The literary giants of the late Ming Dynasty began by copying books

After Shen Yourong explained, Wang Wenlong understood what was going on.

Zhao Shizhen was born in a family of officials, but he did not have any imperial examination achievements. He was able to become an official more than 20 years ago because of his good calligraphy, which was appreciated by Emperor Wanli and gave him a free official position. But he clearly "entered officialdom on his own path", but Zhao Shizhen did not feel inferior at all. Instead, he was very conceited and was not afraid even when facing high-ranking officials.

How conceited is this man? When Zhang Juzheng lost his father, he specifically refused to go home to attend the funeral. The ministers attacked Zhang Juzheng for his love of power. In order to preserve Zhang Juzheng's reputation, Emperor Wanli and the Queen Mother arrested some of the ministers who made trouble and beat him with a stick. There are many voices in the capital opposed to this treatment.

At this time Zhao Shizhen ran out. He, an eighth-rank official, actually "feared no one and protected him" and took the initiative to participate in the struggle between the civil servants and Zhang Juzheng. He went to Emperor Wanli and said: What the civil servants said is actually reasonable. For my sake, don't beat them. .

Emperor Wanli was speechless.

A character like Zhao Shizhen is naturally ostracized in the capital. Being good at inventing firearms is not a highly valued ability these days. Zhao Shizhen worked as an eighth-rank official for eighteen years before he finally became a seventh-rank Zhongshu. Give up others.

Moreover, because he offended too many people, he was often slandered when he became a member of Zhongshushe. The reason why Zhao Shizhen is wary of everyone now is because after the demon book case was over, no one in the capital spread rumors that the demon book in this case was actually It was written by him.

Many people really believed such rumors. Zhao Shizhen offended too many people in the capital, and almost all the officials involved in the demon book had conflicts with him.

Zhao Shizhen was hard-pressed to explain, and he was really scared. At this time, Xu Xueju invited him to come to Fujian to build firearms, so Zhao Shizhen quickly escaped from the capital.

However, after this incident, Zhao Shizhen became nervous and always felt that someone was trying to harm him.

Historically, this king became depressed and became ill after this incident. He probably suffered from some kind of mental illness. In this era, there was really no rule of law. Wang Wenlong could only lament in his heart that God was jealous of talented people.

After resting overnight in Fuqingshui Village, Wang Wenlong returned to his house in Fuzhou. Early the next morning, the shopkeeper of Dunguzhai came to tell Wang Wenlong that the sample book had been printed.

When Wang Wenlong passed through Jianyang on his way back to Fuzhou, he went to visit a few old friends in Jianyang. As he walked around, he learned that Xiong Qingbo, the leader of Chengde Hall last year, had passed away. Wang Wenlong was quite surprised, so he went to visit the tomb and asked about it. Now that Chengde Hall has been handed over to the younger generation of the Xiong family, the direction has been adjusted, and there is no way to print new books for the time being.

Yu Xiangdou's bookstore has now shifted its printing direction to mimeographed express books, and has no plans to print new books this year. Wang Wenlong feels that with the rise of Jiangnan Bookstore in the past two years, the business direction of Jianyang Bookstore has tended to be low-price competition. In the past, Jianyang booksellers still had the ability to print high-quality books, but now fewer and fewer people do it well. Book.

Wang Wenlong had no choice but to return to Fuzhou to spread the news and find a publisher who could cooperate. Soon after, Dungu Zhai sent someone to visit.

Dunguzhai is also a famous bookstore in the history of Fujian printing. It is located in Jinjiang and was founded earlier than Chengde Hall and Shuangfengtang. During the Xuande period, Dunguzhai books have been circulated in the world. This is what Wang Wenlong remembered. The subsequent development of Jia Shufang was not bad. It was still in operation until the Chongzhen period, and its brand reputation was well established.

Tun Guzhai and Wang Wenlong also had a very positive attitude towards cooperation. It took less than half a month after the two parties reached an agreement to produce the first batch of blue-printed sample books.

Such a fast speed is naturally a wax block mimeograph. After several years of development, mimeograph technology is no longer what it used to be. Wang Wenlong's mimeograph workshop in Fuzhou has begun to produce high-quality inks that can be stored for a long time. With fine stereotype work, it can now undertake the printing of high-quality books.

