My British Empire

Chapter 211 Paper Mill

ps: At the end of the month, ask for tickets, ask for subscription

The "Second Book of Common Prayer" was sent to Parliament for review by the Royal Commission.

First is the House of Commons. For the House of Commons, as long as it is not related to taxation, it will agree without saying a word.

The same is true for the House of Lords. Nobles and senior priests dare not disobey the king's order, and the proposal was passed smoothly.

So, on September 5, 1549, the Privy Council promulgated this religious act in the name of the king, ordering all churches and monasteries to follow.

At this point, how could Edward give up this good opportunity to make money.

He asked the printing house belonging to the royal family to print 10,000 new public prayer books within a week.

Of course, due to the fine paper and few typos, the new Book of Common Prayer only costs ￡5.

That’s right, it only costs five pounds, compared with the previous Bibles that cost ten or even hundreds of pounds, it is indeed a child’s play.

Such a reasonable price is within the tolerance of the small churches in rural areas. Although the teaching property of the church has been eliminated a lot, it is still possible to buy some books after hundreds of years of accumulation.

Ten thousand copies, that is, fifty thousand pounds, and the cost of each book is less than one shilling, that is, the total cost is only five hundred pounds, so the profit is forty-nine thousand five hundred pounds, really profitable.

"Yes, Your Majesty, after all are sold out, the rest will be sold one after another, and the final total profit will be around 80,000 pounds. After all, nobles and gentlemen will definitely buy a copy!"

The middle-aged man standing in front of Edward was the general manager of a printing factory. After the factory was acquired by Edward, he became the general manager of the royal printing factory.

He was in his thirties, with chapped skin, slightly curly hair, with a dry yellow smell, dark blue eyes, pursed lips, bowed waist, and joy in his eyes.

"Really? This is indeed a good idea, then you can continue to print, about 5,000 copies!"

Looking at the manager in front of him who made an opinion, Edward felt a little satisfied in his heart. A manager who can give full play to his subjective initiative is not bad!

"Your Majesty, I implore you to allow the printing plant and paper mill to continue to expand, the current production can no longer meet incoming orders!"

As the general manager of the printing factory, Wilson certainly hopes that the factory under his hands will be stronger, so that His Majesty the King will value him more.

Looking at His Majesty's probing gaze, Wilson lowered his head slightly, and the corners of his mouth curled up.

"Your Majesty, because the paper we produce is smooth, delicate, and flawless, orders from Rome, Germany, and even France have been thrown at us. The production of Bibles alone has reached as many as 10,000 copies per month, not to mention There are other books!"

"The printing factory can still catch up, but the paper mill is hard to follow, so I hope Your Majesty will allow you to expand the scale of the paper factory."

Regarding the proposal of the manager of the printing factory in front of him, Edward had to think carefully.

In 1450, Gutenberg, a German, invented the Gothic Latin metal movable type printing technology in his factory in Mainz.

But in 1462, there was a turmoil in Mainz, the factory was destroyed in the war, and the printers were scattered all over Germany, spreading Gutenberg's improved metal movable type printing to all parts of Europe.

So in this era, European printing was even more advanced than that of the Ming Dynasty at that time, but papermaking was incomparable with China.

Although papermaking was introduced to the Arab world after the Talas War, the price of paper in Europe was extremely expensive.

After the Mongols went west, the first hemp paper mill was established in Italy in 1276, but until the eighteenth century, the level of papermaking in Europe had not yet reached the standard of the Song Dynasty.

It was not until the Qianlong period that Jiang Youren, a French painter and Jesuit priest who worked for the Qing court, painted pictures of China's papermaking technology and sent them back to Paris. China's advanced papermaking technology was widely spread in Europe.

It can be said that in this era, the papermaking technology in Edward's hands is the most advanced technology in Europe, and it is a great money-making technology.

In this regard, Edward directly set up the paper mill in his own territory, the Duke of Lancaster, to prevent technology from being stolen.

As a territory directly under the royal family, every plant and tree in the territory is familiar, and it is not easy to steal it.

However, people died for money and birds died for food. In order to obtain a lot of money, the guards guarding the paper mill did not know how many spies were killed and captured, from France, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and even People from Russia can see how attractive papermaking is!

Of course, the paper mill also brought a lot of wealth to Edward.

Adhering to the king's intention, the paper mill sells the paper at a price of one shilling per sheet, and each person sells a maximum of one hundred sheets.

If it is open for sale, then the printing house will not have much work. After all, the Bible is divided into the Old Testament and the New Testament, and it needs about a thousand sheets of paper.

Even so, the number of Bible orders that the printing house takes on each month is slowly declining.

"Yes, I will order the paper mill to expand!" Edward nodded, expressing approval of his proposal.

"Your printing house, I will inject five thousand pounds, which should be enough!"

"Enough, enough!" Wilson laughed happily and nodded quickly.

5,000 pounds is enough to acquire seven or eight printing houses. In this way, the Royal Printing House is basically the largest printing house in England, and its profits will rise in a straight line.

"Mr. Wilson, I hope you will continue to work hard, don't limit your attention to England, and strive for more orders from other countries!" Looking at this shrewd manager, Edward said encouragingly, with a positive color in his eyes.

"Yes, Your Majesty, I will not disappoint your trust. I will make the Royal Paper Mill the largest printing house in England, no, in Europe!"

Seeing His Majesty the King's tone so kind, he couldn't help being flattered, Wilson mustered up his courage, and promised loudly.

"Okay, I hope you can fulfill your promise. The royal family will not disappoint a person who has contributed like you!" Edward nodded with satisfaction, the smile on his mouth became more obvious, and he simply made a promise.

Then, Wilson's mood was like a flying bird, rippling directly in the air, with indescribable surprises.

If the king of a country promises so much, then it cannot be an ordinary reward, maybe a residence in London, or dozens of acres of land, in short, these are all things that Wilson dreams of, and achieving any one is enough for him in his dream. wake up laughing.

However, Edward seemed to be doing an ordinary thing. He concluded that as a monarch, you must be able to draw big pies, so that the people under you will work harder.

As for cashing out, let’s talk about it later! He's thinking about one thing now, it's Christmas.

(end of this chapter)

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