British writer

Putting down the telegram, Wodehouse left.

Lu Shi returned to the room, buried his head, and continued to study "The Nature of Japanese Civilization", thinking about how to incorporate the strengths of each book.

He wrote one word next to it——

shame,

Then there was a question mark next to it.

Natsume Soseki asked curiously: "Why is there a question mark? Is there any doubt about it?"

Lu Shi was surprised,

"I mentioned 'shame culture' yesterday. Do you agree?"

Natsume Soseki said "Uh..."

To be honest, as a literary man, creating novels, essays, and haiku is his job and his hobby. History and politics are not.

So, what is Japanese civilization like?

He had never thought about anything like this.

But today when Masaoka Shiki came to deliver the letter, the conversation between the two would inevitably make people think too much.

If Lu Shi feels something,

"What did Mr. Masaoka say?"

Natsume Soseki whispered: "He seems to approve of you."

"Tsk..."

Lu Shi was speechless.

The Japanese quite recognize Li Mei, who created Tokyo BBQ~

Is it recognition in terms of perspective or recognition in terms of strength?

Hard to say.

Lu Shi wrote another line: "There is a sense of shame, but little guilt."

Natsume Soseki broke into cold sweat again,

His understanding means that if you are caught doing something bad, you will feel ashamed because of being discovered, but you will not feel guilty because of the bad thing itself.

That feeling of being seen through came back.

Lu Shi looked over,

"how?"

Natsume Soseki shook his head and asked: "'There is a sense of shame, but there is little guilt'. Why is this?"

He asked this, which was equivalent to acknowledging Lu Shi's point of view.

Lu Shi was speechless for a while.

He himself felt that what he wrote was too absolute.

Unexpectedly, the Japanese recognized it themselves.

What else is there to say?

Lu Shi replied: "You know, I wrote "Guns, Germs and Steel," so I like to approach problems from multiple aspects. I think there are many reasons for the emergence of this kind of civilized character, which cannot be explained clearly in one or two sentences. "

Natsume Soseki was curious,

"Give me an example."

Lu Shi thought for a while and said, "I heard that walking marriages are practiced in many places in your country?"

Natsume Soseki couldn't help but be surprised.

"Do you know about walking marriage?"

The so-called walking marriage means that a man does not marry a woman without marrying, and the union of a man and a woman is achieved through visits from dusk to morning.

Both men and women produce and consume in their respective matrilineal households and bear the obligation to raise offspring. The two parties in a walking marriage do not monopolize each other.

In short, walking marriage is a residual feature of matrilineal clan society.

Lu Shi explained: "I know about walking marriage because many ethnic groups in southwest China still have this tradition."

Natsume Soseki nodded,

"Due to poverty, low production capacity, and inconvenient transportation, walking marriages have always been preserved. This resulted in that before the Restoration, only the nobles and warriors had surnames in the country."

Lu Shi was stunned for a moment, and then showed an "I understand" expression.

Only patrilineal societies formalize blood relationships through surnames;

Because the mother must know that the child is her biological child, the surname seems redundant.

Natsume Soseki said: "What about walking marriage?"

Lu Shi explained: "The characteristics of a matrilineal clan society are that people live in a small village for generations, unlike in China where there is room for migration. This kind of acquaintance society where people look up and don't look down can easily breed a culture of shame."

This is indeed one of the reasons.

Natsume Soseki had previously read "Guns, Germs, and Steel" and knew that everything was connected, and studying these connections was the core of new history.

But he never had a personal experience of this.

It wasn't until today, when he listened to Lu Shi's analysis of Japanese civilization, that he suddenly understood.

But Lu Shi was able to spot those subtle connections with his keen eye, and his erudition and insight were unparalleled by ordinary people.

Natsume Soseki muttered: "Sometimes, I really want to pry open your head and take a look to see what's inside. Sigh... How can there be someone like you in this world... Comparing people with each other is so annoying."

Lu Shi laughed loudly,

He actually became "someone else's child".

He waved his hand,

"Father, like son."

Natsume Soseki rolled his eyes at Lu Shi helplessly,

"Then you can still write "The Fifteenth Year of Wanli". How come you're not a fan of the authorities?"

As he spoke, he couldn't help but sigh,

"Forget it, I still won't read you writing this. When I see you writing this, I always feel like I've been stripped naked and paraded in public. I'm not just surprised, but also scared and creepy."

Lu Shi took over the conversation: "Then I won't write it."

He didn't want to write at first,

It’s not that I’m worried about not being able to sell it.

Because of the popularity of "I Am Cat", people in London are now very curious about that distant island country. The author of "The Nature of Japanese Civilization" is Lu, so it is not a problem to sell tens of thousands of copies.

Lu Shi didn't want to write it, mainly because it was too troublesome to write.

Just like "Fifteen Years of Wanli\

,"There are too many things to consider for this kind of monograph that is both academic and entertaining.

