Zhou Zhubu suddenly shut up.
Fang Yun knew what Zhou Zhubu wanted to say, because some things were well known.
The Half-Sage Chen Guanhai was almost two hundred years old and had been injured in a battle with the Barbarian Saint. The hostile Qing Kingdom had spread rumors that Chen Guanhai could not last for five years. If he fought the Barbarian Saint again within five years, he would probably directly Saint Fall.
No Saint, no Nation.
Once there was no Half-Sage in Jing Kingdom after Chen Guanhai’s Saint Fall, according to the Ten Kingdoms Agreement, several neighboring countries could annex Jing Kingdom and assume the responsibility of guarding the border.
There were even rumors that the Left Chancellor had colluded with Qing Kingdom to weaken Jing Kingdom’s power and prepare for Qing Kingdom’s future annexation of Jing Kingdom.
Fang Yun put the Saint Page into a cowhide paper bag and said, “Please thank Master Cai for me. About publishing the book…”
“Don’t worry, I will issue the publishing document tomorrow. Are you going to combine the two novels into one book?”
“Yes. Besides writing the preface, I also need to print tens of thousands of promotional pages, which also need to be reviewed by the Academy of Literature. Can you help me with that?” Fang Yun asked.
“Give it to me, and I will issue the document tomorrow.” Zhou Zhubu said.
“Can I write it now?” Fang Yun didn’t expect things to go so smoothly.
“Come to my study.” Zhou Zhubu led Fang Yun to the study.
Fang Yun thanked Zhou Zhubu and sat in the study, thinking about how to advertise the new book. There was no TV or internet in this world, so the best way was to distribute promotional flyers, so the content had to be well thought out.
Zhou Zhubu flipped through “The Romance of the Western Chamber” and “Dream Record of the Pillow,” and remembered the exciting parts.
After a quarter of an hour, Fang Yun finally wrote a brief introduction flyer of over a hundred words, but the content was too exaggerated. He handed it to Zhou Zhubu carefully and observed his expression.
Zhou Zhubu took a look and burst into laughter, saying, “Talking about love after reading The Romance of the Western Chamber, and becoming a great scholar after reading Dream Record of the Pillow? Fang Yun, why do you have so many flowery thoughts?”
Zhou Zhubu continued to read and, after finishing, showed a helpless expression, completely defeated by Fang Yun.
“The mental journey of the only Child Scholar who became a Semi-Saint in Jing Kingdom? The new book that the Path of the Saints monthly magazine’s only three poets unanimously praised? The secret of the Imperial Examination process revealed by a student of the Academy of Literature? Recommended by the Academy of Literature in Jiangzhou this year? Praised by the Grand Academician? Speechless after reading it for a long time by the Academy of Literature? Fang Yun, aren’t you afraid of being punished for spreading rumors and causing trouble? Let alone anything else, the Academy of Literature would not remain silent for long!” Zhou Zhubu wanted to use his authority to suppress Fang Yun, but was made speechless by this bizarre promotional flyer.
These words seemed absurd, but upon closer inspection, they were really attractive. Zhou Zhubu admitted that he couldn’t think of such unique phrases.Fang Yun said calmly, “Sir, you said that ‘Dream Record of the Pillow’ can be published in ‘The Path of the Saints’. This book will definitely be presented to the Minister of Culture, and he will not evaluate it for a short time, which means he will remain silent for a long time.”
“If the Minister of Culture is very dissatisfied with this book, won’t you be shooting yourself in the foot?”
“Even better, I can say ‘this is a work that shocks and angers the Minister of Culture’!”
“Sophistry!” Zhou Zhubu shook his head and laughed.
“Is this promotional content not good?” Fang Yun asked.
Zhou Zhubu pondered for a moment and said, “The sentence ‘watching the romance of the West Chamber and reading Dream Record of the Pillow as a Great Scholar’ is too much. You can let your people say it, but don’t put it in writing, so as not to give others a handle. As for the Grand Academician applauding, it is okay. The Lord of the Court admires you very much, so he won’t be angry. As for the Minister of Culture, delete it and rewrite it for me.”
