Tibet.

Chapter 1443 Tang Dynasty Weekly
On the third day of the first lunar month, everyone in Chang'an and the world was immersed in the festive atmosphere of the New Year, but Wei Jiansu appeared in Huaqing Palace with Gao Shi to apologize.

According to the original plan, it should be printed successfully before the end of December, and then the first Tang Dynasty Weekly Newsletter would be issued on the first day of the first lunar month.

Unexpectedly, during the final review stage on December 25, Emperor Li Ye changed the name of the newspaper from "Tang Dynasty Weekly" to "Tang Dynasty Weekly Magazine". Li Ye believed that a newspaper should be published every day, and if it could not be published every day it could not be called a newspaper, but only a magazine.

Although Gao Shi believed that there was no difference between newspapers and magazines, the Kaiyuan Miscellaneous Newspaper was published once a month in the past, so isn't it also called a newspaper?

Later, Wei Jiansu reminded him that perhaps the emperor just didn't want to be the same as Kaiyuan Miscellaneous News. Gao Shi then came to his senses and changed the name to Tang Dynasty Weekly.

But the problem lies with the character "刊". There is no such character in the movable type, so one has to be carved out. The craftsman who was previously responsible for cutting the movable type went back to his hometown in Chencang County during the Spring Festival and could not come back in time, so a new craftsman was asked to cut the type.

As a result, this craftsman had no experience in cutting movable type for the first time, and his skills were slightly inferior, resulting in the subtle size not matching the original movable type. When printing, the character "刊" became loose, and ink entered the gap, resulting in a ball of ink appearing on the character "刊" of "Tang Chao Xunkan".

After two days of trying to solve the problem, Gao Shi had no choice but to send someone on horseback to Chencang County early on New Year's Day to bring back the original craftsmen. As a result, the publication would not be completed in time for the first day of the New Year.

Li Ye looked at the failed printing header, the word "刊" was stained by ink and was difficult to recognize.

Of course Li Ye understood that this was actually his own problem. He had requested the name change too late, which prevented them from preparing in time.

Li Ye pondered for a moment and asked: "If it is changed to Tang Dynasty Daily, will it be printed in time?"

Gao Shi nodded, "It should be possible!"

Li Ye pondered for a moment and said, "How about this! Issue it early in the morning on the sixth day of the first lunar month and distribute it to all officials in front of the gate of Daming Palace. Then issue it on the first day of the first lunar month. Try to complete the revisions in these two days. If you really can't make any revisions, you can also use the Tang Dynasty Daily. Print 3,000 copies first. If there are any left, send them to the government offices of various prefectures and counties in the Tang Dynasty. If there are any left, distribute them to the Imperial College and retired officials."

Gao Shi quickly bowed and saluted, "I obey your order!"

Li Ye smiled and said, "Also, I have a suggestion for you. Movable type can be large or small. A single piece can hold one character, or it can hold dozens of characters. For example, the title of the Tang Dynasty Weekly Magazine can be carved into a complete engraving. It is also a movable type! It's just a little bigger."

Gao Shi patted his forehead, feeling like crying, "I am so stupid that I didn't think of this solution."

Li Ye smiled slightly, "Those involved are confused, but those who are on the sidelines can see things more clearly! Envoy Gao, don't blame yourself. Go back and prepare. The first one will still be on the first day of the first lunar month, the second one will be on the eleventh day, and the third one will be on the twenty-first day."

"I understand. I will take my leave now!"

Wei Jiansu and Gao Shi stood up to leave. Li Ye asked them to leave the damaged newspapers behind as he wanted to see the contents.

The two men said goodbye and left. Li Ye flipped through the newspaper. The paper used was relatively thick and it was printed on both sides. Except for the header which was printed badly, the rest of the content was very neat and the handwriting was very clear. It was obvious that Gao Shi had put in a lot of effort.

Li Ye suddenly thought of thread-bound volumes and thread-bound books, a book binding method that only appeared in the Song Dynasty, but could definitely appear now.

At this time, Queen Dugu Xinyue walked into the study room holding a cup of tea. Li Ye smiled and said, "My lady, come and take a look at this!"

Dugu Xinyue put down the teacup, took the newspaper and read it through, then smiled and said, "These contents are too boring. Apart from the various market prices, I am a little interested in them. The rest are not worth reading. I am afraid that only court officials would like them!"

"This is just an experiment. It's just the beginning. Once the printing technology is solved, I estimate that next year, we can publish a daily newspaper. At that time, it will not only be read by the court officials, but also a special daily life edition, teaching how to cook, how to raise children, how to make clothes, how to put on makeup, etc., as well as various gossips about Chang'an's daily life. This is a newspaper specifically for housewives."

Dugu Xinyue smiled and said, "I like this kind of newspaper, print it out quickly!"

