Early Ming Dynasty: Turning Clouds and Rains into New Learning Saints

Chapter 190 Every reader’s wish
"Prince-in-law, an old man came here from the library. He called himself Huhai Sanren and brought many books. He said that he must meet the author of "Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses", saying that he has skills comparable to "Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses". Works, I am willing to discuss them together and create more great works!"

"Three Heroes and Five Righteousness" is a Qing Dynasty novel and the originator of Chinese martial arts novels. It tells the story of the Song Dynasty.

At that time, Zhang Yifan told these stories to Zhu Jingjing, and then Zhu Jingjing sorted them out and printed them out.However, the author's name is definitely not a direct name, but Fanjing, which is a character in Zhang Yifan's name and a character in Zhu Jingjing's name.

Anyone who knows, of course, knows that this Fanjing is actually Zhang Yifan.People who don't know, even if they think about it, they don't know that this Fan Jing is the current prince-in-law, and no one may believe him even if he tells him.

Of course, the library administrator must know.Therefore, he came to ask Zhang Yifan for instructions.

At this time, Zhang Yifan suddenly became interested when he heard it. He put down his quill and asked: "A work comparable to "Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses"? What kind of work is it?"

"The villain read two volumes of books, one is called "Water Margin", and the other is "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms"."

Zhang Yifan was shocked when he heard it.These two books are the second of China's four great classics, and they were the first two books he read when he was a child.Aren't Shi Naian and Luo Guanzhong from the end of Yuan Dynasty and the beginning of Ming Dynasty?
Idol!
He didn't know whether the person who came was Shi Naian or Luo Guanzhong, so he quickly asked, "Where is the person?"

"Still waiting in the Library Pavilion!"

After hearing this, Zhang Yifan stood up and left.Government affairs are signatures, and it's not a big deal for a county. Hurry up to meet the idol, lest you can't wait and leave.

In this era of underdeveloped communication and transportation, if you are not careful, you may not see it now, and you may not see it in the future.

But when he just walked to the door, he suddenly thought of it, and immediately ordered the library administrator: "You go back first. I'll serve you with tea and water. I'll be there soon!"

After saying that, he returned to the back office.

Just after passing through the back office garden, he saw Zhu Jingjing and Qiu Ju thinking about recipes in the lobby. Zhang Yifan happily shouted: "Jingjing, let's go to visit friends!"

Zhu Jingjing heard this and looked up at him in surprise.

To be honest, since she met Zhang Yifan, it was the first time that she saw her husband so happy and said to her, "Go visit friends".

In my impression, there is no one whom my husband can call his friend, right?
Thinking of this, Zhu Jingjing immediately became interested, put down the recipe, and immediately came out to greet you and asked: "Brother Fan, what are you friends? Why haven't I heard of you?"

"Haha!" After hearing this, Zhang Yifan walked up to her very happily and said, "I don't know either, but we have been friends for a long time. Let's go and meet her together."

After saying that, he took Zhu Jingjing's hand and left.

Zhu Jingjing felt his excitement and became happy. As she walked away, she asked, "Brother Fan, haven't you seen him before? What does this friend do?"

The person who can make her husband say that they have been friends for a long time is definitely not an ordinary person, which makes Zhu Jingjing even more interested.

Zhang Yifan listened and said to her with a smile: "Don't you like listening to stories? This person is a very good story writer."

"Is that true?" Zhu Jingjing suddenly became happy after hearing this, "That's good. There's a new story to read, right?"

Zhu Jingjing didn't have this hobby before, but since she followed Zhang Yifan, she has been fascinated by his stories and likes to listen to Zhang Yifan's stories.

Zhang Yifan listened and nodded. Suddenly, something came to his mind and he secretly thought it was very dangerous!

If Zhu Jingjing is a man, no, if Zhu Di likes to listen to stories, Zhang Yifan will most likely tell him "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and then meet Luo Guanzhong himself, then he can only be dumbfounded!

At this time, Zhang Yifan was not sure whether it was Luo Guanzhong or Shi Naian, but no matter who it was, he was a celebrity whose name would go down in history.

