Yipin Tang

Chapter 149 Linglong Bookstore
Linglong Bookstore is located in the most prosperous West Street in Chang'an City. As the name suggests, the store is exquisite and elegant, with a strong book fragrance.

Xinyi is the boss of Linglong Bookstore on the surface, but everyone knows that she is the maid beside the queen, so it is self-evident who is behind the bookstore. Besides, the most books in the bookstore are "Women's Love" written by the queen. "Then" thirty volumes.

There was an endless stream of people coming and going in and out of the bookstore, most of them were wives and ladies from wealthy families. Firstly, because the queen’s reputation for virtuousness spread far and wide, the thirty volumes of "The Rules for Women" written by her naturally became a model for these ladies to learn from. Visiting Linglong Bookstore can be regarded as a way of showing favor to the queen. It is very worthwhile to spend a small amount of money to please the queen. It is a common phenomenon in Chang'an City that noble ladies give each other "Women's Rules".

Although Linglong Bookstore also sells other books, they are mainly books read by women such as "Women's Rules" and "Women's Commandments". There are also some "Analects" and "Jingyi", but not many. Manuscripts are extremely expensive, and not ordinary people can afford them.In addition, the patrons are all women, so ordinary literati will not buy books at Linglong Bookstore.

When Wang Xiang walked into Linglong Bookstore, he immediately attracted everyone's attention. It was shameful for Wang Xiang to be noticed by so many ladies and ladies.

After getting Li Er's words yesterday, he rushed to Linglong bookstore excitedly this morning, but he didn't expect to encounter such a situation. It's really weird that he is the only man in such a big bookstore.

Before, he had only heard that Linglong Bookstore was the largest bookstore in Chang'an City, but he had never visited it.

Fortunately, Linglong Bookstore didn't say that men are not allowed to come in. Although they were surprised, everyone just thought it was a reckless boy from other places who came for the name of Linglong Bookstore. The literati who came rushed in rashly, and most of them would leave in embarrassment after a while.

Seeing that everyone stopped paying attention to him, Wang Xiang heaved a sigh of relief, pretending to be looking for a book, looking here and there, without any intention of leaving.

Those wives and ladies didn't know Wang Xiang, Xin Yi was a servant girl by the empress's side, so naturally she knew Wang Xiang, after the group of guests left, Xin Yi asked curiously: "Why does the Marquis of Jiayuan patronize our Linglong Bookstore today?"

She still doesn't know what Wang Xiang and Li Er said.

Wang Xiang and Xinyi were familiar with each other because they went to the Lizheng Hall every day to receive education from Empress Zhangsun, and seeing that there were no customers in the store, they said, "I came to discuss matters with Miss Xinyi. "

"Ask me to discuss something?" Xinyi was even more puzzled.

Seeing another guest coming in, Wang Xiang hurriedly whispered: "Your Majesty asked me to discuss with you. This matter needs to be discussed in detail. Is there a quieter place?"

Upon hearing that His Majesty asked him to come, Xin Yi nodded repeatedly, although she was still a little puzzled, and said, "Yes, there is an elegant room behind the bookstore."

Xinyi asked the two little girls in the store to greet the customers, and she took Wang Xiang to the elegant room behind the bookstore.

When he arrived in the private room, he could finally avoid the strange eyes of those ladies and ladies outside, and Wang Xiang felt much more at ease.

"I don't know what His Majesty asked the Marquis of Jiayuan to discuss with me?"

She was just a servant girl beside the queen, and she really couldn't understand what His Majesty needed to discuss with Jiayuan Hou.

"That's right, yesterday I entered the palace to discuss a deal with His Majesty."

As soon as Xinyi opened her mouth, her expression became weird. Talking about business with His Majesty was only as casual as he could say...

What does it have to do with me just to discuss business with His Majesty?
Without waiting for her to ask questions, Wang Xiang continued: "It's about the sale of printed books."

"Business of printed books?"

