But Xu Xiaolangjun successfully persuaded his father to buy a shop on the street.
This shop has an excellent geographical location, just east of Chengxian Street, which can be said to be the core area of Dinghai County.
The most commendable thing is that this shop has a large backyard, which just meets the model of "shop in front and factory in the back".
Xu Xiaolangjun named it "Miaofeng Hall".
Since I want to open a bookstore, of course I have to investigate the business scope of my peers first.
Through Xu Yan's observation, he found that there were roughly six types of books sold in bookshops during the Jiajing period.
The first is the complete book, such as "Commentary on the Thirteen Classics"; the second is the essential book, such as the imperial examination reference books such as "Collected Commentaries on the Four Books" and "Collected Commentaries on the Five Classics"; the third is the book of practical affairs, which talks about current affairs; the fourth is the superfluous book, which is basically a collection of old sayings; the fifth is the book of benefit to people, that is, professional books such as medicine and agriculture; the sixth is the useless book.
The first two of these six categories are mainstream, but the best-selling one is the sixth category, useless books.
What are useless books? Novels and miscellaneous notes can all be classified into this category.
From this perspective, the "Journey to the West" and "Dream of the Red Chamber" that Xu Yan wanted to write are naturally useless books.
Although they are "useless", they are interesting. Xu Yan is still very confident about these two masterpieces.
Of course, food should be eaten bite by bite and books should be written chapter by chapter.
No hurry, no hurry...
On the first day of Miaofengtang's opening, there were basically no visitors.
This is not surprising, as bookstores generally have their own regular customer base, many of whom are repeat customers.
If Xu Yan wanted to snatch food from the tiger's mouth, he naturally had to think of more ways.
Promotion is definitely the top priority. After much consideration, he decided to make the first chapter of Journey to the West into a separate brochure and distribute it for free in Dinghai County.
The Xu family has plenty of manpower, so it will only take one day.
"The poem goes: Before the separation of chaos, heaven and earth were in turmoil, vast and boundless, and no one could see. Ever since Pangu broke through the chaos, the world has been clear and the turbid has been distinguished.
All living things look up to the Supreme Benevolence, and all things are created for good. If you want to understand the power of creation, you must read Journey to the West.
Xu Yan was quite satisfied with this opening. It was elegant and suspenseful, easily piqued people's interest.
At the end of the booklet, it is written that if you want to know what happens next time, please go to Miaofeng Hall.
I believe that after reading this first chapter, the people in the city will rush to Miaofeng Hall.
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Let’s put these aside for now. Shortly after Chen Maoli returned to Cixi County, he went to Shaoxing to study.
During his study tour, he participated in many literary gatherings, during which he mentioned several masterpieces written by Xu Yan in Ningbo.
Xu Yan became famous overnight, and his poems were widely circulated among the scholars in Shaoxing.
Shaoxing people pay the most attention to literary talent, so talented young people like Xu Yan are naturally highly respected.
Among Xu Yan’s many admirers was a scholar from Shanyin County, Xu Wei, also known as Xu Wenchang.
Xu Wei came from a declining official family in Shanyin County. Although he passed the imperial examination at the age of twenty, he failed the provincial examinations twice. Even more tragically, at the age of twenty-five, his family fortune was seized by local gentry and bullies, leaving behind nothing but his house and land. The following year, his wife, Pan, died prematurely of illness.
With his family broken up and his relatives and friends killed, and having failed the imperial examination, Xu Wei had given up hope on life and did not want to stay in this place that made him sad.
He urgently needs to change his environment and start from scratch!
It was at this time that he met Chen Maoli, from whom Xu Wei learned about Xu Yan and admired his talent.
Seeing that Xu Wei was living in hardship, Chen Maoli recommended that Xu Wei go to Dinghai County to seek refuge with Xu Yan.
After all, Xu Yan was a righteous and generous person, which left a very good impression on Chen Maoli.
After weighing the pros and cons, Xu Wei decided to give it a try.
Anyway, there was no one or anything in Shaoxing that made him miss it, so he decided to leave.
So the 26-year-old Xu Wei packed his bags, left his hometown and went to Ningbo alone.
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"Pour the water onto the flat ground, and it will flow east, west, south, and north.
Life is also determined by destiny, how can we walk and sigh or sit and worry?
Drinking wine to comfort yourself, it is difficult to stop singing when raising the cup.
"The heart is not made of wood or stone, so how can it not feel? I swallow my words and hesitate, not daring to speak."
Xu Wei handed the last of his money to the driver and jumped off the carriage carrying his package.
Looking at the gate of Dinghai County, he looked melancholy.
After undergoing inspection as per routine and entering the city, Xu Wei went to look for the address Chen Maoli had left for him, and it didn't take him long to arrive at the gate of Xu's mansion.
Taking a deep breath, Xu Wei mustered up the courage to go forward and knock on the door.
Soon the door opened and the doorman of Xu Mansion walked out.
Xu Wei took out the business card he had prepared long ago and presented it with both hands.
"Xu Wenchang, a scholar from Shanyin County, is recommended by his friend Chen Luqing from Cixi to meet your son."
He had already decided to stay no matter what, so he kept a low profile.
Since there is no hope of passing the imperial examination, I have to find a way to make a living, and being a staff member is the best choice.
The doorman took the business card and said nothing, but closed the door.
Xu Wei had no choice but to wait, so he closed his eyes and calmed his mind.
After an unknown amount of time, he heard the sound of the door opening again.
Xu Wei opened his eyes and found a smile on the doorman's face.
"My master invites you, please follow me."
Xu Wei was overjoyed and hurried forward.
It seems that Mr. Xu is planning to meet him. This is really like being at the end of one's rope, but there is always a way out!
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P.S.: 1. This chapter has been significantly edited, so the content may not be consistent. 2. I've seen many readers claim that Journey to the West was banned during the Ming Dynasty, so I think an explanation is necessary. This is not true. Journey to the West was a bestseller during the Ming Dynasty, and even a Zhou Wang copy existed. The only banned work was "Li Zhuowu's Criticism of Journey to the West," which had nothing to do with Journey to the West itself, but rather because it involved Li Zhi. For details, see my post in the book review section. I won't elaborate here.
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