I'm writing novels in Liaozhai

Chen Zibai came as promised.

Before the township examination, he had said that once Gu Ming passed the exam, he would definitely go to Guobei County to congratulate him in person.

Now that Gu Ming handpicked Xie Yuan, it was even more worthwhile for him to make a special trip.

But he didn't come alone, besides the accompanying subordinates, there were also the prefect of Jinhua and several other government officials.

After all, Gu Ming appointed Jie Yuan hand-picked, every test can attract colorful auspicious clouds, which is of extraordinary significance.

As a magistrate, he naturally has a good face, so is there any reason to congratulate him?

Afterwards, some surrounding county magistrates also rushed to Guobei County after hearing the news.

For a time, the house was full of guests.

It's okay for Gu Ming, the big deal is to come out to receive him and say a few words of courtesy.

Nie Hongshu was really busy.

After all, he is the magistrate of Guobei County, so he not only has to personally receive them, but also prevents riots and cases from happening in the city.

Especially the safety of all the officials is the top priority, no matter what happens to any one of them, it is difficult for him to shirk his responsibility.

"My lord Nie, you are a good son-in-law. The emperor hand-picked Xie Yuan, let alone this dynasty, and there are not many people who have won this honor in history. It is enough to leave a strong mark in the history books!"

"Master Zhifu has won the prize"

In fact, Nie Hongshu was very proud in his heart, but he had to be humble in face.

"Congratulations, Mr. Nie, for finding a good son-in-law."

"Congratulations Gu Jieyuan"

Other officials also expressed their congratulations.

Chen Zibai naturally couldn't help congratulating, and finally asked: "By the way, Gu Sheng, I heard from Mrs. Nie that your book Dream of the Red Chamber has already been printed?"

"Yes, Mr. Chen, but this book has a lot of content, so the students have adopted the method of serialization this time. The first volume will be released first, and the remaining four volumes will be released successively within the next year."

Chen Zibai nodded with a smile: "That's right, this method is also unique. At that time, I will definitely read it quietly."

"Hehe, I have long heard that the book written by Gu Sheng is quite good. I have never had the chance to read it. This time the new book is released, I will definitely let people buy a copy and enjoy it carefully."

"That's right, that's right, what the magistrate said is that the lower officials must have a good time reading the book written by Gu Jieyuan."

"Gu Jieyuan is so talented, the books he wrote are naturally worth reading."

As soon as Chen Zibai opened his mouth, all of them, including Tong Zhifu, expressed their opinions.

Regardless of whether these officials are talking on the scene or from the heart, Gu Ming has to express it.

First of all, I said a few words of modesty, then smiled and said: "Thanks to the love from all the adults, the students will give you some of my humble works when I turn back.

When the new book is released, it will be delivered to the homes of the adults."

Chen Zibai and the others stayed for one day and one night, and returned one after another the next day.

In the next few days, more and more scholars came to the Poetry and Painting Club.

What's more, it's not just local scholars, almost half of them are foreign scholars.

Firstly, everyone wants to see the demeanor of hand-picked Xie Yuan with their own eyes, and secondly, if there is a chance to ask for advice, it would be best to get a little bit of air.

For a while, Xing's study was full of people.

Book sales are skyrocketing. Of course, almost all of the books sold are a few books written by Gu Ming.

The poetry and painting club was overcrowded. Many scholars came here early in the morning and sat until the afternoon, just to find an opportunity to chat with Gu Ming.

Gu Ming didn't put on airs, after all, he also came from a poor scholar step by step.

One cannot forget one's roots.

Therefore, I would take some time to appear in the Poetry and Painting Club almost every day, chatting with some scholars about poetry, songs and Fu, as well as the experience of this exam.

Of course, I did not forget to promote the upcoming new book: A Dream of Red Mansions.

Two days later, under Liu Fangzhu's repeated urging, the first batch of [-] volumes of "Dream of the Red Chamber" exuding the fragrance of ink was finally delivered.

At this time, Shopkeeper Yu had arrived a day earlier and placed an order of [-] volumes at a time.

However, it was impossible for Gu Ming to give him all of them. He only gave [-] volumes, and the remaining [-] volumes will be added after the next batch is printed.

The sales scene of the day can be described as overcrowded!

If it wasn't for Nie Hongshu's foresight to send some yamen servants to maintain order at the scene in advance, someone might fight over the queuing.

On that day, the first volume of A Dream of Red Mansions alone sold more than a thousand copies.

Several other books have sold hundreds of copies.

The sales volume in just one day has almost caught up with the total sales volume in a month on weekdays.

However, this is just the beginning.

In the past, almost only people from the county came to buy books, but now there are many foreigners.

In addition to scholars, there are many ordinary people, even some illiterate people.

They don't have to read books for themselves, they can show them to their children and grandchildren, and even put them in their homes.

This is because Gu Ming's deeds of catching ghosts and subduing demons have long been spread, and there are still rumors that he is the reincarnation of Qu Xing

On the second day after the new book was released, the momentum remained undiminished.

At noon, a friend came from afar!

"Brother Yun, Brother Xu, why did you two come together?"

When they met, Gu Ming was a little surprised.

Before, the two did say that they would come to visit some time ago, but they didn't expect it to come so soon.

"Haha, brother Gu doesn't welcome me and brother Xu?"

Ma Yun made a joke.

"How could this brother be?"

Gu Ming subconsciously glanced at the middle-aged man who came with Ma Yun.

Without waiting for Ma Yun's introduction, the other party took the initiative to cup his fists and said: "I am Wang Dalong, a bookseller in Yuhang Mansion. I have admired Gu Jieyuan's name for a long time, and today I am finally fortunate to see Gu Jieyuan's demeanor."

