"This bunch of Confucians really don't know what's good for them!”
After reading the urgent report, even the First Emperor couldn't help but feel angry.
It was clearly to let more commoners enforce the law and improve the treatment of the lower-level officials, but in the eyes of those old Confucians, it had become an act of weakness. They actually pushed their luck and brought up the matter of enfeoffment.
Subconsciously, the First Emperor had the urge to directly approve Li Si's proposal to burn the books.
Although this method was a little radical and would inevitably leave behind future troubles, it was not completely unacceptable compared to the result of unifying the world's written language.
This was especially true considering the influence of the Confucians in the six countries 'regions, which could easily command hundreds of thousands of Confucians. If they did not suppress their arrogance, it would be even more difficult for Great Qin's decrees to pass through the six countries.
However, just as the First Emperor was about to pick up his brush, he suddenly saw the simple and crooked world map that Su Han had hand-drawn on the table. The anger in his heart immediately calmed down a lot.
"Meng Yi, go and invite Teacher Su over. Ask him when the new book and printing technique that he told me about last time will be released.”
"Yes, sir!"
Meng Yi, who was also furious, but was afraid that the First Emperor would be angry and brandish his butcher knife, was overjoyed when he heard this. As he ran quickly, he actually heaved a sigh of relief in his heart.
Just as Su Han had said, even though Great Qin had destroyed the six countries, it was not easy to win the hearts of the tens of millions of people.
Only the people of Korea, who had been destroyed by Great Qin the earliest and had benefited from Su Han's new salt policy, were able to change their impression of Great Qin's cruelty and gain recognition for Great Qin.
Apart from Han, only the surrendered soldiers of the Southern Expedition Army and the convicts of Dang County, who had also benefited from Su Han's reform through labor and the new policy of treating everyone equally, could be grateful to the First Emperor.
However, it was still too early, and if Great Qin really wanted to kill the Confucians, the Confucians who had always been in control of the mainstream would definitely take the opportunity to spread the news of Great Qin's tyrannical actions. The situation that had finally changed would only worsen once more, perhaps even worse than before.
With internal stability, Great Qin would not be able to focus on expanding outwards, and the consequences would be unimaginable.
Fortunately, Great Qin now had Su Han, and he could change His Majesty's mind.
...
"Your Majesty, although the current Great Qin Paper Mill has not reached its expectations, it has already printed more than 2,000 paper books. At most, by next month, it will reach the scale of 3,000 books a day!”
After listening to Meng Yi's explanation, Su Han also understood the seriousness of the problem. He directly brought the First Emperor to the paper mill and printing factory on the bank of the chasm and began to explain in detail.
"Very good!"
"Sir, this batch of new paper is not only much whiter than the last time, but the printed words are also clearer. It has already far surpassed the bamboo slips!”
Looking at the light ink fragrance emitting from his hand, the light and small Book of Songs, which was printed in less than half a catty and originally required a cart of hundreds of bamboo slips to record, the First Emperor could not help but be amazed.
Even though Great Qin still had silk as a writing material, the price was simply too high. Even imperial edicts were not completely written on silk.
And now, this piece of paper that was even thinner than silk was only a little more than ten percent of the price of the bamboo slips. It was unbelievably cheap.
This Mr. Su really had the ability to turn something rotten into something magical. He never disappointed people at critical times.
"Your Majesty, with Sensei Su's new paper and printing technique, it won't be long before Great Qin has tens of millions of new books. When that time comes, all the studious people in the world will definitely respond, and it won't be so easy for the Confucians to command them!”
Meng Yi also said excitedly,
In the past, when a hundred schools of thought were contending, the Confucians had been able to stand out and become the only prominent school of learning because they had colluded with the aristocratic families and monopolized more than half of the books in the world. If the children of the Humble Class and even the small aristocrats wanted to borrow books, they could only rely on the Confucians.
However, old-fashioned books were expensive. Not only could bamboo slips only record dozens of words at most, but they were also extremely susceptible to moisture and damage.
Thus, even with the backing of the aristocratic families, the scholarly faction did not have many books. According to Meng Yi's calculations, there were at most tens of millions of bamboo slips, not even a hundred thousand paper books.
And 100,000 paper books, even according to the cost Su Han was currently offering, would only be 20,000 to 30,000 strings. To the imperial court, which currently had two super sources of profit, refined salt and white wine, it was really nothing!
"When does Mr. Smith plan to publish this book?”
Looking at the book which had been opened and dried in the sun, occupying half of the river bank, Ying Zheng was instantly filled with confidence, and the smile returned to his face.
"No matter what, it has to be a million books, more than all the books in the scholarly faction!”
"Your Majesty, what do you think will happen if we set up Great Qin's first library in the former Jixia Learning Palace of the Qi Kingdom and let everyone in the world borrow it for free?" Su Han asked with a smile.”
"As expected of Mr. Smith, you're so generous!”
Thinking back to how those so-called great scholars of the scholarly faction had been dumbstruck when they had been given free access to a million books, the First Emperor suddenly felt a sense of relief, and his anger from before vanished into thin air.
"Compared to the bamboo slips of the past, the advantage of paper books is really too great. Once it comes out, it will definitely welcome countless people who are eager to learn and improve!”
"But since it's going to be established in Qilu, why didn't Mr. Su choose Qufu but Linzi?”
Wang Jian also flipped through the 'Sun Tzu's Art of War' in his hand with fondness as he said.
With such a cheap and convenient strategy book, Great Qin's soldiers would be able to arrange their troops and formations to a higher level, and it would be much easier for them to kill their enemies.
Before, Wang Jian had thought of making Great Qin's Commandant and above Generals read more about the art of war. However, he had given up because there were not enough books. Now, he could finally make it happen.
"Qufu is the old nest of the Confucius residence. Many people have already been brainwashed into fools. It's too difficult to save these brainless people!”
"Moreover, if we set up a library in Qufu, wouldn't it be indirectly acknowledging the Kong family's status?”
Su Han replied with a smile.
"That's right. Linzi is the old capital of Qi State after all. It has a larger population and more students, and its atmosphere is more open. Moreover, it happens to be on the original route of His Majesty's eastern tour!”
The admiration in Meng Yi's eyes grew.
Only Ying Zheng looked at him with a smile and a helpless expression.
Wasn't his eldest son, Fu Su, the idiot who had been brainwashed by the Confucians that Su Han had mentioned?
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