Volume 1: Birth! Seven time travelers Chapter 111 The Condor Heroes
"Pah~~ Bao Xiruo stood up, hugged the iron spear, and burst into tears. She cried: 'Child, you don't know the truth, it's not your fault. This... this is the iron spear your biological father used back then.' Then she pointed to the name on the iron spear and said: 'This is the name of your biological father!'
Wanyan Kang was trembling all over, and he could only say: "Mother, you are confused, I will ask the imperial physician to come..." Bao Xiruo pulled Yang Tiexin out of the cupboard and said: "Child, this is your biological father..."
"Boss Yan, what's next? Keep reading!"
"Uh... excuse me, my guests. There is no more below."
As soon as Boss Yan said this, the unusually quiet atmosphere in the lobby of the restaurant, which was originally crowded with people, suddenly disappeared. Everyone shouted at the same time: "Hey~~!"
"Hey, why does His Royal Highness always interrupt the story? This is making me anxious and unable to sleep tonight. Hey, do you think Wanyan Kang finally recognized Yang Tiexin?"
"Well! I think it's terrible! You all heard the part about the martial arts competition to find a bride, right? This Wanyan Kang is a completely frivolous playboy. How can such a person give up his wealth and glory, stop being a prince, and follow a street performer?"
"Hey, Brother Wang, you are being too arbitrary. As a child, you have been living a life of nobility and have never had to worry about food and clothing since you were a child. You may be a little frivolous in your behavior. But as long as you have a sense of justice in your heart, you may repent after understanding the truth of the matter."
"Haha, Brother Li, I won't argue with you. Tomorrow, at noon, we will continue to listen to Boss Yan's storytelling here. How about the loser paying for the tea?"
"Haha, okay, it's a deal !"
After everyone discussed it for a while, Boss Yan on the storytelling stage slapped the ruler on the table again and said, "Dear guests, friends from all walks of life. According to the requirements of the author of this book, Mr. Wang Dong, I have to explain it again after each new chapter: All the storytellers who have listened to The Legend of the Condor Heroes here, you can tell stories about this book in your own halls, but you must be faithful to the original work and not make up stories. If you violate this, the author will come to trouble you!"
"Yes, yes, Boss Yan, rest assured. We will definitely be faithful to the original work. Although we cannot memorize the entire story, the general plot will not be messed up."
"Well, gentlemen, you all know the real name of the author of this book, so you must be extremely careful!"
"Thank you, Boss Yan, for the reminder."
By December of 1607, the Jinling Daily had been published for more than sixty issues.
During this period, the audience for page eight of the newspaper gradually began to differentiate.
Officials at all levels of the court naturally liked to read the first two editions. Ordinary readers, in addition to liking to read the third and fourth editions, naturally had a special liking for the seventh edition (poetry). The common people were of course interested in the sixth edition, Qinhuai Fengyue. However, throughout the four provinces of Jiangnan in the Ming Dynasty, no matter what class they were, they were very enthusiastic about the fifth edition of The Legend of the Condor Heroes and often had various discussions.
The Ming Dynasty was the golden age of Chinese novels. There are four great classics, including Romance of the Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, Water Margin, and a book whose title cannot be displayed. Various storytelling, scripts, and dramas also emerged one after another. In addition, the economy of the Ming Dynasty was developed, and there was a broad citizen class. Therefore, storytelling was a very popular thing. The whole society was very receptive to novels and storytelling.
When Zhu Youdong brought Master Jin's classic work to the stage, the refined words, the twists and turns of the plot, the wild imagination, and the family and country feelings and the love between the lines. Every audience can find their own resonance in this story. So, this novel became a hit as Zhu Youdong expected.
On the first day of October, Jinling Daily was launched. On that day, a sharp-eyed hotel owner in Nanjing hired a storyteller to read chapters of The Legend of the Condor Heroes from the newspaper in the lobby at noon and evening. By mid-October, if a restaurant in Nanjing did not arrange a storyteller to read The Legend of the Condor Heroes, the popularity of the restaurant would be completely ruined!
