Zongwu: Aspiring to be the mastermind behind the scenes

Chapter 23: Big Profit, Abnormal Silver Notes
On the first day of the first lunar month, there will be a great meeting.

As all officials were celebrating, the Minister of War Yang Yuxuan once again submitted a petition requesting the return of power to the emperor.

The chief minister of the cabinet, Pei Ju, expressed his agreement on the spot.

Zhu Wusi, the Iron-hearted Marquis, also agreed, but believed that the emperor was still young and could be involved in state affairs first.

However, Cao Zhengchun, the director of the East Factory, shouted in a low voice and rejected Yang Yuxuan's petition.

After the grand court meeting ended, the news spread to the people, immediately causing countless people to curse, and Cao Zhengchun's reputation once again hit a new low.

Many people also linked Cao Zhengchun with a novel released on the same day, "The Detective Lu Xiaofeng", and believed that the person who murdered Li Lao Tanhua fourteen years ago in the book was Cao Zhengchun, who is now in power and unwilling to return power to the emperor.

This connection has also added another layer of popularity to this already popular novel that is sought after by countless people.

Zhou Ming is naturally happy to see this situation. After all, the higher the popularity, the more books will sell, and the more Zhou Ming will earn.

He even wanted to let Boss Wen hype the news, but Boss Wen really didn't have the courage.

Fortunately, Zhou Ming soon discovered another hot spot.

Lin Xianer!
Ever since the Plum Blossom Bandit incident ended, more and more people have been saying that they had slept with Lin Xian'er. The former most beautiful woman in the martial arts world has become notorious.

But in fact, there are still countless admirers and bootlickers of Lin Xianren hidden in the world, but they dare not show their faces under such momentum.

At the end of the novel, Zhou Ming describes how Lin Xian'er, before her death, kindly reminded Li Xunhuan to be careful of the men in black.

This seemed to stimulate those admirers and bootlickers, and they all brought out this point to prove that although Lin Xian'er was jealous of others, pretended to be the Plum Blossom Thief, played tricks on the entire world, and robbed countless wealth, she was still a good girl.

The result was naturally ridicule.

And those admirers did not give in, but instead confronted her head-on.

Thus, a huge hot spot was born.

This time, without Zhou Ming saying anything, Boss Wen took the initiative to seize this hot topic and hype it up crazily.

This further stimulated both sides.

Especially those admirers, they all rushed into the bookstore and bought ten or eight books at a time. They not only read them themselves, but also gave them to relatives and friends.

You know, books are not cheap in this era.

There was once a bookseller who simply made a hardcover edition of "Investiture of the Gods". At that time, the book had been published for many years, but it still sold for two taels of silver per copy.

This is Zhou Ming’s new book, and he sells it for five taels of silver per copy!
Boss Wen is making a lot of money.

Of course, Zhou Ming also made a lot of money.

Because his share is very high, as much as one-fifth, which means that he makes one or two taels of money directly for every book sold.

This share is already very high.

If it were someone else, let alone sharing the profits, it would be considered a good thing if they were willing to spend money to buy you.

If you don’t want to, you can print it yourself.

Just post it. The next day after you post it, you will know who is the main force behind pirated books in this era!
That is to say, Zhou Ming has a special identity, and Wen Zong Book Hall is also very powerful, suppressing many big booksellers.

Otherwise, no matter how popular the book sells, Zhou Ming won't make much money.

However, we can only suppress these big booksellers, and we really cannot control those small workshops that are not afraid of wearing shoes even if they are barefoot.

Not only do they pirate products, they also like to add things to them, using a lot of ingredients.

The eleventh day of the first lunar month.

Boss Wen came again and handed over a wooden box. "Mr. Zhou, this is the profit from the sales in and around the capital over the past ten days. As for those in more distant places, I'm afraid it will take some time. Please forgive me."

Zhou Ming smiled and said, "Boss Wen is already ahead of schedule by sending this share. Why would I be surprised?"

Boss Wen just came to give money and left after giving it away, and it wasn't much.

Zhou Ming opened the wooden box, which was full of silver bills. He took them out and counted them, and found that there were as many as 30,000 taels!
This means that within ten days, more than 30,000 copies of Zhou Ming's novel were sold in Beijing and nearby areas!

A terrifying number!

You know, the population of the entire capital is only about 400,000.

"There are so many!"

Chunhua came up to him and smiled sweetly, "And this is just the share of the ten days in the capital... Master, it looks like you're going to make a fortune this time."

"Hahaha, it's all thanks to you guys for helping me light the candle and grind the ink. Here, here's your reward!"

He immediately took out a few banknotes and gave them to the four girls. "I'm also giving you a day off. Spend it!"

The four girls accepted the rewards and were delighted to hear that it was a holiday. Their faces lit up with smiles, their little mouths as sweet as honey.

"Thank you, Master! I wish you great fortune!"

"Young Master is so kind, I'm sure you'll make a lot of money in the future!"

"Master is so generous! I wish you great luck!"

"Master, you...you are a good man!"

The four girls left happily with the banknotes.

Unexpectedly, after only half an hour, the four girls returned disappointed.

"What's wrong? I rewarded you with winnings and gave you a day off, but you're still not happy?"

Chunhua said dejectedly, "It's not like that. We were just unlucky. When we went to the bank to exchange silver, they didn't have enough silver, so we couldn't exchange it."

The silver notes Zhou Ming rewarded them with were each worth one hundred taels of silver.

How can you spend it in the market?

Of course, you have to go to the bank to exchange it first.

"Oh? I'm afraid it's because of the large amount of silver used during the Spring Festival that the bank is short of money..."

Zhou Ming was talking in a general way, but suddenly his eyes moved, and he remembered something and asked, "Which bank did you go to?"

Chunhua said, "It's Datong Bank!"

"Is it the Datong Bank run by the Hua family in Hua Manlou?"

"Yes."

Zhou Ming nodded and said, "Go to my bedroom and bring me the wooden box that contained the banknotes."

"Yes."

When the wooden box was delivered, Zhou Ming opened it and looked through it. There were both new and old banknotes inside, and quite a few of them looked very new.

"Go and invite the master craftsman Zhu Ting."

Zhu Ting is a big fat man, but his hands are delicate and beautiful. They don't look like the hands of a fat man, or even a man.

He and Zhou Ming were also old acquaintances, and Zhou Ming asked him to build several mechanisms.

When I went to Baoding before, the carriage I took was his work.

"Mr. Zhou, what can I do for you this time?

"look."

Zhou Ming handed the wooden box over. Zhu Ting was surprised: "Mr. Zhou, what do you want me to do? Such a big gesture?"

"What are you thinking? This money is not for you. I'm showing it to you!"

"Show me?"

Zhu Ting reached out and took out a few silver bills. After feeling around for a few times, he immediately realized something was wrong. He took out one of the new silver bills in particular and checked it from top to bottom. His face looked extremely ugly.

"Mr. Zhou... No way..."

"What can you do? Tell me first, what did you see?"

Zhu Ting calmed down and said, "This banknote... is fake!"

"Ah……"

Zhou Ming couldn't help but laugh. Sure enough, another familiar plot was about to be staged.

Lu Xiaofeng has friends all over the world and helps people solve problems everywhere, but they are basically just small things.

In this world of martial arts, it was the case of the Plum Blossom Thief that made him famous.

But in the original plot, what really made Lu Xiaofeng famous was another major case.

Fake banknote case!

(End of this chapter)