Chapter 029 Vigorously develop
Someone is treating me to a guest, and the guest’s surname is Bai...
Chen Cao held the second two volumes of A Chinese Ghost Story as a gift and successfully entered the Bai Mansion, meeting Bai Magnolia again in the front hall where he had met her before.
"Sir," Bai Magnolia took the book. The hardcover version also had colorful paintings: "Thank you sir. It seems that my daughter has to retire..."
Chen Cao drank the tea, feeling a little bitter, frowned, and then said: "Miss Bai is overthinking. What you and I write are different. Even if the style is sometimes different, the content is very different. Besides, Miss Bai is in Nanzhili and There are still some book lovers in Beizhili."
"Book lover?"
Chen Cao coughed and said with a smile: "It means admiration."
"Oh," Magnolia suddenly realized, and then fell silent again.
Chen Cao always felt that Magnolia was a bit strange today. In addition, the tea here had a bitter taste, which seemed to be hinting to him. What's more, Magnolia invited him to dinner without any explanation. There must be something going on, Chen Cao After thinking about it for a while, he couldn't figure it out, so he said: "There are a lot of things going on today. I'm afraid I can't have dinner with the lady here. Before I leave, I want to ask the lady. Our Juxianju has never blocked literary talents. If the lady... Bai Mengsheng has settled in my Juxian Residence as a writer, and a certain family will definitely give the young lady a generous reward, and then he can give the young lady some advice on the storybook."
"What qualifications do you have to mention my young lady? My master is the minister of punishment in the capital." A maid in green clothes said next to her.
"I know," Chen Cao nodded: "Mr. Bai Yubai."
After walking out of Bai Mansion, Chen Cao lowered his head and said to Xu Kaixian: "Go and find out what happened to Bai Yu these days, or what happened to his daughter."
"yes."
"Sir," Zhao Xin, who had just arrived from outside the city on horseback, said, "The people are here and they are all outside Zhuangzi."
"You go make arrangements first, I have to go to the military camp."
It has been more than a month since the army was formed, and the training in the Nanjing Youwei Camp is now in full swing. After the one-month military stance, there is physical training.
This aspect was directly managed by Song Che, and Qi Xianzong was responsible for teaching them formations, but all the training foundations were put forward by Chen Cao.
"The first three months of recruit training are basic training. The first month is to stand in a military posture, the second month is to practice long-distance running, and the third month is to practice weight-bearing..."
Chen Cao stood on the general stage and watched the group of people training, thoughtfully.
"Yaozhong..." Seeing Chen Cao's arrival, Song Che asked his Qianhu to continue training and rushed to the general station: "I followed your training method. Although it is weird, it is indeed effective. The discipline of this group of people It’s much higher than other guards I’ve seen.”
Chen Cao smiled and said: "The reason why the Qin army was invincible in the war to unify the six countries, apart from their arrows, was the discipline of the Qin army. Having three meals a day is the last word to persist in training." Xiu, I leave it to you."
After reading this, Chen Cao went to the general's office in the barracks and found Bei Tianhua, the commander in charge of military supplies. This person was the deputy Qianhu who survived the battle of Guanhaiwei.
"Sir..." When Bei Tianhua saw Chen Cao entering the door, he quickly stood up and performed a new military salute.
"How about it, you're not used to the new military salute, are you?" Chen Cao saw that Bei Tianhua's movements of holding his hands together at his temples were unfamiliar, and he smiled: "You'll just have to get used to it in the future. By the way, our daily expenses how?"
Bei Tianhua opened the account book and said, "Sir, the salary allocated to us by the Ministry of War is 11,200 taels as usual, plus 300 shi of food, but the actual salary received in these few months is There are only eight thousand taels and two hundred and forty shi of food.”
"So few?" Chen Cao frowned. This was the first time he asked this question.
Bei Tianhua said awkwardly: "The Nanjing Ministry of War pays the salary according to the troops at the guard station, which is paid every six months."
"You mean it's only 8,000 taels in half a year and 240 shi of food?" Chen Cao said in surprise.
"I heard that this was actually given so much for the sake of the Duke of Wei. When my subordinates went to the Ministry of War to collect their pay, they heard that the Nanjing Vanguard only gave them more than 6,000 taels."
