A powerful minister of the Song Dynasty

Chapter 131 The People of Song Dynasty Lived a Hard Life (Part )
Song Xuan answered everyone's questions in the store and explained everything in detail.

The process is complete only after the sale is completed and the prize is redeemed.

He thought there was nothing wrong.

Tao Hong and his companions began to search for the winning numbers in the pile of stubs, at least to have an idea of ​​them and sell a few.

As everyone was discussing, the storyteller Cao Dajia arrived with a lottery ticket, smiling broadly. He tried to calm his breath and then said:

"Boss, I won the prize too."

One stone caused a thousand waves!

Many people were surrounding the lottery machine, carefully analyzing which number was likely to be blown out.

When the second round of tickets goes on sale tomorrow, they can buy a number that is easy to win.

But Cao Dajia's voice immediately attracted the attention of most people.

He makes a living by his voice.

The speaking voice is long and clear.

Everyone present heard it clearly, someone won the prize again!

Song Xuan stopped chatting with everyone and said in disbelief:
“I never thought today’s winner would be a double yolk!”

The shopkeeper, Tao Hong, came over to greet him immediately. He carefully checked the lottery ticket and then saluted with a smile.
"Congratulations, sir, you've won the prize!"

Then he took out the prepared coin, placed it gently on the counter, and asked Mr. Cao to check the amount.

As Cao listened to the congratulations and envy from others, his face showed even more joy.

Such a thing as luck.

Who can tell clearly?

But Mr. Cao knew very well that other people's luck was not as good as his.

This good luck was won by me!
That's enough.

Although the first person to win the prize was a beggar, it was because he was close to the water and got the moon first, but this did not affect his excellent luck.

Especially since Mr. Cao came here for the book Journey to the West and not for winning the prize, he was very proud of it.

So when faced with everyone's questions, Mr. Cao answered them with a smile.

He himself was fond of the story written by Shi Erlang.

I didn't come here for the money, but I unexpectedly won the prize!
Everyone who was telling stories at the Qing Tower, Cao, said that this story was good, and then everyone began to understand that the story written by Song Shier was really good.

Anyway, most people can't read, so the idea of ​​making money from the lottery is more attractive than any story.

After answering many questions from everyone, Mr. Cao came back and asked:
"Excuse me, Twelve Lang, how many chapters do you expect this Journey to the West to have?"

"I haven't decided yet, but it'll have to be at least a hundred."

Mr. Cao immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that the novel was arranged according to chapters, but he was not surprised by Song Xuan's order for the chapters, so he just let him do it.

Everyone can confirm this story.

Many people love to listen to it, and it has a big market!

"I just wonder how long it will take Shi Er Lang to finish writing it?"

Cao Dajia further explained:

"The main thing is that I think Twelve Lang's story is really well written. I want to tell it to everyone in Qinglou so that I can continue to make a living. I hope Twelve Lang doesn't mind."

Although the imperial examinations were very popular in the Song Dynasty, many people were illiterate.

The literacy rate was not as high as that of the later Ming Dynasty.

With the improvement of the imperial examination system and the popularization of education in the Ming Dynasty, coupled with the rise of vernacular novels, the literacy rate increased.

Of course, the Northern Song Dynasty's emphasis on culture and suppression of military power further increased the literacy rate, which was at least higher than that of the Tang Dynasty.

The Qing Dynasty was the era when the literacy rate dropped significantly, and it was even the lowest in all dynasties. Even the literacy rate in the capital Beijing was not high, let alone other places.

Official documents of the late Qing Dynasty stipulated the development of schools and the goal of achieving a literacy rate of 1915% by 1.

It is usually below 1%.

It was only under the promotion of Yuan Shikai that the number of primary schools in the late Qing Dynasty began to increase continuously.

"It doesn't matter."

Song Xuan laughed heartily. "Actually, my original intention was to promote the spread of Journey to the West. I never thought that the idea I came up with just to sell more would actually lead to a loss of purpose."

"It would be great if Mr. Cao could promote my story in Qinglou!"

Mr. Cao was also very happy to hear this.

At least the original owner didn't refuse, that's a good thing.

"I just wonder how many chapters Shi Er Lang has written?"

"Don't blame me, Master Cao. I have to review my lessons every day, and I have to go to the academy to study in a couple of days. I don't have much time to spare for writing, especially to ensure the quality of Journey to the West."

"Indeed."

Song Xuan then smiled again:

"Actually, I wrote ten chapters in advance, enough for a month."

"Oh?"

Mr. Cao was overjoyed and immediately took the money and left.

Zhang Fangping, who had been silent until now, said with a smile:

"Twelfth Brother, having such a mouthpiece to promote you, this money is really worth spending!"

