Chapter 194 Teacher's words make sense
The study was brightly lit. Dong Xingshu looked at the two names he had written, but his expression was uncertain.

After a while, he pressed his palm on the paper, and the whole piece of paper disappeared out of thin air, as if it had never appeared.

"Someone is coming."

The servant who had been waiting outside immediately walked in respectfully, lowering his head and not looking at Dong Xingshu's desk. This was the rule he was taught after entering the mansion.

"Go and bring Xiu De in."

"Yes."

After a while, Dong Xiu De was carried in on a stretcher by two servants.

He was beaten with a teaching stick by his father yesterday and today he can't even see guests.

"Father."

Dong Xiu De was lying on the stretcher.

At Dong Xingshu's eye signal, several servants left the room and closed the door.

Dong Xingshu looked at his son and said, "Write a letter and ask Ke Anran to come to Beijing."

"what?"

Even though he was taught a lesson, Dong Xiu De still couldn't hide his surprise.

This time, Dong Xingshu did not say anything, nor did he scold his son. Instead, he just sighed deeply.

Dong Xiu De suddenly realized that because he was useless, Dong Xing Shu had to invite Ke An Ran to come to Beijing.

"I'm afraid he won't be willing."

Dong Xiu De said in a muffled voice.

He and Ke Anran were close friends back then, but his father personally expelled Ke Anran from Tianjing.

Therefore, Ke Anran changed his name to "Anran".

Dong Xingshu sneered, "He wants to change Confucianism, right? I will give him this opportunity, otherwise how can he establish his orthodoxy? If you write a letter, he will come naturally. This matter has nothing to do with personal grudges, it's only about the dispute over the orthodoxy!"

The orthodoxy!
Dong Xiu De sighed in his heart, what a distant and yet close word.

Even as the son of a Simin, he still saw it as a flower in a mirror or a moon in the water, which was within reach but out of reach.

After thinking for a while, Dong Xingshu said again, "Remember to add one sentence. I gave him this opportunity, so he must not lose to others and prove that I was right. His path will not work!"

······
Zhou Mansion, Qilin Pavilion.

The bright moon in the sky disappears, and the stars shine brightly, like a long river, spanning ancient and modern times.

Zhou Tieyi was wearing a gauze dress, sitting on a stone bench in the yard, drinking ice jelly to cool off.

Hu Wenlang, Wu Qian and Mei Juncang, the three people in charge of the Tianjing News, could not hide their excitement. They had a lot of things to report to Zhou Tieyi, and He Qigong was also invited in.

When He Qigong heard Zhou Tieyi inviting him into his yard, he couldn't even believe his ears.

Having witnessed Zhou Tieyi's methods yesterday, he naturally asked around about the sales of Tianjing News today.

In the end, only one sentence was obtained.

Turning hands is a cloud, covering hands is rain.

Zhou Tieyi's original image of extravagance and luxury was also turned upside down in his mind.

It seems that every word and action has a deep meaning.

Now that he heard that he could enter Zhou Tieyi's yard, he was even more happy, but also a little cautious.

If Zhou Tieyi was just a playboy, or even just a cunning young man from an aristocratic family, He Qigong felt that the treasures he brought with him and the He family's hundreds of years of loyalty to the Zhou family would be enough to deal with Zhou Tieyi.

But now, he himself was confused and became unconfident.

Once a person loses confidence, his previous three views will be shaken, allowing others to take advantage of the situation.

Zhou Tieyi didn't care what He Qigong thought. It was a blessing for him to let him enter the courtyard.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't imagine how great this favor was and whether he could accept it!

Zhou Tieyi looked at Wu Qian, and Wu Qian said respectfully, "Today's newspapers have been counted. Four cities and one mountain have sold a total of 200,000 copies!"

Wu Qian's voice trembled.

If we sell 200,000 copies a day, there won’t be enough to sell tomorrow!
The original plan was to sell 30,000 copies of Tianjing every three days.

He asked tentatively, "Do we need to ask the printing bureau to reprint more copies?"

Zhou Tieyi thought for a moment and said, "No need."

He looked at his disciple Mei Juncang.

Mei Juncang, with white hair and clear eyes, chuckled and explained to Wu Qian, "Ordinary people are just following the trend. After they get their first copy of the newspaper 'Nafu Quxie', they won't buy a second copy."

"It will take a long time to really increase newspaper sales, and we have to wait until people get used to newspapers."

"We will produce one copy every three days. As long as we can guarantee a total of 130,000 copies, we can move the remaining 100,000 copies distributed throughout the world to Tianjing first. After a few days, the sales volume will naturally stabilize."

