My book friend Long Aotian

Chapter 175: Copy Li Bailong hard!

Reading books is free.

It is human nature to get something for free. As soon as the Cao Gang’s silver bullet offensive was launched, it set off a frenzy in Huazhou and attracted the carnival of countless readers. Soon, the matter was declared to have broken the circle.

Even people outside the circle who usually have no interest in this novel came to join in the fun.

If bookstores were crazy enough to give away copies for free, people would indeed hesitate. After all, Huazhou's commercial activities are booming, and all kinds of scams and pig-killing schemes are emerging one after another. Everyone already has a certain anti-fraud awareness.

But this matter is backed by the Cao Gang.

Yun Huatang came out in person to support the event and said that this was absolutely true!

Borrow in the morning and return in the afternoon, and the deposit will be fully refunded.

Even if you want to return it right after borrowing it, there is no problem at all.

The deposit is not cheap, but it is not expensive either. The specific price is actually lower than the normal price of buying a book and slightly higher than the cost of paper, which gives people a very cost-effective feeling and ensures that shrewd and cunning citizens will not take the opportunity to run in and buy up the books, take them home to wipe their butts or paste them on the walls.

After several days of waiting and observing, the people of Huazhou finally confirmed that there are really many suckers in the world.

"Yunjiang, Ninghai, and ０文 bookstores have been deserted recently."

In Yunhua Hall, Taoist Ling was reporting the results of the past five days.

"The 200,000 books that Yun Gong transferred from Nanshan, Xiwu, Lianghe and other places will arrive tomorrow. The follow-up support is being prepared and printed." He said, "After all, books are not a commodity with much reserve value. There has never been much stock in our self-operated warehouse. We can only speed up the purchase."

Ma Fulong nodded and said, "Keep purchasing. Don't stop. The more the better."

“Besides that, we have seized several cases of thieves.”

Although the Caobang model of paying a deposit and giving away books for free eliminated the possibility of unscrupulous people taking advantage of the situation and then taking the books home to clean up their mess, it was still profitable in the eyes of smart people.

After all, in order to lower the threshold for receiving books, the deposit price is set low.

You have to pay for it if you take it back to wipe your butt or paste the walls. After all, the deposit is more expensive than the paper.

However, using this method to collect books and transport them to surrounding counties or even other places to sell them is profitable.

After all, this is equivalent to purchasing goods from the Cao Gang at a very low price.

In just three or five days, some clever people hired ruffians to "borrow books", collected the books they received, and prepared to transport them outside to sell them and make a profit.

Unfortunately, anything involving vehicle or ship transportation cannot escape the eyes and ears of the Cao Gang.

Hall Master Ma sneered, "How can we take advantage of the Cao Gang whenever we want? As expected, human nature is mean. When we do something good, some people think they can take advantage of us... They really don't know how to live or die."

Taoist Ling stretched out his hand and slashed: "Then kill them..."

"If the Cao Gang doesn't bully people too much, Brother Wan Yunlong will be unhappy."

Ma Fulong said calmly, "For every book these thieves take, the Cao Gang has to pay the book price to the bookstore. This is the agreement between us and the booksellers. The Cao Gang has fulfilled its promise and will naturally not ask for the money back from the booksellers. Since the Cao Gang has suffered losses due to the greed and calculations of these thieves, the money must naturally be recovered from them."

"It is fair and honest, and it does not cheat anyone."

He casually ordered, "You arrange for your subordinates to collect the debts. If they can't pay, they should write IOUs and ask them to borrow money from the Jin family. Spread the word about this matter, and when borrowing books, emphasize to the borrowers not to have bad intentions. And also warn the booksellers that we are not pigs that anyone can slaughter."

Taoist Ling agreed and took another look at the report, revealing a look of reluctance: "Speaking of which, we have spent quite a lot these past few days. In just five days, we have already spent four thousand taels of silver. It is foreseeable that there will be more in the future."

Master Ma doesn't care.

Spending money is just a process and a means. Compared with the goals that must be achieved, the consumption of money is insignificant.

Besides...

"This is not called burning money." He said calmly, "What is called burning money? If it falls into the mouth of a dog, such as being robbed by Li Bailong, you can't earn it back, you can't rob it, and it's lost. This is called burning money."

