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

Huguang, Changsha Prefecture, Yang Sichang staggered off the river boat holding his newly written book.

These days, Huguang Province basically includes the area followed by Hunan and Hubei. The corresponding areas in Hubei are already quite developed, while the level of development in Hunan is much lower. Just look at the place names of a large area from Yueyang to the west: A large area of ​​pacification departments, health offices, and Xuanwei departments in western Hunan...

In fact, Yang Sichang's ancestors were sent to Wuling during the Hongwu period. After several generations, they established a foothold in Wuling Mansion. The Yang family gradually became a prominent family in Wuling. Yang Sichang's father just passed the Jinshi examination this year. This is very important to Wuling people. Saying that is a big deal.

Friends who are familiar with the history of the late Ming Dynasty must be very familiar with the name of Yang Sichang's father: Yang He, the right minister of the Ministry of War and the governor of Shaanxi Province during the Chongzhen period.

Yang Sichang has just turned seventeen this year. Influenced by his family tradition, he has devoted himself to studying since childhood. His political talents have not yet been revealed, but he is already a well-known poet.

In the past two years, Yang Sichang wrote a book of literary notes describing the landscape and customs of his hometown, "The Collection of Wilder's Green Shoes", and he really wanted to publish it. This is why he came to Changsha this time.

"Luo Qianhu, how dare I trouble you to wait at the pier?" When Yang Sichang got off the boat, he saw Luo Sigong standing by the pier and hurriedly went up to say hello.

Luo Sigong said with a smile: "I have helped you go to the Hunan Official Bookstore to discuss the matter. They are willing to take a look at your manuscript. Just take my handwriting and go directly."

Yang Sichang thanked him repeatedly and asked, "Where will Luo Qianhu go next?"

Luo Sigong replied: "I will go to Hengyang first to see Mr. Wu Yi, and then I will go back to my hometown to worship my ancestors."

For secret services such as Jinyiwei, the emperor prefers to appoint children from aristocratic families. The Luo family is such a Jinyiwei aristocratic family.

Luo Sigong's great-uncle was the commander of the Jinyi Guards in the Jiajing Dynasty. Luo Sigong's father was a hereditary Jinyiwei Qianhu. By the time Luo Sigong's generation was in their twenties, they had already inherited the Jinyiwei Qianhu. Luo Sigong's son was named Luo Yangxing. According to the original history, he would also become the commander of the Jinyi Guards of the Chongzhen Dynasty.

Luo Sigong's family is from Yongzhou, Hunan. Although Hunan and Hubei still belonged to Huguang Province at this time, there was already a cultural separation between the two places. Hunan was poorer, and local people with a little fame preferred to stay together. Luo Sigong grew up in the capital, but his family had frequent contacts with local officials and celebrities.

For example, the Mr. Wu Yi he mentioned was the father of the famous Wang Chaopin, Wang Fuzhi, who was from Hengyang, Hunan. He went to Jiangxi to study and became a famous scholar.

Yang Sichang's father, Yang He, was admitted to Jinshi this year, which is indeed a rare talent for Hunan.

Yang He is still working for seniority in the Hanlin Academy, so naturally he has no face to help him publish books. Wuling is too poor, there is no bookshop, only a few bookstores, and there is no way to engrave books. And I heard that Yang Sichang, a new scholar in Hunan, The son of a Jinshi wanted to publish a book, and Luo Sigong, who returned to his hometown, directly offered to help.

In fact, there was no significant publishing industry in Hunan at this time. It was only after the rise of the Hunan Army in the late Qing Dynasty that Hunan's book engraving industry caught up with the pace of the country's book engraving industry. In the Ming Dynasty, Hunan could even be called There are no bookstores of this size.

By the Wanli period, the main book engraving institutions in Hunan were still family-style workshops, and the engraving contents were mainly primary school enlightenment books, libretto novels, almanac calendars, township party entertainment, and simple medical books. There were no large books.

One of the few institutions in Hunan that can afford to engrave free books is the Hunan Official Bookstore located in Changsha Prefecture. This bookstore is basically controlled by the clan of the Changsha vassal. If Luo Sigong hadn't spoken, Yang Sichang wouldn't even have a chance to enter.

Taking the letter from Luo Sigong, Yang Sichang walked with his book boy on the streets of Changsha Prefecture. Changsha is the place where the four rivers in central Hunan converge. Along the Xiangjiang River and Liuyang River, there are constant exchanges of people on the front line. Looking at the lively scene of the market here, Yang Sichang's mood has improved a lot.

