I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 422: Lord Su presents treasures in the imperial capital

"Typography?"

Wei Ming was stunned and said in surprise:
"Are you talking about the hammering and rubbing method?"

"Thump?"

Tian Shao, Liu Zheng, Gongsun Zhao and other Liaodong officials were all confused when they heard this.

Liaodong is far away from the Central Plains. At that time, it was not only a cultural desert, but also an information-isolated place.

Upon seeing this, Qian Zhao immediately began to explain with a teacher-like attitude:

"This hammering and rubbing method is a unique skill of the famous craftsmen in the capital!"

"In the past, the emperor ordered Cai Boyi (Cai Yong) and others to carve the Xiping Stone Classics outside the gate of the Imperial College. You should all know about this."

The vassal state commander Gongsun Zhao nodded:
"Of course, this is a rare good policy from the current emperor."

"The world-renowned Cai Bojie and other famous scholars personally wrote on the stone, and it took eight years to carve a total of 46 steles.

It includes the entire volume of "The Book of Changes", "The Book of History", "The Book of Songs", "The Book of Rites", "The Spring and Autumn Annals", "The Gongyang Commentary" and "The Analects of Confucius". I heard that there are more than 200,000 characters in the engraving alone!"

"Not only has it been praised in the court newspapers, but I have also heard that since it was engraved, students from all over the country have flocked to see and copy it. There are thousands of carriages every day, which have blocked the roads in Luoyang. It is truly a grand occasion for classic studies."

It is absolutely no exaggeration to say that the study of classics was so prosperous.

Nowadays, most ordinary people read by copying books on bamboo slips.

However, there are always errors and omissions in handwritten classics, and not only do they get passed on from one person to another, but they also often give rise to many fallacies during the process of dissemination.

Moreover, each school has different interpretations of the classics, and these often become the unrevealed secrets of famous scholars in the Central Plains.

The Yuan family, which now has three officials in four generations, initially made their fortune by studying the family classic "Meng's Book of Changes".

The relationship between them, in simple terms, is just like today's self-study exams, where ordinary people study at home on pirated books that not only have unclear handwriting but may even have erroneous formulas, while people from aristocratic families have family secrets and detailed solutions to past exam questions.

Everyone starts from a different starting line.

In order to solve this problem and establish unified thought, the court's solution was to establish stone scriptures, that is, to unify the textbooks.

This is an unprecedented event.

The Xiping Stone Classics of Emperor Ling of Han thus became the earliest official Confucian classics in Chinese history, and set a precedent for stone classics in later generations.

"Yes."

Qian Zhao said proudly:
"My humble mentor also played a small part in this."

"Oh oh oh~"

As Qian Zhao finished speaking, there was an immediate burst of exclamations from the audience.

The Xiping Stone Classics are the most famous political achievement of the current emperor, and of course they have all heard of them.

However, such grand events in the Central Plains were extremely far away for the local officials in Liaodong.

"But what does this have to do with the hammer?" Tian Shao frowned in confusion.

"You all only know one side of the story, not the other."

Qian Zhao laughed and said:

"This method of hammering and rubbing is a technique invented by famous craftsmen after the Xiping Stone Classics to more conveniently spread the classics. It is a technology for copying texts."

Qian Zhao continued to explain:
"To put it simply, it is to cover the stone tablet or carved plate with wet paper, and then tap it gently with a soft hammer to print the text or pattern on the paper. After the paper dries, a clear rubbing can be obtained."

"This method has greatly accelerated the spread of classics, allowing more people to access and learn these precious classics."

Upon hearing this, Tian Shao and others all showed expressions of sudden enlightenment.

It was the first time they had heard of this technology, and they couldn't help but feel sincere admiration for the profoundness of the Central Plains culture.

Then after coming back to God.
"Could it be that Your Excellency brought this precious engraving from the Central Plains?!" Gongsun Zhao exclaimed in surprise.

Even if it was the first time to hear about this technique, just a simple understanding of the technique would tell you how much effort it took to hammer and carve the seal. The imperial court gathered famous masters and resources from all over the world, and it took eight years to carve the stone scripture.

If you want to carve a plate using this rubbing method, it will probably take years.

Such a precious thing, could it be that Lord Su actually brought it from the Central Plains?
Hearing Gongsun Zhao's exclamation, one after another people came to their senses and looked nervously at the young Lord in front of them.

However, Su Yao laughed:
"Rubbing? Carving?"

"That's outdated technology!"

"what?!"

This time, not only those Liaodong officials who had just heard about this precious method of rubbing were shocked, but also Wei Ming, Qian Zhao and other accompanying people were hearing about it for the first time.

No, it's more than that.

In fact, almost at the same time.

The same exclamation was heard in the court in the capital city of Luoyang.

Speaking of the capital Luoyang, the emperor, who had just returned to the palace, was thinking of spending some leisurely time.

Who would have thought that when he went to court for the first time, he suddenly learned that the Marquis of Guanjun had come to offer treasures.

Liu Hong was delighted when he heard this guy.

This brat hasn’t even come back yet, so what treasure can he ask the people in the mansion to offer as a tribute?
I am rich as the world, I have three thousand beauties, and I have seen everything.

I am deeply pleased that you have such filial piety. There is no better gift for you to hurry up and win the battle, suppress the bandits and put down the rebellion, and return to Beijing as soon as possible.

However, when he saw what the man named Chen Zhi offered, he was immediately very interested.

Those are two different things.

One of them is a piece of exquisite silk with neatly sized and densely arranged small wooden blocks, each with Chinese characters engraved on it. It is so ingenious that it is hard to tell what they are for.

The second one was obvious, but it was what shocked him the most.

It was a well-bound book with the words "The Analects of Confucius" clearly written on the cover.

When Liu Hong saw the book, he was stunned for a moment, then he grabbed it and started flipping through it as if possessed.

The more he looked at it, the more shocked he was.

After a while he shouted:

"Where did Champion Hou get this book?!"

"But what's so shocking about a book?"

"Why is your majesty so out of control?"

As the emperor nervously flipped through the book, He Jin, dressed in red court robes, frowned and asked in a low voice.

And soon, his questions were answered.

There is nothing surprising about the Analects itself, and the words can only be described as neat.

What shocked them was this paper!
The big man naturally has paper.

It was during the Later Han Dynasty that Cai Lun improved the papermaking technique and made Caihou paper famous throughout the world.

However, why do officials and civilians still mostly use bamboo slips today?

This is because the production cycle of Caihou paper is long and it is too rough.

Cai Hou Paper was invented by Cai Lun based on the experience of his predecessors in making silk fabrics. He used tree bark, torn fishing nets, rags, hemp heads, etc. as raw materials to make plant fiber paper suitable for writing, making paper a commonly used writing material.

Although Cai Hou paper ushered in a new era of papermaking, its texture was rough, it was not durable, and it discolored severely. Such fiber paper obviously could not fully meet the needs of writing and preservation.

(End of this chapter)