During the summer solstice,

The cicadas chirp endlessly,

There was a cool breeze blowing the candlelight in the hall, the young man rubbed his eyes and looked at the copper kettle in the corner dripping, and before he knew it, it was already the middle of the night, and a thick pile of paper had been piled up on the table in front of him, all of which were some regulations for the imperial examination written by himself after the negotiation of the prince of Qin.

There are many articles written on the paper, and when the Southern Expedition returned to Beijing, it had been discussed several times throughout the night, and now some key things about the emergence of "movable type" will also be settled tonight.

The young man got up slowly, stretched,

The breeze is blowing on the face, and the whole person is also much more comfortable, behind him Qin Qingtang is still working hard to write, the tea in the pot has been renewed for several rounds, the gray hair looks a little sluggish under the candlelight, the face full of wrinkles sometimes frowns, sometimes stretched, some of the ideas spoken by His Royal Highness, but also slightly modified in combination with the government and politics, what he has to do is to make up for the improvement of the imperial examination system.

It is not easy to decide on a country's plan, and it is an extremely painstaking thing to think about the next days, whether it is to discuss the court or set the details, and it is not an exaggeration to say that it is a dream of sleeping.

"Sir, don't catch a cold. ”

"Madame, I asked me to come over and put on a dress for you, sir. ”

The entourage who called Ren Zhi entered lightly, draped a thick coat on Qin Qingtang's shoulders, and then silently replaced the teapot with tea leaves, the tea is this year's new tea, the translucent tea soup has a faint fragrance, and after brewing the tea, he respectfully served a cup to the young man, and then retreated to the side and waited quietly.

"Your Highness, I smiled. ”

"This summer solstice is now for the old minister, it is also a distant time when the green shirt was thin, and the body bones are not as good as before, and now even if the pen is not as good as if there was divine help back then, this general charter may have to be completed in the second half of the night. ”

After Qin Qingtang dropped the last stroke on the paper in front of him, he tightened the coat on his body, looked up at the young man who was in his youth at the door of the hall, and sighed.

"Where is the words of Duke Qin. ”

"Lao Ji is in the woods, and his ambitions are thousands of miles,"

"The ambition of the Duke of Qin is to be in the future. ”

The young man took a sip of the steaming tea in the cup and looked at Qin Qingtang with a smile and said with a smile, looking carefully, the old man in front of him was a little thin and his face was wrinkled, but there was clarity in his eyes.

"The first imperial examination. ”

"The palace also wants to let Qin Gong be the chief examiner in Beijing, so that Qin Gong's reputation in the hearts of the world's scholars can also let the world's scholars know the importance of the imperial court on this matter. ”

The young man said leisurely.

"Your Highness has a heart, and the old minister who will try it will respond in advance. ”

"As for the palace test behind this, the old minister thought that he could also be set earlier, and the master of Qi finally led the Qi Emperor Tian Chun to the school palace to take up a temporary post, there are similarities, and even better than a lot, after His Royal Highness ascends the throne, the best among the world's scholars can also call himself the protégé of the Son of Heaven. ”

Qin Qingtang stroked his beard and said.

"But if this is the case, the temple is afraid that the world will be too heavy. ”

"Embarked on the old road of Qi back then. ”

The young man also hesitated when he heard the voice, the children's test, the township test, and the palace test after the examination, it is inevitable that the atmosphere of advocating literature in the world will be pushed to a peak, and the so-called ten years of hard work in the cold window no one knows, and the title of the gold list is known to the world.

Created by Tang Gaozong, after Wu Zetian presided over the palace test, Luoyang was empty of thousands of people, a sentence for Tian Shelang, and he ascended to Tianzi Hall at dusk, and I don't know how many people in the world were fascinated?

In later generations, a good man should be the roll call party of Donghua Gate,

It is also pushed to the pinnacle of the literary atmosphere of the previous dynasties, but in the long run, it will inevitably lead to an imbalance between the civil and military, that is, the kind of extremely absurd things such as the nine-grade sesame official pointing at the general's nose and spitting and making nonsense are also common in the Song Dynasty.

