White-robed Minister

Chapter 248 0246 [The Flourishing of Literary Tradition]

Xu Lai originally wanted to ask Pianpian's third brother for help, but Yu Shuying replied that he had to take care of his elderly mother and only sent Xu Lai a small booklet containing all the experiments he had done over the years.

Those experimental reports were disjointed and haphazard, studying everyday phenomena, with a mix of correct and incorrect information.

For example, Yu Shuying said that sound is produced by collision and can be propagated, blocked, and bounced by objects. Shouting with the wind carries the sound further because the wind (air) carries the sound.

He further stated that the will-o'-the-wisps in cemeteries are caused by burning oil and phosphorus. The Huainanzi's statement that "human blood is phosphorus" is incorrect; it should be that the body's oils and fats transform into phosphorus. Sparks appearing from friction between clothes in winter are caused by the leakage of these oils. After death, even more of these oils seep out, thus creating the will-o'-the-wisps in cemeteries.

Xu Lai could imagine the scene of Yu Sanlang sneaking out in the middle of the night without his wife's knowledge, going alone to the cemetery to wait for the will-o'-the-wisps.

"Sir, this is Chang Anmin, courtesy name Xigu, a student of the Imperial Academy," Wang Hou introduced.

Xu Lai cupped his hands and smiled, "I've long admired your name."

Chang Anmin quickly replied, "You flatter me. I have met Scholar Xu."

Chang Anmin expressed his desire to help publish a magazine, so Xu Lai gave him a simple test of his knowledge. As long as his knowledge wasn't too bad, it was fine; the main purpose was to explore his academic preferences and political leanings.

This man read all sorts of books, including mathematics and geometry. He also believed in reform, but argued that the new laws had problems. Aside from Wang Anshi, who was of upright character, the other key members of the reform faction also had questionable character.

This is a very interesting phenomenon.

Although Wang Anshi promoted many unscrupulous people, everyone, including Sima Guang and Wen Yanbo, felt that Wang Anshi was of noble character and selfless.

Even when Sima Guang resigned from his official post this year, he wrote his last letter to Wang Anshi, and his writing and wording were very respectful.

In his letter, Sima Guang first recounted his friendship with Wang Anshi for over ten years. He then said that although there had been many conflicts in recent years, he still admired Wang Anshi. Many people now criticize and dislike Wang Anshi, but Sima Guang said he did not share that sentiment. He insisted that Wang Anshi was a great sage of his time, only that he was too ambitious and overly confident.

Wang Anshi cultivated his reputation over thirty years, a feat that Xu Lai could never match.

Even in the emperor's eyes, Wang Anshi certainly held more weight than Xu Lai.

Xu Lai said to Chang Anmin, "The 'Duosheng' magazine is published monthly. If Xigu comes to help, he and Chudao will serve as deputy editors-in-chief."

Would you accept a monthly salary of ten thousand coins?

"That's exactly what I wanted!" Chang Anmin said happily.

Wang Hou produced three manuscripts: "Sir, these were sent by Zhang Zihou (Zhang Zai)."

The first story is called "Taihe," which discusses cosmology. The second story is called "Qiancheng," which discusses worldview, philosophy of life, and values. The third story is called "Yifu," a short story.

After reading them all, Xu Lai didn't want any of them.

After all, he wanted to promote his own academic system, and publishing articles from other schools of thought at this time would interfere with readers' thinking. As for the short story "The Laborer," it directly criticized Wang Anshi's reforms.

But after careful consideration, he said to Wang Hou, "We will adopt 'Taihe' and 'Qiancheng'. 'Yifu' is too explicit; we'll save it for later."

Xu Lai ultimately decided to publish Zhang Zai's academic thoughts.

Zhang Zai said: The Great Void transforms into Qi, and from Qi arises all things. Including humans, all things, after their destruction, return to the Great Void. Heaven is the father of all things, and Earth is the mother of all things. The people are my compatriots, and all things are my kind. The emperor is the eldest son, and the ministers are the stewards. All those who suffer in the world are my brothers and sisters. To help and nurture the people is to care for my family, and it is filial piety towards Heaven and Earth. Those who harm the people and aid and abet evil are unfilial children in their own family.

