Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 168 Newspaper Competition, Sword Test

"Selling newspapers! Jianghu Monthly Newspaper!"

"The entire story of the Forbidden City incident! Detailed report!"

The next morning, Jianghu Monthly published a supplement.

However, this supplement experienced an unprecedented decline in sales in Beijing and a few cities in the south.

The Thunder Sword was put aside.

Lu Xiaofeng said, "Last night, the Southern Frontier went crazy, sending out more than ten supplements in a row. They analyzed this matter from beginning to end, inside and out, countless times. I'm afraid people in the capital are tired of it.

How can Jianghu Monthly, which only just released a supplement at this time, possibly sell well?"

Sikong Zhaixing laughed and said, "Do you know what the funniest thing is? I heard that the people from Jianghu Monthly held a meeting for over two hours last night, and the final decision was to hold off and publish as planned!"

Hearing this, several people couldn't help but laugh.

This is indeed a very funny thing.

"However, Jianghu Monthly's decision to take this step is the wisest thing to do."

Zhou Mingdao.

"Oh? Why do you say that?" Lu Xiaofeng was stunned.

Zhou Mingdao said: "Jianghu Monthly is circulated throughout the nine provinces and has a high status. It can be called the best newspaper in the world. It has a different reputation in people's minds.

You see, they handled this matter calmly and still published the supplement as planned, which showed a calm attitude.

But if they had gone crazy last night and published more than a dozen supplements in a row just to compete with the Southern Issue, the reputation and status of Jianghu Monthly in people's minds would have been greatly lowered!"

To put it bluntly, the status of the two companies is completely unequal.

If an open struggle really breaks out between the two, it would be equivalent to Jianghu Monthly providing support for Southern Waiting Magazine.

This is like an internet celebrity with 100,000 fans scolding a top female star. Any response from the female star would be considered as attracting traffic to the internet celebrity.

Therefore, what Jianghu Monthly did was actually the right decision.

If we end up going against the Southern Newspaper, that would be the most foolish thing to do!
As for the sales issue.

First of all, there is only this supplement.

Secondly, it only exists in the capital and a few cities in the south.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty, Jianghu Monthly still dominated.

Not to mention the entire Kyushu and four seas.

"I see..." Lu Xiaofeng finally understood the key point and couldn't help but sigh, "So, their two-hour meeting was actually useful?"

"Well, it is indeed useful."

Zhou Ming opened the first newspaper and read the second one below.

Jianghu Monthly is not completely without other initiatives.

The biggest move was that they changed the original manuscript.

After all, the cause and effect of this incident are too complicated to be covered in one newspaper.

According to the nature of Jianghu Monthly, this kind of thing would have been described briefly, and then a supplement would have been written in detail later.

But this time, they directly described the entire incident in full in the newly released supplement.

why?
It was because the Southern Hou magazine published more than ten supplements last night, describing the whole incident in too much detail.

Jianghu Monthly finally became competitive and made a temporary change to the manuscript.

But there is a problem here, that is, they have no intelligence source for detailed information of the entire incident, and they don’t have the time to investigate in detail.

Therefore, when revising the manuscript, a large part of it was referred to the manuscript of Nanfang Houkan.

However, an error occurred in the manuscript for Southern Publication.

Jianghu Monthly followed suit and also described the error.

"I fell into the trap after all..."

Zhou Ming laughed. "Wait a few days. Once this Jianghu Monthly Newspaper has been thoroughly disseminated, that will be the time for the Southern Edition to strike back. Jianghu Monthly Newspaper, the world's leading newspaper, actually plagiarized information from other newspapers without conducting any investigation. Haha..."

"Boss Qian is indeed a veteran who has been in the business world for decades. This trick within the scheme is truly vicious... I like it!"

Zhou Ming put down the newspaper and said, "You two have eaten and drunk here. If you have anything to say, please tell me now. I have to practice martial arts this afternoon."

Lu Xiaofeng smiled and said, "Old Zhou, do you think we can be considered friends?"

"It doesn't count!"

"..." Lu Xiaofeng's expression suddenly froze.

Zhou Ming smiled and said, "Alright, I know you're talking about Li Yanbei. Let's talk about his request. But first, I'll make it clear if it's too much, I won't agree to it."

Lu Xiaofeng then smiled and said, "No, that won't happen. If he says too much, I won't be able to help him pass on his message. His request is just to spend money to buy some of the properties that originally belonged to him from you."

Li Yanbei and Du Tongxuan's bet was all the territories under their control and millions of taels of silver.

If Zhou Ming wanted to accept this bet, he would naturally have to take over all the money and territory in Li Yanbei's hands.

Because of the bet, the value of the silver and land plummeted, but at least hundreds of thousands of taels were spent.

With these hundreds of thousands of taels, Li Yanbei will naturally have no problem becoming a wealthy man in the future.

But he was very unwilling in his heart.

However, he did not have the courage to propose any conditions to Zhou Ming, so he just asked to spend money to buy some more properties to take back.

