The rain had stopped, leaving several roads in the capital muddy.
Liang Xiao's convoy of five hundred men, escorting forty carriages, headed towards the Ouyang family.
The wheels rumbled, leaving deep ruts in the ground.
Observant passersby noticed this and were astonished.
"What is Anguo Bookstore transporting? The wheel indentations are so deep!"
"Only a few boxes, such deep indentations are truly rare. They must be carrying gold, silver, copper, or iron! What are they preparing to do?"
Amidst the public's murmurs, Liang Xiao personally led the convoy to the Ouyang family's entrance.
"Marquis Anguo visits the Ouyang family!"
Ouyang Ji was startled when he received the message. "What does he want at our manor?"
Just now, they had received news that the chief editor of the Ouyang Daily had been struck by lightning. Now Liang Xiao arrives, is he here to demand an explanation?
Considering Liang Xiao's current status, Ouyang Ji obediently led his family members to greet him.
Ouyang Sheng, son of Ouyang Hong, glared at Liang Xiao from behind Ouyang Ji, trembling all over.
In the past, Liang Xiao was someone he could openly humiliate. Now, he had become the Grand Protector and Grand Marshal of Da Gan, whom even his uncle dared not slight!
And he, relying on family connections, was merely an insignificant eighth-rank official in the capital, with no presence at all!
"Your Highness Consort, please do not blame our Ouyang family. That person was merely a temporary employee of our household, and I had already dismissed him. Perhaps he harbored resentment!"
After Liang Xiao alighted, Ouyang Ji explained patiently.
Now, Ouyang Ji also feared being struck by lightning himself!
Liang Xiao smiled gently. "I understand, I understand! Minister Ouyang is well-versed in worldly affairs and would certainly not act so foolishly. However, I have come to you regarding the bookstore."
The Ouyang family's eyes lit up.
Ouyang Ji exclaimed in surprise, "Is His Highness Consort planning to concede?"
Liang Xiao blinked. "I have come to persuade your family to concede!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Ouyang family members were enraged.
It was Liang Xiao's bookstore that had nearly bankrupted their prestigious family!
In the past, the Ouyang family was an invisible tycoon, possessing millions of mu of fertile land after centuries of exploitation!
Now, most of the Ouyang family's fertile land had been divided up by Liang Xiao and some unknown individuals!
"I do not understand what His Highness Consort means!" Ouyang Ji retorted with a laugh born of extreme anger.
Liang Xiao sighed deeply and turned to order his men to open all the sandalwood chests.
What met their eyes was a dazzling golden light!
Looking at the dozens of chests of gold at the forefront, Ouyang Ji felt his vision darken. He struggled to maintain his composure and smiled. "Your Majesty has rewarded His Highness Consort with hundreds of thousands of taels of gold. How could I not know? There's no need to flaunt it at our Ouyang family's doorstep!"
"No, no, no, this gold was not a reward from His Majesty! I exchanged it for your family's silver!" Liang Xiao said with an innocent expression.
Upon hearing this, the Ouyang family members' hearts were greatly shaken!
He was bringing up their most painful point!
Now, they were all tightening their belts and shrinking their businesses, all because their wealth had been poured into the bookstore war!
"I've only managed to exchange this much gold for now, not much. Only five thousand taels are stored in each carriage!"
As they listened to Liang Xiao's explanation, the Ouyang family members' eyes widened in fury!
This meant that Liang Xiao still had so much money available for printing, and they would have to spend at least double that amount to compete with him!
But soon, their gaze shifted to the stacks of bank notes in the distance, their pupils constricting!
Twenty sandalwood chests, each filled with dozens of stacks of bank notes, with each stack tied with a paper band and a gold brick pressing it down!
"Thanks to your Ouyang family, many of Da Gan's hundred-tael bank notes are in my hands. These on the carriages are only about twenty million taels," Liang Xiao pouted.
Ouyang Ji swayed precariously, supported by Ouyang Hong. He pointed a trembling finger at Liang Xiao and roared, "Where did you get so much money? Are you guilty of corruption!"