The young man couldn't help but have a lot of thoughts in his mind,

"Your Highness, we have obtained a man of letters who is a backbone ruler of the world. ”

"Not pedantic. ”

"Examination of the scriptures,"

"It is to let the people of the world understand the truth in the books of the sages. ”

"Examination of the article,"

"It is to let the world's scholars understand the principles of governing the country. ”

"As for the style of writing is too heavy, the prosperous times worship literature, and the troubled times worship martial arts, this is an inevitable truth, and now according to this kind of imperial examination, it will not be like the pedantic literati in the early years of the Qi State, if the scholars can achieve the unity of knowledge and action in the mouth of His Royal Highness, many worries can be saved. ”

"As for the astronomy, geography, arithmetic and so on in the mouth of His Royal Highness, in the eyes of the old minister, it is also excellent, but you can't be in a hurry, you must know that if today's scholars read the books of sages, if you let the world's scholars know that you have to start from scratch, it is an extremely unfair thing. ”

"Naturally, in the days to come, you can also slowly join, Your Royal Highness and now the imperial examination, in order to solve the scourge of the gate valve, but also to give the people of the world a road to heaven, as for the things of the future, with His Royal Highness these ideas to join it, each performing its own duties, thinking about it is too much chaos. ”

"Lao Chen can be regarded as a person who has read poetry and books, and throughout history, he knows that there is no such system that can be continued forever, and now His Royal Highness wants to abandon the recommendation system is the most typical example. ”

Qin Qingtang stroked his beard and sighed.

"As for the imperial examination in the future, it is also extremely normal to be eliminated by the dynasty like the recommendation system, and it is conceivable that it should also be solved by future generations, as far as the next hundreds of thousands of years are concerned, the imperial examination is enough to make the people of the world receive inexhaustible favors. ”

Qin Qingtang's eyes were clear and he said loudly.

"Your Highness, remember!"

"Your Highness's so-called, open peace for all generations!"

"It's not about taking the foundation of the world into one. ”

"It's too hard, it's too tiring. ”

Qin Qingtang looked at the thin body of the young man and said seriously, His Majesty's cool knife still has thousands of dead souls hanging on it, and the back was also slightly pressed by the entire Liangzhou back then, and now the young man in front of him is even more so, the thin body is not the whole world to resist.

"Gong Qin, rest assured. ”

"This temple, save it. ”

"For now, let's go ahead and finalize the follow-up charter. ”

The young man smiled freely, and did not answer directly, but stepped down and sat down, looked at the charter piled up on the table, smiled bitterly, and continued to negotiate with Qin Qingtang about the charter under the imperial examination.

I used to work only from 9 to 5, and I fought small people in one liter,

I always think about that sentence,

After I die, what does it matter if he floods the sky, what does it have to do with me?

At that time, it always sounded very reasonable,

can go to today's height,

It's inevitable that you will think a little more,

Always thinking about doing more,

Wasn't that the same true of that person in the previous life?

I always think about the inheritance of eternity, and I will bear it together.

......

Following

At the beginning of the day, the sky is bright,

The door of the Prime Minister's Mansion slowly opened,

The young man took a thick pile of paper stamps and walked towards the door, and Bai Xiaosheng, who was waiting outside the door, drove the carriage and quickly greeted him.

"Your Highness, the craftsmen of Anlanfang have been arranged, and they have all joined the Liangzhou craftsman workshop, and the production process of movable type has also been passed down, and it will not be long before all the printing shops in Shangjing City can be replaced. ”

Bai Xiaosheng drove the carriage and reported softly.

"So very good, the main hall will give a note to the Liangzhou craftsman workshop, which is spent on money, just take it from the inner treasury, the money brought back from the Rotten Ke Temple last time is enough for the temple to realize many things, the silver is not considered, and if there are various needs for the rest, you can also find the main hall together. ”

"Right now, I'm going to the craftsman's workshop. ”

"The temple is also relieved to see, after all, for the peace of all generations, the slogan can not just shout and stop, and always be a hands-off shopkeeper on weekdays. ”

The young man read lightly, and then gently leaned on the carriage and closed his eyes and took a nap, and now he has entered a product, but the Rotten Ke Temple has rarely rested after the First World War, and it is also extremely draining to talk about the regulations of the imperial examination all night last night.

