My book friend Long Aotian

Chapter 136 Huazhou Cup

At Qu Shiwen Trading House, the bosses gathered again.

The non-publishing practitioners who were previously driven out by Li Bailong waited here for a long time before they finally met the bookstore owners headed by Zheng Xiuyuan.

Everyone couldn't help rubbing their wrists and looked extremely tired.

A mischievous person asked Mr. Ye, the boss of Ninghai Bookstore, "What's the matter? Could it be that Governor Li knows that you have amazing skills and is forcing you to do craft work for him?"

"Go away!" Boss Ye's creation of BL culture and creation has reached the point of being twisted, and he doesn't care about such obscene words at all. He said proudly, "Who in Huazhou doesn't know that I'm good with spears and sticks? If the iron pestle falls into my hands, it will be unable to lift its head in a moment. It will make me, the master, tired..."

At this point, Boss Ye's face darkened and he sighed, "It has to be Li Bailong."

"Say less."

Zheng Xiuyuan interrupted him, took out the manuscript paper from his arms and handed it over: "Everyone, take a look at it. I went to the government office, but it turned into a paper record. It's really weird. This is the first time I have seen such a talkative official. Not only did he talk, but he also asked us to write it down and check it afterwards..."

At that moment, other bookstore owners also took out a lot of manuscript paper and handed it to their colleagues who were not present.

Everyone looked closely and soon showed astonishment.

Someone then recited: "The current Great Qi,...

"..."

"What the hell is this?" A businessman said in confusion, "Why are there so many different things?"

Zheng Xiuyuan sat on a chair to recuperate, closed his eyes and said, "Li Bailong's new trick... let's see the end."

The man couldn't help but think.

……

After reading this, he was even more stunned: "What are these?"

Chairman Zheng said calmly: "Political achievements."

He closed his eyes and said slowly, "I thought he was using the real-name system to control us in order to get us to back down from Chen Botang's decision to open a store. I didn't expect he was trying to kill two birds with one stone."

Everyone looked forward again, finding useful information from the long, dizzying passages of official language.

"Original essay contest? Prizes?"

Someone else read out: "Found it, this paragraph......"

"Alright, alright, stop reading it. Just show it to the author below."

Zheng Xiuyuan interrupted impatiently, "In short, Li Bailong wants to take advantage of us for free, using our author and reader resources to write a lot of stuff that flatters the imperial court, the royal family, and the six major factions."

Everyone understood, and someone immediately spat: "Disgusting, flattering, shameless."

Zheng Xiuyuan said quietly, "Li Bailong said that in principle, the loyalty of all works that are awarded is confirmed, and there is no need for real-name registration."

"..." An incredible voice sounded, "Is this what this guy did all this trouble for?"

"The director of the Tongwen Bureau always has to do some Tongwen Bureau work."

Zheng Xiuyuan sneered: "I grew up in Huazhou, and the governors of the Tongwen Bureau have changed a lot. Some of them started to make money after taking office, some wanted to build a career, and some were struggling to survive. Everyone has done something more or less, but no one is like Li Bailong who used force first and then the other, and used both fighting and intimidation..."

Boss Ye has also been thinking about Li's motives: "To be honest, I don't understand. I can understand him beating Gao Bijin, I can understand him taking back Tongwen's authority, whether it's asking for money, revenge, controlling us, supporting Chen Botang to open a store, and even implementing the real-name system, all of these can reveal his motives... What is the purpose of this essay contest?"

President Zheng had been closing his eyes in deep thought, and now he smiled.

“That’s probably good news,” he said.

"what?"

"I've said before that I've seen too many Tongwen Bureau governors since I was a child. They took office, did their work, were reprimanded, and were eventually demoted or dismissed, without exception. The Tongwen Bureau's chief is a deadly place, and the water inside is so deep that no one can fathom it..."

Zheng Xiuyuan slowly sat up, opened his eyes and smiled wisely.

“When I was young, I asked my father about what the governors of the Tongwen Bureau did. Some of it I understood, but some I didn’t.”

"I know the things they want, such as making money, taking bribes, playing with actors, and visiting brothels. Sometimes, I know what these officials want just by opening their mouths."