A very simple and honest viewpoint.

In addition to Zhang Zai's two academic articles, Ouyang Xiu and Su Shi also sent several poems.

Xu Lai selected one poem and one ci (a type of classical Chinese poetry) from each of them, both of which describe West Lake.

Ouyang Xiu wrote about West Lake in Yingzhou: "Picking Mulberry Leaves - West Lake is Good After All the Flowers Have Faded".

Su Shi wrote about West Lake in Hangzhou: "Drinking on the Lake After Rain" (The water is sparkling and the sun is shining brightly).

Wang Hou added, "Sir, yesterday a bookseller from Luoyang visited, wanting to sell 500 copies of 'The Sound of the Bell.' They'll cover the shipping costs and buy them for 60 cash each."

Printing paper is much cheaper than writing paper; the cheapest sheet of printing paper costs less than 0.2 cents.

Xu Lai used high-quality printing paper, costing 0.5 copper coins per sheet. The cover paper was even better, costing 1.5 copper coins per page. The more you printed, the cheaper the price became, and it could even be reduced further.

Ink is quite expensive now, mainly because production is not large-scale. Once movable type printing becomes more widespread, ink prices will definitely come down.

Due to limitations in casting technology, even the smallest movable lead type actually had a fairly large font size. Therefore, "Duosheng" was quite substantial, with each issue containing a full 82 pages.

In addition, the accompanying illustrations required separate engraving of printing plates, and the Imperial College had to pay printing fees. The cost of one magazine was around 55 wen (the cost could be spread out if more were printed).

This does not include editing and royalties costs.

We now have two editors, Wang Hou and Chang Anmin, and we've also hired a handyman and rented a dilapidated courtyard in Beijing.

If you consign your items to a bookstore, the bookstore needs to make money too.

All things considered, the magazine's price must be increased, otherwise Xu Lai will definitely lose money.

In the second issue of "Duo Sheng", Xu Lai plans to raise the retail price to 150 coins.

Xu Lai said, "There are also booksellers from other places who have come to inquire. They say the bulk price is 100 wen per book. Minimum order is 500 books. They will cover the shipping costs themselves, and they will also set the final price. If they are interested, they can come to sign the contract on their day off."

The second batch of movable type from the Beijing Mint has been delivered to the Printing House. The third batch is about to be sold, and booksellers are being invited to bid.

Meanwhile, mints in other places were still carving master molds.

Even if movable type printing becomes popular in the future, Kaifeng and the surrounding prefectures and counties will not dare to print pirated copies of "Duo Sheng" indiscriminately, because Xu Lai will definitely cause them trouble.

All legitimate privately printed materials must apply for and register with the government.

You can apply to the Imperial College or the Transport Bureau. Once approved, the government will issue an official receipt, which you can use to sue the pirates.

The original book will also include a copyright notice: "I have applied to my superiors and they have forbidden me from reprinting."

Xu Lai certainly didn't have the energy to deal with the booksellers in remote counties who were pirating "The Sound of the Bell," but he would take action against those who were closer.

Chang Anmin said, "Scholar Xu, you can print more copies of the second issue; many scholars want to buy them but can't."

Xu Lai said, "1500 copies will be printed in Kaifeng. If booksellers in Luoyang are willing to sell them on their behalf, 500 copies can also be printed for Luoyang. If they sell out, no more copies will be printed; the printing volume can be increased in the third phase."

Xu Lai then took out some manuscripts and said to Wang Hou, "Go and contact the Imperial Academy for printing."

Wang Hou said, "It may take a day or two. The printing press at the Imperial Academy is extremely busy these days. Many officials, whether currently in office, retired, or even deceased, are now seeking to have their collected works printed at the Imperial Academy. I've heard that the Scripture Printing House has also started printing."

"Haha, it seems movable type printing is quite popular," Xu Lai laughed.

Not everyone has the financial means to print books, but all mid- to high-ranking officials write articles. Even if they don't write poetry or prose, they will write various congratulatory messages and memorials, which will also be included in their personal collections of works.

Now that movable type printing has been invented, printing costs have decreased, and officials naturally took the opportunity to print their own collections of works.

