My book friend Long Aotian

Chapter 41: One Arrow Sculpture
He was detained at the county government office and openly blackmailed, but the situation was stronger than he was, so Boss Chen had no choice but to obey.

He said half helplessly and half complainingly: "I understand. I am willing to give 20% of my shop's shares to the county lieutenant. From now on, I will take care of my small business..."

"…What nonsense are you talking about!" Feng Guozhong jumped up in shock and shouted, "Who wants to take your money?"

The power of county officials is incredible. It is common for them to extort civilians and demand shares in stores. If the victims do not have any backers, they will most likely be skinned alive.

However, Feng Guozhong was a personal soldier of the Yang family, and was promoted by the general to enter the official career. If he extorted the people and bullied the villagers in Lin County, it would be a disgrace to the second lady Yang Ying.

Even if he had eight courages, he wouldn't dare to do it!
"It's not impossible, actually." Li Bailong, who was sitting nearby, said, "If you can contribute, you deserve to be paid. If you get paid, you will be more motivated to contribute."

Feng Guozhong was very scared: "If the Second Miss knew, she would use me as a pillar for the Dragon Fist..."

"I will go and talk to the head master."

Chen Baitang just listened to the two people talking sadly. He had no room to intervene and no courage to protest, even if the other party was discussing how to divide his hard work and family property.

Just as he began to feel self-pity, he saw Jie Yuanlang turn his head.

"Boss Chen, don't be sad too soon. I have a plan. Please listen to me before making a decision."

"...Please speak, Mr. Jie Yuan."

Li Bailong pulled out a book from his sleeve. The cover had the words "Legend of Huangji Zhantian" written on it. Boss Chen was shocked when he saw it - but the next moment, his eyes became suspicious.

"Mr. Chen, please take a closer look. Is this book published by your store?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Baitang rushed forward two steps and immediately began to search the book that Li Bailong took out. After just two glances, his hands began to tremble and his face turned red, and he was obviously very angry.

"Please allow me to report this to you two!" He gritted his teeth and said, "A book published in a small edition must have the words "Published by Chen's Bookstore on Yunjin Street" on the cover of the last page. This book does not have it, so it must be a pirated copy!"

Boss Chen flipped through the pirated book with a rustling sound: "The paper is of poor quality, it must be the worst mulberry paper, the ink is not consistent, it must have been carved in a hurry, and there are typos, which is caused by the rough craftsmanship of the engraver and the careless inspection of the plates... If my Chen's Bookstore prints such rotten paper, I will throw myself into the Chilian River!"

Li Bailong asked knowingly: "Where did this book come from?"

"Where else can they come from?" Boss Chen said sternly, "These are greedy people who are pursuing profit. They pirated and sold the books that I published exclusively for profit. I spent a lot of effort to print and sell books, and I have to share 50% of the profits with Long Batian. These thieves print books and take all the profits. How are they different from bandits and thieves!?"

He spoke with righteous indignation, and every word he said was heartbreaking.

But Feng Guozhong didn't seem to care.

After all, different social periods have different social consensus.

In today's Da Qi, although public opinion has a basic sense of copyright, it is limited to the warrior class. If you plagiarize or pirate other people's martial arts secrets, everyone will despise you, and it is also illegal. Once the victim reports the case, the people from the Lintai Wuwei Mansion will come to deal with you.

But if similar infringements extend to the civilian field, such as vernacular novels, people at the time would not take it seriously, and the government would be too lazy to care - after all, they are just idle books and worthless.

Li Bailong asked knowingly: "Didn't you report it to the police?"

"Of course I have reported it... The county magistrate accused me of being nosy, saying that the profits I made from printing books were huge, and I shouldn't be greedy, and it wouldn't hurt to let others make some money. He also said that the world is so big, and I can't just be allowed to print this book. There are more than thousands of counties and cities in the world, and more than tens of millions of bookstores in the world, and I can't manage them all..."

Chen Baitang sighed when he said this: "Indeed, Lin County is only a small corner of the world. I have heard that The Legend of the Imperial Battle of Heaven has been taken to other states and counties by passing caravans, and some booksellers have printed it. Over time, there are countless states and counties in the world, and pirated copies must be everywhere..."

He does not mean that.

In the spiritual world, Long Aotian, who had been listening, seemed to realize how difficult and dangerous his road to becoming an Aotian was, and he was momentarily confused.

With such a vast territory and so many prefectures, how can Da Qi control piracy? ?
Aozi was stunned for a while, and suddenly said: "Brother, let's go and fight for supremacy in the world!"

"…Do you think this is more difficult than fighting piracy?"

"It seems that this matter is more difficult..."

"Good. Very sober."

Li Bailong praised him and then said to Boss Chen, "That is to say, for every additional pirated copy, you will earn less money."

"Yes."

Boss Chen felt sympathetic and nodded repeatedly.

"If you earn less money from one book, Long Batian will get less profit..." Li Bailong said here and looked at Feng Guozhong, "Piracy is so rampant, the publishing market is so dark, and the government does not protect the legal rights of authors. If I were Long Batian, not only would I refuse to write, I might even rebel against his mother."

