Chapter 59

To give an example.

Ever since the curved-shaft plow mentioned in that eternal masterpiece was invented, Li Er had been thinking about re-dividing the fields.

The curved-shaft plow, a great invention, greatly liberated labor and could double the harvest of grain.

Li Er intended to let those liberated laborers continue to reclaim wasteland and bring the harvest from these wastelands under state ownership, making the Great Tang's grain and national treasury more abundant.

This was originally a good thing.

But who would have thought that this matter would be obstructed at every turn and delayed again and again.

The root cause.

The noble families were unwilling to let the tenant farmers become self-reliant.

They wantonly contracted land and continued to let those liberated farmers work in the newly purchased fields.

In this way.

The noble families had more and more grain, and the profits from the grain shops they opened became higher and higher.

And the lowest-level commoners worked just as hard every day.

The appearance of the curved-shaft plow did not bring them any benefits.

Most of the profits went into the pockets of the noble families.

But if Li Er wanted to reform, he had to rely on those noble families.

After all, most of the common people were illiterate, and only the children of noble families had the ability to help him govern the country.

And those noble children were deeply rooted and interconnected, acting in compliance but secretly opposing the Emperor's decrees, causing delays and procrastination, which led to the reform plans being changed again and again, and delayed again and again.

In the end.

The reform plan was simply shelved.

Li Er wanted to reform but had to rely on the power of noble children, while the noble children acted in compliance but secretly opposed the reforms, and the lives of the common people still saw no hope.

This formed a vicious cycle.

"Sigh! How could I not know your thoughts?"

"But the books of our Great Tang are basically in the hands of the noble families; they intermarry, exchange books, and discuss knowledge with each other, and are not willing to share them at all."

"Although the imperial examination was opened in name, in reality, those quotas were all taken by the children of noble families. A commoner Top Graduate finally emerged, and you saw the result." "The public opinion in the imperial court wanted to swallow Qin Mu, this commoner Top Graduate, alive."

"For a commoner family to produce a learned scholar is just too difficult!"

"The root cause is still the problem of books. Without books, the common people cannot learn knowledge. Without learning knowledge, they cannot enter the court as officials. Without entering the court as officials, they cannot shake the status of the noble families."

Li Er sighed and poured out everything he was thinking.

In such an era.

Books were basically copied by hand.

After various wars, many unique copies had been lost.

The preciousness of books was comparable to gold!

If one wanted to popularize culture on a large scale, it was simply an impossible task.

Fang Fang Xuanling also didn't know what to say.

A dead end!

The problem of books simply could not be solved.

Even Fang Fang Xuanling himself had many private books that he would never show in front of others.

He even built a library specifically for them.

If even a pillar of the state Wu Li Ke Fang Fang Xuanling was Wu Li Ke this, let alone other noble families!

"Selling books! Selling books!"

"Big sale today! Ten coins a book, come and take a look!"

"The Analects, Zuo Zuo Zhuan, Master Lu's Spring and Autumn Annals, and His Majesty's new work, 'The Overbearing President Fell in Love with Me'!"

"First come, first served, while supplies last!"

Just when the two, Li Er and Fang Fang Xuanling, were in despair, sounds of hawking suddenly came from not far away.

"Heh!"

"It seems my pressure has been a bit too high lately; I've even started having auditory hallucinations."

"Fang Xuanling, it's funny to say, I actually heard someone selling books, things Wu Li Ke 'The Analects', 'Zuo Zuo Zhuan', and something called 'The Overbearing President Fell in Love with Me', and for ten coins a book, it's truly absurd!"

Li Er laughed at himself, thinking that he was so desperate for commoner scholars that he had developed auditory hallucinations.

"No, Master, I heard it too!"

"Look over there!"

Fang Fang Xuanling stretched his neck and looked towards a book stall not far away.

At this moment.

That place was already surrounded by people.

"What!?"

Li Er's face changed suddenly.

Damn it!

Is it real or fake?

Actually selling books on the street!

In this era, the appearance of any book would be snatched up by high-ranking officials and nobles.

These were precious and extremely rare luxury items!

It was no wonder Li Er was so surprised.

"Quick! Go and take a look!"

Li Er was so excited that he ran all the way to the book stall.

When he saw the books displayed on the table, he couldn't believe his eyes.

He flipped through a copy of 'The Analects' at random, and the content inside was exactly the same as what he had learned!

And there were hundreds or thousands of similar books next to it.

Incredible!

Simply incredible!

"Fang Xuanling, look! These books are the real deal!"

The palms of Li Er's hands holding the book began to sweat, and his whole body was trembling.

"Yes, Master!"

"These books are all the real deal, and they only cost ten coins, my God!"

Fang Fang Xuanling kept flipping through the books before him, his eyes shining with brilliance, wishing he could take out money and buy all the books.

"Boss, give me a copy of 'The Overbearing President Fell in Love with Me'!"