"There are things I don't understand: promoting movable type printing, going to counties and villages to teach people how to read, forcing all major bookstores to publish some outdated biographies and storybooks, and organizing some inexplicable tea parties and tours..."

There was a hint of nostalgia in Lao Zheng's eyes.

Then he said, "Dad told me at that time - just remember it. If you can see clearly, it means that the officials of the Tongwen Bureau took the initiative to do it for their own selfish desires. If you can't see clearly, it means that they had to do it for political achievements, official positions, or even their lives..."

At this point, he looked at Boss Ye, who had been trying to challenge his authority as the president, and asked with a kind face and a smile, "Do you understand?"

Boss Ye could tell that the other party wanted to take advantage, so he said with empty eyes: "Even you understand it now, how can I not understand it?"

The quick exchange of words was easily laughed off, and the two looked at each other and laughed.

"You mean, this is Li Bailong's attempt to achieve political achievements as the governor of Tongwen?" His eyes flickered, and he raised his hand and slashed lightly, "Then if we ruin it for him, then he will..."

Zheng Xiuyuan shouted, "Be careful! He is now in the limelight. Gao Bijin and Wei Chunfang were both sent to jail by him. If the prefect does not return, he can call the shots in Huazhou... How can you stir up trouble? If you stir up trouble obviously, he will overturn the table and punish you. How will you respond? If you let the author stir up trouble, he will directly ask people to register their real names. What should you do?"

"Don't worry, don't worry."

Boss Ye lowered his voice and smiled slightly: "Have you forgotten what we said before? Huazhou literary world is in our hands, not just because we are rich and powerful, but because the eyes and ears of Huazhou people are controlled by us... Li Bailong controls everything, can he control what ordinary people like to read?"

Zheng Xiuyuan didn't think of this.

He just thought that all Tongwen governors in previous dynasties had tried to make achievements, but they would still be reprimanded. In the official evaluation, Tongzhi always got a low or low grade for no reason, just like a dog licker. No matter how hard or how hard they licked, it was all to impress themselves. The court just thought you were an idiot. Chairman Zheng, based on his experience, thought that Li Bailong would probably get a thankless job.

In this case, you can pretend to agree with him first, and then watch him fail.

But now, Lao Ye’s proposal seems to be able to give play to subjective initiative?
Zheng Xiuyuan pondered for a while and said hesitantly, "The newspaper has been controlled by Li Bailong. This guy has great power in his hands and no one in the state can control him. I was at the Tongwen Bureau today and left a little late. I heard Li Bailong scolding the managers of the newspaper, teaching them, 'Remember to be more objective in the future, learn to catch my frisbee, and learn to interpret, agree with and speak fairly to what I say'... What a face that deserves a beating."

As he said this, he became more helpless.

"Letting the authors mobilize the readers is no longer an option. Authors who dare not use their real names will definitely not dare to go against Li Bailong after being frightened by this. Even authors who don't care about their identities being exposed will probably have to consider the consequences of going against Li... What can we do?"

Boss Ye said: "No need for newspapers, no need for authors... I wonder if you have discovered that these two channels are easy to use, but they can be easily controlled by the government."

"Li Bailong only needs to ask the bosses and managers of the newspapers to decide what the newspapers say. As long as Li Bailong can threaten the personal freedom of the authors, he can make the poor people shut up. But there is one thing, there are millions of people in Huazhou, how can he control them all? If everyone is a newspaper publisher, everyone is an author, and everyone can make their own voice... no one can control it!"

At this point, Boss Ye said helplessly: "What a pity, what a pity, there is no convenient newspaper that can make the voices of ordinary people heard by many people... But it is enough to deal with Li Bailong."

He said grimly, "What do you mean, brothers? Li Bailong's 'main melody essay contest' is nothing more than forcing authors to write articles praising the merits of the country. Ordinary people hate this."

"We first hinted that some authors who were not afraid of using their real names wrote worse, and then manipulated public opinion to make their readers feel that 'Li Bailong forced Sister to write something she didn't like to write.'"

"The anger ignited by them can guide public opinion and form a cultural environment of 'hating essay solicitation'. In this way, the streets and alleys of Huazhou will boycott these so-called essay solicitation works, and Li Bailong's so-called political achievements will come to an end... If your guess is true, he can't do his job well, and I'm afraid the court will not forgive him. He will end up as the Tongzhi of all dynasties!"

