The elite did not migrate south

Chapter 384 Royal Book
"Zhang Hua greets the General!"

At this moment, Zhang Hua had already arrived at the place where Zhang Yi was imprisoned and paid his respects.

In history, Zhang Yi surrendered to Cao Wei, but this time was different. At that time, he surrendered because the emperor took the lead. Now he was defeated and captured, so it was naturally impossible for him to surrender.

Zhang Yi looked at the young man in front of him, unmoved.

It was not until Zhang Hua told him about his background that Zhang Yi was somewhat surprised.

Of course, people like them who have been separated for hundreds of years can no longer be considered relatives, not even from the same clan.

Zhang Yi looked a little angry. "My ancestors were Han ministers. How dare they assist the thieves who usurped the Han Dynasty?"

Zhang Hua had no intention of refuting or arguing. He sat down next to Zhang Yi and said, "Don't try to provoke me. I'm here to visit you on the orders of His Majesty."

"News has come from Shu that your clan has not been punished. You don't have to worry about it."

Zhang Yi suddenly fell silent.

Zhang Hua continued, "I'm not here to persuade the general to surrender. I just want to let him know about the situation at home."

"You probably have a clear view of the current situation in various countries."

"Shu's internal affairs are in tatters, and they've been sending troops year after year. Jiang Wei is stubbornly pursuing his own way. I'm afraid he won't have many years left."

Zhang Yi, who had been silent until then, could not help but sarcastically remark, "I've heard that Cao Wei's administration is extremely clean, with wise men in power and the people prosperous. They're all praised as wise and virtuous. How come they haven't been able to defeat the Han yet?"

On the issue of name, both Wei and Wu called the Shu Han regime Shu. Shu called itself Han, and Jiang Xian had previously asked for help from Wu, so he called himself Shu. In the records of diplomatic missions between Shu and Wu, Shu ministers usually called themselves Shu.

"The world has been in chaos for many years, and it is time for unification."

Zhang Hua said calmly.

He looked at Zhang Yi in front of him again and said, "General, His Majesty has no intention of punishing you. Even after conquering Shu, he will not easily kill its ministers or royal family members. This is because of the emperor's benevolence and righteousness."

"You were defeated and captured, but you were not humiliated. We treat you with the utmost respect. We hope you will not seek death. Everyone in the world knows you are imprisoned, not a traitor. You won't have to wait long. Once we conquer Shu, perhaps you can leave here and return to your home."

Zhang Yi's face flushed red, but he was speechless.

Zhang Hua then chatted with him about the internal situation of Shu Kingdom. Zhang Yi was surprised to find that Cao Cao knew very well about the situation in his own country, and even some things in the palace, such as Huang Hao and others.

In fact, the big families in various places exchanged letters with each other and sent people to trade. Under such circumstances, it was very normal for news to leak out.

Not only Wei could know the situation in Shu, but Shu could also know the situation in Wei.

The two talked for a long time before Zhang Hua said goodbye and left.

When he left, Zhang Yi seemed to have calmed down a lot, and at least he didn't say any more bad words to him.

When Zhang Hua returned to Taiji Hall, the emperor and Zhong Hui had already left.

At this moment, the two men were standing in Ma Jun's mansion.

Ma Jun led them to check the printing results. Du Yu stood not far away, recording something.

What Ma Jun printed was the "Book of Filial Piety". When Zhong Hui saw the pages of the "Book of Filial Piety" being brought to them by Ma Jun's helpers, there was some surprise in his eyes.

Ma Jun frowned and said with some distress, "It's still difficult to replace it with water power. We can only do it with manpower."

"The manuscript is placed on a plate and inscribed with characters. A chisel is used to carve the reverse text into relief, while the remaining text is removed to create a recessed surface. This is the engraved plate. When printing, ink is applied to the plate, paper is placed on top, and a brush is used to gently stroke the plate."

Ma Jun explained to Zhong Hui, who was standing beside him, "A printing plate like this can print ten thousand copies in a row. I've tried it, and if one person works non-stop for a whole day, they can print over two thousand copies."

Zhong Hui was stunned.

Although printing technology can be traced back to a very early time, its specific application only came later. Nowadays, the circulation of books still relies on hand copying.

Zhong Hui couldn't help but sigh, "He's truly the most skilled craftsman in the world!"

Ma Jun shook his head. "If Your Majesty hadn't told me, I wouldn't have been able to do it. Sometimes, the principle seems simple, but it's simply because no one has thought of it that it hasn't been implemented. Your Majesty's enlightenment is the most important. Even without me, Your Majesty can do it on his own."

Compared to Ma Jun, who used water power to make puppets dance, this engraving and printing technology was probably nothing.

But at this moment, countless thoughts flashed through Zhong Hui's eyes, and he looked at Cao Mao beside him.

"Your Majesty, this thing is very useful!"

