Fang Beidou held the manuscript of "Journey to the West" handed to him by Yan Liqiang, and did not move at all, as if he was completely fascinated. In the whole room, the only sounds were the sound of Fang Beidou flipping papers from time to time and the sound of Yan Liqiang sipping tea slowly.
Yan Liqiang finished a cup of tea and simply sat aside, waiting for Fang Beidou to finish reading the book while silently reading the latest content written by several "editors" of the newspaper...
Fang Beidou read very quickly, at least much faster than Yan Liqiang in his previous life. After about two hours, Fang Beidou finally let out a long breath, then picked up the cold teacup on the table and drank all the water in it in one gulp...
"This... was written by you?" Fang Beidou looked at Yan Liqiang as if he were a monster.
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you that someone else wrote this..." Yan Liqiang put down the pile of manuscripts in his hand and spread his hands, "So, of course I wrote it..."
"How can someone write a book like this? How can someone write a book like this..." Fang Beidou excitedly turned around in the room, muttering to himself.
"Why, isn't it good?"
Fang Beidou stopped for a moment, looked at Yan Liqiang with burning eyes, and clapped his hands vigorously, "It's not that it's bad, it's simply a stunning work. The stories of gods, demons and monsters in the book are simply amazing. I just read it and couldn't stop reading it..."
Yan Liqiang just smiled and didn't say anything. This was the reason why he chose the four great classics. There were thousands of other books he had read in his mind, but classics were classics. A masterpiece like Journey to the West that could stand the test of time was bound to cause a sensation in this era without much entertainment.
"Have you had any contact with the storyteller in the Imperial Capital these days?"
"I have already met some..." If Fang Beidou didn't know why Yan Liqiang asked him to find a storyteller before, then it would be too stupid for Fang Beidou to not react at this time. "You mean, give this "Journey to the West" to those storytellers and ask them to promote our "Han Empire Times" after they finish telling the story. This is a good idea. In this way, our newspaper will be spread all over the Imperial Capital within a few days..."
"Do you think they are willing to talk about this book Journey to the West?"
"Of course I am willing. You don't know how difficult it is for these storytellers to find a story that can be told and can attract people. Many people live their entire lives by telling just one story. Moreover, in the entire Imperial Capital, there are only a few stories that are told over and over again. They are all old-fashioned, but there are still people who listen to them. If they come across a new story like this, as long as we are willing to let them tell it, they will definitely be more than happy to accept it..."
Yan Liqiang smiled. He didn't feel strange that Fang Beidou thought this way. However, if that was all, then it would underestimate his experience in his previous life. "I plan to let the storyteller in the Imperial Capital tell the story of Journey to the West, but not the whole story. Just the first few chapters. For example, when Sun Wukong was pinned down under the Five Elements Mountain..."
"Ah, what about the rest? Are they not allowed to talk about it?" Fang Beidou asked curiously.
"Of course we'll let them talk about the rest, but not now. We'll have to wait for a while!"
"Why wait?"
"Because the following contents will be serialized in our Han Empire Times. Do you understand serialization? It means that we will publish a few chapters of Journey to the West in each issue of the newspaper. Those who want to know the following contents of Journey to the West can only buy our newspapers every issue. In this way, we don't have to worry about the sales of our newspapers..."
Fang Beidou had never thought that Yan Liqiang could come up with such a brilliant idea. After hearing what Yan Liqiang said, he could not help but applaud. This idea was undoubtedly many times better than the one he had just thought of. However, Fang Beidou still had a question in his mind, "But, if this is the case, when we publish Journey to the West in the newspaper, our newspaper will not have trouble selling. But once Journey to the West is published, won't the newspaper return to its current state?"
Yan Liqiang shook his head. "Our newspaper is new now. No one is used to buying it. Although it feels fresh, most people are still waiting and watching. I serialize Journey to the West in the newspaper. The purpose is not to get people to buy it, but to form consumption habits through this purchase. We are cultivating their consumption habits. Once people's consumption habits are formed, it is difficult to change. Just like when we eat breakfast, once you are used to soy milk and fried dough sticks, you will like soy milk and fried dough sticks for the rest of your life. The same is true for buying newspapers. Once they form the consumption habit of buying newspapers, even if our newspapers no longer serialize Journey to the West in the future, they will continue to buy our newspapers every issue out of habit. In this way, the sales and influence of our newspapers can be completely opened up!"
Fang Beidou stared at Yan Liqiang blankly, and suddenly heaved a long sigh, "If someone like you goes into business, within twenty years, you will be as rich as a country!"