“Actually, it doesn’t matter who wins.”

Hearing Song Xuan's words, Zhang Fangping chuckled a few times, and everything was said without words.

He was involved in counting money.

With today’s public lottery and prize redemption, the second issue will go on sale tomorrow, so I’m afraid there will be a lot of work to do.

There was a constant stream of people coming to confirm the winning numbers, so the sign was hung outside.

The two winning lottery tickets were also posted on the board of the first issue for people to see.

In fact, it is just some numbers, which are completely meaningless for reference.

Song Xuan watched He San and his family take advantage of the meal time to go home with their backpacks on their backs.

I guess he was pasting the second chapter of Journey to the West for the elderly at home.

After all, if we only do it at night, we will waste lamp oil.

In addition, some people have night blindness, so if they can't see clearly, they have to get closer to compare.

If the candle flame sets the paper on fire, that would be a big problem.

It has to be said that the old lady of the He family is a cautious person, and she tries her best not to hinder her son's future.

to be honest.

What future is there in working as a worker?

The treatment Song Xuan gave was really excellent, something many people couldn't even dream of.

That is a bright future for them!

Yan Shu brought Song Shou and Fan Zhongyan with him, holding the lottery ticket in his hand and placing it in front of Song Xuan:
"Look, did I win this one?"

"Oh, what a coincidence." Song Xuan picked up the lottery ticket and looked at it: "I didn't win the prize."

In fact, the three of them had seen the winning numbers outside the door, and they were just joking about it.

"Hey, Twelfth Brother." Yan Shu also held a folding fan in his hand and said with a smile:

"You don't know, but Duke Song and I made a bet because of you, and I came here specifically to ask about the outcome."

Song Xuan put down the lottery ticket in his hand: "I don't know what the bet is?"

"You can make a profit in three months and cover more than half of the college's shortfall."

Yan Shu stretched out his hand and made a rough estimate:
"In my opinion, you must have sold at least 10,000 lottery tickets in these three days. Each ticket costs two cents, which means you have a turnover of 20 strings of cash in three days. If you exchange another 2 strings of cash, it will be 18 strings of cash. After deducting the labor and material costs, you should be able to make half of it, right?" Song Shou was a little nervous. It was not that he couldn't afford to lose the money, but he didn't want to lose in this situation.

Fan Zhongyan, holding a bowl of cold water, spoke first, "Mr. Yan, there's no need to put so much pressure on my twelfth brother. Ten thousand is an exaggeration."

After hearing Yan Shu's explanation, Song Xuan coughed and asked:

"Then let me ask, what is the bet between the two gentlemen?"

"Give me a new jade pendant for your waist. After all, my waist is empty."

"Oh."

Song Xuan chuckled when he heard this, and leaned back slightly:

"Then Mr. Yan probably estimated it to be too little."

Yan Shu was stunned for a moment.

In fact, when he said ten thousand, he was deliberately exaggerating.

Then he subconsciously looked at Song Shou, and seeing more fear in his eyes, the corners of his mouth immediately curled up.

I have a huge advantage!

Fan Zhongyan put down the cold paste in his hand and asked seriously:

"Twelve Brother, can you tell me how much it sold for?"

"Thirty thousand is a good start."

"hiss."

The three of them gasped in surprise.

He looked at Song Xuan with horror.

Because although Songcheng is the Nanjing of the Song Dynasty, its population is at the bottom.

The top three most populous places in the Song Dynasty were Dongjing, with a population of one million;
The population of Hangzhou is over 320,000, and the population of Chengdu is over 250,000.

Even the administrative centers of Jiangning Prefecture, Xingyuan Prefecture, Henan Prefecture, etc. have a population of around 200,000.

The population of Songcheng in Yingtian Prefecture is only over 150,000.

As expected, one-fifth of the population came to buy Song Xuan’s lottery tickets. This density is quite high.

"Are there really so many people coming to buy?" Song Shou's voice sounded a little dazed.

"That's not the case." Song Xuan added:
"I don't require real-name registration. Each person can only buy one copy. Many people buy a lot of copies in hopes of winning a prize, and since they don't have much to spend, there aren't actually over 30,000 people coming to my store to buy chapters of Journey to the West."

Only then did Fan Zhongyan and others agree with Song Xuan's words.

It's only been a few days, how could so many people know about it?
But such sales volume is also extremely profitable.

Yan Shu quickly calculated Song Xuan's cash flow again.

Twenty strings of cash a day.

The monthly turnover is 600 strings of cash, excluding labor, material costs and taxes paid to the government!

To say that Song Xuan earns half is an understatement.

