Chapter 42: You decide how to sell the books; it's your political correctness. ...
Maozhou.
Xiao Yong walked through the long street and came to a bookstore he frequented.
He was surprised to find that the bookstore was several times busier than usual today.
"Is it some rare new book?" Xiao Yong's spirits lifted. He strode over, stood on tiptoe behind the crowd, and peered into the store.
I can't see it.
Xiao's desire intensified. He desperately squeezed into the crowd, reaching the front amidst the curses of several people. Then, he was accidentally pushed and fell against the counter, meeting the shop owner's shocked face.
Xiao looked down and saw that the shop owner was holding a book.
It wasn't the bamboo slips he was familiar with, but paper books.
His eyes widened, and he immediately asked, "Shopkeeper, may I take a look at the book you have?"
The shop owner was an acquaintance of his, and immediately asked one of his employees to fetch a book for Xiao Yong.
"These are our newly arrived books, and they're selling quite well. Luckily, sir, you came today; otherwise, we would have had to wait for our next restock."
Xiao Yong accepted it.
It feels smooth to the touch.
The cover features the Analects written in black clerical script.
He eagerly opened it and was shocked to find that the article was written horizontally from left to right, and that it used punctuation!
He read it once, and his expression changed drastically: This!
What surprised Xiao Yong even more was that each of the "Confucius said" passages in this book was not only punctuated, making it easy for readers to read fluently.
The characters and words were also explained!
The article has been translated!
Xiao Yong: "???"
Xiao Yong: "!!!"
His first reaction was to laugh. What kind of person would write a book about their understanding of the Analects? Are they that confident in their abilities?
Do you know...?
With a critical eye, Xiao Yong read the explanation and translation.
Xiao slammed the book shut.
He leaned forward and grabbed the shopkeeper who was handing books to other customers. "Shopkeeper, where did you get these books?"
The shop owner casually remarked, "He's a bookseller from out of town."
Xiao Yong narrowed his eyes. "Out of town? Where?"
The shop owner shook his head. "I don't know. They said they were willing to let me sell the books wholesale." He was slightly proud. "I knew these books would be popular as soon as I looked at them, so I bought them all immediately!"
Xiao Yong asked, "Are there any other books? Please give me one of each!"
Shop owner: "Ah, okay."
The Analects, Mencius, Spring and Autumn Annals, Book of Poetry, Songs of Chu, Tao Te Ching, The Art of War, and Han Feizi.
There are eight books in total.
Each one is written in clerical script.
The layout is neat and the font is clean.
Using punctuation, the more difficult characters and words were explained, and the entire article was translated.
With trembling hands, Xiao paid the money, clutched the book, squeezed through the crowd, and ran towards the governor's mansion.
Sun Yannan and Zhu Yunze were discussing how summer was approaching and how they needed to guard against both floods and droughts.
Zhu Yunze said, "The early rice will be ready for harvest in another month. I hope that heaven will be kind to us this year and that we will not have another major flood."
Sun Yannan had a headache. "Let's not have another drought. How many crops died from the sun last year? A third of our grain was bought from Ningzhou."
Zhu Yunze sighed softly, "If only we could take Ningzhou..."
Sun Yannan smiled upon hearing this, "Isn't your younger brother a strategist in Ningzhou? If we can persuade him..."
Zhu Yunze hurriedly said, "That won't do. We agreed that brothers should only talk about family matters."
Sun Yannan felt regret.
At this moment, a guard knocked on the door and announced that Mr. Xiao had returned and was in a hurry to see the governor.
Sun Yannan said, "Please invite him in."
He was a little curious. "Didn't Xingzhi go to the bookstore as usual today? Why are you in such a hurry to see me? Did something happen on the way?"
Xiao Yong rushed into the room carrying a stack of books. Without even bowing to Sun Yannan, he placed eight books on the table and called out loudly, "Governor, Pei Ran, come and see!"
Sun Yannan and Zhu Yunze were puzzled.
The two walked to the table, and Xiao Yong eagerly handed "The Art of War" to Sun Yannan, and "The Analects" and "Mencius" to Zhu Yunze.
His gaze was firm. "Open them and take a look!"
Sun Yannan: "..."
Zhu Yunze: "..."
The two of them instinctively opened the book.
Half an incense stick later, Xiao Yong looked at his lord and colleagues, who were engrossed in their books, and slammed his hands on the table.
Sun Yannan snapped out of his daze, struggling to look away from the book and focus his gaze on Xiao Yong's face. He asked, "Xingzhi, where did you get this book?"
Xiao Yong replied, "It's the bookstore I frequent. The owner said it was sold to him by a bookseller from out of town."
Zhu Yunze stroked the pages, clearly delighted. "The paper is excellent, and the handwriting is beautiful..."
“Speaking of this,” Xiao said, his eyes deep, “I don’t think these words look like they were handwritten.”
Sun Yannan asked in surprise, "It wasn't handwritten?"
Zhu Yunze quickly picked up the other books and flipped through them one by one. The handwriting was the same, equally neat and tidy. He was puzzled. "Why does Xingzhi think that way?"
Xiao Yong said in a deep voice, "Because the shopkeeper has a hundred copies of each kind of book. I don't think the same person could have copied them all by hand."
Sun Yannan: "..."
He asked in a deep voice, "Who exactly are those out-of-town booksellers?"
Xiao Yong said, "Don't worry, I've already spoken to the shopkeeper. If that out-of-town bookseller comes to Maozhou again, he will immediately send someone to inform me."
at the same time.
