EFB Chapter 152 Cabinet's Reaction
Chapter 152 Cabinet's Reaction
The day after the auction
Wen Zongji then received the account book from Mao Zheng, as well as all the proceeds from the auction.
A full two hundred thousand taels!
An auction alone brought in 200,000 taels of silver for the Beijing Gazette Bureau. Prior to this, they had already achieved a balance between income and expenditure by selling the Beijing Gazette and no longer needed the support of the Crown Prince.
In other words, this 200,000 taels can be considered net income, and there is no need to cover any losses anywhere.
Mao Zheng still feels like he's in a dream: "The boss didn't see yesterday's scene. Those shopkeepers were like madmen, bidding like crazy. Five thousand taels of silver was like paper to them, and they took it out without even blinking."
"The manager of Cuiwenzhai is still the old fox. He took the lead by offering 1,000 taels of silver, which shocked everyone. Before everyone could react, he secured the first spot, which was the cheapest among the spots sold in the East, West and Central Cities."
"In addition, the dozen or so bookstores that were previously allowed to sell the Beijing Daily also delivered silver this morning, three thousand taels each, which should be based on the price at last night's auction."
Excluding those wealthy households who directly offered a fixed price of five thousand taels, three thousand taels was still considered a very high price.
Those who had enjoyed the benefits for more than half a month naturally dared not take less money; the price of three thousand taels was what they had agreed upon.
Wen Zongji was not surprised by this: "No one who has come this far is a fool. Since they have made up the difference, let's just accept it."
"As for the manager of Cuiwenzhai, everything he did was in accordance with the rules of the auction. His ability to successfully buy a spot for one thousand taels of silver is due to his skill, so there is no need to worry about it too much."
Mao Zheng said, "This morning, I received many inquiries from people asking if they could sell the Beijing Daily now, or if they had to wait for the next issue?"
The second issue of the Beijing Daily is currently on sale; the third issue will not be available until early July.
Actually, there are only ten days left!
But for merchants, time is money. The sooner they get involved, the sooner they can profit, or at least recoup the money they've spent.
Wen Zongji said, "I have already ordered several printing houses to print the Beijing Gazette for the Beijing Gazette Bureau. When you get back, tell them the names of those printing houses, and they can use the permits I have issued to them to buy the Beijing Gazette."
Wen Zongji had already prepared nearly a hundred permits stamped with the official seal of the manuscript manager, and was only waiting to fill in the names of each bookstore.
Now Mao Zheng has brought the list, and a minor official from the Beijing Gazette Bureau is filling in the names. Once everything is ready, the permits can be issued to the bookstores that have purchased the slots.
From then on, they became bookstores recognized by the Beijing Gazette Bureau and were free to sell the Beijing Gazette in the capital.
Mao Zheng replied, "Yes, boss."
Wen Zongji said, "Although Ruijintang's business has improved a lot thanks to the existence of the Beijing Gazette, the importance of storybooks cannot be ignored. You need to supervise those storybook authors and make sure they don't become lazy. They still need to write their stories well. Tell them that this detailed outline was given to them by me, and if I am not satisfied, I can replace them with someone else at any time."
"I will relay what my master said verbatim."
Wen Zongji nodded: "You've worked hard these past few days. Take one hundred taels of silver from your account as your reward."
Upon hearing this, Mao Zheng hurriedly declined, saying, "I am merely following the master's instructions and should not have to endure such hardship."
Wen Zongji waved his hand: "I have always been fair in rewarding and punishing, and I will reward those who have made contributions. You can take the reward."
Seeing Wen Zongji's resolute attitude, Mao Zheng accepted the payment, saying, "I will certainly live up to your trust and do my best to manage Ruijintang well."
These words struck a chord with Wen Zongji, who smiled with satisfaction.
……
Just as Mao Zheng was reporting to Wen Zongji, news that the Beijing Gazette Bureau had auctioned off the quotas for selling the Beijing Gazette at an exorbitant price spread rapidly throughout the court and among the people, and even reached the ears of the cabinet ministers.
At that very moment, the Crown Prince was observing state affairs in the cabinet.
Upon learning of this, the senior officials all turned their attention to the Crown Prince.
"Your Highness, is it true that the Capital Gazette Bureau is fully controlled by the Crown Prince?"
The Crown Prince nodded: "It's true. The head of the Imperial Gazette reported to me before handling this matter."
"Your Highness, isn't this action somewhat inappropriate?"
The crown prince looked at the gaunt old man before him: "Grand Secretary You, is there something amiss?"
"The Imperial Gazette Office is, after all, a government agency. Wasn't that so-called auction just an abuse of power for personal gain? If other government agencies follow suit, where is the law and authority of the court?
Grand Secretary You spoke in a serious tone, his brows furrowed, clearly indicating his great dissatisfaction.
The Crown Prince remained unmoved: "Grand Secretary You seems to have misunderstood. The Capital Gazette Office is different from other government offices. From the very beginning, the Capital Gazette Office's publications were not distributed to the people for free, but were sold to them."
"As Grand Secretary You just said, the Capital Gazette Office is a government agency, and it's impossible for its officials to sell the Capital Gazette. Therefore, we can only cooperate with the Capital Gazette's bookstores."
"With the publication of two issues of the Beijing Daily, the public's recognition of the newspaper increased, and more and more people bought it. It is obvious that bookstores qualified to sell the Beijing Daily profited from this."
"That's why they're willing to spend money to buy a spot."
"The auction of this quota by the Beijing Gazette Office was not an abuse of power for personal gain, but rather a legitimate means to increase revenue for the imperial court."
"To put it bluntly, selling this quota is no different from the imperial court selling salt permits to salt merchants."
Upon hearing this, Grand Secretary You's expression softened slightly, but he still corrected him, saying, "The Capital Gazette Office belongs to the Crown Prince's Palace, so the revenue goes to the Crown Prince's Palace, not to the Ministry of Revenue's national treasury."
Wu Yangeng smiled to ease the tension: "The Crown Prince is the heir apparent, so there's no need to be so particular. However, the Capital Gazette Bureau has only been established for a short time, yet it has already extracted 200,000 taels from those shrewd merchants. Your Highness, this head of the Capital Gazette Bureau is a talented individual; isn't it a waste of his abilities to keep him in the Capital Gazette Bureau?"
The Crown Prince said, "He is a newly appointed scholar who should be studying diligently in the Hanlin Academy. It was I who transferred him out. If he is transferred to another department immediately, it would be too hasty."
Wu Yangeng nodded: "That's true. Young people are inevitably impetuous, so it's good to temper them a bit more."
"I know that Grand Secretary Wu has always valued talent. Once everything in the Capital Gazette Office is on track, it won't be too late to consider transferring him to one of the Six Ministries on a rotating basis."
Normally, the top three in each session are qualified to observe the administration of the Six Ministries on a rotating basis, and their performance determines their next step in official appointments and removals.
Basically, once you get to this point, it all comes down to their interpersonal skills and ability to get things done. All their past achievements can be discarded, and they won't be treated specially just because they were once the top scholar or the third-highest scorer.
They might even have higher expectations of them.
Wu Yangeng said, "The Crown Prince can make the arrangements."