Wang Xiang nodded and said, "Well, Linglong Bookstore has its own printing workshop, right?"

Xinyi didn't understand, so she nodded and said, "The innermost part is the printing workshop."

"Is the engraving master reliable?"

Xinyi became more and more confused, what does this have to do with the engraving master...

She still hasn't figured out what Wang Xiang said about the sale of printed books. Although Linglong Bookstore is engaged in the sale of books, everyone knows what is going on. Seeing Wang Xiang's serious question, she still answered honestly. : "The engraving master is a distant uncle of mine."

It turned out to be relatives, Wang Xiang's eyes lit up, relatives are good, now there is no need to worry about the engraving master.

Immediately, he told Xinyi about the sale of printed books that he had told Li Er, and Xinyi was taken aback for a while.

Since Empress Changsun asked her to be in charge of Linglong Bookstore, it shows that she is a smart and quick-witted person. When Wang Xiang talked about movable type printing, she already understood why she asked whether the engraving master was reliable. Which bookstore can compare with it.

As for the distribution of benefits, it is natural that she is not a servant girl to worry about. Whether it is [-]% or [-]%, it is up to His Majesty and Queen to decide.

"Why don't I call my uncle?"

Wang Xiang nodded and said: "That's fine, he is an expert in this matter, I just put forward an idea, and he has to do the actual operation."

Xinyi's uncle is a short, middle-aged man with dark skin, and he looks like an honest man.

"My uncle originally farmed in his hometown, and the ancestral carving skills were of no use. Later, the Empress opened the Linglong Bookstore and needed a master engraver, so I asked my uncle to come and help."

Knowing that the young man in front of him is a Marquis, the man was still a little embarrassed, and quickly saluted, "Xiaomin see... I have seen the Marquis."

Wang Xiang saw his nervousness and said softly: "Don't be nervous, I have something to trouble you."

"Don't bother, don't bother, Master Hou, just tell me, Xiaomin, Xiaomin..."

Wang Xiang was depressed for a while, am I that scary?I'm the most approachable.

"Uncle, Marquis Jiayuan is not like other officials, he is very kind."

Xinyi's words sounded good, Wang Xiang smiled and said, "Yes, I am very kind, and this matter cannot be finished in a short while, you sit down and we will talk slowly."

The middle-aged man's name is Du Hong. Because the county officials often oppressed the people in his hometown, he was a little afraid of these officials. Seeing that Wang Xiang was really kind, he relaxed a little, but he didn't dare to sit. In desperation, Wang Xiang did not force himself.

Du Hong just had a good engraving skill, but he didn't know much about other things, and he didn't even understand the difference between movable type printing and engraving printing.

Wang Xiang did not ask him to carve the characters alone, but asked him to carve all the characters on a large wooden board, and then saw the board into individual characters and trim them with a knife. The advantage of this is that all the characters are of the same size and height. Convenient combination typesetting.Uncommon characters only need to be carved one or two times, while commonly used characters need to be carved more.

In fact, in Wang Xiang's impression, the best movable type printing in ancient times seems to be clay sculpture, but the clay sculpture is fragile. This problem has been handed over to Li Chunfeng, and it will be improved after the research results of the Gewu Academy.

Carving so many characters cannot be completed in a day or two, but these characters can be used forever after carving, so it is worth waiting.Wang Xiang explained some things to pay attention to and left Linglong Bookstore. When he went out, he once again enjoyed the attention-grabbing treatment...

After the matter of engraving was settled, he had to consider the source of the content. Naturally, there is no need to worry about popular books such as "The Analects" and "Jingyi". Li Er also agreed to borrow the books in the palace. Articles by great Confucians and officials are the most popular among literati.

"There must be an article by Changsun Wuji, an article by old man Wei Zhengwei, and Fang Xuanling...well, the article by Yu Shinan, the great scholar of the dynasty, is indispensable. I don't know if it's okay to let Li Er make an article... "

(End of this chapter)