Da Ming: Father, step aside, I'll be the prime minister!

Chapter 7 I'm not such a bad person

Beijing.

Dongsi Archway.

This area facing south was later known as Goulan Hutong. (It was called Goulan in the Ming Dynasty and Goulan in the Qing Dynasty; for ease of understanding, we will use Goulan here.)

In the early Ming Dynasty, the imperial court was unable to make ends meet.

Zhu Yuanzhang then established a "state-run brothel" system, specifically to attract wealthy merchants and tycoons, which was known as the "Sixteen Brothels of the Capital".

During the Yongle reign, when Zhu Di's court moved the capital to Beijing, there was no special system for "official prostitutes," but the tradition was followed, and "state-run brothels" were set up in Goulan Hutong.

The Jiaofangsi (教坊司) mentioned in later generations actually refers to this place.

The real, legitimate Jiaofangsi was the management agency for "official prostitutes".

The musicians and performers of the official Jiaofangsi (Imperial Music Bureau) were generally not open to the public; their duties included attending court ceremonies, participating in various entertainment activities within the palace.

Of course, nominally it is not open to the public and does not engage in prostitution.

In practice, how could musicians and actors of low status possibly resist the powerful and wealthy?

Those with power and influence are nothing more than playthings; that's what it means to be an artist.

To be honest, Zhang Yunxiu really wanted to see the real Jiaofangsi (a type of entertainment venue), but to avoid unnecessary trouble, he went to Goulan Hutong instead.

Inside the side room of Huayue Residence, Zhang Yunxiu, Zhang Jianxiu, and Yu Xiangdou sat around a table, each accompanied by a young lady.

Everyone in the room was in high spirits, except for Yu Xiangdou, whose face was bitter, as if he had been forced to patronize a prostitute.

Zhang Yunxiu leaned against a voluptuous woman and said.

"What's your decision, Master Yu? This newspaper business is incredibly profitable for me."

He squinted, as if threatening.

Yu Xiangdou is the current manager of Jianyang Bookstore.

The mid-to-late Ming Dynasty was a time of great prosperity for the publishing industry. It was well-known that people in the Ming Dynasty loved reading novels and miscellaneous books, and their audience ranged from scholars to peddlers, children, and women.

This creates a business opportunity.

Those with discerning taste and profound knowledge include Jianyang Bookstore, Jinling Bookstore, Wenhuitang, Yongshuntang, and so on.

Yu Xiangdou was a genius in the publishing industry who set his sights on the spiritual needs of the vast majority of people at the bottom of society early on.

His published works, such as "The Legend of Lü Chunyang's Enlightenment and Flying Sword in the Tang Dynasty" and "Journey to the North," were somewhat crudely made, but they were plentiful, easy to understand, and accessible to many people with limited literacy.

Zhang Yunxiu's desire to start a newspaper was certainly not solely aimed at the literati; his goal was to reach out to the "silent majority."

Yu Xiangdou is the perfect candidate.

The lanterns in the side room flickered, and the courtesans exuded a rich fragrance, but Yu Xiangdou felt no lust at all; instead, he was sweating profusely.

Zhang Jianxiu was getting impatient. He was holding Xiang'er in his arms and didn't want to waste time fighting with Yu Xiangdou, so he put on the airs of a member of the Imperial Guard.

“My brother asked, so say something. Running a newspaper is a good business; missing out would be your loss. We brothers aren't forcing you; we're discussing it with you.”

Yu Xiangdou's facial muscles twitched, and he screamed inwardly.

How could the two of you have discussed this? You're clearly pushing me to my doom!
In Yu Xiangdou's opinion, what else could these two gentlemen want from him besides money?
Is starting a newspaper something that can actually be accomplished?
Nowadays, there are indeed some tabloids that publish unsubstantiated stories, but how many of them actually come to fruition?
Are we trying to compete with the imperial court's gazette? Are we tired of living?

Yu Xiangdou looked conflicted, calculating in his mind how much money he would need to appease these two powerful figures.

Jianyang Bookstore has shops all over the Ming Dynasty, and his trip to the capital this time is to explore new markets.

If one could spend some money to get in touch with the current Grand Secretary, that wouldn't be impossible.

After thinking for a moment, Yu Xiangdou finally bowed and said, "My lords, it's not that I'm unwilling to run a newspaper, but the market is dominated by storybooks, and I've never run a newspaper before."

As he spoke, Yu Xiangdou took out a stack of silver notes from his pocket and pushed them onto the table.

"If you two gentlemen don't mind, I'll take this small amount of money as an apology and a way to establish a good relationship."

If it can be solved with money, it's not a problem.

Yu Xiangdou was most afraid that the other party would be greedy and insist on starting his own newspaper, and then use this as an excuse to find a crime to completely exploit Jianyang Bookstore.