In addition, the Imperial College also had to help print official gazettes and documents, and the craftsmen were busy working non-stop during this period.

So much so that printing houses started taking orders.

The printing house was the official institution for printing religious books, and it possessed a collection of various types of printing blocks for scriptures. However, it did not usually employ many craftsmen; only when the imperial court ordered the printing of scriptures would the printing blocks be taken out of the warehouse and craftsmen be temporarily recruited to carry out the printing.

Now that the printing press has acquired movable type, they don't care whether it's Buddhist or Taoist scriptures; they just want to take orders and make money first—but the emperor's approval is required.

In the early summer of the fourth year of the Xining era, the people's livelihood in the Song Dynasty was in a mess, but the cultural industry was booming.

Not only did magazines emerge, but a large number of literary works also appeared. Some officials had even died decades ago, and their works had long been compiled by their descendants, but they had never had the money to publish them. This year, they finally started publishing them thanks to the convenience of movable type.

There was also a wealthy young man at the Imperial Academy who had befriended the sons of powerful and influential families and formed a poetry society. A few days ago, they held a poetry gathering and compiled the works. They are now also publishing a poetry journal, but fewer than ten of the poems are of good quality; the rest are all mediocre works. However, they are not short of money and price their work cheaply, selling it at a loss. A copy of the poetry journal costs only 50 coins.

Moreover, these people also solicit articles from readers and are willing to pay extremely high royalties.

Duting Post Station.

Liao envoy Xiao Xi strolled out, accompanied by officials from Duting Post Station.

Because foreign envoys cannot wander around freely, they must report wherever they want to go.

Xiao Xi was quite bored during this period. He had received a strict order from Yelü Hongji to extort some territory from the Song Dynasty and return it. Therefore, he refused to budge an inch during negotiations and stayed in Kaifeng beyond the allotted time. Once the reception period was over, the envoys would have to pay for his food and lodging.

Sigh, nothing to do.

Xiao Xi was also a scholar. He strolled into the bookstore and glanced at the books before exclaiming in surprise, "These are all newly printed collections? They weren't here last time I came!"

The bookseller smiled and said, "Our Great Song Dynasty has a flourishing literary tradition, unlike the Liao Dynasty. Now we have movable type printing technology, making book printing extremely convenient. These collections of essays were all printed in the last half month. There are also magazines and poetry journals."

Xiao Xi quickly inquired, "Does your shop possess the technology of movable type printing?"

The accompanying official coughed twice.

The bookseller changed the subject, saying, "Would you like to buy some magazines? We have the first issue of 'New Voice' and the second issue of 'Duo Sheng' available here."

Xiao Xi took out his money and said, "I'll buy one copy of each of the two magazines. I'll also take this poetry journal."

Back at Duting Post Station, Xiao Xi first read the inaugural issue of "New Voice," quickly becoming engrossed in it. Many of Wang Anshi's academic articles were truly enlightening, prompting him to clap his hands in admiration.

Then I read the second issue of "Duo Sheng" magazine, sometimes praising it and sometimes laughing out loud.

He then went to the official at Duting Post Station: "Could you please buy me the first issue of 'The Sound of the Bell'?"

The official replied, "They're unavailable; they've been sold out long ago."

Xiao Xi then asked, "Could I borrow a copy so I can make it myself?"

He wanted to take it back to present to the emperor; Yelü Hongji was also a cultured man.

When he first ascended the throne, Yelü Hongji also implemented reforms, attempting to enrich the Liao Dynasty and strengthen its military. However, the resistance was too great, and Yelü Hongji simply gave up.

Just as Xiao Xi was copying the magazine, the second issue of "Duosheng" caused a sensation once again.

Especially those key figures of the reform faction, after reading Xu Lai's short story, were so angry that they submitted a memorial requesting that "Duo Sheng" be banned.

After reading the novel, Zhao Xu was amused on the spot. While chatting with Wang Anshi, he said, "Xu Lai wrote about Wu Sansi and his cronies, not as a veiled criticism of the reforms. Tell Lü Huiqing and others not to overreact."

Xu Lai has adapted Qi Cifu's "The Chameleon" into a classical Chinese version, and changed the story's background to the Tang Dynasty.

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