Chapter 29: Promoting New Technology (1)

All the evidence indirectly proves that it was Du Chuke who forced He Lanchushi to death, but Du Chuke could not exonerate himself.

"Come! Put Du Chuke in the Tianlao!" Emperor Li II ordered his men to put Du Chuke in the Tianlao.

The imperial guards outside the palace immediately rushed in and took Du Chuke away.

The next thing was the sentencing of Du Chuke.

Li Chengqian stood up and said goodbye. He didn't need to participate in the next matter. Du Chuke forced He Lanchushi to death and framed him as the crown prince. The only outcome was death.

Li Chengqian returned to the East Palace, but did not wait for the news of Du Chuke's death sentence. Instead, he waited for the angry Hou Junji.

Li Chengqian didn't understand why Hou Junji was angry.

"What's wrong with Duke Chen? Why is he so angry?" Li Chengqian asked in confusion.

"The prince doesn't know yet, right? What about Du Chuke's sentence?" Hou Junji asked.

Li Chengqian was stunned. According to Du Chuke's crime, whether it was slandering him, the prince, or giving an explanation to Hou Junji, Du Chuke had to die. But looking at Hou Junji's expression, things should not be that simple.

"Duke Chen! What's the problem?" Li Chengqian felt that things were not that simple.

"Your Majesty originally wanted to sentence Du Chuke to death, and gave him a three-foot white silk to leave his body intact. Who would have thought that several Shandong scholars who were on good terms with Du Chuke would actually call on the scholars to

give Du Chuke a lighter sentence." "Not only that! The people of the Five Surnames and Seven Families also got involved. Relying on their influence, they put pressure on Your Majesty, and Your Majesty had to change the original sentence, exiling Du Chuke to a foreign land and imprisoning him for life." Hou Junji said.

Li Chengqian was also very angry after hearing this. These aristocratic families were so well-fed that they even interfered in such matters.

These aristocratic families relied on their own influence to lead to social public opinion, and used this public opinion to put pressure on the court, thereby achieving their own goals.

"Why would they get involved?" Li Chengqian really didn't understand. The aristocratic families always paid attention to their own interests. Logically, they shouldn't get involved in the Du Chuke incident.

"I heard that the King of Wei personally asked these Shandong scholars to help plead for mercy! That's why this happened." Hou Junji said.

Li Tai has always loved studying. He is the best student among the three brothers and is a three-good student in the eyes of the teacher.

Li Tai has always been close to these scholars, so it makes sense that Li Tai went to lobby the scholars.

"Did all the people from the Five Surnames and Seven Families get involved?" Li Chengqian said.

"No, only some branches of the Lu family joined in." Hou Junji said.

Li Chengqian nodded. At first, Lu Shou of the Lu family openly challenged the imperial power and was ordered to be executed by Emperor Li II. Lu Shou's disciples have always been dissatisfied with this.

It seems that they are the ones who are behind the scenes.

From this incident, we can see the importance of public opinion. At the same time, it also indirectly shows that Emperor Li II is old.

He has less killing in his heart and more nostalgia. Considering Du Ruhui's merits, he exempted Du Chuke from the death penalty and only sentenced him to exile and life imprisonment.

If it was Emperor Li II when he was young, he would not care about these people, and would just re-sentence Du Chuke and kill him directly.

After Li Chengqian calmed Hou Junji's emotions, Hou Junji stood up and left. As the Minister of War, he was not suitable to stay in the East Palace for a long time.

Public opinion is like a sharp sword. If used properly, it can be invincible and unstoppable! Otherwise, it will hurt oneself.

In order to weaken the influence of the Five Surnames and Seven Ancestral Families, it is necessary to strengthen one's grasp of public opinion, and even lead the direction of social public opinion in the future.

Li Chengqian first thought of newspapers as a useful tool.

When it comes to publishing newspapers, the problem of printing must be solved first.

The printing technology that appeared in the early Tang Dynasty was woodblock printing on wooden boards, which was mainly used to print Buddhist scriptures and calendars.

Ordinary books still rely on manual copying, so it is definitely not possible to publish newspapers in this way.

Therefore, the printing issue must be resolved in advance, so that the newspaper issue can be successfully handled.

Fortunately, these issues did not bother Li Chengqian. The movable type printing technology of the Song Dynasty was much stronger and more advanced than the woodblock printing technology of the Tang Dynasty.

Woodblock printing has obvious defects. First, it takes time, labor and materials to carve the plates. Second, a large number of book plates are conducive to storage. Third, once the carving is successful, it is not easy to correct the wrong characters.

In this regard, movable type printing has just improved these shortcomings and is more flexible and easy to use.

However, the material selection must be carefully considered. Li Chengqian considered it again and again. From the cost point of view, clay movable type is more economical.

Li Chengqian did it as soon as he thought of it. He immediately asked Wang Quan to find some craftsmen to come to the East Palace.

"Your Highness!" Wang Quan led the craftsmen to salute Li Chengqian.

"There is something I need you to do!" Li Chengqian said.

"Your Highness, just follow my orders!" said the craftsman.

"I want you to use clay to make blanks of the same specifications..." Li Chengqian explained the details of making movable clay type to the craftsman.

"You should make them for me today according to the method I told you."

"Your Highness! We have never come across this thing you are talking about before, and we don't know how to operate it specifically. I'm afraid we can't finish it within one day. We need to give it a try before we know how to start." The craftsman looked embarrassed.

Li Chengqian said it lightly, but after all, this was the first time they heard of movable clay type, and they had never done this kind of work.

If they didn't know how to operate it specifically, everything else was secondary, and the most important thing was the temperature.

If they blindly threw the finished model into the living room, if the fire was too strong, these things might be damaged.

If the temperature is too low, it may not achieve the effect that Li Chengqian wants, and then it can't be used for printing.

Li Chengqian thought about it and felt that it made sense. He was too hasty! The specific operation of the movable clay type still needs these people to practice before the results can be seen.

Fortunately, with the method provided by Li Chengqian, it is much easier to make.

"Then let's change it to tomorrow. I don't care what method you use. Anyway, I must see the results tomorrow."

"If you do this job well, I will reward you heavily! If you fail, I will never let you off easily!" Li Chengqian said.

Movable type printing was very important to Li Chengqian.

"I understand! Please rest assured, Your Highness! I promise to give your Highness a set of clay characters tomorrow." said the craftsman.

After receiving the craftsman's promise, Li Chengqian nodded with satisfaction, and after repeated instructions, the craftsman said goodbye and left.

The problem of movable type printing was solved, and the next step was to get paper, and Li Chengqian began to typeset the first newspaper of the Tang Dynasty.