Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 290 Collecting Debts: 500,000 Coins

The publication of "Journey to the West" was like a bomb exploding in Sheng'an, an unprecedented cultural phenomenon.

Do not underestimate the influence of cultural works.

Even in the 21st century, with its abundance of choices and unprecedented cultural prosperity, the moment Sun Wukong transformed into a Super Saiyan, all the world's anime works paled in comparison.

The current state of Sheng'an, its so-called novel industry, is actually a pornography industry. Even "The Bizarre Tale," which is touted as the best-selling novel, is a softcore pornographic work with very shallow literary merit.

Journey to the West is certainly popular literature, it couldn't be more so, written in the colloquial style of the era. But that doesn't mean Journey to the West lacks depth.

Just like Yu Hua's novels, they are easy to understand and read, with virtually no class barriers, but they are definitely of a very high standard.

Now, in the chaotic and scandalous world of Sheng'an novels, a novel has been published that is both easy to read and enjoyable, and not vulgar at all.

Pure dimensionality reduction attack.

Far exceeding the expectations of the owner of Yuewenge, all 15,000 copies in Sheng'an were sold out in just five days.

A sales miracle.

Although Sheng'an is the central hub of the country, with a large number of officials and clerks, and tens of thousands of people who live off the state, excluding soldiers, there are countless sons of aristocratic families. Its literacy rate is the highest in the country, far surpassing the second place. But this is, after all, ancient times.

"No, is there still a copy of 'Journey to the West'?"

"Not a single one left?"

"correct."

A large number of people flocked to Yuewenge's booth, all wanting to buy books.

The vendor at the stall was already in a flurry of activity.

In fact, most of them had already seen it.

But it was borrowed.

Once you've finished reading it, you have to return it to its owner; you can't watch it a second time, and you can't keep it as a collectible.

It's true that there will be pirated copies later, but the layout of pirated copies is messy, there are a lot of typos, the paper is poor, and many are even stained with ink. You can only read the content, and the reading experience is still quite poor.

There's no way around it; piracy is all about speed. If you're even a little slow, someone else will release it first.

Seeing this, the owner became a little anxious and hurriedly asked the stall owner, "Can you print more?"

"It's too late. It's been five days already. By the time we finish printing, pirated copies are already out." The stall owner said in a low voice, quite rationally, "Most people just look at the contents. Not many people want to keep a copy as a collector's item."

Moreover, there's no way to keep the printing plates. With 50,000 words, that would require hundreds of printing plates. If he were to print just one copy of "Journey to the West," he wouldn't be able to do business.

"That's true." The owner said with some regret, "If I had known, I would have printed 30,000 copies. It looks like they would have all sold out."

Although the situation in the surrounding cities is unknown, it is certainly no different.

With a gross profit of 30,000, that's 450,000.

At this rate, just one book would be enough for Yuewenge to earn five million dollars.

That is, five thousand taels of silver.

But that's the biggest problem...

"Where is Mr. Wu Chengen? Where did he go?" the landlord asked anxiously. "Now quite a few people are asking him when he will release the second book. Several prominent landlords in Sheng'an are also willing to give him generous rewards to urge him to release the second book."

"Boss, there's nothing I can do, we've searched everywhere..." The stall owner was also very helpless. "There's no one named Wu Chengen in Sheng'an at all."

.........

In a study of a property that Xiao Wei lent to Song Shi'an, which is currently being used by the 'coup party'.

"Young Master, you're truly amazing!" San Gou was completely convinced and, holding a copy of "Journey to the West," asked with great interest, "But what's written in this?"

If people in ancient times were illiterate, their only form of spiritual and cultural activity was visiting brothels.

"You'll find out later," Song Shi'an said with a smile.

"Huh?" San Gou asked, puzzled. "So I'll be able to read from now on?"

"From now on, there will be storytellers."

The development of the cultural industry in Dayu is roughly similar to that of the Song Dynasty.

Novels, vernacular stories, storytelling, and even some troupes performing various operas existed, but traditional opera was basically still in its infancy.

Just like in ancient China, opera only flourished during the Yuan and Ming dynasties.

"Storytelling is great, I love listening to storytelling," San Gou said happily.

"How is the book doing now?" Song Shi'an asked.

San Gou said happily, "The book has been on sale for ten days now, and everyone on the streets is talking about the Monkey King. Even the kids on the street are carrying sticks, calling themselves the Monkey King, and swinging them around."

"This has a really bad influence."

Nowadays, in Chinese elementary schools, all the kids are like Nezha, walking around with their hands in their pants, acting like carefree, nonchalant demons.

"Everyone's asking when the second part will be released, and whether the Monkey King has escaped from the Buddha's palm," San Gou said. "Even some high-ranking officials are looking for Wu Chengen."

"What are you doing with him?"

"They said they wanted to invite him to their home, have several maids serve him, and let him focus on writing the book. The highest offer was two coins for every word he wrote."

"That one million words is worth two million coins."

Why should I bother being a prefect? ​​I'll just focus on writing books.

“If this second book comes out, it will definitely sell out.” San Gou said with some confusion, “Why don’t we take advantage of the current popularity and release the second book as soon as possible? Let the printing house print it slowly.”

In fact, ten days before the release of "Journey to the West", Song Shi'an had already outsourced the printing of the second part.

However, the printing workshop's production capacity was really limited.

They worked tirelessly, day and night, and even recruited many clansmen, but they have only printed less than 20,000 copies so far.

