It was already late at night, but the East Palace was still brightly lit, Li Jiancheng frowned and looked at a piece of letter paper placed on the table, with a look of disbelief in his eyes. On the first day of the opening of the patent office, a profit of 3,320 yuan was made, which was only one day, does not it mean that the income of the patent supervision in one year is the income of half a year in the upper household department?

Thinking of Li Er's generous statement in the court to defend those craftsmen, but he was indifferent to Pei Lian's reminder, Li Jiancheng felt that his mouth was full of bitterness.

Seeing that the prince's mood was a little low, everyone in the hall even gasped a lot quieter. This time he underestimated the enemy, and originally thought that Li Er was just doing something to buy people's hearts, but he never imagined that the Patent Regulatory Commission, which was ignored by everyone at the beginning, would bring such great benefits to Li Er. No wonder King Qin dared to give up the coinage workshop in his hands, and originally left such a big backhand here.

"Your Highness!" Li Gang is over seventy years old, and he has seen a lot of winds and waves in his life, so he calmed down first, "It's not too late to make amends, this patent prison must be returned to the imperial court!" ”

"What Gong Li said is very true!" Wang Qi got up and said, "The King of Qin now has no military power in his hands, and the reason why the generals who follow him are loyal to him is nothing more than the greed for wealth and glory. ”

Li Jiancheng shook his head and sighed bitterly, his face full of helplessness: "Having said that, but the second child himself stepped down from the military power, and pushed away the money mill given by his father. He knows his father too well, although it seems that the relationship between the second child and his father is not very harmonious now, but if someone proposes further plans against the second child, the father who has always protected the calf will definitely be the first to oppose it. When the time comes, not only will it not be effective, but it will have a reputation for suppressing brothers, and the gains outweigh the losses.

"King Qin has taken this step wisely, that is, he has gained fame and benefits, so should he let the patent supervisor continue to develop like this?" Right guard chief Shi Chen Ziliang said.

"It is not appropriate for His Highness to come forward in person in this matter, but it doesn't mean that others can't say it, and Pei Lin and King Qi won't watch King Qin grow bigger." Wang Qi thought for a while and said.

"Now is not the time." Li Jiancheng shook his head, "Wait for the court to come back in a few days, even if we don't mention this matter at that time, there will be people staring at it, and meddling now can only backfire." Send someone to inform the fourth child and Pei Lian, explain the benefits and disadvantages, and ask them not to act rashly for the time being. ”

Everyone had to nod helplessly, and now it can only be like this.

But what is even more unexpected is that the popularity of patent supervision will be so enthusiastic. As soon as the door of the West Market opened the next day, hundreds of craftsmen who had come to apply for patents poured in. Yesterday, as soon as the news that Song Laosan received 8,000 yuan in patent fees spread, the craftsmen in Chang'an City exploded. Not to mention 8,000 guan, even if your craft can be sold for 80,000 guan, it is worth it, it is enough to buy a small courtyard in Chang'an, and there is no need for more than a dozen families to live together, this is only a year's income.

Dai Guan, who temporarily served as the patent supervisor, was stunned when he saw the crazy crowd, and hurriedly pulled the prisoner next to him: "Go and inform His Royal Highness King Qin...... And Wang Tejin ......"

It took a lot of effort to squeeze out, and he swallowed a mouthful of saliva at the gate that was flooded by the crowd, and led a horse in the stable and hurriedly rode out of the door.

Wang Mai was close, and after a while, he rushed to the door of the patent prison, and at this time, the messenger who maintained order had calmed down the crowd and entered the prison easily.

"Lao Dai, business is good today!" Wang Mai greeted Dai Zhou with a smile, the two are old acquaintances in Luoyang, and they are not strangers. Because of his meritorious service in helping the Tang Army seize the military prison, Dai Xuan entered Li Er's prince's mansion, and as soon as the patent supervisor was established, he was appointed by Li Er as the head of the patent supervisor, which can be described as a bright future.

Dai Xuan was sweating profusely, and he didn't care about greeting Wang Mai, so he took a piece of paper and said: "Wang Te came in just right, I can't be sure about many things in the patent office, and I have to make your decision, you come to see this ......"

Wang Mai took the paper and looked at it, his eyes widened suddenly, the handwriting on the paper was a little sloppy, it could be seen that the person holding the pen was not a talented person, but the content on the paper was jaw-dropping, and it was written "oil wax printing". The content of the paper is written in great detail, a piece of engraved wax paper is rolled on a roller, there is a handle at one end of the cylinder, and a piece of paper is placed under the roller, as long as you shake the handle, you can print a page of words, and a sketch is attached below.

"How does this mimeograph compare to movable type?" Dai Zhou asked. Movable type printing technology has been well known because of the discussion in the court that day, but I didn't expect that now there is another mimeographing technique, Dai Xuan did not dare to make a decision easily, so he had to ask Wang Mai's opinion.

Wang Mai's mind flew back to his distant past life, and he still remembered that printers had not yet been popularized in elementary school, and most of the test papers made during the quiz were mimeographed. After a long time, a smile appeared on Wang Mai's face: "Both have their own advantages and disadvantages. The advantage of movable type is that it is flexible typesetting and can be used repeatedly, but there are many disadvantages, it is not easy to make a word mold, and it is necessary to make rare words when encountered; This mimeograph perfectly makes up for the lack of movable type, but the disadvantage is that it ......"

"Lie in what?" Dai Xuan asked curiously.

Wang Mai shook his head: "You still call the person who invented the art of mimeographing, and I will ask in person." ”

Dai Xuan nodded, and after a while, a middle-aged man in a short-sleeved linen shirt with a somewhat dark complexion walked in.

Wang Mai glanced at the ink on the man's finger and asked, "What is your name and what are you doing now?" ”

When the man saw that Wang Mai was brightly dressed, he knew that the identity of the person in front of him was not low, and hurriedly replied: "In Xia Zhang Daquan, he runs a printing workshop in the West Market. ”

"Where did you get this mimeograph?" Wang Mai continued to ask.

"The art of mimeographing was created by my father, and this method is used in the printing workshop below."

Wang Mai nodded: "I don't know how many sheets of paper your printing workshop can print in a day?" ”

"If everything is fine, 200 sheets a day will not be a problem." Zhang Daquan replied honestly.

"How can it be so little?" Wang Mai frowned and said, the mimeograph technology of later generations can print hundreds of test papers in an afternoon, this is what he has seen with his own eyes, why are there so few of them?