Chapter 82: Long Novel and Meeting

Regarding the matter of launching a magazine, since the decision had already been made, the rest was simply to put it into practice; thus, on the day after discussing various matters, Panayev went to visit the rector of St. Petersburg University, Pletnyov.

Even though this rector indeed held high office and great power, and normally would not lack money, driven by the simple notion of "who ever dislikes having too much money?", he set the fee for the publishing rights of the magazine "The Contemporary" at four thousand rubles per year.

Fortunately, Panayev's elders had some acquaintance with this rector, so after haggling for most of the day, he finally managed to reluctantly lower the fee to three thousand.

At the same time, other problems arose: the Censorship Committee considered Panayev and Nekrasov politically unreliable and refused to approve them as editors. If the huge fee demanded by Pletnyov was enough to make Belinsky furious, then this matter was an even more terrible blow to him.

As for having Belinsky serve as editor, that was not even worth considering, because in recent years, the newspaper "Northern Bee," edited by the reactionary writer Bulgarkin mentioned earlier, had frequently published commentaries repeatedly attacking the harmful tendencies in Belinsky's articles.

Besides that, people had continuously reported to the relevant authorities, pointing out that Belinsky had promoted atheism and immoral behavior in certain articles, mocked the simple sentiments of the Russians, and so on.

Normally, at this point, the only option would be to use money to clear the path: spend some money to hire a censor from the Censorship Committee to serve as a nominal editor, and then pay that person a huge annual salary.

Historically, Panayev and others, forced by necessity, did exactly this: they hired a censor named Nikitchenko to serve as a nominal editor, paying him a full six thousand rubles in salary per year.

To be honest, Mikhail had every reason to suspect that the Censorship Committee was deliberately blocking them just to extort money.

One can only say that regarding the Russian bureaucratic system, those who understand, understand.

To be honest, Mikhail had somewhat anticipated this situation; his budget did indeed include this expense, but just as he was about to speak to Panayev and Nekrasov to discuss it, Nekrasov and Panayev instead pulled Mikhail into an empty corner and whispered:

"Mikhail, how about you serve as the editor? What do you think?"

Mikhail: "?"

Wait, guys! If you two are politically unreliable, does that mean I am a loyal subject under His Majesty the Tsar?

Just as Mikhail felt this idea was quite absurd, he heard Nekrasov continue: "Mikhail, to be honest, although many people are dissatisfied with your novels, your poetry is truly excellent and has spread widely in high society, so many gentlemen actually have a fairly good impression of you.

If you come on board, although it is still very likely to be blocked, the rubles we have to pay for this might be somewhat less.

Moreover, there is something I don't know whether I should tell you: General Danilevsky actually has a very deep relationship with a highly influential gentleman in the Censorship Committee, and his beloved young daughter Nadia has recently seemed very interested in news about you."

Mikhail: "???"

Huh?

I, Mikhail, have never been inferior to anyone in my life!

Aren't you forcing an upright person to eat soft rice?!

Is this right?

"Of course, we absolutely do not mean to force you; such matters are indeed difficult to bring up. Moreover, even if the General is willing to speak up, this might not succeed, and we would probably still have to spend some money to hire a censor as a nominal editor, but the expense should be much lower; I estimate it could save at least two or three thousand rubles."

Mikhail: "."

How much?

"Rest assured, Nikolai and Panayev."

Thinking about those two or three thousand rubles, Mikhail finally nodded heavily: "For our common cause, I am willing to try. Of course, this might not succeed; you must know, I have only met that Miss once."

This was not a lie; apart from that meeting at the gathering, the two had mostly corresponded by letter. Currently, they could be considered somewhat familiar, but whether he could ask the other party for a favor, Mikhail felt it was a bit uncertain.

But regardless, it was worth a try.

After all, in these days, writers eating soft rice was indeed not a shameful thing; what Mikhail was doing could be considered quite restrained.

However, before Mikhail did this, since their actions were not hidden from public view, news that they were launching a magazine quickly spread throughout the literary circles of St. Petersburg.

The literary circle was so small, and since this news was surprising enough, the speed of its spread was abnormally fast.