Thinking of the Liqiang Communications that he had dreamed of opening in his previous life, Yan Liqiang suddenly felt dazed. In his previous life, he thought he had a talent for business and worked very hard. When he was about to make great plans, God let the Heavenly Stone bring him to this strange world. He wondered if he would have the opportunity to realize his dream in his previous life and build a business empire in this world? Fang Beidou's words just now reminded Yan Liqiang, because compared with many people in this world, Yan Liqiang, who had lived two lives, knew more about the huge energy contained in business and wealth. In the iron triangle of force, power and wealth, sometimes the role of wealth can move mountains and seas more than force and power...
Yan Liqiang's heart moved. Perhaps the "Han Empire Times" could be an opportunity for him to realize his dream in his previous life.
"Hahaha, if it's your words, I'll just praise me at that time..." Yan Liqiang said this and blinked at Fang Beidou, "The rest of the things will be left to you to arrange. I remember that there are some rules in the storytelling business. For example, if they want to tell a book or a story, they must obtain the consent of the original author or pay a certain fee. I think you can make good use of this rule. I don't want any money, but in the future, any storyteller who wants to tell "Journey to the West" in the Han Empire must advertise in our newspaper. By then, wherever there is a storyteller telling "Journey to the West" in the entire Han Empire, they will know our "Han Empire Times"..."
"Don't worry, I understand!" Fang Beidou said this, but the expression in his eyes seemed to have refreshed his understanding of Yan Liqiang's "profiteer" methods...
After explaining all these things, Yan Liqiang stood up and was about to leave. But before leaving, he suddenly remembered something and turned around to ask Fang Beidou, "By the way, did your master tell me that I could live for hundreds of years?"
"This... doesn't seem to be the case!" Fang Beidou shook his head honestly.
Walking out of the room, looking at the Longqi Mountain outside the manor, which was crawling in the darkness like a giant beast, and the brightly lit Imperial Capital in the distance, Yan Liqiang took a deep breath and muttered to himself, "Sure enough, I have to fight for everything myself..." After saying this, Yan Liqiang shook his head slightly, then left the newspaper office and headed straight for Imperial Capital...
Longqi Mountain is close to the south gate of Dijing City, but Yan Liqiang deliberately made a detour, entered from the east gate of Dijing City, and then went directly to Ganzhou Guild Hall.
Because he had agreed on a time with Lu Pein before, when Yan Liqiang came today, Lu Pein was waiting for Yan Liqiang in the hall.
The two of them were already very familiar with each other today, so after meeting, there was no further politeness between them. Lu Peien just told Yan Liqiang about the Oujie coal, and then they discussed the time for the dinner with the Lingshan Sect's Dijing branch.
This dinner was not entirely for the Lu family's sake, because the life-resurrection pill that the Lingshan Sect's steward gave to Mr. Lu was eventually eaten by Yan Liqiang's father, indirectly saving Yan Dechang's life. So Yan Liqiang would not refuse it out of emotion and reason. Besides, getting to know the people of Lingshan Sect and making more friends in the capital would also be beneficial to Yan Liqiang...
The dinner will be held tomorrow night at Tianwaitian, one of the famous buildings in Imperial Capital…
"By the way, Liqiang, I want to show you something..." After the two of them finished discussing the dinner time and Yan Liqiang was about to leave, Lu Pein suddenly remembered something, walked out of the living room, and then walked in from a room next door with a scimitar and handed it to Yan Liqiang.
Yan Liqiang took the dog-leg scimitar, looked at it, and then looked at Lu Peien, "Brother Lu, you carry this thing with you when you go out?"
"Take a closer look..." Lu Payne smiled.
After hearing what Lu Pein said, Yan Liqiang looked carefully at the scimitar in his hand. There was nothing much to say about the shape of this scimitar. It was just the standard version of the scimitar he designed. The workmanship of the scimitar was also excellent, and the quality was above standard. There was also a steel stamp of the Yan's swords and trademarks designed by Yan Liqiang on the scimitar - a tiger and a flying dragon formed an abstract and concise swirling circle, and in this circle was the word "Yan", everything looked very formal.
Yan Liqiang looked at the stamp of the trademark carefully, then raised his head in astonishment, "This... There are actually people who are counterfeiting our Yan family's brand!"
"Haha, Li Qiang, you also figured it out..."
"The mark on the Yan family's steel seal was designed by me. The steel seal on this knife looks similar, but there are some subtle differences. I wonder where Brother Lu found this scimitar?"
"Li Qiang, do you know what this knife is called in Ganzhou now?"
"Could it be..."
"This knife is now called a Yan knife in Ganzhou. A Yan knife with your brand name can be sold at 20% to 30% more than the market price even if the quality is the same. We bought this knife in Dijing yesterday!"
"Ah, there is one in Teikyo..."
"A caravan from Ganzhou brought a Yan Dao to the Imperial Capital two days ago!" Lu Pei'en looked at Li Yan and Li Qiang seriously, "It probably won't be long before you, Li Qiang, become famous..."
(End of this chapter)