Chapter 109 Movable Type Printing
Before Zhang Juzheng’s whipping method, the Ming Dynasty had already begun to implement the so-called "color folding method", which was a method of monetizing taxes.
The so-called "color" actually comes from the Buddhist term, which means "object".
The true nature is the physical object collected.
The color is the silver converted in kind.
Over the years, tea farmers in Wuyi Mountain have been constantly petitioning the government, hoping to change the original color of tribute to the direct payment of silver.
There are naturally many benefits to directly switching from in-kind taxation to monetary taxation, but the Xiong family is just a small tea farmer under Wuyi Mountain. The tea tribute totaling 500 taels of silver, his family has to bear 80 taels.
If this algorithm is followed, the Xiong family might as well continue to pay tribute to tea, and his family does not need to pay so much money.
"Why so many?" Lin Qingcai asked.
Xiong Yue sighed and said: "Except for the Royal Tea Garden, the Cai family's tea garden is the largest in Wuyi Mountain."
After hearing the Cai family, Lin Qingcai and Chen Chaoyuan were silent.
Su Ze asked: "What is the origin of this Cai family?"
Chen Chaoyuan was familiar with local people, and he said: "Cai Yuanwai once served as a member of the Household Department of Nanzhili, and now he has become an official."
Hearing that he has become an official, Su Ze knew This is the country squire who became an official with great influence in the Ming Dynasty.
It's no wonder that when Xiong Yue mentioned Cai Yuanwai's name, everyone else looked helpless.
You must know that although he is just a member of the Ministry of Household Affairs of Nanzhili, and although he only holds an official position of the fifth rank, his status is still an official.
Even officials who have already served are eligible to submit memorials to the court.
It turns out that this member of the Communist Party of China is a real member of the Communist Party of China. It is no wonder that the Xiong family does not dare to provoke him.
Yuan Cai is a scholar and an official, so he is naturally a leader at the grassroots level. Moreover, he is familiar with the logic of government operations and can handle things easily.
This change of tribute tea from Wuyi Mountain to color collection was also what Cai Yuanwai had been pushing for. Otherwise, rich rural people like the Xiong family would not be able to influence the decision of the Ministry of Household Affairs.
Xiong Yue said: "After the tribute was changed to silver, my father and other tea garden owners went to the tea garden of Cai Yuan's wife for a meeting. In the end, they somehow decided on such a silver distribution plan. My father even signed the deed. "The word."
Xiong Yue said angrily: "The deal is done. I asked my father why he signed the deed, but my father refused to tell me." "I am so angry, why does
my family's tea garden, which is the smallest, have to pay eight hundred yuan?" Ten taels of silver!"
Lin Qingcai and Chen Chaoyuan were both silent, and Su Ze also understood that it was probably Xiong Yue's father who accepted the unfair share after being coerced and induced by that Cai Yuanwai.
But what can the Xiong family do? Although Cai Yuanwai became an official, some of his children were talented.
Although Xiong Yue studied, he didn't even have the reputation of being a scholar.
This kind of thing happened everywhere in the Ming Dynasty, and it was not surprising to Lin Qingcai and Chen Chaoyuan.
Su Ze raised his head and asked: "Brother Xiong, last time you said how much tea your tea garden produces per year?"
Xiong Yue told the number accurately. Su Ze used the "accounting room" skill to estimate it and said with a frown. :
"Brother Xiong, excluding the cost of growing tea, I'm afraid your tea garden's annual output won't be able to pay for the eighty taels of silver."
Xiong Yue lowered his head and said, "If my father says no, just hire less." There are a few people. At most, if you are busy, as long as you can sell tea at this year's price, you can make up eighty taels of silver."
Su Ze shook his head and said, "I don't think so."
Su Ze suddenly asked again, "Brother Xiong , last time you said someone wanted to buy your tea garden, is it Cai Yuanwai's family?"
Xiong Yue nodded and said: "It is Cai Yuanwai, but my father refused to sell it, Cai Yuanwai didn't say much, I heard that I study at home, Cai Yuanwai He also gave me a book. My father said that even if he can't study in the future, he will still be a Confucian businessman like Cai Yuanwai."
Su Ze sneered in his heart. It seemed that Cai Yuanwai's thoughts were obvious.
The Xiong family's only income is tea growing. When the tribute money comes next year, what will happen if their tea cannot be sold?
The Xiong family, who had no money to pay tribute, had to either borrow money from usury or sell their tea gardens to pay tribute. There was no other way.
At this time, Cai Yuanwai, who had money and resources and mastered Wuyi Mountain tea resources, stepped forward. Sooner or later, the Xiong family's tea garden would belong to the Cai family.
The people of the Ming Dynasty were suffering, and rich peasant landlords like Xiong Yue were also suffering. They were on the verge of bankruptcy at any time.
It is too easy for a wealthy gentry like Cai Yuanwai who knows the rules and has money to deal with ordinary rich peasants like them.
However, Su Ze didn't say much. The tribute tea would have to wait until next year. He and Xiong Yue were just classmates. Xiong Yue might not appreciate it if he said too much.
After talking for a while, it was time for class. The four of them quickly came to the classroom. Hai Rui was already sitting at the desk.
The unsmiling Hai Rui immediately began to teach. Su Ze looked at the book carefully, compared his own questions when studying at home, and gained a deeper understanding as Hai Rui explained.
