You were taken hostage, why pursue the Enemy's Empress?

The backyard of Shang Mo Bookstore.

Almost half of the house was occupied by movable type printing equipment. Each typeface looked extremely neat and delicate, and the typefaces were connected to ink sacs, which could automatically fill ink. The typefaces were embedded in the type disc, and some commonly used characters had several backups, while the less commonly used ones were almost complete.

Even a joystick was added for convenient operation. If a steam engine was added for modification, it could even print automatically.

Ying Wuji couldn't help but exclaim. He didn't expect such a huge task, and the Mohist Guild had completed it in just two days.

And there were even three sets!

They even sent some trustworthy Mohists, partly to earn wages, and partly to sincerely make friends with Ying Wuji.

Zhai Yun rubbed his hands, eager to try: "Young Master, when shall we start?"

Ying Wuji smiled: "The paper and ink have been prepared long ago. We can start now."

Anyway, all the paper shops were his industry, and he could call them up at any time. There was no problem with the payment, and the ink had been prepared long ago. After so much investment in the early stage, they could finally open.

Zhai Yun asked: "What book should we print first?"

Ying Wuji took out a booklet directly from his arms: "Let's start with Lanling Sheng's 'Strange Tales from Mountains and Seas'. He has been very popular lately, and we can take advantage of his popularity to make a lot of money."

When Zhai Yun saw 'Strange Tales from Mountains and Seas', he involuntarily showed a disdainful expression.

Although there were many schools of thought nowadays, there was still a hierarchy of contempt. As the only school of thought that entered the top ten and not the bottom nine, novelists naturally ranked at the bottom of the hierarchy, inferior to medical and agricultural schools.

But he didn't say much, because 'Strange Tales from Mountains and Seas' was indeed quite popular. Not only did young men and women from wealthy families like these bizarre contents, but there were also many students who liked these things. The first two volumes were widely circulated and copied. The third volume was in short supply.

Many wealthy people even came to Jiangcheng specifically to buy a copy.

There was no better way to make money than to use it.

Ying Wuji saw that Zhai Yun's expression was strange and couldn't help but ask: "Brother Zhai, do you have any thoughts?"

Zhai Yun's expression was complicated: "This book lacks philosophical ideas, but it can sell for a good price by mixing up the gossip and existing monsters. If the people are enlightened, our Mohist school of thought can also do this, and the Mohist Guild won't be so short of money."

Tsk tsk.

Even if the people are enlightened, Mohist works cannot sell as well as this!

Ying Wuji didn't want to break this fact too much. After all, who didn't want to make money? That's why Li Kingdom was a cultural country. They even had copyright protection awareness. They couldn't control the copies made by the people, but for the books sold in the bookstore, the author would get a percentage of the sales for each copy sold.

Nowadays, books averaged less than one guan per copy, about 800 wen. With an average monthly income of less than two guan for the common people, it was undoubtedly a luxury item.According to the market, paper costs fifty wen, copying costs three hundred and fifty wen, and the total profit is four hundred wen, of which twenty percent goes to the author, which is eighty wen.

As long as twenty-five copies are sold, the author will take away two liang of profit.

If the author is alive, the profit will be deducted from taxes and sent directly to the author's hands. If the author is dead, it will be sent to their descendants fifty years later.

If it is a classic from the Hundred Schools of Thought, most of the authors have already passed away, and the profits will be sent to various academies and schools nearby.

Ying Wuji slapped his thigh, "I'm afraid I'll be outdone by Lanling Sheng!"

He also thought about copying books himself. He had read "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," and while it had some strange and interesting stories, the plot was lacking compared to "Liao Zhai Zhi Yi," which could outdo it by ten streets. However, he urgently needed to make quick money to recover his costs, and the best way was to take advantage of Lanling Sheng's momentum.@@novelbin@@

Zhai Yun also agreed with this result, "He's lucky! The Hundred Schools Conference is next month, and many students from various countries have already come. We should print more and make money during this time!"

"Thank you, Brother Zhai!"

Ying Wuji couldn't help but sigh. These Mohists were all hardworking and skilled. He didn't know before, but later found out that Zhai Yun was the head of the craftsman department of the Jiangcheng branch. Such a big shot, yet he had no airs and was so dedicated. It was really not easy.

