, but those who dare to do so unscrupulously are iron-blooded emperors who have the military power firmly in their hands. Moreover, they are usually founding emperors. Subsequent emperors almost never dare to do so. If they do so, those ministers will really destroy a dynasty. Ministers can force the people to rebel through their own means, or even commit suicide by nurturing the enemy.

Therefore, a balance would be formed between the emperor and his ministers. The emperor could kill them, but the reason had to be tenable. Yue Fei was killed, and Song Gaozong was scolded as a tyrant for hundreds of years.

"Your Majesty, the reason why we oppose it is, first, because of what Your Majesty just said, and secondly, running the Ming Daily requires a lot of money, and it will also increase the workload of the postmen. In this way, the gains will not outweigh the losses. Moreover, our Ming Dynasty needs money in many places now, and Your Majesty still has many grand plans that have not been realized. Why should we increase too much expenditure?" Xia Yuanji stood up and bowed to Zhu Di.

Zhu Di stretched out his hand to stop him from continuing, and said, "It won't increase the cost much. Moreover, if there are not enough postmen, we can add some. It's okay. In addition, the Ming Daily is not without income. Boss, tell me about the current income of the Ming Daily!"

"Yes, Dad!" Zhu Gaochi stood up and said to Xia Yuanji, "Daming Daily has just received two advertisements. One is from Xu's cloth workshop. Xu invested 50,000 taels of silver to publish an advertisement on the first page for one year. The second advertisement is from Xu's glass workshop. The advertising fee is 50,000 taels of silver and the advertisement is on the second page for one year. Daming Daily plans to print nine pages each time, both on the front and back, so there are 18 interleavings, and at least 18 workshops can publish advertisements.

We have not yet agreed on the specific advertising costs, but now that Xu Qin has set a precedent, I believe those businessmen will do the math in their minds. Moreover, by then our Daming Daily will have a special advertising department to contact those businessmen. In this way, their goods can be widely advertised, the merchants can make a profit, and the people can buy what they want.

The second is the subscription fee. A single copy of the daily newspaper is sold for one cent. If you subscribe for a year, we are not able to print every day now, but we will print the latest daily newspaper and send it out as soon as possible to let the people know.

Now it may be issued every two or three days, but now we have decided that if you subscribe for a year, the postman will personally deliver it to their house, and the annual fee is 250 coins. Of course, I will also issue one copy every day as soon as possible, but it is still in the initial stage.

If there are 100,000 people in the Ming Dynasty subscribing, there will be tens of thousands of taels of silver. Moreover, we estimate that there may be more than that. In Nanjing alone, there are estimated to be 20,000 to 30,000 people subscribing to this newspaper. The subscription volume in other provinces in the south is estimated to be very large. If there are more than 300,000 subscriptions, then there will be more than 70,000 taels of silver. It will be no problem to support those postmen with this silver.

The annual income of my Ming Dynasty postmen is only about 20 taels. This money can be used to hire more than 3,000 postmen to work, which is absolutely no problem, not to mention the advertising costs.

Moreover, we have made a budget. If the number of printed newspapers exceeds 100,000, the cost of each additional copy will only increase by two cents. If we calculate based on 300,000 subscriptions, the total cost of all printing per day is 700 taels of silver, which will cost about 250,000 taels of silver a year. The advertising fee is enough to cover these expenses.

Therefore, if we consider the cost, the Ming Daily will not lose money, and it can also help some ordinary people make money. For example, we can hire people to deliver newspapers. In our Nanjing city, each person can deliver 100 copies a day and pay them 50 cents a day. I believe that a large number of people will rush to do this. Three hundred thousand copies of daily newspapers only require the employment of 3,000 people, and the daily cost is only 150 taels of silver, which is enough to pay for advertising.

Of course, we also need people to deliver our daily newspapers from the capital to various places. This needs to be handled by the people at the post stations, but we have prepared enough money for this part of the expenses. "

After Zhu Gaochi finished speaking, he looked at the ministers below, and all of them looked at Zhu Gaochi in dumbfoundedness.

(End of this chapter)