Li Hong rubbed his aching head and asked in confusion: "Don't you have the movable type printing yet? Why don't you copy and print these books quickly?"
It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned it. Once this matter was mentioned, Shangguan Yi stopped smiling and looked helpless and regretful: "King Dai, you don't know, ever since you invented the movable type printing, the Imperial College has been in chaos, everyone is scrambling to print their own books first, how can these ancient sages' books have a turn?"
Since ancient times, scholars have looked down on each other and valued reputation over profit. After the emergence of movable type printing, the great scholars in the Imperial College, Hongwen Academy, and Chongwen Academy of the Tang Dynasty are all racking their brains and trying every possible way to print their own books. But is there no one to take care of this matter?
"So no one is in charge of this matter? Don't you know to submit a memorial to His Majesty and ask?" Li Hong asked in disbelief.
"How can we not publish it? But how many people are willing to sincerely hope that their books will be put on hold for printing later? It's all just a formality. In the end, the Menxia Province is too lazy to submit the memorials, so they have to keep them in the palace and not send them out. All the memorials are piled up in the Menxia Province." Shangguan Yi sighed, with a look of pity.
"Then your book can be printed, right?" Li Hong looked at Shangguan Yi with a smile.
Shangguan Yi blushed, feeling a little embarrassed, and said vaguely: "I have only published this one book. Didn't I still have time to print the "Book of Jin" that I participated in compiling?"
"Hey, tell me, you have the nerve to be the first to print your "The Book of Tou Hu", is it interesting? You can even take the trouble to write such a lot of fun about throwing arrows into a pot from ten steps away, don't you know how to strive for the ancient books of sages?" Li Hong said with some contempt.
"This... this, the late emperor once spent a lot of money on this interesting game of pitching pots..."
...
...
"Stop it, you're even bringing up the late emperor. If the emperor hears it, he'll be so angry that he'll crawl out of the ground, behead you, and then go back to the grave." Li Hong said without any hesitation.
Shangguan Yi, however, was horrified and terrified when he heard this. If other people heard this, it would be considered extremely disrespectful and it would be questionable whether he could see the sun tomorrow.
"Yes, King Dai is right. I will report this matter to the emperor right away. But printing books is not that simple, King Dai. Think about it. First of all, a large amount of high-quality paper is needed, and binding and sealing require manpower. It is difficult for the Imperial College to come up with a large sum of money. Besides, Luoyang paper is good, but it is expensive." Shangguan Yi spread his hands, feeling like he had given up.
"The elegant and graceful Shangguan style of poetry is your masterpiece, right? Every scholar in Chang'an City has a copy of it and has begun to compose poems and essays in your style. Now you think the paper is too expensive, but have you paid for the printing of your Shangguan style of poetry?" Li Hong felt more and more that the scholars were really despicable and shameless when they got angry.
It seems that we have to use Li Yifu, who is smiling but has a dagger in his heart, or someone like Xu Jingzong to deal with it. No wonder Shangguan Yi was framed in the court later. At this moment, Li Hong felt that it was really gratifying that he was framed.
Li Hong thought for a moment and said, "From now on, no matter who wants to print their own books, no problem. They can pay for all the expenses themselves. They can print as many copies as they want, but they can't pay a penny less!"
"King Dai, this is not good. Linking this knowledge with copper coins is bound to make people laugh at it."
"A joke? If you're afraid of being laughed at, then print the ancient books of the sages that the Tang Dynasty scholars want to read instead of your poor books or messy poems."
"Does the King of Dai want to print one copy and give it to everyone? You have to know how much this will cost!" Shangguan Yi reminded.
"You are stupid... Ouch, I'm sorry, sir." Li Hong hurriedly admitted his mistake. Shangguan Yi was wrong just now, and he could still teach him a lesson.
But this matter of saying that the gentleman was stupid aroused Shangguan Yi's dissatisfaction, and he hit him hard on the forehead as a punishment.
Shangguan Yi also knew that although this king was the most disobedient among all the princes and princesses, he was the only one with an open mind. If he hit him, he would never take it to heart, let alone go back to the harem to complain. Every time he was punished for his mistakes, the king never held a grudge in his heart.
"Who would give away books? Of course we sell them. For example, if we print a hundred or eighty copies of this sutra, or tens of thousands of copies, whoever wants to read it can just pay to buy it. If they don't, they won't be able to read it. How great is that? Isn't it the same with the "Book of Jin" that you are editing? You can sell it..."
"You... these are all knowledge, how can they be measured by money? You are insulting all the scholars in the world! Knowledge cannot be bought and sold!" Shangguan Yi still had the spirit of a scholar, and his beard was shaking with anger when he heard Li Hong's words.
Li Hong argued: "I don't sell knowledge. What I sell is books. What I sell is just the paper that carries the knowledge. The knowledge inside is given away for free."
"If that happens, wouldn't it mean that everyone in the world can buy a book and pretend to be a scholar? You can try it. If you dare to do that, regardless of whether I object or not, even the Confucius and Yan families will see if they can spare you." Shangguan Yi was a little confused by Li Hong's tricks, but he insisted on the bottom line that knowledge cannot be bought and sold and threatened.
"So according to you, this knowledge can only be in your hands? You will never let go? It can only be passed down from you? If poor students want to learn some knowledge, they have to worship you as their teachers? All the knowledge in the world must be in your hands? If so, what is the difference between you and the Five Surnames and Seven Families? The Nine-Rank System is slowly being abolished, and the imperial examination system is set up for everyone in the world. Knowledge is naturally also for everyone in the world. Do you also want to control knowledge like the Five Surnames and Seven Families control officials? I'll see that my father will kill you!" Li Hong saw that the bamboo slips in front of him had been almost moved, and he was ready to go to the Wude Hall.
