If I let you stay in Lingnan, how could you become the crown prince of the Tang Dynasty?

Chapter 8 I didn't expect this kid to come up with such a clever idea

Hearing this, Li Shimin could no longer suppress the anger in his chest, and felt like a mouthful of blood was about to spurt out.

He staggered and almost fell to the ground.

Yuchi Gong quickly supported him:
"Your Majesty, don't get excited. Let me help you sit down next to me."

The old man who was answering the question was confused when he saw Li Shimin so excited.

He's just a foreigner who comes to Lingnan for the first time. Why is he so excited when he hears about Lingnan?

Lingnan is pretty good!

Yuchi Gong helped Li Shimin and moved to the teahouse in the nearby inn.

"Sir, would you like some tea?"

When the shop assistant saw the two people coming, he hurried forward and asked them politely.

"Bring me a nice pot of tea."

After Yuchi Gong gave the order, the waiter quickly ran to the back to make tea.

After sitting there and resting for a while, Li Shimin's rising anger was finally extinguished a little.

What a traitor!
I didn't expect you to be so evil and lawless in Lingnan!
If this continues, Lingnan will no longer be able to control the government and the people!
I'm afraid that the empire I worked so hard to build will be destroyed in your hands!

This child can no longer be kept!
Today I will reveal my identity, bring you back to Chang'an, and then smash all 250 mirrors outside the Meridian Gate, and make you crawl to me step by step to apologize!

Just as Li Shimin was thinking, a little boy carrying a cloth bag full of paper rolls walked into the teahouse. He raised the roll of paper high above his head and shouted loudly:

"Lingnan Express! Buy Lingnan Express and know what's happening in the world!"

"Why did a 60-year-old woman get pregnant unexpectedly? Why did hundreds of sows scream in the middle of the night? Why were people's underwear frequently stolen? Why was the door of the aunt at the entrance of the village frequently knocked on? Is this a loss of morality or a distortion of human nature? You can find out by reading Lingnan Express!"

Hearing the little boy's shout, Li Shimin and Yuchi Gong were stunned.

What is Lingnan Express?
This kid yelled...

It seems really attractive.

After listening to it, they really wanted to know whether these things really happened.

As for whether it is the decline of morality or the distortion of human nature, these don’t seem to be very important...

"Boy, what is this Lingnan Express you are selling?"

Li Shimin was very curious and stopped the newspaper boy and asked.

The little boy glanced at him and said with a smile:
"This guest must be from another place. This Lingnan Express is a good thing. It records all kinds of recent world trends, social anecdotes, life encyclopedia knowledge, agricultural guides, etc. It can be said that it has everything!"

Li Shimin was even more surprised when he heard this:

"You mean, there are so many things on this roll of paper in your hand?"

"Of course. Five cents for a copy of Lingnan Express."

Li Shimin immediately asked Yuchi Gong to take out five cents, and then took a newspaper from the boy.

When the newspaper was unfolded, I saw that it was covered with densely printed words. They were not handwritten but engraved, but each word was very clear.

After a careful search, I didn't find anything in the newspaper about why a 60-year-old woman became pregnant or hundreds of sows screaming in the middle of the night.

Li Shimin was about to turn around and ask, but he saw the boy had already walked out of the teahouse:
"A major fraud case occurred in Lingnan, and as many as 250 people were deceived..."

Li Shimin's face suddenly darkened.

This kid,
It’s just a catchy title!
It seems like this idiot of mine can't escape!

However, this newspaper does look interesting.
Although there are no things like what the little boy shouted about on it, it is indeed a list of interesting encyclopedias and important events in the world.

There are even folk jokes and farming tips printed in the corners of the newspaper.

"This newspaper..."

Li Shimin smacked his lips and said, "It's really good. I don't know which genius came up with this idea. It's really wonderful!"

"Your Majesty, look at this paper, it seems to be very good!"

After hearing Yuchi Gong's reminder, Li Shimin carefully looked at the material of the newspaper and found that the paper was very flexible, and was not inferior to Xuan paper!

“And there’s this inscription!”

Li Shimin pondered:

"Since this newspaper is published every day, it is impossible to use woodblock printing. However, there are so many words on it that it would be too time-consuming for craftsmen to carve them one by one. I don't know what method they used!"

In this era, people still used woodblock printing.
Movable type printing was not invented until a man named Bi Sheng appeared in the Song Dynasty.

Woodblock printing is the process of carving text on a whole piece of wood. The text cannot be changed at all. Every time a new content is to be printed, the woodblock needs to be replaced.

This is very troublesome.

But since Lingnan Express is published daily, it is definitely impossible to use woodblock printing.

At this time, the teahouse waiter had brought a pot of freshly brewed tea to Li Shimin and poured tea for both of them.

"Sir, please enjoy your meal. Our Lingnan tea is very good!"

The fragrance of tea rose from the steam in the teacup and drifted into Li Shimin's nose.

He looked down and saw the delicate tips of the leaves in the teacup stretching and dancing in the clear water, swaying gracefully.

“Really good tea!”

He nodded and exclaimed:

"Lingnan is indeed a great place with many talented people and beautiful scenery."

"That is!"

When the teahouse waiter heard Li Shimin praising Lingnan, he was immediately indescribably happy:
"Sir, you may not know that this tea is picked by unmarried girls with their mouths, and then carried back in their arms. Therefore, it naturally has a sweet fragrance, and it is extremely difficult to obtain!"

"This method of picking was thought up by our prince!"

"Flashy!"

Li Shimin frowned and snorted, but then he remembered the newspaper incident and asked the shop assistant:

"Who was the master who came up with that newspaper just now?"

"Are you talking about the Lingnan Express?"

The shop assistant laughed and said:
"That was also the idea of ​​our king. He wanted the people to know about the world's major events and the news happening in Lingnan every day, so he came up with the idea of ​​publishing a newspaper."

"Speaking of which, this newspaper is really good. It not only contains important news, but also many interesting stories, as well as some good ways to teach people how to farm, raise silkworms and raise livestock!"

When Li Shimin heard this, the gloomy expression on his face relaxed a lot.

This rebellious son actually came up with the idea of ​​publishing a newspaper.
It’s not completely useless!
"So... who came up with this method of block printing?"

"That's also our prince!"

The shop assistant smiled and said:
"This thing is called movable type printing. It uses yellow mud to carve characters and then bake them to make them hard. Whenever you need to print, you only need to select the characters to be used and arrange them in a wooden frame. It is more time-saving and labor-saving than woodblock printing, and it also saves more materials!"

"That's why our Lingnan Express can be printed very early, so that the people of Lingnan can know about major events in the world early on!"

Hearing this, Li Shimin couldn't help but be a little dazed.

After a moment's pause, he suddenly clapped his hands:

"Wonderful!"

"Use yellow clay to carve characters, bake them hard, and when printing, just arrange the characters according to the text, saving time, effort and materials!"

"I didn't expect this kid to come up with such a clever idea!"

(End of this chapter)