Great Tang Dynasty

Chapter 446 Get Free
Early summer is fading away, and midsummer is coming soon.

Chang'an City became hotter and hotter.

On the avenue of the palace, the sun was shining brightly. After several carriages were parked here, Cheng Yaojin and the others went to the imperial study together.

Li Shimin was reviewing the memorials in the Imperial Study Room, but at this time of summer, it was easy to make people sleepy, and he squinted his eyes just after reviewing a few.

"My lord, my lord..."

A voice came suddenly, and Li Shimin woke up suddenly. He rubbed his eyes and saw that it was the little eunuch beside him, so he asked, "What's the matter?"

"Your Majesty, Duke Lu and the others are asking to see you."

"Cheng Yaojin?" Li Shimin was a little strange, it seemed that there was nothing wrong recently, what did they come to see him for, but even though he was a little puzzled, Li Shimin let them in.

After Cheng Yaojin and others came to the imperial study, Li Shimin asked, "What's the matter for you to enter the palace?"

"Your Majesty, didn't you say that as long as the dogs copied the Four Books and Five Classics a thousand times, you would give them freedom. Now that they have copied enough, we came here specially to show the Holy Majesty."

Hearing this, Li Shimin frowned slightly. After a while, he finally realized that Cheng Yaojin was talking about that matter. If Cheng Yaojin didn't say it, he would have almost forgotten it.

But when he heard that Cheng Chumo and the others had finished copying, Li Shimin was a little shocked, even a little disbelieving.

At that time, he just said it casually, and didn't take it seriously. Even if many people copied a thousand copies of the Four Books and Five Classics, it would take half a year, right?

How long has it been? Is it a month? How could they have finished copying?

Li Shimin raised his head and glanced at Cheng Yaojin, his expression moved slightly. One person must not be able to finish the copying, but with the ability of these powerful people, it seems that there is no big problem in hiring dozens of people to help copying, right?
Li Shimin felt that the situation must be like this, but because he hadn't taken this matter to heart, he didn't pursue it too much, just nodded: "Oh, it's all finished, let me have a look."

Soon, someone ran out and took the carload of manuscripts of the Four Books and Five Classics.

Li Shimin knew that there would be many, but after he actually brought them, he was shocked to find that there were so many.

There was a thick pile in the imperial study, and Li Shimin walked over to look at it casually.

The handwriting on the first few sheets obviously didn't look like it was written by a single person. Someone must have helped to write it. Li Shimin smiled secretly, but didn't care, and continued to look at it.

But when he saw the latter ones, he felt a little weird, because the remaining ones had exactly the same handwriting, and they didn't look like they were written by humans at all.

It would be fine if there were only a few, but the ones behind are all the same, not only Cheng Chumo's, but Qin Huaidao, Yuchi Baolin and the others are also the same.

It would be a little impossible for one person to write all of them for them, right?

And even if it is written by one person, it is impossible to write it exactly the same every time?

Li Shimin was shocked by this discovery. He frowned slightly and asked, "These handwritings are all the same. Tell me what's going on."

Cheng Yaojin said: "Your Majesty, my son wrote it all himself."

Li Shimin chuckled: "To be honest, I can still spare them. If there is a little concealment, I will punish them to copy it a thousand times, and I will send someone to supervise it."

Hearing this, Cheng Yaojin and the others felt a little weak in fright. After looking at each other, Yu Chigong stood up and said, "My lord, in fact, this is Qin Tian. He made a movable type printing technique. You only need to pour ink on it. , and then just print it, the speed is very fast, so we can finish it so quickly, and the handwriting is the same."

"It's Qin Tian again?" Li Shimin was taken aback for a moment, he didn't expect that this matter would have something to do with Qin Tian again, and according to what Yu Chigong said, Qin Tian invented something that can make paper printed very quickly.

If this is the case, it will probably be transformative for Datang's book business, right?
The previous books were all hand-copied, not to mention the slow speed, and they were prone to errors, and because the hand-copied books involved a lot of manpower, the price of a book was naturally high.

If movable type printing is used, then these problems should be solved, right?
Li Shimin walked back and forth in the imperial study room, his mind was spinning very fast, Cheng Yaojin and others saw Li Shimin like this, and they didn't know whether he spared their son or not.

"Your Majesty, what do you think about our son's grounding?" Cheng Yaojin tried to ask, but Li Shimin suddenly smiled: "Forgive them."

Because of the foot restraint, movable type printing was promoted instead. Let alone forgiving them, even if he asked Li Shimin to give them some rewards, there would be no problem.

Cheng Yaojin and others were overjoyed when they heard this.

"Come here, send an order to let Qin Tian enter the palace."

Hearing that Qin Tian was allowed to enter the palace, Cheng Yaojin and others were stunned for a moment. They didn't know whether it was good news or bad news, after all, Qin Tian helped them cheat.

Therefore, at this time, the few of them didn't think about leaving, and waited for Qin Tian to come. If Li Shimin punished Qin Tian, ​​they could help intercede.

Not long after, Qin Tian hurried over.

Seeing that Cheng Yaojin and others were also there, Qin Tian understood what was going on, probably Li Shimin knew about movable type printing.

But he is not in a hurry, this is a good thing, if you think about it, Li Shimin can't do anything to him?
"My lord, why did you call me here?"

"Do you want me to set you free?"

Li Shimin asked directly, but Qin Tian was taken aback for a moment.

"Yes, of course."

Li Shimin said: "I will give you a task, if you can accept and complete it, I will give you freedom."

"Please ask the Holy One to order."

"I want you to open a bookstore in Chang'an, the capital city, the largest bookstore in my Tang Dynasty, but the price of any books in it should not be too expensive, so that ordinary scholars can afford the books in it, are you willing? "

Li Shimin looked at Qin Tian as he spoke. After Qin Tian heard this, he somewhat understood what Li Shimin meant. People can afford to read.

In fact, the reason why aristocratic families can enter the court is because they can afford to read. If other people can also afford to read, it will be of great help to reduce the influence of the powerful and aristocratic families on the court.

This is a big move, but it takes a long time to complete.

And to do this, it may be difficult to make money, after all, the price has to be kept very low, Li Shimin is obviously digging a hole and waiting for him to jump in.

But after thinking about it, Qin Tian nodded in agreement.

Even if the price is lowered, he feels that there is still room for profit. What's more, this is a very beneficial thing in his opinion. Since it is a good thing, why not do it?

(End of this chapter)