Li Ye smiled and said, "Be patient and wait. It will be available once the printing technology matures."

Gao Shi hurried back to the printing house in Yongxingfang. The previous cutting worker had already rushed back from Chencang. As soon as Gao Shi entered the door, the printing house manager came up to him and said, "Your Excellency, the problem has been solved." Gao Shi was overjoyed and asked quickly, "What caused it?"

"The materials used were wrong. We used the first-grade engraving plate before, but later we used the third-grade engraving plate. Also, the cutting temperature was not good enough, so it became loose."

Printing woodblocks are very demanding, because it is necessary to prevent the wood from expanding due to heat and contracting due to cold, which would cause the font to crack and ruin the entire woodblock. You cannot use wood that is too hard or too soft. Generally, camphor wood or beech wood is used. It then needs to be soaked in oil for half a year and then left to dry in the shade for another half a year. It is best to soak and dry it three times, but time is hard to wait.

Therefore, most of them are soaked once and dried once, which is the third-level carving plate. Two soaks and two dryings are the second-level carving plate. The best first-level carving plate is soaked three times and dried three times, which will not crack after decades of use.

In addition to using first-grade carved boards as raw materials, making movable type also requires very sophisticated techniques for cutting and polishing. The movable types cut by the most skilled craftsmen can be put together so that water will not soak into the boards even if it is poured on them. The seams must fit together to this degree so that the printed type will look beautiful, neat, and clear.

The old craftsman who rushed back spent a full half day making a complete piece of movable type for the newspaper title according to Gao Shi's requirements.

At night, Gao Shi and a dozen newspaper officials nervously watched a printer carefully spread out white paper and start printing.

When the first complete newspaper was printed, Gao Shi and the officials looked through it carefully and found no problems at all. It was finally successful, and everyone cheered excitedly.

The next step was mass printing. Gao Shi prepared a total of thirteen sets of movable type, and more than a dozen skilled printers worked together. Three thousand copies of "Tang Dynasty Weekly" could be printed within one day.

A New Year's court was held on the fifth day of the first lunar month. More than 3,000 officials above the ninth rank in Beijing gathered in the Hanyuan Hall. The left prime minister Zhang Li read out the emperor's New Year's greetings aloud and announced that the reign would be the third year of Jiaxing.

The New Year's Day ceremony is just a virtual ceremony and does not discuss specific government affairs, but the New Year's Outlook speech mentions several reform directions, which makes everyone think a lot.

The first is to develop overseas, but people don’t feel much about it. The second is to develop Liaodong, but people don’t feel much about it either. What people are interested in is the third one, which is to appropriately increase the salaries of officials and make everyone secretly happy. When the finances are abundant, salaries will increase, and who wouldn’t be happy!

The fourth is the reform of the county-level official system, and the last one is the reform of the imperial examination system and education.

These two reforms also attracted the attention of officials.

After the grand court was over, officials made appointments to have dinner together in major restaurants in Chang'an. The advantage of canceling the New Year's banquet was that everyone could take advantage of this rare opportunity to get together. Unlike the previous New Year's banquets, everyone sat together according to their departments, dared not talk or drink carelessly, and had to watch their superiors' faces all the time, which was so uncomfortable.

Now everyone gets together to drink separately, it’s more casual and we don’t have to worry about our boss’s face anymore.

At noon, all the major restaurants in Chang'an were filled with officials who came to attend the New Year's ceremony, starting with the Danfeng Restaurant and then the major restaurants in Pingkangfang.

The Wude Restaurant in Pingkangfang is already full. Wude Restaurant is still the property of the Dugu family. Except for Baojiguifang which was handed over to Li Ye, the Dugu family retained all other properties.

In an elegant room on the third floor, a group of officials from the Ministry of Rites were gathering together drinking.

Liu Qiming, the deputy minister of the Ministry of Rites, sighed and said, "It's a pity that the Jiaofang is closed. Otherwise, we could go there to drink. Wouldn't it be great?"

Another doctor from the Ministry of Rites, Li Zunyi, sneered, "No one likes the abolition order, but the one that abolished official slaves and official prostitutes is deeply rooted in people's hearts, so everyone praises the emperor for his wisdom. You still feel regretful, I really don't understand you, do you hope that one day you will be found guilty of a crime and your wife and daughter will be confiscated and sent to the Jiaofang as prostitutes?"

"Not bad!"

Another official, Qin Kun, slammed his head on the table and said, "Yes, this is indeed the most popular reform among all the reforms. If a person breaks the law, he will be held responsible for it, and innocent family members will not be held accountable. This is the one I support most in abolishing slavery."

At this time, the doctor Zhou Rong, who had been silent all this time, drank the wine in his glass and said coldly: "Stop praising the abolition order and go home to check yourself! The knife has been drawn, don't become a ghost under the knife."

(End of this chapter)