"Giving it to poor people, burying it in their homes, and never spending it after death, is also called burning money."

"And now, the money has simply been transferred from our hands to the pockets of a limited number of booksellers. How can this be called burning money? We are just asking them to keep it for the time being."

Taoist Ling understood something when he heard this, and lowered his voice and asked, "Force them to spit it out afterwards?"

"Hey, this is a low-level move. How is it different from the barbarians in the Haisha Gang? We in the Cao Gang value our credibility. There are so many ways to rob money, why choose one that will make everyone unhappy?"

He instructed: "Payment will be settled every five days. The first two payments will be in cash. Then tell them that the amount of cash is huge and it will be troublesome to transport it. Just pay them directly with the draft from the Jin Mansion."

The Cao Gang, with its millions of gang members as its core, built a cultural circle that encompassed tens of millions of people. Its strong organization and credibility naturally gave rise to the banking and financial industries.

The eldest branch of the Ma family, that is, the Yi branch, is the most familiar with this new set of rules.

The "Jin Mansion" founded by Yun Gongsuo is a large-scale financial group that spans states and counties. Backed by the Cao Gang's unique logistics and commercial systems, it has developed extremely rapidly.

Up to now, the bills of exchange of the Jin Mansion can basically be regarded as banknotes. They can be used directly in transactions related to the Cao Gang. In recent years, more and more private transactions have gradually accepted the use of this item. Yunhuatang uses bills of exchange to pay bills, and Huazhou booksellers will not have much resistance.

After all, I have eaten the bait twice in a row.

"Once you open an account at the Jin Mansion and collect the money, things will be much easier."

Ma Fulong smiled faintly and said, "Investment, value preservation, doing business together, purchasing property... It's hard to say who has this money in their pocket. These nouveau riche can't figure it out."

Taoist Ling saw that he had made clear arrangements, so he praised him, "The hall master has a brilliant plan."

"No, it's Yun Gongming who saw Wanli."

"The hall master has a brilliant plan, and Yun Gongming can see far away." Ling Daoist said respectfully, "The creation of the Jin Mansion is a work of God, and it will make it easier for the Cao Gang to do business from now on."

"No, not even close."

Master Ma smiled and said, "The Jin Palace has not yet soared above the nine heavens and shocked the world with one cry, so we must work hard to suppress Huazhou, defeat Li Bailong, and force King Zhao to give in!"

"Yes!"

When talking about this topic, Ma Fulun frowned subconsciously.

Just now he mentioned the name he didn't want to mention, Li Bailong.

Even though he used money to pave the way and achieved excellent results, seizing all the hot topics of public opinion and readers' attention, and theoretically had the upper hand, he still did not dare to let his guard down.

"What has the dog official been doing recently?"

"He is just conspiring to stir up trouble, instructing newspapers and... um, the Internet trolls, to make noise for him." Ling Daoren thought for a moment and replied, "It's all the same old clichés like 'digging the industry's grave for free'."

There were faint sounds of shouting and cursing coming from outside.

Taoist Ling sighed, "They also found some idle men and women who were making trouble for no reason, just like before."

Ever since the Cao Gang started giving away books for free, it was like poking a nut in the kennel, with all sorts of evildoers jumping out. Not only was it a hot topic on the streets, but all sorts of unknown 'experts' also jumped out in the newspapers to denounce it. Not only that, a group of idle thugs suddenly appeared, running to the Yunhua Hall every day to cause trouble.

These people are so lazy!
Seems well organized and plays with a mature style.

This group of unscrupulous men and women put up a barrier at the intersection in front of Yunhua Hall, lined up outside the hall, held up protest signs, and used red paint to smear everything.

They also obstructed traffic, interfered with pedestrians, and shouted slogans at sky-high prices from time to time.

With such good organization, it goes without saying that it must be Li Bailong who is behind this!

In a feudal society where martial arts were the most important thing, going to the gate of Cao Gang, one of the six major factions, to do such a thing was simply courting death. However, not far from the "protesting crowd", there were black dogs from Tongwen Bureau following them the whole time.

The question is "Tongwen Bureau protects readers' right to protest."

No one cared about these bad men and women throwing paint, cursing and blocking traffic. Once the Cao Gang planned to resort to force, the Black Dogs would come and enforce the law enthusiastically.