His speech and demeanor have the demeanor of a scholar without losing the boldness of a person in the world.

Hearing the other party's self-reported family name, Gu Ming couldn't help being stunned for a moment, then he smiled back and saluted: "So it's the shopkeeper Wang, I've admired him for a long time!"

It sounds like a polite remark, but the other party's name, Gu Ming, is really impressive.

I still remember that before time travel, whoever wrote a novel and sent a contract at the starting point did not know the name of Wang Dalong?

That can be regarded as one of the legendary figures in the online arena. He has always only heard his name but never seen him.

"Gu Jieyuan is polite, actually, I heard about the book written by Gu Jieyuan from my colleagues before I left, but I never had the chance to read it carefully.

This time I was honored to come to Guobei County at the invitation of Mr. Ma, hoping to have a chance to cooperate with Gu Jieyuan. "

Hearing this, Gu Ming was overjoyed, and immediately made a gesture of invitation: "It's easy to say, and I invite you among the three!"

Previously, Gu Ming visited many bookstores in Yuhang Mansion, but did not find any books written by him, which means that Yuhang Mansion is still a blank market.

Since some booksellers took the initiative to come to the door, this is naturally a good thing.

The two sides sat down and chatted for a while, and Gu Ming asked someone to bring over a set of books he wrote.

These include the latest release of A Dream of Red Mansions, as well as several previous releases.

"Sorry, the three of you are chatting first, and I will read Gu Jieyuan's masterpiece first."

Ma Yun smiled and nodded: "Well, shopkeeper Wang take a look."

Then he turned to Gu Ming and said, "I'll tell you the truth, Brother Gu, in fact, this time I'm looking for shopkeeper Wang, and I also want to cooperate with him, after all, he has rich experience in this field."

"Cooperation?" Gu Ming was stunned for a moment, then asked with a smile, "Does that mean Brother Yun also wants to get involved in the book business?"

"Let's just treat it as a ticket, and operating books is not a disgrace to the reputation of scholars.

Moreover, Brother Xu is also interested in this, so we are going to do this together.”

At this moment, Xu Jiaying took over the words: "Actually, brothers Xiaosheng and Yunzhi mainly fell in love with the book written by Brother Gu.

So this time I came here specially to discuss with you.

Manager Wang is mainly in charge of business matters, and Brother Yun and I are in charge of contacting some scholars."

It sounds like the two of them did not come forward to do business directly, but handed it over to Shopkeeper Wang. They are mainly responsible for investment and publicity.

This method is not bad, it is equivalent to being the boss behind the scenes.

Hearing what they said, Gu Ming couldn't help but look pleasantly surprised, as if someone was passing a pillow when he was dozing off.

Before that, Gu Ming had discussed business matters with Nie Xiaoqian.

After all, today is different.

In the past, he was just a scholar, but now he is hand-picked for Jie Yuan. As the saying goes, a big tree attracts the wind, and I don't know how many people in the government and the opposition are secretly paying attention to him.

And in the future, he will have to participate in the general examination and palace examination, and his goal will be even higher: to be named on the gold list!

That is to say, it is necessary to gradually dilute the identity of the businessman.

Although running a study can be regarded as a Confucian businessman, he is still a businessman in the final analysis.

Since ancient times, the imperial court has always emphasized agriculture and suppressed business.

No matter how rich a businessman is, he can only rely on the breath of the powerful.

Unless it is a well-established squire family like the Zeng family, with land and food, and the protection of their ancestors, even if they do some business, they cannot be classified as merchants, but still belong to squires.

But Gu Ming is different.

He is alone, and he is not a disciple of any family.

There is no way to talk about the background.

Therefore, Gu Ming intends to slowly retreat behind the scenes and hand over the study to He Yongliang and others.

At the same time, he began to purchase land outside the city, plant flowers and grass, call friends, drink and fish, and play the piano to make gifts.

Isn't it fragrant to enjoy the flowers, the moon and the beauties when you have nothing to do?

As for silver, Gu Ming is not short of it now, and has already saved thousands of taels of silver.

According to the calculation of about ten taels of silver per mu of fertile land in the suburbs of Guobei County, it can buy almost six or seven hundred mu of fertile land

1 Chapter [-] "A Dream of Red Mansions" is on sale

However, the current dynasty has strict control over the sale of fertile land, not whoever wants to buy can buy, and can buy as much as they want.

For example, those businessmen would buy more than ten acres in the name of building a house.Don't count on more, even corrupt officials like Qin Shou don't dare to sell fertile land indiscriminately.

Once it is found out by the superiors, it will not only be a matter of losing the official, but it may even ransack the family and exterminate the family.

However, scholars who have won the election can apply for fertile land from the government with confidence.

Depending on the area and the number of fields, a maximum of [-] mu can be purchased.

Not to mention being a Jinshi for a while, the imperial court usually rewards the land directly.In the case of self-purchase, theoretically, there is no limit to the number of acres.

The premise is that someone is willing to sell.

After all, most of the fertile land is in the hands of rural land wealth or squires. These people are usually not short of money and will not sell the land easily.

Gu Ming is not worried about this.

Firstly, the county magistrate of Guobei County is his father-in-law, and secondly, he has a good relationship with the gentry.

If you really want to open your mouth and want to buy some land, the other party will give some face no matter what.

All in all, Gu Ming is going to downplay his identity as a businessman, and slowly transition to being a man and a squire. This is the foundation of his current life.

With such a plan in mind, Ma Yun approached him to discuss cooperation, which was exactly what Gu Ming wanted.

After chatting for a while, Wang Dalong couldn't help but put down the book, and said sincerely: "Gu Jieyuan is really talented, these few books are really good, not inferior to famous writers at all."

This is not a statement against one's will.