No, he happily introduced it to Zhu Jingjing: "The works he created can be passed down through the ages. I really didn't expect that I could see him in person. I'm so happy!"

Zhu Jingjing saw that Zhang Yifan was so happy, even if it was for nothing else, just to make her husband so happy, she became happy too.

My husband has been busy with things in Xiangshan County. I am so happy!
Soon, the two people, escorted by Zhu Wu and others, arrived at the library.

The administrator of the library had been waiting at the door for a long time, and immediately welcomed the consort and the princess to the backyard of the library.

Zhang Yifan turned to the backyard and saw a plainly dressed old man, probably in his fifties, with half white hair sitting under the big tree in the backyard, reading a book intently.

On the coffee table next to him, the tea was still untouched. In addition, there was a package, which looked very big. You could tell at a glance that it was full of books.

Zhang Yifan and Zhu Jingjing came over. Although they didn't speak, there was still a lot of movement, at least there were footsteps.

However, the old man didn't seem to hear it, and was still looking at the book in his hand intently.

When the library administrator saw it, he coughed quickly and said, "Old sir, the person you want to see has arrived!"

When the old man heard this, he raised his head and looked at Zhang Yifan and Zhu Jingjing. At a glance, he saw that other people were surrounding these two people.However, these two people were obviously not the people he wanted to see.

So, he stood up and did not say hello to Zhang Yifan or the others. He just said a little dissatisfied: "This little brother, I want to meet this fellow named Fan Jing!"

While talking, he also turned the book in his hand to the cover, pointing to the author's name printed on it.

Zhang Yifan took a look and saw that the book in his hand was the first volume of "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness".

So, he said with a smile: "My name is Zhang Yifan, and this is my wife, Zhu Jingjing. My wife made up Fanjing by taking one of our names."

Upon hearing this, the old man was immediately dumbfounded.

When the administrator saw Zhang Yifan answering the call himself, he stepped back and went to the front to get busy.

Soon, the old man came back to his senses, with an expression of disbelief on his face.

In his mind, he must be a middle-aged man with rich experience to be able to write such a wonderful novel with a similar format to his novels.How could such a young man be able to write "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness"?
No, just listen to him ask: "Dare I ask this young master... Madam, this "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness" is a story about the pre-Song Dynasty. There are so many characters and the descriptions are profound. Who can tell it?" They told similar stories and then the two of them compiled them?"

When Zhu Jingjing heard this, she felt a little unhappy.She could tell that she was doubting them and her husband was not capable of this.

However, she thought that this man was a long-time friend of her husband, so she suppressed her unhappiness and said calmly: "To be honest, Mr., these stories are all told by my husband and compiled into a book by me."

After hearing this, the old man still had a look of disbelief on his face. He looked at Zhang Yifan, then at Zhu Jingjing, and finally at Zhang Yifan, with a look of shame on his face and said: "I'm just too old and shallow to think that the author of this book must be someone with rich experience. Ashamed, ashamed!”

Zhang Yifan laughed when he heard it.

I am indeed a counterfeit, but a person of such a young age in future generations can still write long novels.For example, 30 Years of Hedong, 30 Years of Hexi, Douzhili three paragraphs and so on, with millions of words, are classics of online literature.His famous novel was written when he was still in middle school, so he dropped out of school because of this!
So, he ignored the question and just asked with a smile: "I wonder what I call the old gentleman?"

Perhaps because of the offense just now, the old man ignored Zhang Yifan's age, solemnly clasped his fists and bowed, and then said sincerely: "The old man's surname is Luo. His name is a single character, with the same character in the middle. His nickname is Huhai Sanren, a Taiyuan family name. "

After introducing himself, he quickly and carefully put down the book "Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses" in his hand, and then went to untie the package. At the same time, he said: "I brought with me the popular novel "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and the legacy of my mentor "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms". "Water Margin", I originally wanted to find someone to publish it, but I didn't want it..."

When he said this, he was interrupted by Zhang Yifan's surprised voice: "You mean, Shi Naian passed away?"

When Luo Guanzhong heard this, he was stunned for a moment. Then he raised his head and looked at Zhang Yifan. He didn't mind that he called him by his first name and asked in surprise: "You know my mentor?"