Thinking that he had built up such a large family business in the capital even though he had started from scratch, it was better to have some industries in his hands now.

Even if you fail, it's still a way to make money, and you'll have something to do on a daily basis. It's better than waiting to die at home with a big bag of gold and silver.

Besides, if he really did that, he might end up stabbed seven times in the back at home and commit suicide within a few days.

Perhaps even this move itself is a calculation.

After all, if he succeeded, he would be connected to Zhou Ming.

"If that's all, it's fine."

Zhou Ming spent money to buy someone else's property. Now that he won the bet, the other party has to take out the money to buy his own property back. At most, he can only buy a few shops among them.

After going back and forth, he lost all the foundation he had built up in his life.

Zhou Ming, however, could be said to have made no money at all and earned it completely for free.

Of course he is willing.

"However, there's no need to come to me for things like this."

Zhou Mingdao said: "I made a lot of money this time. I have so many shops and land in my hands, which are actually useless. I was planning to sell them off.

If Li Yanbei wants to buy it, he can just wait until then. Why bother with this favor? "

Sikong Zhaixing's eyes lit up: "Those land deeds and shops make much more money than cash! You might have made a fortune this time, but I don't know where all that money is stored?"

Zhou Ming smiled and said, "Don't think of any crooked ideas. My adoptive father has countless business houses and guilds under his control. Whenever he has money, he uses it to make money. It's impossible for all the money to be kept in the warehouse unused!"

Sikong Zhaixing sighed, feeling very sorry.

Zhou Ming turned to look at Lu Xiaofeng and said, "Then let Li Yanbei go to me, the housekeeper, to find out which properties he wants to buy. For your sake, I can give him a discount.

But... Li Yanbei ended up like this because of his own choices. You can help him if you want, but you don't have to do too much. Instead of wasting your time, think about yourself. You're holding the Thunder Sword now, and you're going to be in a lot of trouble."

"Thank you!"

Lu Xiaofeng first expressed his gratitude, then picked up the Thunder Sword and said, "If I get it, I'm lucky. If I lose it, I'm doomed. If anyone comes to snatch this sword, let them try to see if they have a destiny with it or not. If they do, just take it. If they don't, then naturally they can't take it away."

Zhou Ming shook his head: "The character of the Thunder Sword is not as gentle as the Ice Soul Sword, which allows people to try it again and again. It was damaged before when Ye Gucheng led the sword spirit into its body, but now it has recovered a little after a night. If you let someone try it again, I am afraid that lightning will strike, and if they don't kill them, they will be half-dead!" "What? There is such a danger?" Lu Xiaofeng's face changed.

"If you don't believe it, let Sikong Zhaixing try it?"

Lu Xiaofeng immediately put the Thunder Sword on the ground and signaled Sikong Zhaixing with his eyes.

Sikong Zhaixing rolled his eyes: "Do you think I'm a fool?"

Lu Xiaofeng said: "But before, your Changhong Sword..."

Zhou Mingdao said, "I've had the Changhong Sword for a long time, and I've already formed a connection with the sword spirit, so I can naturally control it. Can your Benlei Sword do the same?"

Lu Xiaofeng was speechless.

He had only had the Thunder Sword for a day or two, and he never took it seriously, so how could he be sensitive to it?
"You mean, if I can form a connection with the sword spirit, I can also do this?"

Lu Xiaofeng asked seriously: "What should I do?"

"As long as you hold the Thunder Sword more often during your training, you will naturally be able to sense the presence of the sword spirit within. Since you are the sword master recognized by the Thunder Sword, it is naturally very simple to do this.

However, all this has a premise.”

"what?"

"The sword spirit is safe!"

Zhou Ming smiled and said, "The sword spirit in the Thunder Sword is damaged right now. I'm afraid it will take several months to recover. You can wait until then before we talk."

After Lu Xiaofeng left Pei Mansion, he was troubled by this problem for a while.

But what he didn't expect was that he would encounter this problem so soon.

After leaving Li Yanbei, Lu Xiaofeng returned to the inn where he was staying temporarily, and saw two rows of swordsmen standing on both sides of the inn.

At a table in the middle, there was a middle-aged man in purple clothes who had been waiting for a long time.

"Sima Ziyi?"

This person is Sima Ziyi, the owner of Changle Villa in Jiangnan, known as the Taiping Swordsman.

Before, Ye Gucheng and Ximen Chuxue were going to have a decisive battle in the Forbidden City. Wei Ziyun, a palace guard, gave Lu Xiaofeng six ribbons. Only those holding the ribbons could enter the palace.

In order to get the ribbon, Sima Ziyi wanted to spend 50,000 taels of silver to buy it, and thus met Lu Xiaofeng.

Logically speaking, with his strength and financial resources, he should be able to get one when ribbons become available later.

But he didn't get it.

"Now that the decisive battle is over, why are you still looking for me? It's not about the Thunder Sword, is it?"