"Your Highness, I'm worried!"

Bai Xiaosheng closed the sedan curtain, looked at the young man who was taking a nap and sighed lightly, the horsewhip was raised, the wheels pressed against the bluestone road, and slowly drove towards the craftsman's workshop.

At the end of the day,

In the Liangzhou craftsman's workshop,

Also for stepping in, it is a very strong ink fragrance on the tip of the nose,

I took a deep breath and the smell of dirt mixed with it.

Step inside,

The eye is that many movable type modules are neatly stacked in the courtyard, and the clay movable type is placed in the wooden lattice according to the rhyme, and the paper strip is pasted to indicate that it has been piled up into a hill at this moment.

Behind the iron, the kiln where iron was originally made was hit by a heat wave, and shirtless craftsmen were constantly putting the clay movable type to bake and shape, and then put it into the iron plate to cool.

The whole process has a clear division of labor, the craftsmen are even more meticulous, and the older craftsmen are constantly instructing and supervising in person, and from time to time they burst out two foul words.

"Hundred commanders, I'm afraid in a few days. ”

"It's going to be expensive to attract Beijing paper. ”

The young man looked at the modules piled up in the courtyard and smiled dumbly, roughly looking at it was just a night's work, there were already as many as 100 sets of modules that had been sorted out, all over the capital, and he couldn't play for a long time, and he saw in a trance that he had a hundred poems about fighting wine, and the scene of Lin'an paper was expensive.

"Your Highness, rest assured. ”

"All the paper from Gyeonggi has been introduced to Shangjing, and I think it will be delivered to the warehouse here tomorrow, and it will definitely not affect the rest of the process. ”

Bai Xiaosheng replied.

"How's the study in the city going?"

"It has been arranged, and in a few days all the printed books will be sent in, and in less time, the entire Shangjing City will know that the books that have been shelved and cannot be sought for have entered the market, and they can be taken home with only a few silver taels. ”

"In the rest of the states and counties, it won't take a few days for the craftsman workshop to send craftsmen down, and it won't be long before the entire Daqian is like the scene in the capital. ”

In this way, the collection of thousands of books turned into the price of cabbage. ”

"As for those heirlooms, when he went to court. ”

"The main hall is also cheeky to borrow one. ”

The young man muttered softly.

"What will happen if you have broken your foundation?"

......

A few days later,

Cheng

Outside Anlanfang,

Qingliu Study,

The study is open on the bank of the Weishui River, the environment is extremely quiet, there are not many books in the study, but most of them can also be found, the shopkeeper also treasures three or five solitary books, only borrow and not sell on weekdays, from time to time there are literati and ink writers who come here to sit here for a day, drinking tea and reading are also extremely leisurely.

But today, for some reason, the outside is already full of people wearing long robes, and even the people who are joining in the excitement outside, there are no less than 100 people in the three circles and the three circles outside.

"Squeak squeak......"

The wooden door opens,

"Shopkeeper Liu's,"

"Are you really going to sell that one's lone book today?"

As soon as the door of the study was opened, someone asked impatiently.

"I heard the news a few days ago and couldn't sleep at night, Xiaosheng has already prepared the silver with great effort, and is waiting for the Zhang family's lone book to be included today. ”

"Don't panic!"

"What the shopkeeper said, how can he ever regret it?"

"I'm afraid you don't have enough money. ”

The old shopkeeper who pushed the door quipped, and the whole wooden door was completely pushed open, and the wooden shelves, which had not many books, were now full of brand-new books, and there was a faint smell of ink.

"Shopkeeper, didn't you go to the printing shop and buy some leftovers at a low price, and then sell them at a high price, don't you treat us as fools?"

Looking at the dozens of books in the past, some people were stunned in disbelief, and after coming back to their senses, they said directly, there are those engraving and printing books to the end in the market in the printing workshop, which are usually unclear in ink, and more than a dozen ink balls can be picked out after reading the whole text.

"Don't worry, if you don't believe it, look through it. ”

"Hiss......"

"It's not scraps!"

Someone opened the page, looked at the clear handwriting on the top and gasped, to know that the cost of engraving printing is not cheap, and it is extremely time-consuming and laborious to produce, and it is worth a lot of money to spread it on each book.