At this point, Boss Ye raised his palm and slashed fiercely.

"If he is reprimanded by the court, his arrogance will be suppressed, he will not be able to achieve any political achievements, and he will be defeated sooner or later. He wants to extort our money, take our business, divide our cake, destroy Huazhou's cultural and creative environment, and get some foreign books to disrupt our business, so we will fight back!"

After saying this, he looked around and asked, "What do you mean?"

With a snap, Zheng Xiuyuan took the initiative to hold his hand and shook it hard.

Others gathered as well.

"Calling for essays, calling for essays, what the hell!" Boss Ye said with a grin, "On the surface, I cooperated with him, but behind the scenes, he ruined everything for me! Damn it, playing with public opinion, Li Bailong hasn't even come out of his mother's womb yet!"

Zheng Xiuyuan was an old and prudent man, and he suddenly felt a little uneasy.

The current situation of being confident of victory is very similar to the situation when Li Bailong first took over the Tongwen Bureau.

At that time, everyone, whether officials or businessmen, thought they would win.

The results of it……

However, he was not stupid enough to openly say such words that would undermine morale. After everyone had discussed countermeasures, he went to see Boss Ye privately.

Chairman Zheng got straight to the point and asked, "What if we lose?"

Boss Ye looked around: "Ah?"

In private conversation, there is no need to hide anything. Zheng Xiuyuan whispered: "Earlier, everyone thought that Li Bailong didn't know the rules of officialdom and didn't understand the depths of Huazhou. As a result, the officialdom was split in half, and Yunjiang was overthrown by him. Now we say that he doesn't know how to play the game of public opinion, and we want to ruin his political achievements and let him lose - what if he still loses?"

Boss Ye wondered, "Isn't it so weird? Can't even public opinion beat him?"

President Zheng sighed: "What if? What if he does something evil to you?"

"That means we are no match for him. Li Bailong not only wants to make political achievements, but also wants to set up a bookstore to share our cake. Chen Botang's stall is just the beginning. He will probably set up everything from drama, folk art, to brothels. If we lose this time, it proves that we are no match for him."

Boss Ye pondered for a moment and said slowly: "We said before that we can't bring a tiger into the house to fight a wolf, but if it is a dragon instead of a wolf that breaks in, then..."

His eyes looked towards Yunjiang.

The river is wide, with thousands of ships competing with each other. It is a thoroughfare and the lifeline of Huazhou.

"We can only ask the people on the river to come."

Boss Ye exhaled, "Li Bailong has a powerful background. Not only is he the King of Zhao, but the Lingyu Sect also seems to value him very much... Apart from those people, I can't think of anyone else who can deal with him in Huazhou. Although the people on the river want to step in, they know the rules better than Li Bailong, and they respect us more."

Zheng Xiuyuan lowered his eyes and said after a long while, "Let's take another look."

Business is going well, who would be willing to invite a host in if there is no need?

Boss Ye also nodded: "Okay, let's try it out with Li Bailong first and see the aftereffects."

After making the appointment, they each went back to inform their authors and began to make arrangements for the public opinion war.

Tongwen Bureau was busy all day.

The next morning, Zheng Xiuyuan had just gotten up when he heard the furious Boss Ye yelling outside: "Old Zheng! Old Zheng! Something bad has happened! Li Bailong is such a jerk!"

Zheng Xiuyuan hurriedly put on his clothes and shoes and went out to meet him.

Then I saw Boss Ye waving a newspaper, his eyes wide open and his teeth almost broken.

When the president took the newspaper, he saw the call for papers on the headline.

Boss Ye pointed at a line of words and said, "Look here... Look here, damn it!"

"All the outstanding works that have entered the competition will be exclusively published by the designated partners of the Tongwen Bureau and sold to Jiangbei Province as the first batch of outstanding works for spiritual civilization construction. The money from the sales, after deducting the cost, will be paid to the authors according to the agreed royalty ratio..."

When Zheng Xiuyuan saw this, his vision almost went dark.

Dog officer!

I actually shared the money with a poor guy! What a sin!
(End of this chapter)