Chen Cao couldn't help but want to scold his mother in his heart. No wonder the army in the late Ming Dynasty was in such bad shape. The commanders of various guard posts and border generals relied on their own servants to fight: "This Qi Boyu is really brave."
People who like money actually get things done much faster than serious people. Chen Cao was already worried in his heart: "What about our consumption in a day? Did you do what I said?"
Bei Tianhua handed over his hand: "Please don't worry, sir. According to your wishes, each soldier will be fed three meals a day. Breakfast is four large white-flour steamed buns per person, a meal of meat for lunch, and steamed buns in broth for dinner. This guy has a round belly after eating in a day, and he is energetic in every training. The food consumption of each person per day is also set at the standard of fifty cents. The daily consumption is close to three hundred taels of silver."
Although the price of goods in Nanjing is high, the large white flour steamed buns consumed by ordinary people only cost one penny each, the steamed buns cost two cents each, and the meat price per person at noon is three taels of fat meat, which is fifteen cents.
Chen Cao patted Bei Tianhua on the shoulder: "I can rest assured that you will be the quartermaster. You must not interfere with the soldiers' food. Remember, if you are short of money, I will take care of it."
"Don't worry, sir. I am also from a poor family and I will never be greedy for my brothers' food money." Bei Tianhua said confidently.
Chen Cao nodded with satisfaction and left, but he was still thinking about the issue of silver: three hundred taels a day, nine thousand taels a month, almost ten thousand taels of silver to feed these soldiers for a month, not counting wages, just light I’m afraid I can’t afford to publish a book, so I’ll have to find another way.
Chen Cao left the military camp and rode back to Zhuangzi. At this moment, Zhao Xin was maintaining order. Seeing Chen Cao's arrival, he said as if he had been granted amnesty: "Sir, you are finally here."
"How's it going? How many did you recruit?" Chen Cao stood on his horse and stared at the group of people in front of him.
"According to your instructions, I recruited three hundred people. Those people heard that they would be your servants, so they were all crowded. The subordinates were carefully selected, and they were all young and strong people between eighteen and twenty. Please, sir. Let’s take a look first.” Xin Zhao pointed at the group of people and said.
Chen Cao took a look and saw that they were all refugees. They were all dressed very slovenly, but they were in good spirits. They were not too hungry. "Okay, take them all to the military camp and let Song Tongzhi train them first." Three months.”
"yes..."
As he spoke, he looked at Xu Kaixian behind him and said: "Go to the cement workshop to find Li Maocai and tell him to let him repair a barracks outside my village. The specifications for 300 people must be completed within three months."
"yes..."
"Xiang'er..."
Chen Cao walked into the mansion, and Li Xiang happened to be talking to Li Waner who was visiting. Li Waner was a little embarrassed when she saw Chen Cao, and Li Xiang responded: "What's the matter, husband?"
"How much money does our family have?"
Li Xiang replied: "The novel sold for 120,000 taels a few days ago, and my husband still has 60,000 taels in savings. If you include my previous silver taels, there is still a total of 330,000 taels."
Chen Cao had a big frown on his face. Li Xiang thought something had happened and was extremely nervous. When Li Waner heard Chen Cao asking for money, she got up and walked over and asked, "Hey thief, did you bring something to the table?" It’s over, I still have some money in my house, within one hundred thousand taels, I’ll give it to you for emergencies.”
Chen Cao was greatly moved, but there was really nothing serious to do now, so he patted Li Waner on the shoulder: "When you marry in the future, you will be an equal wife, and you and Xiang'er will manage the house together."
"cut..."
"If you don't have enough money, quickly find a group of people. We are going to write novels and take advantage of the popularity to sell more. I will be of great use." Chen Cao ordered.
...
"Sir, what you ordered last time has been clarified." Xu Kaixian walked into the hall and handed over to Chen Cao who was drawing a drawing: "Bai Yu's eldest daughter is the one who married the eldest son of the concubine of Duke Baoguo."
"explain..."
"That's what happened. The eldest daughter's name is Bai Xinlan. She has been married for two years and has never been pregnant. Coincidentally, Baoguo Gong's eldest son died when he was seventeen. The family is thinking about this eldest son. The whole family is waiting. Bai Xinlan was expected to give birth to a grandson for Bao Guo Gong's family to carry on the family line, but there was no news. Bao Guo Gong was a member of the military, and he immediately took the initiative to return Bai Xinlan to Bai Yu and gave the Bai family a divorce. "Book," Xu Kaixian said and laughed: "That old man Bai Yu is a man of culture, so he went to complain to the emperor after being so humiliated. Who knew that the Baoguo Gong was in the Qianqing Palace at the right time, and was provoked by the old man Bai Yu. At that moment, If he doesn't do it anymore, he will knock his in-law to the ground with one punch."
puff...
