Thousand-year-old family: its rise began with Shang Yang’s reforms

Chapter 424: The world's affairs and people

The Chen family’s children did not like to go to court.

All court officials knew this, and among those Chen family descendants who disliked attending court, the one who disliked attending court the most should be Mozi of each generation.

Since the pre-Qin period, the position of Mohist Master has been passed on from one person to another. The position will be passed on to whoever can better convince the people and who has more advanced skills and knowledge.

Even among the descendants of the Chen family, not every generation can become Juzi.

However, all the descendants of the Chen family who became Juzi would hold official positions in the court - even if they would never appear in the court.

Among the ministers in the court, some elders had experienced the court during the reign of Emperor Taizu. They subconsciously thought of one thing: when the Mohist Master Juzi of the Chen family appeared in the court, it seemed that something big had happened.

That great event finally laid the foundation for Dayu to unify the world.

Now Chen's Mohist Principle has reappeared
Everyone was silent, waiting for the upcoming verdict.

Unexpectedly, the first people to report affairs in the court were not the suddenly appearing Juzi, but Xie An and Wang Xizhi.

Xie An and Wang Xizhi stood in the center with respectful expressions, with excitement and satisfaction on their faces.

"Your Majesty, one third of the Jianwu Ceremony has been completed in just two years, which is already very fast."

"I think the Jianwu Code is the most amazing book in the world, so I implore Your Majesty to distribute this part to the people."

Distribute it among the people?

The heads of several large families raised their eyebrows, as if they understood the emperor's idea. Did he want to train children from poor families among the people so that they could compete for power with these children from wealthy families?
Just ridiculous.

They looked at each other, then shook their heads and sneered in their hearts.

The Jianwu Code took the wise men of the world two years to compile and only one-third of it was completed. Its volume must have been enormous. Even if this huge volume was distributed among the people, could those people afford it?

Therefore, none of the noble families spoke out against it.

Of course, part of the reason is because they feel that it is okay to distribute it to the people. After all, the poor people cannot afford it - those who can afford it are small families, and we are all one family.

Another reason is that they dare not oppose such things that benefit the people.

If they dared to object, King Zheng and King An, who seemed to be asleep, would open their eyes and their lives would be in danger the next moment.

Therefore, without any objection, this one-third of the "Jianwu Grand Code" was allowed to be distributed among the people.

When the court meeting was about to end, "Chen Yun'an", who had been under observation, slowly stepped out, then looked at the emperor and spoke softly.

"Your Majesty, the Mohists have developed a brand new technology that can "print" books on paper, eliminating the need for manual copying."

"There are two types of this technology, one is "woodblock printing" and the other is "movable type printing."

Chen Yun'an raised his head and looked at Zhang Wan, ignoring the reactions of the people behind him.

"I beg Your Majesty to use the national treasury to establish a 'Printing Office' and build a printing workshop in every state and county in the country to protect the people."

Zhang Wan looked very surprised, with a curious look on his face: "Oh? Printing technique?"

"If these two printing techniques are as Yun An said, and are of great benefit to the country and the people, I will naturally agree. But what is the cost of this printing technique?"

"If we print books, how much should the price be so that the vendors can make a profit and the people can afford it?"

Chen Yun'an thought for a moment and then spoke according to his previous investigation.

"Your Majesty, of these two techniques, the cost of woodblock printing is higher than that of movable type printing. If the characters on the woodblock are blurred or damaged, they need to be re-carved. I have read a part of the Jianwu Grand Ceremony. If we take this part as an example, if it is printed with woodblocks, the price of a book can be controlled at half a coin; while if it is printed with movable type, the price of a book can be controlled at two hundred coins."

"This is a price that can make a profit for vendors. After all, most vendors are not organized in a systematic way. The larger the scale, the more savings can be made."

"If the imperial court builds a printing house, the price of books can be controlled at around one hundred coins."

One hundred coins?

When everyone in the court heard this number, their expressions changed inexplicably.

These high and mighty gentlemen haven't heard this term for a long time. How much is one hundred coins?

