Ten days ago, Wang Shi had already taken office in Taixue, but he still stayed in Menxia Temple half of the time.

In the past half a month, Liu He didn't know what Wang Shi was busy with, but he rarely saw him.

This time, Yu Wuwu quickly found the royal style in the Xuanshu Palace.

When Wang Shi saw the paper on the case, his mouth kept exclaiming in amazement, and he held the paper that had been cut into a foot square in both hands, and opened it for a moment to look at the sun, and then folded it into small pieces...... Excited like a child.

After Wang Shi had a good time, Liu He asked with satisfaction: "Wang Fu, what do you think of this paper?" ”

"Your Majesty, is this really paper?"

"That's natural, like fake paper."

"It's really wonderful, compared to Baqiao paper, it's a difference between cloud and mud."

Baqiao paper is rough, gray and yellow, and inferior to linen, but although this paper is not as smooth as silk, it is as white as silk.

"When Wang Fu saw this paper, what did he want to do with it the most?" Liu He said knowingly.

"Of course, it's for writing."

"Then I'll ask Wang Fu to give it a try." As Liu He spoke, he pushed the pen and ink in front of him to the end of the Wang style, and looked at each other with an encouraging look.

This is Liu He's special imperial pen, except for people like Huo Guang who don't know what to do, the rest of the courtiers don't dare to use it indiscriminately.

But Wang Shi did not bring a pen with him here, but he could not resist the temptation of writing, and after hesitating for a long time, Wang Shi saluted, or picked up the pen, and after staining the ink, he wrote on the paper.

"How can you say that you have no clothes, and you are ...... with your son?"

Liu He is very familiar with this poem, it is "Qin Feng Wuyi" in the "Book of Songs", and it is a war song sung by the soldiers in front of the battle, which has its own heroic spirit.

The whole poem has a total of sixty words, which is not too often and not too short, and Wang Shi did not stop writing again, and it was written in one go, very smoothly.

After writing, several people held their breath, looking at the clearly outlined words, not daring to breathe, for fear of blowing away the ink on it.

The time of the half-burnt incense passed, and the edges of the sixty words were hardly blurred, clearer than the words written on the silk.

A few people finally breathed a sigh of relief, and it seemed that the paper had really been done.

"This thing is really wonderful, it is really wonderful, it is written with this thing, it is easy to preserve, and it will not scatter ink, it is simply a divine object."

Wang Shi was full of praise, and then seemed to remember something, and asked: "Your Majesty, the cost of this thing is not expensive, like this square foot, do you want three dollars?" ”

"Wang Fu, as long as you build fast enough and enough, you can buy two feet square for one money." Liu He said with a smile.

Wang Shi couldn't help but muttered in his mouth: "Ten dollars for one foot square of silk, and one dollar for two feet square for paper, doesn't that mean ......?"

"Wang Fu doesn't need to count anymore, the price of this paper is only one-fiftieth of the silk."

"So, it's even cheaper than Jane's?" Wang Shi asked in amazement.

"Well, exactly."

"Isn't it possible for everyone in the world to write on this paper?"

Liu He nodded and said: "Wang Fu can see it thoroughly, if you use this paper to print the book, then a copy of the Analects will be only an inch thick at most." ”

Wang Shi didn't notice the word "seal" in the words of the Son of Heaven, but he still stood up suddenly, made a big bow to the Son of Heaven, and said: "Your Majesty forgives the sin, when the old minister was in Changyi Kingdom, he said that His Majesty was obsessed with carving insects, and that it was really a crime that deserved death, and His Majesty did a great thing for the benefit of the country and the people." ”

I didn't expect this royal style to be so open-minded and transparent, and I could see clearly at a glance the importance of this "paper" to the people.

However, this is not enough, Liu He wants to give Dahan's Taixue Ling a bigger surprise.

"Wang Fu Mo is excited, I still have something to show Wang Fu."

"What?"

"Wang Fu calmed down his emotions first, if Wang Fu has any three strengths and two weaknesses, then I will lose my right hand."

As soon as Liu He said this, Wang Shi, who was already a little impatient by nature, became even more anxious, but it was not easy to force it, so he had to pour the cup of cold tea on the case into the palm of his hand, and then slapped it on his face.