At first, many people did not believe it, but after gradually confirming the matter, they all began to mock Nekrasov and Panayev as engaging in armchair strategy, predicting they would eventually lose even their underwear.

However, sometimes someone would shout: "But that Mikhail seems to be involved too!"

Often at such moments, the mocking voices would pause for a moment, because besides the legends circulating about Mikhail's literary talent, his legendary experience of successfully making a huge gamble was also brought up again and again.

In the eyes of many, this amount of money was certainly nothing, but the act of borrowing money to invest and then suddenly escaping from difficulties was indeed like some romantic novels, possessing quite a bit of romance and legendary color.

But this inexplicable respect did not last long; after all, anyone can succeed for a moment; do not take one success as permanent; one success does not mean the second will also succeed.

Moreover, the current magazine market was, to some extent, already quite saturated; basically, magazines of all types existed. Among them, "The Fatherland Notes" and another magazine occupied a very large market share; competing with such established, old-line magazines was indeed an extremely difficult task.

Therefore, the mocking voices quickly rang out again:

"Publishing a collection of writings and launching a magazine are two different things; I dare bet they cannot even pass the censor's hurdle."

"Where would they get so much money? I estimate the profits from publishing a collection of writings should not be enough; if they take on debt, the magazine will probably be even harder to run."

"Look at them; none of them have any experience as publishers."

Of course, those who would speak up to mock were mostly people who did not get along with Belinsky's literary group, or who worried that this matter would infringe upon their original interests. Among these people, the one most furious and most severe in criticizing this behavior was undoubtedly Kraevsky, the publisher of "The Fatherland Notes."

Originally, the great success of the "Petersburg Collection" published by Mikhail and Nekrasov had already caused him to lose face, making him unable to attend any gatherings for several days in a row; but after the storm had passed a little, Kraevsky still said to some people:

"Look, I actually privately felt they would succeed, but there are some matters indeed difficult to state openly; now it seems my guess was not wrong; I only hope they will not celebrate this matter for too long and forget to send me manuscripts."

This matter was merely a loss of face; it did not cause too much impact on the financial side, and perhaps after placing the new works of Mikhail and the emerging Dostoevsky, the magazine's subscription numbers would see a huge surge!

But the fact that Mikhail and the others were launching a new magazine undoubtedly touched Kraevsky's bottom line: on one hand, it meant Belinsky, a very useful editor, might leave the editorial office of "The Fatherland Notes"; on the other hand, a new magazine had appeared to compete with them, which in any case could not be called a good thing.

Moreover, he considered himself to have the merit of fostering both Belinsky and Mikhail, yet now they had suddenly launched a magazine on their own initiative without even informing him!

In short, Kraevsky was truly somewhat broken, to the extent that within his own literary group, he even showed a tendency to burst into loud curses:

"Ungrateful scoundrels, traitors! They published in my magazine, took my manuscript fees, yet silently went off to launch some new magazine. I consider that I never treated them poorly, yet they repay me like this! Do they think my magazine cannot survive without them?

Just wait; I will soon find better people to replace them! And they, along with their new magazine, will sooner or later be thrown into some garbage heap and forgotten by everyone!"

Regarding these rumors from the outside world, Mikhail had certainly heard them, but he indeed did not care much; instead, he was busy continuing to organize and revise a long novel in hand.

As for what this novel was, Mikhail could only say: sorry, old Dostoevsky, I am going to CC you.

It must be said that choosing a long novel was somewhat difficult, especially since most Russian writers' long novels were closely related to reality, making the choice even harder.

Fortunately, there were still options available.

Of course, some things still needed to be changed; indeed, the parts requiring slight modification were not few, so currently Mikhail was working hard on this task.

While engaged in this work, Mikhail also began to draft a letter to the General's daughter, preparing to ask slightly whether the General could mention it.

However, before Mikhail could finish writing and send the letter, he instead received a letter; upon opening it, he found it was again from that young lady. The content of the letter was basically much the same as the previous pattern, except at the end, the other party wrote as follows:

"I heard from others about the matter of you and your friends wanting to launch a magazine; perhaps I can help you? I think if it is possible, we can discuss this matter face to face; you seem not to have appeared in the salon for a long time, so..."

Mikhail: "???"

(End of this chapter.)