What's wrong with me, a powerful minister, supporting a few female officials?

Chapter 300: Something even better than the store's prized possession!

Listening to Zhong Yindao's book "Treatise on Febrile Diseases", the Empress was suddenly struck by a thought, and then she gasped in surprise!

Could this be a book from Su Mo's memories of that mysterious and incredibly powerful homeland?
She had assumed that these books, like the Four Treasures of the Study, were also bought by Su Mo from other bookstores to decorate the storefront.

The Empress subconsciously felt that Su Mo would never print and sell the knowledge he had acquired!

Even children who are just beginning their education have to pay tuition, let alone the knowledge that Su Mo possesses.

That is something that can only be taught to a direct disciple like myself!

Leng Liuxi found Su Mo's previous words to her unbelievable.

After consulting ancient texts and asking An Wu if he knew of any techniques that could instantly destroy a million people, the final result was that it was absolutely impossible!
But Leng Liuxi had a vague feeling that what Su Mo said was probably true, and that he was not deliberately making up a story to hide the secrets of Baiyujing and Kunlun Ruins!
Books are the medium through which humankind records knowledge!

If we could obtain the method for creating that terrifying immortal artifact capable of instantly destroying millions of lives from the books of Su Mo's other hometown...

As long as one masters this magical artifact, coupled with the high-yield sweet potato that Su Mo mentioned, which yields tens or hundreds of bushels per mu, one can achieve this goal.

Wouldn't the Great Wu Dynasty be eternally secure?

Thinking of this, the Empress felt a surge of excitement!
In Leng Liuxi's mind, the medicinal jade and mirror that Su Mo had shown earlier, although rare and precious, could also be used to make a telescope.

But compared to the knowledge of another world, it is insignificant.

The Art of War, the Thirty-Six Stratagems, Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and Tao Te Ching are all examples of this.

Any product from Su Lang is absolutely exceptional!
This is the real treasure of the store!

After her initial shock, Leng Liuxi didn't rush to look at the Treatise on Febrile Diseases. Instead, her gaze swept over the few books on the bookshelf.

Not counting the Treatise on Febrile Diseases, there are only four volumes!

Leng Liuxi knew or roughly knew about three of them.

These are "Elementary Education", "Mathematics", and "Pinyin Annotations"!
The Empress took another breath!
Su Mo actually printed and sold the knowledge he had acquired!
Leng Liuxi suddenly remembered that Su Mo had said that pinyin was a powerful tool for dealing with powerful clans!
Could this also be part of his plan?

Besides, no matter how the Empress thought about it, she couldn't understand why Su Mo would publish these three books!
That's all for elementary education books. Among them, the Three Character Classic, the Thousand Character Classic, and the Standards for Being a Good Student and Child are effective for elementary education, but there's nothing special about them.

The problem is that Su Mo himself said that mathematics is the foundation of all knowledge. As long as you master mathematics, you can understand all methods and be omniscient and omnipotent!

The Empress suppressed her excitement and turned her gaze to the last book.

Then his eyes suddenly narrowed!
Unity of knowledge and action!
There are more than a dozen books on subjects like "Mathematics" and "Pinyin," but there is only one book on "Unity of Knowledge and Action"!
The Empress subconsciously reached for "Unity of Knowledge and Action," but unexpectedly, Princess Baicheng also reached for it at the same time!

Of course, Princess Baicheng stopped immediately when she discovered that the Empress had also taken the book.

The Empress smiled at Princess Baicheng: "Let's watch together!"

"I wonder what kind of academic subject this book by Su Langjun discusses; the title is a bit too grandiose!"

As he spoke, he turned to the title page and was instantly stunned, his expression becoming extremely solemn.

Princess Baicheng was awe-inspiring and quickly looked at the pages of the book.

Then his body trembled slightly, and he couldn't help but read it aloud: "To establish a heart for heaven and earth, to establish a destiny for the people, to continue the lost learning of the past sages, and to usher in an era of peace for all generations?"

Zhong Yin, who was carefully studying the Treatise on Febrile Diseases, trembled violently upon hearing Princess Baicheng's words and quickly turned to look at her!