Lu Xiaofeng said with a smile.

Sima Ziyi said, "Everyone in the martial arts world says that Lu Xiaofeng is extremely intelligent and cunning. It's true. I came here precisely for this Thunder Sword."

Lu Xiaofeng restrained his smile and frowned, "The Taiping Swordsman is also pursuing such a magical weapon?"

Sima Ziyi said, "That's not the case. I just want to see if I can gain the approval of the Thunder Sword."

It turned out that this person was also a swordsman. Living in the south of the Yangtze River, Ye Gucheng's name was well-known, and he had always wanted to discuss swordsmanship with him.

However, as the owner of Changle Villa and the heir of the Sima family, after entering the innate realm, he swallowed many rare treasures and refined his true qi, so that the accumulation speed of his true qi was astonishingly fast. He did not stay there for too long and reached the master level.

However, Ye Gucheng has always been in the innate realm.

It would be shameful for him, a master, to challenge Xiantian, and it would also go against his swordsmanship.

"In that case, the owner of the manor should go find Ye Gucheng. He has already broken through to the Grandmaster level."

Sima Ziyi nodded. "That's exactly what I was thinking, but Ye Gucheng has disappeared without a trace, and I can't find him even if I try. I was about to leave the capital, but then I heard about the Thunder Sword, so I decided to give it a try."

Lu Xiaofeng understood.

This is a sword fanatic. Because he cannot fight with Ye Gucheng, he wants to use the Thunder Sword that Ye Gucheng once used as a competition item to compete with Ye Gucheng in this aspect.

Fools like this are the most difficult to deal with and will not listen to advice no matter what you say.

But if we allow him to try the Thunder Sword...

Ugh!
Lu Xiaofeng said helplessly, "This matter is both simple and difficult. Let me first make it clear to the owner of the manor that this Thunder Sword is different from the Ice Soul Sword..."

Then he explained everything clearly.

Sima Ziyi didn't show any fear, but rather more interest: "Brother Lu, don't worry. If I am injured by this sword, it will definitely have nothing to do with you, Lu!"

Having said that, what else can Lu Xiaofeng do?
He had no choice but to put down the Thunder Sword and let Sima Ziyi try.

Sima Ziyi immediately reached out to grab the hilt of the sword, but before he could even grab it, a flash of lightning burst out from the sword and struck his hand directly, causing his arm to go numb.

"Master Sima!" Lu Xiaofeng said hurriedly, "The meaning of the Thunder Sword is very clear. Please give it up."

Sima Ziyi became even more persistent and reached out again.

Lightning flashed and landed on his hand, but he directly used his true energy to resist it and grabbed the hilt of the Thunder Sword.

In an instant, the lightning from the Thunder Sword became brighter, and the sound of lightning crackled, all of which entered Sima Ziyi's body.

Lu Xiaofeng quickly snatched the Thunder Sword away to prevent Sima Ziyi from being electrocuted again.

"Master!"

"The owner of the village!"

Many disciples and subordinates around rushed forward and wanted to help Sima Ziyi up, but as soon as they touched him, lightning burst out from Sima Ziyi's body, scaring everyone back.

Sima Ziyi was a master after all. His Qi was constantly flowing, and he soon recovered a little. He staggered to his feet and said, "It seems that Ye Gucheng's swordsmanship is indeed unique. I didn't expect..."

He glanced at Lu Xiaofeng and said, "...You, who have never practiced swordsmanship before, have such a good swordsmanship..."

As he spoke, he recovered a lot and said, "Let's go."

A group of people left the inn.

Lu Xiaofeng looked at their departing backs with a frown on his face.

The reputation of the Seven Swords is now spreading more and more widely in the martial arts world, but in reality, only four swords are revealed to the public.

Among them, Changhong Bingpo is in Pei Mansion, and no one dares to move.

The green light also disappeared from the top of the Purple Gold Mountain. It was unknown whether it had a master or was caught by a bird like the Ice Soul Sword before.

In this way, the only thing that the world can get is the Thunder Sword in his hand.

Sima Ziyi, whom I met today, is a reasonable person.

But there are many unreasonable warriors in the martial arts world.

I'm afraid there will be a lot of trouble in the future!
His guess was not wrong.

Sima Ziyi was just the first one, and there were countless people who wanted to get the Thunder Sword.

He only said that when he woke up the next morning, there were several people lying in front of his bed who had fainted from electrocution.

During the time it took to have breakfast, more than ten people came up to try out their sword skills.

Most of them were greedy, but some were fans of Ye Gucheng. They believed that only Ye Gucheng was worthy of owning the Thunder Sword, and that Lu Xiaofeng was not qualified to control it, so they came to seize the sword.

The former is fine, but the latter gave Lu Xiaofeng a headache.

"Forget it, if you can't provoke me, can't you just hide away?"

Lu Xiaofeng immediately decided to run away and hide.

Ye Gucheng's fans are everywhere in the south.

Then run north.

(End of this chapter)