Early in the morning, some literati had gathered in Songhe Tower, a few of whom gathered together to speak in a low voice, and some of whom drank tea silently. Occasionally, a few people came in at the door, and they all greeted their acquaintances, said "Brother Xu" and "Brother Wang", bowed their hands, their movements were very gentle, and they seemed humble and reasonable, and then they sat down.

When the tea doctor of Songhe Tower saw that people were coming, they were all waiting quietly at the table. Several people were also regular customers, and after ordering refreshments, Dr. Tea went down, and he was not polite. If these literati are too flattering to them, they will despise them, and if they are neither humble nor arrogant, they may still be able to think highly of you. The tea doctors here are also well versed in this.

I saw an old man in a red robe coming to the door, with goat's whiskers and his hair tied up with a wooden hairpin. He is not young, but he does not have a sense of rickets when he walks, and he has a bit of bearing. Seeing him come in, a few sharp-eyed people got up and said respectfully, "Mr. Wang", and the old gentleman nodded lightly in response. The people in the teahouse turned their heads to look at the door, and they all got up to greet him, and someone said, "Mr. Wang hasn't been to Songhe Tower for some days." The person next to him said: "I heard that I went to teach the young son of the prefect." "Yo, that little boy is a little talented, and he is really a famous teacher with a good picture."

The shopkeeper greeted him and led Mr. Wang to the elegant seat on the second floor, and the footsteps sounded softly, and everyone on the second floor saw that Master Wang was also a chicken feather. Wang Shi picked a position near the window and sat down, and several people next to him got up one after another, and he waved his hand lightly to let them sit down.

The shopkeeper went down to take tea and pastries, Wang Shi talked about poetry with several scholars, and several students listened to it, and they all nodded again and again.

The shopkeeper came up with tea and a small plate of pastries, and placed them on the table. Seeing this, several scholars also stopped bothering with interest. The shopkeeper put away the wooden support, attached it to Wang Shi's ear and said a few words. Wang Shi said: "Then you can take a look." With that, he took the teapot and poured a small cup and drank it to himself, and the smoke curled up in the air.

Not long after, as soon as Master Wang finished drinking a cup of tea, the shopkeeper sent a few large pieces of paper in the style of an official newspaper, handed them to Master Wang, said "slow use" and went down. A few people around looked curiously at this side, but Wang Shi didn't pay much attention to it, and the newspaper was put aside, still drinking tea and eating some pastries by himself. At the top of the newspaper are written two large block letters "Zhihu", followed by a small word "newspaper". Needless to say, this is from Xu Yuan's hand.

Master Wang finished the tea in a hurry, wiped his hands, and picked up the newspaper that was placed aside. Seeing the two big characters in the newspaper, Wang Shi's eyes couldn't help but light up, although this word is not everyone, but it is self-contained. He then looked down.

"Fallacy!" After reading the first article of Old Man Xie on the front page, Wang Shi put down the newspaper and took a sip of tea in a huff. The people around looked at this curiously, and some curious people asked a question or two, but Wang Shi didn't explain.

After a while, Wang Shifu picked up the newspaper, read it again, called Dr. Tea, told him to call the shopkeeper, turned his head and read the newspaper again, still angry.

After a while, Lao Lu trotted up. Wang Shi raised his head and asked, "Shopkeeper Lu, are you sure that this article was written by Lao Xie?" Lao Lu replied: "This is sent by the owner of the natural residence in the east of the city, as for the authenticity, I don't dare to pack the ticket, but I have asked carefully, it should be eighty percent likely that it is indeed from Xie Lao's hand." "What an old Xie, so you don't take our science seriously. So you go and prepare the pen and paper, and I will have a good debate with Lao Xie. ”

Seeing this, a few people around came up to ask what happened to Lao Lu, and Lao Lu said: "It was Mr. Xie Yun from Huining Academy who wrote an article on Xinxue, and Master Wang didn't approve of it, so he wanted to discuss it with Lao Xie." When they heard it, there was something going on. You must know that the military generals are fighting on the battlefield, and the literati are fighting with paper and pen. But they didn't know what Xie Lao wrote, and they didn't dare to go up to borrow it from Master Wang, so they felt like a cat scratching their hearts. Someone asked, "Shopkeeper Lu, do you still have the piece of paper in Master Wang's hand?" Lao Lu said: "This piece of paper is called a newspaper, which is similar to our official newspaper, but on it are the articles and poems of the great Confucian genius. I still have a few copies in my hand, which I have sent from the east of the city. But this newspaper costs 60 wen per copy. ”

When they heard that the newspaper was asking for sixty articles, the people didn't care. Most of the people who can drink tea on the second floor are not bad for these small money, and in their eyes, there is not much difference between sixty and six wen. But if you can read the articles of Confucianism, you can savor it for a day.

