Go back to the past and be a schoolboy

Chapter 87 The Commercial Press

The weather in Beiping at the beginning of June has changed a bit, the faces of passers-by on the road are generally more anxious, and even the sound of camel bells circling around the foot of the imperial city all day long has inexplicably decreased a lot.

Passing by a tea shop, the tea customer wanted to go in and drink a pot, order three or two small dishes to kill the rest of the half day, just in time to see the boss change the notice, put a bigger and more eye-catching "Mo talk about state affairs".

"Yo, Second Master Qi, you are auspicious. What's the matter? Are you still going to the private room today? I'll be waiting with you?"

"Forget it, my heart is inexplicably busy today, just find a seat."

The bright four characters "Don't talk about state affairs" let passers-by see them, and they can't help but speed up their steps.

Cheng Nuo, who was sitting in the back of the tricycle, also saw this scene, and thought about it, it was already June, and the [-]-braided army would soon enter the capital. At that time, people would inevitably be panic-stricken again, and the common people could feel it in advance Such a tense atmosphere.

"Old Li, after sending me to the Commercial Press later, remember to buy a few more 'pig tails' and keep them at home. Remember that we should know about this, so don't say anything."

"Okay, sir, I'll buy a few according to your instructions later, but it's already six years old, and it's really hard to find such things in ordinary places." After hearing this, Li Laosan froze. Xing obviously paused, but quickly regained control of the rhythm and rode the bike. While agreeing, he was also thinking about where to buy it.

There is naturally a reason for what the husband ordered. Although there are question marks in my heart, it is still worth entrusting to do things.

On Cheng Nuo's side, he was thinking about whether he had to go to the Jinmen Concession in the past two months, and learn from Cai Yuanpei to avoid disasters, so as not to be forced to come by the warlords when the time comes, and the guns are not good.

But thinking about it here, they will soon arrive at the Commercial Press, and after letting Li Laosan leave on his own, Cheng Nuo straightens his robe and walks in.

Although the Commercial Press is one of the oldest and most powerful publishing institutions in China, it has not been easy to say these years, because at the same time there is the existence of Zhonghua Bookstore, and the two are from textbooks to reference books, ancient books, magazines, etc. , have more intense competition.

Inside, the buddy was still dozing off, propping his chin with one hand and trying not to close his eyelids, when he suddenly saw a figure coming in, he habitually greeted the customers with his hand, and slammed his head on the counter.

Not caring about rubbing, the clerk showed a smiling face: "Oh, sir, you can see that you are a person with a lot of knowledge. Today you are in the right place. We have all kinds of books here, all kinds of books, both Eastern and Western. Collation We all have photocopies."

Cheng Nuo has been in Peiping for so long, and he hasn't visited the local bookstore much. Hearing what he said, he became interested: "Tell me, master, what do you have here, especially the special books of this store."

The clerk was overjoyed, and took out a few books from the bookshelf next to him: "Look, here are "Sibu Series", "Hanfenlou Secret Collection", and "Xuguyi Series", which came out of our store. , you will never find another one.”

These are all large and precious ancient books, which are of great collection value. However, Cheng Nuo only felt a headache after looking through them for a few times. They are written in pure classical Chinese without punctuation marks. Coupled with the more traditional reading method, it is hard to say what love is. Export.

Return the book to the clerk and politely decline his further sales.

The purpose of Cheng Nuo's trip is to publish the "Class Field Theory" textbook and counseling office. When the new semester arrives, his students will no longer need to hand-copy the handouts. Knowledge expanded to the South.

At the same time, the publication and distribution of textbooks can also be used to explore the way for the Academy of Sciences. In the future, more books will be introduced to the market, such as the "Concise Dictionary of Mathematics", which is currently under intense preparation. focus on it.

"Master, your books here are very good, but now I'm not here to buy books, but to ask you to co-publish a book." Cheng Nuo clasped his fists and spoke directly.

"Oh, that's a good thing, you've come to the right place, we're even better at publishing books here, but I can't make up my mind as a clerk, so I have to ask the shopkeeper to come over, or I'll make you a pot of tea , why don't you sit here first?" The guy smiled even more when he heard that, unlike later generations, only those with real skills can make a sale these days, and a slight upturn in the library can make more money than selling a few books.

"Okay, then I will trouble you, Master."

About half a cup of tea, a middle-aged man in a cloth robe came down from upstairs, clasped his fists and smiled.

"My humble servant is Zhang Yuanji, the manager of the Commercial Press. I have kept you waiting, sir."

But before he finished speaking, Zhang Yuanji immediately greeted him with both hands, his face full of surprise: "Long time no see, it's good to come in, Professor Cheng."

It turned out that Zhang Yuanji was also a member of the China Vocational Education Association, but Cheng Nuo was busy with other things at the time. At that time, the two were just acquaintances, and they didn't even know that there was a manager of the Commercial Press.