“Wait.” Song Shi’an raised a finger and said quite calmly, “Right now, not everyone has seen it.”

"Should we wait until they've finished reading it?"

"Once those pirated, eight-cash tattered books have flooded the market, we'll publish a second one."

This is the best way to sell.

"But Yuewen Pavilion printed 20,000 copies. Even if 5,000 of them weren't in Sheng'an, they would still sell out within five days. If we send them out now, 30,000 copies should sell out before pirated copies appear, right?"

"But what if we raise the price?"

"Hiss..." It's hard to say about San Gou now.

Pirated copies sell for eight coins, while genuine copies sell for twenty coins; this is perfectly acceptable.

After all, the reading experience and the quality of the books are what they are.

If a pirated copy sells for eight coins, and the genuine copy sells for thirty coins, then that will somewhat affect sales.

On average, each person in Sheng'an spends thirty coins per day.

"Take your time, good wine needs no bush."

In response, Song Shi'an said quite calmly, "For a good book, delays of up to half a month are forgivable."

.........

On the 17th, the printing workshop painstakingly printed the printing plates until they were sparking, finally completing the printing of 40,000 copies of the second volume of "Journey to the West".

At this time, the 'Journey to the West craze' in Sheng'an had reached a fever pitch.

On the very day the book was published, some astute merchants spotted a business opportunity, printed it, and began selling it in the vicinity of the capital, covering several counties.

The entire Sili Prefecture had a population of over five million, with the core capital region having a population of about 1.7 to 1.8 million, of which nearly 400,000 were literate.

(Note: The imperial examination system boosted literacy rates, which should have been over 10% nationwide in the Song Dynasty, and possibly as high as 60% for men in the Tokyo area.)

In just over half a month, it had become a sensation within a radius of over a hundred miles.

It is now a settled conclusion that this book is the foremost book of the Great Yu Dynasty.

Therefore, even more people are getting anxious.

The owner of Yuewenge was so anxious in the bookstore that he kept stamping his feet: "No matter how much you want to take, you have to ask for it first."

What business deal is it that you don't even discuss?
Finally, someone came to him.

A muscular, somewhat imposing man who looked completely uncultured walked into the bookstall and asked, "Who's the owner?"

The boss, being the owner, didn't go.

The stall owner walked over and asked, "Would you like to buy a book, sir?"

"Mr. Wu sent me."

As he spoke, he pulled a book out of his pocket, on which was prominently displayed: Journey to the West II!
Upon hearing this, the stall owner immediately reached out his hand, but San Gou withdrew it, saying, "I'll talk to the owner."

The landlord was already stunned and hurried over: "Where is Mr. Wu? Is he here to discuss books?"

“They’ll talk upstairs,” San Gou said.

"Yes, please."

The owner dared not neglect him and respectfully led him upstairs.

In the tea room on the second floor, San Gou handed him the book.

The owner quickly opened it, and even after only reading the beginning, he felt it was to his liking: "As expected of Mr. Wu's work, it's brilliant and captivating."

Showing him books is also part of the transaction.

After all, if Song Shi'an doesn't come forward, how can he prove that he wrote it?

The book is so popular now, what if it's a scammer impersonating someone else?

San Gou waited quietly, and as Song Shi'an had instructed, he reached out his hand after a quarter of an hour.

The owner was still enjoying the work, but the other party was somewhat insistent, so he had no choice but to return it to him, and exclaimed, "My sir is truly a genius. This is an ingenious work that no ordinary person could come up with. It will surely go down in history."

Journey to the West may not be as great as Yu the Great.

But the book "Journey to the West" will certainly become the greatest achievement of the current emperor's reign.

Its historical impact surpasses that of the Battle of Shuofeng.

"Then may I ask, sir, what percentage do you wish to acquire?" the owner asked.

“Mr. Wu has already printed the book and is here to sell it to you,” said San Gou.

Indeed it is.

"How about the price?" the owner asked.

“You must sell them for thirty coins a book, and you are not allowed to change the price without authorization, otherwise the Third Division will not partner with you,” San Gou said.

"Thirty coins is just right, fifty coins wouldn't be too much," the shopkeeper said. "Then how many coins will you sell it to us for?"

"Twenty-five cents."

"This...this is too expensive..."

To be honest, it was still within the employer's expectations.

“You don’t have to give anything,” San Gou said, following Song Shi’an’s line of dialogue. “Even if you only earn five coins, it’s pure profit.”

“That’s not how it works. We have to pay taxes to His Majesty every year. Just in Sheng’an alone, I have more than a dozen people under my command who need to be paid,” the owner explained. “Besides, there are also transportation costs to the surrounding cities.”

“Taxes have to be paid every year,” San Gou said. “Besides, earning five coins can make quite a bit of money.”

The employer had nothing to say.

That's true, these five coins are already a profit.

Even after deducting everything, it still amounts to a full three coins.

"Also, didn't the first movie make you so much money for nothing?"

After hearing this several times, the owner had no choice but to accept it and asked, "Then how many tens of thousands of copies do you want to sell me?"

"Twenty thousand copies, five hundred thousand coins, cash on delivery," San Gou said.

"Oh dear! That's too few!" Upon hearing this, the owner gestured four with a pained expression. "Even at thirty coins, we could sell forty thousand copies."

"Don't worry, only 40,000 copies were printed."

In response, San Gou explained, "But you can only sell 20,000 copies."

"Oh……"

The owner of Yuewenge suddenly realized that he was being used as a tool.

(End of this chapter)