Linxia

Chapter 183, Selling

Capital.

Above the towering palace, the setting sun glows half the sky, and wild geese flap their wings and fly high.

Dong Zugao left the Hanlin Academy and walked out of the palace with his colleagues, talking.

"Brother Dong, do you want to go to the brothel to listen to music together?"

"What music are you listening to? Brother Dong, come drink with me!"

"Hey, you bunch of vulgar people, why don't you come with me to the bookstore and pick out some popular novels to read."

……

Dong Zugao declined them all and went back.

At first, he went to more social events, but then he gradually stopped wanting to go. Regardless of his relationship with his colleagues, he was always subconsciously on guard and didn't dare to get too close to them. If someone knew his personality, he would have weaknesses... So, it was like he was always wearing a mask every day.

It's not that he is too cautious, but the words "officialdom is treacherous" are no joke.

'I really miss the days in Huai'an, reading and drinking with Brother Fang every day, without having to think too much, without intrigue, how free it was! '

Dong Zugao sighed, thinking of the news of floods in the Jianghuai area a few days ago: "Huai'an was affected, but my father, mother, and Brother Fang's family are all in the city, so they should be fine. I have already contacted the caravan and will write to ask in the next two days."

When he returned, he sorted out the letters, which amounted to a thick stack. He planned to send them out to a caravan he had contacted the next day. At this time, the letter that Fang Lin had asked the caravan to deliver arrived.

Dong Zugao thanked him and sent the messenger away. He felt the heavy weight and opened it to see a thick stack of letters. Some of them were sent by his father and mother, and some were from Fang Lin himself. These letters from home made him feel warm. His vision was slightly blurred. All he wanted to say finally turned into a sigh: "Brother Fang!"

Needless to say, the letters from Dong's father and mother were mostly about family matters, such as how the city was doing recently, what had happened, and what he had seen and heard about the heavy rain a few days ago...

When Dong Zugao read these and turned to the manuscript about sweet potatoes, he paused.

……

in the palace.

Emperor Hongtai returned from the previous dynasty feeling exhausted both physically and mentally.

Disasters hit Qin, Lu, and central Henan, and the Jianghuai area, which was regarded as a granary, also suffered from floods. At this difficult time for the country, the officials in the court were still busy with party struggles!

——Due to differences in region, ideology, background, teachers, etc., officials in the court were divided into many factions, such as the Zhejiang Party, the Chu Party, etc., representing different interests.

When disasters hit many places, taxes must be increased and grain must be allocated in a certain place that has not been affected. The officials in the court are still fighting over who will benefit and who will suffer in this matter.

Emperor Hongtai thought about the time when he first ascended the throne, when he was young and full of vigor and vitality. Now, after fighting with the civil servants for more than ten years, he has completely seen through the true faces of those civil servants. They talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality, holding the banner of Confucius and Mencius, but doing dirty things. Each of them is more cunning than a devil and is truly a blood-sucking worm lying on Daxia!
"Forget it, let them go."

Emperor Hongtai didn't want to take care of it anymore. He wanted to emulate his father and grandfather. During the Shuncheng and Hongde years, he did not attend court for more than ten years. However, everything in Daxia was running in an orderly manner. Government agencies at all levels seemed to be operating as usual.

The reason is that there are two factors that keep Daxia from being in chaos. One is belief. No matter whether the country is hit by natural disasters or man-made disasters, these civil servants will spontaneously maintain order, just like a woman in the family. After finally becoming a mother-in-law, she will always be thinking about the family and will not go to extremes unless it is absolutely necessary. The second is interest. Although these civil servants belong to different factions and represent different interests, they must also work hard to maintain the stability of the country so that they can continuously and long-term reap their own private interests from it.

When Emperor Hongtai thought of this, he felt both angry and amused. The country and the civil servants, in essence, are interdependent.

In fact, party struggles are beneficial to him, as they can protect the emperor's rights. As long as he acts as a good referee and prevents the party and government from becoming extreme, using faith and morality as weapons of struggle, caring only about personal gain and ignoring state affairs, draining the pond to catch fish and pursuing personal gain without regard for the consequences, everything will be fine.

As long as you ensure this, you don't have to worry about anything else.

Emperor Hongtai shook his head, put aside these messy thoughts, sat down and opened the third part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

Because Fang Lin's manuscripts of the third and fourth parts of Romance of the Three Kingdoms went through official channels, they arrived a few days earlier than the letter to Dong Zugao.

However, Emperor Hong Tai was reluctant to finish reading it all at once, and in the past few days, he only read three or five chapters at a time.

