Poet Immortal, Poet Sage, Duke of the State!

The residence of the top scholar.

During dinner, Qing Shuang, who had been eating with her head down, suddenly looked up in surprise when she heard that Chen Chang'an had asked for leave. "You don't have to go to the Hanlin Academy for the next three months?"

Chen Chang'an had been at the Hanlin Academy for almost a month, and she was almost bored to death.

The princess was busy with her shop and workshop and didn't have time to spend with her.

Chen Chang'an was busy with official duties at the yamen and had no time to play with her, let alone cook the dishes she liked.

She was the happiest person to hear that Chen Chang'an was going to take three months off.

Facing Qing Shuang and Gong Yue, Chen Chang'an had nothing to hide and nodded, saying, "The yamen's roll call is too early. His Majesty has asked me to take charge of the reform of education, so I'll ask for a long leave. I can sleep in a little longer in the morning..."

Princess Zhaoyue couldn't help but smile when she heard his reason.

After dinner, Chen Chang'an had just entered the study when Princess Zhaoyue came in and said, "These past few months, after deducting the costs of expanding the workshop, hiring staff, and materials, the shop's profit has been around 100,000 taels. Would you like me to exchange your share of the profit for silver notes?"

Chen Chang'an waved his hand and said, "No need, just keep it with you for now."

He still had several thousand taels of silver on hand, more than enough for his daily expenses. Having more silver notes in his hand was of no use.

Chen Chang'an is a businessman at heart; he prefers to make money work for him rather than simply depositing money to earn interest.

Apart from Chen Chang'an's initial investment of his technical expertise, Gong Yue was the one who managed and operated Qing Shuang Fang's business. She deserves much credit for the shop's current scale.

Princess Zhaoyue gently shook her head and said, "Our business in the capital and surrounding areas has already reached its limit. If we continue to expand, it will be out of our control. So, keeping the money with me is not of much use for the time being..."

Chen Chang'an realized that this was not the modern world, and a business could not be expanded indefinitely.

The reason why Coca-Cola was able to sell its beverages all over the world and KFC was able to open in almost every country in later generations is largely due to modern convenience. In this generation, it is almost impossible to open a brand all over the country or even across countries.

To make more money, they can't expand vertically, but rather horizontally, at least until they have enough strength.

The business of scented lotions and soaps is already saturated; we can expand into other areas.

Chen Chang'an had previously planned to open a bookstore to sell his poetry collections, but now he has an even better idea.

Selling only poetry books is too narrow-minded. The education system in Da Ning is about to be reformed, and a large number of textbooks will need to be printed every year. This is a business with a strong demand, and Chen Chang'an is able to take the lead in this business.

Since he compiled the textbooks, he could print them first and seize the initiative.

When Chen Chang'an told Princess Zhaoyue about his plan, her beautiful eyes lit up slightly. She said, "Opening a bookstore is a very good idea. In recent years, the court has emphasized military affairs over literature, and the literary tradition has declined. Last year, the Yan Kingdom provoked us repeatedly. Whether it's His Majesty, the court officials, or the common people, everyone has begun to pay more attention to literature. Now, with the vigorous promotion of educational reforms, businesses related to literature will surely flourish in the next ten years or even longer..."

Looking at Miss Gong Yue, Chen Chang'an thought to himself that the Gong family was indeed a royal merchant family. Miss Gong Yue's business acumen was something Qing Shuang would never have in her entire life.

Chen Chang'an looked at her and said, "So, I want to use this money to open a bookstore, preferably by acquiring an existing one, so that I can publish books in the shortest possible time..."

Princess Zhaoyue nodded and said, "Leave it to me."

Chen Chang'an had complete confidence in entrusting business matters to Miss Gong Yue.

If he could marry her, wouldn't he be able to have less to worry about?

Watching her departing figure, Chen Chang'an sighed softly, hoping that His Majesty would forget the engagement and let Princess Zhaoyue marry soon...

……

East side of the imperial city.

Shuyuan Street.

This street is adjacent to the Hanlin Academy and the Imperial College. It is a gathering place for bookstores in the capital and the largest place to buy books in the city. In the past, scholars and literati came and went in an endless stream, making it the most literary street in the capital.

In recent years, however, the literary tradition in Daning has declined, the list of books for the imperial examinations has remained unchanged year after year, and fewer and fewer people in the community are studying.

In addition, the books sold by various bookstores highly overlapped, leading to severe infighting, and most bookstores were barely surviving and struggling to make ends meet.

The textbooks used by major academies and private schools were monopolized by a few powerful bookstores, while other bookstores could only barely make a living by selling vernacular novels...

Bowentang was a small bookstore on Shuyuan Street that was on the verge of closing down.

The owner of Bowentang was surnamed Liu. He was a failed scholar in his early years, and he managed to make a living by running this family-run bookstore.

However, in recent years, the book business has been declining day by day. The store sells nothing more than old classics, traditional poems and essays, and outdated policy essays, and very few people come to buy them.

Occasionally, some impoverished scholars would come to rent books, and Manager Liu, out of consideration for them as fellow scholars, would rent them to them at a low price.

If this bookstore hadn't been located in his Liu family's old residence, where he wouldn't have to pay rent and could have managed to make ends meet through the book rental business, he would have closed the bookstore long ago.

On this day, as usual, Manager Liu sat at the counter reading a book.

At one moment, a young man dressed in plain clothes, with a calm demeanor, strode in from outside.

Having finally secured a sale, Manager Liu immediately put down his book, stepped out from behind the counter, and asked with a smile, "Sir, what book would you like to buy?"

The young man looked at him, shook his head slightly, and said, "I'm not here to buy books today. My boss is interested in acquiring this bookstore at a fair price. I wonder if the manager is interested?"

Manager Liu was taken aback upon hearing this, and then his eyes lit up instantly.

He had struggled to keep the business afloat for years, and was already exhausted and on the verge of collapse. He had even been considering closing down the shop recently. Now that someone is willing to buy this unprofitable bookstore, it's like a godsend...

He suppressed his elation and, feigning composure, inquired about the price.

The amount quoted by the visitor far exceeded Manager Liu's expectations. The visitor even promised to let him continue as manager of the place. He agreed almost without hesitation...

After signing the contract and receiving a thick stack of silver notes, Manager Liu still felt like he was dreaming.

Is it really true that a pie has fallen from the sky out of nowhere?

He gazed in the direction the man had left, a sense of unease creeping into his heart. He had been a shopkeeper for decades, encountering all sorts of people. Although the man was dressed like a scholar, he was definitely not an ordinary bookworm; his words and actions conveyed a sense of decisiveness and efficiency…

Bowentang's acquisition is not an isolated case.

On the same day, on Shuyuan Street, several old bookstores, including "Chongwenge", "Jingyizhai", and "Hanmoxuan", all welcomed mysterious and generous buyers.

These bookstores are all in similar situations, suffering from dismal business for years with few customers. Some of the larger bookstores have already fallen behind and are struggling to survive.

In recent years, Da Ning has prioritized military affairs over literature, resulting in a decline in the academic atmosphere, a sharp decrease in the number of people who read books, and a backlog of unsold and unsold books. Bookstores have long been in dire straits and are struggling to survive.

Upon hearing that someone was willing to buy them at a high price, they all readily agreed without exception.

Quietly, most of the struggling small and medium-sized bookstores on Shuyuan Street have changed hands...