“Okay.” Fang Yun removed the words he was going to say and added a sentence: “This is a lingering and touching love story, and this is a tortuous and fascinating legendary experience. Fang Yun dedicates himself to the Three Poems in front of the Saint!”
After finishing writing, Fang Yun looked carefully and felt a taste of ancient costume melodrama.
Zhou Zhubu looked at the last sentence for a long time and was speechless. Fang Yun used his literary name to the extreme and was not restrained at all.
After a while, Zhou Zhubu said, “When ‘The Romance of the West Chamber’ was released, the novelists in Jiangzhou were probably starving. This is an exception. In the future, I will ban such words that deceive people’s hearts! If young scholars and women see it, they will buy it even if they don’t eat.”
Fang Yun secretly laughed in his heart. The last paragraph was designed for women. ‘The Romance of the West Chamber’ was just the beginning, and ‘A Dream of Red Mansions’ was the big pit that lovesick men and women fell into one after another.
“When will you start selling this book?”
Fang Yun coughed lightly and said, “The ‘The Path of the Saints’ monthly magazine is sold at the Academy on the first of every month. Sir, can you do me a favor and allow me to sell the book in front of the Academy for one day?”
“You…” Zhou Zhubu was so angry at Fang Yun’s shrewdness that he couldn’t speak.
‘The Path of the Saints’ is sold on the first of every month, and ‘The Literary News’ is sold on the first, tenth, and twentieth of every month. Both publications are not delivered to the door, only sold in the Academy’s bookstore. The most people gather in front of the Academy on the first of every month.
“The Academy’s regulations clearly state that nothing can be sold in front of the Academy. I can’t help you with that.”
“Then, if I drive ten carts to the Academy’s printing workshop to pick up the books, and someone wants to buy a book at the main entrance of the Academy, the Academy won’t punish me, right?”
Zhou Zhubu imagined the bizarre scene of ten carts filled with ‘The Romance of the West Chamber’ parading together and suddenly felt a headache. Fang Yun was really good at taking advantage of the situation, so he said vaguely, “Be careful. If something goes wrong, I won’t be able to protect you.”
“Thank you, sir!” Fang Yun was overjoyed.”How many copies of this book will be printed for the first edition?” Zhou Zhubu asked.
“There are nearly a million people in the city of Dayuan Prefecture alone, and there are many more scholars here than in Jixian. I plan to print 50,000 copies at once,” Fang Yun said.
“What will be the price?”
“This book is not for the imperial examination, so the price cannot be too high. It will be 50 wen per copy,” Fang Yun said.
“Not bad. Do you have anyone helping you with ideas?”
“Of course. I opened a Sanwei Bookstore and discussed it with the staff in the bookstore,” Fang Yun said.
Zhou Zhubu said, “Leave the original manuscript here. I will write a preface for it tonight. Before I leave, I will give you a handwritten order. Tomorrow, you can go to the Wen Hui Tang to get the publishing documents with the order, and then go directly to the printing house to get the books.”
Fang Yun looked at his manuscript and said, “I need the original manuscript to go to the printing house tomorrow. I can’t go empty-handed.”
Zhou Zhubu waved his hand and collected Fang Yun’s novel manuscript and two advertising manuscripts, “righteously” stuffing them into his clothes, and looked at Fang Yun warily, saying, “I will have someone deliver the manuscript to the printing house. You can go directly to pick up the books.”
“Sir, you are not kind. I spent ten days and nights writing this manuscript, with multiple revisions, and almost turned white-haired from worry,” Fang Yun complained.
Zhou Zhubu said, “Let’s not talk about this for now. Remember to find me if you need a preface in the future.”
Fang Yun stared at Zhou Zhubu’s eyes and said, “County Magistrate Cai gave me a holy page, which is said to be worth 50,000 taels of silver, the highest price offered by the Dragon Clan in the Four Seas!”