"Shopkeeper, you have made a fortune?"

"No, no. ”

"Dare to ask you what is the price of paper in the capital now?"

The old shopkeeper asked with a smile.

"The old decay is poor, there is no way to read the book, but to borrow and the house of the book, to write by hand, this trip is also in this mind, it is a little ashamed, but for a long time in the past on the price of paper in the capital is still very clear, a book of ordinary thickness costs only a few hundred papers. ”

A poor old man spoke.

"Take this "Thirteen General History" as an example, a total of thirteen volumes, 1,300 pieces of paper, brown, ink, paste medicine, printing back craftsmen and food money, etc. one or two halves, rent the version of one or two two dollars, the total cost of about three taels of three dollars, the price of seven taels of silver, only the paper money is only one or two and one dollars of silver. ”

After the old man finished speaking, he sighed, he can be regarded as a poor family, his family background is much better than ordinary people, but it costs a lot to buy books all year round, so he has to pick up a pen and copy.

"What a penny!"

The old shopkeeper's eyes fell on the young man in brocade under the willow tree in the distance, and then he shouted very happily.

"Then the thirteen volumes of the "Thirteen General History",

"I'll make one or two dollars for today's price!"

"Whatever the price of the paper is, the shopkeeper will sell it at the same price. ”

"An extra penny, full pawnshop rent and guy's errand money. ”

"Is this true?"

The old man's body trembled violently when he heard the sound, and he originally looked at this "General History of the Thirteen" and still had the intention of copying it after several months of hard work, but now he can buy it at this same price.

"Naturally, take it seriously!"

"In addition, the same is true of all the books on the shelves of this study, and you can take them with a penny on top of the price of the paper. ”

The old shopkeeper said very boldly,

As soon as the words fell, the surrounding readers instantly exploded, this price is afraid that the shopkeeper has convulsions, so he dares to sell it like this?

"The shopkeeper will give me a set!"

"I want the shopkeeper too!"

"Three sets!"

"Let's ......"

"Don't squeeze, don't squeeze ......"

......

A large amount of silver was thrown on the counter, and the old shopkeeper who bought the books smiled from ear to ear as he watched everyone scramble, and he didn't know how many volumes were piled up in the courtyard behind him.

It is also strange to say that just a few days ago, the major printing houses in the capital found the shopkeepers of the major study houses in the city, saying that they wanted to reprice the books.

I didn't want to do it at first, but then I realized that there was a new movable type printing recently, and my original inventory could not be sold at a price, so I naturally didn't believe it, but I saw the process in person, looked at the stacked books, and looked at the flowing workshop, only to know that the room full of books was afraid to be smashed in my hands.

When you are still in shock,

A white-faced scholar came out, saying that the whole city has been in such a situation since then, the price is not high, but the rental money can be saved, and the remaining craftsman fees are also covered by the printing house, and the price of the book in the future is the price of white paper.

What is the price of white paper, what is the price of books!

The rest of the silver will be made up by the imperial court!

As for the passage of this time, only the money of the craftsmen of the printing workshop will be counted in the future, and the rest will still be like this, if you want to make more money, you will sell more, and you will be allowed to have a profit of a penny of silver.

I don't want to do it in my heart,

When a few unwilling shopkeepers were taken out by the soldiers, they knew that their arms could not reach their thighs, no matter what background you had, you had to follow along, even those who were in the court had to listen obediently to their studies, and other people's knives did not recognize people.

But when I go home and think about it,

That's what happened,

The price has dropped, and the more people who buy, their profits may not be less than the money they made before, which means that they will have to pay more silver taels every month than before.

As for why the imperial court didn't sell it itself, I think it was because it wanted the price of books to drop faster, after all, ready-made channels and time-honored signboards are always more trustworthy and faster than new ones.

As for why the court did this, he had been doing this business for a long time, and he could vaguely guess some signs, but he didn't dare to speak, he just had to calculate how much silver he could get in his pocket every month, and it was easy to lose his head if he thought too much.

......

"Shopkeeper, books are cheaper. ”

"What about everyone's lone book?"

