Ten years of dormancy: Starting as a martial arts master at the pinnacle

After the establishment of the World Society, it did not make any major moves.

Their core members spend most of their time integrating the channels and businesses of the Beggars' Gang and the Canal Gang.

To put it simply, it's about building a new framework.

Even with this framework in place, the World Society was nothing more than a combination of the Beggars' Sect and the Canal Gang, and there was nothing particularly special about it.

Even some of the families that were originally insightful and made significant bets are now being questioned.

They abandoned all pretense of dignity and made their own daughter a concubine, all for the sake of investing in the World Society.

does it worth?

Just when everyone was confused, the World Society made its move.

First, there are the little beggars on the street, holding newspapers and singing as they walk.

"La la la la la, I'm a newspaper vendor expert, today's news is really good. Seven coins for two newspapers..."

Although he claimed he could buy two newspapers for seven copper coins, each newspaper actually cost five copper coins.

In addition, all the bookstores in Kyoto began selling newspapers.

This novelty quickly attracted people's attention.

Even if they have no idea what a newspaper is?

Even those who are not short of money will want to buy it and take a look.

They didn't care about anything else; they just wanted to take a look at the first deal the World Association had ever made.

"My goodness, there are actually articles by the great Confucian scholar Tang Xiangong here?"

This Minister Tang is the Crown Prince's tutor.

He was a first-rate Confucian scholar in the Great Zhou Dynasty, presided over four imperial examinations, and was a leading figure in the literary world of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

His article was actually published in this newspaper.

This one article alone made those people feel that buying the newspaper was worthwhile.

Besides the scholar's writings, they also quickly discovered new information from the imperial court.

There are two items in total: one is the appointment and removal of court officials, and the other is the new policy that the court has just introduced.

This made it even more popular among scholars.

"We must study this carefully."

"The beggar's hands were clean of the newspaper."

"Giving these little beggars a way to survive is a great act of merit."

"Five copper coins is really not cheap."

In terms of purchasing power alone, five copper coins were equivalent to several dollars.

But for scholars, even if they skipped their morning buns, they still had to read the newspaper.

They not only want to see it, but they also want to collect it.

Later, when they participated in scientific expeditions, this was very likely their reference material.

Besides scholars, merchants were also very interested in the newly published newspapers.

Because they discovered that, in addition to the news of the court's appointment and dismissal of officials, it also involved the new policies.

The first article of this new policy concerns the status of merchants.

Although the restrictions imposed on merchants by the Great Zhou Dynasty were not as severe as Li Changqing had imagined.

After all, this world reveres martial prowess.

Although there were differences in social status among scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants, all of them made way for martial artists.

As a result, it was difficult for other classes to even survive, so it became difficult to distinguish between them.

The gentry had money, and the peasants had land.

The status of workers and merchants became somewhat unstable.

Great merchants would present themselves in a sophisticated manner, outwardly identifying as gentry or from families that valued both farming and scholarship.

The newspaper's new policy stated that the court would no longer openly restrict merchants, and that theoretically, scholars, farmers, artisans, and merchants would be equal in status from then on.

Of course, merchants were not allowed to wear fine silks and satins, and their children could only take the imperial examinations in classics and mathematics, not other subjects. Only after a merchant had obtained an official position was his second generation allowed to take the imperial examinations normally.

Although there are still some limitations, it is significantly better than before.

In addition to being punished according to the law, those who commit crimes will also be held jointly liable.

At best, the individual's eligibility for the imperial examinations will be revoked; at worst, their entire family lineage will be barred from taking the examinations for three generations.

Even so, it still made those merchants ecstatic.

After all, change is a good thing. Perhaps one day in the future, even these restrictions will disappear.

Finally, there were the martial artists and the young ladies/wives.

The story serialized in the Kyoto newspaper immediately caught their attention.

The novel occupied a quarter of the newspaper, totaling over 2000 words.

Although the story is only the beginning, it has already piqued everyone's curiosity.

Who knows what kind of legend might unfold in that dilapidated temple on a snowy night?

The story also popularizes some common sense about martial arts training and details about fighting with others.

This is usually passed down orally between master and apprentice, but I never expected it to be published in the newspaper.

Many independent cultivators without a sect's lineage felt they had gained a great deal after reading the newspaper.

Unfortunately, the most numerous martial artists in this world are at the Acquired Realm.

They make up more than 90% of all martial artists. Of these, almost half have not received proper instruction.

Even if the serialized stories only touched on some basic martial arts knowledge, it was enough to benefit them greatly.

As soon as it was published in the Kyoto newspapers, it became the hottest topic in the entire city of Kyoto.

They were unaware that this newspaper was not limited to the entire city of Kyoto.

With the joint efforts of the imperial court and the World Society.

Movable type printing factories had long been scattered throughout the Great Zhou Dynasty.

This means that the Kyoto Weekly was distributed to the entire week.

The manpower and resources invested in this project amounted to more than seven million taels of silver.

Factory buildings and workers are easy to find; there are plenty of them everywhere.

The most difficult part was the woodblock printing for movable type. Without the full support of the imperial court, it would have been extremely difficult to find so many people who could carve the blocks.

Fortunately, Li Changqing had made arrangements for all of this in advance.

After Murong Yao took over, the first issue of the newspaper was published in just seven days.

The paper was readily available, the printing plant was already prepared, and even the layout of the first newspaper had been decided.

The only thing missing at the time was the writings of a great scholar and the first chapter of the serialized novel.

In just two days, both of them were ready.

Murong Yao provided the outline, and ten skilled artists who were good at drawing books helped to polish it.

Murong Yao felt that she hadn't done anything, yet the first newspaper of the Great Zhou Dynasty was already published.

In just seven days, so much manpower and resources of the Great Zhou Dynasty were mobilized...

For the first time, Murong Yao truly felt the allure of this world's top power.

In this operation alone, if the workers in the printing factory are included, she mobilized a total of over 100,000 people.

This doesn't even include the little beggars selling newspapers and the bookstore owners.

The imperial court had special birds used specifically to deliver goods and intelligence.

This department has now been incorporated into the Tianxiahui (天下会).

Currently, their primary role is to assist the World Society, and secondarily, to help the imperial court relay messages. Of course, messages from the imperial court need to be encrypted, while those from the World Society are encrypted on a case-by-case basis.

When the statistics came out, Murong Yao's pupils dilated instantly upon seeing the profit figures.

She arrived at the Prince of Qin's residence without stopping.

Just as she was heading to the Prince of Qin's residence, a stunningly beautiful woman in the backyard of the Marquis of Sanyang's residence also received the news.

……