Every technological progress will always eliminate some professions, which is inevitable for technological progress. However, before all this comes, only a very small number of people can perceive it.

In the humble room, as the craftsmen shake the rollers of the lithographer, a beautifully printed page was printed. As the craftsmen repeated, dozens of pages were printed in a short while.

This is a human hand-cranked wheel-rotating lithographic machine with an extremely simple structure. Its structure is very simple, with wooden frames and even rollers made of wooden frames. Apart from a few gears, there is no "technology" at all. However, even so, for Xiao Wu and the craftsmen who are working, they still seemed very surprised. When printing the book, one of them shook the machine, one of them continued the paper, and the two of them connected the paper in front, and they could print hundreds of pieces per hour. This is obviously an efficiency that has never been seen before.

"Boss, this print is so fast."

Old Man Liang, who had printed books for half his life, couldn't help but say in surprise.

"Not only is it fast, but the characters printed are also clearly visible. I have printed books for most of my life, but I have never seen them printed so clearly..."

While several workers were talking, Shi Yiwen also picked up a piece of paper and looked at it. Compared with books of this era, the characters were printed very clearly.

"It's mainly due to the ink, but this ink can be improved."

Although the ink printed on the paper is clear and shiny, Shi Yiwen is still not very satisfied. After all, these inks are "earth inks" that "overcome difficulties" and are the West he found in the book - first heat the tung oil in a pot and boil it, add pine smoke, stir well, then add an appropriate amount of rosin powder, keep a temperature of 70℃, stir vigorously to reach no grains, penetrate the ginger juice, and mix it into a paste. After the temperature gradually drops, take the pot and put it in the container for later use.

The characters printed with such ink are indeed darker and brighter than ink, but some oil marks will inevitably ooze out of the edges of the characters, which obviously does not meet Shi Yiwen's requirements.

"Young Master, look at what you said, just read it. If you don't rely on anything else, just because the words printed in our family are so clear, the printed books will definitely sell better and faster than Jianyang books."

The "Jianyang Book" mentioned by Mr. Liang refers to the books printed by Jianyang, Fujian. Jianyang Books, paper, ink, and proofreading are worse than other regions, so it is naturally cheaper. After buying so many books, Shi Yiwen certainly knew that Jianyang Books are synonymous with "bad books", but others are cheaper.

"Old man Liang, look at what you said, Jianyang's book is so bad. The ink printed on the book must be mixed with water, and the words are all gray. So there are black characters? How can it be compared with ours?"

"Young master, it's the little old man who said the wrong thing. The little old man just thinks that our books are so small and can print so clearly. We have four pages per page. Even if Jianyang books are cheaper, they can't sell us..."

"Old man Liang, what you mean is that the most expensive thing in printing books is paper. Our family has small characters, so we naturally use less paper. The characters are printed clearly and the paper used is not bad. Jianyang books will naturally not be able to sell us..."

Whether it is Xiao Wu or Lao Liang, they have worked in the bookstore for so many years and always understand some market conditions. After such a clear book is printed, it will definitely be very popular, and more importantly, it cannot hold back the cheapest book.

"I really plan to run a bookstore after you said this."

Listening to them saying this, Shi Yiwen said with a smile.

"Let's rest for a while, today I'm just trying the machine and the printing plate."

Looking at the sweaty people, Shi Yiwen ordered, and at the same time asked Xiao Wu to bring them tea.

"Young Master, in fact, the best business in the world is the bookstore business."

Lao Liangtou, who was sweating all over his head, looked at the young master and said while drinking tea.

"Oh? Why is this?"

"Don't you know? Emperor Gao issued an order long ago that the bookstore did not charge taxes, and those who passed the customs would not be paid. In addition to this transaction, what other transactions would not be taxed?"

No tax is imposed on printing books?

Old Liang's words made Shi Yiwen surprised, "Don't collect taxes when printing books?

But it seems... my own factories have never paid much tax. It seems that only the oil mill pays more than a dozen taels of silver every month, and other soap factories and mosquito coil factories have never heard of paying taxes.

"Or what if you run a bookstore?"

On the way home, Shi Yiwen thought secretly in his heart that he originally wanted to run a newspaper, and even found this house, he was preparing for the newspaper, but today Lao Liang's words caused a wave in his heart.

Perhaps newspapers can become a rapid dissemination channel for new knowledge and new ideas, but printing books can also allow people to have a deeper understanding of new knowledge.

"No matter how you lower the price of a book, it's always a good thing."

Having made up his mind to start a bookstore, Shi Yiwen continued to walk, thinking about how to solve some printing raw materials problems as he walked.

There are still many raw materials that have not been solved, such as nitric acid that cannot be separated from lithographic printing, and more fine ink. If these problems are not solved, whether printing newspapers or books is just a matter of paper talk.

"The paper problem has to be solved. The price of paper is too expensive now. If you want to reduce costs, you have to make a fuss about this."

Sometimes I want to do something. It’s not as simple as I imagined. Many things start from scratch. Many raw materials don’t come at the right time.

While thinking about how to solve these problems, he walked into the alleys on the side of the road.

He has been in this era for some time, but he did not choose to go home from the main road, but walked into the deep alleys on the side of the road. These streets and alleys are generally connected. Compared with the people coming and going, these alleys with different widths are easier to walk and closer.

Walking in the alley, after turning a few alleys, Shi Yiwen saw a woman in a civilian in front of him walking slowly with a basket. Perhaps because she heard the footsteps behind her, the woman walking in front looked back, then buried her head, looking timid and embarrassed, and quickly speeding up her feet from time to time, as if she was afraid that there would be evil people behind her.

As soon as he entered the alley, Shi Yiwen saw the woman with a cloth skirt in front of him. He followed the woman and admired her back quietly. Her figure was very good, her waist was slender, and her body could also support the cloth skirt in a graceful arc. Even if the old dress seemed loose, her excellent figure was still not covered by the cloth skirt. You could vaguely see that the white neck formed a sharp contrast with the worn cloth clothes.

The only regret is that the woman also wore a straw hat, with a layer of gauze hanging down, making it impossible to see her appearance clearly.

Perhaps the woman felt the gaze behind her, and she couldn't help but speed up her pace while walking. Then she turned into another alley ahead.

When the pretty shadow in front of him disappeared, Shi Yiwen felt a little regretful. After all, the woman's figure looked really attractive from the back, but she didn't know what she looked like.

At this moment, a woman's scream suddenly came from the entrance of the alley there.

"Who are you? What are you doing at my house?"

Then he heard a man's voice cursing.

"Hehe, little lady, young master, I've been waiting for you for a long time! Come and take this little lady back!"

"What do you want to do?"

The woman's scream came again.
Chapter completed!