Chapter 72: Shameless
Joseph's voice was deep as he said, "Then, she saw the gun, surrounded by bloodstains, and in the mirror, she had a grotesque, burnt wound on her head! Yes, it was clearly hit by a bullet!"
Barré's eyes widened. "Good heavens, that's incredible! She didn't die?!"
"Yes," Joseph replied, "and she also discovered that she possessed divine power, allowing her to float in an endless gray mist..."
"That's marvelous! What's the name of this novel?"
"It's called Lord of the Mysteries."
......
After Barré departed, Joseph continued, addressing the next writer: "You are to write a story about a nobleman confined to the Bastille due to a mental illness."
"This young man is named Fei Li. He claims that when he closes his eyes, he enters a magical world."
"There, an evil wizard captures many deformed or diseased youths to refine elixirs of immortality. Fei Li was one of those captured..."
When Joseph turned his gaze to Mr. Bomasha, the most renowned old writer in all of France was already growing impatient. "Oh, Your Royal Highness, what is my story, then?"
Joseph immediately thought of his favorite web novel author from his previous life, a writer whose every book quickly became a national sensation and whose talent was so immense he was only "a billion steps" from a Nobel Prize in Literature, not to mention his exceedingly handsome looks.
Joseph knew every one of his books intimately, and blurted out, "This novel is called Ladies, Please Stop..."
The day quickly passed. By dusk, Joseph had received four manuscripts.
Mr. Bomasha and the others truly lived up to their reputations as France's acclaimed literary figures. Their novels were incredibly vivid; from character portrayals to plot descriptions, every line exuded a masterful style, making them as delightful to read as a fine vintage.
However, Joseph noticed that each submitted work was only four pages long, amounting to a maximum of about two thousand words.
He subtly suggested that the great writers try to produce a bit more each day.
Mr. Bomasha and the others looked at each other in dismay. They had been so engrossed in their captivating stories that they'd even forgotten lunch. This was already more than double their usual output.
Yet the Crown Prince still seemed to think it wasn't enough!
Upon returning, the writers promptly summoned their disciples or writer friends for assistance, not for the meager extra pay—these great authors weren't short on money. Rather, they wanted to write faster so they could hear the Crown Prince narrate the subsequent plot as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, Joseph dispatched messengers to deliver the manuscripts to the Paris Business Journal overnight, instructing Denico to print them as quickly as possible.
At dawn the next day, Denico arrived at Versailles with advance copies, eager to report to Joseph on the first issue following the redesign.
Joseph quickly flipped through the two newspapers.
One was the Paris Business Journal. Its overall style retained the previous "Liberty and Idealism" tone, covering market trends and business insights. The difference was that the entire second page was dedicated to a novel titled Battle Through the Heavens, while the third page explained the new Tax Bill.
The other was the newly launched News and Pictures Gazette—its publishing license would be processed by noon. Of course, this speed was exclusive to the Crown Prince; normally, applying for a license would take at least two months.
The News and Pictures Gazette was far less reserved. Its front-page headline read "Exploring the Deeper Reasons Behind the Repeated Failures to Register the New Tax Bill." The second page featured Lord of the Mysteries. Most of the other sections were related to the Tax Bill, interspersed with hot news from across France.
As for images, since lithographic printing hadn't launched yet, they only included a few Parisian landscape drawings from previously engraved plates. In the future, news illustrations would be widely featured, but in this era without photography, only painters could create the illustrations.
Joseph was quite pleased with Denico's work; he was indeed from a family that had been in the newspaper business for three generations.
Once these two newspapers reached the hands of the Parisian public, the great noble factions could forget about monopolizing public opinion channels.
Seeing that the Crown Prince had finished reviewing the advance copies, Denico immediately reported, "Your Royal Highness, as per your instructions, the monthly subscription price for both newspapers is 3 Livres."
"I feel I must warn you, at this price, we will incur significant losses."
Current daily newspapers typically cost 6 to 8 Livres a month, while weeklies ranged from 1 Livre and 10 sous to 2 Livres.
Both the Paris Business Journal and the News and Pictures Gazette were dailies, so 3 Livres was definitely a loss-making price.
Joseph nodded calmly. "It's fine; sell them at that price. Once lithographic printing is fully implemented, the cost should drop to below 3 Livres per month."
In truth, he didn't mind a small loss—once newspaper sales surged, advertising revenue alone would be more than enough to turn a profit.
Seeing his certainty, Denico had no choice but to proceed with the next report. "Your Royal Highness, regarding those 'newsboys' you mentioned, I've recruited over 40 people."
He hesitated, then cautiously added, "I suspect not many people will be willing to buy newspapers on the streets of Paris."
Newsboys were precisely Joseph's planned new method for newspaper sales.
Currently, newspaper industries across Europe primarily operated on a subscription model, where "paper carriers" delivered newspapers directly to customers.
The familiar newsboys of later generations had not yet emerged.
One of the major factors limiting newspaper retail in the past was their high price. An average newspaper cost four to six sous, while a common artisan's daily wage was only five to ten sous. Few people would spontaneously decide to buy a newspaper.
Now, Joseph had reduced the price of a single newspaper to two sous, with plans to drop it to one sou or even lower in the future. At that price, many more people could afford it.
Joseph understood clearly that street retail was the optimal channel for newspaper sales!
Newsboys would shout out the newspaper's highlights, and passersby who showed interest would readily pay for a copy. Moreover, newsboys could also sell other items on the side, using the profits to lower the newspaper's cost.
As for "child labor"...
The concept simply didn't exist in this era.
Currently, in any European country, children as young as seven or eight years old were common sights working in workshops. They were vital economic pillars for their families.
Work like selling newspapers, being relatively light and well-paying, would likely soon have people scrambling to do it.
After Joseph gave Denico a few more instructions, the newspaper manager bid his farewell and returned to Paris.
What they didn't know was that, at this very moment, the two newspapers had already stirred up a considerable storm in Paris.
On the streets of Paris, someone heard a child waving a newspaper and shouting:
"Get your papers! Two sous a copy! Latest novel inside—Alchemist youth suddenly dumped by his fiancée! Can he reclaim justice three years from now?"
The man, who had just received his wages yesterday, immediately bought a copy out of curiosity and was instantly captivated by the thrilling story on the second page. He read as he walked, until he bumped into a tree and realized he had gone astray.
Comments