Chen Cao spit out a sip of tea: "Is this Zhu Yanrong so violent?"
Xu Kaixian smiled and said: "Exactly, Bai Yu had one of his front teeth knocked out, but his daughter did not have a child. According to the law, if she was divorced, she would only ask for trouble. Bai Yu suffered the disadvantage of being mute and fell ill when he returned home. Now she has been recuperating in the capital, and Bai Xinlan was sent back to Jinling, mainly because it was too embarrassing to stay in the capital."
As he spoke, Xu Kaixian looked at Chen Cao mysteriously and whispered: "Sir, you don't know something. This is news that has been spread throughout the capital, but my subordinates have a rumor. It comes from Beizhen, who is monitoring Baoguo Duke's mansion. I heard it from Brother Fusi."
Chen Cao liked gossip and looked at Xu Kaixian with a wicked smile: "Tell me and listen."
"Although Duke Bao Guo's eldest son is dead, he still has a second son. This guy's name is Zhu Guobi..."
"Who?" Chen Cao was very familiar with this name. He was the guy who played tricks on Kou Baimen.
"Zhu Guobi..." Xu Kaixian said and then added: "The brothers who listened to the surveillance said that the reason why Duke Baoguo made the decision to divorce Bai Xinlan was because Zhu Guobi was caught doing something to his eldest sister-in-law. Duke Baoguo He acted like this for the sake of the reputation of the Duke's palace, which is why old man Bai Yu went to sue the emperor and was so frustrated."
"Then Magnolia is beautiful?" Chen Cao was a little curious, because Magnolia is indeed beautiful.
"I heard that it's beautiful, and Zhu Guobi has a bad reputation. He is a lecher at a young age." After Xu Kaixian finished speaking, he noticed that Chen Cao was looking at him with murderous intent in his eyes. He immediately handed over his hands and said, "I know I was wrong. , I didn’t mean that..."
"Okay," Chen Cao sighed with embarrassment: "Who is a man who is not lewd, and you will be the same in the future." As he said, he looked up at the beam in the hall: "No wonder the tea is bitter, too. My sister has been humiliated like this. How can I change it?" It’s hard for everyone, but why would she treat me to dinner?”
"Sir, would you like to go to the White Mansion again and ask?"
"I have to go," Chen Cao stood up: "But you have to accompany me to Shen Ji's Grocery Store first."
In the back hall of Shen Ji Grocery Store, Shen Zhuangling was pouring tea for Chen Cao. She had a smile on her face with a little makeup, and her every frown and smile had the charm of a young woman.
"Sir, what brought you here to my house..." Shen Zhuangling said flatteringly.
She looks like an old madam, but she doesn't have the charm of a promiscuous woman. The slight baby fat on her face sets off her thirty-three-year-old age, and she looks...
Chen Cao smiled and said: "I heard that Boss Shen has a close relationship with the high-ranking officials in Jinling?"
Shen Zhuangling's unconscious stunned movement was imprinted in Chen Cao's eyes, but it was fleeting. If he didn't look carefully, he wouldn't have noticed it, so he smiled and said: "What did you say, sir? The slave family is engaged in grocery business and faces the whole city of Jinling." , I have a chance to get in touch with these people, how can I start to talk about our relationship..."
Chen Cao stared at Shen Zhuang Ling with a smile on his face, with a hint of murderous intent in his eyes, which made Shen Zhuang Ling tremble: "Sir...Sir...what, what's wrong?"
"Do you know what I do?"
"I don't know..." Shen Zhuangling actually found out Chen Cao's identity after Chen Cao left. Coupled with the fact that Zhao Xin led people to arrest his own guard, she was even more certain that Chen Cao must be well prepared this time. When I came, I was naturally a little more wary.
"Boss Shen is from Yunnan, why do you want to come to Jinling to do business?" Chen Cao asked pretending to be curious.
Shen Zhuangling's expression was serious, and then she said somewhat dullly: "My husband died young and my daughter is still young. If we don't work hard to build a foundation, how can we survive..."