Zhang Yifan already knew that the person in front of him turned out to be Luo Guanzhong's classmate, so he had to meet a real person!
He replied respectfully: "I have indeed heard of it, and I have great talent, just like you, sir!"

Among the four great classics, if Zhang Yifan really had to say it, he felt that "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was better than "Water Margin", but in front of Luo Guanzhong, he said Shi Naian, who wrote "Water Margin" It's his master, so it's hard to tell the truth.

When Luo Guanzhong heard him mention Shi Naian, he said a little sadly: "The master passed away in the third year of Hongwu." Zhang Yifan felt a little regretful when he heard this. At that time, his soul had not passed through, otherwise, this celebrity would also Can we meet again.

At this time, Zhang Yifan quickly changed the topic, not wanting to continue being sad, and immediately told Zhu Wudao: "Go and get some pastries, we want to have a good chat with Mr.!"

"Yes, son-in-law!" Hearing this, Zhu Wu immediately agreed and sent people to do it quickly.

As for Luo Guanzhong, when he heard this, he was immediately dumbfounded.

"Can I take a look?" Zhang Yifan looked at the unpacked package and asked happily.

It is estimated that this is the original manuscript of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" or "Water Margin"!
This is baby!

After asking, he found that Luo Guanzhong didn't answer, so he looked up.

But Luo Guanzhong looked shocked, looked at Zhang Yifan, and stammered to confirm: "You...you are the county magistrate of Xiangshan County, the son-in-law?"

Luo Guanzhong's family was originally in business, but doing business in troubled times is basically unrealistic, and he doesn't like business, he just likes stories.

Originally, as a scholar, he sought refuge with Zhang Shicheng, but it turned out that Zhang Shicheng was an Adou who could not be supported, refused to listen to advice, and finally left Zhang Shicheng.And because Zhang Shicheng and Zhu Yuanzhang were enemies, he had to give up being an official and just immersed himself in writing.

There is a saying in later generations: Writing books will starve you to death!

Luo Guanzhong wrote books without much income, which can be described as poor, and it was difficult for his books to be published.If it was the original history, he would go to Fujian, which is famous for printing books, to try his luck in the 13th year of Hongwu, but he was disappointed in the end.

However, in this dimension, he heard about the writing style of Xiangshan County, so he came to Xiangshan County to try his luck.

After arriving in Xiangshan County, he was a literati, and what he cared most about was that the Library Pavilion in Xiangshan County was open to ordinary people, so he went straight here.

Therefore, he did not know Zhang Yifan, and he did not expect that the man standing in front of him, the author of "Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses", turned out to be the Prince Consort Captain!

He stuttered in shock, not because of the high title of Prince Consort, but because he simply couldn't relate. The person who could write "Three Heroes and Five Righteousness" turned out to be an outrageously young man, especially in recent years. Come to the famous Prince Consort of Xiangshan County!

He could still understand just one of the identities, but when several identities were combined, it was beyond his understanding.

Zhang Yifan saw him like this and smiled slightly: "I am the magistrate of Xiangshan County, and my wife..."

As he spoke, he pointed at Zhu Jingjing and said, "...that's Princess Lin'an."

Speaking of this, Zhang Yifan smiled and said: "But there is no prince-in-law and princess here. It is a relationship between seniors and juniors. I would like to ask Mr. Luo for your advice on writing a book!"

After he finished speaking, he bowed his hands and bowed, absolutely sincerely.

When Zhu Jingjing saw that her husband was like this, she didn't care about Luo Guanzhong's previous attitude and was blessed accordingly.

In her concept, if you marry a chicken, follow the chicken, if you marry a dog, follow the dog. Anyway, whatever Zhang Yifan does, she will do it!

Seeing this, Luo Guanzhong still had an expression of disbelief on his face, but he quickly returned the courtesy and then took their seats.

Just at this time, the pastries came up, and the tea was continued.

Zhang Yifan asked with great interest: "Old Luo, can I take a look?"

As he spoke, he pointed at the book inside the package.

Although Luo Guanzhong thought that there was no way he would have anything to do with Zhu Yuanzhang in this life, and he spent the rest of his life writing books.

