God-level prince of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 314 Digging Your Roots (Part [-])
In ancient times, reading was not something that casual people could read. It was very difficult for some relatively wealthy people to read, especially for poor students.

The main reason is that the price of the book is too expensive.

Although Cai Lun invented papermaking in the Han Dynasty, the technology did not improve much in the Tang Dynasty, and the price of paper was relatively expensive, which prevented the price of books from falling to a certain extent.

Well, since you can't afford it, you can borrow it.

So borrowing books became a phenomenon that couldn't be more realistic in the Tang Dynasty.

But borrowing books is not an easy task. First of all, you have to have a thick skin, and then you also need to know scholars, not only those who travel long distances for good books.

Even so, not every bibliophile is willing to lend books to others.

Especially like the powerful family, they have a collection of thousands of books, and they are never willing to treat people lightly, let alone borrow people.

Why did the movable type printing technique brought by Li Chengqian cause a storm?
It is because it has greatly reduced the price of books to one-tenth of the original price.

Therefore, as soon as it was published, it spread among the circle of poor scholars, like a hurricane, one spreads to ten, ten spreads to hundreds, hundreds spreads to thousands...continuously passed on.

What happened is that the city is full of wind and rain, everyone knows it, 6 every place is discussing this matter, and at the same time, some interested people have begun to praise the court's approach.

……

In the East Palace, Li Chengqian and Wei Zheng were discussing the next plan.

At this time, someone came to report: "Report to His Royal Highness, there is a situation!"

"Tell me what's going on!"

"Yes! Since the opening of Datang Publishing House, a total of 20 books have been sold in three consecutive days! At this time, the publishing house is still rushing to print! Among them...the Wang family and the Cui family have purchased [-] books alone!"

When Li Chengqian heard this, he laughed.

It seemed that his guess was correct. Changsun Wuji went to the Wang family and the Cui family to explain the situation. He said that the cost of the book was one-fifth of the original cost. But more and more books were printed.

"His Royal Highness, this is..."

Wei Zheng asked aside.

"The eldest grandson Wuji thought that the king was making money at a loss. How could he know that even if it was one-tenth of the original profit, our profit would still be more than half! Now the Wang family and the Cui family are bleeding heavily. One hundred thousand copies, five Thousands of dollars!"

This money is more profitable than any business I have done before!Of course Li Chengqian hoped that they would buy more!The more the merrier!
Wei Zheng had never worked with Li Chengqian before, and when he heard this, he felt a chill down his back.

Fortunately, Li Chengqian was not an enemy, otherwise this...

Of course, it is impossible to be an enemy to them. They are doing things for the people sincerely.What reason does he have to oppose Li Chengqian!
"Let them buy it, and keep buying it!"

Li Chengqian said so.

But Xiao Huangmen said: "His Royal Highness, they don't seem to buy it!"

"Huh? Did you find out so soon? It's better not to buy it, and it's best to give the opportunity to scholars! After a while, the king will lower the price, let them buy it! Kill them!"

Changsun Wuji must be trying to use means to force the publishing house to close down!

But from this point of view, the price of the book did not drop, which made the two families panic.

Completely helpless.

People say that people don't fight with officials, let alone businessmen?

No matter how strong the family is, is it stronger than Li Chengqian?Is it stronger than the court?
Totally impossible!Li Chengqian has already calculated the profit, no matter how cheap it is, there is still profit to be made.

There is no such thing as a loss in education!
Li Chengqian knew that their thoughts had changed as time went by.

This is not at all about making money at a loss, this is about digging their roots!
Why are they so strong, because there are many people who read books, and there is no need to worry about the expensive books.

Now that the price of books has dropped by more than [-]% at once, children from poor families can afford to read books!
Their monopoly on scholars will be challenged.

Panic broke out within the Five Surnames Qiwang, especially the Wang family and the Cui family.

There are already think tanks beginning to realize the consequences that may occur later.

The disciples of the family were in panic all day long, as if they had suffered a catastrophe, this wave of turmoil had already swept in.

If everyone can afford to read, how can they stay on top?How can we control the position of the court officials?

This is what Li Chengqian wants to do, so that they have nowhere to go, and return to the level of equality with all living beings.Increase the proportion of court officials and civilians!

At this time, Wei Zheng expressed his concerns: "His Royal Highness, I am afraid that these aristocratic families will not let it go!"

Li Chengqian had thought about it a long time ago. After all, some necessities for people's livelihood are still in their hands.

If he seriously threatens them, then they will definitely fight back. He can probably imagine that people with five surnames and seven Wangs have gathered together to discuss what to do?
Among the four classes of scholars, farmers, businessmen, and merchants, Shang is the last one. If a scholar does well, he can control the following three items. The five great aristocratic families have mastered this word, so it can be passed down for thousands of years.No matter how the dynasties change, they will not fall down!
However, Li Chengqian's actions obviously left them nowhere to go. No matter what, these people would resist.

But if so, they are digging their own graves!

"Don't worry, they can't afford any big waves!"

Li Chengqian said solemnly.

Then he said, "Where did we just talk?"

Wei Zheng said:

"When it comes to improving the printing form of the Analects of Confucius, we can print more words per page to reduce the cost!"

Li Chengqian nodded and said:

"Yes, yes, under the condition of limited paper, in addition to double-sided printing, you can also control the amount of paper by changing the font size and line spacing. As long as you save a piece of paper, the cost will be saved a lot."

Save one piece of paper for one book, save ten thousand papers for ten thousand books, and the cost will naturally come down!
Given people's desire for books, so what if the printing is denser?

"Yes! What His Royal Highness said is very true! In this way, the speed can be increased!"

Wei Zheng admired Li Chengqian's approach very much. Li Chengqian had already proposed dozens of reforms in printing methods alone.

That has never been done like this before!It's amazing!
At this time, someone suddenly came in and reported: "His Royal Highness! Wang Gui begs to see you!"

When Li Chengqian heard it, Wang Gui was regarded as a high-ranking official, but it must be a bad thing to come to him at this time.

And Wei Zheng said: "This person is from the Wang family, and he must be looking for His Royal Highness because of the books!"

Li Chengqian said with a smile: "That's right! I want to see what this guy is going to do!"

Then Li Chengqian said:
"Let him in!"

"Yes!"

(End of this chapter)