If it develops into an armed fight and all-out conflict between the Tongwen Bureau and the Cao Gang, it would probably be exactly what Li Bailong wants.

Taoist Ling knew the situation very well, but he was unwilling to accept it, so he tried to maintain the dignity of his gang.

A hundred or so boat workers were called from the dock, but they were surrounded by people from the Tongpan Hall on the way and asked if they wanted to cause another civil uprising and surround the government office. Tongpan Zhang immediately sent someone to invite Ma Fulong to explain the situation.

When this plan failed, Taoist Ling went to find some thugs from the market to fight violence with violence. However, among the protesting "good citizens" there were some who were very skilled in breaking stone tablets, and they beat the thugs unconscious in an instant.

After beating them up, people from the Magistrate's Office came and took all the ruffians back. They put them in shackles for three days, and the monkeys were all frightened. Taoist Ling had no choice but to go and intimidate them himself.

However, the threats from the Cao Gang were completely useless, because these people were not local hooligans, but criminals in the Lingyu faction labor camp who had seen the world.

After another head-on confrontation with Li Bailong, Ling Daoren was so frightened that his scalp numbed and he felt extremely disgusted. The little power of the corrupt official was simply played around by him.

"Don't worry about it. Li Bailong even resorted to such tricks. He is at his wit's end."

"Yes."

Ma Fulong fought with the dog official several times, and his cunning and patience grew greatly.

He no longer cared about temporary gains and losses. As long as he started with the advantage and pursued it relentlessly, making Li Bailong's essay writing plan and crappy bookstore become unnoticed and deserted, he would be a complete winner.

"After seeing the sweetness, the booksellers will definitely step up the distribution of books. When readers find out that this is true, they will definitely try their best to take advantage of it. At that time, what books they can read will be completely decided by us."

He said coldly: "Whether it's the Tongwen Bureau or King Zhao, no matter how loud their tricks are, they can't defeat human nature. Unless they also spend money like us, there is no chance of winning. But even if they compete with us in spending money, we own the Jin Mansion, how can Li Bailong fight us?"

Having said this, Master Ma instructed: "Follow the procedures and proceed steadily. In addition, we will do whatever Li Bailong does. Didn't he instruct people to make noises for him in the newspapers? We also buy newspapers and hire those water armies... He uses power to oppress others, so we use money to hit them!"

"Yes!"

Right now, fighting against the Tongwen Bureau is Yunhuatang’s primary task. Taoist Ling acts swiftly and decisively, and immediately goes to instruct on the purchase of newspapers.

However, I was rejected several times in a row.

Upon inquiry, it turned out that Li Bailong had imposed a mandatory newspaper censorship system in the form of laws and regulations almost as soon as he took charge of the Tongwen Bureau. All newspaper headquarters had a Tongwen Bureau stationed there, and all transactions had to be approved... In a word, almost all loopholes were completely blocked.

Could this guy be a prophet?

Why did they start taking strict precautions so long in advance?
Taoist Ling was unwilling to give in, so he planned to skirt the rules and start a tabloid in private. However, as soon as he spread the word about recruiting editors and typewriters, the officers from the Tongwen Bureau came to seal up the newspaper.

The attitude of the Black Dogs was tougher than ever before. When the Caobang official in charge of this matter retorted a few words, the Tongwen Bureau actually drew their swords and attacked them, injuring three of the shouting people and almost causing a melee.

This was the first time that the Tongwen Bureau took the initiative to use physical violence.

After Ma Fulong learned about this, he seemed to be thinking about it and instructed Ling Daoren to be patient.

At the same time, he wrote a letter to inform Yun Gong that Li Bailong attached great importance to newspaper news and had a very firm attitude and would never allow anyone to get involved. Perhaps there was something behind this.

His intention to acquire the newspaper was blocked, and Li Bailong's counterattack soon came.

"Master, the dog official is making a move!"

"Heh, he must have been provoked by our actions and wanted to fight with us and counter our moves before we could attack at will."

Ma Fulong was re-examining the significance of publishing a newspaper, but he still regarded the fierce reaction of the Tongwen Bureau that morning as "Li Bailong getting anxious," and he gained some psychological sense of accomplishment.

