The rìzi who copied books in the thatched hut lived extremely peacefully.

Of course, this is just Du Shiyi's own opinion. Whether it was Sima Heiyun, who was ordered to accompany him, or Du Sanniang and Zhuying, they were all extremely surprised by some of his actions. In front of all of them, he drew a rough appearance on the mud floor with wooden strips, and explained to Tian Mo for a long time, and when this Kunlun slave selected materials from the bamboo forest, and then made a bamboo chair and four sturdy bamboo stakes, he drove Sima Heiyun to the bazaar under the mountain to buy a polished, smooth and lacquered cedar slab, and when he came back, he nailed it to the four bamboo stakes to make a simple square table.

At this moment, Du Shiyi was sitting on a strange seat with backrest armrests, and flattened the jute paper used to transcribe the "Commentary on the Materia Medica" on this small table, and gathered jīng to face the original desk with a smile. For more than a dozen times in a row, he copied for four hours every rì, and the efficiency was more than twice as fast as the first rì to let the bamboo shadow copy the paper. In addition to these four hours, he got up early in the morning and went to climb the mountain, and after dinner in the evening, he walked in the bamboo forest, and this kind of rìzi who went to bed early and got up early continued, although copying books was also heavy physical and mental work, but such exercise coupled with a short rest every half an hour, such a combination of work and rest, both the god and the body were greatly improved.

The most important thing is that in his previous life, he copied many ancient inscriptions under the pressure of his father when he was a child, and that was when he found out, but he made every word and sentence of the articles he copied seem to be engraved in his mind. And now he was pleasantly surprised to find that this ability is still there. In other words, when the "Commentary on the Materia Medica" is finished, he will be able to memorize the book backwards.

As for Sima Heiyun, at first, because those books were all borrowed from the Songyang Temple, he would come over every morning to check the progress on behalf of the master, but later saw that Du Shiyi copied the books very efficiently, and handed over the preface of more than 8,000 words in less than three days, he was greatly surprised, and at the same time, he no longer came here in the early morning, but came here out of nowhere, regardless of the time, and occasionally even stayed in the grass hut for a meal. Almost every five to seven days, he was able to send back a volume of manuscripts, and in less than a month, what Du Shiyi was copying now was already a volume of "Commentary on the Materia Medica"!

At this moment, he sat cross-legged on the seat with great interest, looked up at Du Shiyi, who was engrossed, and suddenly said to the bamboo shadow on the side: "Du Xiaolangjun is really full of whimsical ideas. When a certain person sent the first few scrolls back to Songyang Temple, my master saw that the handwriting on them was regular, but it was fast and good, and he was amazed for a while when he heard the method of copying like this. ”

Hearing others praise his master, Zhuying naturally smiled and said: "My family Langjun is talented and intelligent, and he has no teacher since he was a child, so he can come up with such a good method." ”

"It's just a stopgap measure to save time and trouble." Seeing that the incense sticks in the incense burner on the table were exhausted, and it was time to rest, Du Shiyi rubbed his wrists and stood up, and when he saw Sima Heiyun also getting up, he said with a smile, "Brother Sima, you and I are not outsiders. I sincerely ask you, do you find it inconvenient to read a book? ”

Although Sima Heiyun is a servant, he is literate and hyphenated, which Du Shiyi discovered when he discovered that he had been watching from the sidelines. Sure enough, after saying this, he saw Sima Heiyun stunned, and immediately smiled bitterly: "A young family is lonely, if it weren't for the mercy and containment of Mr. back then, it would be impossible to read and write, and it would be vain to read books, so I was already content to have books to read, and I never thought of any inconvenience." Even now, I have seen many poor scholars who could not afford to buy books, so they could only rely on hand-copying. But the efficiency of hand-copying is low, for example, this herbal scripture has a total of seven volumes, plus a preface, to copy completely, the effort is extraordinary. If they can be like Du Xiaolangjun, they will definitely save a lot of time. ”

Du Shiyi didn't expect Sima Heiyun to talk about his personal experience, and from this and that, he felt that his method of copying books could save time and effort for the Hanmen scholars, and he couldn't help but sigh. The four words of movable type printing only turned around in his mind for a while, and he pressed them down first.

In memory, almost all of the ancestral scrolls of the Du family were copied by hand, and only a few were engraved and printed, such as the Four Books and the Han Book of Historical Records. Moreover, the so-called clay type, from lettering to typesetting, is a professional job. What's more, demand determines production, and there aren't many literate people these days, and he's not a powerful person!

Therefore, after a moment of silence, he sighed softly: "Books are as expensive as gold, and they are indeed sighing. Moreover, there are still many inconveniences in such books today. One is reading, and the other is storage. Silverfish and mildew are the most devastating books, and even if they are carefully maintained, it is not easy. Brother Sima still remembers that on a sunny day ago, the housekeeper and Zhuying took out all the books in the bookcase and unfolded the breathable incense, and tossed for a day, but both of them had back pain? ”

Realizing what Du Shiyi really wanted to say, Sima Heiyun was suddenly surprised: "What does Du Xiaolangjun mean ......?"