"I remember that one of Shen Wansan's descendants went to Yunnan. I wonder if it was at Boss Shen's home?" Chen Cao said calmly: "Boss Shen can answer in a hurry, but you have to answer first. This is my question," he said. He grabbed Shen Zhuangling's hand and pulled it into his arms with just one force. The heat was a bit high. Chen Cao could clearly hear Shen Zhuangling's rapid breathing. It was very fragrant: "Shen Zhuangling Boss, I know that there are many people in the Duke of Guizhou's residence, so you have to explain to me how your dozen or so servants came to be."
Shen Zhuangling blushed to her neck, turned to look at Chen Cao, and did not dare to speak. She had been in Jinling for so long, and no official had ever dared to say to her like this: "Yes...yes..."
"You have to think clearly. Our Zhenfu Department has carefully checked that these people are all good soldiers in the military. I believe that Duke Qian must know their origins."
Shen Zhuangling trembled obviously in Chen Cao's arms. Chen Cao was delighted. It seemed that he had guessed correctly. Shen Zhuangling was the spy of the Duke of Guizhou in Jinling.
After a while, Shen Zhuangling straightened up, touched Chen Cao's nose gently, put her red lips close to Chen Cao's ears, and said angrily: "So what, Mr. Chen has no evidence, not to mention that the Duke of Guizhou has been guarding him for generations. Even if Southwest has evidence, His Majesty would not dare to do anything to him."
Chen Cao let go of Shen Zhuangling and said with a smile: "Boss Shen, there are no absolutes in this world. If you stay here and send people to do the grocery business, you are probably doing sea trade, right?"
Shen Zhuangling's eyes immediately froze, she broke away from Chen Cao's arms, stood up straight, and said seriously: "Master Chen, what do you want?"
Chen Cao patted the edge of his robe and calmly crossed his legs: "It's very simple. I will pay and you will help me transport food back from Jiaozhi."
"Why?" Shen Zhuangling asked.
"Jiaozhi rice crops twice a year. The Li family likes to do business with you. Don't say you don't know." Chen Cao directly cut off Shen Zhuangling's escape: "I'm just asking you to help me. I'll pay you the wages. You're only responsible for helping me transport the goods." Food, let’s work together, why not?”
"Is it that simple?" Shen Zhuangling heard Chen Cao's threat.
"It's that simple..."
Before Chen Cao left, he generously walked up to Shen Zhuangling and kissed her on the cheek before leaving. The scent of makeup and powder remained on his lips and he was reluctant to wipe it: "Xiao Lang Hoo, sooner or later you have to fall in love with me. In hand."
Chen Cao's new book was written in only ten days. The new book is called "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio: The Legend of the White Snake". It is relatively thick, with 500,000 words. Of course, it was not written by Chen Cao, but dictated by the gunman he found.
A total of 20,000 copies of The Legend of the White Snake, priced at seven taels of silver each, were sold out on the same day by booksellers from all over the Ming Dynasty who were waiting outside Juxianju. Because the sales volume was so good, coupled with Chen Cao's hungry marketing, The diplomatic missions of various countries stationed at the Rites Posthouse in Nanjing also requested to buy and sell them in their own countries. To this end, Chen Cao agreed to issue another 20,000 copies. The result was the same. They were all sold out in less than a day. Chen Cao directly announced that "Liao Zhai Zhi" "The Legend of the White Snake" has ceased publication, waiting for the release of the next issue.
Why?
Chen Cao's Nalan Rongruo is so well-known that it is a popular book, and because the price is too high, it does not focus on affordable prices. As a result, piracy became serious in the later period. Families with small bourgeoisie wanted to read it, so all they bought were pirated copies. The number of pirated copies of The Legend of White Snake has also reached a record high, costing four taels of silver per copy, prohibiting many low-income families.
There are many pornographic books written these days, but most of them are banned. Those who dare to publish them are small booksellers in black workshops. It’s not that Chen Cao doesn’t want to write, but he doesn’t want to ruin his name as Nalan Rongruo, but in this era Literati and poets are all good at it, so Chen Cao planned to write a book that was serious but not too pornographic, and sold it at a price close to the people.
