On the same morning, Lionel woke up rather late; the bells of the nearby cathedral had already struck nine times before he groggily sat up.
It wasn't just because it was the weekend and there were no classes at Sorbonne; more importantly… the sincere love story between Ilena and Mr. Simmons was simply too mentally exhausting.
The past two days were just an appetizer, and to Frenchify it would require a lot of time to perfect the concept.
He wanted to move the entire story's setting to 18th-century France, and all the character names, identities, relationships, and environment would need to be reasonably rewritten.
The story takes place from the late reign of Louis XVI (after 1785) to the early French Revolution (1789). The protagonist's name is Gérard Simons, born into a wealthy bourgeois family; his father was a spice merchant of moderate wealth.
He obtained the tax-farming rights for a large area of Lyon, becoming immensely rich, by providing huge loans to the royal family or bribing powerful figures; later, he also ventured into colonial trade and financial speculation.
Mr. Simmons's wife was named Eleonore, from a long-established but declining military officer family, who agreed to the marriage for money. She represented the decency (even if decaying) of the old regime and the orthodox Catholic moral views.
His primary mistress was named Ilena Pannes, formerly a maid in a minor noble family. She was expelled from the castle for having an affair with her master and was then married by the honest pastry chef Francisco Pisto, who was soon killed by Simmons, who coveted Ilena's beauty.
He also had another mistress, Elizabeth de la Bouteille, a winemaker's widow who inherited a fortune.
…
The protagonist, Gérard Simons, is a newly rich spice and wine merchant who accumulated wealth by catering to the nobility and the church, earning tax-farming rights. He is wealthy, lecherous, and cunning, dreaming of joining the ranks of the aristocracy. His mansion, "Simmons Manor," becomes a stage where local high society and the lower classes intersect: lust, lies, violence, money, and hypocritical virtue intertwine within it, like a miniature Versailles…
The entire novel will be divided into three parts:
The first part is called "Seduction and Ascent": It will describe how Simmons seduces Ilena and causes the death of her pastry chef husband, Pisto. For this, he bribes the parish doctor and constable with money. At the same time, he uses his family's spice business to navigate noble circles, establishing corrupt relationships with the town hall clerk Versigny and the impoverished Baron Durval, engaging in smuggling, speculation, and the auction of church property, accumulating huge profits. Finally, after donating a large sum of money to Louis XVI in Paris, he obtains tax-farming rights.
The second part is called "The Limits of Lust": Having become the richest man in the area, Simmons builds a maid's quarters, a small chapel, a secret room, and garden galleries in his mansion. He indulges in carnal desires, meeting Ilena, Elizabeth, and the newly acquired singer Margot day and night, even seducing maids and laundresses, and not sparing the wives of his friends. Yet, outwardly, he is a "pious gentleman" who funds monasteries.
The third part is called "Decline and Punishment": Due to excessive indulgence and complications from syphilis, Simmons's health deteriorates, yet he remains addicted to mummy wine and carnal pleasures. At this time, France enters a financial crisis, the church investigates donation accounts, the town hall gets new officials, and Durval and Versigny both turn against him, reporting Simmons for illegal business practices and bribery. Finally, Simmons dies suddenly, his mansion is sealed, Ilena dies of illness, Elizabeth enters a convent, and Margot is abandoned by the nobility and becomes a street singer.
Finally, in the raging fires of the French Revolution, "Simmons Manor" is burned to the ground.
Just as the ending ultimately returns to "karma," this French version, no matter how much erotic content it contains, must ultimately align with the current moral values of the French people.
The purpose of writing it this way is not to avoid risk, but to please readers—while everyone enjoys erotic content, the final moral critique and return to values can slightly alleviate some guilt.
After all, what has receded in people's hearts today is only the authority of the church, not God himself and the values the church represents.
He believed that Gabriel of The Clamor could not refuse the temptation to publish this novel, because Gabriel had the personality of a thorough capitalist.
"If there is 100% profit, they will take risks; if there is 200% profit, they will disregard the law; if there is 300% profit, then they will trample upon everything in the world!"
A bestselling novel brings a publisher far more than 300% profit.
Especially in the 19th century, when the royalty system was not yet perfected or widespread, many great authors' acclaimed works were often bought out by publishers at extremely low prices.
For example, Balzac's first published novel, The Heiress of Birague (co-authored), only earned him 400 francs; and The Chouans, published independently, only brought in 1,000 francs.
Forty years later, Flaubert's madame bovary only earned him 800 francs in manuscript fees—fortunately, he adopted a licensing system, giving the publisher exclusive rights for only five years.
But how much profit can a bestseller truly generate for a publisher? Both "Charpentier" and "Levy" are tight-lipped about it, but indignant writers estimate it to be no less than 50,000 francs.
It's different for established authors.
One afternoon in 1830, Hugo was chatting with Hugues, the owner of Hugues Bookstore, saying he wanted to write a novel: "The story is set in a medieval cathedral, with impulsive university students, exotic beauties, deformed freaks, corrupt nobles, and hypocritical priests," and then asked the owner, "How much is this novel worth?"
Hugues, without a word, immediately pulled out five thousand francs in cash and a promissory note for 10,000 francs, handing them to Hugo, and promised to pay "the remaining half" after receiving the manuscript.
In other words, The Hunchback of Notre-Dame brought Hugo a direct income of 30,000 francs.
What Lionel wanted to get from Gabriel, of course, wouldn't be a "sky-high" price of 30,000 francs for a young author, but it also couldn't be as low as 400 francs—everything depended on the negotiation between the two.
Lionel went to the communal washroom to freshen up, returned to his room to get dressed, and then prepared to go downstairs and out.
As he passed the second floor, he heard a strange woman's voice coming from Petty's home, cold, sharp, and harsh: "We have plenty of girls like this at 'Swan Castle'; your asking price is too high!"
Lionel stopped, looked towards the doorway, and saw a short, thin middle-aged woman with a high, hooked nose standing opposite Petty's mother, while a small Petty squatted on the floor between them, at a loss.
It was then that Lionel remembered Petty had once told him that her family was sending her to a ballet school this week—the middle-aged woman seemed to be there to "collect the child."
Thinking of Petty's possible fate, Lionel's heart sank.