During this process, the ink and wax paper produced by Wang Wenlong's workshop had monopolized the entire Fujian market, bringing him an income of more than 2,000 taels per year.

Wang Wenlong looked through the books carefully and found that the printing quality was quite good, and it was printed in color. The main text of the book was in blue and black fonts, while the sentence readings were in red circles. Some oracle bone inscriptions and bronze inscriptions also used strong contrasting colors in the illustrations. Contrast highlights textual content.

Wang Wenlong's business was making money everywhere, but at the same time, Xu Xinggong, who was quite wealthy, was living in a tight situation. A few years ago, Xu Xinggong, Ye Xianggao, Cao Xuequan and other Fujian famous officials formed a "Zhishan Poetry Society". In the 31st year of Wanli, Cao Xuequan and Ding You were about to return to the imperial court to serve, so Xu Xinggong and others decided to organize a farewell party for him. meeting.

In the beginning, it was just a gathering organized by some Fujian poets. However, because Xu Xinggong and others were famous people with friends all over the world, more and more people signed up after the gathering was launched. In the end, this poetry gathering directly became a big gathering of literati from Fujian and Zhejiang. The gathering brought together hundreds of poets and celebrities, and the venue was changed from Zhishan to Lingxiaotai in Wushishan, Fuzhou.

In this era, there is no timely transportation, so it is impossible for participants to arrive at the same time, so the duration of the conference is also lengthened.

This meeting lasted from the Mid-Autumn Festival in the 31st year of Wanli to the beginning of the 32nd year of Wanli. It was known as the "Guimao Mid-Autumn Festival" in history. This grand meeting and the "Qinhuai Grand Shrine" in Nanjing in the 47th year of Wanli were also called the two major events in the Wanli period. Extravaganza.

People at that time recorded the scene as "silk and bamboo on the ground" and "torches lighting up the sky".

This party also became a turning point for Fujian opera. At the meeting, Cao Xuequan asked his family to perform several Fujian operas written by him, and discussed with famous opera masters from Fujian and Zhejiang the rhythm and lyrics of Fujian opera. From then on, Fujian opera changed from Lower Riba people to The elegant music of spring and snow.

The excitement caused a stir in the world. Cao Xuequan happily took office, and Xu Xinggong also squandered most of his family property. Before the autumn harvest, the family even began to suffer from famine. Friends came to give money, but Xu Xinggong refused.

Wang Wenlong advised him: "Brother, there is no need to be so polite to me. There is a mutual wealth relationship among friends."

Xu Xinggong in the original history, even though he was in poverty in his later years, he still bought books on a large scale, and used the money for medicine to entertain poor scholars who came to his home to read. When friends came to ask for help, he gave him money, so that people gave him money. His nickname was "Qiong Mengchang".

Xu Ershao has been a decent person all his life, how could he accept financial help from Wang Wenlong?

He calmly pushed back the silver ingot handed over by Wang Wenlong and said, "Let's just talk about reading today."

Huang Daozhou, who was also a guest, glanced at his two brothers and took the initiative to pick up the "Lecture Notes on Exegesis" that Wang Wenlong brought today. He opened the title page and looked at it, saying, "Jianyang also composed a poem before this?"

Xu Xinggong became interested immediately and couldn't wait to say: "Let me take a look."

The poem Wang Wenlong wrote at the beginning of the book is very short, just a seven-character quatrain called "On Poetry":
Li Du's poems have been passed down by thousands of mouths, but they are no longer new.Talented people have emerged from generation to generation, and each has led the way for hundreds of years.

Xu Xinggong thought about the meaning of this poem, and then nodded and praised: "What a poem! Simple, clear, fresh and natural."

Huang Daozhou tasted it for a while and nodded repeatedly: "This poem by the Xingling School is considered first-rate."

From the perspective of reforming poetry style, this poem definitely conforms to the aesthetic standards of the Xingling School at this time. It is catchy, easy to understand, and deeply interesting. Wang Wenlong is the first to put this poem before "Lectures on Exegesis" It shows his ambition to create another school of knowledge.

Having this poem on the front page clearly tells all readers who open "Lectures on Exegesis" that this is an extraordinary book. (End of chapter)