Zhou Tieyi said, "Villain Decao, after all, is just a temporary measure."

Hu Wenlang said, "I heard that the Confucianists are planning to revise their Awakening Newspaper, lowering the price to five cents a copy, and claiming to 'bring good fortune and drive away evil spirits', while also adding 'loyalty' novels."

Hu Wenlang did not say where he heard the news, but he sounded very certain.

Everyone present, except Zhou Tieyi, looked thoughtful.

Confucianism reacts very quickly.

He Qigong sighed in his heart.

The political situation changes every day, leaving no chance for the opponent to breathe.

He looked at the calm Zhou Tieyi with curiosity, wanting to know how Zhou Tieyi would respond.

Under the bright starlight, Zhou Tieyi put down the glass bowl in his hand and said with a smile, "This is great. Since they are working hard, let the wind blow for a while."

Mei Juncang and others all looked confused.

After thinking it over again, Mei Juncang bowed his hands respectfully and said, "Please give me some advice, teacher."

Zhou Tieyi did not answer directly, but asked, "How do you think the means should be used against the people?"

This one sentence made everyone fall into deep thought again, because Zhou Tieyi's question was too vague and difficult to answer.

Seeing that Zhou Tieyi did not expel him for such a confidential matter, He Qigong boldly asked, "What method?"

"The villain got the grass. My previous 'bringing blessings and exorcising evil spirits' was naturally a villain's method. Do you think this is a gentleman's method?"

Mei Juncang and others looked stunned.

Why is it not the means of a gentleman, but the means of a villain?

Zhou Tieyi obviously did a better job than most officials.

Those officials only force people to buy, while Zhou Tieyi has already guided people to buy. This is not a gentleman's approach. How can it be a gentleman's approach?
Zhou Tieyi looked up at the starry sky. The brilliant galaxy connected the past and the present, and his thoughts drifted away with the galaxy.

An indescribable feeling of loneliness spread with Zhou Tieyi as the center.

The deeper his understanding of the [Buddha Kingdom in the Palm] and dreams, the greater the impact of his own state of mind on the surrounding environment.

Mei Juncang and the other three could all feel it, but they couldn't tell why. They just felt that the young man in the thin shirt and wide sleeves seemed like he was going to fly away with the wind in the next moment.

Zhou Tieyi's voice fell, offsetting the feeling of loneliness and making the surroundings seem real again.

"When you are a person or do things, you cannot be separated from reality, nor can you be limited to reality."

"If it is divorced from reality, it is just a fantasy."

"If you limit yourself to reality, you are stuck in your ways."

"It is the same with any new thing. We must recognize the limitations of the times and not act blindly, forcing the virtues of gentlemen to the virtues of villains. But we also need to transcend the limitations of the times, be far-sighted, and guide the virtues of villains with the virtues of gentlemen."

"I started a newspaper to enlighten the people, not to make money from selling newspapers. If I only use the means to sell more newspapers, wouldn't that be putting the cart before the horse?"

"Today I used some tricks to get the people to buy 200,000 newspapers. I have already heard that someone is reselling these newspapers. If I don't stop it in time, the more tricks I use, the greater the profit of the resellers. When the people realize this, the blame will all be on me, Zhou Tieyi. So we can't just look at today's newspaper sales, we also need to look at tomorrow's newspaper sales and understand the entire process of newspaper development. As long as we have a sense of propriety in our hearts, we can naturally move between heaven and earth without overstepping the boundaries."

Of course Zhou Tieyi has the means to sell newspapers.

The simplest way is to play a welfare lottery!
Buy 1,000 newspapers and receive a special lottery ticket!
This is completely feasible in Tianjing.

Businessmen have already seen the prospects of the Tianjing Daily, so they are naturally willing to invest.

But the profits from newspapers cannot support the internal circulation of the lottery, and businessmen will eventually choose to cash in their profits, which will ultimately just drop a bomb and hit the people.

Even if sales increase temporarily, what good will it do? The reputation of the newspaper will be ruined.

The four of them pondered for a long time, and the newcomer He Qigong was even more convinced by Zhou Tieyi. Just these words were worth more than reading for ten years!
"He is a Confucianist."

Zhou Tieyi chuckled, "Those who learn from me will live, those who imitate me will die. They only have the superficial knowledge but don't understand the inner meaning. So what if I ask them to sell a few more newspapers? This wind is blown by their Confucianism. We just need to stick to our bottom line and wait for the wind to blow us."

"Don't be impatient in the next few months. Take your time with them. There will definitely be a chance to strike a fatal blow!"

If you take one step ahead, you will naturally be ahead of others.

