Volume One: River City Song Chapter 13: The Colossal Beast

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Seeing that Li Ling truly knew nothing about the Wan family’s background, Gu Yuezi began to explain in detail.

“Though the Wan family is no ancient noble house, their business has expanded steadily over the years, and they have now become one of the major powers within Hengzhou Prefecture. Not to mention small merchants and common folk like you and me—even high officials in the prefectural capital must treat them with courtesy and respect.

“As for their wealth and influence, they are far beyond the reach of a small merchant like me. Publishing is merely an industry they entered a few years ago. The businesses that truly bring them great profits are the banks and taverns scattered throughout Hengzhou Prefecture, the carriage companies that connect the northern and southern overland routes, and a number of other smaller enterprises. To say that gold pours into the Wan family’s coffers every day would actually be an understatement.

“With such immense wealth behind them, the Wan family has found everything smooth sailing in official circles and has cultivated an extraordinarily broad network of contacts. The Governor of Lianghuai invites the head of the Wan family to meet with him every year, while even many officials in Luoyang maintain close relations with them. No merchant in Hengzhou Prefecture can match their connections or the power of their protectors. Compared with them, my Gu Family Bookshop is utterly insignificant. The difference is that between an elephant and a mouse.”

He had only meant to give Li Ling a brief account of the Wan family’s circumstances, but the more Gu Yuezi spoke, the more unsettled he became. His opponent was such a colossal force. Could his own little bookshop truly stand against them?

Li Ling, too, clicked his tongue in admiration. He had not expected such a formidable and influential merchant to exist in this ancient world. Hadn’t merchants always held low status throughout the dynasties? Why was the Great Yue Dynasty so different?

Of course, in his eyes, this supposedly colossal Wan family was nothing extraordinary. Which major corporation of later generations was not larger and more terrifying than they were?

He even made a joke of it. “From the way you describe them, the Wan family doesn’t sound much different from the Zhuang family in our county. Aren’t they simply relying on collusion between officials and merchants while monopolizing a few industries?”

“To compare the Wan family with the Zhuang family is to overestimate the Zhuang family and underestimate the Wan family. The two are utterly incomparable. The Zhuang family’s only protector is a minor county clerk. If the newly appointed magistrate truly wanted to eliminate them, he would have a fairly good chance of succeeding. Besides, everything Zhuang Qiang deals in is shady and illegal—nothing that can be brought into the open. The authorities could prosecute him at any time.

“But the Wan family is different. All their businesses are lawful and legitimate. Not only would the prefectural government find it difficult to deal with them, even an official as powerful as the governor—or even the imperial court itself—would have trouble moving against them.”

Seeing how lightly Li Ling had spoken, Gu Yuezi quickly added this clarification.

Li Ling merely smiled and did not argue. “That may not be true. What merchant seeking profit does not skirt the edge of the law? It only depends on whether anyone intends to arrest them.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing. It seems the enemy we are facing is no simple opponent.” Li Ling looked at the two men, then smiled again. “Still, I gather that the Wan family has only just entered the publishing business. That means their experience, connections, and available capital in this field are all rather limited, correct?”

“That is only in comparison with their other enterprises. With their wealth, even a single strand plucked from their body would be thicker than my thigh. In fact, as early as last year, the Wan family sent someone to offer to buy my bookshop, but I rejected them outright. I never imagined they would move so quickly. In less than a year, they have already extended their reach into Jiangcheng County.

“I have heard that, of the seven or eight counties under Hengzhou Prefecture, the bookshops in six have already fallen under their control. That alone shows how seriously they are taking this venture. So…”

“So we must stop them from succeeding. Otherwise, every book sold throughout Hengzhou Prefecture will be subject to their control, and that would be disastrous!” Li Ling declared at once. “This will certainly be difficult, but we are not entirely at a disadvantage. At the very least, we have two advantages.”

Gu Yuezi stared at him in surprise. “We have advantages? Two of them?”

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“Of course. The first is that Jiangcheng County is our home ground, while the Wan family are outsiders. The common people here, as well as the owners of the local bookshops, have enjoyed years of friendship with you, Brother Gu. When the time comes, they should be willing to lend you a hand. That is what is meant by the advantage of home ground.”

The reasoning was sound, and Gu Yuezi nodded repeatedly. The old shopkeeper, however, asked with curiosity, “And what is our second advantage?”

“As for the second advantage…” Li Ling said with a grin, pointing to his own nose. “You have me.”

The two men were stunned once again. Gu Yuezi recovered quickly and gave a reluctant nod. “There is some truth in what you say, Brother Li. Your Investiture of the Gods has indeed sold extremely well, and it can at least keep my bookshop going for a while longer. But you know that, among all the books a publishing house prints, the ones that truly earn money are the classics required for the imperial examinations. Novels and popular tales merely balance the books and make the shop’s selection more varied. So…”

Li Ling naturally understood the true meaning behind this tactful explanation. Though his Investiture of the Gods had become popular throughout the county, after deducting his manuscript fee and the printing costs, the profit that actually reached Gu Yuezi’s hands was modest. Gu Yuezi simply found it difficult to say so directly.