Hunan Official Bookstore is outside the city. It was too late to arrive in Changsha today and it was too late to catch up. Yang Sichang found a hotel in Changsha to stay. It was already afternoon after putting away the luggage. Yang Sichang was bored in the house, so he took his servant boy to wander around the streets.

The terrain of Hunan is a horseshoe mouth, surrounded by mountains in the southeast and west. Only the area connecting Dongting Lake to the north of Changsha is flat land. In the Ming Dynasty, it was more convenient for bulk transportation from various prefectures south of Changsha to go directly to Changsha. Books from other provinces were imported into Hunan. They can also directly take the Yangtze River, pass through Dongting Prefecture, turn to the Xiang River, and be transported to Changsha for distribution.

Although Hunan's cultural development was not very obvious at this time, as a land of plenty, life was still quite comfortable, and Changsha's book consumer population was very large.

The weather was nice that day. On a street near Wenmiaoping, many people came to buy books in various bookstores.

Yang Sichang walked into a large bookstore with an old sign. Instead of looking at the Cheng Wen ink scrolls and newly engraved novels placed at the door of the store, he went straight to the counter and asked, "What new masterpieces of classics and history have been available recently?"

The shopkeeper said in Mandarin with a central Hunan accent: "Sir, there is a newly engraved "Lecture Notes on Exegesis" from Fujian, and a lot of people are reading it."

Hunan scholars were not very powerful at this time, but they already had distinctive local characteristics, that is, they were seeking innovation and change, and they dared to think and act.

If it were to be placed elsewhere, the boss of a work like "Lectures on Exegesis" might be afraid that customers would not like it, and would probably not be the first to recommend it. However, in Hunan, local literati just like this tone.

Talents have emerged from generation to generation, and each has led the way for hundreds of years. well said! Come more, write more, love reading!
Yang Sichang naturally had an impression of Wang Wenlong. He had read Wang Wenlong's "Shangshu Ancient Prose" and admired Wang Wenlong's knowledge very much.

Listening to Yang Sichang's Wuling accent, the boss was afraid that he was a scholar from a small place and had never heard the name of Wang Wenlong, who had become famous in the past two years. He took out the "Lecture Notes on Exegesis" and introduced it:

"Wang Jianyang, whose name is Wenlong and Mr. Jingguan, is a strange man. His ancestors were Ming people who followed the eunuch Sanbao to the West. He was also born in the West. He wandered around when he was young and learned a new school of knowledge in the West. He returned to the Ming Dynasty when he was in his twenties, wrote several books and became famous in Jiangnan, Fujian Province. Not only the knowledgeable people in the Ming Dynasty highly appreciated him, but also the Europeans who said he was from the West had heard of him. name."

The shopkeeper smiled and said: "There are a lot of anecdotes about Wang Jianyang. People say that there is a country in England in Europe. That country is like a country of daughters. A woman is the king. The queen is naturally graceful and graceful. Read After reading his book, I was immediately attracted to him, and I would like to use the wealth of the country to recruit him to become the prime minister. If he does well, he may become an orphan in the south. "

"My masters in the Ming Dynasty also appreciated his talent. When they heard about this, they were afraid of losing such a talented man, so they quickly appointed him to the Imperial Academy. You said that Wang Jianyang was appreciated by many people when he was only 30 years old. His knowledge is certain It’s so high!”

Not to mention that the news is getting more and more evil. Elizabeth, an old lady in her seventies, was rumored to be the beautiful and graceful king of the daughter country. Everyone spontaneously made many interpretations of this story. In a few years , maybe a drama with Wang Wenlong and Elizabeth as the protagonists can be written.

"Is he just in his thirties? This is really rare." Although Yang Sichang had read Wang Wenlong's book before, he didn't know much about Wang Wenlong. He only read "Shangshu Ancient Prose" and thought that this book needed to collect so much information. , the author must be an old scholar, but he did not expect that Wang Wenlong was only more than ten years older than him.

Yang Sichang looked at the large letter of books and asked the price first. The shopkeeper smiled and said: "Although this is a Fujian version, it is printed very well. The master has also seen it. This is a rare book with two-color overprinting. The price is Naturally, it’s more expensive. The asking price is four taels, so I don’t dare to ask for more. It’s the same price in other shops.”

Yang Sichang clicked his tongue in his heart. The price of a set of books shipped to Hunan is equivalent to half a year's salary of local people. This is really a price. This book is also a mimeographed version, and the printing cost is not high. The price is definitely high. of deception.

But the shopkeeper didn't say anything about lowering the price, and let Yang Sichang look through it with a smile on his face. (End of chapter)