When he heard Zhang Shou asking him something, Lu Sanlang finally came to his senses from his resentment and quickly raised his head: "Young Master, do you have something to ask me? What is it?"
"We were eating and talking at the same time. I was hungry after a morning of classes. I don't have a rule of not talking while eating or sleeping."
Zhang Shou sat down as he spoke. Seeing Lu Sanlang immediately agreed and sat opposite him without any hesitation, he rolled up his sleeves, picked up the chopsticks and started to put the mutton in. He also put in a few slices of winter melon and duck blood, and then asked, "How did you run your previous San San Bookstore?"
Lu Sanlang didn't expect Zhang Shou to ask this. He almost got burned when he stuffed a piece of mutton into his mouth. After swallowing the meat with great difficulty, he quickly poured himself a cup of tea, then raised his head and said proudly, "I wanted to prove to my father that I was capable, so I opened a bookstore in the capital and hired a few scholars to write legend books."
As he spoke, his eyebrows danced with joy, and his chopsticks began to dance with him: "Didn't Emperor Taizu write Journey to the West? At that time, it took a long time for a chapter to come out of the palace, and paper was really expensive in the capital. Although I don't have the ability to write books, I still have a taste for reading, so I spent three years secretly visiting many scholars and finally hired these people."
"Don't underestimate the fame of people like Ge Zushi. When it comes to books that really sell well... Hey, apart from the Four Books and Five Classics and their annotations, my novels and stories are the best! Miss Zhu probably doesn't know that the book she edited about Du Shiniang was also printed by my bookshop! Hey, she was very generous. She gave me a lot of money to print a thousand books."
Zhang Shou immediately laughed. So, is Lu Sanlang actually a well-known publisher in the Ming Dynasty novel industry
No wonder those dandies in Cuiyun's family, who helped Ge Yong print books, ended up having all the business taken away by Lu Sanlang!
He also ate a few slices of mutton with sesame sauce, and then asked, "Besides the bookstore, what other businesses do you have?"
If it were someone else, Lu Sanlang would really not bother to show off - among those aristocratic families, Zhang Chen lived purely on the money of his family, while those who were not favored, such as Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, went around begging for money. He told these people to be self-reliant, self-sufficient, and make some achievements in the future to show his family, which was simply talking to a cow. But Zhang Shou was different, he was willing to show off in front of others.
He attentively poured a cup of tea for Zhang Shou, and then chuckled: "Young sir, don't disbelieve me. I own 40% of the Tingyu Cottage, which is said to be an elegant place in the capital."
Although he was showing off on purpose, seeing Zhang Shou was a little confused, Lu Sanpang couldn't help but want to slap his forehead in annoyance. Zhang Shou had just arrived in the capital for a few days, and the emperor had stuffed him into the Imperial College. Why would he go to such a place? Thinking that although Zhang Shou's appearance and talent were better than his, he was definitely not as knowledgeable as himself, he was very excited and hurriedly explained vividly.
"Young Master, that is an elegant place to listen to music, recite poetry, and enjoy singing and dancing. Not to mention the dignitaries in the capital, even the talented people who come to the capital to take the imperial examinations are often proud to listen to a piece of music in Tingyu Cottage. Listening to music, playing chess, painting and talking about poetry, just look at the two afternoon classes at Banshan Hall. If it weren't for your strict order, young master, someone might have thought of inviting people from Tingyu Cottage."