But it made sense. When they talked before, the salary had already been changed to a piecework system. Printing one book was worth ten wen, and with the current situation, printing a thousand copies a day with three sets of movable type was a breeze, and each person could earn far more than fifty taels of silver if they worked harder.

This guy's salary was higher than a thousand households. He had to earn as much as possible!

The Mohists quickly got to work.

Ying Wuji finally had some free time and returned to the bookstore. The store was still very quiet, and few customers came to buy books. At this rate, it would probably take a year to sell out their inventory.

Little maid Bai Zhi was playing chess with Wu Dan, and she had beaten this Wu Guo son so badly that he was complaining.

Wu Dan saw Ying Wuji come out and quickly messed up the chessboard with his fat right hand, "Let's call it a draw! This game is a tie!"

Bai Zhi was not convinced, "You were clearly about to lose! Don't cheat, give me the money. I still have to feed the young master!"

"Don't cause trouble. I need to discuss business with your young master."

Wu Dan waved his hand and looked at Ying Wuji, "Brother Wuji, how are my Mohist friends? Are they reliable?"

Ying Wuji nodded with a smile, "Not bad! You'll get ten percent of the store's profits from now on!"

"Really?"

"It's definitely true. What about Sister Hua Chao?"

"Isn't she in the accounting room?"

"Yeah!"

Ying Wuji nodded and went straight to the accounting room. Hua Chao was holding her cheek and drawing on paper, as if she was doing the accounts.

She put down her pen with a worried expression, "Wuji, are those Mohists all like Kato Eagle, copying a thousand books a day?"

These days, she hadn't relaxed her brows.After all, she had invested so much money, how could she not worry?

Although Ying Wuji had said "reading thousands of books a day" and didn't seem to be lying, and he had been busy with these things in the backyard recently, it still sounded a bit inappropriate.

She really wanted to see what Ying Wuji was doing in the backyard, but she also knew she couldn't cross Ying Wuji's bottom line, so she could only be anxious.

Ying Wuji grinned, "It should be enough! They have all received my true transmission. They can read one thousand books a day without any problem. You can wait to check the goods tomorrow!"

After a few days of getting along, his good impression of this older sister had increased.

After all, she was older.

Of course, he was referring to age. Being older meant being more considerate of others.

Moreover, not only was she older, but she was also pleasing to the eye and considerate.

The most important thing was that she was a good person. As long as Ying Wuji had nothing else to do, he would usually stay here.

"Really?"

"Hua Chao, do you not believe me?"

"I do..."

For the full version, visit [ ].

When Hua Chao heard that she could check the goods tomorrow, she finally put her mind at ease and asked again, "So, how much should we price it? If it's too high, we might not be able to compete with other bookstores."

Ying Wuji held up three fingers, "Three hundred wen!"

"Three hundred wen!"

Hua Chao was shocked. She didn't expect the price set by Ying Wuji to be less than half of the market price. No matter how remote the location was, there would be countless people coming to buy it. After all, even though this price was still high for the common people, it was still affordable, and the customer base would be larger than expected.

But she still realized the problem, "But at three hundred wen per book, we might not even be able to afford to hire copyists, right?"

Ying Wuji waved his hand, "Don't worry! They only charge ten wen to copy one book!"

"Ten wen! How is that possible?"

"Hua Chao, just trust me!"

Then Ying Wuji explained his profit model to her.

Selling one book for three hundred wen, normal paper cost fifty wen, but the paper mill was owned by Ying Wuji, so he could negotiate the price down to forty wen. The ink used was of the poorest quality, probably twenty wen, Mohist printing cost ten wen, and the binding worker sent by the paper mill cost ten wen.

This way, the profit would be about two hundred and twenty wen per book, which would be divided among the author and Ying Wuji. Therefore, false accounts must be made, and a cost of one hundred and twenty wen would be forcibly calculated on Ying Wuji. The reason would be that Ying Wuji had comprehended the spell of reading thousands of books a day, no matter how outrageous it was, the cost of copying books would still be much lower than others.

In this way, the visible profit would be one hundred wen, which would be divided into two, which was twenty wen.

On average, one book would profit two hundred wen, and if they sold thirty thousand copies a month, it would be six thousand two hundred liang.

"Six thousand two hundred liang?"

Hua Chao was stunned.