Lin Guan's expression was beyond words, "Zhao family led the way, Chen family, Cui family, and even Lu family were all involved. Fortunately, it wasn't the head of the Cui or Lu families who took the lead, otherwise our Lin family would be in an even more difficult situation."

  Lin Qingwan's face turned slightly cold, "The Zhao and Chen families are nothing, but our Lin family has also offended the Cui and Lu families?"

  Lin Guan shook his head, "It's just a matter of interest."

  "What benefit do a few baskets of cold melons bring to them? Or has our Lin family's bookstore monopolized the entire Daliang?" Lin Qingwen said angrily, "The Lin family donated most of their industries, now what else is left besides these few farms and bookstores?"

  Lin Guan's family lowered their heads and didn't speak.

  Lin Qingyan sneered, "It's just that you've seen your brother die, so you're kicking him while he's down."

  "It's a good thing that our Lin family doesn't have to rely on them for a living," said Housekeeper Lin, comforting her: "Now we are self-sufficient and don't come into contact with them, which means less suffering."

  Lin Qingwan glanced at him and said: "Do you think the Lin family can be self-sufficient?"

  "She snorted and said: 'I don't want my Lin family to be closed off, there are countless good things in this world, why should I only use what we can provide ourselves?'"

  "Are you going to go head-to-head with them, Madam?" Lin's steward asked worriedly: "Although the Lin family seems not weak now, you should know that most of the Lin family's assets have been donated, and now only these few farms and bookstores are left. We don't have anything to resist them."

  Lin Qingwan clenched her fists and asked with downcast eyes, "Why are they targeting the bookstore?"

  "There's only the bookstore left on the street," said Lin Guan, sighing: "If the bookstore closes too, then we can only hope for the farm."

  "It's clear that they'll use the farm to deal with us later, but for now they haven't made a move because the bookstore is in the way. Lin Qingwen nodded and said: "In that case, let's start with the bookstore. Isn't it just about isolating and closing off? I'm going to force my way out of this bloody path."

  Lin Guan's family wanted to speak but stopped, it can't be that easy. Books in this era are a monopoly of the aristocracy, and there are many families behind those who can open bookstores in Daliang.

  Zhao, Chen, Cui and Lu families all have some involvement here. The four families will also make a gesture to other families, in order not to offend them, those who are greeted will definitely make concessions.

  The reason for the recent decline in orders at Lin's Bookstore is this.

  Lin Qingwan turned around and went to the study room, picked up her pen and said: "Don't worry about the other three families for now, let's deal with the Lu family first. Who do you think is the one who will take charge of the Lu family?"

  "Liu Guan Shi had inquired with the managers of those bookstores that had cancelled their subscriptions, and it was found that the manager who came forward was from the sixth house of the Lu family. The sixth house is a side branch, mainly engaged in business, and has no sons who have taken office."

  Lin Qingyan sneered coldly, "It's really all sorts of monsters and demons coming out."

  Lin Qingwan wrote a letter directly to Lu Zhen, who was not only the eldest son but also the highest-ranking official in the imperial court among the Lu family members. If things didn't go well, he might become the head of the clan in the future. Lin Qingwan had ways to make amends with the sixth house of the Lu family, but it would be slow and might even provoke the entire Lu family, leading to a confrontation with the entire Lu clan.

  Why not just find Lu Zhen directly? It's convenient and quick, and it hits the opponent where it hurts.

  Also let others see, Lin Jiang fell down, and the Lin family will have no allies.

  She will let them know little by little, that Lin Jiang is gone, and the Lin family is not someone they can bully.

  Lin Qingwan handed the sealed envelope to Lin's steward, "Send it to the relay station and have it delivered to Lingzhou as soon as possible. And please ask Manager Liu to come over, no, I'll go take a look at the bookshop instead."

  Lin Qingwan's eyes were frosty, "Earlier I was completely focused on the farm, and haven't had a chance to check out the bookstore and bookshop yet."

  The Lin family's bookstore is located in the city, so it's called Lin's Bookstore. It mainly deals with printed books, papermaking and pen-making. The products made are not only supplied to their own bookstores but also sold to other bookstores.

  Because the bookstore has a complete collection of engraved plates, it can supply books that are commonly sold in bookstores, so business is still quite good.

  Lin Jiang donated all his industries, even the most valuable Silver Building, but kept only the book office and book shop, because of the carved edition preserved inside, which is priceless for the scholar family.

  The Lin family's bookstore was uniformly called the Hanmo Studio, and apart from procuring goods from their own bookstore, they also needed to purchase some things from other bookstores, including books that they didn't have, as well as valuable paper, brushes, inkstones, and other items.

  Recently, they have also been suppressed and need to purchase high-quality Xuan paper, which was suddenly informed that it is out of stock, and other goods have some problems.

  Hanmo Studio has always been the largest bookstore in Jiangnan, with two branches in Suzhou and one each in Yangzhou and Jiangdu, making it one of the most popular destinations for book lovers in these three cities.

  If Hanmo Studio can't supply these high-end goods, it's easy to imagine how many customers they will lose in the future.

  Because Lin Qingwan has been putting her energy into the farm, there were problems with the book office and bookshop. Liu Guanshi didn't dare to find her, so he could only report to Zhong Daguanshi.

  Moreover, Liu Guanshi also doesn't think Lin Qingyuan has a way to resolve the issue. It's now very clear that several families have joined forces to suppress them, and Liu Guanshi had known long ago that the Lin and Zhao families are impossible to reconcile.

