Chapter 3373 Extra Strong Sister 27
Princess Mingda did not object and was very generous. Bai Shan and Zhou Man only donated one set of books to the official schools within the scope. She then approached the Ministry of Rites and the Imperial College and asked for the number of female students in official schools across the country. She then made a list of official schools with less than five female students and asked the Ministry of Rites to notify these official schools that she would donate a batch of books, and the list of books would be attached.
She specifically stated that she wanted to donate to female students, so government schools in various places began to increase their efforts to recruit female students.
Those government schools that had never admitted female students also relaxed their conditions and began to enroll female students.
If no one in the county applied for the exam, they had to go around persuading capable women to enroll, which was really busy.
They worked very hard to get the books on the list.
However, Princess Mingda was only communicating with them through the Ministry of Rites, and the book had not been printed yet. It would probably take one or two years for them to print it and send it to the official schools.
Princess Mingda still went to find Zhou Man for this matter. Knowing that Zhou Man was busy, she went directly to the Imperial Medical Bureau to block her.
Zhou Man had just returned from the imperial farm outside Beijing where he had received smallpox vaccinations. When he saw her, he stood a little further away and spoke to her. "Although I have washed and changed my clothes all over, you have never been vaccinated, so please don't get too close to me."
Mingda stood further away and spoke to her, "The bookstore has already started printing the books on the list. They will print your batch first, but..."
"Just what?"
"But I found that my bookstore is still a little small. I have to deal with the business of bookstores and booksellers, and print books for these official schools. The bookstore is simply too busy to handle it."
"Aren't the books on the list already in print? Just print them once."
"But printing too many woodblocks will cause loss," Mingda said. "I calculated carefully last night. If I keep printing at this rate, I'm afraid I'll have to replace all the blocks. That's not the most important thing. The most important thing is that my staff are all busy printing donated books, so the books printed for bookstores and booksellers won't be available in time."
Zhou Man understood, "You want to open a new bookstore?"
Princess Mingda nodded, her eyes sparkling. "I thought about it a long time ago, but I just couldn't make up my mind. This time, Jingxing and Ruoyu made me make the decision."
She said, "Since our paper mill has been continuously developing new paper, the price of paper has been getting lower every year, but the price of books has not dropped much."
Zhou Man did some calculations and said, "It's still too low. A copy of the Analects is two cents cheaper than before."
It may not seem like much, but for a bookstore with a large output, a gross profit of two cents per book is quite a lot.
"But compared to the price drop of paper, it's still very high, and the price of ink on the market has also dropped a lot," Mingda said. "My royal brother mentioned to me privately that it's still difficult for the poor and common people to study, and one of the main reasons is the high price of books."
"I've always wanted to lower the price of books."
Zhou Man asked, "Will the Ministry of Rites and the royal bookstore agree?"
"We have no say over the bookstores in the Ministry of Rites, but the largest and most numerous bookstores in the Jin Dynasty are in the hands of the royal family, so it's up to my brother the emperor to decide." Those bookstores were gradually taken out of the Ministry of Rites and handed over to the royal family by the late emperor in the early years. Now it is convenient for them as they don't have to be influenced by the powerful families and noble clans in the court.
Zhou Man pondered, "You want to send the books to the various official schools first, and then after they have received the books, let the local bookstores and booksellers lower the price?"
"Yes, through this book donation, I've been able to connect with impoverished county offices and government schools across the country," Mingda said. "As long as they're willing to sell, the prices will definitely drop."
A price reduction of books in one place is bound to affect the surrounding areas, let alone so many places at the same time.
In the past, Mingda had never thought of this, and there was no suitable reason to donate books. The county governments and official schools in various places would not contact her as a princess, let alone listen to her.
But this time, with the donation made in the name of Bai Ruoyu and Bai Jingxing, these local government offices and official schools will be reluctant to accept the donation and will find it easier to raise some small suggestions at that time.
Not to mention, the price reduction of books is also a good thing for these poor counties and official schools.
Some people don't have much control over these places.
Zhou Man was stunned when he heard Mingda's grand and ambitious goal. "Is this your idea alone, or does His Majesty want it?"
"All of them," Mingda looked around and saw that no one was coming and the area was empty, so he lowered his voice and said, "You also know that my brother has some conflicts with the aristocratic families. Although the two sides have been relatively harmonious over the years and have cooperated a lot on weekdays, but..."
Zhou Manchu finally understood. "I know that some conflicts are not between Your Majesty and individual court officials, but rather between the imperial family and the powerful families, between the Jin Dynasty and the powerful families, and between the Jin Dynasty and the imperial family. These conflicts are beyond the control of an individual."
She said, "It exists objectively and is not subject to human will. If it wasn't Your Majesty, it would be another emperor, not to mention someone else in the world."
"Sometimes the situation is not what they want, but they have no choice. They have to go along with it for the sake of the people and family behind them." There are not many people who are as courageous as Yang Heshu and put the country and the people above their family.
Now it was Mingda's turn to be surprised. After pondering her words for a while, she said, "You are right. These contradictions exist objectively. Therefore, even if my brother likes Bai Shan and Lord Yang very much, he will not give up competing with the aristocratic families because of them."
Zhou Man: "...Bai Shan hardly considers himself a noble family."
"I know, and you've seen it, that most of the officials in the court are from families listed in the clan annals. Very few have risen to prominence, especially the commoners, who sometimes can't even compete for minor positions in the government offices." Mingda said, "My brother the Emperor needs help, and so does the future Crown Prince. Therefore, we must take action on the issue of book prices."
Zhou Man: "So you came to me..."
"I'd like to hear your opinion. I remember you and Bai Shan mentioned that there seemed to be an easier way to print books, but you said at the time that today's ink makers couldn't do it, so I never asked." Mingda said, "I didn't really need it then, but now, I want to ask."
"I've asked the Ministry of Industry to help find Mohist disciples among the people. I'll ask them to study it then. Maybe they can figure it out."
Zhou Man: ...Oh no, it was a Mid-Autumn Festival banquet and she drank a little too much. When talking about printed books, she thought of the printing function in the encyclopedia. It took her so many years to barely figure out how it worked.
but……
How should I tell Mingda?
Zhou Man's mind went blank for a moment, but Keke kindly reminded her, "Host, contemporary printing technology is far more advanced than yours, and it also involves cultural dissemination. If you purchase such items, you'll have to pay a considerable technology tax."
Zhou Man clapped his hands and said, "I remember now, movable type!"
Mingda: “What?”
(End of this chapter)
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