Mo Sang – CH 175

Chapter 175. The Tabloid Is Important

The Morning News and Evening Post for the next day sold out before noon.

Old Nanny Liu, her steps light as a feather, ran to Li Sangrou and asked if she could send over more newspapers; there were only a thousand copies in total, and they were not even enough to last half a day.

Li Sangrou told her not to worry, to sell like this for a while, and that less was better than more for now.

Old Nanny Liu did not quite understand how less could be better than more, but since the boss had said so, it must be. She was new to the shop and had a lot to learn.

However, Old Nanny Liu quickly forgot about the lack of newspapers. From that day on, people started sending letters out, quite a few at that.

The mail carriers and servants sneaked in one by one, turning and leaving immediately if anyone was in the shop. Even those already in the shop were startled.

Those who came in handed her letters, the money always perfectly prepared. She’d hand them over, almost always pointing at the letter and instructing them, “Keep it safe; do not show it.”

Most of these letters were addressed to Jianle City.

Old Nanny Liu was a shrewd woman. Her courier service was the postal system of the Great Qi Kingdom, only serving the Great Qi, not the Southern Liang. Letters sent now could not possibly reach Southern Liang.

After all, just half a month ago, they were citizens of Southern Liang, scholars of Southern Liang. Sending letters to the Great Qi Kingdom now…

This was something she could not think about too much.

Such matters required extreme caution and meticulous attention; keeping it a secret was only natural.

Old Nanny Liu and Sister Zhou sold newspapers and handled mail, occasionally handling a few packages, helping to choose boxes, pack, and secure them.

Back home in the evening, they closed the door, tallied the accounts, and counted the money.

Selling a small newspaper for a year only netted Old Nanny Liu a large sum of money, but she sold so much that she earned a thousand coins in half a day. After two days of selling, Old Nanny Liu and Sister Zhou counted their money over and over again, their smiles beaming.

……………………

When she could see the Morning News and Evening Post, Li Sangrou would carefully read them every day as soon as they arrived.

Just as the eleventh month began, a memorial from Prime Minister Du was prominently displayed in the Morning News and Evening Post.

The memorial was simple and straightforward, suggesting that the court hold the autumn imperial examinations for the entire Jingzhou region in Jianle City next year, “to prevent the scholars of Jingzhou from being implicated by the war.”

As for the joint guarantee for identity verification, that was a minor matter; the local authorities could handle the verification, or it could be done after the examinations were passed. Any false reporting would be punished more severely.

Li Sangrou read it carefully and laughed heartily.

“What good news?” Hei Ma hurriedly dropped what he was doing, rushed over, and craned his neck to see.

Da Chang also craned his neck.

“The Emperor is planning to lure all the scholars of Jingzhou to Jianle City,” Li Sangrou said, handing the court report to Da Chang with a laugh.

“Hahahaha!” Hei Ma immediately burst into laughter. “This is hilarious! Hahahaha!”

Hei Ma laughed heartily, moved closer to Da Chang, peered inside, and could not help but ask Li Sangrou, “Boss, how do they lure them? What does this mean?”

“They are moving next year’s autumn imperial examinations from Jingzhou to Jianle City,” Li Sangrou continued laughing.

“Huh? Hahaha!” Hei Ma laughed for a while, then asked, “What’s wrong with moving it to Jianle City? All the autumn examinations are held in Jianle City, are they not? When we were in Jiangdu City, we never heard of any examinations, never.”

“The autumn examinations are all held in various places, concentrated in one location. For example, in Jingzhou, the autumn examinations were originally held in Ezhou every year.

Next year, it’s moved to Jianle City,” Li Sangrou laughed again. “In the past, in Ezhou, everyone could see who took the autumn examination and who did not.

If it’s moved to Jianle City, only those who took the exam or those in Jianle City will know who did and who did not. That’s the real story.” Li Sangrou clicked her tongue.

“If someone passes but fails, unless they say so themselves, almost no one will know they passed. The autumn examinations are difficult; nine times out of ten, you will fail,” Li Sangrou explained carefully.

That Emperor was incredibly adept at such cunning schemes.

“Hahahaha!” Hei Ma burst into laughter.

“Quite a few people must take the exam?” Da Chang asked, looking at Li Sangrou.

“I do not know,” Li Sangrou shook her head. “Blind Mi once said that the integrity of scholars is a metaphysical concept.

Between Qi and Liang, it’s a struggle between brothers, not between those of different races—that’s for sure. How those scholars view this conflict, what kind of integrity each will display, what kind of atmosphere will emerge—it’s hard to say.

Scholars, too, love to look down on each other.

Let’s not concern ourselves with that.

