Chapter 58: 057 Refund!

The Henglin Press was founded in the final years of the Zhengde reign.

Because the Fei clan refused to join the Prince of Ning's rebellion, their ancestral graves were dug up and their ancestral home was burned down.

At the time, only the Hanzhu Private Academy existed — there was no Hanzhu Academy yet — and the Fei clan's book collection, stored at the ancestral home, was also completely destroyed in the fire.

Fei Hong, who had retired from office and was living at home, personally stepped forward to establish the press, purchasing civil examination materials from the Southern Metropolitan Region and Zhejiang to print study aids specifically for the clan's younger generation.

Over the past century, the Henglin Press grew and expanded, publishing more and more content, focusing on three main categories: study aids, literary collections, and opera and vernacular story scripts.

By the final years of the Wanli reign, they had even begun secretly printing pornographic novels…

"Just carving a few punctuation marks — isn't this surcharge way too high?" Zhao Han was very displeased.

The press manager, Fei Yu, laughed in spite of himself. "Just a few? There are several dozen in a single piece!"

Zhao Han pointed at the two manuscript pages on the table and began earnestly reasoning with him. "Manager Fei, let's speak from the heart. Which is easier to read — text with only sentence-break marks, or text that also has commas and colons?"

"Both are fine," Fei Yu said.

"For the same novel, with two different sets of punctuation, which edition would you choose to buy?" Zhao Han asked.

Fei Yu equivocated. "Either would do."

Zhao Han laughed in frustration. "Fine. Yanshan has more than just your press. I'll take it to another house to print. Once they've finished printing the book, the movable type for the punctuation marks will still be there — they can reuse it for other books."

Fei Yu reached out to block his way. "Don't rush off. Business is meant to be discussed slowly — what deal is ever settled in just a few words?"

"The new punctuation marks — I shouldn't have to pay for carving the movable type," Zhao Han insisted. "If we can talk, we talk. If not, we each go our own way."

Fei Yu, seeing he could gain no advantage, smiled and said, "Fine, no extra charge."

The publishing industry in the late Ming was extraordinarily prosperous — not only because of advances in printing technology, but also because "Song-style characters" had fully matured.

Song-style characters should really be called print-style characters, as they are especially suited for movable-type printing.

Nanjing had even developed color overprinting techniques, printing several colors on a single page, and could also include illustrations.

Late Ming printed materials, especially popular reading matter, almost all had sentence-break punctuation.

It was just a single black dot, serving as both comma and period.

The additional punctuation Zhao Han requested was not much — just commas, periods, colons, and quotation marks — all aimed at making reading easier for the common masses.

Another half-month passed, and the first issue of The Goose Lake Ten-Day Periodical was finally sent to press.

Publisher: Zhao Han.

Deputy Publisher: Pang Chunlai.

Lead Writers: Zhao Han, Pang Chunlai.

Editors and Proofreaders: Pang Chunlai, Xu Ying, Fei Yuanjian.

Section One: Zhao Zi Says.

Section Two: On Liaodong.

Section Three: Selected Classical Prose.

Section Four: Poetry Appreciation.

Section Five: Opera and Vernacular Scripts.

Section Six: Serialized Novels.

Section Seven: Western Mathematics. (Not printed in the first few issues — start-up funds were insufficient, and the mathematical symbols cost extra.)

…

The fifth year of Chongzhen, first day of the tenth month.

The Flourishing Prosperity Tavern.

Fei Yuanlu, accompanied by a Confucian scholar, was choosing a private room on the second floor. Smiling, he said, "Longru, since you're newly arrived, let me treat you to some of Yanshan's newest dishes."

"You are too generous, Headmaster," Zheng Zhongkui said, cupping his hands in salute.

Zheng Zhongkui, courtesy name Longru, was a man of Shangrao. He lost his father in childhood and was raised by his elder brother.

Though this gentleman could not even pass the juren examination, he was acclaimed as "a talent unmatched in his generation, of vast learning and wide knowledge," and had already published works such as Pure Words, Ear's Fresh Tidings, Occasional Records, and The Elegant Realm.

Pure Words, also titled Pure Words from the Fragrant Garden Dwelling, can be considered the Ming-dynasty equivalent of A New Account of the Tales of the World.

His other books consist mostly of informal jottings and tales, covering politics, economics, ethnic relations, foreign affairs, literature, art, and customs. Historically, Occasional Records and The Elegant Realm were even listed as banned books by the Qianlong Emperor.

In recent years, Fei Yuanlu had been reorganizing the academy, greatly improving the academic atmosphere at Hanzhu Mountain.

He had also been inviting renowned teachers to instruct there. Zheng Zhongkui was already the third — it had taken over ten letters to finally secure his arrival.

The wine and dishes were served.

Fei Yuanlu introduced them. "This is red-oil chicken, fresh, spicy, and appetizing. This is Dongpo pork elbow, rich but not greasy. Both are new creations of the Flourishing Prosperity Tavern. Longru, please sample them."

Zheng Zhongkui picked up a piece of the elbow meat, put it in his mouth, chewed slowly and savored it, and immediately praised it unstintingly. "This is a rare delicacy among mortals!"

Fei Yuanlu pushed open the window facing the corridor and smiled. "The Flourishing Prosperity Tavern has changed its opera troupe. Their Yiyang-style singing is matchless. Longru, you can enjoy fine food and use the opera to accompany your wine."

