Chapter 18 Block Printing and Papermaking

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"Does my father know the origin of this paper painting?" The eldest grandson did not realize the depression of the eldest grandson Wuji.

"I don't know." Eldest Sun Wuji's tone was a little cold, if you want to say it, just say it, I don't need a process.

"Oh, that's right, the merchant asks a craftsman to carve an image on a wooden board, cover the paper, and dip a brush in ink to brush a New Year's picture, so that although it is very troublesome to make a plate, it is very simple after the plate is made." Changsun Tang finally realized that something was wrong, and quickly explained that now is not the time to sell Guanzi.

"It's the same as a seal?" The eldest grandson, Wuji, quickly understood.

"Yes."

"But what does this painting have to do with the book?" As soon as he exited, the eldest grandson Wuji reacted, this can be printed, and naturally it can be printed.

"If we had made a plate for every page of the book, the book would have been mass-produced instead of having to be copied by hand as it is now." No matter what it is, the only way to reduce costs is mass production.

"I see what you mean." The eldest grandson, Wuji, was already a little obviously impatient.

"Father, this is a good time for my eldest grandson's family to make a name for itself." In order to achieve this goal, it is sometimes advisable to temporarily lower your head.

"I understand, but is this any practical benefit to my eldest grandson's family?" The eldest grandson Wuji plans to allocate one or two, no matter what, the eldest grandson is a member of the eldest grandson's family.

"Oh, I see what my father meant."

There's a story about one of the best dishes on a table, and you're the first to eat it, so you should do it in order to eat more?

The most foolproof thing should be to spit into the dish, but this kind of eating is too ugly for ordinary people to do.

It is safer to say that the dish is really unpalatable while eating, which will discourage some people. Of course, some people will be suspicious, you say it's not delicious, but this half of the plate is gone, this chopsticks must be stretched in to try, at this time your reaction should be to make your eyes, the two of them cooperate to play double reeds, so as to expand their interests as much as possible.

This is what the eldest grandson Wuji thinks.

At present, the eldest grandson Wuji, as a latecomer, has already begun to eat this dish, and naturally he doesn't want everyone to eat it.

Papermaking was invented in the Eastern Han Dynasty, but this engraving printing as a natural extension of stamps and rubbings was not invented until the early Tang Dynasty, which undoubtedly existed in a huge problem.

This problem is that a small number of people want to monopolize these interests, and only to achieve the purpose of monopolizing the court through monopoly, no matter how vicissitudes your court is, I will still be my official.

The typical example here is Wang Qi, whose grandfather was the prime minister of Nanping, and he himself was an official of the former Sui Dynasty, who went into hiding because of his uncle's rebellion, and is now about to pay homage to the prime minister.

The eldest grandson Wuji undoubtedly wants to build this eldest grandson family into such a big family, which can also be said to be the ultimate ambition of every big family.

And once the price of the books that represent this knowledge is reduced, it will be very troublesome to continue to monopolize it, but the reason why these things cannot be said is not even for the eldest grandson.

It's not distrust, but as the saying goes, "trouble comes from the mouth", and the eldest grandson is currently fifteen years old, which is the age of "no hair on the mouth and no firm work".

"Father, I know what you mean." These thoughts just flashed in Changsun Tang's mind, not how smart Changsun Tang was, but these basically belonged to the existence of background music, many things Changsun Tang lacked was to pierce that layer of window paper, and now when this opportunity came, Changsun Tang naturally understood.

is not only some characteristics of the times, but more importantly, the reason why Wang Jue cares about him so much, it turns out that he really doesn't have the aura of the protagonist.

"Father, how long do you think this situation can continue?" The eldest grandson asked rhetorically.

"What, for how long?" The eldest grandson Wuji felt strange, this has lasted for a long time, so long that he can't even figure it out, but there is indeed a record of the great family in the history books, and the Yuan family of the fourth and third princes of the late Han Dynasty is proof, which shows that at least the Han Dynasty This system already exists.

"Judging from the current system, how long can this practice be managed?" The eldest grandson asked.

"You mean the imperial examination system?"

"Yes."

"It can't last long." After a long silence, Eldest Sun Wuji understood.

The imperial examination system was born in the Sui Dynasty, perfected in the Tang Dynasty, and flourished in the Song Dynasty.

The significance of the imperial examination system in the Tang Dynasty was not very great, first, the imperial examination system at this time was not perfect enough, and it was necessary to be recommended to participate in the imperial examination, and it was naturally difficult for this recommender to recommend ordinary people; The second is that even if there is no restriction on the origin of the Jinshi and the special jin, in the Song Dynasty, the special jin was one level lower than the jinshi, and in the Ming and Qing dynasties, the special jin was basically hooked with the favored ministers.

"So what is my father going to do? The husband is the victor without a fight, and he has to count a lot. The second half of this sentence is the words in "Sun Tzu" intercepted by the eldest grandson, which means that there should be an anticipation of the upcoming situation, and this sentence appears here somewhat out of context and reluctantly, but the basic meaning is very clear.

"Then what else can this printing technique and library gain besides the great fame that my eldest grandson family can gain?" Eldest Sun Wuji took it for granted, he still thought that Eldest Sun Tang would inherit his ambition, but how many people could open their minds to cross such a very unlikely event?

"But fame is enough. Enough fame will make my eldest grandson's family invincible, such as the first saint. This ancestor refers to the descendants of Confucius, who was not named the Emperor of Yan until the Song Dynasty, and is now called the first saint.

"Well, let me think about it first." The stakes in this matter are too great, and the eldest grandson Wuji can't figure it out for a while.

In the arrangement of the eldest grandson Wuji, this eldest grandson is only used as a side branch of the big tree of the arch guard Changsun family, but at present, it seems that the growth momentum of this side branch is a little too fast. And this decision means that there is a complete break with the clan at present, which is related to the survival of the Changsun family.

"Father, there are other interests here." This is clearly not enough chips.

"Say." The patience of the eldest grandson Wuji has been exhausted at this time, and this tone has been filled with anger, talking to his own Lao Tzu and selling Guan Zi to ambush him, you are not tired, but your Lao Tzu is tired.

"Oh, that's right, how many people are in this world, and how many books are needed, if we only earn ten wen for a book, how much benefit is this, and there is no risk." This is Changsun Tang's second bargaining chip.

The eldest grandson Wuji was silent, he did have a headache. It is impossible for him to find the most favorable solution to these problems in a short time, even the deceased Du Ruhui.

And it's an important thing, but it's not urgent.

Many times, we are accustomed to solving those urgent but unimportant things first, and subconsciously postponing important but not urgent things later.