Yun Qing smiled after hearing Zhu Tao's words. She was very happy, and she also wanted to have a second and a third child with her husband.
Before long, learning pinyin became popular in the capital. Since pinyin was initially developed by Zhu Tao and his team, he was still in charge of popularizing it.
Even before the dictionary was widely printed, Zhu Tao had already found many teachers to teach them pinyin for free, all in order to popularize pinyin.
The teachers weren't stupid. They were given a dictionary each when they arrived, and they knew how to use it. Plus, with the Emperor's support behind the scenes, there were rewards for good grades, so they naturally studied diligently.
Zhu Tao wanted to ensure that the teachers were truly knowledgeable and that they had to pass an assessment after completing their studies before they could leave. Otherwise, he wouldn't allow them to go out and cause trouble after only learning a half-baked skill.
This group of people were quite promising. They were not unintelligent and their learning progress was fast. Basically, as long as they studied with all their might, they could finish in a week. Zhu Tao had several batches taught, and now all the universities in the capital have begun to teach students to learn pinyin.
Dictionaries also began to be sold in the study room one after another.
The dictionary looks thick, but it costs about the same as an elementary school book. Of course, it won't lose money, since the printing technology has been updated and costs have indeed been reduced, but there won't be much profit either.
However, Yinzhen didn't intend to make money from this. Education is the foundation of the nation, and Yinzhen was quite willing to invest in it.
Zhu Tao never expected the emperor to be so supportive; he never imagined he would encounter such a discerning emperor.
Zhu Tao had been in the Qing Dynasty for so long and had gained more experience, so he wasn't unaware that something was amiss. But as the saying goes, it's good to be confused sometimes. Now that the Emperor was willing to value him, he should do his duty and the Emperor wouldn't treat him unfairly.
He initially obtained the literary system and thought he was the chosen one, and he became arrogant for a while. However, he later realized that in ancient times, having a literary system did not guarantee a worry-free life.
Furthermore, the literary system can only provide him with opportunities; the specifics will depend on his abilities.
A craze for learning pinyin swept through the capital, and Yinzhen and Yunrong, pondering this, added fuel to the fire.
Yunrong ordered the Imperial Household Department to make one hundred dictionaries and several wooden tablets for "picture-based literacy," and set them up. She also specially held a poetry and prose competition for one person, inviting officials from the capital to participate, and the top one hundred people were rewarded with dictionaries and other prizes.
Of course, there were other rewards for the top three, but it's impossible for an emperor like Yinzhen to spend so much time and effort organizing a poetry gathering where the prizes were just a dictionary and some wooden items.
The top three winners naturally received generous rewards. After this poetry and prose competition, dictionaries became widely popular. In ancient times, officials went through various examinations, so cheating was impossible. They all possessed genuine talent and knowledge.
Seeing the usefulness of a dictionary, one would naturally be willing to prepare a set for their own child, especially since the price is really not expensive.
And so, the dictionary spread far and wide throughout the capital.
Since taking charge of the Qing Dynasty, Yinzhen has paid special attention to the circulation of information between different regions. With the advent of newspapers, news began to circulate; with the advent of cement, horse-drawn carriages became faster; and although there are no steam-powered carriages now, Yunrong has completely renovated them.
When Yunrong accompanied Yinzhen on his trip to Jiangnan, she encountered many merchants from neighboring countries in Guangzhou and purchased rubber from them. This seemingly insignificant substance had a great effect.
Using it on a carriage can naturally extend its lifespan and speed up its journey.
In addition, Yunrong also added springs to the carriage, so the ride wouldn't be so bumpy.
The increased speed of carriages was one aspect, but another was that public security in various places had truly improved. In the past, many people didn't go out because they were afraid. Traveling from one place to another required walking a long distance, and one might encounter bandits or outlaws along the way. Those who were timid would naturally choose to stay out for the sake of safety.
In the years prior, Yinzhen had used real money to incentivize his soldiers in order to train them, which led to a decrease in bandits across the country. In addition, under Yinzhen's rule, while the political situation was not entirely clean, it was much better than in previous years.
With fewer corrupt officials and more capable ones, people's lives have improved. If life can be peaceful, no one wants to live in constant fear.
So the bandits were apprehended, and merchant ships and caravans from various regions began to increase.
To ensure the safety of the people, Yinzhen listened to Yunrong's advice and set up roadblocks in some sparsely populated and dangerous areas. Passersby did not need to pay money, but carriages had to pay.
Fortunately, there was a considerable amount of silver, which could not only cover the salaries of the soldiers guarding the road but also bring in some extra income.
Those who can afford a carriage are certainly not short of a little bit of silver. Besides, they can rest assured even if they pay the money! Roadblocks are set up quite frequently, but the price is not high each time, and soldiers are also dispatched to patrol the roads at fixed times.
In any case, caravans are always happy to pay this amount of money.
Ordinary people naturally had no objections. They didn't need to take carriages, and walking didn't cost them money. Their safety on the road was guaranteed, so they were more than happy to accept it!
This made transportation more convenient, so pinyin dictionaries quickly became popular throughout the Qing Dynasty.
Most educated families had some spare money, and dictionaries weren't expensive. Once you learned pinyin, you could learn all the characters by spending the money you would have spent on a primer, which was quite a bargain.
Because of the geographical reasons, schools near the capital teach pinyin. With a little money, one person in the family can learn it, and the whole family can learn it by following along. By buying a dictionary, the whole family can use it. Even if they don't take the imperial examinations, being able to read and write will prevent them from being cheated when they go out.
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