Talking about the dog official at this time, he smiled relaxedly: "What did he do?"

Taoist Ling looked strange and a little confused.

Apparently, that bastard Li Bailong had come up with some new tricks for him.

He directly sent in a copied notice.

Ma Fulong took the notice and looked up to see the big words.

"The cooking power is released! A variety show with prizes for guessing, male and female readers, rush forward!"

"??????"

I know every word, but why can’t I read them together?

He looked down in amazement.

"In order to implement..."

Below that was a long, bureaucratic, Li Bailong-style official language.

It is both the center and the basic point, and it must be grasped and implemented.

"Tongwen Bureau is now holding a Huazhou Cup essay contest warm-up and a prize-winning guessing variety show!"

Ma Fulong frowned, searching for the key point.

A look of surprise slowly appeared on his face.

simply put.

——Read books and get paid!
Tongwen Bureau, Huitong Yunjiang Bookstore, 0wen Bookstore and Ninghai Book Society each selected "Langhuan Legend", "Huangji Zhantian Legend" and "Double Guns", set up test questions based on the content of the books, set up a challenge variety show, and invited Huazhou readers to sign up and watch.

Every time you pass a round, you will win a cash prize!

Ma Fulong looked at the amount set.

Theoretically, if you pass the exam in Shanghai, you can earn back all the money you spent on books.

After passing the first round, you will make a lot of money!

As for if you can overcome all the obstacles and win in the end...

It turned out to be a huge bonus of one thousand eight hundred and eighty-eight taels!

There are notes at the end of the announcement.

"This event will be held regularly. After the essays emerge, we will select the best ones and set questions for the competition. Please continue to pay attention to the essay collection and read the excellent works."

Ma Fulong was stunned for a moment.

Even as an opponent, he couldn't help but applaud and exclaim: "Great!"

He originally thought that the silver bullet offensive was an irresistible conspiracy.

But who could have expected that Li Bailong would still have a way to fight back in this predicament?
"As long as this event goes smoothly and people can enjoy the benefits, the enthusiasm for the subsequent essay contest will surely continue... This person is so wise that he is almost a demon. It is truly admirable."

Ma Fulong was a smart man. He immediately deduced the follow-up of the matter, and his success rate was extremely high.

"Although it will cost money, it will save a lot of money compared to fighting a price war with us, and the publicity effect will probably be even better..." He shook his head and sighed, "What a great talent."

It is good to read books for free.

But you can make money by reading books, which is simply great!
I used the method of giving away copies for free because I was advised by Mr. Yun. This guy has no one to guide him, but at such a young age, he can actually see through people's minds... It's so terrifying!
"Indeed, Yun Gong has a good eye for the law, and Li Bailong is extremely intelligent. However, we are now enemies with each other. The better his plan is, the more we must destroy it... Hall Master, what should we do?"

Taoist Ling first agreed, then asked and even suggested: "Send someone to cause trouble, or?"

"Li Bailong is always thinking five steps ahead. He linked this matter to the essay contest, thus making it look like a major imperial policy. If we interfere, it will only give him the opportunity to attack..."

As he said this, Ma Fulong slowly smiled.

"But don't worry... I'm from the Ma family. Although I come from the first branch and not the second branch, as a junior, I've often heard about my second uncle's abilities and methods."

He had already thought of the solution and immediately burst into laughter.

"Li Bailong is very smart, but he is still young. Although he is very smart, don't forget that we have money. His idea is good, but it belongs to me now! Variety show? Guessing? Quiz? With the huge funds in hand, we can create a bigger and more attractive one than his, leaving him with nowhere to go!"

Taoist Ling also came to his senses and couldn't help but show admiration.

"Li Bailong is so smart that he is almost a demon. The hall master is also very smart! He actually thought of a way to deal with it in a split second. It seems that the dog official will definitely suffer this time!"

He sincerely complimented: "The hall master's move is to use his own method to return the favor. In my opinion, your level is close to that of Mr. Teng. You really have a bright future!"

Ma Fulong said proudly: "I copied my second uncle's ideas and used them to copy Li Bailong's ideas!"

The previous chapter was blocked by the censorship... I was not feeling well these past two days due to a cold and didn’t pay attention to it.

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(End of this chapter)