Many people scratched their heads before realizing that one guan of money is one tael of silver, and one guan of money is one thousand coins, so one hundred coins is one tael of silver?
Lu Nian was immediately dissatisfied. He stepped forward and said, "Your Majesty, I think this is inappropriate."

"Books and knowledge are priceless. If they are priced so cheaply, wouldn't that be trampling on books? Trampling on knowledge?"

"But I also think that the technology created by Mozi was meant to benefit the people. If the price is too high, it will not reflect your majesty's benevolence."

After thinking it over, he decided to price the book at half the cost of a meal.

"I think fifty strings of cash is an appropriate price for a book."

As soon as Lu Nian finished speaking, many people in the court couldn't help but sneer out loud. One of the people who laughed the loudest was Shangshu Ling "Kuang Guangheng". Looking at Kuang Guangheng's expression, he almost laughed so hard that he couldn't straighten his back.

"Ha ha ha ha--"

"What a great fifty kan!"

Lu Nian frowned and looked at Kuang Guangheng with a solemn expression: "This is the court. Commander Kuang is roaring like this. What do you think this place is?"

Zhang Wan glanced at Lu Nian with a half-smile, then looked at Kuang Guangheng and said with a smile: "Why are you laughing, Lord Kuang?"

Kuang Guangheng wiped his tears and stood up, with an inexplicable look on his face: "Your Majesty, I just thought that Lu Pushe's words were too ridiculous, so I laughed like that. I hope Your Majesty will forgive me."

He turned around and looked at Lu Nian with an expressionless face.

"I have a few questions for Lu Pushe, could you answer them?"

Lu Nian straightened his back. He had a bad feeling in his heart, but he remained firm.

"May I ask, Chief Kuang Ling?"

Kuang Guangheng looked at Lu Nian and asked, "May I ask, Mr. Lu, do you know how much an ordinary family of six in Dayu spends in a year? May I ask, Mr. Lu, do you know how much rice costs in Dayu now?"

"May I ask Lu Pushe——"

Kuang Guangheng's voice stretched out: "Do you know how much silver those people who can't make a living can get by selling their bodies outside the capital during normal years?"

Lu Nian frowned: "Why should I know this?"

"What does this have to do with me?"

Kuang Guangheng sneered and was about to speak when an extremely indifferent voice sounded.

"If I remember correctly, the annual expenses of a family of six in Kyoto should be between two and five strings of coins."

"The current price of rice is 500 coins per stone."

"Outside of Kyoto, the cost for ordinary people to sell their bodies is generally three to five taels of silver."

As the voice sounded, everyone's eyes slowly turned to the old man who was sitting on the chair. He had opened his eyes, with cold eyes and a very cold expression on his face. This was a sleeping tiger that never opened its eyes.

But now he was awakened.

Chen An slowly stood up, while Chen Xiao supported his father.

"Tell me, why do you need to know this?"

"Lu Pushe?"

Chen An's voice was not loud, but at this moment the hall was so quiet that no one dared to suppress the voice, and Lu Nian, who was facing Chen An, was trembling all over.

"I, I, I."

Chen An glanced at him with indifferent eyes, and then slowly said: "If Lu Zigan knew that there would be a descendant like you, he would have hanged himself during the Han Dynasty!"

"You have completely disgraced your ancestors!"

Lu Nian's face flushed, but he didn't dare to say a word.

What could he say?

Not to mention him, even his ancestor, Lu Zhi, the Shangshutai Ling of the Han Dynasty, did not dare to say anything in front of him. After all, Lu Zhi was a disciple of Chen in those days.
Chen An looked at Lu Nian and said, "For the next fifteen years, Lu will return to Fanyang and will not be allowed to leave."

"Do you have any opinion?"

Lu Nian stuttered and wanted to say something. He wanted to muster up the courage to resist and ask why. But when he finally mustered up the courage and looked up at Chen An's eyes, all his courage disappeared in an instant.

He could only nod in agreement.

But he was still a little hesitant: "What about this. The position of the Grand Central Official?"

Chen An turned around and said, "You can keep it."

Only then did Lu Nian finally breathe a sigh of relief and then bowed to Chen An.

After that, he didn't dare to speak again.