"To establish a moral compass for Heaven and Earth, to secure a destiny for the people, to continue the lost learning of past sages, and to usher in an era of peace for all generations?"

He stared intently at Princess Baicheng, took a deep breath, and then solemnly asked, "May I ask, Princess, who wrote this line?"

The Empress raised the book in her hand: "This is what is said on the title page of this book..."

"Hmm? Inscription: Zhang Zai?"

Zhong Yin's eyes widened in surprise: "Zhang Zai?"

"Who is this great scholar...sage?"

In his eyes, being able to write such famous lines already deserves the title of a sage, but the problem is that he has never heard of such a sage before!
The Empress turned to look at Su Mo, her phoenix brows furrowing slightly: "Young Master Su, is this book written by Zhang Zi?"

Su Mo was slightly taken aback: "Zhang Zi?"

Then it quickly dawned on him: "Lord Leng is talking about Zhang Zai?"

The Empress nodded emphatically: "Excellent!"

Su Mo casually said, "These four lines were indeed written by Zhang Zai, but the content was written by a man named Wang Yangming."

He didn't understand why the Empress and others valued this book so much.

In Su Mo's view, the Treatise on Febrile Diseases is far more important and practical than the unity of knowledge and action.

In ancient times, typhoid fever could truly be fatal to ordinary people.

The revised version of the Treatise on Febrile Diseases, after being revised by later generations, was considered a divine book by people of this era, capable of saving countless lives!

As for Wang Yangming's philosophy of mind, Su Mo wrote down what he remembered simply because he thought the book would be useful in attracting scholars.

Furthermore, the concept of the unity of knowledge and action in the philosophy of mind is quite in line with the worldview of Su Mo, a person from later generations.

Su Mo added the four lines from Zhang Zai's poem because he felt that Wang Yangming had developed and put into practice Zhang Zai's idea of ​​"establishing a heart for heaven and earth".

Of course, the most important thing is.

The four lines by Zhang Zai are the epitome of pretentiousness; they sound incredibly sophisticated and high-class!

Having traveled to an ancient world, Su Mo felt uneasy if he didn't use these four lines to show off!
Upon hearing Su Mo's words, the Empress immediately pressed for an answer: "Zhang Zai and Wang Yangming?"

"I have never heard of this?"

Su Mo smiled and said, "This humble servant does not know."

"This is what I heard from an old Taoist priest with a white beard."

Empress...

Su Mo added, "The old Taoist said that Wang Yangming inherited and developed Zhang Zai's ideas, so I put Zhang Zai's four sentences on the homepage."

Upon hearing this, Zhong Yin immediately became anxious and asked urgently, "May I ask, County Magistrate Su, where is the White-Bearded Taoist Priest?"

Before Su Mo could speak, the Empress looked at Zhong Yin with a strange expression.

"Cough cough!"

The Empress, both amused and exasperated, said to Zhong Yin, "Lord Zhong, you may not know this, but this fellow Su Langjun always tries to pin everything on an old man with a white beard and an old Taoist priest with a white beard..."

"Even I don't know if they really exist!"

Zhong Yin was dumbfounded.

The Empress then asked Su Mo, "How do you know that there's only one copy of 'The Unity of Actions'?"

"If someone buys it, then it's gone."

Su Mo smiled and said, "Time is of the essence, and I don't have time to print more. Besides, these books are not for sale!"

The Empress was slightly taken aback: "Not for sale?"

Su Mo nodded: "There is a reading area on the left side of the bookstore where you can read books and newspapers for free, and you can also copy books."

He paused, then smiled and said, "This subordinate has prepared tea, writing brushes, ink, and paper for you. Of course, all of these cost money."

The Empress and the others were speechless for a moment.

If it's not for sale but only for viewing, wouldn't scholars copy this book back home?

Wouldn't that bring in business for the shop?
Then those scholars and literati would naturally and spontaneously promote the bookstore!

The reason why there is only one copy of "Unity of Knowledge and Action" is probably because he did it on purpose, so that scholars would not be able to copy it in time!
Otherwise, why would a book be printed as a single copy?

Su Mo's methods of doing business are truly endless and astonishing!