But at this moment, he didn't expect that he would be sitting together with Zhu Yuanzhang's daughter and son-in-law, and Zhu Yuanzhang's son-in-law still respected him.

He felt like he was in a trance and quickly responded: "Of course, of course!"

As he said that, he quickly reached out and picked up a book, but then quickly put it down, then pushed it over with the package and said, "Just take a look, Prince Consort."

Zhang Yifan listened, reached out to take it with a smile, and then shared a copy with Zhu Jingjing, and the two of them read it together.

What Zhang Yifan got was a book from "Water Margin".

It is indeed a manuscript, with some changes in certain places.

However, Zhang Yifan was a bit blind when it came to the specific content. There were many traditional Chinese characters, and some of them required guessing, which made it uncomfortable to read.

On Zhu Jingjing's side, there was no obstacle, and she began to look through it carefully.

After Zhang Yifan flipped through it a few times, he put it aside and went to get other books to confirm that they were all manuscripts.The book placed below is Luo Guanzhong's own "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

After looking at it for a while, Zhang Yifan raised his head and looked at Luo Guanzhong, and found that he had been looking at him, so he asked: "Mr. Luo, what do you mean by bringing these books here?"

When Luo Guanzhong heard this, he quickly replied: "I want to find a place to publish it, but I have no money. I don't know if I can pay for the printing with the proceeds from the sale!"

In ancient times, there was no such thing as royalties. The author wrote a book and had to spend his own money if he wanted to publish it.

That is to say, starting from the Ming Dynasty, popular novels began to become popular, and only well-written and popular ones were available, and booksellers would advance funds or buy out the novels.

In other words, given the ancient literacy rate and the popularity of novels, it was really difficult to make a living by writing books before the Ming Dynasty!
When Zhang Yifan heard this, he immediately answered: "That's no problem at all. My wife and I are both people who like to read story books. I can guarantee the publication of Mr. Luo's works. In the future, you just write books, and I will How about publishing it and sharing the profits [-]/[-]?"

He said it casually, referring to the profit sharing method of later Internet novels. However, Zhang Yifan immediately came to his senses and felt a little sorry for Luo Guanzhong, so he immediately changed his words and said: "Or this way, you write the book, I sell the book, and the sales income is, We split it fifty-fifty. How about it?"

The difference between these two statements is huge.

The first theory is that the profits will be divided [-]-[-]. If the books do not sell well, they may not even get back the printing money. Then there will be no profits at all, and Luo Guanzhong will not have a dime.

The second theory is that it is sales share. Luo Guanzhong will definitely have income. The difference is that if the books are sold less, the income will be less.But Zhang Yifan might lose a lot of money here.

How could Luo Guanzhong not hear the difference? He quickly said: "The first kind is good, the first kind is good. As long as it can be printed, I will be grateful."

When Zhang Yifan heard this, he immediately said: "No, no, let's go with the second option! In addition, I will also provide room and board so that Mr. Luo can write books with peace of mind. I hope that Mr. Luo can write more good works. My wife and I, That will be a blessing to your eyes!”

When Zhu Jingjing heard this, she immediately understood that the husband must be raising a writer for his own sake!
Otherwise, my husband has never seen him read story books, or if he has collected story books, it must be for himself.

Thinking about this, Zhu Jingjing couldn't help but be very moved!
It's a good thing that Zhang Yifan didn't know what she was thinking, otherwise, he would definitely be shocked: raise Luo Guanzhong to write novels?If it were in later generations, wouldn't it be possible to keep a top figure like Zhongyuan Wubai in the backyard to write novels, and to be able to truly shut down the dark room without updating to death?
I’m afraid this is every reader’s wish, right?
At this time, Luo Guanzhong was a little at a loss after hearing this. Except for this kind of treatment, he had encountered it when he first defected to Zhang Shicheng. Later, he encountered obstacles and was looked down upon.

There is no other reason. The literati who were related to Zhang Shicheng were all hated by Zhu Yuanzhang!

At this time, Luo Guanzhong was moved and had to think about Zhang Yifan, and immediately reminded: "My son-in-law, I used to be Zhang Shicheng's aide!"

　Ask for support!

　　
　
(End of this chapter)