When I see today that after the death of Guan and Zhang, Liu Bei swore to attack Wu, but was burned down by Lu Xun with an area of ​​800 miles of camp, and Zhuge Liang was entrusted with the care of his son in Baidi City, and then Zhuge Liang took up the heavy responsibility, worked hard, devoted himself to the cause, and died, I can't help but feel mixed emotions.

"Where else in the world can we find such a minister, a model of a minister?" Emperor Hongtai sighed, closed the Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and looked at the word "righteousness" on the title page, unable to come back to his senses for a long time.

At this time, Chen Daban came over to report: "Your Majesty, Dong Xiuzhuan handed in a sign and asked for an audience outside."

Emperor Hongtai was impressed by the number one scholar he had chosen. He put down the book and said, "Call him in!"

When Dong Zugao came over, he naturally talked about sweet potatoes.

Emperor Hongtai listened, and his usually cold and expressionless face was quite moved. In fact, no one understood better than him the significance of such high-yield crops to Daxia, which was currently suffering from continuous natural disasters!

Of course, it’s not that he, the emperor, was so easily fooled that he believed Dong Zugao’s words immediately. Rather, he knew that such things were easy to investigate and could not be faked. He didn’t think that Dong Zugao would... or dare to lie to him.

"Your Majesty, oranges grown in the south of the Huai River are oranges, while oranges grown in the north of the Huai River are tangerines. Sweet potatoes grown in the north may not be able to adapt to the climate and soil, and their yield may not be seven or eight times that of wheat in the south, but I think it can at least be two or three times." Dong Zugao said cautiously and conservatively, not wanting to be too confident.

"This is enough. Even if it is two or three times, I don't know how much trouble it can solve for Daxia."

Emperor Hongtai said, and suddenly looked at Dong Zugao and asked, "Dong Xiuzhuan, you have been in the capital for several months, but you only thought of this recently?"

"I dare not deceive Your Majesty. This matter is related to my sworn brother..." Dong Zugao told Fang Lin about the letter and said that he had not embezzled any credit.

As for the possible risks to Fang Lin behind the scenes? He thought he was cautious enough, but Fang Lin was even more cautious than him, as if he was afraid of being persecuted. Just like the sweet potato incident, after repeated evaluation, he thought Fang Lin really didn't need to think too much.

"I see."

Emperor Hongtai misunderstood. Listening to Dong Zugao's words about Fang Lin, and thinking of the civil servants in the court, he sighed from the bottom of his heart: "What a sincere heart! Offering sweet potatoes for the sake of the people of the world is benevolence; not seeking fame and gain, giving such a great merit to your sworn brother is righteousness. Such a benevolent and righteous person is really much better than those who talk about benevolence, righteousness and morality."

"It is not appropriate to reward you without any evidence now. I will reward you after verification."

He sent Dong Zugao to go, and told Chen Daban to send someone to verify the matter and to keep an eye on it personally and report back immediately when there was a result. Afterwards, he happily stood up and paced around the store, and only sat down again after a while.

"I am very happy today, so I should reward myself by watching it for a little longer. I will watch it three more times... No, five times!"

The palace fell into silence, with only the faint sound of turning pages.

……

Just as the sweet potato manuscript was sent to the capital and Emperor Hongtai sent people to verify it, the sale of the third and fourth parts of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" began in Huai'an Prefecture.

...Xuan Mo Zhai, early in the morning, there were already crowds of people waiting outside the store to pick up books.

Because of the experience of the first and second parts, this time there were book pick-up points not only inside the store but also outside the store, and there were also runners sent by the government office to maintain order.

With this process, books can be published very quickly, one after another like flowing water.

The minor official named Xiao, who had taken Fang Lin and his party to visit the provincial capital, was now taking the disaster victims to visit the city and passed by Xuan Mo Zhai.

"Officer Xiao, what is that place and why are there so many people?"

"It looks like a bookstore. The people you see are holding at least two books in their hands and are so happy. Are all the people in the city so rich?"

"Yeah, at first, I thought this was a grain store!"

……

"That's Lord Fang's bookstore. Have you heard of Romance of the Three Kingdoms? It's very popular in the city. His Majesty read it and praised it, and even appointed him as a fifth-rank official!"

Today, Fang Lin is considered a name card of Huai'an Prefecture. Xiao, a minor official from Huai'an Prefecture, feels proud when he talks about Fang Lin: "By the way, you don't know that Lord Fang also fled here. But for a person like Lord Fang, he is vulnerable no matter where he is. After coming to the prefecture, he quickly gained momentum and became unstoppable..."

