Frost for a Thousand Years

Chapter 291 The Prince of Yan Pleads for Help!

"Young Master, all 40,000 books have been sold."

San Gou took all the profits with him to Xiao Wei's house.

Forty thousand copies, each worth twenty-five coins, totaling one million coins.

Because the books were sold in bulk to all the book stalls with stores in Sheng'an City, there was no change; it cost a full one thousand taels of silver.

Inside a box.

"After deducting the printing cost of five coins per book, which is two hundred taels of silver, and then deducting the sixty taels as a deposit for the printing shop owner, the total is seven hundred and forty taels." After a quick calculation, Song Shi'an said to San Gou, "Seventy-four taels will be split between you and the brothers. How much is left?"

"The rest is..." San Gou soon calculated, "Six hundred and sixty taels."

“Okay, you can keep the books,” Song Shi’an said, extending his hand.

"..." San Gou was taken aback, looking at the ledger and frowning. "It's possible, young master, how do you write 666?"

“Very good.” Song Shi’an nodded. “Call over a brother who can read.”

"okay."

San Gou hurriedly went to call for help.

There was no other way; if Song Shi'an wanted to conduct this business secretly, he could only use the people he knew best and trusted absolutely.

Therefore, these brothers who returned together from the north wind, with scars on their hands, are the most suitable candidates.

But if this continues, we'll need some bright, business-minded people.

We need to find a way to acquire Yuewen.

“Young Master.” At this moment, a member of the Imperial Guard walked over and said to him, “I know basic bookkeeping, but I don’t know many characters.”

"You know all the characters for bookkeeping, right?" Song Shi'an asked.

“That’s right.” The guy explained, “Back in Shuofeng, the young lord told us that even if those who fought in battle suffered terribly, they could still become civil officials. I was thinking that if I were ever crippled, I could at least do something else for the lord and the prince.”

"Not bad." Song Shi'an liked this kind of person who was willing to improve.

“Young Master,” San Gou grumbled, “didn’t you say we shouldn’t say things like ‘after this battle we’ll go back to our hometown to get married and bring my mother over’? How could he say that?”

"Still arguing," Song Shi'an 'scolded'. "How can that be the same?"

The so-called Flag is something beautiful that can never be reached.

The more pessimistic a warrior is, the more likely they are to win.

“Young Master, there’s something I don’t understand,” the accountant in charge of the books asked. “Selling 40,000 copies to Yuewen Pavilion would only cost 1,000 taels, and they could sell them all. Why sell them separately to so many bookstore owners? Isn’t that more troublesome?”

"Good question." Seeing that he had thought about it, Song Shi'an was pleased and said, "Our books can be sold anywhere. But if we hand over everything to Yuewen Pavilion in the future, it will be like being tied to them. It will save us trouble, but the more we rely on them in the future, the more power they will have."

"I see." The accountant quickly understood the reasoning.

“Also, with so many branches already established, we still have pricing power,” Song Shi’an said. “If we contract it out to him, it will be a different story.”

He can sell it for thirty coins, and he can sell it for thirty-five coins, so he definitely wants to earn more.

Let Yuewenge earn just a little bit of hard-earned money from channel fees, that's enough.

"Although six or seven hundred taels is quite a lot, it feels like it's just water, a cup, for the young master," San Gou pondered.

"A drop in the ocean."

"Ah yes, that's it." San Gou nodded repeatedly.

Six or seven hundred taels, which is equivalent to sixty or seventy gold coins.

The first book has already been given away for free. Even if there are ten copies in total, after deducting some costs, the net profit will be around six hundred gold coins if all of them are sold.

Of course, this is a huge sum of money for anyone.

But Song Shi'an had already obtained four thousand gold coins from His Majesty. Was it worth going to such great lengths just to earn six or seven hundred gold coins?
“You’re right, this amount of money is indeed nothing.” Song Shi’an’s lips curled into a smile. “We’ve already sold this book to everyone who’s willing to pay, but you haven’t considered that there are some people who are willing to pay even more.”

"Is the young master referring to someone like Boss Min who is willing to give tips?"

“Do I need his measly trifles?” Song Shi’an said. “But it’s true, the poor have already made their money; now it’s the rich’s turn to make it. And Sheng’an has gathered all the rich people in the world.”

A common phenomenon in the later stages of dynasties is that wealth is hidden among the rich.

When Beijing fell, Li Zicheng confiscated 60 million taels of silver from the homes of the emperor, while Emperor Chongzhen had to borrow money from all over the country to come up with even a few hundred thousand taels.

The same principle applies to trading with the State of Yan.

What ordinary family can afford to use a White Tiger?
White tiger skins weren't meant for high-ranking officials and nobles.

They make money off the rich.

"If you don't make money from the poor, how do you make money?" the accountant asked curiously.

"You, find a few painters in Sheng'an," Song Shi'an requested. "Those who haven't entered the court, those from the common people, those with good painting skills. By 'painting skills,' I don't mean realistic depictions, just that their style is a bit unconventional..."

"Young Master, would you like a door god painting?" the accountant asked.

"Okay!"

Song Shi'an raised his finger and immediately decided: "If we find them, we'll tell them that I, Cheng'en, will support them for the rest of their lives!"

.........

"This monkey is truly amazing."

"Have you read the second book? Sanzang rescued him."

"I don't feel comfortable watching this. How could the Monkey King, who caused havoc in the Heavenly Palace, be subdued by a monk using a headband?"

