Chapter 82: Chapter 82 Freedom Fighter
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Denico hurried over and shouted at the bewildered overseer, “What are you standing there for? Apologize immediately! This is the owner of our newspaper.”
“Yes, yes,” the overseer stammered, taking several steps back and bowing repeatedly, “I’m extremely sorry.”
Joseph gestured to the workers around, “You should be apologizing to them.”
“Ah, right.” The overseer turned and bowed his head to the group of poorly dressed people, “I’m sorry…”
Denico frowned and shook his head as a sign, “Just go.”
The overseer hurriedly backed out of the storeroom and, in doing so, stepped on a string used to tie up bundles of books, almost falling over.
The workers cast grateful glances at Joseph. One of the bolder ones even bowed and said, “Thank you, sir, you are truly a kind and good man.”
Joseph noticed their cracked skin and ordered Denico, “Mr. Denico, please buy some lanolin for everyone to use for free, and make sure no one gets frostbite.
“Also, during the coldest month of each year, give everyone an extra week’s wages as a cold-weather subsidy.”
Denico nodded quickly, “Yes, I’ll remember that.”
The workers could hardly believe their ears, feeling that this young noble boss was simply an angel in human form, not only stopping the overseer from hitting people at will but also being so generous to everyone.
These simple workers weren’t eloquent, so they silently got back to work. However, their hands moved noticeably faster than before, and when binding and arranging the booklets, they did so with greater care.
Joseph continued walking through the gaps between piles of books, casually picking up a booklet. It was evident from the grayish-yellow, coarse paper that it was of the lowest quality, with crude printing, and only crudely stitched together in the middle with some plant fiber to prevent it from falling apart.
However, the booklet had 16 pages, including five illustrations.
He looked towards the mountain-like pile of books and asked, “Mr. Denico, how many copies were printed this time?”
Denico eagerly stepped forward, “Your Highness, we printed 30,000 copies of each of the two types of booklets, which should be enough for sales in Paris and the surrounding towns.”
Joseph nodded, “What was the cost for one of these booklets?”
“Because it has more pages, it costs 1 sou and 5 deniers,” Denico added. “Your invention of that lithography is truly miraculous. Without it, the cost would definitely exceed 3 sous.”
In fact, if the old copperplate printing method had been used, no booklet would dare to include five illustrations—engraving the copperplates alone would have increased the cost of the booklet several times over.
It could be said that the booklets launched by Paris Commercial News this time were definitely the most luxurious standard in the booklet industry.
Without a second thought, Joseph said, “Then sell them at cost price.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” Denico had gotten used to his boss’s extravagance. Last time, if it weren’t for the shops eager to advertise, they would have lost money on the newspapers.
Joseph opened the booklet in his hand; the first few pages were light-hearted novels. In the middle, there was an article titled “How Much Money Have the Judges of the High Court Embezzled?”
There were four such articles interspersed within the light-hearted text in total.
Joseph briefly skimmed through and found that the quality of several articles was indeed somewhat unsatisfactory. The writing was tedious, it didn’t stir up the reader’s anger, nor was it very resonant.
He couldn’t help but frown slightly, “The articles need to have more inflammatory content.”
Denico nodded awkwardly, “Yes, I will do my utmost.”
Joseph knew that it wasn’t Denico’s fault; the Paris Commercial News had been a small circulation newspaper before, and the editorial capacity was just as it was.
“`
He thought for a moment, then pointed at the booklet in his hand and said, “We can start by making some improvements to the headlines.
‘For example, this ‘How Much Money Have the High Court Judges Really Embezzled?’ can be changed to ‘Fury! They say ‘If you have no money, get lost; you don’t deserve to win’.
‘And this one, ‘The Truth About Magistrate Wezignia’s Handling of the Leon Inheritance Case,’ could be ‘Shocking! A Widow, Two Men, and the Untold Story Between Them and Magistrate Wezignia’.
”The Effects of the Unregistered Tax Laws on the National Finances’ becomes ‘Terrifying! They are Stealing France’s Money, and We Don’t Even Know’…”
Denico’s eyes suddenly went round as saucers.
These titles seemed to have a tiny bit of relevance to the content of the articles, but it seemed that wasn’t quite right either.
However, the main point was that these headlines were too tantalizing; anyone who saw them would definitely be unable to resist reading the articles that followed!
He sighed inwardly: If the Crown Prince were to become a journalist, with his knack for crafting headlines alone, he would be fiercely sought after by all the major newspapers.
As Joseph was speaking, he saw a newspaper executive signaling to Denico from afar. The latter hurriedly said to Joseph:
“Your Highness, the guest you were waiting for has arrived.”
Joseph nodded and went with Denico to the newspaper office.
A middle-aged man with disheveled hair and deep nasolabial folds was already waiting there.
When he saw them enter, he quickly stood up to greet Denico and said, “I’m delighted to meet you, Mr. Denico. Thank you for publishing my article. May I know why you have summoned me?”
Denico immediately followed Joseph’s instructions and introduced the man, “Mr. Xavier, this is Mr. Mara.”
He then pointed to Joseph, who wore a tricorn hat: “Mr. Mara, this gentleman is the owner of our newspaper, Mr. Xavier.
“Oh, it was his idea to publish your article.”
Mara hastily bowed to Joseph, saying, “Thank you very much, Mr. Xavier. You are truly young and talented, having led the Paris Commercial News to such success.”
Joseph smiled and returned the gesture, gesturing to a chair beside them: “Mr. Mara, please take a seat.”
Yes, his main purpose for coming to the newspaper office today was to meet Mara—this historically notorious Jacobin leader, who with a mere signature could have three thousand heads rolling.
Mara’s article analyzing the tax laws had been rejected everywhere, and had finally been sent to the Paris Commercial News.
Denico, who was in need of such pieces at the time, had published it straight away.
And when Joseph saw Mara’s famous name in his own newspaper, he had an epiphany and asked Denico to arrange a meeting.
Joseph was fully aware that although Mara appeared to be just a journalist with a sharp pen, in reality, his influence was enormous, with extensive connections and huge sway among the common people. If handled correctly, Mara might play a significant role in the game between himself and the High Court.
However, given Mara’s extreme animosity toward the Royal Family, Joseph had to choose to meet him in a different guise.
After Mara had taken a seat, Denico made the excuse that there was an issue in the storeroom and left.
Joseph looked at Mara and smiled, saying, “I have always admired you, Mr. Mara. You are a true Freedom Fighter.”
Mara clearly took pride in this title and immediately returned the compliment, “It is my honor to fight for justice and rights for the people of France.”