He exaggerated Fang Lin's story of how he made his fortune, saying that not long after arriving in the city, he found a decent job in a bookstore, and later on, he bought the bookstore he used to work for, and became the owner from a clerk. He scolded a man to death at a debate conference, and a copy of Romance of the Three Kingdoms was in great demand and famous all over the world... He frightened the victims.

Finally, he said casually, "What? Do I know Lord Fang? When Lord Fang came to the capital, I was the one who brought him..."

In fact, it was precisely because of Fang Lin that the minor official named Xiao became more concerned about these disaster victims and was not as excessive as before. After all, what if another person like Fang Lin appeared?
To some extent, these disaster victims also benefited from Fang Lin.

……

Because the book "Romance of Heroes of Sui and Tang Dynasties" sold well some time ago, Hong Yingheng wanted to please him, and his relationship with Zhong Zongdian became closer. Today, the two of them made an appointment to come to Xuan Mo Zhai together to pick up the book. After getting the book, they came to a nearby teahouse like last time.

The two of them talked as they walked.

"I didn't expect that the third and fourth parts of Romance of the Three Kingdoms would be released so soon, and two at a time. If I'm not satisfied with just one part, I'll enjoy watching both at the same time!"

"Yeah, but I heard that the fourth part is the finale. When I think about it, I really can't bear to watch it."

"Haha, one book ends before another begins. I heard that Brother Fang's next book is a novel about gods and demons."

"Oh? I trust President Fang's writing skills. I'm already looking forward to it."

……

As they were talking, they entered the teahouse and found that there was already a storyteller telling a story. The story he was telling was the third volume of Romance of the Three Kingdoms which was released today.

It turns out that after the first and second parts of Romance of the Three Kingdoms were published, the owner of the teahouse was already aware of the popularity of the book. He invited a storyteller in advance and had his staff line up to get the books before daybreak. After they were brought back, they were handed over to the storyteller and read immediately in the shop.

As expected, this move made the store packed with customers today. The teahouse owner was looking at the packed customers while listening to the storytelling, secretly admiring himself with a huge smile on his face.

Hong Yingheng and Zhong Zongdian looked at each other, found the only two empty seats left and sat down, put down their books without opening them, and listened together.

Firstly, it is too fast to read a book. Just two volumes of 60 chapters can be finished in one or two days, which is really hard to put down. Secondly, storytelling creates more atmosphere. It is different from reading a book by yourself. When you hear something interesting, so many people applaud together, which is a whole different feeling.

……

A small and happy home.

"Sister Wenjun, the books are here!" Gu Yuyan came over with four books and said proudly, "I was watching downstairs because I was afraid that all the books would be snatched away. Thanks to my watching, otherwise I'm afraid there wouldn't be any left."

The last time the second part of "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" was released, there were customers waiting in the store, and two of them only got one copy. This time she learned her lesson.

"That's really all thanks to my sister." Shi Wenjun smiled and pulled Gu Yuyan to sit down.

The spacious mahogany pavilion was lit with sandalwood, and was filled with snacks and tea. They couldn't wait to open the book and immerse themselves in it.

Not only the two girls, but the 300 books sent to Qinghuan Xiaoju were quickly divided up by the young men who came to the store and were waiting. It was a rare sight that when they came here, they did not chat about poetry or romantic things with the girls, but just read books.

……

School.

Xu Xianwen and a group of students looked at each other in bewilderment as they saw no sign of Master Yu arriving. It seemed to them that this was the first time that Master Yu was late.

"Why didn't the Master come?"

"Could it be that he is sick?"

"It shouldn't be. Once the master was sick, the master's wife came to tell him. How about we send someone to the master's house to check?"

……

As they were discussing, Master Yu came in holding two books, the third and fourth parts of Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The group of students all looked over there, and each of them had a look of resentment on their faces. Well, teacher, it turns out you went to steal the books.

"Ahem, I shouldn't have been late today. I apologize to you."

Master Yu was a little embarrassed when his disciples looked at him. Seeing that they were not interested in reciting or practicing, he thought for a moment and said, "A good book can help people cultivate their character and learn etiquette and morality. Today, we will not have class. I will read the third part of Romance of the Three Kingdoms to you."

"Great!" There was a cheer coming from below, the excited sound almost broke through the roof.

Especially Xu Xianwen, this kid jumped up and almost rushed onto the table.

It is no wonder that they are like this. For these elementary school children, it is a great joy to hear the third part of Romance of the Three Kingdoms so soon, which they have been looking forward to for a long time. In class, the excitement of "not doing serious work" approved by the teacher is a second great joy.

It is natural that I can't contain my joy.

……

(End of this chapter)