In his early years, Zhang Yuanji participated in the Reform Movement of [-] as a Jinshi. Later, after the failure of the Hundred Days Reform, he was punished by "dismissed from office and never to be employed".Later, through the introduction of Li Zhongtang, he was hired as the dean of Nanyang Translation Academy, mainly responsible for the translation and compilation of Western books.During this period, I got acquainted with Xia Ruifang, the founder of the Commercial Press, and joined the Commercial Press after coming and going.

After Zhang Yuanji joined the Commercial Press, he recruited a large number of editorial talents by taking advantage of his geographical, academic and rural ties, and improved the intellectual level of the translation institute and the independent publishing ability of the Commercial Press.Under its reform, it joined the Printing Office, the Publishing Office, and the Compilation Institute to form the "Three Institutes", forming an operating mechanism integrating compilation, printing, and distribution.

Seeing that the visitor was a half acquaintance, Cheng Nuo let go of his hanging heart a little, stood up and said politely: "Mr. Xiaozhai, long time no see. I didn't expect you to be the one who contributed to the development of the Commercial Press. Now it seems that I have found the right one." people."

"Xiao Zhang, make some good tea for me. This is Professor Cheng of Peking University that we've been talking about all day." After giving instructions to the clerk, Zhang Yuanji came over and laughed loudly: "Where, my role is just icing on the cake. Professor Cheng came here this time, I think it’s mostly to learn some arithmetic, right?”

"Mr. Xiao Zhai is really a genius, so I'll make a long story short." Cheng Nuo opened the file bag he was carrying, took out the book and introduced: "This is the "Class Field Theory" series of mathematics compiled by us, and it is going to be published. , the readers are all teachers and students of various colleges and universities, and the circulation may not be too high."

Zhang Yuanji took the book and carefully read it: "It's no problem. Textbooks are the focus of our business publishing. Professor Cheng can rest assured."

According to the usual practice, the Commercial Press must take the series of books to the compilation office for professional editors to review, but when I think that the person sitting in front of me is the master of this kind of discipline, it is estimated that few people in China can understand it except him. Reviewing is tantamount to humiliating yourself.

"It is reasonable to say that mathematics is not friendly to outsiders, but I think Professor Cheng's book is so detailed and rich in examples that even I can take a look at it. I believe that once this book is released, it will definitely set another example for the compilation of domestic textbooks. .” Zhang Yuanji roughly flipped through the pages, and expressed his sincere admiration.

At present, domestic textbooks are generally translated from Japan, and there are very few local textbooks. This aspect alone is enough for him to see the value behind it.

Cheng Nuo knew that most of the cooperation should be done, and said, "So, Mr. Lao Xiaozhai and the Commercial Press will have to worry about the publication of that book."

The rest of the matter is relatively simple. Most of the discussions are about cooperation details, such as how many copies to issue in one issue, how to issue them, what material, etc. However, since they are textbooks, Cheng Nuo of course hopes that as many students as possible can buy them, the better. My own manuscript fee is completely negligible, so I negotiated to keep the selling price as low as possible.

Zhang Yuanji was also so happy. Publishing a book with the No. 1 reputation of "Mr. Sai" in China was too effective. As long as he didn't lose money, he could do whatever he wanted.

In this regard, both parties were very satisfied with the content of the cooperation, and the signing of the contract went much smoother.

It was expected to be ready for the market at the end of this month, but at Cheng Nuo's insistence, it was changed to the middle of the month.Although the construction schedule is relatively short, the Commercial Press automatically assumes that it is eager to impart knowledge, and it is even more admirable.

It's just that Cheng Nuo smiled wryly to himself. If he really waited until the end of the month to go public, he might be strangled by those braided troops before it even came out. At that time, there's no way to explain it. Maybe they're in a hurry, so whoever you are, you'll only be rewarded with the butt of a gun.

But now that he had come out, Cheng Nuo didn't think about going home like this, and was going to go out of the city gate to visit the wheat experiment field.

It's ashamed to say that most of the time, he is the shopkeeper who leaves his hands behind, giving orders to his subordinates and then letting go, while he is busy with other things. Now that half a year has passed, Cheng Nuo also wants to see how the wheat is growing.

Because the planting was late this year, the winter wheat is definitely hopeless, so the experimental field is mainly spring wheat. When other wheat fields are golden and ready to harvest, they are the only ones that are still green and green. From time to time, farmers passing by doing farm work stop to watch.

Before Cheng Nuo arrived in the field, Guo Shouchun didn't even look at him, but he heard his voice.

"How many times have I told you that soil fertility in our semi-arid area is very important, otherwise it will lead to a decline in yield and quality will not be much better. Why did you miss this area?"