"Your Majesty, the old minister has calmed down at this moment, but it doesn't hurt to say it, Your Majesty is taking out the "Book of Songs" written by Sage Kong at this moment, and the old man is completely different."

Liu He was made to laugh and cry by Wang's "Meng Lang" behavior, and after shaking his head, he took out the "Analects" hidden under the case.

"Wang Fu, please see, this is this thing, although it is not from the hand of Sage Kong, but I am afraid that Sage Kong has seen it in the world, and he will praise it a few times."

Traditional Chinese books have actually undergone a long evolution, and there have been many different forms in the middle.

From the original slips and scrolls, to the dragon scales, whirlwinds and folds that appeared after the promotion of paper in the Eastern Han Dynasty, to the butterfly and bag backs that appeared in the Tang and Song dynasties, and then to the master of the Ming and Qing dynasties - thread-bound books......

Books are becoming thinner and lighter in material, but more and more reasonable in binding...... Coupled with the continuous improvement and improvement of printing, by the time of thread-bound books, a sense of formal beauty was added, and it had become an art.

Liu He skipped the twists and turns and detours of thousands of years in front of him, and directly asked Yu Wuwu to make the shape of the book into a thread, which is not only beautiful but also practical.

The book in front of Wang Shi's eyes was very thin, only half an inch thick, and the edges and corners were as flat as if a knife had cut it, and the back of the book was even more structured like a girl's back.

The cover is very simple, with two large characters written on the left side of the Analects, and the word "Confucius" written in many smaller characters.

"Your Majesty, what is this?"

"This is naturally the Analects, do you want to open it and take a look?"

Wang Shi was very rude, and instead of answering the question of the Son of Heaven, he reached out and took the Analects in his hand, and gently turned the first page.

In the blink of an eye, Liu He caught a complicated expression on Wang's face.

Surprised, ecstatic, obsessed, puzzled...... All these expressions appeared on Wang Shi's face in just a few moments, which was very exciting.

Wang Shi didn't look up, let alone speak, but looked through the pages without a teacher.

Because of the rush of time and the rough engraving, the original text of the Analects was printed vertically from right to left, and the small annotations were not added yet.

If it is written on bamboo slips, then the unannotated "Analects" is not worth mentioning, but when it is printed as a "book", the shock is completely different.

It is clearer, more beautiful, and lighter than the Analects on the bamboo slips, and there is an indescribable fragrance of paper and ink.

Wang Shi kept looking down, and finally read it word by word, like a newly enlightened child, as if he had seen the Analects for the first time.

Liu He lowered his head slightly, and when he saw the corners of the eyes of this old man, he didn't know when a few tears were hanging.

At first, Liu He felt a little contrived and exaggerated, but in an instant, it was also conveyed to a trace of emotion.

I've seen so many different "books" that I have long lost my sense of freshness and expectation.

Before Wang Shi came, although Liu He himself was a little excited, he did not cry with joy.

But at this moment, when he saw Wang Shi's intoxicated appearance, Liu He suddenly came back to his senses, not that Wang Shi was too pretentious, but that he was too numb.

Compared with the carriers of various knowledge in later generations, the emergence of paper and books is actually countless times greater.

It's just that people of that era were used to a bizarre world, so they scoffed at the most common books around them.

And Wang Shi is different, although he is a dying old man, accustomed to the vicissitudes of the world, but he has never seen a "book".

Coupled with the fact that he was a Confucian scholar, Wang Shi could naturally understand the greatness of this kind of "book" in an instant—how could this last long in the far west, in that huge empire, still writing with clay tablets and leaves.

As an insider, Liu He certainly knew about it, so he was quickly moved by Wang's touch.

From this moment on, human knowledge will be transferred from stone, bamboo, wood and silk to "paper".

A new era has begun.

Liu He didn't bother, and waited until Wang Shi finished reading this volume of "Analects", and then he coughed lightly and pulled Wang Shi out of the "book".

"Wang Fu, how is this book?"

"Good, good, good!" Wang Shi said three good words in a row, and there was a trace of choking in his words, and then he let out a sigh: "Your Majesty is really a saint." ”

(End of chapter)