Da Chang, write a letter for me to Wang Zhuang, asking him to find Manager Lin of the Gossip Evening Post and find a writer with clear and organized writing skills. He should detail the total distance from Ezhou, through Pingjing Pass, to Jianle City; how many days it would take to travel at a fast pace on horseback and how many days it would take to travel at a slow pace; the route, which sections are passable by cart, which are impassable, and which are difficult and dangerous; which towns and villages will be passed along the way; where to stay and eat; and which small shops offer fair and delicious food.

In short, it’s about the journey from Ezhou to Jianle City. The more detailed and thorough, the better. Write a route guide and attach it to the Gossip Evening Post. This guide will only be distributed to Ezhou City and Jianle City. Get it done as soon as possible.”

Da Chang agreed, went inside to get a pen and ink, and came out to write the letter.

“Boss, are you giving them directions?” Hei Ma finally understood.

“Yes, they used to travel down the river.

Now, going down the river is definitely not an option; they can only go through Pingjing Pass.

The Pingjing Pass route is very difficult and long, and very few people know the way. Let’s make things easier for them,” Li Sangrou said with a smile.

“Also,” Li Sangrou looked at Da Chang, “write another letter to Manager Lin, asking him to go to Manager Dong of the Morning Post and compile a list of important articles from the Morning News and Evening Post every day starting from New Year’s Day, especially those related to the autumn and spring imperial examinations, including their titles and authors. Organize it by month, print two thousand copies, and send them to Ezhou.”

Da Chang looked at Li Sangrou.

“And make some money on the side,” Li Sangrou said with a smile, meeting Da Chang’s gaze.

……………………

The Morning News printed with Minister Wu’s memorial sold like hotcakes.

A little later, the servants who had not managed to buy a copy frowned and asked Old Nanny Liu, “Why could you not print more copies? And can I subscribe to tomorrow’s morning and evening gazettes today? I will pay in advance!”

Old Nanny Liu, following Li Sangrou’s instructions, quickly brought out the tabloid subscription service.

However, this subscription was only valid from tomorrow until the end of this year and for the entire next year; there were no individual subscriptions, and no selling tomorrow’s worth of today’s content.

“If you want to buy tomorrow, please come early!”

A group of servants went back to report, and ninety-five percent of them did not return.

Subscribing for a year was something to be extremely cautious about.

Not because it was expensive—it was not much money—but because the two countries were at war.

Today, Northern Qi had occupied Ezhou; who knew if Southern Liang would attack again tomorrow?

If the Southern Liang were to return, and they discovered they had subscribed to the Northern Qi’s annual Morning News and Evening Post, this could easily be considered treason.

Even without the charge of treason, it would be a major stain on their record, one that would never be erased.

It was best to buy them as soon as possible; at this time, the more cautious, the better.

The next day, the 500 copies of the Morning News and Evening Post at the Ezhou delivery station were sold out in less than an hour. The following day, before the delivery station even opened, a large crowd had already gathered outside.

Old Nanny Liu understood her boss’s intentions. No matter how long the line was, she was determined to sell her 1,000 copies of the newspapers. When asked, she only said she had an annual subscription, without much hesitation, appearing as if there was no other way due to high demand.

Within two days, for those households that could not buy any for two consecutive days, a manager sneaked in to repeatedly confirm with Old Nanny Liu that the order was for a year, a secret between the two of them. Old Nanny Liu promised to burn all the orders if anything happened in Southern Liang.

Having received this assurance, the managers left their money and subscribed to the Morning News and Evening Post for this year and next.

Just three or four days after Minister Wu’s memorial, a formal appointment was printed prominently in the Morning News: Pan Dingjiang, a Tanhua, was appointed Prefect of Ezhou Prefecture and, concurrently, Education Commissioner of Jingzhou.

Followed by Pan Dingjiang’s career summary: who his grandfather was, who his father was, what his two older brothers and one younger brother were like, what his wife was like, which year he was a Tanhua, what positions he had held, and so on—all in great detail.

That day’s Evening Post devoted two entire pages to the newly appointed Prefect of Ezhou, Pan Dingjiang, and gossip about the Pan family, especially his wife, Lady Qian, who was quite a formidable woman.

The tabloid, with its usual gossipy tone, went on and on, meticulously listing which day’s paper contained articles about Pan Dingjiang, the remarkable Third Madam Pan née Qian, and the Pan family.

That day’s tabloid sold out in less than a quarter of an hour.

That afternoon, a steady stream of people came to subscribe to the Morning News and Evening Post for the entire following year.

By evening, after closing the shop, Old Nanny Liu and Sister Zhou returned home. On their way, they ordered a pot of stewed mutton, two stir-fried dishes, and a bowl of thick porridge from a restaurant on the next street. Once home, they first checked how many Morning News and Evening Post subscriptions they had that day.

