Liang Xiao browsed the financial reports of various bookshops at home, feeling quite satisfied.
An Guo Bookshop had raked in thirty-seven million taels from Ouyang Ji.
In reality, the Ouyang family had sent him over forty-two million taels of silver, piece by piece!
Five million taels of this silver were used by the Ouyang family for the "second acquisition" of Liang Xiao's books. Liang Xiao's men used it to purchase over three million mu of land ceded by the Ouyang family!
After receiving this recovered five million taels of silver, the Ouyang family poured it back into the bottomless pit that was the bookshop business.
The initial reason the Ouyang family was unwilling to give up the bookshop was their reluctance to abandon the business and their desire to prevent the common people of Da Gan from reading at low cost, thereby breaking the monopoly of aristocratic families on officialdom.
Subsequently, it was because they had invested over twenty million taels of silver and could no longer turn back, forcing them to grit their teeth and persist with Liang Xiao.
However, the aristocratic families in the country were now severely suppressed by Liang Xiao and Xiao Qing, their arrogance no longer what it used to be. They were too preoccupied to consider whether the common people would break their monopoly on officialdom.
According to reports from various bookshops, the Ouyang family had been quite passive in their recent book acquisitions, even somewhat delayed, clearly indicating a lack of funds.
Liang Xiao immediately set out with his retainers and guards to visit the bookshops and newspaper offices to observe the latest progress.
During his campaigns, his bookshops had been secretly printing other books for future use.
An Guo Bookshop could not neglect its true purpose because of the trade war with the Ouyang family.
To make books affordable for the common people, provide opportunities for upward mobility, and improve the situation of official monopolies.
Recently, due to the overwhelming enthusiasm of the populace, Liang Xiao’s daily outings were kept very low-key, with only a few simple carriages. His guards did not wear the uniforms of the An Guo Marquisate or the Liang Estate, so he was not recognized by many.
As Liang Xiao's convoy stopped at the entrance of An Guo Bookshop, the commotion outside alerted Liang Xiao inside his carriage.
"What is all this noise?"
"Reporting to the Marquis, there's a scholar hired by the Ouyang family outside, making a spectacle of himself!"
The guard's report made Liang Xiao frown, forcing him to disembark and observe.
About ten feet from the entrance of An Guo Bookshop, on a high platform, a brocade-clad elder was condescendingly looking down at the audience, his face beaming with smugness.
"You old scoundrel, Ren Shi Ji Chun Qiu, have you run out of ideas? All you do is tell those ancient, stale stories from the Pre-Qin period. How dare you claim your stories are better than Romance of the Three Kingdoms, The Hegemony of Chu and Han, or Journey to the West!"
The crowd below grew impatient and urged the elder to come down.
The brocade-clad elder calmly sat there, took a sip of tea, rinsed his mouth, making a "gurgling" sound, then spat a mouthful towards the crowd below, before slowly chuckling.
"I have always been eloquent and expressive. Are my stories not more interesting than your damned Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Journey to the West? You people are so addicted to watching that dead monkey?"
Liang Xiao frowned and asked his guard, "From the Ouyang family?"
"Yes, Marquis! This man is the Ouyang family's resident scholar. Recently, he has been using the pen name 'Ren Shi Ji Chun Qiu' as the chief writer for the Ouyang Daily. He's particularly sarcastic and speaks ill of you, but in a very subtle way, so most people don't understand. Our newspaper staff pointed it out!"
Hearing the guard's report, Liang Xiao's pupils constricted!
Was the young man whose leg he had broken also here?
But Liang Xiao quickly dismissed his guess.
It must be a coincidence of names. Otherwise, he wouldn't have shown such contempt for Romance of the Three Kingdoms, a treasure of civilization. He clearly had never encountered Romance of the Three Kingdoms or Journey to the West.
The Ouyang family, having been drained of their wealth by him, could now only express their dissatisfaction through veiled insults.
"Your few rotten stories, do they deserve to be mentioned in the same breath as Romance of the Three Kingdoms? I heard that Romance of the Three Kingdoms was actually promoted by the An Guo Marquis. Luo Guanzhong is a pen name used by the An Guo Marquis!"
The common people angrily criticized Ren Shi Ji Chun Qiu, which made Liang Xiao chuckle.
Once the world was pacified and the empire was stable, he would, under the guise of "dreaming of the divine realm," attribute the true authorship of these works to their original creators, publicly stating that they were "inspired by these celestial beings from the divine realm."
"An Guo Marquis? Isn't that Liang Xiao! I see Liang Xiao as no more than a straw-bound head to be beheaded!"