Especially when Yan Shu was appointed as the prefect, his basic salary, rice allowance, income from official land and pre-employment salary added up to only about a thousand strings of cash.

That is also a very high income.

Many people could not earn more than 20 strings of cash a year, but Song Xuan’s shop could probably make that much in one day.

It can be said that the monthly salary of the prefect Yan Shu was not as much as what Song Xuan earned from this small shop.

Fanlou, the most luxurious restaurant in Tokyo, has a thousand customers a day, and a meal costs at least five strings of cash.

But not everyone can afford the five strings of cash. I can’t have a table by myself, right?

If there are five people at each table, that would mean 200 tables, and the daily food turnover would be around 1,000 strings of cash.

This doesn't include the cost of drinks.

Yan Shu calculated carefully and found that the price of Fanlou was high because many of the materials were of high quality.

But the profit is not as big as that of Song Twelve's small bookstore.

No matter how expensive mulberry paper is.

Can it be more expensive than Chengxintang paper?
In addition, Song Xuan was able to divide a piece of mulberry paper into so many small receipts, which really made him a lot of money.

Yan Shu shook his head again, thinking that he was just being arrogant!
How can we compare Song Xuan's small bookstore with Fanlou, the most prosperous bookstore in Tokyo City?
Fan Zhongyan and Song Shou also calculated the approximate profit of Song Xuan's shop. Even if they only gave some money to the academy, it would be enough.

"At this rate, I'll have to tear up my initial plan and make a bigger one. The previous one was too stingy."

In the end, Fan Zhongyan just sighed that he didn't need to be timid.

In this way, more candidates can be admitted next year.

How can a college be considered the highest institution of learning in the Song Dynasty if it doesn't have a thousand students?

Not only students, but also qualified teachers are in urgent need.

"Song Twelve, you really didn't lie to us?"

Song Shou asked unwillingly, "There's no need to secretly use your own money to support the construction of the academy."

"Hehehe." Song Xuan placed his hands on the round table and asked softly:
"Does Magistrate Song think I'm a sucker?"

Song Shou had nothing to say.

He couldn't understand why so many people were crazy about buying these little cards.

It's obviously a scam, right?
More than 30,000 copies were sold, but only two people won the prize!

Song Shier said that at least one person out of a thousand people would win the prize, but those were the thousand people who bought numbers from 001 to 999.

But buying all the numbers would cost a huge amount of money, which is not worth it.

How to look.

All the profits were made by Song Twelve.

Can't those people see through it?
After Song Shou raised the question in his mind, Song Xuan chuckled:
"President Song, you underestimate the greed inherent in the people of the Great Song Dynasty."

"greedy?"

"In the Song Dynasty, gambling games continue to be rampant despite repeated bans. Who wouldn't want to make a small fortune?"

Song Xuan stood up again and poured him a glass of cold water:
"So, even if my shop enters a stable period, there will always be people who want to try their luck. Even a beggar can win the prize, so there's no need for my luck to be worse than a beggar's!"

However, Yan Shu understood Song Xuan's logic of making money.

As long as people's greed remains, there will be a steady stream of people coming to buy.

"Alas," Fan Zhongyan sighed, "it seems we need to educate the people more so that they can be less greedy."

"But I don't think Mr. Fan is right."

"Why?"

Yan Shu also knew that educating the people was too broad a path.

Many people are busy trying to survive, so how can they calm down and learn the words of the sages?

Song Xuan sighed: "Everyone says that the Song Dynasty is rich, but are the people of the Song Dynasty really rich?"

“How much time and energy do they need to put in to earn a consistent income?”

"You have been officials for so long, do you know?"

Song Shou pinched his beard. In fact, he was not sure how long it would take for ordinary people to earn one string of coins.

"Can these three bandits and their soldiers in my shop really support their families by relying on the imperial court?"

"I hired these three families and personally visited their homes a few times. Their lives are not much different from those of pigs and dogs. Dogs still have skins to go out and pick up trash to eat, but daughters-in-law and mothers-in-law have to wear the same pants. Boys are completely naked, and girls only wear shorts."

"As for the grown mother and daughter, they even have to sell their smiles to make a living. Even so, the whole family still can't get enough to eat, let alone learn any moral education!"

"As the ancients said, when the granaries are full, people know etiquette; when they have enough food and clothing, they know honor and disgrace!"

Yan Shu remained silent, Fan Zhongyan sighed repeatedly, and Song Shou closed his eyes with some reluctance.

Song Xuan picked up the lottery ticket in his hand again: "The people of the Song Dynasty live a very hard life. I just buy a lottery ticket to comfort myself."

(End of this chapter)