At this moment, Princess Baicheng suddenly asked, "After someone else has copied the book, others can simply borrow it from him to copy it. Why do they need to come to your shop?"

Su Mo smiled slowly and deliberately, "Someone will come eventually."

"Furthermore, these books can have vastly different meanings if they differ by even a single word. Scholars should feel that it is safer to copy the original text directly."

Princess Baicheng was speechless for a moment!

Just as the Empress was about to speak, Su Mo's face suddenly lit up with joy: "Ah! Finally, we have guests!" "If the Princess wishes to read, she may go to the reading area. This humble servant will not keep you company any longer; business is more important!"

Princess Baicheng and the others turned their heads and saw two young scholars in white robes, each with a pageboy, looking around curiously as they walked towards them.

In fact, by this time, quite a few curious people had already entered the bookstore.

They simply stopped at the screen at the entrance, stunned by the enormous medicinal jade and mirror.

If it weren't for the fact that it was under the watchful eyes of everyone, with the Imperial Guards guarding outside and four skilled shop guards with long swords watching over the medicine jade, someone might have already stolen the medicine jade and the mirror!

Leng Liuxi looked at Su Mo with a wry smile, then walked towards the two white-robed scholars with a bright smile!
Liu Siyun suddenly stammered, "Lord Leng... esteemed gentlemen, why don't we rest in the reading area for a while?"

The Empress thought for a moment, then nodded: "Very well!"

As he spoke, he took "Unity of Knowledge and Action" with him and also picked up a copy of "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" and headed towards the reading area.

Nangong Sheyue immediately followed.

Princess Baicheng then took away the book "Mathematics".

Zhong Yin was the most unceremonious, taking the remaining four books with him!
Liu Siyun, Lin Moyin, and the others exchanged glances. Then, Liu Siyun carefully fetched the writing implements and followed them over.

……

Although Fang Qing'er did not come from a scholarly family, but rather a merchant family, her family was still quite wealthy, and she had been studying and learning to read since childhood.

Later, his father got into legal trouble, and the family lost all their wealth to settle the matter. Then, due to a flood, the family was forced to flee to the capital and seek refuge with relatives.

As a result, they couldn't find their relatives and were on the verge of despair when they were fortunately chosen by the Su family, and the family of four went to Gufeng Mountain.

My father was literate and was assigned by Gufeng Mountain to teach artisans and children to read and write.

However, with an elderly and frail mother and a young brother, the points earned by the father from teaching were barely enough to feed them.

Therefore, when Fang Qing'er heard that Madam Su was recruiting shop assistants, regardless of gender, with priority given to those who were literate, she gritted her teeth and signed up without telling her father.

I was very lucky to be selected.

Because her family had run a shop before, she was familiar with shop management and was chosen by Madam Su to be the manager of the bookstore!

Fang Qing'er naturally knew that the young and handsome Lord Su was the real owner of the shop.

The bookstore's strength also shocked Fang Qing'er.

Putting everything else aside, the jade medicine and mirror at the entrance of the shop were things that my family couldn't afford even if we poured all our savings into it before we fell on hard times.

She even vaguely heard that the tall, thin old man was called a Minister!

Fang Qing'er was so shocked that she couldn't speak!
Not to mention there are two more stunningly beautiful women whose status is no less than that of the old man, one of whom is even a princess!
Fang Qing'er dared to register for the exam without her father's knowledge, even though she was still unmarried, which shows that she was not someone who was content with an ordinary life!

Clearly, this shop is her only chance to rise above her circumstances!

When they saw customers arrive, the other staff members, who seemed to have little experience, appeared to be too ashamed to go forward and greet them.

Fang Qing'er took a deep breath, finally stopped hesitating, and walked quickly toward the two white-robed scholars.

Having just escaped the Empress's questioning, Su Mo was about to go and greet the scholar.

Unexpectedly, the seemingly delicate female shopkeeper took the initiative to walk towards the two scholars.

The shop assistants and manager were selected by Liu Siyun.

Su Mo had seen the list, which included their information, but she had never actually interacted with them.

Su Mo stopped and wanted to see how the female shopkeeper would greet the customers.

