The sky in Baling City was clear on the second day of August. The morning breeze brought the coolness of autumn across the faces of passers-by, while the scorching sun, unafraid of the autumn, shone on the earth.
In the morning light, a few readers walked towards the bookstore next to the state college of literature. Although "Holy Way" and "Literary Newspaper" were issued yesterday, not everyone has bought them. It often takes a month for the college bookstore to remove the previous issue of "Holy Way" and "Literary Newspaper".
Yang Lin was an ordinary student, over twenty years old. There was nothing special about him, whether in his family background, appearance or in any other aspect.
He was in his hometown a few days ago and just came back last night. He didn't meet any booksellers, but he wanted to read "The Holy Way" and "Wen Bao", so he had to come early in the morning and planned to buy them before going back to have breakfast.
He was at the front of the line, with only a dozen people behind him, while at the same time yesterday, there were at least three thousand people gathered here.
When the bookstore officially started selling it, Yang Lin handed out a few large brass coins as usual and said loudly, "One copy of The Holy Way and one copy of Literary Newspaper!"
However, no one responded.
Yang Lin frowned and found that the six bookstore clerks who were supposed to come over to collect the money were all holding something made up of more than a dozen large pieces of paper stacked together. Everyone's expression was extremely interesting and kept changing.
Yang Lin thought to himself that the bookstore clerks were becoming more and more unreasonable, but he couldn't say it directly, so he tapped the wooden counter in front of him and said loudly: "One copy of "Holy Way" and one copy of "Wen Bao"!"
However, the six shop assistants still turned a deaf ear.
Yang Lin looked at the six shop assistants quietly with a gloomy face. He had already made up his mind that after buying "The Holy Way" and "Literary Newspaper", he would go to the Academy of Literature to report these shop assistants for their disrespect for others.
An old scholar at the back of the team said angrily, "You can't even sell on time, how can you be so shameless?"
A kind-looking boy suddenly shouted, "What are you looking at? It seems to be a new kind of book."
At this time, a clerk casually said, "This is the Min Bao, which was just released today."
"Min Bao?" The fire in Yang Lin's heart was extinguished by doubt. He turned his head and looked at the customer behind him, not knowing what it was.
"What is the Minbao?" the old scholar shouted.
"Min Bao is a newspaper jointly founded by Fang Xusheng, Xiangzhou officials and Fang's Library. It is equivalent to Wen Bao or local newspapers, but it is somewhat different from Wen Bao or local newspapers, and I can't tell. Oh, sorry, sorry, I was too engrossed in reading it! Sorry everyone!" The clerk hurriedly apologized with a smile, took out a penny from his pocket, put it in the cash box, then carefully folded the Min Bao and put it into his clothes from the chest.
Seeing the clerk's action, all the readers present instinctively realized that this "Minbao" was very unusual, not to mention that it was related to Fang Xusheng.
Yang Lin asked: "How much is a copy of the "Min Bao"
"Yes, the Minbao is very cheap. It's said to be at cost price. The only difference is the font. It seems to be called... oh, it's called 'Songti'. It's said that Fang Xusheng created it specifically for the Minbao. He even asked Gongdian to send people to renovate all the printing workshops in Xiangzhou. It's a bit strange to look at it. It's square and has lost the essence of calligraphy. But after looking at it for a while, I found that it seems to be very suitable for printing."
The clerk handed Yang Lin "The Holy Way" and "Literary Newspaper" while muttering.
Yang Lin's mind moved, and he took out another penny and said, "Give me a copy of the Min Bao."
The clerk picked up a copy of the Min Bao, held it in both hands, and handed it to Yang Lin respectfully, saying with a smile: "You are the first scholar in Baling City... No, Xiangzhou, or even the human race, to buy the Min Bao."
Yang Lin smiled. He didn't care about who was first or second. He was about to take the Min Bao and leave, but he held the Min Bao in both hands and stared at the front page of the Min Bao without moving, as if his feet had grown roots.
"This..." Yang Lin didn't expect that the "Minbao" actually contained a declaration of war from Fang Yun to the Xuanwu Army of Qing State.
Seeing such an important thing, Yang Lin completely forgot about the people behind him and continued to read with his head down.
"Hey? What are you doing? Buy your stuff and leave quickly?" The old scholar complained, and walked around Yang Lin to buy "Sheng Dao" and "Wen Bao". While walking, he inadvertently glanced at "Min Bao" in Yang Lin's hand, and his eyes immediately widened.
"What! Fang Xusheng issued a declaration of war to the Xuanwu Army?" the old scholar shouted loudly.
"What?"
The people behind him didn't bother to line up and immediately rushed behind Yang Lin, craning their necks to look at the front page of "Min Bao". The last few people jumped while reading.
"This Min Bao is really amazing!"
"It seems that Fang Xusheng's declaration of war only appeared in the "Minbao". If there were rumors before, everyone in the human race would have known about it long ago."
"Interesting! Give me a copy of the Minbao!"
"Give me one too!"
The others shouted to the clerk.
"Don't worry, everyone has one!" the clerk said with a smile and started selling "Min Bao".
Soon, the first dozen or so people each held a copy of Min Bao, and stood in front of the bookstore, flipping through it as if they were holding a large pancake in their hands.
"So this kind of thing happened in Xiangzhou, but the Wen Bao would not record it."
"Huh? So this is what the demon world is like. There are even poisonous dragons. I never knew that before."
"There is actually a guide to the Tongsheng exam written by Dong Wencong, the governor of Dongzhou? I felt it was just a cliché at first, but after a closer look, I realized it was insightful. He is indeed a Hanlin! If I had read this article earlier, I would have passed the Tongsheng exam ten years ago!"
"Haha, look at this article about Jingguo. No, it says it's called news. Although it doesn't say it directly, it's obvious that it was the left prime minister who was obstructing Fang Xusheng! Liu Shan, this traitor, really should be locked up in a three-foot cage!"
The bookstore of the State Academy of Literature always opens very early, but not many people came early on the second day of August to buy books and newspapers. Even the booksellers seldom came early.
However, the street in front of the State Academy of Literature is one of the busiest streets in the entire Baling City and even in Xiangzhou. Even at around six in the morning, there are still many people passing by.
Those people took a casual look and saw more than ten people holding large pieces of paper and reading in front of the bookstore. Some of them were just curious and continued walking forward, but some others suspected that it was a new thing, so they walked over to ask.
Gradually, more and more people came to the gate of the State Academy of Arts.
At first, everyone just read "Min Bao". Later, those who had read "Min Bao" divided into different small groups to discuss according to their favorite content. Some discussed the news in Xiangzhou, some discussed the current affairs of Jingguo, and some exchanged guidance on the Tongsheng exam.
Gradually, more and more people came, and everyone who left would tell their acquaintances about the Min Bao.
As time went by, people from all over Baling City flocked to Wenyuan Bookstore, and booksellers also smelled business opportunities and rushed out with their carts.
The same scene was played out in various cities in Xiangzhou.
However, in just one hour, the number of people in front of the Wenyuan Bookstores in various cities in Xiangzhou had exceeded that of yesterday, and it was crowded.
All of a sudden, everyone in Xiangzhou was talking about Min Bao, not knowing that Min Bao couldn’t even talk to others.
"Min Bao" became completely popular.
.(To be continued.)