Jiangnan region has a dense network of waterways and fast transportation. After the emergence of such a new thing in Nanjing City, other counties in Yingtian Prefecture, and the nearby Zhenjiang Prefecture, Yangzhou Prefecture, Chuzhou Prefecture, Changzhou Prefecture, Suzhou Prefecture, etc. quickly followed suit. After entering November, Zhejiang Prefecture in the southeast, Ningguo Prefecture in the southwest, Fengyang Prefecture in the northwest, Huai'an Prefecture in the northeast, etc., all began to chase "The Legend of the Condor Heroes"!
Unlike Ming Dynasty novels, which progressed at a relatively slow pace and did not make people eager to know the subsequent plot after listening to a certain part, the plots of modern novels are absolutely more attractive than any other works of this era. Therefore, the people of the Ming Dynasty, who had never had the experience of waiting for updates every day, made requests to the restaurants they often visited: Can you send the latest newspapers to me as soon as possible?
Therefore, some restaurant owners who were not doing well in business but were very courageous, in order to attract customers and turn their languishing business around, spent a lot of money to hire special people to guard the Jinling Daily editorial office near the Nanjing Imperial City, and deliver the newspaper to the county town where the restaurant was located as quickly as possible every morning after it came out!
After they did this, other restaurant owners whose popularity had dropped naturally followed suit. As a result, the speed of the Jiangnan logistics channel, which was originally fast, was significantly improved. Now, all counties in Yingtian Prefecture and Zhenjiang Prefecture can achieve same-day newspaper delivery. In the neighboring Changzhou Prefecture, counties along the Yangtze River can deliver newspapers on the same day, and other counties can at least deliver newspapers the next day... and some counties that are slightly farther away can only deliver newspapers from yesterday or today in the evening. There is even an extreme contrast that major restaurants are deserted at noon, but crowded at night!
The Legend of the Condor Heroes was so popular that its author, Wang Dong, became a celebrity. Many Nanjing citizens even went to the Jinling Daily editorial office to ask to see Wang Dong in person: "Tell me quickly, what's the next plot?"
But after the Jinyiwei in Nanjing suppressed it several times, some people figured it out: Wang Dong? Isn't that the crown prince? Otherwise, who would dare to add Wang in front of Dong? That's right, His Royal Highness the Crown Prince is the White Crane Guardian, the reincarnation of the Azure Dragon. What kind of things can't he come up with? Didn't you see the song "If Life Could Just Be Like First Encounter"? It's signed by Wang Dong! That's right, it must be the crown prince himself!
In response to such suspicions, especially the public inquiries from officials at all levels at the Nanjing Six-Ministry Meeting every ten days, Zhu Youdong always answered with a righteous face: I didn't! I'm not! Don't talk nonsense!
Although he used the powerful "three consecutive denials", the people of the Ming Dynasty at that time did not recognize this. Therefore, in various storytelling occasions, some restaurants with large official backgrounds were more stable and only said that the author was Mr. Wang Dong. In some restaurants in small counties, everyone simply said: His Royal Highness the Crown Prince's order!
In short, The Legend of the Condor Heroes was a complete hit. On the fifth day of December, Zhang Yicheng came to tell him excitedly that the daily circulation of Jinling Daily had exceeded 150,000! Moreover, many merchants in the provincial governments of Huguang, Zhejiang, Fujian, Henan, and Shandong, in addition to ordering subsequent copies of the newspaper, also requested to purchase all the previous 60 issues!
"Your Highness! In addition to these, there are many businesses that want to advertise on our eighth page. Some businesses even directly put down thousands of taels of silver notes and asked to directly reserve the eighth page of our newspaper for a month! In addition, the brothels and restaurants in Yingtian, Changzhou and other places have also sent people to request to publish various advertisements on the sixth page, and they only said that we can set any price!"
"Hahahaha~~~ What did I tell you before, Mr. Zhang? Now, we can consider the issue of expanding the edition of the newspaper."