"I want one too!"

"Give me ten copies, this young lady wants to go back and share them with her sisters."

"Tsk tsk tsk! I didn't expect His Majesty to release a new book so soon; I wonder what kind of tragic story this 'The Overbearing President Fell in Love with Me' will be."

Just when Li Er and his minister were shocked, the people around instantly snatched up all the copies of 'The Overbearing President Fell in Love with Me'.

Launch Statement

It's about to be launched, and I want to talk to everyone.

This book has gone through many hardships. I originally worked hard to update it, hoping everyone could enjoy it, and in fact, I did just that. With nearly 20,000 words updated in a day, it was launched in about a week. But there was a small interlude in the middle; the contract signing had problems at the last minute, causing the launch time to be delayed by two days, and it is being launched on the ninth day, which is today.

Through this, the author only wants to say one thing, and that is the author's update guarantee! As long as everyone likes to read it, I will continue to update as usual every day. I won't say much about the minimum of five chapters; if the subscriptions are good and everyone supports me, let alone five chapters, even fifty chapters... cough cough... I can't update that many, but at least ten chapters a day is no problem!

Another point is about the plot, because the author has seen everyone's comments and guesses about the plot (yes, the author reads the comments every day!), first of all, I am very grateful to everyone for participating in the story, which gave the author a sense of recognition.

Secondly, the author wants to say that the direction and twists of the plot will far exceed everyone's imagination and will be completely different from those old tropes. Here, the author guarantees that the plot will make everyone's jaws drop!

Finally, let me tell a story!

I vaguely remember back in 2006.

My girlfriend and I were drinking at a bar in our county, and someone from a table of thugs whistled at her and asked her to come over for a drink.

I was drunk at the time and a bit young and impulsive.

If I were to describe myself at that time, "angry enough to make my hair stand up for a beauty" would be the best fit!

My head got hot, and I immediately pulled out the dagger I was carrying and rushed up to stab him.

That one stab cost me fifteen years.

I remember when I went in, the streets were still playing "Praying to Buddha", "Lonely Sandbar Cold", "Mice Love Rice", and so on.

Now fifteen years have passed.

Things have long since changed.

She came to see me once last year and told me she was getting married in a few months.

I asked her what kind of person her partner was.

She said her fiancé was a writer on Feilu, very talented, earned a lot of money every month, and could take care of the family.

I fell silent.

In my perception.

A writer is a sacred and glorious profession, very awesome.

I also love reading novels myself, know that writing novels is not easy, and it is very difficult to write, so I admire these people who make a living by writing.

So I didn't dare to tell her about the sentence reduction, and after chatting for a few more words, I turned and left.

Over these fifteen years, I have farmed, raised pigs, and worked in clothing, and my heart has long since calmed down.

After getting out.

I went to see her once downstairs.

She is very happy, and I am also very happy.

I think I should also consider my own life.

I had a dream last night, and in the dream, it was 15 years ago.

Familiar streets, familiar scenes, but I just couldn't find the familiar person.

I woke up crying in the dream.

I know... the past is gone forever.

Now all that remains is nostalgia.

And I am now in my 30s, and suddenly I feel lost.

I often can't sleep at night, sitting on the road, drinking alone, smoking, not knowing where the road ahead should go?

I thought to myself, is this how my life is going to be?

Just sinking Wu Li Ke this?

At this time, I opened my phone and suddenly saw an advertisement for the Feilu Novel app.

I thought of her fiancé who was a writer for Feilu novels.

So I downloaded it to take a look.

I also applied for an account and accidentally clicked into the author area.

Just Wu Li Ke that, I muddled my way into adding the editor's QQ and joined the new author group.

In it, I learned how to write novels, how to publish them, and how to earn income.

All of this simply opened up a new world for me.

Why can her fiancé do it, but I can't?

So I studied crazily and typed crazily.

Just Wu Li Ke that.

I successfully wrote my first novel, and although it only had single-digit subscriptions when it was launched, I couldn't wait to call her and tell her about it.

After hearing it, she didn't say anything, just asked me for the book title and subscription results, and then fell silent.

I naively thought that as long as I wrote the book, it would be a success, and she would fall in love with me again.

But one night a month later.

She called me and said she was getting married tomorrow.

I immediately dropped the novel I was writing and drove 400 kilometers overnight to her building.

Seeing the "double happiness" character on her door, the light in the room was still on.

I called her, wanting to ask her why.

She shook her head and said, "Do you think you're a writer just because you wrote a book? Wake up, you're just a loser author with less than 100 subscriptions. Even if we were together, what would you use to support me? He's different; he's a big shot with 1,000 subscriptions, and he can support me by writing novels."

At this moment, I realized.

How wrong I was.

After hanging up the phone.

I took a few beers from the car and sat on the park bench downstairs.

The beer was finished.

A pack of cigarettes was finished.