"portrait?"
"Yes, judging from the traces, it should have been printed with a mold, but this touch... Oh my god, they actually used fine diagonal lines and cross lines to represent light or dark shadows, and the matte areas are Inky color." Mr. Zhuang said with admiration, "Don't you think... this portrait is so lifelike, as if it is standing on top of the picture?"
"What you said makes sense." Father Wei pondered, "But after all, it's just a palm-sized portrait, and it can be printed in batches. It shouldn't be worth much, right?"
"The most valuable thing is painting skills." The other party said firmly, "I have collected many famous paintings by famous artists, and I have some knowledge of this industry. For those masters, seeking breakthroughs in skills is equally important as improving their mental level. More specifically I can’t tell, but this method of using lines to express light and shadow to make the portrait stand upright was definitely done by a famous artist! If we can get the original version, it will definitely sell for a high price in a few years.”
"So that's what you meant." Father Wei suddenly realized.
"Of course, the value of this newspaper is far more than ten yuan... Putting aside the cost, it is a monumental first issue, and the content is so amazing. If I didn't read it, I wouldn't know about Jinxia City There is actually a dragon... It's really eye-opening." Mr. Zhuang looked at Wei Wushuang, "It should sell well."
"No... when I go to buy a newspaper, almost no one is willing to pay for it."
"What?" the other party asked in surprise, "How many newspapers are there in that store?"
Wei Wushuang thought for a moment, "About two or three thousand?"
"Well... I'll buy half of it." The businessman surnamed Zhuang stood up and said, "I wonder where the store is?"
"Are you sure?" Father Wei asked unexpectedly, "That's more than one hundred taels of silver."
"When will I do a loss-making business?" He said confidently, "Everyone outside wants to know the news about Jinxia City. If you go to Anshen City and sell it, you can get twenty coins without worrying that no one will want it. And those Painters, paying a dollar or two is nothing to them. To put it bluntly, the business itself is to use the difference in information to obtain profits. As long as the channels are wide open, there are few things in the world that cannot make money."
"I'll take you there!" Wei Wushuang said happily.
"But didn't you just say... that you were going to the Secretariat later?"
"Hey, there's enough time. Mr. Zhuang, please come with me."
Wei Wushuang put on his robe again and took the other person out, feeling happy at the same time - although it could only increase the sales of one store, it was better than not selling any at all. Moreover, Mr. Zhuang does have a good vision. If he can sell the newspaper to other places, it will be considered as realizing the original intention of the Propaganda Department.
However, when he rushed to the bookstore with the financial owner, Wei Wushuang got an unexpected answer from the store owner.
“What do you mean—the newspapers are sold out?”
"Yes," the boss said a little embarrassed, "not only what is on the table, but also what is in the room is sold out."
"But weren't there a few people willing to buy it before?"
"Indeed, but later a mysterious customer bought all the newspapers and distributed them to the surrounding villagers for free on the spot." The boss scratched his head, "Maybe some wealthy family is doing good deeds..."
They had never heard of using hot porridge and bread to give alms. This was the first time the two of them had heard of using newspapers to do charity.
What's more, these Shenjin weekly reports add up to two to three hundred taels of silver!
Wei Wushuang and Mr. Zhuang looked at each other for a moment.
…
"Lord Chi, all the newspapers from Baiwen Yaji and Zhouji Bookstore have been distributed, and the remaining ones don't have much problem." Kong Xuanzi reported to Chihui, "Only the Secretariat has no contact with us, and the three bookstores plus The total is four hundred and fifty-six taels of silver."
"Thank you for your hard work." Chi nodded with satisfaction and changed into a more majestic posture with his legs crossed. "How much money is left with the money you brought this time?"
"There are still more than seventeen thousand taels left," Kong Xuanzi counted, "but many of them are gold ingots and gems. If you want to cash them into cash, it will take some time."
"Did you only use this much?" Chi said, holding his face with one hand, "It seems that it won't cost much to send one copy to everyone in Jinxia City. It would be great if we could find a way to ask Xia Fan to print more newspapers."
There is no shortage of money in Penglai.
But she never revealed to others how rich Penglai was.
Many, many years ago, in an era when humans and dragons coexisted, the sacrifices accepted by our ancestors included not only children, but also a large amount of property. In order to store them, our ancestors had to open huge caves on the island as warehouses. Over time, many copper coins even stuck together and became difficult to separate. When evacuating Penglai Island, Chiren took away a large amount of money in batches, but there were still many valuable things left on the island.
This is why she takes more than ten followers with her when traveling.
In addition to taking care of her daily life, a group of people were also assigned to guard and escort the "travel" she carried during the trip.
When Chi introduced his abilities to the candidates from the Six Nations, he deliberately concealed the monetary part because he did not want to arouse the greed of the other parties, thus getting the opposite result.
After all, for such a huge "dowry", even if the object is a demon, let alone a demon, some people would dare to agree to it.
She is a dragon.
A unique true dragon.
It should be more dazzling than this money.
Now... someone finally realizes this.
Chi happily picked up a newspaper at hand and read the report about himself for the seventeenth time.
Running thousands of miles to deliver reinforcements, calling on the clouds and rain to extinguish fires in the city, isolating the sea wind and trapping enemy ships in the West, taking the lead in defeating ferocious pirates... all are described in a positive light, and the accompanying drawings also show the heroic appearance of the dragon.
Turns out this is what it feels like to be in the headlines.
Overall... not bad.
Although the newspaper's pricing caused people to have little desire to buy on the first day, Penglai could just solve this small problem by himself. Chi believes that when this news spreads, she will sooner or later become the guardian in the hearts of Jinxia residents and rebuild the Penglai Immortal Pavilion that enjoys the praise of the world.
"As soon as the snow melts, inform those old friends who are living in seclusion to move to Jinxia City in Qi State." Chi said slowly.
This means that I have officially decided to settle here.
"Yes." Kong Xuanzi also showed a happy smile. He didn't care so much whether Penglai's grand scene could be restored. He only hoped that Lord Chi could live a carefree life in the future.
"Lord Chi -" At this time, another person pushed open the door and announced at the door, "There is an invitation from the Secretariat. I hope you can go to Fengyang Villa. Lord Xia Fan has something to discuss with you. "
Is this the heightened campaign he mentioned earlier? Everything is finally on track.
Chi raised the corner of his mouth and said, "I know, I will get there."