As soon as Qin Baichuan said this question, Xue Shihan looked at him strangely, even Fang Zichang and Zhu Tianyi were a little confused, seeing that Qin Baichuan really didn't know the key, the old academician said something about the scene: "Forget it, Master Qin is a businessman, probably someone will execute it for him when he says his ideas, and it is normal for him not to know the cumbersomeness of printing." ”

"Hmm." Xue Shihan nodded and said, "Brother Qin, the printing you said is indeed a method, which can be applied to monthly magazines and even weekly magazines, but there is really nothing you can do about one issue a day. ”

"Why?" Qin Baichuan was confused.

"Qingfeng Academy has always been a biography of characters, and we usually cooperate with the Ministry of Industry, and the printing technology we have mastered should be the latest." Xue Shihan emphasized first, and then continued: "Brother Qin may not know that after a book is completed, we need to ask the master to carve it on the steel plate in the form of reverse characters, and then paint the engraving with ink, and then cover the paper. The process of engraving alone is extremely difficult, and it needs to be carved with an axe and chisel little by little, and once a word is wrong, the entire steel plate will be scrapped. We have made statistics, a plate of the size of a letter paper, from the buckle to the lettering, it will take at least one day and one night to complete it, isn't Brother Qin afraid of delays? ”

Qin Baichuan's eyes widened, only to hear Xue Shihan say again: "Wangjianglou should have been a private printer last time, and they used the same method, which was nothing more than replacing the steel plate with a wooden board. This saves some time, but due to ink staining, the maximum 500 copies of the woodblock printing will be scrapped, and the printed handwriting will be blurred. More critical ...... Brother Qin, the production cost of this engraving is extremely high, your newspaper is new every day, and the engraving is scrapped after using it once. ”

After Xue Shihan finished speaking, he peeked at Qin Baichuan's face, the old academician and Zhu Tianyi also looked grim, it is true that if the printing problem cannot be solved, Qin Baichuan's so-called idea of opening a comprehensive newspaper once a day will not be realized, and all the joy and excitement before are water and moon mirror flowers, which are destined to be broken.

"I guess I understand, you mean that if we want to print, we have to cut a steel plate the size of a newspaper and manually engrave the words one by one? When this steel plate is used up, it is useless and can only be thrown away? Qin Baichuan asked again with his own understanding.

"Yes." Xue Shihan saw that Qin Baichuan had a somewhat disapproving look between his eyebrows, and asked, "Is it possible...... Can Brother Qin solve this problem? ”

"If Qingfeng Academy has a printing process, I really have a solution to this problem." Qin Baichuan raised his eyebrows and said, "Have you heard of ...... Movable type printing? ”

"Movable type printing?" Three people, you look at me, I look at you, obviously I haven't heard of it.

"It's no wonder...... There are not many opportunities for ordinary people to use printing, and the number of books that the government wants to print must be extremely large, and engraving printing is not a waste, so you have not been able to change your thinking. Qin Baichuan sighed lightly and said with a smile: "Engraving printing is of course the latest printing technology of Dasong, but I think it is time-consuming and laborious when engraving, and it is inconvenient to store a large number of engravings, and more importantly, it is ...... Engraving a word that cannot be corrected is the biggest waste. ”

Qingfeng Academy originally had its own printing ability, and when they heard Qin Baichuan raise the question of engraving printing, the three of them nodded again and again, and Qin Baichuan didn't know whether they could print movable type, so he could only say tentatively: "I have a way, you can see if it is feasible...... Well, it's actually very simple, according to the specifications of the newspaper, let's make a master first, the master is one inch high, the corners are vertical, and the center is hollow. ”

Qin Baichuan said while drawing the shape of the master on the table, which is probably similar to a horizontal tray, and he can understand his meaning at a glance, so Fang Zichang and the others all said that they understood, and Qin Baichuan said with a straight face: "Engraving printing is to engrave all the content on a steel plate, then my suggestion is to break it into parts, and carve the commonly used words into independent character molds, and the height of the character mold is one point higher than that of the master......

Xue Shihan's face suddenly showed a cloud of ecstasy, and seeing Qin Baichuan's elongated voice, she immediately continued: "Brother Qin, do you mean that when the content of our newspaper comes out, we will take the required fonts according to the content and arrange them in a certain order into the master?" ”

"Yes." Qin Baichuan smiled and said: "After the arrangement is completed, there may be some gaps between the word molds, and when the time comes, you can fill them with heated resin or cement, and after cooling, it will be a new engraving plate, complete the printing task, and then heat the master, remove the movable type and put it away for later use...... In this way, it may take some effort to make movable type, but it can be used for a long time. If you are greedy for convenience, we can prepare more for a single movable type, and then open five masters, ten people...... Don't say three or five thousand copies in one night, thirty or fifty thousand can be done. ”

"Brother Qin, how did you come up with it!" The problem that he thought could not be solved at all was solved so easily, Xue Shihan was excited, grabbed Qin Baichuan's big hand, and blushed excitedly.

"Ahem...... cough" Fang Zichang and Zhu Tianyi let out a series of coughs, and they all saw that Xue Shihan had a little meaning to Qin Baichuan, but this was still in Qingfeng Academy, what kind of system did it become?