Unexpectedly, Natsume Soseki grabbed him.

"No, you must finish writing! I still...still want to read it."

This guy is no longer afraid of being stripped naked.

Lu Shi was speechless,

"Okay, let's write it down. I just need income recently. No matter how small a mosquito is, it's still a piece of meat."

Natsume Soseki was shocked,

"Are you short of money? Moreover, your royalties are just 'mosquito meat'?"

Lu Shi pointed to the telegram on the table.

"You see."

Natsume Soseki immediately picked it up and read it.

The telegram was taken by an American lawyer named Saul Goodman.

It said that Nicholas Murray Butler, the acting president of Columbia University, is about to become a permanent member and has begun preparations to build a journalism school. He needs Lu Shi to fulfill his promised financial support.

The first one is...

"Fifty thousand pounds!?"

Natsume Soseki's eyes almost bulged out.

What the hell...

Compared with this astronomical figure, the royalty income is indeed a younger brother among younger brothers.

Natsume Soseki said: "I can get you some...um..."

He was a little embarrassed.

Lu Shi laughed loudly,

"Good brothers, loyal. But it's just a drop in the bucket, it's not necessary."

Natsume Soseki touched his nose awkwardly and asked: "Tell me the truth, how many pounds do you need?"

Lu Shi said: "I don't know the amount~ Columbia needs one hundred thousand pounds, which will be paid in three installments, with a ratio of five, three, and two. Secondly, I also have cooperation with Parker Brothers in the United States and plan to do it in Europe. A toy company must have a shortfall of several thousand pounds."

Natsume Soseki: "..."

He couldn't even imagine such a huge number in his dreams.

He asked: "What are you going to do?"

Lu Shi said: "To make big money, you have to rely on business methods, and the dividends of "Mirror" are the most reliable."

Natsume Soseki was even more speechless.

"The Mirror is only threepence a copy."

Lu Shi calmly nodded and said while writing a book: "Of course I know that the Mirror is only three pence a copy, so I can't rely on these small profits. You should understand that the media makes money by advertising. So I just asked Sir Give it to Mr. Cooper and Mr. Scott for me..."

Before he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door.

"land!"

It was Wodehouse who left and returned.

Natsume Soseki complained: "You are really good at asking a count to run errands for you."

Lu Shi smiled and said,

"I even asked the princess to run errands for me~ With luck, I might even be able to get the king or prime minister to run errands for me in the future."

Natsume Soseki curled his lips and expressed disbelief.

Without saying much, Lu Shi put the manuscript in the drawer and walked over to open the door.

As a result, as soon as he opened the door,

"You're finally back!"

Before anyone arrives, the sound comes first.

Cooper lightly punched Lu Shi on the shoulder with his fist, rushed through the door, and then said: "When "Mirror" was a big success, you weren't here, and we didn't know who to share the joy with."

Scott then entered the house,

"I knew...I knew you were going to sell advertising space!"

He laughed,

"Although "Mirror" cannot stabilize the sales volume of 100,000 copies every day, there are fluctuations, but on average, this number must be there. With such impressive results, how can it not sell advertising? You don't even need free money, Illogical!"

As he spoke, he took out the bottom page of a newspaper,

"Look, I'm ready..."

Before he finished speaking, Wodehouse's voice came from outside: "Let's talk about it later! Don't block it here, I can't even get in!"

Scott said "Huh?"

"Sorry, sorry, because I'm so excited to be able to show off my talents."

He pulled Cooper to open the door,

Wodehouse enters.

Several people found chairs in the room and sat down respectively.

Scott handed the negative plate to Lu Shi and said: "This is Cooper and I's masterpiece! Hahahaha... Although it is a bit too arrogant to boast that it is a 'masterpiece', I am indeed very confident in this advertising negative plate."

Cooper further elaborated: "Lu, because the Mirror is a tabloid and highly entertaining, we have made a lot of innovations in advertising."

Both appeared confident.

Lu Shi was curious and looked at the bottom plate carefully.

I have to admit that Cooper and Scott are indeed old media people, and they actually thought of it together with Lu Shi.

They decided to devote an entire page to advertising just one product.

Wodehouse smiled and said: "Lu, the two of them also thought of selling a full page as an advertisement, just like you. Doesn't China say that 'heroes think alike'? I think this is the best example."

Having been in contact with Lu Shi for a long time, these British people are almost China experts.

Cooper said: "Let's imagine a product now, like... um... beer? Then think of an advertising slogan, 'The best beer in the world', printed in the most prominent place in large fonts, and then matched with the frame. "

Scott excitedly said, "A page like this might sell for a thousand pounds!"

Lu Shi couldn't help but laugh,

Scott and Cooper understood media, but they didn't understand advertising.

