The Gravedigger of the Aristocratic Families
Li Er was overjoyed." Can paper really be reduced to 10% of the current price?”
Qin Mo's reform of the imperial examination system had a premise, and that was that everyone had to study. Only when the number of scholars was incomparably expanded could the monopoly of the aristocratic families on education be truly broken.
However, if the common people wanted to study, they had to be fed and the price of books had to be lowered to an acceptable level.
The price of books was naturally not a problem. The improved paper-making technology and movable type printing were enough to reduce the price of books and paper. As for food and clothing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and corn were enough to solve all problems.
Qin Mo was optimistic about the future.
"Don't worry, Your Majesty."
"That's good." Li Er nodded in satisfaction and said heroically," I've always wanted to reopen the imperial examination, but I was worried that it would be used by the aristocratic families, so I've been hesitant. Now that the loophole has been closed, I'll issue an edict to reopen it.”
Qin Mo took the opportunity to say," Your Majesty, the talents of the aristocratic families still have the advantage. This time, the examination paper should be reformed. Why don't you let me set the questions? I guarantee that they'll want to die."
The current situation was that the talents of the aristocratic families were dominant. It was not excluded that there were outstanding talents among the disciples of the poor families, but there was still a gap in the overall number. This could not be changed in a short period of time.
Qin Mo was very clear about this, but he was looking at the future.
Moreover, when those aristocratic families recommended their descendants, the ones recommended to the court to be officials were often not the most outstanding descendants.
Thus, Qin Mo thought of some difficult problems to torment those aristocratic children.
"Give me some questions first.”Li Er didn't comment. He didn't have any objections to making things difficult for the children of aristocratic families, but the imperial examination was a national event and couldn't be reduced to child's play.
"Yes."
"Your Majesty, the imperial examination must strictly adopt a nameless system to prevent favoritism.”Qin Mo emphasized this question again.
One of the benefits of the anonymous system was that it made the aristocratic families into a state of competition.
If the descendants of the various clans came to participate in the imperial examinations, and the Xie Clan's descendants passed, the Wang Clan would be mocked for not being able to pass the imperial examinations. To those old scholars, reputation was more important than anything else, so they could only send their most outstanding descendants to participate in the imperial examinations.
This was an open scheme. Even if they knew, there was nothing they could do.
At the same time, there was another benefit to the nameless system, which was that it could give talented scholars from poor families a chance to stand out.
For example, the famous Ma Zhou had failed the examination in the early years of the Tang Dynasty. If he had failed, he would have been able to pass.
"Good." Li Er danced with joy." All the talents in the world have entered my shell.”
Li Er calmed down after he was happy." Even if the paper is cheaper, the price of books might not drop. Those big bookstores are all controlled by the aristocratic families.”
Apart from the fact that the bookstore was controlled by the aristocratic families, the engraving printing was also a key factor. The cost could not be reduced at all. Even if the price of paper dropped, the price of books would not drop too much because of the printing aspect.
Qin Mo said confidently," This is the reason why I want Your Majesty to reform the imperial examination system. As the saying goes, one cannot be strong without skill. Without printing, books are all copied. However, engraving printing is expensive and takes a long time. This is also a major problem. This requires improvement in printing. This is also the reason why I want to emphasize the importance of craftsmen.”
This was the first time Li Er had heard of the idea that one could not be strong without skill. He found it novel. He knew that Qin Mo was not a person who spoke without reason, so he asked happily," Are you confident in improving printing?”
Li Er, who had witnessed Qin Mo's magic, was looking forward to it.
Qin Mo nodded and said," I have a type of printing technique called movable type printing. It can save a lot of costs. The self-styled model can be used many times. When the movable type printing technique is developed, those bookstores that print engraving will have to close down.”
"Good! Then let the Duke of Zhao and Duke of E use your movable type printing technique to open a bookstore.”Li Er said.
Qin Mo knew Li Er's intention. Using movable type printing to squeeze out those aristocratic families was a job that would offend people. Pulling out the old cunning fellow, Old Foolish Yuchi, and the others was to use them as targets. This was also done to protect him.
This wasn't the same as him winning against the Wang Clan's disciple with a poem. Now, he was going to destroy the foundation of the aristocratic families. He wouldn't rest until one of them was dead.
As for the old man, he was the representative of the Guanlong Family. However, in the face of great benefits, he would naturally abandon the family.
The reason why the two of them were involved was because they wanted him to be a target. At the same time, they wanted him to draw a clear line between him and the Guanlong Corporation.
Although printing could earn a lot of money, Qin Mo was not a short-sighted person.
He had plenty of ways to make money.
The imperial court also had a printing workshop, but Li Er could not allow the imperial court's printing workshop to squeeze out the printing workshops of those aristocratic families. Otherwise, it would be easy for those aristocratic families to be labeled as competing with the people for profit.
"With the imperial examinations, paper making, and movable type printing, the future of the aristocratic families is over. After three generations, they are no different from ordinary families.”Li Er said happily.
He now found Qin Mo extremely pleasing to the eye. This Shandong kid was really his lucky star.
However, Qin Mo still felt that it wasn't thorough enough. He said sinisterly," Your Majesty, this isn't enough. Although the books are cheaper now, the children of the Humble Class can't afford to hire teachers. How can they learn to read?”
"What plan do you have?"
Qin Mo sneered." We have a method called Pinyin. As long as a five-year-old child grasps it, he will be able to recognize all the words in the world.”
Li Er asked," Is it really that magical?”
Qin Mo then showed Li Er how to use Pinyin, and Li Er couldn't help but exclaim in admiration.
The appearance of Pinyin had made it extremely easy to learn words.
"Your Majesty, we can write a dictionary. Not only can we let scholars know how to pronounce this word, but we can also let them know what it means and how to use it.”
Qin Mo was ready to use the Xinhua dictionary.
"The aristocratic families are finished." Li Er sighed. The monopoly of the aristocratic families in the field of education that he was helpless against was like clay chickens and pottery dogs in Qin Mo's hands.
This Shandong kid was simply the gravedigger of the aristocratic families. It was simply unfortunate for those aristocratic families to provoke him.
If there was any medicine for regret, they would definitely buy it.
Qin Mo, who was in a good mood, left. He went back to perfect the specific implementation plan. After all, he had only discussed the general idea with Li Er. Many details had not been perfected.
However, he had returned to take his reward.
Fifteen strings of money was still money. No matter how small the mosquito meat was, it was still meat. It could not be given to Li Er.
"This brat." Li Er shook his head and smiled bitterly.
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