Feng Guozhong seemed to be thinking: "You mean..." Li Bailong ignored him and turned to Boss Chen and said, "Mr. Chen, let me ask you, if the county lieutenant's office was involved in piracy, and it was doing justice for you, confiscating pirated shops, destroying their engravings, driving away their carvers, and confiscating pirated books on the market, how much would your bookstore business increase?"

Chen Baitang's body trembled suddenly when he heard this, and his eyes lit up. He thought for a moment and said quickly, "I dare not say anything big in front of Jie Yuanlang. Some people just think it's too expensive. If there are no pirated copies, they may not come to the store to buy the genuine ones... But after all, some people will come! 30% to 40%! At least 30% to 40%!"

"If the County Magistrate's Office helps you fight piracy and enforces the law strictly, so that your business grows, then we can set a quota for the increase in your monthly profits and send it to County Magistrate Feng's office for use. What do you think?"

Mr. Chen opened his mouth wide, thinking for a moment that he was still dreaming.

To be fair, he actually didn't want to.

Just as he was unwilling to split the profits 50-50 with Long Batian.

But successful businessmen will always choose rationality between rationality and sensibility!
"The villain is willing!"

Even if he would sigh and curse someone for being greedy while fiddling with an abacus in the dead of night, it would not prevent him from calculating and dividing the other person's share exactly.

"In that case, Mr. Chen, just wait for good news."

Li Bailong took out a thick stack of manuscript paper, put it on the table, and pushed it to Mr. Chen: "Return this item, Mr. Chen, keep it carefully. If you lose it again, Mr. Long Batian will be angry."

Chen Botang recognized the manuscript and choked up for a moment.

Li Bailong watched leisurely, but sneered in his heart.

It's so painful that you couldn't even keep the manuscript. I had to go and find it myself, and I was also responsible for getting you out. It's really embarrassing for a CEO to end up like this.

——Why don’t you say thank you to the author!

After the matter was settled, the two men left, and Boss Chen thanked them profusely for seeing them off.

The setting sun was shining outside, and the evening breeze was blowing, with a silent sound.

Feng Guozhong had a new way to make money, but he was not happy at all. He hadn't figured it out yet: "No, aren't we here to do business? Why are we fighting piracy? And what about Mu Qingge?"

Li Bailong planned and planned, and killed several birds with one stone. He was very proud and said: "Isn't this all done?"

Feng Guozhong wondered, "What?"

"Boss Chen said that Long Batian loves fame and money. If you fight piracy, firstly, he will get more money and secondly, he will get more serious readers. Wouldn't he be happy? Seeing that your government is working hard to crack down on piracy and even actively promoting his books, he thinks he has found a soulmate. Wouldn't he come back to continue writing books?"

Feng Guozhong was skeptical: "It sounds reasonable... Is this okay?"

Li Bailong rolled his eyes and said, "If that doesn't work, then he will be punished for not accepting my offer. If you come to me again, I will track him down and arrest him."

Feng Guozhong had no doubt about his ability to catch people, and he said happily: "That's great, it's a deal!"

He ignored the question and asked happily, "What about the girl from the Six Gates? He asked you to catch Long Batian, but you were just fighting against pirates. How can you deal with Lady Wei and her?"

Li Bailong spread his hands and said, "I am fighting piracy, just like catching Long Batian."

"…Huh? How can you say that?"

"Long Batian was ambushed last night. According to common sense, he must have fled thousands of miles away. But if he wrote the book for other purposes, he would not give up the situation in Lin County easily."

Li Bailong's eyes flashed with wisdom, and he analyzed with confidence: "Look, now that Chen's bookstore has been closed by the government, you can still buy "Legend of the Imperial Battle of Heaven" on the market. You said that it was pirated, and it was stolen privately by greedy people who pursued profit. Then I can also say, is there a possibility that Long Batian used the name of piracy to hide underground and secretly continue to print and sell his books?"

Feng Guozhong stared in astonishment and said, "You are making a pirated version of yourself. Are you crazy?"

"Normally speaking, no. So there is a network... If someone does this, they must have some dirty and stupid motives."

Li Bailong said solemnly, "Chen's bookstore was closed, but there are still books for sale. So I reasonably suspect that the small workshop hidden by Long Batian is continuing to print. This is also a reasonable suspicion, right? Then it is also normal to crack down on piracy and trace the source, right? If Long Batian can be caught, that would be the best. If he cannot be caught, it would also hit a group of profit-seeking thieves, and they deserve it... What do you think, is this the truth?"

Feng Guozhong finally understood, and he murmured, "All your efforts are in vain, and Lady Wei and the women from the Six Gates have nothing to say... You're killing two birds with one stone, and you're using the government to help you do things, that's brilliant."

Yes, it also cleaned up pirated copies and expanded the potential genuine users, which means more Aotian wishes. In addition, the business of Chen's Bookstore was tied to the County Lieutenant's Office. With you coming forward to support it, more risks of opening boxes can be avoided to a great extent - I can't even count how many eagles were shot down with this arrow!
Li Bailong could hardly hold back his laughter when he thought of this.

As expected of me.

With this in mind, he walked with Feng Guozhong inside the county government office. As the sun was setting and the office was about to close, there were few voices. He couldn't help but say, "The county government office is so quiet today."

(End of this chapter)