Can't a princess ascend the throne?

Chapter 444 Price War

After figuring it all out, Xie Kun felt a chill run from the back of his head to his heels. He had never imagined that Wang Heng, whom he considered insignificant, could cause such a huge uproar. And then there was Prince Chen. He had initially thought she was just a young girl fortunate enough to gain the Emperor's favor, but she had effortlessly created a weapon as devastating as the Xunbao (a type of daily report). It seemed that he was the biggest fool in all of this. But should he just let things continue as they were?
Of course not! He himself is the one taking the lead now, but the five powerful families and seven clans won't escape this fate, and indeed, none of the world's aristocratic families will be spared! Emperor Jingtai has always been an ambitious ruler, but with the constant natural and man-made disasters of the past decade, he hasn't had the time or inclination to focus on these powerful families who control most of the resources. However, now, although Emperor Jingtai is old, a young, ambitious, and even more talented and fortunate Prince Chen has emerged. If they continue to ignore this, he himself will be their fate tomorrow!

The powerful families of the world are all of one mind and one branch. If the Wang and Xie families are not on good terms, how can they continue to be on good terms?
"Prepare the horses! We must go and visit the other prominent families in the capital right now. If we don't unite, the royal family will wipe us out in one fell swoop!"

"Yes!"

Xie Mingli knew that this was a matter of life and death, so he didn't delay anything and quickly prepared the carriages. He split the carriages into several groups from the Wang and Xie families and sent them to visit the prominent families.

The news quickly reached Jiu Que. Jiu Que had anticipated the current situation and was not flustered. In fact, she thought this was the situation she wanted to see. She was really afraid that the powerful families would cower and dare not make a move. As long as they made a move, they would lose.

Why were powerful clans able to endure for centuries amidst the chaos of war? Firstly, because of their immense wealth, and secondly, because of their exceptional reputation. Many in the world desired education, but few could truly afford it. The cost of writing materials—pens, ink, paper, and inkstones—was exorbitant. Even for a moderately well-off family, supporting a scholar was a difficult task, let alone for the poor. Moreover, supporting a scholar for many years didn't guarantee success; the price was simply too high, deterring many. In such times, powerful clans, controlling the vast majority of books and educational resources, naturally became sacred places in the hearts of scholars, who were even willing to pay exorbitant prices for a single word of praise from them.

As for wealth, unless an imperial decree is issued to confiscate it, Jiu Que truly has no good way to seize their wealth in the blink of an eye. And if the imperial family were to actually do that, it would only incite resistance from the powerful clans throughout the land. If they united, it would likely lead to war again, which is not something Jiu Que and Emperor Jingtai want to see. Therefore, her first priority now is to target their standing in the eyes of the people. Are educational resources easy to control? At least in Jiu Que's view, it's not.

The books of sages and worthies are extremely rare. A plainly bound copy of the Analects costs three taels of silver—it's outrageously expensive. She has better papermaking technology and more flexible and convenient movable type printing. Why can't she print more books and sell them to scholars everywhere at a cheaper price?
Moreover, the scholars cultivated by the powerful families who previously monopolized educational resources mostly served them, making it difficult to find truly loyal ministers. Under such circumstances, the source of talent selected by the so-called imperial examination system becomes clear. What she needs to do now is sever the connection between the powerful families and the scholars of the land, and truly cultivate a group of unrelated scholars who will wholeheartedly serve the emperor.

Although this might go against the ideas of people in later generations, it was the best method Jiu Que could come up with in this era. Revolution is a much longer-term process, requiring decades, even centuries, to complete. Even though she had some advantages coming from the future, she couldn't directly skip this inevitable historical stage; otherwise, it would surely cause unrest.

"Are other bookstores in Beijing also starting to lower their book prices? By how much?"

"Except for the rare edition, the rest are four hundred coins each!"

Chunyu Shuang was also incredibly excited. She considered herself somewhat of a scholar, and in the past, she had spent a considerable amount of money on writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones. Now that these items had become cheaper, more people could afford them, and the number of scholars would increase. More importantly, with books becoming cheaper, women would have more opportunities to study! How could she not be excited? Just thinking about all the wonderful things Jiu Que had produced made Chunyu Shuang want to burst into laughter. Those powerful families probably thought they could control Jiu Que, but little did they know that Jiu Que had already begun its preparations.
"They're quite willing to lower themselves to engage in price wars. However, I have a more mature printing system and stronger guarantees. If they continue selling like this, they'll probably go bankrupt."

“Those people probably thought His Highness could only last a few more days. They overestimated themselves, which is why they ended up like this. Besides, they’ve controlled the lives of all the scholars in the world for so many years, and they’ve made enough money to last several lifetimes. They’re still not satisfied. That’s the consequence of their greed!” “That’s right.”

Jiu Que nodded with a smile, clenched his fingers, and revealed a slightly sly and smug smile.

"I'm still waiting to give Father a big gift! This year, the national treasury is empty because of the military campaigns on the frontier. If we can fill it up, Father will be very happy!"

Chunyu Shuang nodded emphatically.

But at that moment, a plaintive voice came from the side.

"Your Highness, Lord Chunyu, if you two have the time, could you please help me? I'm about to faint..."

The two turned around and saw a hand reaching out from the mountain of books, resembling a female ghost leading the charge. Jiu Que and Chunyu Shuang both shuddered. Um, they seemed to have forgotten about Wang Heng. Making her work day and night really wasn't a good idea, haha…

Early the next morning, a book lover who was in a hurry to buy books at Minshuo Bookstore passed by the elegantly decorated bookstore. He hadn't planned to look at anything, but he was drawn in by the greetings from the waiter.

"Are you telling the truth? The Four Books and Five Classics really only cost four hundred coins a copy? Cheaper than the common people's book?"

"Of course it's true, and it's exactly the same as usual. Our owner is benevolent and considerate of all scholars in the world. He couldn't bear to see you all without books to read, so he lowered the price so much..."

The bookstore clerks, usually arrogant and haughty, never treated poor students like this, whose robes were worn and faded from washing, with disdain. But for some reason, the owner had lowered the price of such good books and demanded that the clerks treat them politely. Although they were unhappy, they had no choice but to comply, as it was the owner's order. Therefore, these people had to remember the owner's kindness and be grateful!