Daming: I can’t kill such a greedy prince-in-law?

Chapter 478 Lost million in running a newspaper?! (Subscribe please!!)

"Twenty-eight. No discussion?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked in a deep voice.

"No discussion." Ouyang Lun shook his head.

"Can't discuss it?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked again.

"It cannot be discussed!" Ouyang Lun said firmly.

"I am the emperor!" Zhu Yuanzhang stood up from the dragon throne and approached Ouyang Lun.

"I am still the imperial consort, the Minister of Revenue, and the Chief of the Imperial Clan!" Ouyang Lun was not afraid at all. Instead of retreating, he moved closer to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"You are the subject, I am the king, you have to give way to me!"

"You are older and I am younger. You should respect the old and love the young. You have to give in to me!"

"Twenty-eight points, you call this respecting the elderly?"

"If it weren't for your age, you wouldn't have a chance at all!"

"Ouyang Lun, you bastard!" Zhu Yuanzhang was so angry that he pointed at Ouyang Lun with trembling hands.

"Your Majesty, calm down. Don't be angry. It's not worth it to ruin your health." Ouyang Lun said calmly.

Seeing Zhu Yuanzhang and Ouyang Lun confronting each other, neither of them willing to give in, Zhu Biao and Wang Zhong became extremely anxious.

Just when the two were about to speak to persuade them.

Zhu Yuanzhang's tone suddenly softened. "Forget it. I don't want to argue with a junior like you. 20% is 20% but I don't want anyone else to know the proportion!"

"Your Majesty, your glorious name! Long live it!" Ouyang Lun immediately bowed.

After hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang not only did not feel happy, but was so angry that his mouth trembled.

Fame? What a bullshit fame! If I had a fame, I would definitely get rid of this evil person like you, Ouyang Lun, and prevent you from irritating me again and again!
You just called me old, and now you shout "Long live me!" Are you complaining that I am not old enough? For the first time, Zhu Yuanzhang found the word "Long live me" disgusting!
Isn't it just that you are younger than me? Why are you so proud?
"Humph!"

"You are such a silver-tongued boy, I don't want to argue with you!"

"Okay, the distribution of benefits has been agreed upon, now you can tell us your plan!" Zhu Yuanzhang glared at Ouyang Lun unhappily, "You can fool Biao'er about some things, but don't try to fool me!"

After hearing what Zhu Yuanzhang said, Ouyang Lun was also very clear that if he didn't say something today, he would not be able to leave.

"Your Majesty is not only famous for his reputation, but also wise. He does have some thoughts about the newspaper minister."

Just as Zhu Yuanzhang said, since the distribution of benefits has been agreed upon, there is really no need to hide some things.

"Say it!"

Zhu Yuanzhang urged.

Even Zhu Biao and Wang Zhong looked at Ouyang Lun with anticipation.

"Your Majesty, I actually have something to report. From the time the newspaper was founded to now, the Ming People's Daily and newspapers in various places have been in the red." Ouyang Lun said seriously.

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's face suddenly turned ugly, his eyes widened, and he said in disbelief: "Loss? Ouyang Lun, are you kidding me? Since publishing a newspaper is a loss-making business, then what are you talking about profit distribution with me? Are you kidding me?!!"

Having said this, Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes were already flashing with anger, and he looked like a man-eating tiger!

"Ahem, Your Majesty, once the money-sharing ratio is agreed upon, the contribution ratio will also be determined! If you get less money, then naturally you will have to pay and lose less!" Ouyang Lun said with a smile.

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and said with satisfaction: "That's about right."

But soon Zhu Yuanzhang's face changed, and he looked at Ouyang Lun angrily, "You bastard, I haven't even received a penny yet! You don't want me to take the money out, do you?"

"Tell me how much money you have lost from publishing this newspaper!"

Ouyang Lun replied: "This minister has to do the math. The initial start-up capital is 20 million taels."

"Oh my! You're a prodigal son!" Zhu Yuanzhang jumped up upon hearing this. "You spent 20 million taels like this? That's 20 million taels, not 20,000 taels! Isn't it just to publish a newspaper? How can you spend so much?"

"Your Majesty, you are wronging me. Don't underestimate the importance of running a newspaper! Although you only have a piece of paper with words printed on it, do you know how much effort and money I spent to produce it?"

Ouyang Lun asked back.

"Hmph, I'd like to hear how you spent the 20 million!" Zhu Yuanzhang said with his arms folded across his chest, looking at him intently.