The Ren Shi Ji Chun Qiu on the platform said with extreme arrogance and disdain.
"Isn't 'straw-bound head to be beheaded' something Guan Yu said when he slew Yan Liang? You dare to use it too!" More and more people below, angered by the contempt shown to their beloved stories, spoke up.
"It is indeed 'straw-bound head to be beheaded.' What's the problem?"
Ren Shi Ji Chun Qiu continued with an extremely sharp and sarcastic expression, "You only see his achievements and glorious deeds, not his brutality! He beheads great generals on a whim, and slaughters over five hundred thousand enemies. Bai Qi of the Warring States only buried forty thousand Zhao soldiers! He deserves heavenly retribution!"
Some scholars in the crowd below began to denounce him.
"Barbarians want us to perish and be exterminated. Ten thousand soldiers at Helan Mountain were left as corpses in the wilderness. The An Guo Marquis and the Zhen Guo Marquis led the soldiers to fight back. What is wrong with that! Whose side are you on! Without the An Guo Marquis, you would now be like Yuan Shu, mere dust in a grave! Oh wait, your Ouyang family is already dust in a grave!"
Since learning that the Ouyang father and son had been removed from the Ministry of Revenue, the common people were no longer afraid of the Ouyang family.
"Marquis!"
Yue Qingtian, standing beside Liang Xiao, was enraged and wanted to rush forward, but Liang Xiao stopped him, "Let's watch for now."
The changes in the populace filled him with immense satisfaction.
This was the power of propaganda. With the promotion of newspapers, aristocratic families could no longer arbitrarily control public opinion. The populace's wisdom was beginning to awaken!
Ren Shi Ji Chun Qiu spat towards the furious scholar in the crowd.
"You've wasted your studies of the sages, you don't know 'when will vengeance ever cease'? Liang Xiao is so bloodthirsty, how is he different from the barbarians? And he's hailed as 'Great Gan's Literary Sage.' He disregards the benevolence and righteousness of scholars! Towards foreigners, one should be magnanimous and accommodating, appeasing and rallying them. Only then can Da Gan claim to be the Central Kingdom! One must be kind. Bai Qi killed forty thousand Zhao soldiers and still confessed his guilt. Liang Xiao, a butcher, should have committed suicide to atone for his sins. Why is he a Marquis and a Chancellor!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the entire crowd erupted in anger. Dozens of people attempted to climb the platform but were pushed back by the Ouyang family guards stationed below.
"I love seeing your faces of displeasure that you cannot reach me!" Ren Shi Ji Chun Qiu said smugly.
"It seems the Ouyang family harbors deep resentment towards this Marquis." Liang Xiao watched the madman on the platform with cold eyes and was about to say something when suddenly the sky filled with wind and thunder.
"Boom!"
Several bolts of lightning struck the high platform simultaneously!
Everyone flinched back, even Liang Xiao was startled and quickly ordered everyone to retreat to the entrance of the bookshop.
Regaining their senses, the onlookers craned their necks to see that Ren Shi Ji Chun Qiu was lying stiffly on the platform.
"Struck by lightning?" The Ouyang family guards were shocked and approached the platform to examine the body.
Dozens more bolts of lightning then struck the platform, igniting a raging fire. After the smoke and flames dissipated, only a pile of ashes remained on the platform.
Liang Xiao watched, sighed, and said, "Send someone to collect his ashes later..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a gust of wind swept through, scattering Ren Shi Ji Chun Qiu's ashes in all directions, leaving only a mess. Then it began to rain...
Liang Xiao fell into deep thought.
"This old scoundrel slandered the An Guo Marquis and was struck by lightning? Even heaven wants to reclaim him, proving he spoke nonsense and angered the populace!" "He used his life to illustrate for us: Advocating tolerance leads to divine retribution. Advocating kindness results in scattered ashes." "Perhaps the Heavenly General protected the An Guo Marquis and struck down this old scoundrel with heavenly lightning!"
Listening to the murmurs of the crowd, Liang Xiao sighed and instructed his guards, "Go burn some paper for him. Tell him not to use that pen name in his next life..."
The An Guo Marquis, Liang Xiao, was slandered, yet he sent people to burn offerings for the slanderer. This act became a celebrated tale, and Ren Shi Ji Chun Qiu, at the cost of his life, served as a warning to the world, strengthening Liang Xiao's public image. His political rivals in the capital no longer dared to openly slander Liang Xiao...
Returning to the bookshop, Liang Xiao inspected the entire warehouse of books with great satisfaction.
"Bring the treasures. Let's go see Ouyang Ji and settle this!"