Duke of Zhenguan

Chapter 131 Dirty Tricks

Li Shimin ate at least two catties of beef and mutton. After he was full, he still showed no intention of leaving. As if he were at home, he led Lin Chuan to the main hall in the front yard.

Taking a sip of the tea Lin Chuan handed him, he leaned back contentedly and sighed helplessly, "While I'm worrying about the locusts, you have the leisure to tinker with food at home!"

"Your Majesty, there are no classes at the academy this afternoon—" Lin Chuan explained, but his voice lacked confidence and was somewhat soft.

"Oh!"

Li Shimin glanced at Lin Chuan and sneered.

After a moment, he asked somewhat irritably, "The teahouses and taverns in Chang'an are all talking about the drought and locust plague in Guanzhong and Hedong. Lin Chuan, you've heard about it too, haven't you?"

"I heard you!" Lin Chuan nodded.

"I have considered controlling it, but it is easier to prevent people from talking than to prevent a river from overflowing. If I take action, those people behind my back will probably attack me again!" Li Shimin sighed softly.

Lin Chuan was also annoyed by the rumors. It was one thing for these people to attack Li Shimin, but they had to drag him into it and portray him as a sycophantic villain.

Public opinion can be powerful; some things, once said, can become true.

Seeing Li Shimin's irritable expression, Lin Chuan, who had originally wanted to find an opportunity to offer him some advice, organized his thoughts and said to Li Shimin, "Your Majesty, I do have some ideas!"

Thinking of Lin Chuan's past actions, Li Shimin nodded impatiently, "Speak!"

"Your Majesty, the Zhenguan Bookstore should be almost ready. I think that in addition to the classics, history, philosophy and literature, we can also print some easy-to-understand vernacular stories and put them in the bookstore for sale!"

Unlike classical texts, vernacular stories not only need to be easy to understand, but also interesting! Only in this way can they be spread.

"As for the content, I don't believe those powerful families don't have some shameful secrets. We can write their scandals into a storybook!" Lin Chuan said in a low voice.

"Tsk, good idea! I'll have someone get it done right away!"

Upon hearing Lin Chuan's words, Li Shimin's face immediately lit up with a smile. He softly praised him, then asked, "Is there anything else?"

"Of course there are. Those places have storytellers going around talking about drought and locust plagues, so we can get some storytellers too."

They go around telling all sorts of shameful things!

I'll focus on the disgusting things they've done, especially their bullying of men and women and their land grabbing! They won't be able to defend themselves! It'll disgust them to death!

"They hire one storyteller, so we'll hire two! They'll tell stories for one day, so we'll tell stories for two days!" Lin Chuan said irritably.

"Haha, to use their own methods against them is an even better method!" Li Shimin laughed heartily.

After sitting for a while, Li Shimin finally left with his entourage.

Lin Chuan respectfully saw him to the door. As he mounted his horse, Li Shimin suddenly turned around and said irritably, "I'll let it slide about eating beef today, since you came up with such a good idea. But if I find out again, I won't let you off!"

"You ate the same amount of beef, no matter what you ate!"

Despite his inner complaints, he still respectfully replied, "Your subject understands!"

Li Shimin nodded in satisfaction and rode away.

Two days later, two shops named Zhenguan Bookstore suddenly opened in the West Market and East Market. Zhenguan is the reign title of the current emperor, and anyone with a little knowledge could guess that these two bookstores must have been opened by His Majesty the Emperor.

Both bookstores are very large, spanning two floors, with rows of shelves filled with books and rows of seats.

There were many vendors selling writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones on Chang'an Street, but not many selling books. Many scholars who wanted books could only borrow them from friends or elders to copy them themselves. There were also some impoverished scholars in Chang'an who made a living by copying books.

It's not hard to guess who's behind Huang's Grain Shop and Huang's Salt Shop. Not only are many people in Chang'an grateful to the people behind these two businesses, but they also leave a deep impression on the people of Chang'an: the things in these shops are very cheap.

Chang'an had a population of hundreds of thousands. Although there were few bookstores, there were still some. However, the price of one string of cash per scroll was one reason why some scholars had to copy books themselves.

As soon as Zhenguan Bookstore opened, it attracted the attention of countless book lovers.

On March 29th, around noon, Ma Zhou, who was staying at Chang He's house, ran out of paper and ink and happened to hear a friend mention Zhenguan Bookstore, so he strolled to the West Market.

Driven by curiosity, I entered Zhenguan Bookstore and found that there were already quite a few people buying books. I carefully picked up a copy of "The Book of Rites" from the shelf and flipped through it. I was immediately stunned by the neat cover and clear handwriting and was speechless for a long time.

Having had the privilege of seeing Yan Xiangshi's original works, he was able to discern traces of Yan's calligraphy between the lines.

I flipped through a few books, and although the paper quality wasn't the best, the covers were neat and the handwriting was clear; they were all top-notch books.

Because he was short of money, Ma Zhou hesitated for a while before finally taking a copy of the Book of Rites to the counter: "Shopkeeper, how much is this book?"

"My lord, this book costs fifty coins!"

Ma Zhou thought he had misheard and subconsciously asked, "How much?"

The shopkeeper couldn't remember the first time he'd seen such an expression, and he smiled as he repeated, "Sir, you heard me correctly, it is indeed fifty coins!"

Ma Zhou was no ordinary man; he quickly regained his composure, glanced at the shopkeeper, then at the books in his hands, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to the shopkeeper, and said, "I'll go pick out a few more!"

He had a string of cash in his pocket, enough to buy ten books, and the remaining money could buy two jars of good wine.

Carrying a stack of books still smelling of ink, I left the bookstore, bought two jars of wine at the liquor store, and then swayed back to Yanfu Lane.

As a key figure in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Chang He, though of average talent, was highly regarded by Li Shimin for his loyalty and is now serving as the Right Guard General, still in charge of the guards at the North Gate.

Knowing that he was only mediocre, Chang He recruited some truly talented staff members, among whom Ma Zhou was the one he valued most.

Chang He never shortchanged Ma Zhou in terms of money and goods. He specially prepared a small courtyard for him in the front yard and even assigned a maid to serve him.

Seeing Ma Zhou enter carrying a large stack of books, the gatekeeper hurriedly went to greet him, asking in astonishment, "Young Master Ma, why did you buy so many books?"

"Haha, it's a newly opened bookstore in the West Market. The books are cheap, so I bought a few extra. I'm afraid they'll be sold out in a couple of days!" Ma Zhou explained with a laugh.

The next day at noon, Ma Zhou flipped through the brand-new book in his hand, thought for a moment, took out the few hundred coins he had left from the box and put them in his pocket, and went to the Zhenguan Bookstore in the West Market.

The bookstore was packed with people buying books, and a long queue had formed in front of the counter to pay. Most of them, like Ma Zhou, were dressed in hemp clothes and cloth shoes.

Ma Zhou glanced at the bookshelf and found that he had all the books he wanted, so he picked out ten more.

Holding the books, I went to the counter and casually asked while paying, "Shopkeeper, your books are so cheap, won't they sell out quickly?"

"Haha, my lord, don't worry, Zhenguan Bookstore will never run out of books!" the shopkeeper laughed heartily.