Bab 72: Chapter 72: Shameless
Chapter 72: Shameless
Joseph's tone became dark and mysterious as he continued, "Then, she sees the gun, blood splattered everywhere, and in the mirror, she sees herself with a hideous, burned wound on her head. Yes, it's clear that the spot had been struck by a bullet."
Barre's eyes widened in shock. "My God, this is unbelievable! She wasn't dead?"
"Correct," Joseph replied. "And she soon realizes that she has acquired a divine power, allowing her to float in an endless sea of gray mist..."
"This is incredible! What is the title of this novel?" Barre asked eagerly.
"It's called The Lady's Lord," Joseph responded.
...
After Barre left, Joseph turned to the next writer and said, "Your task is to write a story about a nobleman who was committed to the Bastille for his mental illness. This young man's name is Fel Lee. He claims that when he closes his eyes, he enters a magical world.
"In this world, there is an evil sorcerer who captures deformed or diseased young boys and girls to create an elixir of immortality. Fel Lee was one of the captured..."
...
When Joseph finally turned his attention to Beaumarchais, France's most famous writer was already eager. "Oh, Your Highness, what is my story?"
Joseph immediately thought of his favorite author from his previous life—Tian Haishan. Every book he wrote became a nationwide sensation, and he was only a step away from winning the Nobel Prize in Literature. He was also exceptionally handsome, a heartthrob for nine billion young girls.
Joseph was so familiar with every book by the legendary Tian Haishan that he didn't hesitate for a moment. "This novel is called Lady, Please Stop..."
The day quickly passed. By dusk, Joseph had received four manuscripts.
Beaumarchais and the others were truly France's literary giants; the novels were incredibly vivid. The character development and plot were expertly crafted, and their writing style exuded the sophistication of seasoned writers, making the stories as enjoyable as sipping fine wine.
However, Joseph noticed that each submission was only four pages long, barely reaching two thousand words. He gently suggested that the esteemed writers increase their daily output.
Beaumarchais and the others exchanged glances. The stories were so captivating that they had skipped lunch while writing, and this output was already twice their usual. Yet, the Prince seemed to think it wasn't enough!
After returning to their quarters, each summoned their disciples or fellow writers for assistance—not to earn extra fees, but to speed up the writing process so they could hear the Prince's next plot twist as soon as possible.
Joseph, meanwhile, sent the manuscripts to the Paris Gazette printing house overnight, instructing Denico to start printing immediately.
At dawn the next day, Denico arrived at Versailles with the first issues of the newly revised newspaper to report on the release.
Joseph quickly skimmed through two copies.
One was the Paris Gazette. It still maintained its previous tone of "freedom and ideals," featuring market trends and business insights. The difference was that the second page was now entirely devoted to the novel Breaking Through the Heavens, while the third page explained the new tax law.
The other was the newly launched News and Images Gazette—a publishing license that would typically take over two months to process but had been expedited due to the Prince's influence.
The News and Images Gazette was more assertive. The headline read, "Exploring the Deep Reasons Behind the Repeated Rejections of the New Tax Law." The second page featured The Lady's Lord. The other pages mainly covered the tax law, along with some hot news from around France.
As for images, due to the lithography not being ready yet, the paper included some previously prepared copperplate images of Parisian landscapes. But in the future, it would feature a lot more news illustrations. However, since photography wasn't yet available, the images would have to be drawn by artists.
Joseph was quite pleased with Denico's work. It was no surprise since the man came from a family with three generations in the newspaper business.
Once these two newspapers reached the hands of the Parisian public, the group of nobles would no longer have a monopoly on the media.
Denico, noticing that the Prince had finished reviewing the samples, reported, "Your Highness, as per your instructions, we've set the subscription price for both newspapers at 3 livres a month.
"But I must remind you that at this price, we will incur significant losses."
Currently, daily newspapers cost between 6 and 8 livres per month, while weeklies range from 1 livre 10 sous to 2 livres.
Both Paris Gazette and News and Images Gazette were daily publications, and 3 livres was certainly a loss-making price.
Joseph nodded calmly. "It's fine. We'll stick with this price. Once lithography is up and running, the costs should drop below 3 livres a month."
In fact, even if the papers did incur a small loss, he didn't mind. Once the sales picked up, ad revenue alone would more than cover the losses.
Seeing the Prince's confidence, Denico moved on to the next matter. "Your Highness, regarding the newspaper boys you mentioned, we've recruited over 40 so far."
He hesitated and cautiously added, "But I believe there may not be many people in Paris who are willing to buy newspapers on the streets."
The newspaper boys were part of Joseph's new sales strategy.
At this time, the European press mainly relied on subscriptions, with "news carriers" delivering newspapers to customers.
Street newspaper sales by boys hadn't yet become common.
Previously, one of the barriers to single-copy sales was the high price. On average, a newspaper cost between 4 and 6 sous, while a regular craftsman's daily wage was between 5 and 10 sous. Few people would spontaneously buy a paper.
Now, Joseph had dropped the price to 2 sous and planned to lower it to 1 sou or even less. At this price, many more people could afford a paper.
Joseph knew very well that street sales were the best channel for newspapers!
Newspaper boys could shout out the highlights, and curious passersby could easily be persuaded to part with a sou. Plus, the boys could also sell other items, using the profits to offset the cost of the newspapers.
As for "child labor"...
Such a concept didn't exist in this era.
In any European country, it was common for seven or eight-year-olds to work in workshops, contributing significantly to the family income. Selling newspapers was a relatively easy and well-paid job that many would be eager to take up.
After giving Denico some additional instructions, the manager returned to Paris.
What they didn't yet know was that by then, the two newspapers had already caused a stir in Paris.
On the streets of Paris, people heard the shouts of children waving newspapers:
"Get your paper! Only 2 sous! Read the latest novel—The Alchemist's Fiancee Breaks the Engagement! Can he reclaim his honor in three years?"
Someone who had just received their paycheck, curious, bought a copy. They were immediately engrossed by the exciting story on the second page. They were so absorbed that they walked into a tree, only realizing afterward that they had taken the wrong path.
(End of chapter)
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