"Your Majesty, if you want to publish a newspaper, there are two main parts, one is the content and the other is printing. Let's talk about the content first. If you want to ensure that the content is up to date, do you have to send people from all over the country? This means you have to recruit people, and after recruiting people, you have to train them. Does this cost money?"

Ouyang Lun asked.

"Yes, it costs money." Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

"Just recruiting and training people to collect information will cost two to three million taels of silver." Ouyang Lun continued, "Now that we have enough information, do we need to screen, refine, and edit it? Do we need to recruit and train specialized personnel? This will cost another two million taels of silver!"

"Humph, this is only five or six million silver taels! It is several times less than the two thousand taels you said. Did you embezzle it?!" Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes turned unfriendly. What he hated most was corruption!
"Your Majesty, you are wrongly accusing me again!" Ouyang Lun shook his head calmly, "Didn't I just say this! This newspaper is divided into two parts. One part is the content. The cost is six million taels of silver, and the real big part is the printing!"

"To print newspapers, you need paper. Ordinary paper is not enough, and rice paper is too expensive, so I asked someone to develop a new papermaking process. This costs money, and you can't let me pay for it. It's not enough to have the papermaking process, you also need the corresponding equipment, and you have to buy these. Paper alone is not enough, you also have to print! Ordinary movable type printing equipment is not enough, and I asked people to develop printing equipment and buy equipment, which also costs money!"

"After doing all of the above, I finally completed the entire process of the newspaper! Is it easy for me?"

"So, all this cost me 14 million taels of silver?" Zhu Yuanzhang asked doubtfully.

"Of course not. It only cost less than 10 million taels. But Your Majesty, don't underestimate the 10 million taels of silver. It is definitely worth it! Because our papermaking and printing technology is definitely the best in the world, far ahead! If someone wants to learn how to make newspapers from us, they will have to study papermaking and printing alone for decades!" Ouyang Lun said confidently.

There is no reason to be unconfident about this.

"What about the other four million?" Compared to the far-leading technology, Zhu Yuanzhang was obviously more concerned about his money.

"Four million is naturally for raw materials and employee salaries. These four million taels are only enough to support us for three months." Ouyang Lun spread his hands and said, "So far, the twenty million taels of start-up capital have all been spent. According to the 20:80 distribution ratio, I will bear 16 million of it, and Your Majesty will bear 4 million!"

"My four million is gone just like that?" Although Ouyang Lun paid four times as much as Zhu Yuanzhang, he always felt that it was a bit unreasonable. After all, he did nothing throughout the whole process and just lost four million.

"Yes, Your Majesty, there is no need to rush to give your son-in-law four million."

"It's good that you, Ouyang Lun, have some ideas." When Zhu Yuanzhang heard Ouyang Lun's words, he thought that Ouyang Lun would not ask for the four million yuan. However, before Zhu Yuanzhang could finish his words,

"In fact, as early as the beginning of the newspaper's establishment, I had already transferred four million from your Majesty's treasury." Ouyang Lun said slowly.

Huh?! Zhu Yuanzhang's eyes widened.

You bandit! You took the money long ago, but you are just telling me now!
Zhu Yuanzhang now hated Ouyang Lun so much that his teeth itched.

"It's just a mere four million. Just take it. I'm not such a stingy person." Zhu Yuanzhang suppressed his anger and pretended to be magnanimous.

The money was taken away, could he ask Ouyang Lun to return it? If this were to get out, people would say that Zhu Yuanzhang was a miser emperor. On second thought, spending four million to get a powerful weapon to control public opinion was not a big loss.

"Your Majesty, I haven't finished speaking yet!" Ouyang Lun continued.

"Didn't you spend 20 million in total? How come you still have some?" Zhu Yuanzhang said with a twitching mouth.

"Your Majesty, what I just mentioned was only the start-up capital. The 20 million was all spent in the third month of the newspaper's official operation. Your Majesty, you know that the newspaper has always been lukewarm before, so we have to continue to invest." Ouyang Lun said slowly.

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang's heart suddenly skipped a beat and he had a bad feeling.

Four million was lost in just three months. How much has been lost so far?
"Ouyang Lun, don't lie to me. I will check the accounts when the time comes!"

Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, what a coincidence! I just happened to bring the account book for newspaper operations with me today. I am too lazy to explain. Please just look at the account book."

As he spoke, Ouyang Lun took out the account book and handed it to Zhu Yuanzhang.

"You kid actually carry an account book with you?" Zhu Yuanzhang was a little surprised.

"My son-in-law is the Minister of Revenue. It makes sense for him to carry an account book with him." Ouyang Lun said with a smile.