This is not uncommon.

"Not bad, not bad." Fourth Brother Zhang Jianxiu's eyes were fixed on the stack of silver notes, which looked to be close to a thousand taels. He was incredibly excited. "Then we two will accept it."

Just as Zhang Jianxiu was about to reach out, Zhang Yunxiu slapped his hand down.

Fifth brother, you...

Zhang Jianxiu looked bewildered. Weren't we here to extort money?
Zhang Yunxiu pushed the money back, saying, "We don't want your money; in fact, we're going to give you money instead."

Yu Xiangdou was so scared he wet himself.

Don't give me money? That's like asking for my life!

The beautiful women in the side room were no longer a concern for him. Yu Xiangdou only cared about his own life. He immediately knelt down and kowtowed, his head hitting the ground with a loud thud.

"Lord Zhang! My lords! Please spare me! I have elderly parents to care for and young children to raise. Please have mercy and let me go!"

"Get up!" Zhang Yunxiu reprimanded sharply, his eyes flashing like lightning.

This era is great in every way, except that the disparity between people has crushed people into spineless individuals.

"Yes, yes." Yu Xiangdou quickly climbed back onto the table, but his face was already covered in tears.

Zhang Yunxiu glanced at the courtesans around him and waved his hand, saying...

"You go down first."

Zhang Yunxiu's decisive manner clearly intimidated the many women present, who were somewhat frightened and rose to their feet to bow.

"Yes~"

"Hey~ Don't go~" Zhang Jianxiu didn't know what his younger brother was up to; he only knew that his Xiang'er was leaving.

Zhang Yunxiu looked helplessly at his older brother and said, "Fourth brother, you should go out too."

"Alright!" Zhang Jianxiu felt as if he had been granted a pardon and ran out after following the footsteps.

For a moment, only Yu Xiangdou and Zhang Yunxiu remained in the room.

The former shrank back, as if the boy in front of him were a demon from hell.

"Hahahaha!"

Zhang Yunxiu stepped forward, poured Yu Xiangdou a cup of tea, handed it to him, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Relax a bit, Master Yu. I'm not a bad person. I just want to do some business with you. Why are you making such a fuss?"

"I...I..." Yu Xiangdou wanted to refute, but he didn't dare.

The lights in the side room flickered.

Only Zhang Yunxiu's voice echoed.

He said with an innocent expression.

"Just now, Master Yu said that running a newspaper was not feasible, but I disagree. As far as I know, since the Jiajing era, the printing industry of our dynasty has developed and prospered. More people are literate, and commerce in the city is thriving. Where there is demand, there is market."

With more books being printed, the costs of paper, ink, and printing work have decreased. If I'm not mistaken, nowadays, printing a storybook would only cost twenty coins per hundred characters. Is that correct?

Does demand create a market?

Yu Xiangdou seemed to think it made a lot of sense.

He was somewhat surprised when he heard the following sentence.

Twenty coins per hundred characters? This is an industry secret. The printing industry in the Ming Dynasty had barriers, and it was impossible for outsiders to know this. This was the foundation of their livelihood.

This gentleman came prepared, didn't he?
Yu Xiangdou couldn't help but wonder, could they really be here to discuss business?

Zhang Yunxiu was speechless. These days, it's really not easy for a "spoiled brat" to do business. He even has to explain to the merchants that he's not there to rob them.

He immediately took out the manuscript of "The Legend of Judge Dee of the Tang Dynasty" from his pocket, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards the other party.

"What do you think of this storybook, Master Yu?"

"Script?"

　Note 1: In the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, the circulation of novels and fiction flourished. For reference, in the preface to the Popular Romance of the Eastern and Western Han Dynasties by Yuan Hongdao, a Ming Dynasty scholar: "Today, from the gentry to the village women, from the seventy-year-old men to the three-foot-tall children, when talking about Liu Ji's rise in Fengpei, Xiang Yu's failure to cross the Wujiang River, Wang Mang's usurpation, and Guangwu's restoration, they all recount the details, including the names and residences of the people involved. They talk about it from morning till night, from dusk till dawn, almost forgetting to eat or sleep, and they never tire of it... If it cannot be understood by literature, but can be understood by the common people, then this is the reason why it is called a popular romance!"

　　Note 2: With reduced costs for paper, ink, and engraving, the cost of one hundred characters was reduced to twenty wen. See Ye Dehui, *Shulin Qinghua*, p. 154.
　　Note 3: During the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty, the literate population was large, and the commodity economy flourished. See Wu Huifang, *A True Record of Folk Life in the Ming and Qing Dynasties*, pp. 54-55.
　　
　
(End of this chapter)