But opening up a blue ocean market is a money-burning process.

Zhou Tieyi certainly doesn't want to just burn money by himself. Since Confucianism is willing to join in and burn money, that's a good thing.

All I need to do is grasp the thread, take the lead at every critical juncture, and let them step into the game step by step. The greater the sacrifice, the less likely they are to retreat, and they will only place a bigger bet.

What could this 'bet' be?

It was nothing more than involving the Confucianists outside of Tianjing, and involving the various schools of thought...

The more people they drag in, the fewer people they have to guard against. The game becomes more fun when everyone is in the same game.

If someone is watching the gambling game, then there will always be a clearer view.

I am now like a banker. After opening this bank, I just need to guide hundreds of people to place bets continuously. Then, whether I win or lose, it will be beneficial to me.

Because the purpose of being a banker is to enlighten the people.

As long as the hundreds of players continue to win and lose repeatedly at the gambling table of this "newspaper", the right to speak that is extracted from each bet will eventually fall into the hands of ordinary people.

Moreover, in the whole gambling game, as the banker, I don’t necessarily lose.

When the time comes, I will strike a fatal blow. The newspaper market opened up by Confucianism and even by hundreds of schools of thought will be my market. Why not do it?
Zhou Tieyi said it with certainty.

In fact, he would never tell others many of his thoughts.

For example, the Holy One.

If my newspaper could completely surpass the "Awakening Newspaper", wouldn't it be without rivals?
Since Confucianism cannot be his opponent, I'm afraid that the emperor himself will become his opponent at that time.

Can a feudal monarch tolerate a single dominant newspaper?

Therefore, he needs the existence of "Xingshi Daily", and even needs "Xingshi Daily" to catch up with "Tianjing Daily", and even needs the existence of more newspapers.

This is not only to enlighten the people, but also for self-protection.

Everyone only sees their current scenery, but fails to see the huge cliff behind them.

He needs to rely on the Emperor of Great Xia, but his biggest opponent has never been Confucianism, but this feudal lord!

It’s just that no one in the world understands this truth now, so they have the opportunity to develop.

That's why he wanted to train Wang Mingyi, so that after he defeated Dong Xingshu, there would be someone who could take over the Confucian government and make the Emperor of Daxia feel that he was still under his control.

When being an official, one should weigh the pros and cons, and not be limited to a particular time or region.

Of course, when the number of newspaper types increases, I will have other means to deal with the situation where many people are competing for supremacy.

After listening to Zhou Tieyi's words, even with He Qigong's intelligence and scheming, he couldn't help but sigh.

"The reason why Kun can soar up to 90,000 miles is that it borrows the breath of June. Breath is the wind of the world."

Zhou Tieyi laughed loudly, spreading his arms like a roc.

It's pleasant to hear cultured people being praised.

A Da's level is far behind.

However, this kind of person, as long as he can see through more than half of my thoughts and speak them out, should not be kept alive! He should be killed!

Of course the most important thing is that I, Zhou Tieyi, wanted to borrow your head from the very beginning!
This is why Cao Cao killed Yang Xiu!
Just like I, Zhou Tieyi, am favored now, but once I become useless, the emperor will want to kill me in the future.

Taking people as a mirror, you can understand the gains and losses.

Zhou Tieyi looked at He Qigong with a smile, "You are not bad."

He Qigong felt relieved when Zhou Tieyi praised him. He was really afraid that he could not keep up with Zhou Tieyi's thinking and would eventually be classified as a useless person by Zhou Tieyi.

"I don't deserve the praise from the Second Young Master."

After naturally praising He Qigong, Zhou Tieyi looked at Hu Wenlang again, "Do you have anything else to say?"

Hu Wenlang sighed in his heart. He clearly did not continue speaking just now, but Zhou Tieyi was determined to speak. The inference he was able to draw could be considered as seeing the big picture from the small details. In addition, he had just been far-sighted and acted according to the circumstances. Even if Hu Wenlang felt that he had a lot on his mind, he did not dare to act in front of Zhou Tieyi.

My heart gradually calmed down.

"Has the General already guessed it?"

Zhou Tieyi chuckled, "The Confucians asked the 'loyalty' faction to write a novel, and it was published in the 'Awakening Newspaper'... Which big shot from the 'loyalty' faction came to Tianjing? Why did the Confucians have to give up such a huge benefit... Let me guess, Qiao... Qiao Yongen's teacher, or ancestor?"

"It's Qiao Yongen's teacher, the novelist Sanpin 'Hongming'."

Seeing that Zhou Tieyi had guessed it, Hu Wenlang told the truth.

