Chapter 198 Big Business

On the Ji River, there was a boat coming from the southeast, but the people on the boat were not Huang Gai, and Yang Chong was not Cao Cao. There was no intrigue between them, only sincerity in doing business.

Compared to big rivers, the Ji River is not very wide, so the Confucian boat quickly stopped at the dock. Two people, one big and one small, walked out of the cabin. The older one was about thirty years old, or maybe a little older. He had a white face and no beard, and was as gentle as jade. However, there was a restrained light in his eyes. He was a rare master.

The other one was a boy who was no more than ten years old. Although he pretended to be mature, his round face exposed his real age. He was still a child.

Two people, one big and one small, came onto the dock and looked at the two people waiting on the dock at the same time.

"What a beautiful sister." The boy's eyes fell on the woman in purple. He felt that she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, but he couldn't say how beautiful she was. Now he could only distinguish between beauty and ugliness, but not the differences and similarities between beauty. By the time he could distinguish them, it would mean that he had grown up.

"Yang Chong? He is indeed extraordinary, worthy of being the one that farmers care about." When the boy looked at the woman in purple, the man's gaze was on the man next to the woman in purple.

At this moment, he only felt that although the young man opposite him did nothing and just stood there, his whole body seemed to be integrated with the heaven and earth. He could also achieve such a state, but it was precisely because of this that he was more aware of the horror of such a state.

In the hundreds of years of Confucian history, there were only a handful of people who could reach this state at the age of forty and glimpse the realm of a Grandmaster. He himself was able to achieve this state at the age of thirty by taking advantage of his skills. So why would the other party...

Is it because of the technique?
But the more advanced the martial arts, the harder it is to practice. He is well aware of the difficulty. It is also extremely difficult for the other party to practice martial arts of that level to the realm of great success at the age of twenty.

"Are you the Confucian Master?" Yang Chong stepped forward and asked. Although he had never seen the two people in front of him, he had heard of their existence.

The two generations of sword masters of the Hanguang Sword, especially Wuming, were able to easily control Jingwei in the original trajectory. It was precisely because of this that many people believed that Wuming was a true master, with talent and combat power far exceeding that of Zongheng and the other two.

After meeting this legendary figure today, Yang Chong finally had an intuitive judgment. Wuming can only be considered first-rate, but he is the top among the first-rate. He is almost at the same level as Bai Hei Xuan Jian in the awakened state of Ba Linglong, and has touched the realm of the grandmaster.

As for why Jingwei, a top-notch killer, behaved so badly in front of Wuming in the original trajectory, the reason was mostly due to Jingwei. Jingwei was pregnant at that time. Ordinary pregnant women would have difficulty moving when they were pregnant enough. It was already remarkable that Jingwei could continue killing people under such circumstances. How much combat power could be expected from her?

If Wuming was really a master who could easily defeat first-rate masters, why would he be forced to sacrifice his own life in exchange for the survival of his disciples Yan Lu and Jing Wei when being hunted by Luo Wang? If he was really a master, Luo Wang would not be able to do anything to him.

Of course, this does not mean that Wuming is really weak. With his current martial arts skills, he is almost as powerful as two middle-aged men named Zongheng. In the absence of many masters, he is definitely a top existence in the world.

"My name is Wuming, nice to meet County Magistrate Yang." Wuming stepped forward and saluted.

"Master of Hanguang Sword, I have long heard of your great name." Yang Chong returned the greeting.

"Have Magistrate Yang heard of me?" Wuming was a little surprised. He had no reputation over the years. Wuming was not just a name, but also a reflection of his lifestyle.

“There are tens of millions of people in aristocratic families, but those who stand at the top are always a small number of people, and you are almost at this level, so I know it.” Yang Chong smiled indifferently, and a mysterious aura bloomed on his body.

"So the master is so powerful?" Before Wuming could respond, Yan Lu, the disciple, had already smiled happily. The mentality of children is so interesting.

“In front of County Magistrate Yang, I’m afraid few people can say that they are powerful.” Wuming explained. He said this to Yan Lu. He understood the principle that there are always people better than you. He also wanted his disciples to understand that they should have awe for this world and the people in this world. A person who only knows pride but not awe will not go far.

The two of them then exchanged some free pleasantries and headed towards Lixia City.

In a shop in Lixia City, Yang Chong and Wuming sat down one after another, and Zi Nu also took out a set of classics from the back hall.