"Well, it's quite reasonable." Zhu Yuanzhang thought about it and it made sense, so he took the account book and started to look at it. He was so shocked that he almost dropped the account book.

"The follow-up operations cost 50 million?!" Zhu Yuanzhang was completely stunned.

I originally thought that this newspaper was a magical weapon, but now it seems that it is simply a gold-devouring beast!

Even Zhu Yuanzhang quickly closed all the newspapers at this moment. A total of 70 million yuan was spent. If it had happened in the past, the Ming Dynasty would not have been able to afford it.

"That's right. From the time the newspaper was founded to now, a total of 70 million white eyes have been spent!"

"Of these, 20 million is start-up capital, 30 million is follow-up operating capital, and another 20 million is for winning the war of public opinion against Confucianism. According to our 20:80 ratio, Your Majesty only needs to contribute 14 million."

Ouyang Lun nodded.

"It seems that my treasury is only over 10 million?" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a daze.

"Indeed, after deducting the 14 million from your majesty's treasury, there is still a shortfall of more than 500,000. But don't worry, your majesty, I will help you make up the difference." Ouyang Lun smiled and said, "Your majesty, you don't need to thank me. After all, I am your son-in-law. It is normal for a son-in-law to help his father-in-law deal with some debts."

Um! ?

After listening to Ouyang Lun's words, Zhu Yuanzhang felt his head buzzing.

"No, no, Ouyang Lun, please stop talking and let me think things through. My mind is a little confused right now!"

Zhu Yuanzhang waved his hands repeatedly.

"According to your calculation, Ouyang Lun, for publishing a newspaper, not only did we lose more than 10 million taels of private money, but we also owe you more than 500,000 yuan?"

"Yes, but I am not the kind of person who loves money. Five hundred thousand is my filial piety to you." Ouyang Lun said.

"So we should thank you?"

"Don't dare."

"If you continue to do this, why should this newspaper be open? Close it immediately without wasting a moment. I'm afraid that if it continues to run, we will have to work for you, Ouyang Lun, to pay off our debts!" ​​Zhu Yuanzhang said hurriedly.

"Your Majesty, please don't be impatient! I haven't finished talking yet!" Ouyang Lun said with a smile: "Starting a business is bound to lose money, but the time of losing money has passed, and the next step is to start making money. Your Majesty, do you really want to close the newspaper?"

"Making money? Is Ouyang Lun trying to fool me again?" Zhu Yuanzhang was a little scared.

"I am loyal to the Ming Dynasty, how could I deceive Your Majesty!" Ouyang Lun said, "The reason why this newspaper loses money is that, firstly, the people did not develop the habit of reading newspapers at the beginning, so the sales volume was low and it was natural to lose money. Secondly, the sales volume was not high and the cost was high."

"No, now these two issues have been resolved. Through the Confucian Rebellion, newspapers have been completely accepted by the people. Now newspapers have almost become a part of the lives of the people of Ming Dynasty!"

"People have developed a habit of reading newspapers, and newspaper sales have grown rapidly. The money earned from selling newspapers alone is enough to cover the cost of printing newspapers."

Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang said unhappily: "You have only managed to break even, how can you say you made money?"

"Your Majesty, you can't just make money by selling newspapers. This newspaper is not just a piece of paper full of news, it is also a huge platform!"

"Now that the Ming Dynasty is thriving, all industries are booming. What do they need most now?"

"He must be a talent!" Zhu Biao replied.

"No!" Ouyang Lun shook his head.

"Do they need money?" Wang Zhong also answered.

"It's not right that everyone needs money." Ouyang Lun shook his head again.

"The court supports it?" Zhu Yuanzhang tried to answer.

"That's not right, but your Majesty's answer is closer." Ouyang Lun continued, "It's fame! As the saying goes, even good wine needs a bush! Many merchants' products are not known to anyone, or they are not well-known, so naturally the sales are not good!"

"If someone advertised their products, would it greatly increase their sales? Would they make more money?"

"That's the truth, but what does this have to do with newspapers?" Zhu Biao asked puzzledly.

Zhu Yuanzhang seemed to have guessed something at this moment, and his expression gradually became excited.

"Ouyang Lun, do you mean to publish the information of those products in the newspaper?" Zhu Yuanzhang said in a deep voice.

"That's right!"

"The more people read the newspaper, the more people will know about these products, and the more people will buy them, so the merchants will make more profits. Then we can charge those merchants some fees. Is that reasonable?"

(End of this chapter)