Bai Yulan personally came to live with the virtuous people. After more than half a month, she probably figured it out. However, according to Chen Cao, Bai Yu began to take care of himself as a minister of the Ministry of Justice after he became angry. It is estimated that he will be replaced by Wei Zhongxian in a short time. Replaced. Therefore, Magnolia must have no money, so she came to Chen Cao.
"Miss Bai, this tea is not bitter, please..."
Magnolia was a little embarrassed, and then said: "Sir, my little girl is here because of what your husband said last time."
Chen Cao pretended to suddenly realize it, and then went straight to the topic: "I happen to have a book to publish here. The content is specially written for literati and poets. If you calculate it carefully, it is still a banned book on the market."
When the word 'banned book' was mentioned, the writer Bai Magnolia naturally knew what it was, and immediately blushed: "My little girl can't write that kind of thing."
"Hi..." Chen Cao waved his hand: "I have prepared the manuscript. Miss Bai only needs to come to my Juxian Residence every day to listen to me, and someone will write it. After the manuscript is completed, we will sign it with our names. I promise, this This book will be a best-selling work after the two of us collaborate."
The book writers are all veterans of Juxianju. These men are in their forties. They listen and write enthusiastically. They completed the 400,000-word novel in only five days.
"This book is called "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio - A Dream of Red Mansions", and the price is only one tael of silver," Chen Cao shook his head and looked at the blushing Magnolia, and then said: "First print a hundred thousand copies, see the results, and sign Be sure to write the name 'Bai Mengsheng'."
"One hundred thousand?" Magnolia was a little surprised: "Are they all sold out?"
Chen Cao had a mysterious smile on his face: "Miss Bai, I still say the same old saying, Jinling lacks everything except rich people."
Sure enough, the 100,000 printed copies were sold out in one day because of Bai Mengsheng's participation and the price of only one or two silver a copy. Three days later, it had an unprecedented influence in the entire South Zhili and was deeply loved by literati. I love it, and the scenes described in it, which are both yellow and not yellow, are thought-provoking. The young people couldn't stop reading and asked for more copies. Booksellers from all over the Ming Dynasty rushed to Juxianju to order this book.
Chen Cao was not polite at this time, and directly ordered Zhou Decai to only accept subscription copies. For retail sales, one hundred copies per day would be enough. After that, the entire "Strange Stories from a Chinese Studio" actually sold 1.3 million copies. .
Chen Cao made a lot of money. "Legend of the White Snake" sold nearly 300,000 taels of silver, and "A Dream of Red Mansions" sold 1.3 million taels. Chen Cao was so heroic that he gave it directly to Bai Jing. Magnolia was offered one hundred thousand taels of silver, but Magnolia refused because she didn't want to take it. After all, she had done nothing. She only listened to free books for five days and signed her name and earned one hundred thousand taels. This...
"Don't be embarrassed, this hundred thousand taels of silver can be regarded as the franchise fee I gave you..."
"Join?"
"It means cooperation," Chen Cao explained.
"What a great writer, he always speaks differently. This little girl is really convinced." Magnolia bowed to Chen Cao.
"Miss Bai, I know a little about your family's affairs. Don't be sad. People always have obstacles that they can't overcome. Everything can't go smoothly." Chen Cao said from time to time, and Bai Magnolia's mood suddenly dropped: " No, I didn’t mean it, please don’t cry.”
Bai Magnolia looked sad. Chen Cao stepped forward and patted her shoulder: "If you have anything to do in the future, come to me. After all, I am also the governor of Jin Yiwei, right?"
Time flies very fast. The first year of Apocalypse will end after tonight, starting a new journey of the second year of Apocalypse. Chen Cao has set up several tables at home. In addition to one table with his own woman, all the maids and maids in the family have a share. Eat at the same table, just at a different table.
Chen Cao was very happy. Apart from these, the most comfortable thing was the amnesty in the second year of Tianqi. It is estimated that the Zhang family mother and son can be brought back within ten days after the start of the court in January.
Chen Cao takes the first seat at the table, Li Xiang is on the left, Chen Qing is on the right, followed by Li Fengchun, Chen Ruier and several maids in charge.
I only heard Chen Cao say: "After the Chinese New Year, I will pick up the Zhang family's mother and son. They will give birth in February. My Chen family is very happy."
"Help me have a prosperous official career..." Li Fengchun raised his glass.
Then several women raised their glasses to celebrate...
Bang...
The fireworks are gorgeous, colorful and light...
