Chapter 34 Movable type printing is in full swing!

Ouyang Ye asked the prefect for ten places to participate in printing the book.

This was an excellent opportunity to get access to county exam materials, so Zhu Lan and others waited outside Wulei Pavilion early in the morning.

Xu Shiming and the others also came over. Qiao Youyou saw them and asked curiously:

"Hey, where's Chang Yunxiao?"

Xu Shiming spread his hands and said, "I don't know. We were together at breakfast, and then we disappeared in the blink of an eye."

Zhou Da, who was standing next to him, said, "Who knows? He might have gone to see an autopsy."

"Ah?" Qiao Youyou covered her mouth in surprise, "You didn't come to do something as important as printing a book, but instead went to watch someone dig up a corpse?"

No one can understand what Chang Yunxiao is thinking.

People from the government office came over. The clerk in the lead had a serious expression and looked difficult to talk to.

He glanced at them coldly and said unhappily, "Didn't you say there were ten people? Why are there only nine?"

Zhu Lan smiled and said, "Sir, a classmate was delayed on the way. Can you please be flexible and wait for a while?"

The clerk frowned and said, "Printing books is a big deal for the imperial court. How can you just make concessions as you say?"

He then called his subordinates and asked them to reduce the number of students in the academy who could participate in printing books from ten to nine.

That means completely depriving Chang Yunxiao of the qualification to participate.

"Sir, the brothers have worked hard printing books, use them to buy some good wine."

Liang Zhou calmly put a few silver ingots into the clerk's sleeve and winked at him.

The clerk's expression eased a little and he glanced at Liang Zhou again.

The clerk didn't know him, and there was no need for Liang Zhou to bring up his identity in such a trivial matter.

"Okay, then give him half an incense stick of time."

Liang Zhou thanked him repeatedly.

Everyone was waiting eagerly at the door of Wulei Pavilion.

It was the height of summer and the temperature suddenly rose in just half an incense stick of time.

Hot weather makes people easily irritable.

But there was still no sign of Chang Yunxiao.

"Okay, we've waited enough, and we can't delay the printing of the book."

After the clerk had finished speaking, he ignored them and asked his men to change the number of people as this had to be reported.

At this moment, a thin figure appeared in everyone's sight.

Ding Xiaoqiu wiped the sweat off his face with his sleeves, blocked the sunlight with a book, and walked quickly with his head down.

"Sir, I'm coming!" Zhu Lan said, shouting Ding Xiaoqiu's name.

Anyway, it seems that Qin Yunxiao has gone to do other things, so it would be a waste to waste the quota. So let Ding Xiaoqiu fill it.

And who knows, maybe he has some miraculous uses!

Ding Xiaoqiu was just passing by, but was inexplicably pulled into the book printing team.

After entering Wulei Pavilion, everyone was still confused.

The clerk came over and asked them, "You invented the movable type printing, didn't you?"

Everyone nodded.

The clerk assigned four people from behind him.

"These four are the best carvers in Jiangzhou City. You are required to complete the production of the character blocks within two days.

You guys can decide how to divide the work."

Zhu Lan asked: "Sir, which book should we start with?"

The clerk pointed to a large wooden box and said, "The books in there need to be engraved anyway. You can decide the order."

After saying that, he left.

Everyone looked at the tools in their hands.

A pile of unformed clay, a lot of wood, and four carvers.

Zhu Lan walked to the wooden box, which contained more than thirty books.

Sure enough, there was the compilation that Liang Zhou mentioned!

Zhu Lan calmly pulled out the book and said, "Let's start with this one. I'll read it and you write down the words you need."

Everyone immediately began to divide the work.

Several people were responsible for making the character plates, several others cut the clay into blocks of the same size, and one person was responsible for rubbing the written characters onto the clay block and handing it over to the master for engraving.

To carve characters, you need to write them on paper first and then transfer them to a block of clay.

The oldest master picked up the paper and pen tremblingly, wrote two words, and then his hands began to shake.

Seeing this, everyone's eyes fell on Ding Xiaoqiu.

Say with your eyes: Come on!

Ding Xiaoqiu stepped forward somewhat shyly and said, "Master, leave it to me."

The old master was a little skeptical at first, but when Dante Xiaoqiu took the pen and wrote a few words on the paper, the old master showed a look of surprise.

He originally thought that he would need to work two jobs, but now it seems that he only needs to do the carving work.

The masters carved very quickly. After carving dozens of characters, they handed them over to the government office to be fired. After they were fired, they were sent back for typesetting.

The clerk would come here from time to time to check on the progress.

When he saw that it was Ding Xiaoqiu who was writing, he was a little unhappy at first.

Can the skinny little radish head hold the pen steadily?

If the handwriting is too ugly, the printed book will bring shame to the imperial court!

And his own black hat!

But when he saw Ding Xiaoqiu writing regular script quickly and well, his expression changed immediately, as if he was looking at a treasure.

I also specifically asked his name.

Zhu Lan read the words on the compilation and memorized them secretly in his heart.

This compilation is indeed very useful. It not only brings together the test questions and high-scoring masterpieces from county examinations over the years.

It also points out the subtleties in it.

Each article is clearly marked with instructions on how to approach the topic and how to build a transition zone.

In the past, these were not announced to the public, but now the imperial court has restructured and introduced many new policies.

Then someone suggested printing and distributing these materials for other students to study.

As the others listened to Zhu Lan's reading, they secretly wondered how they would answer the question if it were them.

Ding Xiaoqiu finally understood Zhu Lan's intention of letting him join in.

I felt excited and grateful.

If you can learn the contents of this book, then the chances of passing the upcoming county exam will be much greater!!!

Ding Xiaoqiu was full of fighting spirit and listened more attentively.

…

Today's printing work is finished. Everyone feels sore in the waist and back, but their hearts are full of harvest.

When they left Wulei Pavilion, they were searched to prevent them from secretly taking the manuscripts out.

A student came to inform Ding Xiaoqiu that Ouyang Ye was looking for him.

Ding Xiaoqiu said goodbye to everyone and went to Ouyang Ye's study.

Zhu Lan guessed that there was some news regarding Ding Xiaoqiu's qualification to take the county exam.

She prayed for Ding Xiaoqiu in her heart for a while, hoping that Ouyang Ye had come up with a good idea.

After a long time, Ding Xiaoqiu came out from Ouyang Ye.

His steps were unsteady, his face was pale, and he almost fell to the ground after taking a few steps.

Why...why didn't the court agree to let him take part in the imperial examination?

He studied so hard, why did the government want to deprive him of his future?

Just because his father is in prison?

But that was clearly a wrongful case!

He and his father always hoped that the day of vindication would come, but the court kept delaying the case!

If the case is never closed, will my father have to stay in jail for the rest of his life, and will my life be completely ruined because of such a ridiculous thing?

Ding Xiaoqiu looked up at the moon covered by dark clouds, his eyes full of confusion.