"In the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, bamboo slips and silk books were used, and now, bamboo slips have long been used, and even silk books are rarely used because of the huge cost. However, in this way, the storage, maintenance and access of the books will become a big problem, the books are not resistant to pressure, either inserted or stacked, but in the bookcase, if placed on the shelf, it is not easy to find at first glance. Moreover, the bookstores of each family are always inferior to the library of the imperial court. For example, my ancestors have handed down a lot of precious books, even if they are preserved and cared for, but compared with those of the past, they are not as good as they were back then. Of course, there is also the fact that it takes a lot of time to roll up and unfold. ”

Speaking of this, Du Shiyi instructed Zhu Ying: "You go to the bookcase and take out the oiled paper bag that I put in before." ”

Hearing this, Zhuying immediately left, and came back with the oiled paper bag after a short time. This time, even Du Sanniang, who had been listening to the movements outside the room, couldn't help but think about it. remembered that after my brother finished copying the book, he would always mysteriously break her and Zhuying, and tinkered with something in the house, and then solemnly put it in an oiled paper bag, and she also slipped out of the house. When she saw Du Shiyi open the oiled paper bag and take out the pile of things inside, Sima Heiyun stepped forward to take a look, and she naturally leaned over curiously.

"It's ......"

I saw that the pile of things unfolded, but I saw that this pile was cut into six inches long, four inches wide, and the left side of the pages of all the general size was neatly punched, and then it was bound into a book with needle and thread, and the cover was wrapped in vellum paper, and the pages were turned from back to front, which was convenient and simple, and it was stacked in a thick pile in the hand, which was very different from the scroll-bound book. Unlike Sima Heiyun, who thoughtfully looked at this strange bound style book, the sharp-eyed Du Sanniang caught a glimpse of a piece of paper falling from it when Du Shiyi was flipping through it, she hurriedly leaned over and picked it up, and saw that it was a song of mercy for farmers, and her eyes lit up for a while. You must know that the most popular good poem in the market is today, and she has never heard this poem. In addition, in the past few months of my brother's illness, he has rarely interacted with outsiders, if it is not someone else's masterpiece, then there is obviously only one answer!

Brother can compose poetry again!

She could barely hold back the cheers that came to her lips, and it was easy to endure the joy on her face and quietly retreat, but she hurriedly went to the side and waved at the bamboo shadow. When he and the maidservant came out of the grass house, she didn't care about Tian Mo being serving vegetables in the field, and said with a smile: "Zhuying, I just saw that Brother Ah made a new poem!" ”

"Ah......h Lang Jun can recover from a serious illness, and he can write a poem again, all of them are the lady who sincerely touches the world! ”

Du Shisanniang shook her head vigorously, did not speak, and drove the bamboo shadow back to the house to serve, but she knelt down in the dust, and muttered a prayer: "The Emperor and the Queen of Heaven, the gods and Buddhas of the heavens, Grandpa, Auntie, Brother has finally recovered from a serious illness, and he is smarter and smarter than before, I am already satisfied." If he has any more ups and downs, please surrender to me alone, and don't torture my brother again......"

No one else heard this soft murmur, only Tian Mo, who was looking down at the vegetable seedlings, raised his head. Looking at this little lady with picturesque eyebrows and eyes, thinking of the sincere prayer just now, he couldn't help grinning, and his eyes were shining.

In the room, Du Shiyi saw Sima Heiyun thoughtfully holding the folded book and looking at it over and over, but he took out several other books from the oil-paper bag, which were the preface and the first six volumes of the "Commentary on the Materia Medica". Seeing Sima Heiyun turning through these books thoughtfully, he opened his mouth and asked, "What does Senior Brother Sima think of these methods?" ”

"Judging from the use and reading alone, it is naturally more convenient than a scroll, but when you first see this book, you will inevitably feel unaccustomed to it......" Sima Heiyun suddenly stopped talking, looked up at Du Shiyi and asked, "How did Du Xiaolangjun come up with this method?" Moreover, this seems to have been copied before the preface to the annotations of the Haode Materia Medica Sutra and the first six volumes? ”

"Yes, I've asked you to forward the first six volumes, but in fact I've copied one more copy of each volume, and I'm just trying to bind them in this way. I have read a lot of books since I was a child, and I have always found it inconvenient, and this time I have been sick for many months, and I can't even move or talk during this period, but I think about these things from time to time. In this way, as long as the paper is cut in advance, the transcription can be quickly bound into a book, and it is square and easy to store, without the red sandalwood shaft, jade shaft, tooth shaft, wooden shaft, even if the poor scholars, they can move the needle and thread themselves, and also save the trouble of framing into a roll. ”

Du Shiyi paused for a moment, and then continued: "Moreover, I heard that now the two capitals are prosperous, and the Buddhist scriptures are in short supply, and even if the common people worship many Buddhist scriptures to go home, it is inconvenient to store the scrolls, and it is also inconvenient to use them to read them. I remember once upon a time in a monastery where I had seen a folded sutra that looked like a scroll was folded every few inches, which was convenient but easy to break. Moreover, we scholars can't let the children of Buddhism specialize in beauty in everything. In particular, if the medical books and pharmacopoeias such as Materia Medica can be passed down like Buddhist scriptures, they can also save people from fire and water. ”

As soon as these words came out, Sima Heiyun, who was still hesitating, suddenly flashed his eyes, and then said, "Du Xiaolangjun, can you lend me these books?" ”

"You can't do it."

When Sima Heiyun put a few books back into the oiled paper bag, put them in his arms and left in a hurry, Du Shiyi returned to the desk, dipped the pen in ink again, and continued to copy the book after calming down.

Most of the suzerains of the Shangqing faction were scholars and scholars, and they had lofty knowledge, and since Sima Chengzhen came for Tao Hongjing's posthumous work this time, he might have made a difference because of his advice. After all, how can the value of those medical pharmacopoeias written by the sages of the Taoist dynasties, and even the precious classics such as chemical philosophy be inferior to those Buddhist scriptures?