flstandardbreds Chapter 183 Newspaper
Chapter 183 Newspaper
Franche-Comté, summer 1448
At this time, a week had passed since John was assassinated, and the entire castle had returned to its original state except for the strengthening of security measures.
In the original bedroom, John was sitting at his desk processing the paperwork of the past few days, including the city defense arrangements after the assassination incident, the funeral arrangements for the fallen soldiers, and the newly built Assassin's Guild.
John had never seen Cyril in the Earl's Castle since John ordered him to recruit people. When he looked at the system map, he found that he had already set off for the southern battlefield.
The Assassins' Guilds in Franche-Comté and Niland have also been put into construction. According to the plan, John will build an Assassins' Guild in the Earl's Castle and the city of Niland to store weapons and provide accommodation for the assassins; and in the nearby dense forest, John will also build a training ground for them.
The cost of all this was that John had to pay a considerable amount of money to cover his expenses. Fortunately, Mrs. Reginale had sent him the money for the land contract. Otherwise, John's already tight finances would not have much money left for him after being distributed among various departments.
Looking at this month's financial report summarized by Simon and the financial expenditure that was about to surpass the income, John could only sigh helplessly.
The eastern border of Midland was surprisingly calm this year, and neither Midland nor Yoda had engaged in any major battles. For some unknown reason, Yoda's main force had not moved in Rona, and Midland had not taken the initiative to start a war.
However, the change in the war situation had the greatest impact on John's slave trade. As both sides stopped fighting, the number of Yoda prisoners captured by Midland decreased. Although there was still a great demand from the Issu merchants, John could no longer trade any extra Yoda prisoners.
The shortage of goods naturally led to a downturn in the slave trade and caused a short-term gap in John's finances. He had not yet figured out what industry could replace the originally developed slave trade.
"If that's the case, we can only rob the Yoda people. At least it can alleviate the funding problem." Thinking of this, John prepared to send messengers to notify the generals in the territory to draw an army from their respective jurisdictions to form an expeditionary force to attack Yoda.
"Sir, Miss Matilda wants to see you." At this moment, the voice of the guard came from outside the door, causing John, who was about to write a letter, to put down his pen and look towards the door and said:
"Let her in."
After getting John's permission, the bedroom door was pushed open from the outside, and Matilda, in a white dress, walked in under the guard of the guards. Opposite John's desk, a fully armed White Wolf Knight immediately stood up from his seat and grasped the hilt of his sword with his hand, as if a battle was about to take place in this bedroom.
"Don't be so excited. Put your weapon down first." Seeing Matilda take two steps back in fear, John ordered the White Wolf Knight.
In order to prevent the scene of fighting with the assassin from happening again, John allowed soldiers to enter the room to protect him during daily life, including when he was eating and working, he had to be guarded by soldiers.
Looking at Matilda who was a little reserved, John asked politely:
"Miss Matilda, what brings you here?"
Seeing John asking, Matilda quickly responded:
"Lord John, I would like to ask where the library in this castle is. I would like to borrow a few books to pass the time."
Seeing that it was not a big deal, John responded enthusiastically:
"I'll have someone take you there. This castle is a little complicated for a first-timer. Next time if you want to go to the library, just ask the servant to take you there."
After saying this, John rang the bell on his desk, and immediately a group of servants filed in from outside the door.
"Take this Miss Matilda to the library."
Since Matilda saved John last time, John gave Matilda an ordinary matchlock gun in return. Of course, for safety reasons, John did not give her gunpowder and lead bullets. At the same time, he expanded Matilda's range of activities in the castle. After all, she was his savior, and it would be too much to guard against her like a thief.
The Earl's Castle used to have a library, which occupied a large area on the second floor of the castle. However, it was eventually squandered by the Yoda people who occupied it and the cult bandits who later squandered it, and it became an abandoned storage room full of dust and cobwebs. The current library was rebuilt and restored after John occupied it.
After Matilda left, John immediately started to deal with the remaining documents on the table. After several hours of work, looking at the neatly arranged pile of documents, John slumped on the table and kept complaining in his heart:
"I never thought being a noble would be so difficult. I see Count Milo does nothing every day. We are both Counts, so why am I so tired?"
John, who had nothing to do at this time, looked out of the window. Since John's bedroom was located on the upper floors of the castle, he could overlook the opposite city wall from here, and with the help of a telescope, he could see half of the scenery of the Earl's Castle.
This is also what John does most often to relax. Whenever he feels tired from work, he looks out the window and sees the gradually prosperous Earl's Castle. Then he becomes full of motivation to continue working.
At this moment, John saw Matilda coming out of the castle gate through the telescope. She was holding a book and walking towards the square in front of the castle gate. She found a bench nearby and sat down. At the same time, she opened the book she borrowed from the library and read it with relish.
John was also very curious about what book she was reading, so he used a telescope to zoom in and observe the cover of the book in her hand.
"Is this 'The Crusades'?" John was a little surprised looking at the familiar cover, because 'The Crusades' is a military novel about conquering pagans, and its target audience is boys who have dreams of becoming knights. He didn't expect that Matilda also likes this type of book.
Suddenly, an inspiration flashed in John's mind, and John's eyes widened as if he had been enlightened.
"Yes, I can make money by printing books. There are ready-made printing machines in the Earl's Castle, and now is the perfect time to use them to print."
Thinking of this, John immediately led the guards out of the castle and came to the printing workshop, giving the printers who were slacking off a little scare.
The printing workshop's initial task was to print John's notices to convey his orders to the residents. Due to the small demand, the entire printing workshop had only fifty people and five Gutenberg printing presses.
After telling the printers his idea, one of them said:
"Sir, with our scale, it's fine for you to print notices, but I'm afraid those bookstores can't print books. There are also the costs of ink and paper. Even if they are produced, it's not certain that anyone will have the spare money to buy them."
Seeing that this plan failed, John thought about it again and said to several printers:
"Then, instead of printing those books, we can typeset some current events and then print them all on one piece of paper. Do you think this is feasible?"
When the printers heard John's suggestion, they felt confused, but since it was John's order, they had no choice but to follow it.
In order to make the content richer, John added some battle stories on the border a few days ago. An hour later, the grooves of the mold were filled with various text molds.
Seeing this, the printer put a blank papyrus on the machine, brushed ink on the mold and immediately started the printing press. After the sound of gears turning, the upper plate was opened, and a papyrus full of text appeared in front of John. John gently picked up the papyrus and showed it to the printers and said:
"Look everyone, this is the effect. Print out 200 copies first, dry them, and then ship them to the Simon Chamber of Commerce for sale."
Looking at the papyrus covered with text, a printer asked:
"My Lord, I don't think anyone would buy a book on a piece of paper."
John thought for a moment and said to the puzzled printers:
"This is called a newspaper. Just wait and see. In a few years, this thing will become a necessity for every household."
"Then sir, what is the name of this piece of paper... newspaper?" Just as John was looking at the world's first newspaper, the printer next to him reminded John that he should give the newspaper a name.
"Let's call it... Franche-Comté Journal." After saying this, John began to discuss the future design of the newspaper with everyone.