The books of the Tang Dynasty are mostly in the form of scrolls, copied by hand, even if there is engraving and printing, but the quality is very poor, the printed font, the ink is jet black, blurred, it is a poor scholar, unless forced to be helpless, or would rather borrow books to copy, will not be printed out of the scroll, so the status of the carving workshop can be imagined.

As a scribe who manages the carving workshop, how can Ma Hao not understand that if it is not for the fast printing and the speed is far better than the hand-copying, there is no need for the carving workshop to exist.

"Although Han Xiaoshu can rest assured, there are thirty-seven carvers in the workshop, I will gather them now and start work immediately, and I will definitely not let Han Xiaoshu wait for a long time." Ma Hao patted his chest and said.

Smiling, Han Rui asked, "How many words can be carved in half an hour?" ”

"About a hundred words." Ma Hao is also quite familiar with the business, thought about it, and added: "It's also timely, if the strokes of the text are simple, the speed will naturally be faster, if it is complicated, maybe the engraving is wrong, then it will be slower." ”

Han Rui nodded slightly, engraving and lettering are so troublesome, a layout, there can be no mistakes, fortunately it is wood, it can be made up, if it is a stone, maybe it will be wasted.

"You can take me to see it."

Han Rui made a direct request, Ma Hao naturally would not refuse, and happily got up to lead the way, the carving workshop was very simple, but it was spacious enough, inside and out, full of piled wood, sawdust scattered, and disorganized. Ma Hao was a little embarrassed, and turned around and explained: "Recently, I have been a little busy, and I was negligent for a while, and I forgot to clean up the dust. ”

Han Rui waved his hand, walked all the way, and came to the house, only to see a few carvers, who had already obeyed the instructions and began to get busy, sawing wood to make plates, planing and carving, concentrating, ignoring the meaning of the two, Ma Hao opened his mouth to call them, but let Han Rui stop him, walked a few steps at random, and came to the corner where the section was placed.

The sections are neatly stacked, almost shoulder level, Han Rui stretched out his hand and wiped it gently, his fingertips were stained with thick dust, obviously he hadn't used it for a long time, he pulled out the block, and blew it lightly, and the dust was like mist.

"What is this?" Han Rui asked, looking carefully, the font on the section was opposite, and for a while, he couldn't tell what kind of article was engraved.

cough, Ma Hao came up to watch, blinked his eyes, and said hesitantly: "It should be filial piety." ”

Well, Han Rui was noncommittal, casually put the section in its place, looked at the mountains of woodblocks lined up against the wall, and sighed and said, "These are useless?" ”

"If the imperial court publishes the Book of Filial Piety, it will come in handy." Ma Hao hurriedly said.

"I put it there for ten years, and the preparation was rotten, and I didn't use it again."

An old carver with a gray beard suddenly said, sitting cross-legged in the corner, his eyes showing a faint regret, most of these sections, most of them are from his handwriting, which is inevitably injected with feelings, and can be called a lifelong effort, but it has not played its own value, and there is naturally some sighing in my heart.

Ma Hao whispered: "Chen Gong, the old man of the carving workshop, has been in the workshop for more than 30 years, has rich experience, and most of the carving workers in the workshop are his apprentices. ”

"Uncle, but I also think it's a pity?" Han Rui smiled and walked over.

Han Rui was wearing a light green robe, although he was only a low-level official, but his status and status, compared with the craftsman, must be very different, just now it can be said that he was busy with work, and he didn't see it, but now he can't do it, he salutes and greets, and the old carver is no exception, maybe he sees it, but he is a little less frightened than ordinary people, and he is not arrogant or humble.

"It's a pity that there is no way, these are fates." The old carver sighed, turned around and reprimanded, "Don't be stunned, work quickly, within ten days, you can't complete the task, wait to go home and drink the northwest wind." ”

There is some irony, everyone can hear it, Ma Hao looked a little embarrassed, secretly glanced at Han Rui, saw his expression as usual, relieved, naturally resentful in his heart, but he didn't dare to help the old carver, after all, people have been doing most of their lives, and they are also preparing to retire and go home to enjoy happiness, no threat will work, it is really a burden, or make a bad one from it, and it is still yourself who is unlucky.

Han Rui smiled: "Actually, in my opinion, it won't take ten days at all, three days is enough." ”

What, a group of carvers looked at each other, thinking that they hadn't offended Han Rui, why did they want to make things difficult for themselves and others, the old carver's eyebrows trembled, and he said angrily: "Three days? There is the ability, you come. ”

"Han Xiaoshu ......" Ma Hao frowned, it took three days to complete the task, not to embarrass people, but to ask for people's lives, thinking about it, he didn't seem to have offended, why did he turn his face in a blink of an eye.

I wasn't going to pinch it down, so I took out a seal from my arms casually, weighed it in my palm, and asked with a smile: "Uncle, I have carved the seal." ”

"That's nature." The old carver said proudly: "Maybe your official seal was also engraved by me." "You must know that the main responsibility of the carving workshop is to engrave the stele and engrave the seal, and the engraving is just a part-time job.