"Hahaha, if it's not of great use, why would I bring Shi Ji here to see it?" Zhong Hui said immediately, "This thing can extend the way of sages, can be used to carry out the king's rule, and can govern the world."

At this moment, Zhong Hui already had countless ideas, such as printing books of sages, printing the laws of the temple, printing the contents of issued government decrees, and so on.

Books today are still very important resources, especially those that have been annotated. They are the treasures of the great families and are rarely shown to outsiders. After all, the knowledge in these books is the inheritance of the great families.

Of course, the circulation of books is still higher than before. Now it is not like the early Han Dynasty, when books were hidden in a few people's homes and outsiders could not see them.

Many books have been promoted and the number of books collected among the people is increasing.

Although the collection of books is large, it is still not easily accessible to children from poor families.

Cao Mao had a new idea at this moment. The imperial court actually always had its own library.

During the Western Han Dynasty, there were Tianlu Pavilion and Shiqu Pavilion, which housed many books from all over the world.

The Great Wei inherited the system of the Later Han Dynasty and stored books in the Eastern Palace. The two emperors Wenming and Ming of the Great Wei attached great importance to books. Over the years, they used various methods to enrich the royal library again.

Generally speaking, the books in the Royal Library are treasures. Unless you are responsible for this task or have obtained special permission, you are not allowed to go in to check the information. Even if you go in to check, you are absolutely not allowed to take the books out.

Like Huangfu Mi, he was able to enter and check the information only with the emperor's permission. Generally, those who could receive this honor were mostly historians who wrote history by checking a large amount of information and documents.

Cao Mao stroked his chin and suddenly asked, "Shi Ji, if I were to have the documents of the Eastern Palace printed, set up Tianlu in various places, and allow all scholars to come in and read them, what would you think?"

Zhong Hui looked at Cao Mao blankly. He could hardly believe what he heard.

The history of libraries in China is very long, dating back to the Shang Dynasty. However, these libraries were royal libraries and had little to do with the common people. Public libraries had to wait until the late Qing Dynasty.

Public libraries in the West were established earlier, and the reason why this happened is very simple.

Before the Tang and Song dynasties, books were very valuable and therefore could not be easily given to the people. What would happen if an immoral person read books like the Art of War?

After the Tang and Song dynasties, because private books had become widespread, there were all kinds of bookstores among the people, and they could even print novels privately, so there was no need for the government to set up a public library.

But now, Cao Mao has such an idea.

He wanted to establish China's first public library in Wei, a place with all kinds of books where everyone could read.

This idea may be difficult to understand for outsiders.

Books have a very high status. If the emperor doesn't hold them in his hands, why would he give them to others?
But Zhong Hui reacted quickly. He pondered for a moment and said, "Okay."

Ma Jun, who was standing not far away, said nothing, as if he had not heard anything, but Du Yu became a little excited.

He had only heard of emperors who took other people's books and put them in their own hands, but he had never heard of an emperor who took out his own collection of books and distributed them to people all over the world.

If we want to break the monopoly on knowledge, we must allow books to be circulated on a large scale. Of course, people from poor families or common people may not become successful if they get books without anyone to teach them, but there will always be talented people who can be inspired.

If there were enough books circulating among the people, scholars from poor and common families would have more opportunities.

For the aristocratic families, opening the royal library to the public does not seem to be a bad thing. In fact, they seem to be the ones who benefit the most, as they can collect the emperor's collection of books!
But Cao Mao didn't care about this. He put those books in the palace. Could they still give birth to children?

It would be better to let these books see the light of day again, use printing technology to promote these books to all parts of Wei, let them continue to thrive and give birth to more talents.

Du Yu hurried forward and bowed deeply to Cao Mao.

"Your Majesty is benevolent!!"

Ever since Du Yu and Ma Jun met, Du Yu often chatted with Ma Jun, and the two exchanged experiences, explained each other's ideas, etc.

Cao Mao shook his head and said calmly, "This is not benevolence at all, and these books were not written by me."

"In the Qin Dynasty, private book ownership was prohibited, and all books were locked away within the imperial palace. Since the Western Han Dynasty, private book ownership has been no longer prohibited, but the major families have placed great value on books and are reluctant to allow them to be viewed by outsiders. They are hidden within their palaces, making it very difficult for scholars of humble origins to read. I wish to circulate books throughout the world, so that anyone interested in learning can read them and anyone interested in learning the teachings of the sages can pursue them."

"This is the way to spread the teachings of the sages throughout the world."

After hearing Cao Mao's words, Zhong Hui agreed with them deeply.

Du Yu was equally delighted. "If that's the case, why worry about the prosperity of the Wei Dynasty?"

Cao Mao smiled and said to Ma Jun, "This is all due to Ma Gong's contribution. People always say that fame and cleverness bring little benefit to the world and are of no use to the great Dao. But now it seems that the reason why the great Dao has been revived is all because of the ability of fame and cleverness!"

(End of this chapter)