Fang Qing'er glanced at Su Mo not far away out of the corner of her eye, then took a breath and smiled at the two scholars, saying, "I am the manager of this shop."

"May I ask what you two gentlemen wish to purchase from our shop? I can introduce it to you."

The two scholars looked at Fang Qing'er with suspicion.

I already found this bookstore odd.

The front of the bed is a mess of things.

Just as the dazzling signboard says, it sells general merchandise.

Then it was strange that most of the shop assistants were women, while other shops had very few female shop assistants.

At this moment, they saw a young and pretty woman who claimed to be the shop owner, which made them even more surprised and suspicious.

However, the presence of the Imperial Guards outside the shop, along with the medicinal jade and precious mirrors displayed in front, was enough to demonstrate the shop's strength, so the two men dared not underestimate the woman who claimed to be the shopkeeper.

They didn't actually know anything about the shop.

This morning, the ship just came down and I was heading home when I passed by this place and found two rows of strangely dressed, pretty women outside the shop. The shop sign was also shining brightly and had a magical aura.

Out of curiosity, the two went into the store to take a look.

In response to Fang Qing'er's question, the slightly thin scholar said, "I heard that your shop sells the Four Treasures of the Study?"

Seeing that the two men were both refined and spoke elegantly, Fang Qing'er felt a little more at ease and quickly replied, "Replying to you two, our shop does indeed sell the Four Treasures of the Study."

"Especially our cold-pressed Su paper, which is of good quality and inexpensive, costs only one tael of silver per ream, and today, as a new store opening, we are offering a 10% discount."

Before the tall, thin scholar could speak, another, slightly overweight scholar suddenly asked, "Are the longswords hanging on the shop wall also for sale? And how much are they?"

Fang Qing'er nodded: "Besides books, our store also has a few display items without price tags, but all other items are available for sale."

"The longsword should have a price tag, priced at five hundred taels of silver, which is the actual price."

The slightly overweight scholar suddenly asked again, "Are the jade medicine and precious mirror in front of the screen for sale?"

Fang Qing'er smiled and said, "The medicinal jade and the treasure mirror do not have price tags, but if you two are interested in purchasing them, I can consult the master."

The slightly overweight scholar smiled and said, "I was just asking out of curiosity. I certainly can't afford the medicinal jade and the precious mirror."

"Hmm... The price of the paper is the same as that of the Wang family's paper. Let me take a look and see if it is really as you say, of good quality and low price."

Fang Qing'er smiled and said, "I would never deceive my guests."

"Please follow me, both of you."

As he spoke, he led the two to the shelf where the papers were arranged.

Su Mo nodded slightly.

Although she looked a bit rusty and her speech wasn't very fluent, she was still competent.

Fang Qing'er then handed two sheets of cold Su paper to the scholar, saying, "This is the cold Su paper from our shop."

"We also have ink and a brush here. You two can try writing on this paper and see if it flows smoothly."

The two scholars gasped when they saw the shelves filled with cold Suzhou paper.

There are so many sheets of paper?
Hearing Fang Qing'er's words, the slightly chubby scholar finally realized what she meant and stared at her with wide eyes: "Your shop's paper can be tested before writing?"

The tall, thin scholar became wary: "Won't they force us to buy it after they finish writing it?"

Fang Qing'er smiled and said, "Please don't misunderstand, gentlemen."

"If you are not satisfied after the trial writing, we will definitely not ask you to buy it."

He paused, then explained, "Even if you two purchase paper, the paper you write on will not be counted. It can be left for the next customer to try writing on."

The tall, thin scholar nodded: "Your shop is quite honest."

Then, his gaze fell on the cold Su paper, and he paused slightly, "Hmm? You mean this paper costs one tael of silver per ream?"

"Is the price accurate, or did they give me the wrong paper?"

Fang Qing'er smiled and said, "Sir, you are joking. Our shop only has one sheet of cold Suzhou paper. How could we possibly give you the wrong one?"

"Today, this paper costs only nine hundred coins per ream."

The two scholars exchanged a glance, then said in unison, "Alright! Give me ten cuts!"

"No! I want twenty cuts!"

(End of this chapter)