  So he can only look for external help, and recently he has been looking for other partners.

  "Then have you found someone willing to cooperate with the Lin family?"

  "Returning to Madam, several bookstores have already shown interest. I believe that with a bit more effort, they will be willing to cooperate with the Lin family."

  Lin Qingwen stood in the workshop of the bookstore and saw that most people were sitting and carving wooden blocks, while the printing workshop on the other side was almost motionless.

  Liu Guan Shi explained: "There are too few orders, and I don't dare to print too many, so I asked them to carve the plates first, and store a few more, which can be exchanged later."

  Because paper is also expensive, although they have their own production of paper, but the cost is not low.

  Lin Qingwan turned around and looked at the papermaking workshop next door, asking: "Can they withstand the pressure from those few families?"

  "Merchants pursue profits, as long as we give them sufficient conditions, they will naturally be willing."

  Lin Qingwan raised an eyebrow and asked, "Won't you be at a loss?"

  "It won't be a loss, just less profit, but it's still better than not making any money," said Liu Guanshi with a sigh: "The bookstore supports so many people, and the daily expenses are not small."

  Those craftsmen's monthly wages are not small, and the number of workers employed in the book bureau is also considerable. In addition to labor costs, there are material costs and other expenses. Even if Auntie doesn't rely on the bookshop to make money, they can't lose money, so it's better for Auntie to put more money into it.

  In the paper mill, workers were filtering the pulp. The raw materials for making paper at Lin's Bookstore were mainly tree bark and straw, and Lin Qingwen even saw some tattered fishing nets in the corner.

  Lin Qingyuan stroked the paper that had been air-dried, picked it up against the sunlight, and could clearly see the mixed impurities on it.

  The paper at that time was not very good.

  "This is the best-selling paper in the bookstore. All book lovers like to use this paper for calligraphy, twenty cents a sheet."

  "How much?" Lin Qingwan couldn't help but ask loudly.

  "Twenty cents."

  "Isn't it expensive?" Lin Qingyan was shocked. Now the prices are high, one dou of rice is ten cents, which means this paper costs twenty cents per knife?

  Lin Qingwan pointed to the paper beside her with less obvious impurities and a whiter color, "What about this one?"

  "Twenty-eight strokes with one knife."

  "What's that?"

  Liu Guanshi looked at the paper Lin Qingwan was pointing to and said, "That is 35 cents per knife, it's also the best paper made by our bookstore."

  Lin Qingwan remained silent for a moment before asking, "How much does the top-grade Xuan paper that you can't buy now cost per knife?"

  "We always purchase goods at two taels and one knife, but when selling them, we increase the price by three to five hundred wen."

  Lin Qingyan quietly put down the white paper in her hand, and it turned out that she and Yu Bin had been spending so much money every day without realizing it.

  They used 28-wen-per-knife paper for daily calligraphy practice, and 35-wen-per-knife paper for keeping records and writing letters.

  Xuan paper is also commonly found in government offices.

  She thought they were self-sufficient in their own courtyard, except for some ingredients, and spent very little money, but it turned out that their expenses were so high?

  "Is there rice paper in the bookstore?"

  "You," said Liu Guan Shi, "apart from top-grade Xuan paper, there are also some lower grades of Xuan paper."

  Liu Guan Shi had someone bring it over and spread it out for Lin Qing Wan to see. Seeing her pinching the rice paper in contemplation, he lowered his voice and said: "We've also studied how to make this rice paper, but we couldn't figure it out. So..."

  Lin Qingwan put down the rice paper, dipped in a smile and said: "I won't do rice paper, but I will make another kind of paper, its quality is not lower than rice paper. Liu Guanshi, you find two craftsmen who are both loyal and capable to go back to the other courtyard with me."

  Liu Guanshi's eyes lit up and he asked: "Is it recorded in the hidden books?"

  Lin Qingwan didn't refute, only saying: "This matter must be kept secret, don't reveal it before the paper is out. Before that, you should still find allies, first prop up the book office for a period of time."

  Liu Guan Shi personally responded.

  Lin Qingwan watched the people coming and going in the paper workshop, sighed: "No wonder there are few readers in the world, this is not only expensive books, but also expensive paper, it's hard for non-rich families to read books, how can there be many readers?"

  Liu Guanshi smiled and said: "Compared to before, there are more students from humble families. Go to the Hanmo Academy and you'll see that many of them have become copyists."

  Lin Qingwan's footsteps paused, and she slightly tilted her head to ask, "Indeed, there are many more students from humble backgrounds?"

  "Yes, Miss should know that since Wu Zetian's time, scholars from humble families have emerged like bamboo shoots after rain. Although the past century has been tumultuous and seems barren, in reality, it is only the number of officials in the imperial court that has decreased, while the foundation of commoners reading books remains strong."

  Liu Guanshi was just a staff member of the bookstore, and the people who came and went in the bookstore were all bookworms and people related to books. Even if he hadn't deliberately counted them, over the years, he had accumulated quite a few.

  It is true that most of those who read books are now members of the scholar-gentry class, nobles and rich merchants, but there are more readers among these classes.

  If we really count it up, there are actually quite a few students from poor families, because their base number is large.

  Even if only one poor scholar emerges from a village, it is still considered a significant number for the entire Liang region.

  Besides, Jiangnan is still a land of long-lasting peace, and compared with the North, there are more scholars.