"King Dai, I have absolutely no such intention. When I was in the Hongwen Academy or the Imperial College, I always took it as my mission to spread knowledge, and I never thought of specializing in learning."
"In that case, wait for me to report to my father, the queen. You will be in charge of the printing of books at that time. As for what should be printed and what should not be printed, we can discuss it then. All the books currently being printed, whether they are from the Kong family or the Yan family, must be stopped immediately and must not be printed again!" Li Hong warned.
"This..." Shangguan Yi was in a difficult situation. Kong Yingda, Yan Shigu and Li Gang were all great scholars when the late emperor was alive. If even their books were stopped from being printed, it would probably cause a huge uproar.
Li Hong looked at his embarrassed expression and consoled him, "It's okay. The books you print should be for the public good, not for private use! If they don't listen, let them go to Li Yifu and Xu Jingzong." At the end of his words, Li Hong seemed to be about to close the door and let the dogs out.
As Li Hong walked, he said in a loud voice: "Sir, I will give you a poem to see if it can be compared with your Shangguan style."
"Neither the immortal nor the Buddha has achieved enlightenment, I only know that I am alone and complaining at night.
The windblown sail has blown away all the sorrowful singing, and the mud has stained the reputation of being ungrateful.
Nine out of ten people deserve to be looked down upon; a scholar is completely good for nothing.
Don’t let your sorrow in poetry become a prophecy, the birds in spring and insects in autumn make their own sounds.”
After finishing speaking, Li Hong stopped, turned around and looked at Shangguan Yi who was speechless with surprise, and said loudly: "Sir, please read it carefully. This is not a poem to curse people. I hope it can help you in your future career."
Shangguan Yi looked at Li Hong's small back in surprise, and was deeply shocked! This king is really a child prodigy. This poem seems to be written specifically for the frustrated scholars, and it also expresses the voices of the officials who are frustrated in their careers. If you experience it carefully, it seems that there is a hint of irony and sarcasm in it.
Li Hong returned to the Wude Hall and began to look through the piles of scrolls, but he didn't know that the poem he wrote in a fit of excitement, which slightly satirized Confucius and Yan Shi, had already reached the ears of Li Zhi and Wu Mei.
Even more than half of the ministers currently in Chang'an City knew that King Dai Li Hong had written a poem today, which was suspected of insulting scholars.
Some people also praised Li Hong as a child prodigy, comparable to Wang Bo and Yang Jiong, who were famous in the Tang Dynasty. These two are only two years older than Li Hong, so people began to compare them.
As for Luo Binwang, another of the Four Talents of the Early Tang Dynasty, although he was known as a child prodigy, he was only fourteen or fifteen years old at this time. The story of him being able to compose poems at the age of seven was naturally well known to everyone. He was also at the residence of Prince Dao Li Yuanqing at this moment.
Li Yifu was recruited into the Wude Hall. Li Hong thought about it and thought that when it came to printing, perhaps only Li Yifu could handle the situation among those great scholars with ease, so he called him over to say hello in advance.
The Summer Solstice, Grain in Ear, Light Snow, Lesser Cold, White Dew and Flowering Month, even Bai Chun, were all put to use by Li Hong. He carefully flipped through every line of the bamboo slips, carefully looking for what the King of Dai wanted.
After three days, Li Hong finally found what he wanted. During these three days, he did not go to the Hongwenguan, nor did he go to pay respects to Li Zhi and Wu Mei. He concentrated on finding what he wanted in the "Ben Jing".
After listening to Shangguan Yi's report, Li Zhi and Wu Mei decided that no matter what this little guy was going to do, at least he was worthy of praise for being willing to move the books to his palace. Even if Li Hong felt that his couch was uncomfortable and used bamboo slips to raise it, it was still much better than wandering around the palace every day, teasing the palace maids and eunuchs, and making Li Xian cry.
"Mercury, according to the Classics, comes from cinnabar, which is a coarse cinnabar collected from rocks in the mountains. A furnace is built and the sand is placed in the middle, with water at the bottom and a jar on top. Fire is then added to calcine it, and smoke will fly up and mercury will flow down. Its color is slightly white and turbid. As for the Western Qiang, they also said that they calcine it in this way. However, there is a lot of it in the mountains. If a mountain is torn apart, people can collect sand and stones, all of which are as big as a bucket. They can be broken up and calcinated. Therefore, the mercury from the west is much more than that from the south."
Li Hong sat slumped in a chair, shaking his head and reading aloud from the bamboo slips, not noticing that there was a person behind him. He closed the bamboo slips and sighed, "It really is true that hard work pays off. It took a lot of effort to get it."
"Who? Your son is here to see you, mother. How did you find time to come here? Your son was missing you and was just about to put on his shoes to pay his respects to you. Oh, mother, I haven't seen you for a few days. You look so beautiful again. Look at your skin, so white and tender, even better than those of Xia Zhi... Oh, mother, calm down."
Li Hong was pulled off the chair by Wu Mei by the ear. This little guy kept giving her compliments, which made Wu Mei frown. He was simply a naughty monkey, and his mouth was as sweet as honey!
"Tell me, why did you write such a poem to insult scholars? Do you want to die? Your father heard many people impeaching you for inappropriate remarks in the court today!" Wu Mei sat down on the chair and pointed her index finger at Li Hong's forehead.
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