It was not easy to study in ancient times, especially for the disciples of the Humble Class.
The main reason was that books were expensive. Although Cai Lun invented the art of making paper in the Han Dynasty, the technology did not improve much in the Tang Dynasty. Paper was more expensive and not affordable for ordinary people.
In addition, the current engraving printing required a lot of labor and materials, and the speed of plate making was slow. Once the engraving was wrong, it would be completely useless, so the cost was high.
Perhaps many people said that they could borrow books because they did not understand the reality of the Tang Dynasty.
There were a lot of books in the library in the future. Whatever books one wanted to read, they could borrow them very quickly and easily. Therefore, it was difficult for modern people to imagine how difficult it was for the ancients to borrow books.
In ancient times, when people borrowed books, not only did they travel long distances to get good books, but they also had to be thick-skinned when they came to the door. Even so, not every book collector was willing to lend their books to others.
Like the aristocratic families, they would sweep away their books and treasure them. They were never willing to look at others easily, let alone lend them to the children of the poor.
As a result, those poor and poor children of the Cold Class had nowhere to go to study.
Take the Analects of Confucius as an example. A printed copy of the Analects of Confucius cost 1 Guan. At this time, the price of rice was only 6 wen per catty. How could the children of poor families afford to study?
Why was movable type printing so awesome?
It was because it had greatly reduced the price of the book. The price of a copy of the Analects of Confucius was only 300 wen, which was 700 wen cheaper than the current price.
As soon as it appeared, it spread like a hurricane among the scholars of the Humble Class.
Moreover, the old man shamelessly encouraged Wei Zheng to report to Li Er, asking for the book to be exempted from the city tax.
The reason to persuade Wei Zheng was also very strong. Now that books were so expensive and there was still a tax, how could the children of the poor afford to study?
Besides, the tax on selling books was not much.
Li Er naturally agreed, because the old man ran to Li Er and said that the price of the printed books was so low that they would really lose money. If they reduced the tax, they could almost break even.
Therefore, Li Er did not pay any taxes.
The cost price of a book printed by block printing was 700 wen. Therefore, once movable type printing was released, those printing workshops were immediately defeated and fell into a storm.
Initially, they thought that the new bookstore had opened and was making a loss. However, after three days, hundreds of thousands of books had been sold, but the price had not risen. Thus, the bookstore panicked.
They had wanted to use some means to force the People's Publishing House and the Book Purchasing Center to close down, but after investigating, they found out that the backer was an old fox. Old Foolish Yuchi, Old Cheng, and Old Qin were instantly dumbfounded.
There was nothing he could do.
The common people do not compete with the officials, let alone the merchants.
The owners behind the bookstore were not just ordinary merchants, but also those aristocratic families.
The situation in the market also attracted their attention. At first, they thought that the old man and the others were making a loss, but as time passed, their thoughts changed.
This wasn't f * cking making a loss, but digging up the roots of the aristocrats.
Why were the aristocrats so awesome?
This was because there were few scholars.
Why were there so few scholars?
This was because books were expensive. Now that the price of books had suddenly dropped by 70%, those poor children would be able to afford to read. Their monopoly would be challenged.
Panic broke out within the five surnames and seven surnames. People of insight were aware of the possible consequences of such a scene. The disciples of the families were in a panic all day long, as if they had suffered a catastrophe.
If everyone in the world could afford to read, how could they maintain their high and mighty status?
How can we be so prosperous for generations?
Thus, they gathered together again.
Cui family.
This time, the one who gathered everyone was Cui Min Gan.
"Everyone, the market has been flooded with a large number of cheap books recently. Merchants are complaining and are afraid of shaking the foundation of the country. Do you have any countermeasures?”Cui Mingan cleared his throat.
The so-called foundation of the country? They didn't care whether the emperor was surnamed Yang or Li, because they couldn't do without them.
Now that someone had shaken this foundation, they naturally hated him.
Lu Wang, the head of the Lu family, said angrily,"Such behavior that disrupt the market should be banned by the Chang 'an government.”
Wang Shou, the son of Wang Gui, came to the Wang Clan in Taiyuan today. He picked up his teacup and drank tea. Of course, he drank boiled tea, the kind that was boiled with ginger, onions, garlic, and sheep oil. Only a few people, including Li Er, drank Qin Mo's stir-fried tea.
And Qin Mo had not had the time to carry out the plan of the tea leaves because he was too busy.
Wang Shou took a sip of tea and showed an expression of enjoyment."That bookstore is the property of Zhangsun Wuji and the others. How could the Chang 'an Order dare to ban it?"”
The Zheng Clan's Patriarch frowned and said,"Although Zhangsun Wuji and we are not of the same blood, why would we be so hostile? Moreover, this was also disadvantageous to the Guan Long Sentry.”
The Guanlong dignitaries and the Shandong aristocrats had always looked down on each other, but they had not reached the point of fighting each other. Now that Zhangsun Wuji was doing this, it was clear that he would not rest until one of them was dead.
Cui Mintong said,"The books are so cheap. It's already a threat to our foundation.”
This was the biggest crisis that the aristocratic families had ever faced. Even when Nanbei Chao and the other races invaded the Central Plains, they were not as afraid.
Because the foreign rulers needed them too, and now their importance had been greatly weakened, this made them feel incomparably terrified.
Wang Shou said,"I'd like to ask someone to turn the situation and persuade Zhangsun Wuji to stop at the brink of the precipice."”
"Who can help me?"
"Gao Shilian."
"What if he is stubborn?”
"Then we are not to be trifled with.”
.......
Qin Manor.
The cunning old man, Foolish Yuchi, Old Qin, and Qin Mo were celebrating the success of movable type printing.
"I didn't expect this movable type printing technique to be so impressive. In just a few days, it actually swept through tens of thousands of strings. A million strings a year is nothing."”
A million strings of strings of coins a year was the big cake that Qin Mo had drawn for him. Now, he finally got a bite of it.
Qin Mo laughed and said,"Now it's just because the price is different from other bookstores. It's too much. It's causing scholars to rush to buy it. Later it's going to calm down. In fact, the big money is in the paper. This is the consumable. If it's me, etc. It's monopolizing the entire Tang Dynasty's paper. Among them, the profit is really terrifying."”
"Isn't that a few million strings of coins a year?”The old man couldn't help but exclaim.
Old Foolish Yuchi's train of thought was different from others."What if His Majesty finds out that we've earned so much money?”
Qin Mo smiled and said,"The main raw material for making paper is bamboo. It's more suitable to place the paper mill in the south. If we scatter the paper mill everywhere, how would Your Majesty know?”
The old man and the others nodded.
He reminded them again,"The price of the books printed by movable type printing is too low. I'm afraid it has already aroused the fear of the aristocratic families. They are probably already secretly discussing against us. Everyone must be on guard.”
The cunning old man said confidently,"I've long expected this. With His Majesty's support, it won't be a problem."”
Foolish Yuchi and Old Qin nodded as well.
PS: I recommend a good book, Infinite Movie World.
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。