In Ningzhou City, Ye Hui also obtained a copy of the Book of Songs.
She casually flipped through the page and read a page.
His expression was one of astonishment.
She immediately ordered someone to invite the person who donated the books to another room for tea and rest, and also ordered someone to quickly go to the bookstore that the person who donated the books had visited and buy all the similar books.
He then ordered someone to immediately invite several advisors to the mansion.
Ye Hui sat down again, her trembling fingertips turning the pages of the book.
"The Big Rat" from the Book of Songs (Wei Feng). [Note 1]
Big rat, big rat, don't eat my millet! I've served you for three years (1), yet you don't care about me (2). ...
Notes on words and phrases:
(1) Three years old: many years; Guan: borrowed as "huan", to serve; Nu: same as "ru", you, referring to the ruler.
(2) Mo wo ken gu: an inversion of "Mo wo ken gu wo".
...
Plain Language Translation:
Big rat, oh big rat, don't steal my millet! I've worked so hard to feed you for years, and you don't care whether I live or die. ... [Note 1]
Ye Hui stared intently at the pages of the book.
She thought that such simple punctuation, such straightforward explanation and translation, would be understandable to anyone who could read.
There is no need to invite any famous scholars to teach.
If such a book were to circulate to various states, what would happen to those families who monopolize knowledge?
What was the person thinking when he put the books up for sale at the market?
Isn't he afraid of being targeted by the major powerful families?
Or was he deliberately provoking the powerful families?
Yun Youning sneezed.
She rubbed her nose and asked her colleagues, "Has the tea already been sold to the north?"
"Based on the route, we should have arrived by now."
"It's a real pity we can't sell tea directly. We need to set up a stall to sell tea first and cultivate this new way of drinking tea among the locals."
"It's alright, didn't we locals in Yunhe quickly come to like it?"
"In just a few months, we will be able to wholesale tea to local merchants."
"Teahouses can also be kept open. You see, in novels, teahouses and taverns are intelligence centers."
Yun Youning said, "Take your time, there's no rush."
"Tea and wine are both lucrative businesses. And then there are our glass products."
The others nodded, "It's just that the glass is fragile, and we don't know how much damage it will cause when it gets to the capital."
"The cost is low, and we're not afraid of damaging a few."
"Yes, damage is normal for such a long journey. Don't put pressure on the people who are transporting it."
The meeting was almost over. Zhao Yong looked at the accounts in his notebook, then looked up and asked Yun Youning, "Minister, are you confident you can win this essay contest?"
Yun Youning met the intense gazes of her colleagues.
"Minister, I really want that calculator!"
"Me too! Me too! I want to see just how amazing this calculator is!"
"Is it like an abacus?"
"Oh, now that you mention it..."
Yun Youning was both amused and exasperated. "Don't pin your hopes on me. When it comes to writing, I'm not even as good as Aunt Ping or Brother Wang!"
As the saying goes, every inch has its advantages and every foot its disadvantages.
I'm only good at accounting and doing business.
Ping Gu, who was singled out by Yun Youning, suddenly had a brilliant idea: "We can find the person who owns the calculator and buy the magical device!"
Zhao Yong looked at her with a long gaze, "Sister Pingping, the goddess bestowed a divine artifact upon you, how much would you sell it to me for?"
Pinggu: "..."
Pinggu clasped her hands together and made a devout wish: "Goddess, please bless someone in our department to win an award!"
Qinglan Academy has announced the list of 100 people who have entered the final round.
Everyone was waiting for the goddess to announce the final winner.
In the days of waiting, the people of Anling County even began to vote, betting on who would win.
They were suppressed by the city guards: "Don't you have enough work to do every day? Are you so idle?"
The people: No, no, no!
They endured it and waited patiently.
Fortunately, the goddess didn't keep them waiting too long.
Two weeks later, the goddess announced the list.
This was the result of He Qinglan setting aside her dignity to beg her lifelong enemy, Chu Xi.
Chu Xi's system is a cub raising system, in other words, a master teacher system.
He Qinglan scanned one hundred articles and uploaded them to the cub raising system. After evaluation by the AI teacher, the ten best articles were selected.
Chu Xi said, "That's all I can do for you. You can decide who wins the awards in the end."
Chu Xi: "You decide, it's your political correctness."
He Qinglan calmly downloaded the system's rating report and said to Chu Xi, "Thank you."
You, a Western god, are trying to teach me what political correctness is? What misunderstanding do you have about me?
She calmly replied, "I know what to choose."
The list was posted on the bulletin board outside the administration building.
First place: Wang Jianwei (Anling County Ceramics Workshop).
Second place: Chen Yu (Lizigou Village, Heba Township, Yunhe County); Zhu Youchuan (Law Department, Anling County)
Third place: Liang Xingqi (Qinglan Academy); Zhou Ci (Anling County Publicity Department); Shen Lingju (Qingyang County Civil Affairs Department).
Next to this page of the list, there are printed copies of each of the winning essays.
It's clear at a glance.
Clear, concise, open, and transparent.
-----------------------
Author's Note: 1. [Note 1] This passage is from the Baidu Encyclopedia entry for "The Big Rat" in the Book of Songs, Wei Feng.
2. It took me half an hour to write this chapter, especially naming the new characters (orz).
3. 16000/21000, I didn't write anything last night because I was watching the drama unfold, but I'll definitely try my best to update tonight!!!
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