The scholar who shouted earlier was holding a stack full of books, and just walked to the door and remembered what to ask again.

"Over here, it's all there. ”

The old shopkeeper pointed to the books stacked in the corner and squinted and smiled, Speaking of which, a single book is worth a lot of money, but if it is actively printed, the court can be a few points cheaper, and the initial 100 books are paper and stamp money, as long as the remaining templates, and every printed volume can also give a thousandth of the royalty. ”

It has to be calculated as a profitable business, and I don't know how many bookkeepers with a collection of books entered the store with a collection of lonely books, lest it be too late.

"Zhang's solitary book is also printed?"

"Oh my God, that's true!"

......

"Superficial!"

"Wait and see, what is this?"

The old shopkeeper looked at the appearance of everyone, and took out the things at the bottom of the box from under the cabinet.

"Seventy-two Policies for Governing the Country?"

"Why haven't we heard of it?"

"Huh......"

"The signature is actually Gong Qin!"

Someone looked at the inscription below and said.

"Dare to ask the shopkeeper this ......"

Some people look at the pages of the book and look at the refined words on it and settle their minds, and the more they look back, the more they feel that every word is fine, and it is the way of the official and the law of governing the country.

"The same price for paper money!"

"The same is true for both volumes!"

"Duke Qin's book, the one penny of silver that the shopkeeper doesn't earn anymore. ”

"It is a blessing for us to be able to read the books written by the Duke of Qin in my lifetime, and all this money and silver should be given to the people who read all over the world!"

The old shopkeeper was arrogant, looking at the cheering readers around, it was rare for his heart to be soft, and he was also quite touched, the poor old scholar in the corner was holding the book written by Qin Qingtang, and his fingers gently stroked the cover, but there were turbid tears left.

Looking down from the sky,

Such a scene in the entire Shangjing city,

There are many places in the city,

......

Distance

Under the willow tree,

"Commander Bai, do you say that a book is expensive for one or two pieces of silver?"

The young man looked at the lively scene in the study and muttered softly.

"It's not expensive!"

Bai Xiaosheng said without thinking.

"Before the engraving was printed, a book could be worth a thousand gold, even the manuscript was also priceless, and then it was generally calculated, and it was necessary to buy a complete book of more than ten books, and it would cost seven or eight taels of silver, and the number of words was more, and dozens of taels also abounded. ”

"Now a book is only a tael of silver. ”

"It's the price of cabbage in His Highness's mouth. ”

"Your Highness's move can be regarded as benefiting the world's scholars. ”

Bai Xiaosheng is also a scholar in the end,

Looking at the situation here, I was also quite touched from the bottom of my heart.

"A tael of silver ......"

"A tael of silver ......"

"Calculated as the food and clothing of ordinary people in Shangjing for a month for a family of three, it is not cheap. ”

The young man smiled dumbly when he remembered the price of books in his previous life,

That's the price of cabbage, in comparison.

But now it's enough,

The poor in the world can afford it,

That's enough,

In the final analysis, it is also to support one class against another, as for the people in the world everyone has books to read, I don't know how many years later, but what you want to do is better than not doing nothing, you can't come to this world in vain.

......

After a month,

Liangzhou boundary,

Lishan Academy,

unitary time,

A red glow rises on the horizon,

The old man in the cloth robe was walking down the mountain with a book in his hand, and finally walked to the boulder at the foot of the mountain.

Since the students on the mountain came down the mountain, they often came here to sit at sunset by themselves, and stayed until late at night, not knowing what was going on in their heads.

"Establish a heart for heaven and earth, and establish a life for the people. ”

"For the sake of the saints, for the sake of eternal peace. ”

Zuo Busheng muttered softly, his fingers crossed the rough surface, remembering that he had carved these words with his sword a long time ago, and the young man had a lot of thoughts in his heart.

Bow your head and turn the pages of the book,

"Governing a big country is like cooking a small fresh. ”

Seven characters came into view, this is Qin Gong's book, when his original students carried books up the mountain, he knew that there were already many readers in the world who could afford to buy books, and when he was still thinking about that sentence, His Royal Highness had already done it.

"Your Highness, Zuo Busheng has been taught. ”

Zuo Busheng slowly got up and bowed to the south.