Chapter 011 I'm a Transmigrator
The entire Dasheng papermaking business is basically controlled by the Cui family in the capital.
Some of his paper was sent to the palace, so he called himself tribute paper. With this reputation, he monopolized most paper-related industries, such as printing and ink shops.
Imperial examinations are popular nowadays, but due to the high prices of pens, ink, paper and inkstone, it is difficult for poor families to produce noble men, which is a headache for Zong Zhengxiao.
This incident with Prince Jing became the fuse for another struggle between Zong Zhengxiao and the aristocratic families. Zong Zhengxiao took the opportunity to punish several important figures from the aristocratic families. The aristocratic families were so angry that they came up with an idea.
——They plan to raise the price of paper.
As paper becomes more expensive, the price of books will also increase. Prince Ji found out about this and they prepared to raise the price by three cents.
It may not sound like much, but scholars use a lot of paper, and one sheet costs three cents more. If you add up ten, a hundred, or a thousand sheets, the price will be huge.
Moreover, according to the family's usual practice, they will definitely do something weird at that time, such as spreading the rumor that paper production will be reduced, in order to drive up the price of paper.
This is tantamount to killing the scholars.
Zong Zhengxiao took a fancy to the poor students, and the aristocratic families were threatening to retaliate against him by doing this.
After telling the news he had heard, Prince Ji could not hide his anxiety. Looking at Zong Zheng Xiao again, not only was he not angry, but he also showed a thoughtful expression.
His unusual behavior made Prince Ji a little confused, but he didn't dare to ask, so he could only stand there and wait for his instructions.
What Zong Zheng Xiao was thinking at this moment was: If I could make paper, I could easily solve this problem. It just so happened that the little mermaid I raised seemed to be able to make paper, but he was thinking about the girl now!
Ever since he discovered something suspicious about Rong Yin a month ago, Zong Zhengxiao has often wondered what secrets his little mermaid is hiding and how he can get him to voluntarily tell him the secrets.
But he was busy dealing with the noble family, and he was always trying to find the most reliable way to uncover the secret, because he didn't want to hurt the little mermaid. As a result, he waited and waited, and then he found out that the little mermaid had someone else in her heart...
stop!
Zong Zhengxiao hurriedly stopped his wild thoughts in his mind. The most important thing right now was to solve the troubles that the noble family had given him. The matter of the little mermaid missing the girl could be put aside for now.
"You go back home first. I need to think about it again." Zong Zhengxiao pressed his brow and said to Prince Ji.
Prince Ji also understood that this problem was not easy to solve, so after agreeing, he left the palace with a heavy heart.
After he left, Zong Zhengxiao did not go to look for Rong Yin right away, but stayed in the side hall until late at night. He roughly estimated that Rong Yin should have fallen asleep by now, so he got up and went back.
The eunuch dutifully reported everything that had happened during his absence without error.
After hearing that he had left, the little mermaid had not eaten a single bite of food and instead hid in the water with a listless look. Zong Zhengxiao felt extremely complicated.
Could this be the legendary lovesickness? The little mermaid missed the girl so much that she couldn't even eat.
How good of a person must be to make the little mermaid miss him so much?
Zong Zhengxiao walked into the hall and found that the little mermaid was not sleeping on the slope as before. Instead, she had shrunk into a corner far away from him and had fallen asleep.
After staring for a while, Zong Zhengxiao did not force the person back. He lay on the bed with an expressionless face. Without the soothing scent of the mermaid, he suffered from insomnia as expected.
The sleeping Rong Yin had no idea that Zong Zheng had been tossing and turning all night. He was experiencing something that was enough to shock him to the point of being stunned, because in his dream, he finally remembered who "Lu'e" was!
When Rong Yin was in high school, she had a female deskmate who loved to buy paper novels. She would buy one or two a week, resulting in so many late-stage books that her desk couldn't even accommodate them. Rong Yin squeezed out some space in her own room for her to put the books, so the two of them had a pretty good relationship.
After an exam, Rong Yin felt a bit bored, so she borrowed a novel from her. Lu'e was a very outstanding character in the novel.
The story is about the tortuous love story between the Da Sheng Emperor Zong Zheng Lianqi and his empress Su Wan'er, a princess of the previous dynasty. The story is so tortuous that it took up a total of one million words.
Zong Zheng Lianqi was the second emperor of Da Sheng. The previous emperor was his uncle, Zong Zheng Xiao, the founding emperor of Da Sheng.
The book says that people have mixed opinions about Zong Zhengxiao, who died suddenly of an acute illness after only being emperor for five years. Some people say that he exempted corvée taxes for three years, widely opened up special examinations, and made important contributions to children from poor families, and that he was a wise ruler who cared about the people and the country.
At the same time, some people also said that he was tyrannical and cruel. He suffered from severe insomnia for many years, which led to his manic temper. He refused to listen to advice. Not only did he refuse to take a concubine to expand the royal family, he also killed countless loyal people. He was a real tyrant.
But no matter how outsiders evaluate Zong Zheng Xiao, for Zong Zheng Lianqi, he should sincerely thank his uncle.
Because Zong Zhengxiao had no children, he, as a nephew, could easily sit on the throne; when Zong Zhengxiao was alive, he vigorously suppressed the aristocratic families and strengthened the imperial power, allowing him to sit on this position more easily.
According to common sense, as long as Zong Zheng Lianqi doesn't commit suicide, there will be no problem for him to be a king who maintains the status quo.
But if he hadn't done that stupid thing, there would have been no novel.
Zong Zheng Lianqi met and fell in love with Su Wan'er when he was still a prince, and they promised to be together for the rest of their lives. After he ascended the throne, he ignored the advice of all officials and made Su Wan'er, who came from an ordinary family, his queen, showering her with all his love.
But when Su Wan'er gave birth to a prince for Zong Zheng Lianqi, Su Wan'er's parents suddenly told her that they were not her biological parents, and her real identity was a princess of the previous dynasty.
The previous dynasty was destroyed by the Zong Zheng family, so there was actually a blood feud between Su Wan'er and Zong Zheng Lianqi, but they happened to be together.
The adoptive parents were determined to restore the previous dynasty, and they deliberately arranged for Su Wan'er and Zong Zheng Lianqi to meet and fall in love, in order to step on Zong Zheng Lianqi to ascend to a high position and realize their own plan.
Su Wan'er, who knew the truth, was torn between her husband and her family feud. However, her adoptive parents secretly joined forces with a family that hated the imperial power and committed a series of evil deeds.
Not only did they disrupt the government, they also supported the remnants of the previous dynasty under the banner of Su Wan'er to organize an army for rebellion, harming the people of the world.
Seeing that Dasheng was in chaos, other countries that coveted Dasheng's rich land also took advantage of the situation and constantly harassed and attacked Dasheng's borders.
The Central Plains, which had only been peaceful for a few years, fell into chaos again. If most of the heroes who had followed the Zong Zheng family to conquer the world were not still alive and loyal, working hard to guard the border for Da Sheng and suppress the rebels, Da Sheng would probably have perished in less than ten years.
While the war was raging outside, Zongzheng Lianqi and Su Wan'er were still performing the sour love drama of "Do you love me or not?", "I will break your legs if you dare to run away with the child" and "I don't care about the world, I only care about you" in the imperial palace in Beijing.
It is at this time that Lu'e appears.