“Auntie, are the newspaper subscriptions paid monthly?” Sister Zhou counted the money, wrote it down, and double-checked, looking at Old Nanny Liu with a hint of disbelief.

“Monthly! Payment at the end of the month. A newspaper sold fresh costs one large coin¹; a yearly subscription costs two large coins, but those two large coins include a delivery fee.

But right now, no one wants delivery; everyone says they will pick it up, so that money is saved.”

Old Nanny Liu paused, thought for a moment, and said, “I need to talk to the boss about this tomorrow. We do not need delivery now, and we cannot just keep the delivery fee without a word.”

“Yes, yes!” Sister Zhou nodded repeatedly. “I think the same as you, Auntie.

Auntie, let’s not count the delivery fee for now, just one large coin per newspaper. We already have subscription for 207 copies, thirty large coins a month per newspaper; that’s over six thousand large coins a month just from subscriptions! We get it every month!”

“After lunch tomorrow, you watch the shop while I go to the temple to burn incense. Buddha and Bodhisattvas blessed us, so we met the boss.” Old Nanny Liu lovingly stroked the little newspaper subscription booklet.

Sister Zhou, holding Shitou, lifted her clothes to breastfeed him. Looking at Old Nanny Liu, she hesitated. “Auntie, something’s wrong.”

“What is it?” Old Nanny Liu had just asked when a waiter from the restaurant called out from outside the courtyard gate that their food had arrived.

Old Nanny Liu ran out, brought the food back, and first ladled out a bowl of thick, white mutton soup, handing it to Sister Zhou.

“You’ve had a long day. Drink some soup first; do not let your milk supply dry up.”

“There’s no heavy work; I am not tired.” Sister Zhou took the soup.

“What is it?” Old Nanny Liu ladled out some porridge, ate a piece of mutton, and asked Sister Zhou.

“This afternoon, when you went to check the accounts outside the city, he came,” Sister Zhou said, her eyes downcast.

“Who? Oh!” Old Nanny Liu blurted out, then realized what she meant and immediately asked with concern, “What did he come for? What did he say?”

“He said he wanted to take Shitou out to play, and that his mother had not seen Shitou before, but I did not let him. Shitou’s surname is Wang.” Sister Zhou looked at her son, who was nestled in her arms, nursing.

“He’s your son, yours alone. Do not worry about anything else!” Old Nanny Liu patted Shitou.

“Yes, he said he wanted to marry me,” Sister Zhou said, feeling a sense of relief.

“That day, did the boss not say that if you wanted to marry him, you could marry him? What did you think?” Old Nanny Liu looked at Sister Zhou.

“Ever since he left,” Sister Zhou paused, “not ever since he left, but ever since that day, after the boss said those things to me, I’ve thought, if only I could marry him…

Auntie, the thought of happily marrying him makes me feel so wronged, like he’s wronged me.

Back then, my mother sold me for two hundred taels of silver, and his family could not come up with that even if they sold everything they owned. I did not blame him.

Later, I got pregnant, and when I told him, he went on a long trip the next day. I still did not blame him.

We cannot afford to offend the Wang family, and neither can they.

Besides, that incident was my fault and his fault too. If the Wang family found out, they’d definitely beat him to death.

Later, the Wang family kicked me out. In the back alley of the Wang family’s house, I had just given birth to Shitou. Holding Shitou, I sat on the ground, unable to stand up. A crowd gathered to watch the spectacle. I saw him, and when he saw me, he backed away in hiding like a mouse.

Later, if Auntie had not heard about it and arranged for a carriage to bring me back, Shitou and I would have died in that back alley long ago.

For many years, I was single-mindedly focused on marrying him.

But now, the thought of marrying him makes me feel wronged, utterly wronged.”

“Did the boss not say that you can marry him if you want, or not if you do not?

Girl, now that you’ve brought this up, let me add one more thing.

I’ve never liked that Song family boy. He’s handsome, but he has no backbone, no responsibility, and cannot support a family.

Even if he gets married, if anything happens, he will definitely just pack up and run away, leaving his wife and children to fend for themselves. If they can get through it and life gets better, he will come back.

That kind of man is useless when things are tough, but he’s the one who gets all the credit when it’s time to enjoy life.” Old Nanny Liu spat as she spoke.

“Auntie, I have you and Shitou. I do not want to get married anytime soon,” Sister Zhou murmured, looking at Old Nanny Liu.

“If you do not want to get married, then do not. Auntie has been single for most of her life and is doing just fine!” Old Nanny Liu patted Sister Zhou. “If you meet a good man in the future, someone who truly loves you, has good character, is responsible, and is a decent person, do not be so sure you will not marry him.”

“Mm.” Sister Zhou looked down at little Shitou, who had finished eating and was now whimpering and biting his hand, kissed him, put her son on the bed, and sat back down to eat.