When Dr. Tea brought the pen and paper, Master Wang spread the paper on the table, and Dr. Tea sharpened the ink for him, but he frowned and thought about it while holding the pen, but did not immediately put down the pen. There are also ten Zhihu newspapers in the hands of everyone, and if they don't get it, they can't help beating their chests, some people read it with people they know well, and those who can't see it have to drink tea silently.

After reading it, a middle-aged scribe in a green shirt said, "Master Xie is going to declare war on us like this." The person next to him nodded in agreement, and there was a humane: "But now that science has become the mainstream, what Master Xie has done is nothing more than hitting a stone with an egg." There are also people who have a heart to stand up and speak for Mr. Xie, and there are occasional voices of discussion on the second floor for a while, and those who don't see it can't help but be a little anxious, complaining to Lao Ludao: "I don't know how to buy more newspapers, Mr. Lu, you haven't done a good job in this business." Lao Lu said: "My old man confessed here first, this newspaper is published a day, I will buy a few more copies tomorrow, and I will not let you have no newspaper to read." ”

"Master Wang has started writing." A scholar said. I saw Wang Shi put down the pen unhurriedly, and the small characters in italics fell on the paper, and the sound of the quarrel around was weaker for a while, but there were still those who were still arguing with a white face, and when they saw that they were about to do it, they turned their heads together and said "The shaft is not enough and conspiracy", and then they no longer paid attention to the other party, and talked to the person next to them again.

Wang Shi put down the pen, waited for the ink to dry, and called Lao Lu. "Help me send this article to their newspaper, and use my name for the signature." After that, he began to close his eyes and recuperate, and no longer paid attention to others. Someone wanted to read Wang Shi's article first, but Lao Lu rejected it with a smile.

In Huining City, a storm is faintly brewing, like the beginning of the rain and the sun.

In the newspaper hall, the guys went in and out, and there were not many manuscripts delivered, but most of them were done by literati. Du Ai sat at his desk reviewing the manuscripts, a small stack of manuscript paper on the side of the table, he carefully read the articles, and then sorted them away, in an orderly manner.

Xu Yuan took the manuscript of Wang Shi in his hand, squinted his eyes and said: "This is the front page of the next issue, we must type out the momentum of the newspaper." He turned his head and asked Liu Liangdao: "How is the market research doing?" ”

Liu Liang looked at the paper in his hand and said: "The first issue of Zhihu Bao sold a total of 120 copies of 10 teahouses, and 6 newsboys sold a total of 56 copies, of which 9 teahouses responded enthusiastically, and only 1 responded mediocrely, and most buyers showed a strong desire to buy, among them..."

Xu Yuan listened to Liu Liang's report and couldn't help nodding. One is to nod for the good start of the newspaper, and the other is to nod for Liu Liang's ability to do things and accept new things quickly.

Xu Yuan pursed his lips and said: "Tomorrow I will print a thousand more copies, and the premium will be 100 copies each, Liu Liang will continue to count the statistics and inform the workers to hurry up and move, don't change any of Wang Huan's articles, and hurry up to typeset." ”

Liang Lun has been following behind Xu Yuan, listening to his orders, directing the orderly operation of the newspaper. Liang Lun asked: "Brother Xu, I really convinced you, I didn't expect this little piece of paper to be so popular." "Liang Lun and Liu Liang walked around a few teahouses in the morning, shocked by the fact that those literati who usually pretend to be high-minded and pretend to be high-minded were torn by this small newspaper." Do these words really have that much magic? He thought of Lao Xie's serious face, and felt a little emotional.

"The literati can pay their lives for the defense of doctrines, let alone a small amount of money. What we do is nothing more than give them a way to speak, a window to vent. Xu Yuan's eyes were long, and there seemed to be a reflection of the towering history in his eyes.