Zhou Tieyi looked at He Qigong and picked up the glass bowl in his hand, "Go, get a bowl of ice jelly."

Although he was treated as a servant by Zhou Tieyi, He Qigong thought it was reasonable.

There are two reasons.

First, when I initially joined, Zhou Tieyi accepted me and allowed me to listen to his previous words, which was already a favor. As for the words involving the upper three grades, they were all secrets. If I had listened to them directly, it would have been a problem.

Accepting subordinates is a process. Praising them too much will only make old subordinates resentful.

That’s why we distinguish between close and distant relatives. This is the art of controlling subordinates.

Second, Zhou Tieyi also demonstrated his talent. If other people treated him as a servant, He Qigong would naturally not accept it. But since he had already listened to such profound remarks, it was reasonable for him to get another bowl of ice jelly.

After He Qigong left.

Zhou Tieyi then spoke up, "So you want to say that he would take action in the gambling fight between my brother and Xiu'er?"

Hu Wenlang nodded seriously.

The original plan was to let Monk Shenxiu choose the time for the gambling fight on May 3rd, when the two-month agreement was due, and Monk Shenxiu would choose the location.

And it has already been booked at Tingchao Tower.

At that time, I will use my divine power and the story of "Qi Xiaosheng Conquers the Underworld" to help Zhou Tiege gain geographical advantage and human support.

Because the story of "Crossing the Yellow Springs" was originally experienced by himself and Zhou Tiege, so it should be very easy to seize the advantage of terrain and the harmony of people.

But two months ago, Zhou Tieyi had not offended the "loyal and righteous" faction of novelists, so the "loyal and righteous" faction of novelists would naturally not get involved in this matter.

But today is different from the past. A third-rank 'Hongming' is competing with me for geographical advantages and human harmony. If I lose both, it will be a big problem.

Zhou Tieyi thought about it seriously and realized that he had not yet asked his brother what stage of cultivation he had reached.

In the past two months, I have made rapid progress, and the second best person to make progress is my brother.

It seems a bit unreasonable if so many resources are invested in his brother and he still can't make a name for himself.

Besides, I keep my subordinates to be used, not to cause problems for me!
"You don't have a solution?"

Zhou Tieyi asked calmly.

Hu Wenlang suddenly felt an invisible pressure.

Although he had only entered the fifth rank of "Xiansheng", the "Tianjing News" was now popular in Tianjing and was about to become popular all over the world. Naturally, as the editor-in-chief, he also benefited greatly from it.

This path has even directly demonstrated the opportunity to enter the third level and the possibility of entering the first level.

It was exactly as Zhou Tieyi said, not a single word was false.

Of course, Hu Wenlang would never give up.

Since he is unwilling to give up the position of editor-in-chief, he must show enough ability to solve the problem. Why should Zhou Tieyi not give this position to Hu Wenlang? Wouldn't it be better to find a third-rank novelist to take over?

After thinking for a long time, Hu Wenlang gritted his teeth and said, "I can occupy 40% of the advantages of terrain and people!"

It’s a bit interesting.

Zhou Tieyi smiled playfully.

It is normal that Hu Wenlang cannot completely block the third-grade novelist.

Being able to block 40% of the third-grade novelists was already abnormal.

This is enough to show Hu Wenlang's potential. If he reaches the third grade, he will definitely be far beyond the ordinary third grade.

Zhou Tieyi just looked at Hu Wenlang like this, and Hu Wenlang thought again and again. What if Zhou Tieyi asked him the reason, how should he answer?

"good."

Zhou Tieyi didn't ask the reason.

Hu Wenlang breathed a sigh of relief, but he had a new confusion in his mind. Zhou Tieyi just said it was good, but did not say what to do with the remaining 60%.

Zhou Tieyi thought for a moment and said, "Let's discuss this matter again in two days. I think I have other things to do in the meantime."

Then he looked at his disciple Mei Juncang who had been listening attentively, "Have you visited your father these days?"

Mei Juncang was stunned. He didn't expect why Zhou Tieyi would ask this question.

Then I suddenly realized and sighed in my heart, this is a teacher.

So I answered seriously, "I guess he doesn't like me to visit him, so I didn't go."

Zhou Tieyi shook his head, "This is not good."

Mei Juncang asked again, "Teacher, why do you teach me?"

Zhou Tieyi continued, "You should go see your father."

At this point, he paused, then smiled and said, "Remember to bring the Tianjing Newspaper and the Awakening Newspaper. As a teacher, I always want to let parents know how their students are doing."

Mei Juncang thought for a moment and replied respectfully, "Teacher, this makes sense."

(End of this chapter)