You were taken hostage, why pursue the Enemy's Empress?

Books are a luxury item for wealthy families, and bookstores are like luxury stores that not everyone can afford. Most bookstores have a background in prestigious families. Although they can't make much money from selling books, the customers they deal with are all wealthy families, and those who can become shopkeepers are all influential figures.

After a few greetings, they got straight to the point.

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A middle-aged man with a beard asked, "Master Su! What did you invite us here for today?"

Although the Kingdoms of Li and Flame have a bad relationship, the merchants in Jiang City do not exclude Ji Su. To be precise, they do not exclude doing business with the Flame Kingdom. They even cooperate with Ji Su to suppress the industry of the Qian Kingdom in the Li Kingdom.

They hope that the Qian Kingdom is strong, but not stronger than themselves.

A Qian Kingdom that is always poor, always relying on the Li Kingdom, and can still be beaten by the Li Kingdom, is a good Qian Kingdom!

Fortunately, the relationship between the Qian Kingdom and the Flame Kingdom is worse. Ji Su is also good at doing business and has taken the lead in suppressing the paper industry of the Qian Kingdom, so their exchanges are quite close.

Ji Su smiled, "Naturally, there is a big matter to discuss! Everyone should have heard about the incident at Shangmo Bookstore today, right?"

"Shangmo Bookstore!"

The group looked at each other. They all work in bookstores, and they are all well aware of any movements in the book market. How could they not know about today's incident?

But they didn't care too much about it.

Shangmo Bookstore has three thousand copies of "Strange Tales from a Chinese Studio." It is definitely not going bankrupt. It is most likely a means of losing money and gaining popularity.

But so what?

They cannot keep losing money forever. At most, it will let more people know that there is such a bookstore, and in the end, there may be more customers. However, if the location is not good, the business will still not thrive. It would be good enough to earn back the money they lost.

Someone waved their hand with a smile, "Shangmo Bookstore is just a gimmick, not worth worrying about."

The group smiled, thinking of the widely circulated story, feeling funny and ridiculous.

Ji Su shook his head and smiled, "Perhaps you are not aware of something. Why not listen to me first before drawing conclusions?"

"Please speak, Master Su!"

"The paper used by Shangmo Bookstore is from the Qian Kingdom's paper mill. If this is true, although Shangmo Bookstore cannot earn money, the Qian Kingdom's paper mill can survive. Don't forget, we discussed and decided to suppress the Qian Kingdom's paper mill in the past."

The group looked at each other. If this is true, then the Qian Kingdom's paper mill is the biggest beneficiary.

By suppressing the Qian Kingdom's paper mill, the Li Kingdom becomes eligible to negotiate with the Qian Kingdom and directly purchase imperial bamboo grass from them. If the purchased items change from finished products to raw materials, they can earn more money.They looked at Ji Su, "Does Young Master Su want to crush Shangmo Bookstore?"

Ji Su nodded, "Of course!"

The crowd was hesitant, "But Shangmo Bookstore wins by price. If you want to suppress them, you may lose a lot of money."

Ji Su's smile was full of confidence, "Rest assured! I have thought of a win-win solution."

"A win-win solution!"

The crowd's eyes lit up. Although they didn't like Ji Su's personality, they admired his business acumen. After all, he managed the industries in Flame Kingdom himself and did it well. If he continued to crush more of Kingdom Qian's industries, it would be even better.

"Young Master Su, please explain!"

"It's simple!"

Ji Su smiled, "I have never run a bookstore, and I am not particularly familiar with the ins and outs of it. Why don't you tell me how much it costs to produce a book?"

After discussing it, the conclusion was that the cost of a book was around 450 wen, as many people couldn't afford to buy books from the bookstore and often paid high prices to copyists. The bookstore gradually increased wages to retain them.

Ji Su's mouth curved up in a smile, "That means Shangmo Bookstore loses 150 wen per book! Let's send more people to guard Shangmo Bookstore. As long as they open the door, we will buy all their books and bring them back to our bookstores to sell for 250 wen each. When people who would have gone to Shangmo Bookstore come to our bookstores, they will be too busy to go back. By the time they can't afford the price increase, we will invest a large sum of money. In a month at most, Shangmo Bookstore will completely go bankrupt. As for the money posted, I can share half of it with you!"

"Wonderful!"

The crowd's eyes lit up.

Selling a book at a loss of 50 wen was nothing compared to the three times loss of Shangmo Bookstore. Moreover, the loss was shared by Ji Su. It was a game that they could play with him, and in the end, Shangmo Bookstore would surely die.

However, someone asked, "Young Master Su! Have you considered the possibility that Shangmo Bookstore can make money by selling books for 300 wen? If so, won't we lose too much?"

The atmosphere in the hall suddenly froze. Everyone turned their heads and looked at the person with a look of admiration.

The person felt a bit uneasy under their gaze. After all, how could a book that cost 300 wen make money?But he still felt something was wrong, and took out a booklet from his pocket: "I've checked it, every page of this booklet has the seal of Shangmo Bookstore. If we put their booklets in our bookstore, wouldn't it be like advertising for them? Our customers are all nobles, we can't let Shangmo Bookstore take advantage for nothing!"

Ji Su laughed heartily, "What's wrong with advertising for them? Even if everyone in Jiangcheng knows about Shangmo Bookstore, it's just a dead Shangmo Bookstore. Does it have any influence? Didn't they say that Shangmo Bookstore has gone bankrupt? I will make it truly bankrupt! The more famous they are, the more they will become the laughing stock of the whole Jiangcheng, and the more they will suffer!"

The man still hesitated, "But..."

Ji Su was speechless, and immediately stood up and slapped the table, "Rest assured, if we can't bring down Shangmo Bookstore even by doing this, I, the young master, will eat this table in public!"

The people looked at each other, and since the words had been spoken, there was no need to hesitate anymore.

They all said, "We will follow Young Master Su's plan!"

It has to be said that Ji Su is really cunning!

Regardless of the other abilities of this hostage, he is really good at doing business.

This child must not be sent back to the Flame Kingdom.

Ji Su saw that everyone agreed, and finally showed a satisfied smile, as if he had already seen the look of distress on Ying Wuji's face.

I am really a little genius in doing business!

...

The next morning.

Qian Kingdom Embassy.

Ying Wuji stretched lazily. Although he had been busy making money these days, he had hardly gained any attribute points, let alone techniques and spells. Even Bai Zhi, the little girl, was tired. When he bought her clothes for several days in a row, she was moved and revealed the Xuan-level "True Explanation of Luring".

A bit too few.

But it won't be long before the profession of copyists disappears completely, and the huge unemployed population is sure to provide a lot of attribute points.

"Master, let me wash your face!"

Looking up, the little maid Bai Zhi was holding a basin of warm water and waiting obediently by the bed.

She used to just boil the water and leave it there, but she has become more and more proactive lately.

"Okay!"

Ying Wuji let her gently wipe his face, feeling quite comfortable, and reminiscing about last night's dream.

Bai Zhi asked curiously, "Master, what are you thinking about?"

"I'm thinking about the dream I had last night!"

"What dream?"

"I dreamt that all the major bookstores in Jiangcheng were begging to help us sell books, and our Shangmo Bookstore became famous overnight. Hehe, hehehehe..."

"Oh... Master, that dream is too far-fetched!"

"Why are you talking like that? What if it can come true?""If it could be realized, I would also come to serve the young master in dressing."

Bai Zhi's pretty face blushed slightly as she whispered, "Anyway, it's impossible..."