"Paper is just a preliminary product. There is printing technology above paper. Mr. Wuming might as well take a look." Yang Chong picked out a book and handed it to Wuming.

"Printing technology?" Wuming was stunned, then he took the book. After opening it, he was stunned. The words on it were arranged neatly and the font was neat. Although it was not a great calligraphy, it was considered to be average. What made Wuming care was not the quality of the words, but their size and layout. From top to bottom, from right to left, they were arranged neatly, which was amazing.

Could it be because of the so-called printing technique? Wuming, who was puzzled, was suddenly shocked. Yang Chong could come up with something as magical as paper, and it didn't seem to be a big deal to come up with the magical printing technique. "Take a look at the other books." Yang Chong gestured.

Upon hearing this, Wuming quickly pulled out a few books and gasped after opening them. They were the same books, but the layout and handwriting were exactly the same. What did this mean?
Wuming suddenly thought of a possibility, and then hurriedly asked: "How long did it take you to make these books?"

"It took about half a month. Of course, fourteen days were spent on the preparatory work. The actual time spent on making these books was less than a day." Yang Chong said.

The various schools of thought in this era debated with each other and competed for the right to speak. How to expand their own influence became a problem that they had to consider. Some went to the court and used the power of the court to expand their influence in order to gain greater voice. Some went to the underworld and used the power of the underworld to expand their influence. Of course, this method was not necessarily clever. Some people went to the grassroots level, hoping to compete with other schools of thought by influencing the lower classes. This was the way the Mohist School did.

No matter which method is used, it will inevitably lead to one thing, that is, to spread one's own doctrines and recruit more disciples.

As a result, books became a resource that all schools of thought had to invest heavily in. However, in this era, bamboo slips were heavy. Although they were not difficult to obtain, the information that could be recorded on a roll of bamboo slips was limited. It would take a large number of bamboo slips to write down just the Analects of Confucius, and it would be even more troublesome to copy them.

The resources that Confucianism spent every year just on purchasing bamboo slips and copying classics were astronomical figures, but even so, the efficiency was extremely low.

As for ordinary people who want to obtain a classic book, they also need to pay a considerable price. This situation seriously restricts the spread of Confucianism, because not everyone has the money to buy valuable classics.

But now with the existence of paper and the printing technology that Yang Chong mentioned, can this situation change?
If Confucianism can obtain more classics at a lower cost, more people will be able to easily obtain Confucian classics, and the number of Confucian disciples can be greatly expanded. The more Confucian disciples there are, the more it means...

As Wuming thought about it, even though his character was cultivated through the practice of Zuowang, he couldn't help but get excited. No one can be without desires, it's just that everyone cares about different things.

"How much are these books?" Wuming asked. Although the things are good, the price still has to be considered in the end.

"It's not expensive, about one-fifth of the cost of writing on bamboo slips." Yang Chong gave a conservative figure.

Books printed using paper and printing technology are of course cheaper. Not to mention one-fifth, even one-tenth would be a huge profit. However, Yang Chong could not do this. The reason was very simple: he also wanted to make money.

Besides, if we feed Confucianism too much, it will be much more difficult to continue doing business in the future.

Although Yang Chong will not exhaust all resources, he will not be so hypocritical as to cause trouble to his future self.

"One fifth, that's enough, that's enough." Wuming pondered. He knew that even at one fifth of the price, Yang Chong could still make money, but that didn't matter.

When doing business, you can't just focus on how much money others make, but you have to look at how much you can earn, otherwise the business will not be able to continue.

Wuming understood this principle. He didn't care how much money Yang Chong could make from this deal. He only cared how much benefit Confucianism could get from this deal.

One fifth, which means that Confucianism can get five times as many classics at the same price, and can also recruit five times as many disciples. With numbers, there is strength. Once the number of Confucian disciples increases, the influence of Confucianism will be further enhanced.

"We Confucians have accepted this deal." Wuming calmed himself down and said, he knew that Yang Chong would not be able to do business only with Confucians, but they could seize the first-mover advantage. As long as they could stay one step ahead, they would have more room for maneuver and would be able to gain greater advantages in the future.

"In addition to transactions, I can cooperate with Confucianism in another way." Yang Chong talked about his other goal.

Although Confucians may not be as efficient as Legalists in being officials, in this era, Legalists' disciples were not so numerous that they could be found in every small place.

If Yang Chong wants to recruit more talents, he cannot limit his focus to just one company.

(End of this chapter)