Xue Shihan was embarrassed, red from her cheeks to the base of her neck, shy but shy, but Xue Shihan still mustered up her courage, and her eyes always fell on Qin Baichuan's face. The wave of air that erupted from her small mouth rushed straight to Qin Baichuan's nostrils, the talented woman looked adoring, Qin Baichuan's heart beat twice, her eldest wife was really prescient, and Xue Shihan at this time really had the potential of a little fox.

"This way...... Well, forced, if we don't solve the printing problem, our idea can't be realized, so ...... I also had a flash of inspiration, a flash of inspiration. Qin Baichuan didn't dare to look at Xue Shihan's cherry mouth anymore, he laughed dryly, but said in his heart, this movable type printing is originally one of the four great inventions of the Chinese nation, and modern children know it, how can they not be clear?

"Master Qin's inspiration flashed, but it solved a big problem for the newspaper and even for the entire Da Song, and he contributed a lot." Fang Zichang gave Qin Baichuan a thumbs up, this movable type printing technology is too convenient, if it is promoted, I am afraid that many craftsmen who make a living by engraving will be unemployed.

"The old academician has won the prize...... Well, that's all Qin can think of, I don't know if you have any other questions you want to ask? At this time, it was already afternoon, and several people had not eaten, and Qin Baichuan's stomach was a little unassailable.

"If you have a problem, you have to fill your stomach." Fang Zi Changzi still had many questions to ask about the new thing like the newspaper office, and he ordered the hired workers of the academy to bring food, ignoring the teachings of the ancient sages who were silent and silent, and pulled Qin Baichuan to ask many detailed questions.

Among them, the relatively key is that Zhu Tianyi proposed what is the relationship between newspapers and carrier pigeons. Because no matter what you say, the newspaper promoted by Qin Baichuan is only limited to Jiangling, and it seems that there is no need for carrier pigeons. For this problem, Qin Baichuan drew a big pie for them, telling them that the newspaper will inevitably be promoted to the whole country in the future, so that the connection between the various branches is particularly important, and the establishment of a carrier pigeon site is nothing more than a rainy day.

This reason is a bit far-fetched, but if you think about it seriously, it is not unreasonable, since Qin Baichuan insists on asking for it, and he is willing to give money, the two old academicians will be left to him. In addition, at the dinner table, they also discussed the name of the newspaper with great interest, and in the end, Qin Baichuan's opinion still played a vital role, the comprehensive newspaper was called Jiangling Daily, and the business was called Shangjia Monthly, which was straightforward and clear at a glance.

After this meal was finished, Qin Baichuan was about to get up and say goodbye, but Fang Zichang thought that it was not easy to catch Qin Baichuan once, and everything had to be finalized and confirmed that it could be executed before he could be let go. In this way, Qin Baichuan stayed in Qingfeng Academy from afternoon to sunset. At the end of the conversation, Qin Baichuan felt that all his strength was almost exhausted, but the two old academicians were still in good spirits.

"Okay, the idea of establishing Qingfeng Newspaper is so decided!" Looking at the dense paper on the table, the old academician rubbed his palms, clapped his hands and said: "Master Qin, it's not that the old man wants to find something to do for you, but this idea was put forward by you, and the old man doesn't understand what kind of training your so-called reporters and editors need to do!" I don't think it's as good as this, the old man will go to Master Lu tonight, if he agrees, I will issue a notice tomorrow, these things will be taught in the course of Splendid Commercial Law, you are not usually in the academy, I will let Master Xue manage it for you, okay? ”

The old academician blinked, and asked Xue Shihan to manage these things, firstly, they didn't seem to understand what Qin Baichuan said this afternoon, but Xue Shihan can always grasp the key to it, and it is really most appropriate for her to replace the management, secondly...... The old academician is also in line with the idea of the beauty of a gentleman's adulthood.

"That's for the best." Qin Baichuan also felt that Xue Shihan was indeed the most suitable candidate, and he smiled at the talented woman: "Master Xue, in fact, there is nothing difficult in the training of reporters and editors, but it is necessary for the scholars of Da Song to change their flashy style of writing, to use the vernacular, and to express things in a form that ordinary people can understand...... If they can't teach, just let them find a place to listen and listen to the books and bring those languages back. ”

"yes, I understand." Being able to work with Qin Baichuan, Xue Shihan felt a little proud in her heart, didn't Qu Xi just rely on himself to be the owner of Qin Baichuan, so he could be arrogant and sneer at himself, a talented woman? Now what she is doing with Qin Baichuan is also an earth-shattering event, in case it overshadows the limelight of Splendid Villa, what else do you Qu Da Zhuang have to do?

"It's not early, Qin will go back first." Qin Baichuan stood up with a tired face: "There is Master Lao Xue in the affairs of the newspaper, my suggestion is to first sort out the trivial things we talked about today and make perfect ideas, and then you can order someone to prepare the word model first...... If you need silver, I will send the details to the Hundred Flowers Workshop according to the ratio of four or six, and as long as it is reasonable, I will send the silver over. ”

"Brother Qin, won't you stay a little longer?" Xue Shihan bit her lip, she finally saw Qin Baichuan once, and what she said was all business, Xue Shihan was a little stunned.

"No, the owner of my family's Qu Da Zhuang still has something to discuss with me at night." Xue Shihan's reluctant appearance made Qin Baichuan feel a little distressed, but the words of the eldest wife's warning were still in his ears, where did he dare to make a mistake.

"Oh, I'll send you then." Xue Shihan took a deep breath and tried his best to keep the necessary smile.