Great Ming Dynasty Wen Chao Gong

Chapter 31 Promoting newspapers
  "Your Majesty, the original text of "The Tale of the Heike" is indeed written in Chinese. However, the Chinese used by the Japanese may not necessarily have the same meaning as that used in the Central Plains, but it is generally not bad. And "The Tale of Genji" uses the so-called pseudonym. To put it bluntly, It is used for phonetic notation and looks more like radicals." Zhang Xiao explained.

"Since you recommended these two books, and the translations are not yet complete for a while, you can probably tell me what the stories of these two books are. I am really curious as to why you said you could translate these two books. What's so good about these two books?" the emperor said.

"The story of "The Tale of the Heike" takes place before the "Taipei Chronicles" that I planned to write before. It tells the story of the establishment of the Kamakura Shogunate, the first samurai regime in Japan. At that time, there were two major samurai groups in Japan, the Genji and the Heijing clan. In the beginning, the Taira group headed by Taira Kiyomori controlled the government, but the Genji group refused to accept it. The two groups fought openly and secretly, and finally a large-scale civil war broke out. In the end, the Genji group won and chased the Taira ruling family all the way to the sea. Finally, the Taira family led The grandsons of the Ten Kings collectively threw themselves into the sea. The leader of the Genji Group, Minamoto Yoritomo, won the victory, established the shogunate in Kamakura of the Japanese Kingdom, and placed heavy troops in Kyoto, the capital of the Japanese Kingdom, to deter the Japanese Ten Kings and the power of the Gongqing family." Zhang Xiao introduced this. .

"Then this story is interesting. What story is "The Tale of Genji" about? Is it about the story behind Minamoto Yoritomo?" the emperor asked.

Zhang Xiao shook his head, and then roughly told the strange emotional story in "The Tale of Genji", and the emperor's expression became more and more exciting.

"Zhang Xiao, why are you translating a book that teaches adultery and thieves? Then "The Tale of the Heike" should be used to understand the history of Japan. Although it is the history of a small country, it still has considerable merits. This "The Tale of Genji" has been translated by What's the use?" the emperor asked helplessly.

"Your Majesty, the "Chrysanthemum and the Sword" written by the previous minister, "The Tale of the Heike" refers to the sword, and "The Tale of Genji" refers to the chrysanthemum, and talks about the power of the public minister. "The Tale of Genji" was not written by a man, it was written by a Japanese It was written by Murasaki Shikibu, a female official of the royal palace, and it has a million words. The various details written in the novel are relatively real, and you can also understand the customs and customs of the Japanese country, and you can also understand the thoughts of the upper class of the Japanese country." Zhang Xiao explained.

"Forget it, forget it, I really can't stand listening to these customs and customs of Japan. Anyway, the king of Japan is just a decoration now. If you like to translate this book, you can find someone to translate it yourself, but you can't translate it yourself, and There are many important books that you need to write. I will find someone to translate the "The Tale of the Heike", and you can proofread it later if you have time." the emperor ordered.

"I obey," Zhang Xiao replied.

"Oh, by the way, Zhang Xiao. I forgot to tell you something. My bookstore tried to print some of the "Conquest of Mexico" you sent back last time, and it sold well. Later, the bookstore itself A lot of them have been printed, so if you want to sell your book to other bookstores, it may not be easy to sell." The emperor said confidently.

Ah, this... Zhang Xiao resisted trying to explain the importance of intellectual property rights to the emperor. Hold on, hold it back, now it is called the land of the king, and who dares to steal money from Emperor Wanli.

"Your Majesty, I am deeply honored." Zhang Xiao replied.

"The Ding Family Bookstore is your property now. Let's do this. I will give this bookstore a name, and you can print books as you like from now on." The emperor said proudly.

"I would like to thank Your Majesty on behalf of Shopkeeper Ding," Zhang Xiao said.