“That was given to Guanyin Bodhisattva by the Buddha, and then Guanyin Bodhisattva gave it to Sanzang.”

"Buddha is still powerful..." When Eunuch Xi saw several eunuchs squatting in the corner in front of Chen Baojing's office, each holding a book, he shouted with disgust, "You, come here."

Upon seeing Grandpa Xi, they quickly got up and went over, not daring to be negligent in the slightest.

They were indeed Chen Bao's men, but recently Eunuch Chen was sent by His Majesty to sweep the imperial tombs, and their pillar of support was suddenly gone.

Although the emperor did not punish him, which high-ranking eunuch would be doing a good job guarding a tomb and keeping company with the dead?
That would be like a concubine being banished to the cold palace.

They've completely fallen out of favor.

However, no one dared to ask or talk about it.

So, for a high-ranking eunuch to suddenly fall to rock bottom, something big must have happened.

"What are you looking at?" asked Eunuch Xi.

“Your Excellency,” a eunuch quickly explained, “this is 'Journey to the West,' a book Sheng An has been reading lately. It’s about a creature that sprang from a stone…”

"Shut up." Eunuch Xi's face darkened. "Who gave you permission to read such vulgar books?"

After being scolded like that, everyone lowered their heads.

“It’s all because of Chen Bao’s spoiled bad habits,” said Eunuch Xi with genuine disgust. “From today onwards, in this palace, if any eunuch dares to look at monkeys, he will be punished with twenty strokes of the cane.”

Upon hearing this, they immediately knelt down, their bodies trembling.

That eunuch isn't a soldier; how could he possibly survive after being flogged twenty times?

They're doomed.

"Collect all of 'Journey to the West' and burn them in the furnace," said Eunuch Xi to the young eunuch beside him.

"Yes," the little eunuch replied, then looked at the three kneeling eunuchs with utter contempt. "What are you all standing there for? Hurry up and do your job for Eunuch Xi, you stupid eunuchs."

"Yes!" The three men hurriedly got up and began burning the books.

Seeing them leave, the little eunuch who had been "borrowing the tiger's power" quickly put on a fawning smile for Eunuch Xi.

"Let's go."

Eunuch Xi, on the other hand, walked with his head held high and strode through the palace, looking particularly impressive.

Now, he is the most powerful person in the entire palace, second only to the emperor.

It can be said that he is inferior to one person and superior to ten thousand people.

He could decide the life and death of tens of thousands of palace maids and eunuchs with a single word.

Of course, there's no need.

Everything is for the sake of upholding the rules, everything is for serving His Majesty.

"Have you found out why Chen Bao was being ignored?" Eunuch Xi asked in a low voice.

"Reporting to Your Excellency," the young eunuch said, "it seems to be related to Song Shi'an."

"What do you mean?" Grandpa Xi asked warily.

"Before Chen Bao was sent to guard the tomb, he sent an imperial edict to Song Shi'an..." The little eunuch covered his mouth and said quite seriously, "I heard that before leaving the Song residence, Chen Bao asked Song Shi'an to see him off, and he even held Song Shi'an's hand and said something earnestly... You've been traveling too fast, it would be better if you slowed down a little."

"He's courting death." Eunuch Xi immediately understood the problem and sneered, "This Chen Bao, he just likes to pretend to be a good person, always acting all warm-hearted to everyone. Now, he's offended the Emperor."

Grandpa Xi already knows the root cause.

Chen Bao said the wrong thing.

And Song Shi'an is the root of the problem.

Although His Majesty bestowed a title upon Song Shi'an and rewarded him with so much gold, it may not be out of genuine affection.

His Majesty is very wary of him!
This Chen Bao actually wanted to curry favor with Song Shi'an.

Did you manage to get a shot of the horse's leg?

"Urgent dispatch! Urgent dispatch!"

Just then, a eunuch carrying a military report ran quickly toward Xuanyu Hall.

"Halt!" Eunuch Xi called out to him. "Why were you the one who summoned the cavalry?"

"My lord, the cavalryman died as soon as he entered the palace. I'm here to receive his military report..."

"Get out of my way." The little eunuch snatched the military report from him and presented it to Eunuch Xi with both hands.

After taking it, Grandpa Xi, panting heavily, quickly ran the last short distance.

"Your Majesty! Urgent dispatch! 800 li!"

He staggered into the palace and slid directly to the emperor.

"Look, tell me," the emperor said casually.

"Yes." Eunuch Xi knelt down, opened the military report, and began to read. After reading it, he summarized, "The western border of Yan has been invaded by the Qi bandits, and the King of Yan has asked His Majesty for help. Furthermore, he wants my Great Yu to send Huang Tong, who killed Ji Yuan's son, to them."

This was entirely within the emperor's expectations, so he asked, "What do you think? Should it be returned?"

When asked, Eunuch Xi replied seriously, "That Huang Tong is a treacherous villain who is of no use to our Great Yu. Since the Prince of Yan wants him... I think it would be fine to return him to him."

“But Song Shi’an promised Huang Tong to spare his life,” the emperor said.

"..."

Thinking of Chen Bao's fate, Eunuch Xi was determined not to repeat the same mistake. He looked up at the emperor and said with utmost sincerity, "Song Shi'an's promise was only his own. In this world, only the imperial edict must be obeyed."

(End of this chapter)