"Headmaster, such hospitality — this junior is truly unworthy and ashamed," Zheng Zhongkui said hastily.

Fei Yuanlu said, "Longru, your literary fame has spread far and wide — who in Guangxin Prefecture has not heard of you? I hope you will devote yourself wholeheartedly to the academy's teaching affairs."

"I shall certainly exhaust my utmost efforts," Zheng Zhongkui replied.

Suddenly, Fei Chun's voice came from outside: "Silence, silence! Before today's opera performance begins, allow me to tell a tale of legend and adventure."

"We don't want storytelling — get the opera troupe on stage!"

"Who are you? Your fuzz hasn't even grown in yet — go home and suckle!"

"Get lost, get lost!"

"…"

Fei Yuanlu immediately shut the window, and the noise abated by more than half. Smiling, he said, "Eat, pay him no mind."

At that very moment, Fei Chun stood on the opera stage, holding a paper-tube megaphone, his face full of embarrassment and utterly unable to begin his recitation.

Zhao Han had no choice but to mount the stage himself, snatch the megaphone, and say, "Hey, hey, hey…"

The diners noticed yet another person had appeared, and the noise quieted a little — everyone was curious what Zhao Han was up to.

Zhao Han seized the moment to shout: "Red-oil chicken, Dongpo pork elbow — both are my family's ancestral recipes. Tell me, everyone, are these two dishes delicious or not?"

"Delicious!"

"Yo, so he's the young cook from the kitchen."

"Was your ancestor an imperial chef?"

"…"

The topic shifted in an instant, everything veering toward food.

Zhao Han raised his megaphone and kept shouting: "Quiet down, everyone. Listen to the story properly, and tomorrow you'll get to try a third new dish. How about it?"

"Yeah!"

Many diners laughed and cheered in unison.

Zhao Han handed the megaphone to Fei Chun: "Begin."

Fei Chun was, after all, a latecomer to the trade and had never trained his voice; storytelling in a large venue required the megaphone. He raised a hand to signal for quiet: "This story takes place during the reign of Emperor Ningzong of Song. It is told that by the Qiantang River there stood a village called Ox Family Village…"

Gradually the noise faded, and the diners became wholly absorbed.

Some had even finished eating but refused to leave, lingering in their seats to keep listening.

When the tale reached the part where the Jin troops were killing people in Song territory and Song officers actually helped them, the audience burned with righteous fury, pounding the tables and cursing the Song Emperor as a fatuous tyrant.

When it reached Qiu Chuji slaying corrupt officials and cutting down those Jin soldiers and commanders, the audience roared with cheers and applause.

Then Fei Chun delivered the line: "To know what follows, pray listen to the next installment!"

"There's more?"

"That's it, you're stopping?"

"Little brother, give us one more section!"

"…"

Damn, this cliffhanger was downright wicked.

Of the two loyal heroes' heirs, one was killed by Jin soldiers, and the other's fate was unknown. Their wives were both pregnant — one seemed to have been rescued, but who rescued her? What of the one left behind, and could her child survive?

Cutting off at the climax — utterly inhuman!

Fei Chun pulled out a copy of the Goose Lake Ten-Day Periodical and said with a smile: "If you wish to know what follows, you may also purchase this book. Each volume costs only one fen (0.01 tael of silver)."

During the Zhengde and Jiajing reigns, movable-type printing was still imperfect, and books were extremely expensive — a set of Li Shangyin's Collected Poems cost four taels of silver.

By the Wanli period prices had dropped considerably; a set of Investiture of the Gods cost two taels of silver.

In the Tianqi and Chongzhen reigns, printing technology grew more advanced and publishing houses multiplied, so book prices continued to fall.

Zhao Han's Goose Lake Ten-Day Periodical used relatively cheap paper and was produced right next to a papermaking region — it could be sold very cheaply… Well, to put it bluntly, it cost about as much as a catty of chicken.

Anyone who could afford to eat at Flourishing Tower certainly wasn't short the price of a catty of chicken.

Though disgruntled, they still wanted to know what happened next, and more than ten people bought the magazine on the spot.

Then came the cursing…

They had bought it to read a novel, but once they had it in hand, only one-third was the novel — what the hell was all that stuff in the front?

"Refund!"

"Refund!"

Zhao Han charged onto the stage and roared even more fiercely than the customers: "Anyone who keeps yelling — I won't write any more of this, and I won't put out any new dishes either!"

The crowd was instantly silenced. They skipped the front matter and flipped straight to the back to read the novel.

Meanwhile, the restaurant staff were serving dishes to the private rooms on the second floor, each of them carrying a copy of the magazine tucked in their robes.

One server entered a room to refill the wine and asked: "Master Fei, and this gentleman — might you be interested in purchasing the ten-day periodical? Poetry and prose, drama and fiction — it has everything, and it's a fine read."

"Let me have a look," Zheng Zhongkui said with a smile.

The server promptly handed over the Goose Lake Ten-Day Periodical. Zheng Zhongkui did not pay at once but first leafed through it.

The title page bore no foreword, only the table of contents for the current issue.

First section: "Zhaozi Says," author Zhaozi, article title: "All People Under Heaven Are Born Equal."

Zheng Zhongkui's eyelid twitched, and he hurriedly turned to the main text:

"…First, equality of men and women… Second, equality of all trades… Third, equality of the respectable and the baseborn…"

(End of chapter)