"One more thing. Can you draw a picture of whether the corn, potato, and pepper mentioned in the book "Conquest of Mexico" can be grown in my country, what it tastes like, whether it is enough to eat, and what it looks like. If If these things are useful, the imperial court can also try to grow them." The emperor said.

"That's Wei Chen's honor. You can grow corn, potatoes, and sweet potatoes in China, but you have to see it to believe it. As the name suggests, peppers have a spicy taste and can be used as seasonings. They are also very important crops. In fact, There are other crops, including many in the American continent. I boldly suggest that a "Natural History" can be compiled to list these animals, plants, etc. that are not yet common in China, draw their appearance, and explain their functions. Purpose." Zhang Xiao replied.

Zhang Xiao is really happy. It seems that the emperor is not just focusing on gold and silver. He is still willing to understand that people's talent is based on food.

"Oh, this is a good idea, Zhang Xiao. You can discuss it with Wang Xijue first. You can pick up the important compilation first. This book seems to take a long time to compile and cannot be completed overnight." The emperor said. "Wei Chen obeys the decree. Wei Chen has one more thing. In the memorial, Wei Chen also mentioned the need to arouse the emotions of the people. I would like to set up a newspaper to publicize the government's policies. It can also publicize the words of saints and record them in it. The principles of investigating things can also be recorded in poems and novels." Zhang Xiao took the opportunity to comment.

Zhang Xiao conducted a detailed and timely study of what a newspaper is. The emperor was very interested in this, but after listening carefully to Zhang Xiao's long speech, the emperor thought for a long time and asked Zhang Xiao not to worry about the matter, so Zhang Xiao took his leave.

Since Zhang Xiao had been out for a long time, the emperor specially granted Zhang Xiao several days' leave in order to express his encouragement. Zhang Xiao lay at home for a full day before resting enough to go hang out the next day. But he couldn't help but walk to Ding's Bookstore.

"Shopkeeper Ding, business is good." Zhang Xiao greeted Shopkeeper Ding.

But when Zhang Xiao saw the scene in front of him clearly, he was completely shocked.

"Shopkeeper Ding, why do you want to pay homage to a plaque?" Zhang Xiao asked.

"Ah? Oh, it's Mr. Zhang. This is the plaque given by His Majesty. It was just delivered yesterday. I'm going to burn incense and worship for a few days. I'll find a good and auspicious day to hang up this new plaque. That will be the honor of our ancestors." Shopkeeper Ding said with a happy face.

"Then congratulations to Shopkeeper Ding. I'm sorry to tell you, but I was busy giving "The Conquest of Mexico" to His Majesty. I didn't remember to give you a copy as well. Now the Royal Bookstore has printed the book everywhere. Yes." Zhang Xiao said.

"It's okay, I only printed a few thousand copies, and they were circulated around the capital at most. Now I'm becoming rigid, and I'll be no worse than the Royal Bookstore." Shopkeeper Ding finally regained his businessman's shrewdness at this time.

"Shopkeeper Ding, I have a suggestion. This book should be illustrated with pictures. It will be a big hit by then. My drawing skills are okay. You can hire a good painter to polish it up and make the engraving more precise. " Zhang Xiaoti suggested.

"Okay, okay, just do it like this. It's still too late to add illustrations and engravings." Shopkeeper Ding slapped his thigh. .

……

However, Zhang Xiao and Shopkeeper Ding still underestimated the speed of circulation of the book "Conquering Mexico".

Thousands of miles away in the Liaodong Jianzhou Department, Zhang Xiao's loyal reader, Nurhaci, the loyal Dragon and Tiger General of the Ming Dynasty, was carefully reading Zhang Xiao's "Conquest of Mexico".

"Brother, are the books written by Han people so good? You have been reading "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms" for so long, and finally changed your style. You have been reading "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" for a few days. Why are you staring at this book "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" now? "Conquering Mexico"? I don't even want to hunt, and I don't even like to eat." Shuerhaqi said helplessly.

(End of this chapter)