Liang Xiao once again wore an innocent expression. "Wasn't it all given by your Ouyang family?"
The Ouyang family members' breaths hitched!
His bookstore was actually making a profit!
Wasn't the cost between three hundred and five hundred wen? How could it be profitable?
Liang Xiao finally cleared everyone's doubts. "Actually, the original price of one hundred and fifty wen per book was just for thin profits and to create buzz. Who knew your Ouyang family insisted on buying everything at three hundred wen? I was also put in a difficult position..."
Ouyang Ji wiped the blood that had不知何时 seeped from the corner of his mouth and stammered, "The cost of paper, ink, and other materials alone exceeds one hundred wen, not to mention printing tools. How, how could you possibly profit!"
"Hasn't His Majesty proclaimed to the world the promotion of movable type printing?" Liang Xiao said, then slapped his forehead. "Oh dear, look at my memory, I forgot to remind him again!"
The generals behind Liang Xiao, such as Nan Jiyun, who had come to watch the spectacle, couldn't help but laugh.
The Ministry of Revenue, Ministry of Personnel, and Ministry of War were once the main forces through which the three great clans oppressed the military. In the past, when soldiers of Da Gan mentioned the three great aristocratic clans, they could only express their anger in silence!
Especially Nan Jiyun, who had almost been killed by the Dugu family, now wished to witness firsthand how Liang Xiao would push these aristocratic clans into the abyss step by step.
The Ouyang family was the beginning!
"Impossible..." Ouyang Ji muttered to himself, shaking his head, his white beard trembling.
Ouyang Sheng mustered his courage and roared at Liang Xiao, feigning fierceness, "Liang Xiao! What exactly do you want to say? Spit it out if you have something to say!"
Liang Xiao then smiled. "Naturally, I've come to advise your Ouyang family to withdraw and cut your losses in time. Because Anguo Bookstore in the capital alone is preparing to print ten thousand copies each of the Four Books and Five Classics and two kinds of literacy primers. No matter how much wealth your Ouyang family possesses, you cannot stop me from printing and selling books!"
As he spoke, Liang Xiao casually took a copy of "The Analects" from a guard and smiled. "Although the cost of materials has increased slightly, one hundred and fifty wen is still an acceptable price. Currently, I can barely make a profit of three wen per book!"
"How is that possible..." the Ouyang family members said, their voices trembling with disbelief.
But the gold and twenty chests of bank notes before them left them no choice but to believe!
Counterfeiting bank notes was a capital offense punishable by the extermination of one's clan!
Ouyang Ji felt the world spin and became incoherent.
His son, Ouyang Ping, glared at Liang Xiao, his eyes bloodshot. "Then why are you still advising our Ouyang family to cut our losses and showing us mercy?"
Liang Xiao shook his head again, finally regaining his seriousness. He said word by word, "Because, the money your Ouyang family continues to invest, I no longer see as valuable! I am about to start selling books, so that all the common people of Da Gan can afford books from Anguo Bookstore for one hundred and fifty wen!"
After speaking, Liang Xiao looked at the despairing faces of the more than a hundred Ouyang family members and had his guards bring out dozens of new books for display.
"Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio," "Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Part 1)," "Romance of the Three Kingdoms (Part 2)," "Journey to the West (Part 1)," "Da Gan Poetry," "The Art of War," "Zuo Zhuan"...
A total of twenty-five new books were placed on display shelves, blinding the Ouyang family members!
"Once your Ouyang family announces their surrender, I will prepare to sell these new books as well. If your Ouyang family does not surrender, I will temporarily hoard these new books and not sell them. Minister of Rites Ouyang Ji, Vice Minister of Rites Ouyang Ping, do you surrender?"
Liang Xiao's soul-searching question, coupled with the mention of the father and son's new official titles, emphasizing the Ouyang family's loss of power in the Ministry of Revenue, finally broke the Ouyang family members.
"Pfft!"
Ouyang Ji, whose qi and blood had long been unbalanced, spat out a large mouthful of blood and fainted.