"That's good." Han Rui smiled: "Immediately, my husband should understand that engraving and engraving are originally the same truth, why must all the words on the article be engraved on the plate and then printed." ”

Vaguely, everyone had a vague concept in their minds, as if they had found a window, but they didn't pierce the film, seeing that they still didn't know the point, Han Rui simply picked up a small piece of wood from the ground and said: "Can it, like a seal, engrave the words here alone, and then put them together according to the needs to form an article, after printing, then disassemble and reuse, what words are missing, just engrave what words, the speed should be faster." ”

"Naturally, there must be no problem in theory, but in practice, there may be some technical defects, such as ink seepage, water mixing, butt gaps, dirty paper, etc., but I believe that with your efforts, we will be able to overcome it." Han Rui expressed his high praise, affirmation, and convincing of the wisdom of the ancient working people in a timely manner, and then saw that they did not move, and he was a little puzzled in his heart, and whispered: "You guys? You should understand what I'm saying. ”

"Han School Book." Ma Hao was a little stunned, and asked blankly, "What is this solution?" ”

"Wooden type." Han Rui continued: "The quality of the wood is not good, it is not easy to preserve, if there are conditions in the future, you can consider replacing it with metal, such as copper, iron and lead, etc., but the metal is smooth, and the ink for dyeing and printing is very demanding......

"Movable type, movable type...... Such a simple method, I have lived for most of my life and carved for decades, how could I not think of it. The old carver muttered to himself, as if he had been struck hard.

Han Rui deeply believes that during the Jin Dynasty, there was the existence of engraving printing, but it was not until the Northern Song Dynasty that there was the emergence of clay movable type, but the period when movable type printing was prevalent was the Ming and Qing dynasties, and the period was about a thousand years, which had to make people sigh.

"Uncle, do you think this method is feasible?" Han Rui asked, after all, there is always a slight difference between theory and practice, and the balance of it still has to be solved by professionals.

"It should work." With rich experience, the old carver quickly calmed down, his eyes were more respectful, and he said with a smile: "If it weren't for the school book's reminder, but I didn't know that it could be like this, the sons and daughters would be able to save a lot of effort, so why don't you come over and thank you soon." ”

Under the order, a group of carvers hurriedly stepped forward to salute, full of enthusiasm, Han Rui was a little embarrassed, put it off for a moment, hurriedly explained a few words, and hurriedly said goodbye and left, he disappeared, and the old carver couldn't bear it.

"Ma Tou, what kind of book do you want to print in Han Xiaoshu, bring it."

Rolling up his sleeves, the old carver was excited and ready to go out in person.

"Take it, be careful, don't break it, the movable type is arranged, remember to call me." Ma Hao said, leaving Deng Kelu, turned around and walked out, his eyes flashed with a strange look, after all, he was a person who had been a county magistrate, and he behaved clumsily in front of Han Rui, it was just a cover-up, with his intelligence, it was naturally foreseeable that if this method was feasible, it would be a great political achievement.

Of course, the biggest credit must be Han Rui's, the question is, can't he get some benefits from it, Ma Hao thought about it and pondered it seriously...... Assigned things, although the result will be known soon, but there is something to do, Han Rui is unwilling to stay for a long time, after going out, he recruited a carriage and went directly to Anyi Fang, and got off work in the afternoon, which is not a fake public and private, and soon came to the place where they agreed with Zheng Nao, Han Rui lifted the curtain and leaned out.

"Lang Jun, here."

Under the tree opposite, Liuying shook his tender white hands and shouted, Han Rui jumped out of the car lightly, walked quickly, under the dense shade of the tree, Zheng Nao sat quietly in it, heard that Han Rui had arrived, looked back and smiled, and his demeanor was outstanding.

Stepping forward with a smile and pulling Zheng Nao to get up, Han Rui said in a low voice: "It's been a long time." ”

"No, it's just there......" Zheng Naoyue responded gently, smiled, pointed to the mansion half-hidden behind a few lush trees, and said softly: "That's it, I heard that you are coming, the master's family has been waiting for a long time." ”

Anyway, it is a rental, and he is a businessman, and the owner of the mansion is not afraid of any damage to his reputation, and it is very normal to entertain him personally, which makes Han Rui feel a lot more at ease.

"In that case, let's go, we can't make people wait." Han Rui said with a smile and walked hand in hand with Zheng Nao.

Before walking to the house, he looked carefully, and gave Han Rui a good impression, stepped forward and knocked on the door, and opened it in response, but the first to come out was a young man of about twenty-seven or eighteen years old, quite tall, with two short beards, and bright eyes. ”

"Brother Luo is polite." Han Rui returned the salute and smiled: "I'm so disturbed." ”

"I have heard the name of the Korean school book for a long time, but I regret that I couldn't see it in person, but now I finally got my wish." Luo Shan sighed lightly, his expression was respectful, his eyes were a little hot, and he seemed to be a star-chaser.

Han Rui was a little used to it, and said with a smile: "After getting your wish, is there a feeling that it is better to be famous than to meet." ”

"Ah...... Naturally not. Luo Shan hurriedly shook his head, calmed down, and said with a smile: "It should be better to meet than to be famous." ”

(To be continued)