America 1869: A Doppelganger Every Day

Chapter 146 Cultural Export: Starting with America

Li Changsheng's words were practically a direct statement: "You only need to study the literature of the late Ming Dynasty to succeed."

Even when someone was about to raise a question, he smiled and said...

"I've already summarized all these analyses, and they will be serialized in the American editions of the Chinese American Daily and the Chinese American Weekly. There will also be related book recommendations later, so you can take a look and see if what I said is true or false."

"I guarantee that as long as you write according to the popular books of the late Ming Dynasty, you will definitely have a large audience."

"Those who want to believe me can go and see for themselves; those who don't want to believe me can just take it as me talking nonsense."

"However, if we wait until others have succeeded before trying to conduct our own research, we may not be able to keep up."

"After all, there's a saying that goes, 'One step fast leads to another fast, one step slow leads to another slow.'"

Opportunities are for those who are prepared.

Li Changsheng's words moved most people.

Since there are similar situations in other countries, they should naturally study them. If it's really as Li Changsheng said, as long as they write according to the content of the popular novels from the late Ming Dynasty and turn the parts about China into the United States, they can succeed. That would be much better than them having to do their own hard research.

The most crucial thing was Li Changsheng's last words.

Thinking for yourself takes a long time, but studying books from other countries only takes a little time.

It would be fine if no one studied it, but when others study it while you don't, and you haven't even thought of it yourself, others have already written about it.

The result is that by the time you realize it, the other party has already stopped, and there's nothing left for you to do.

Didn't you see? Li Changsheng has already secured a place in the American literary world with his wildly popular mythological novels from the late Ming Dynasty.

If they had studied this further, they might have become the founders of realist literature.

They will surely be remembered in history.

The thought of this possibility softened many people's attitudes toward Li Changsheng.

Some people even came specifically to discuss with Li Changsheng, who compared the situation in America with that in the late Ming Dynasty.

The comparison was further clarified during the discussion.

In conclusion, Li Changsheng remarked with emotion.

"If the Ming Dynasty had no enemies like the United States at the end of its reign, it might have transitioned from a feudal imperial system to capitalism."

"Perhaps the Ming Dynasty at that time would have also formed a constitutional monarchy."

"Unfortunately, the Ming Dynasty was too chaotic; America was much better in that respect."

"With no enemies and the fact that the United States has an electoral system, there will be no internal turmoil and no external enemies. The United States is destined to weather this crisis."

"And the period of American literature will be a boom period, accompanied by this crisis and the rise that follows."

"During this period, whoever could seize the opportunity could become a leading figure in American literature."

"I can't just write books about gods, demons, and monsters anymore; I need to write more realistic books too."

The person who had initially thought that Li Changsheng was comparing the late Ming Dynasty, a period at the end of a dynasty, to America, and that he wanted to have a discussion with Li Changsheng, immediately lost his temper after hearing Li Changsheng's words.

Li Changsheng himself said that the reason why the Ming Dynasty perished at the end of the dynasty was due to its system and foreign enemies.

Because of its system and the absence of enemies, the United States is destined not to perish like the Ming Dynasty.

Under these circumstances, the development of literature is destined to reach its peak, a consensus shared by everyone.

The most crucial thing now is whether we can seize this opportunity.

Li Changsheng has already shown them the way; if they don't seize the opportunity, they'll have lived in vain.

So after that day, when Li Changsheng's Huamei Bookstore launched a large number of Chinese Ming Dynasty literature books, many literary figures actually bought them.

Not only those in the club, but also some writers who learned about the conversation in the club through friends, bought the product.

The purchases by these individuals, in turn, sparked curiosity among many literary professionals who realized that studying books from the Ming Dynasty in China could provide insights into the future direction of American literature. Consequently, other literary professionals also began making similar purchases.

Their purchases sparked curiosity among many ordinary Americans and some elites, who also began to buy.

Therefore, Li Changsheng's cultural export plan was successful.

At least, the first step was a success.

However, this is just the beginning.

Li Changsheng wants to export his culture, so he naturally needs to make preparations in many ways.

Therefore, while publishing books about the Ming Dynasty, the Huamei Daily and Huamei Weekly simultaneously launched the first Huamei Essay Contest.

The first essay competition had two main themes.

The first topic is the creation of supernatural and mythical novels based on "Journey to the West" and "Investiture of the Gods".

Set against the backdrop of a primordial world, it tells different myths and legends.

It can be about things in China, different countries along the journey to the West, or even the reorganization of the Three Realms after the journey and the events that happen on Earth.

It could be a golden crow descending upon America, or a dragon prince descending upon Europe.

Furthermore, it allows other myths and legends to be integrated into the prehistoric background.

Li Changsheng did not set any rules for this essay contest, allowing people to express themselves freely, as long as they incorporated the backgrounds of Journey to the West and Investiture of the Gods.

This is so that more books related to China can appear in every corner of America.

Combine American mythology with Chinese mythology.

The second essay contest focused on realism.

The final essay contest on realism published an analysis of the late Ming Dynasty and the current situation in America, in order to allow more people who wanted to participate in the essay contest to understand the culture of the late Ming Dynasty!

It can be said that Li Changsheng's two works are entirely open schemes.

If you want to write better, you need to understand the late Ming Dynasty. If you don't understand it while others are, you will fall behind.

Therefore, more and more books about the late Ming Dynasty will be sold, and Li Changsheng will earn more money. At the same time, Chinese culture will be subtly integrated into American culture.

The same thing is happening.

Before the American mythological system was established, Li Changsheng had already integrated the Chinese mythological system into the American system, and also incorporated some of America's future superheroes and mythological stories into his book.

In this way, the American mythological system is destined to be inseparable from Chinese mythology.

This can be seen as Li Changsheng further exporting Chinese culture to the United States.

For Li Changsheng, this was just the beginning.

Or rather, this is just the beginning for all of Li Changsheng's clones.

For Li Changsheng, this open scheme was merely an experiment.

It seems to have been a success.

After Li Changsheng's success, his clones in other countries responsible for literature and cultural exports also began to take action.