The ninth year of Jianwu, winter.

A piece of news began to spread throughout the world from Kyoto, and everyone knew about this major event.

With the advent of "printing technology", the price of books was brought down!

Countless people from poor families and even common people were happy and excited. This excitement was not because they could become an official if they were literate, but because in those days, being literate allowed them to work in the city or even become servants in wealthy families, powerful officials' homes, or other wealthy households.

The money they earn in this way may be more than they could earn in their entire lives by working hard.

The best thing is to be able to live better than now.

In the tenth year of Jianwu, all counties and prefectures of Dayu established a place called "Printing Office". The paper and ink used to publish books in these places were of the best quality, but the prices were slightly higher.

After this year, many counties, villages and towns in Dayu began to open "bookstores". These bookstores were not official, but owned by some of the world's richest merchants, and some were even royal merchants.

The price of the books they published was lower than that of the official "Printing Office". For example, if the books published by the official Printing Office sold for two hundred coins, their books would sell for one hundred coins.

Why is the price so low?

Because the paper and ink used in books are different.

Some rich people who have no shortage of money will naturally buy the official ones, while some poor and relatively impoverished families will buy those printed by these merchants.

The best-selling book of all is "The Jianwu Code".

I heard that this is a set of the greatest book in the history that has not yet been completed, and what is printed now is only a part of this wonderful book. Another part may be printed in the future, but the entire Jianwu Ceremony will definitely not be printed.

This part has nine parts in total, each part has three volumes, and each volume has three books.

In this way, if a copy of the Jianwu Encyclopedia was purchased from the Printing Office, it would cost nearly seventeen taels of silver.

This may seem like a lot, but compared to the past it is already very "cheap". After all, there are a total of eighty-one books, and in the past one book might have cost seven or eight taels of silver.

Everyone is grateful to Juzi, the Mohist who invented the "printing technique", and many people are also grateful to the Emperor who is willing to advertise this technology to the world to benefit the people.

How does the world praise His Majesty?
They all say that he has the benevolence of Han Wen.

This is almost the highest praise for an emperor.

But among all the excitement, there were some people who were not happy, namely the children of the "Lu family" and those aristocratic families.

Because they found a problem.

What if the position of "Da Zhong Zheng Guan" is still in Lu's hands?
Lu was driven back to Fan Yang by Chen and kept indoors. They could no longer influence the emperor's decision, nor could they use the power of the Da Zhong Zheng Guan.

As a result, among the Dazhongzheng officials, the emperor already has four in his hands, and there are also four from the aristocratic families who can play a role now.

Because of what Lu Nian said in the court, the emperor abolished his position as "Shangshutai Zuo Pushe" and replaced it with one of his own people. The children of the aristocratic families had nothing to say.

It was at this time that they began to think about a problem in panic.

Can they really win the battle against the emperor?
This is a question that begins to scare them.

In the wine shop
Chen Xiao, Xie Xuan, and Wang Xianzhi sat opposite each other and drank. Wang and Xie had some sighs on their faces: "Who could have thought? In just a few short years, the struggle in the court seems to be coming to an end."

"From the beginning, your majesty only controlled one Dazhongzheng official, but now there are four in the open."

"The happy decades that the family enjoyed from Emperor Suzong to the past few years seem to be coming to an end."

There was a hint of gloating in Xie Xuan's voice, which made people laugh.

Chen Xiao also shook his head helplessly: "It sounds like you are not from a noble family."

Xie Xuan just blinked: "What kind of aristocratic family am I? Hasn't our Xie family been kicked out of the camp of big aristocratic families?"

"I heard that the three heads of the Yang, Cui, and Li families even publicly accused our Xie family of being traitors."

Wang Xianzhi also laughed and said, "I'm not just talking about you, I'm also talking about our Wang family."

He curled his lips and said, "When our Wang family's ancestors were the Three Dukes, the ancestors of this damn Cui and Li families didn't know what they were doing."

That's true.

Chen Xiao just shook his head and sighed. He looked at the spring breeze outside and said softly, "It's not over yet."

"Your Majesty's heart has always been cruel."

(End of this chapter)