Qiu Tao used low prices and an earlier release date than Guanwen Hall as his main selling points. Coupled with the relationships he'd established with the shopkeepers of Shangjing City's major bookstores after taking over Hongyun Bookstore, he truly managed to get a step ahead of Feng Shuyu and sell a considerable number of official gazettes.
Even if some bookstores had a conscience and refused Hongyun Bookstore, remembering that Feng Shuyu's Guanwen Hall was the original producer of the official gazette, there were still many profit-driven bookstores that chose Hongyun Bookstore.
The fact that booksellers chose Hongyun Bookstore didn't mean that all the scholars coming to purchase the official gazette also wanted to.