For example, when Cooper said "the best beer in the world", this was actually an advertising slogan for Carlsberg beer, but because of later advertising laws, it became "probably the best beer in the world".

With the word "may", it's not illegal.

Lu Shi said: "By doing this, you are not only selling the layout, but also the design and advertising words. These two things are more valuable than the layout."

Cooper:? ? ?

Scott:? ? ?

Wodehouse:? ? ?

They couldn't understand it.

Lu Shi thought for a moment and said, "Why do you want to change it like this?"

Cooper spread his hands,

"Today is an era of scarce supplies. Companies are aloof and use both propaganda and threats when advertising. It is true that this can achieve huge results, but compared to soft advertising slogans like 'The best beer in the world', today's advertising is also It sucks.”

That's right,

Take Japan's Shinagawa Electric Lighting Co., Ltd. as an example.

Its advertisement in the newspaper is Chiguoguo’s PUA:

"

For those who are worried about the dangers of electric lights, please come to our agency to have their doubts clarified.

If the indoor wiring of electric lights is complete and the appliances are complete, there is no need to worry about fire.

If you want complete wiring, complete appliances, low price and good quality, come to our company to buy it.

Our company does not care about distance or distance, and we will do whatever you want as soon as possible.

People who go to other stores to buy decorations without visiting our store are people who are ignorant of art and economics.

"

From the perspective of modern Japanese, the advertising language is unimaginably crude.

But in the early 20th century, this method was easy to use.

Otherwise, Shinagawa Electric Co., Ltd. would not have developed into one of the predecessors of Tokyo Electric Power Company.

Lu Shi said: "The current advertising space... let me think about it... take "Le Figaro" as an example, how much does an advertising space cost?"

Scott shook his head,

"Stop talking about it, right? "Le Figaro" has almost become an advertising album, and there is no point in discussing it. However, we can talk about "The Times". As far as I know, their most expensive advertising space is one hundred pounds." , sold to Ernest Shackleton.”

Lu Shi was confused.

"Is Mr. Shackleton the Antarctic explorer?"

Scott said: "Yes, they set off in July this year. However, you had already gone to the United States at that time, how did you know about this? Ah, I understand, literati can know the world's affairs without going out, right? That’s what you said?”

This guy has also begun to transform into a China expert.

Lu Shi's head was full of black lines,

￣□￣｜｜

He changed the subject,

"Why are you mentioning Mr. Shackleton?"

Scott chuckled and whispered: "You know, the Antarctic expedition was established by the Royal Geographical Society and funded by the British government. It is very generous in all aspects of investment, including advertising."

Lu Shi understood,

The Royal Geographical Society is approximately equal to the public unit,

When this kind of unit buys advertising space, the price is definitely higher than the market price.

As for the reason...

All I can say is that everyone who understands understands, and those who don’t understand don’t have to explain much.

Scott winked subtly and said: "So, on average, an advertising space in The Times can cost fifty pounds."

This is not a small amount.

According to the old system,

1 shilling = 12 pence,

1 pound = 20 shillings,

Assuming that the profit of a copy of The Times is 1 penny, the profit of one advertising space is equivalent to selling tens of thousands of newspapers.

What's more, the profit of a current copy of The Times may not be even 1 penny.

For newspapers, the more you sell, the thinner the costs are spread, so you have to rely on small profits but quick turnover.

The emergence of "Mirror" squeezed the living space of almost all newspapers, and newspapers had to tighten their belts, making the profit of advertising space particularly important.

Lu Shi said: "The advertising space in The Times is so cheap. If we sell one thousand pounds per page, can we sell it?"

The rest fell silent.

With the current sales volume of "Mirror", a single-page advertisement is definitely worth that price.

But how to convince those businessmen?

Wodehouse looked at Lu Shi,

"By the way, you said you had an idea?"

Lu Shi nodded,

"Yes, I was thinking of soft advertising. To put it simply, it is integrating products into the media in a more subtle way."

Everyone looked at each other, still not understanding.

Lu Shi had no choice but to give an example: "Just like the beer we just talked about, if we let the characters in the "I Am Cat" comic get together, they would drink beer instead of sake, and we would also mention it in the comic grid from time to time. Reflection, are you curious about this beer? If you are curious about this beer, isn’t the advertisement equivalent to a success?”

Scott:! ! !

Cooper:! ! !

"This... what kind of genius idea is this?!"×2

The two said in unison.

Lu Shi said: "Of course, this kind of advertising also faces the same problem. We still need to convince those businessmen."

Wodehouse asked: "What do you think?"

Lu Shi lowered his head and thought for a while.

"We gathered potential partners together and held a buffet. During the dinner, we promoted the Mirror's advertising plan and asked them to bid. The highest bidder would win."

Wodehouse:! ! !

"Auction? Can advertisements also be auctioned? Hiss... what kind of genius idea is this?!"

He gasped, also shocked.