Zhou Zhubu immediately showed his anger and displayed his official authority.
Fang Yun showed no fear.
In the Holy Origin Continent, literary status was first and official position was second. Even the ten kings of the nations could not deprive a Child Scholar of his literary status. Therefore, even if Fang Yun offended the Left Chancellor, who had great power in the court, the scholars in Jixian were still willing to associate with him.
With literary status, scholars had confidence, and many scholars who did not care about official positions could face tyranny with neither arrogance nor servility. It was because of this that even if the Left Chancellor was still strong, more than 80% of the military and literary factions still opposed him.
After a moment, Zhou Zhubu glared at Fang Yun fiercely and said, “The books that Sanwei Bookstore wants to publish will be reviewed first, and the results will be given within twelve hours. You can have priority printing at the printing house.”
Fang Yun still stared at Zhou Zhubu.
Zhou Zhubu said helplessly, “I will go to request the Academy Lord to approve this book as soon as possible. Then you can contact the three major booksellers to sell the book in other countries! I will ask the Academy Lord to make your Dream Record of the Pillow a must-read for all the academies and literary institutions in Jiangzhou. With just this, your literary fame will quickly spread throughout Jiangzhou, and you can sell nearly ten thousand copies of a single copy of Dream Record of the Pillow.”Fang Yun was very satisfied in his heart. Listing “Dream Record of the Pillow” as a must-read in a state was of great significance, even more important than the War Poetry of a town or a nation. However, his expression remained unchanged.
Finally, Zhou Zhubu showed a reluctant expression and said, “I can’t back down any further. I am one of the editors of ‘Wen Bao’ in Jiangzhou and can try my best to get some news published in ‘Wen Bao’. As long as you need it and it meets the requirements of ‘Wen Bao’.”
Fang Yun immediately smiled, unexpectedly gaining so much. He understood the value of media or, in other words, the power of media to overthrow a country better than anyone else in this world.
“Thank you very much, Lord Zhou. I bid farewell.” Fang Yun arched his hand in thanks.
Zhou Zhubu wrote a handwritten order for Fang Yun with an unhappy expression, then sent Fang Yun away. But as soon as Fang Yun left, Zhou Zhubu’s smile bloomed like a flower, carefully took out Fang Yun’s manuscript, and looked at it with intoxication.
“Good stuff, good stuff! How can gold, silver, jewels, and antiques compare to the wisdom of scholars! Just looking at and touching it makes me satisfied. Not bad, very good, I should help him more in the future.”
The more Zhou Zhubu looked, the more excited he became. He couldn’t restrain himself and went straight to the residence of Li Wenying, the Grand Academician of Jiangzhou, with the original manuscript of “Dream Record of the Pillow”.
Soon, there was a painful and angry cry from Li’s residence.
“Li Wenying! How dare you snatch my…the manuscript that Fang Yun gave me! I’ll sue you! As a grand academician and a third-rank official, you are simply insane to steal a private item from a sixth-rank master bookkeeper and a small presented scholar!”
“You even used War Poetry to force me to leave? I’ll crash into your door and die! Give me back ‘Dream Record of the Pillow’! Otherwise, I’ll sue you!”
“Despicable! Extremely despicable!”
“Your Excellency, Grand Academician Li, please return ‘Dream Record of the Pillow’ to me!”
“Okay! Okay! Okay! I’ll lock up ‘The Romance of the Western Chamber’ so that you’ll never see the original manuscript in your lifetime! I’ll also tell Cai He not to show you the original manuscript of ‘Ji County Early Departure’ even if I die!”
“Li Wenying, you old bastard, I’m not finished with you!”
Zhou Zhubu cursed and complained, “Is this retribution?” Then he went home in a sullen mood.
Fang Yun benefited and happily returned home. Before going to bed, he lit two sticks of incense and fell asleep peacefully.