Li Yuanjia had a headache, quite a headache.

Sure enough, in any era, it is a very expensive thing to engage in scientific research. In the past, this was the case for making iron pots, for coal stoves, and even more so for improving papermaking and ink. That is, to change the straight plow to the curved plow, and to invent tables and chairs, basically did not cost much money - after all, there is a lot of wood these years, and the carpenter in the house does not have to spend money to invite it, as long as there is time for him to toss.

But if Li Yuanjia wants to play movable type, it will be a big trouble.

If you really want to make more than 100,000 movable words, even if the blacksmiths work hard, it is estimated that they will have to build it for a lifetime, and at the same time, Li Yuanjia himself has to put in it I don't know how much cash is worth of thousands of yuan! Anyway, if he calculates it casually, at least it is the kind that starts with six figures.

The current Li Yuanjia really doesn't have that much ability.

Fortunately, after several years of research, the blacksmiths finally solved the problem of movable type, although the price is not cheaper than copper movable type, but with the newly made ink, the printing quality is ten times stronger than that of copper movable type! With qualified movable type alloys and inks, coupled with the fact that the papermaking workshop can already make the best white paper in Datang, Li Yuanjia has the confidence to start making movable type.

What if we make 1,000 or 2,000 common characters first, and make ten or twenty movable characters for each common character?

It will take a year or two to make tens of thousands of movable types, and his "printing company" will be able to open first. After all, most of the books use common words, and more than a thousand years ago, there were fewer commonly used words, and the remaining ones without movable type can be left empty when printing, and people can write by hand in the later stage......

"Even then, it's going to take a long time!"

Thinking of all the aspects involved, Li Yuanjia had a terrible headache. If he can devote his time and energy to movable type printing, he can naturally solve many problems and greatly promote the development of this technology. But Li Yuanjia now has to go to the court every day, and when he has free time, he has to take care of papermaking, cotton and glass, so he can only rely on Li Zhong and them to slowly explore and try.

When real movable type printing can be practiced, it is estimated that I don't know how many years later.

The problem is that even if he knows that this is a difficult road, he may not see the return at all, but Li Yuanjia can't give up movable type printing, which is the most headache for him......

……

The same headache as Li Yuanjia, and even more headache, are Ma Liang and Li Zhong, who have just received the task from him and go back. Ma Liang originally lived in the new palace, and since receiving the task, Li Zhong has also stayed, preparing to go back to the workshop outside the city after finishing it.

In their opinion, this job is really not difficult.

Isn't it just to read a hundred books and find out how many times each word has been used? For the two who have learned Tianzhu numbers and can easily calculate addition, subtraction, multiplication and division with a pen, this is more time-consuming at most. And they are not alone, a few people in the house who are more literate have also been arrested by them. Anyway, as long as the banner of the king is urgently used, none of those people dare to refuse.

It only took Chen Qian six days to select and collect a hundred of the most commonly used books.

And before Chen Qian and the others were selected, the work of Ma Liang and Li Zhong had already begun. After all, some books don't have to wait for Chen Qian and them to choose at all, and they are basically read by anyone who reads.

Merely......

When the two of them really started reading and counting the number of times each word appeared, they were soon dumbfounded one by one!

"Impossible! It's impossible! ”

After working for half a month, Ma Liang desperately grabbed his hair and couldn't help wailing: "Li Zhong, in a month's time, it is impossible for us to count all these words...... Not to mention a month, not even two months! ”

“…… I know. ”

Gritting his teeth, Li Zhong suddenly let go of the pen in his hand.

In front of them, there were two thick stacks of books.

The stack on the left hand side has been counted, and the stack on the right hand side has not been seen. It's just that what makes him desperate is that the stack on the left is fifteen or sixteen books, but the stack on the right has more than eighty copies......

When I thought this work was very simple, it was nothing more than counting, but when I actually did it, the two of them realized that counting and counting were not the same.

Anyway, what the king let him do is so troublesome that it makes people want to cry.

Li Zhong and Ma Liang thought simply, that is, they took a book and looked at it from the front to the back, and when they found a word, they wrote it down in a notebook, and if it was not the first time it appeared, they would be +1 behind the word that had already been written down. In this way, as long as you go through a book, you can naturally count the number of times all the men appear.

It's just that they didn't expect that when more and more Chinese characters were recorded, more than a hundred, trouble began to arise - it was easier to find the recorded characters among the hundreds of characters, but when the number of recorded characters exceeded 300......

"Woo......"

The coal stove in the house continued to burn the briquettes specially transported to Chang'an, and the water on the stove had boiled, and there was a low sound at this time. But the coal stove, which was specially used to provide warmth, could not warm Ma Liang's cold hands and feet again at this time.

A month, absolutely impossible!

The guys who were fooled into helping by them saw that the situation was not good, and they all withdrew a long time ago. And with so many books left, not to mention that there are only the two of them now, plus a few little children who are not very literate, even if he calls back all the brothers who are in charge of the workshop, it is impossible for him!

"How? How many have you done? ”

Just when the two of them were relatively speechless, and a bitter smile appeared on their faces at the same time, a voice that was familiar to them suddenly came.

"I've seen the king!"

Li Zhong and Ma Liang hurriedly got up from their chairs and hurriedly stepped forward to salute Li Yuanjia.

And then......

Lying down and bowing his head, no one dared to get up.

Glancing at the things on the table between the two, Li Yuanjia knew it in his heart, held back a smile and flipped through a few pages, and then said, "Hehe, half a month has passed, and you have done this?" How much can I do after the month I gave expires? Quarter? Or a fifth? ”

Almost at the same time, two people whispered, "Damn it! ”

"Hehe, it's pretty neat."

Glancing at them obliquely, Li Yuanjia squinted his eyes and said, "But I want numbers, not punishments for you." If I can't get what I want, what's the use of beating you two to death? ”

"Goo-dong!"

Hearing Li Yuanjia's words, Li Zhong's throat surged with difficulty.

He and Ma Liang are both sons of Han Wangfu, if they are really beaten to death by Li Yuanjia, I am afraid that there are not many people who are sad for them except for their own parents, right?

In a panic, Li Zhong subconsciously lowered his body: "Please punish the king!" ”

"Alright, let's all get up!"

Seeing the frightened appearance of the two, Li Yuanjia suddenly lost the mood to continue to ridicule, shook his head and waved his hand: "Get up and tell me, what are you doing these days?" It took more than ten days to do this little ......."