Li Ling was about to elaborate when Gu Yuezi suddenly knitted his brows and continued, “Besides, judging from what Wan Ai said, they have probably already begun preparing a new book to compete directly with Investiture of the Gods.”

“You mean the words he spoke before leaving? He intends to copy my idea and write something similar?” Li Ling immediately understood. Such things had been commonplace in later generations. Whenever a novel or television series became popular, countless imitators would appear—some crude and shoddy, others nearly identical—all determined to squeeze every last bit of value from the original work.

“Yes. That must be what he has in mind.”

“But will they have enough time?” The old shopkeeper hesitated. “We have already published the third volume of Investiture of the Gods, and the fourth volume should be coming soon.”

Li Ling could only offer a bitter smile at that. He had barely begun the fourth volume; there was still no telling when he would be able to submit it.

Gu Yuezi nodded at first, but then seemed to think of something. His expression changed. “If they intend to write a similar novel from scratch, it would naturally take quite some time. But what if someone has already written several volumes and approaches them for cooperation? As far as I know, there is already someone in Jiangcheng County writing a novel modeled after Investiture of the Gods.”

“What? Who?” Li Ling asked curiously.

“Master Dai—Dai Chang’an!” Gu Yuezi said through clenched teeth. “A little over a month ago, when your Investiture of the Gods was selling briskly, he came to us again and brought along a volume of a novel he claimed to have written painstakingly himself. Anyone who has read Investiture of the Gods could tell at a glance that the book had been written by imitating your plot and ideas. He merely shifted the setting back to the even earlier Xia Dynasty and changed the names of the characters.”

“Such a thing actually happened?” Li Ling was both amused and exasperated. He had not expected the scholars of this era to be any less shameless when it came to chasing a trend. Then he suddenly realized that Dai Chang’an was probably the young man who had inspired him to return home and write a book. It seemed the two of them truly were bound by an unusual connection.

Gu Yuezi glanced at Li Ling again. “I firmly refused his request to publish the book at the time. Such conduct was utterly disgraceful—something I, Gu Yuezi, could never bring myself to do.”

The old shopkeeper sighed from the side. “But who would have thought that Master Dai had not given up? He has now sent the manuscript to the Wan Family Bookshop, and they may have no such scruples. This could have a serious impact on Investiture of the Gods. Their price will certainly be much lower than ours, allowing them to seize our customers.”

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These words drew another long sigh from Gu Yuezi, who was plainly feeling the pressure. The Wan family possessed enormous wealth and could afford to use low prices to crush their competitors. The Gu Family Bookshop was clearly no match for them in that regard.

Li Ling himself was not overly concerned. After all, Investiture of the Gods was not his original creation. At heart, he too was a plagiarist, and therefore had no grounds to condemn Dai Chang’an’s actions. That did not mean he was willing to accept the situation, however. He merely gave a cold laugh.

“Even so, whether people buy a novel depends on who writes it and how well it is written. If the story is dull, no one will pay for it, no matter how cheaply it is sold. I have confidence that no matter how quickly he publishes, once the fourth volume of our book appears, I will leave him utterly powerless to fight back.”

Gu Yuezi nodded immediately. “I have complete confidence in you, Brother Li. To tell the truth, even I am eagerly awaiting the continuation of your story.”

Li Ling offered a few modest words before his expression turned solemn. “Actually, Brother Gu, you have misunderstood. When I said that your advantage lay in me, I was not referring to my novel. I was referring to me as a person. Perhaps you cannot understand that yet, but I will soon show you through my actions what I am capable of.”

After a pause, seeing the confusion on their faces, he continued, “So there are two things we must do next. First, we must summon all the bookshop owners in the county seat and form an alliance with them, one in which we agree to support and defend one another. Only by standing together can we contend with the Wan Family Bookshop.”

Gu Yuezi hesitated. “Can that truly work? Most of those bookshop owners are competitors, and my relationship with each of them varies…”

“If we gather them all together and let me speak to them, I am at least eighty percent certain they will agree.” Seeing Gu Yuezi nod, Li Ling raised two fingers. “The second matter is even more important: we must find the informer inside the bookshop who has been secretly passing information to the Wan family.”

“What do you mean?” At this, Gu Yuezi and the old shopkeeper were both stunned. They had completely lost track of Li Ling’s line of thought. What informer?

“Have the two of you still not realized it? The reason the Wan family can attack us on two fronts—lowering book prices while poaching authors—is that they know the situation inside the Gu Family Bookshop as thoroughly as if they had witnessed it themselves. In particular, I doubt that more than a handful of people in the shop even know that I, Free-and-Easy Master, am the author of Investiture of the Gods.” Li Ling gave them a grave reminder.