"You are the worst class of students I have ever taught. You must control the number of basic seedlings and their distribution uniformity, adjust the row spacing, and use measures such as fertilizing and watering, rowing hoeing, and deep hoeing to adjust the size and structure of the group!"

"I'll tell you again."

Being so far away, Cheng Nuo's ears were almost deafened, and it was clear that the spittle was flying to the students' faces.

The students saw Cheng Nuo approaching from behind Guo Shouchun, and pointed to the back bravely: "Teacher, someone is coming from behind you."

"Someone is coming, don't interrupt." He turned back casually, and turned back to continue teaching in the field without seeing clearly.

Cheng Nuo walked over and said with a smile, "Old Guo, let the students rest, they are probably exhausted."

Only then did Guo Shouchun truly realize that someone was coming, and he turned his head quickly, his face turned from cloudy to clear in an instant: "Oh, old Cheng, old Cheng, what's the matter, I still remember that there is Guo Shouchun, it's not bad."

The students didn't know that Mr. Guo, who is usually serious and serious, had this side, so he couldn't help but chuckle.

At this time, Guo Shouchun's attention was drawn back, and he gave them a look: "Okay, little bastards, stop laughing, you guys are exhausted these days, I'll give you a vacation today, the old place is the same as you Go to the restaurant by yourself, and I will be charged for it."

The students immediately cheered and yelled and turned into birds and beasts.

Looking at the backs of these students, Cheng Nuo said with a smile: "Okay, Lao Guo, I didn't expect that all the students of Peking University would be tamed by you. It's really not easy, and they are more energetic than before. few."

"I'm not only spiritual, I'm also a lot darker." Guo Shouchun looked at his back and said with emotion: "Not all of you are from Peking University, but there are also a few from Peking Normal University and Beiyang University. In fact, they are no older than you and me. No matter how small they are, they won't be able to frighten them if they aren't strict, and there's nothing I can do about it."

"Then you say they are the worst class of students you have ever taught?" Cheng Nuo laughed.

"My first class of students is also the worst class of students I have ever supervised. Is there any problem with this explanation?" Guo Shouchun asked plausibly.

As soon as these words came out, Cheng Nuo couldn't help laughing. There were no other people to compare with, so saying that they were the worst seemed to make sense.

"You, it turns out that once you get busy, people will not be so pessimistic. How is it? Is the test field going well?"

Guo Shouchun's face was full of memories, but in the end it all turned into a smile on his lips: "The process was bumpy, but fortunately, the result was good, and it was presented in front of you. Whenever I was depressed, I walked out Looking at the wheat in the room, I recalled that we grew it from scratch and pulled it up with our own hands, and it was no longer wheat in front of me, but my child, and all the worries disappeared."

The breeze blew, and waves of wheat rolled up in the field. At this time, Guo Shouchun, who was pinching his waist, became even more excited, and whispered in his ear: "Listen, this is their laughter, boom, boom, boom, what in this world? There is a more beautiful piece of music than this."

In an instant, looking at the intoxicated Guo Shouchun, Cheng Nuo felt that it was all worth it. The Academy of Sciences was founded to gather such a group of pure people.

Immediately, the two of them played around in the field like children, sweeping away the boredom accumulated in the past.

The happiness of a man is as simple as that.

Lying on the hillside, Cheng Nuo looked up at the starry sky: "Old Guo, I have seen the growth of the wheat seedlings. They are very good. I guess this year will be a bumper harvest, but the seeds are imported from abroad after all. You need to do a good job of localization."

Guo Shouchun picked up a piece of dog's tail grass and chewed slowly in his mouth: "Don't worry, in addition to localization, we have also collected a lot of high-quality single ears of wheat from the nearby farmland, and we will be able to carry out the work of breeding good varieties by then. , just picked up the winter wheat."

After Cheng Nuo glanced at him, he turned around again: "That's a lot of hard work for you, but it's better for these farmers to harvest earlier than us, and it will be just a comparison with our output at that time, reflecting our advantages, and we will promote it later. It's much easier."

Guo Shouchun said with a smile: "Seeing is believing. We can't let the common people suffer from us, but agriculture has a long way to go."

"It's okay, take your time, we still have time, but I suggest that you record your experience and cultivation methods, and sort it out when the time comes, so we can compile it into an agricultural textbook and cultivate more talents." Cheng Nuo said in due course give his opinion.

"Okay, it's okay to do this. I invite the little bastards out of the restaurant every day. It's time to increase their burden." Looking at the bright and clear moon, Guo Shouchun suddenly said inexplicably: "You said that in the future we will go to Guanghan Palace to grow Oh, so Wu Gang doesn't need to cut the osmanthus and be our guest?"

"I think it's okay. Wu Gang cuts the wheat, and the jade rabbit threshes. The whole industrial chain."

　Thanks for the 100 starting point coin reward from book friends Jishijisou and Yefu Canshang.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)