Wei and Jin Cooks

  Chapter 700 Progress

The news of Zhao Hanzhang’s concern about movable type printing spread to bookstores all over the country. It didn’t take long for Luoyang Bookstore to hear good news. After unremitting efforts in research, they finally developed copper movable type. At present, the number of copper movable type that has been successfully cast has reached 280. Six of them, nine for each copper movable type, barely enough to make a book.

  Zhao Hanzhang was overjoyed and immediately asked people to speed up the casting.

   Not long after this news came out, good news came from Yuzhou Bookstore. After continuous research, they have mastered relatively stable porcelain movable type, and asked someone to bring a set of porcelain movable type.

  Hu Jin did not disappoint Zhao Hanzhang after all. He tried several materials. Because of the unstable wooden structure, even if the movable type can be made into a type, it will crack after a few times of use, and the loss is too great;

  Clay movable type is not easy to control the temperature, it is easy to be damaged during firing and casting, and it is difficult to form;

  He also tried iron movable type and copper movable type, but the effect of the former was not good, and the cost of the latter was high. In the end, he returned to clay movable type and began to focus on it.

   For this reason, he went to Liulifang to squat and study. In the end, the thermometer made by Fu Tinghan played an important role. After a year of experimentation and countless experiments, he finally found a more suitable soil and temperature range.

In fact, I also want to thank the porcelain workshop not far from Liulifang. Oh, that is Zhao Hu's workshop. He re-mixed the clay they fired porcelain and made a set of molds with the help of the porcelain master. The success rate of the sub-models that come out is between 60% and 70%.

It is much easier to carve Yangwenzi molds on clay blocks than on copper. As long as they are put into the mold and fired into porcelain, one furnace can burn 300 characters. Even if there is only a 60% success rate, that is still Being able to get more than one hundred characters is much more convenient than engraving.

   Now Xiping has begun to use movable typesetting to print books. It is a pity that ordinary craftsmen cannot do this kind of work, and people who can read and write must do typesetting.

  As for the craftsmen who work as engravers in the bookstore, two-thirds of them are illiterate.

  So Hu Jin asked Zhao Hanzhang to send Zimo over. He wanted the artisans in the bookstore to attend the school. It doesn’t matter if they can’t write.

Zhao Hanzhang immediately agreed, and wrote letters back to Xiping and Chen County in person, asking craftsmen from other bookstores to go to the school. She said: "Craftsmen can take turns to learn, or if they don't have time during the day, they can also go to school at night. Don't begrudge the lamp oil. The bookstore should allocate a special fund to support the study of craftsmen."

   Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan wrote letters to schools all over the country, asking them to set up a class for craftsmen to teach them literacy.

  The craftsmen of the bookstore are different from other craftsmen. Although they are also illiterate, but because they have been comparing the carvings, they are very familiar with the Yang and Yin scripts of the characters, and their recognition speed is faster than other craftsmen.

  Zhao Hanzhang felt that since the craftsmen of the bookstore wanted to learn how to read, all the craftsmen should participate in the learning, and the night school started.

  Luoyang has Fu Tinghan to do it, and Yuzhou, although Fu Tinghan is also in charge of the power, but he is too far away, so Zhao Hanzhang entrusted the work to Zhao Ming.

   Zhao Ming only glanced at the letter and put it aside, handing it over to the officials below. He frowned as he read the letter that Zhao Hanzhang sent two days ago.

  This is a letter to amend the tax law, not a notice, but a solicitation.

   Zhao Ming didn't make up his mind for a while, so he didn't reply to her letter for a long time.

Yu Shiming knocked on the door and came in. Seeing Zhao Ming reading the letter again, he stepped forward and took the jug in front of him, poured himself a glass of wine and said, "The sheriff hasn't made up his mind yet? "

  Zhao Ming pressed the channel: "This decree was promulgated at the beginning of this year. This year is also the first time that taxes have been collected according to this regulation. Amending it at this time, isn't it a decree that will be changed overnight?"

   "When this decree came out, the high-ranking officials and noble families in Yuzhou and Luoyang had a lot of opinions, and they often scolded Hanzhang in private. Now that it is revised, they are afraid that they will become more arrogant, and it will be difficult to control them in the future."

  Yu Shiming: "But when the decree first came out, didn't you also oppose it?"

   "I am against it, but since the envoy has promulgated it, as a county guard, I have no choice but to abide by it." Even now, Zhao Ming does not agree with this decree, but if he does not agree, it does not mean that it must be changed immediately.

  He believes that the consequences of amending the law are more serious than the consequences of implementing the law.

   Moreover, the revised decree does not appeal to him, and he disagrees with both.

  Zhao Ming read the letter again, finally suppressed the letter, gritted his teeth and said, "I'm leaving for Luoyang tomorrow, and I want to have an interview with the envoy."

  Yu Shiming's eyes lit up when he heard this, and he immediately said, "I'll go with you."

   "If I leave, Chen County will be handed over to you. What are you going to do with me?"

   "I'll go and see what's going on in Luoyang. As for Chen County University, I can hand it over to Chen Siniang. She's capable of doing a lot now. You've made a charter, just follow the rules."

"It's okay to have rules to follow, but I'm afraid there are no rules to follow," Zhao Ming said, "Although Chen Siniang is careful, she doesn't have quick wits. Now that Zhao Ju is going to Jingzhou to suppress the bandits, Chen County must leave a calm person in charge. You're a good fit."

  Yu Shiming is a friend of Zhao Ming. After he was in Chen County, he visited the thatched cottage twice and invited someone out of the mountain to be his assistant. The last time Zhao Hanzhang came back to see him, he wanted to abduct him to Luoyang.

  But Zhao Hanzhang didn’t like drinking at first, and secondly, it happened to be frugal. Although Yu Shiming was very excited about going to Luoyang, he chose to stay in Chen County in the end.

  Here, although often ridiculed by Zhao Ming, the food is good and the life is easy.

  Seeing that Yu Shiming was unhappy, Zhao Ming said, "I'm only going for a few days, and I'll be back soon."

  If he can't go to Luoyang, what does it matter to him when Zhao Ming comes back?

  No, it is still related, Yu Shiming said: "You can stay for a while."

  Tiger is gone, so he can be more carefree, how about a few days, preferably ten or twenty days.

Zhao Ming glanced at him, put the letter away, "Act in accordance with the law, Shiming, I am a tolerant person, but Governor Zhao is not, she likes to act in accordance with the law, if something happens, my face will not matter. "

   "Your words are very false from the beginning, you go out and ask, when will you, Zhao Zinian, be able to match the word tolerance?"

  Zhao Ming ignored him and began to write the work arrangement for the past few days.

Yu Shiming was drinking and watching him write. After reading for a while, he asked: "What do you want to say when you see Governor Zhao? In fact, her method can reduce the resentment of high-ranking officials and nobles. I really can't think of anything else other than changing the shortcoming every day. What's the downside?"

  Zhao Ming paused his pen, and said: "If you want to give preferential treatment to high-ranking officials and noble families, why bother to dig and search? Just restore the old system and cancel the new taxation decree issued at the beginning of this year."

  (end of this chapter)