"Paper in Luoyang is in high demand!"
This phenomenon is truly unfolding in the academic circles of Luoyang.
Nowadays, students in Luoyang take pride in receiving a piece of "ink and paper," while those who don't are mercilessly ridiculed.
The two instigators of all this, Cao Song and Lü Qiang, have unusually come together.
"Tsk tsk tsk... Grand Minister of Agriculture, your move is truly brilliant! You sold five million coins in just four days with only ten thousand pages of paper!"
"No problem, no problem! I've figured out what those people are thinking all along. What they care about isn't ink and paper, it's clearly face!! They're willing to spend money to save face!"
Cao Song waved his hand with a smile, his eyes gleaming as he looked at the mountain of papers piled up in the warehouse.
"Haha~, the Grand Minister of Agriculture is so insightful, I admire him!!"
"Haha~, you flatter me, Attendant Lü. You're not bad either..."
Cao Song and Lü Qiang looked at each other triumphantly and laughed.
In the following days, thanks to Cao Song and Lü Qiang's manipulation, the price of ink and paper soared to eight hundred coins per page, causing some students who originally wanted to grit their teeth and buy it to give up.
For a time, the competitive spirit among students in Luoyang intensified. Countless students who couldn't buy ink and paper were filled with resentment, but there was nothing they could do because they couldn't afford it.
Inside a classroom at the Imperial Academy, Cai Yong sat upright on the podium, holding a manuscript written on a sheet of ink paper, explaining to the students below.
Of the dozens of students in the audience, only a few took out ink and paper to record the essential points of Cai Yong's explanation, while the rest could only rely on their memory to memorize them.
After class, Cai Yong looked at the students below the stage, most of whom were still in a state of confusion and bewilderment, and couldn't help but shake his head and sigh.
Human memory is limited after all. I just talked about so much, and those students who didn't have ink and paper could only remember half of it, which would be quite good. Compared to those who used ink and paper to record their notes and could study them repeatedly, the gap between them will only widen.
Cai Yong understood, and so did the students, but they were helpless. Ink and paper were too expensive, and the students couldn't afford them. There was nothing anyone could do about it.
After Cai Yong left, all the students in the classroom immediately surrounded those who had ink and paper, pleading with them. Everyone wanted to review their notes again to consolidate what they had learned that day.
However, apart from one or two generous individuals who agreed to circulate the book, the rest refused people's requests. They hadn't even learned it properly themselves, so how could they lend it out casually?
Those students who couldn't borrow the notes were disappointed and began to feel resentful.
Does being poor and unable to afford ink and paper mean you have to fall behind others?
So what is the purpose of this paper? Is it just to make it easier for the wealthy to get ahead of us faster and better?
In a short time, this situation escalated, and the ink and paper seemed to have lost their original purpose.
Chen Fan, Hu Guang, and others were busy writing at home and therefore did not pay much attention to the outside world.
When they heard that paper outside was selling for eight hundred coins a page, the group was shocked and quickly put down what they were doing to go to the palace to see Liu Hong.
"What?! Ink and paper are now selling for 800 coins a page?!"
Upon hearing Chen Fan and the others' account, Liu Hong also appeared surprised.
Then Liu Hong said, "But I haven't even started selling those ink and paper yet!"
Upon hearing Liu Hong's explanation, everyone realized that a small amount of ink and paper had "accidentally" leaked out of the market, causing a situation where scarcity made it valuable.
As for who could have been so careless as to leak the information, Chen Fan and Hu Guang immediately thought of Cao Song.
However, this matter must not be spread, otherwise the Grand Minister of Agriculture would likely be besieged by angry students and other students.
Chen Fan hurriedly said, "Your Majesty, please issue an edict as soon as possible to start selling ink and paper, so as to calm the students' minds as quickly as possible!"
Liu Hong nodded. "Yes, Grand Tutor is right. The purpose of ink and paper is to help students learn knowledge better and more conveniently. I will immediately order the Grand Minister of Agriculture and Lü Qiang to prepare for its sale as soon as possible!"
"Your Majesty is wise!!"
After Chen Fan and Hu Guang left, Liu Hong summoned Cao Song and Lü Qiang to Deyang Palace.
Now, after seven or eight days of fermentation, the reputation of the ink paper has spread, and Liu Hong then instructed the two to begin preparing for the official sale.
January 14th.
In the northern market area of Luoyang, just as dawn was breaking, thousands of people had already gathered, creating a bustling and lively scene.
Apart from some merchants and ordinary people, most of those people were students and imperial college students dressed in long robes.
The students lined up in three long queues in front of a shop, all craning their necks and looking eagerly at the closed door.
Above the shop, there is a plaque with four large characters:
"Royal Bookstore!"
The local people and merchants were shocked to see so many scholars gathered here, and they began to discuss it among themselves.
They couldn't understand why these usually aloof scholars had suddenly come here and were queuing up so quietly.
Soon, everyone learned from the students' casual conversation that this royal bookstore was opened by order of the current emperor.
In order to help students afford ink and paper, the emperor ordered that ink and paper be sold in large quantities at a loss starting today, with the price as low as fifty coins per page.
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