[Listen in class, imperial examination skill experience +10, Lv4, 241/400]
[Listen in class, imperial examination skill experience +10, Lv4, 251/400]
After listening to the class for two hours, Su Ze’s imperial examination skill increased by twenty point.
After finishing the lecture, Hai Rui said to the four of them,
"You all know about Mr. Tuohu's solicitation for dramas, right?"
The four of them nodded honestly, and Hai Rui looked at Su Ze again and sighed. Said:
"The way of opera is still a small way after all. Although it is famous among talented scholars, it is of no use to the official path of the imperial examination. You young people like to have a good reputation for blog posts, and I understand this." "But the sage said 'Be careful to be independent', this time the
expansion Mr. Hu's rehearsal is also an elegant event in the literary world of Nanping City. If you really have a piece that you can come up with, you can give it to me for a look first." The four of them looked at each other in surprise, and Hai Rui gave
Su Ze the same feeling . For example, the serious dean of his high school was inhumane most of the time, but hidden beneath his serious appearance was a caring heart for students.
Su Ze felt that Hai Rui's behavior was a bit "arrogant". He clearly didn't want his students to participate in the drama essay contest, but he was afraid that his students would be excluded by other scholars in the county if they didn't participate, so he came up with this coy way.
Hai Rui took out another booklet and said, "This is a new article written by Mr. Tuo Hu. It contains his views on folk arts. Since he is the one soliciting operas, he must prescribe the right medicine." Now Su Ze was even more sure that Hai Rui was
a You are so arrogant, you have already prepared to this point, and you even said that you do not want your disciples to participate in the essay contest.
Su Ze took the booklet, and the ink on it had just dried. It turned out that Hai Rui copied the article before class.
Hai Rui continued: "This is an article that Mr. Tuohu wrote for a Fuzhou tabloid a few days ago. It is about his views on folk art." "Mr. Tuohu is particularly interested in phonology and believes that the most important point of folk art is neat phonology. , It is better to have illogical sentences than to abide by the rules."
Su Ze suddenly understood that this Mr. Tuohu was a literati of the Wujiang School.
The so-called Wujiang School is a folk art school headed by Shen Jing, a folk artist in the late Ming Dynasty.
Shen Jing overemphasized rhythm and rhythm, advocating that it would be better to "not work" than to "associate rhythm". He advocated that the language of opera should be "authentic", originally intended to oppose the decadent trend of parallel couples in the early Ming Dynasty.
The Linjiang school headed by Tang Xianzu was the opposite of Shen Jing. The Linchuan school emphasized interest and literature.
However, both the Wujiang sect and Linjiang sect gradually matured during the Wanli period. It is still the Jiajing period, and neither Tang Xianzu nor Shen Jing was born yet. This Mr. Tuohu should be an early figure of the Wujiang School.
However, Su Ze was interested in another thing Hai Rui said. He asked, "Teacher, what is the Fuzhou Prefecture tabloid?" Hai Rui took out
another pamphlet and handed it to Su Ze: "This is the Fuzhou Prefecture Literary Press. It is a tabloid that Fujianese scholars would submit articles to."
Su Ze took the brochure and saw that the printing of the brochure was very rough, the paper quality was very poor, and the printed words were also blurry and needed to be read carefully. Only then can you see clearly.
Hai Rui added: "This tabloid publishes one volume every half month. It was released in the middle of the month, but it was shipped to Nanping County a few days ago." Su Ze asked curiously: "Don't we have a tabloid in Yanping Prefecture
? ?"
Hai Rui shook his head and said: "No, Fuzhou Prefecture is the provincial capital, so it can fill up such a tabloid. How can we have so many articles in Yanping Prefecture." Su Ze looked through it curiously, and found that the first half of this tabloid was from the imperial court
. Policies should be copied from the newspaper and the public notice walls on both sides of the yamen.
The Di Bao of the Ming Dynasty could also be copied by private individuals. The person who ran the newspaper should have some official status behind it, and could print the contents of Di Bao in tabloids.
The latter part was about articles written by locals in Fujian. Su Ze turned to this article by Mr. Tuohu. This tabloid must have specially requested an article from Mr. Tuohu.
Except for Mr. Tuohu, the rest of the articles were written by well-known local scholars in Fujian Province. The genres were diverse, ranging from prose to poetry. Su Ze even saw an article modeled on a legend from the Tang Dynasty. novel.
"Teacher, is this printed with engraving?"
Hai Rui nodded and said, "Of course it was printed with engraving. Is it possible that it must be copied by hand?"
Sure enough, during the Jiajing period, engraving was still the mainstream printing method.
Although movable type printing was invented in the Song Dynasty, movable type printing did not mature until the end of the Ming Dynasty, that is, during the Chongzhen period.
Nowadays, most books are printed with engraving. It’s no wonder that this tabloid only takes half a month to publish one, because engraving takes too much time.
Su Ze asked again: "Teacher, how much does this tabloid cost?"
Hai Rui stroked his beard and said, "In Fuzhou Prefecture, a copy costs one tael of silver, and in our Yanping Prefecture, a copy costs one tael, five taels of silver."
It's so expensive. !
Su Ze took a breath. Sure enough, cultural products in the Ming Dynasty were still very profitable!
"Does the article in the tabloid require a retouching fee?"
Hai Rui looked at Su Ze in confusion and said, "A retouching fee? How much does it mean to be able to publish your article in a newspaper and let scholars all over the province see it? Such a glorious thing, there is no need for polishing fees."
Su Ze understood now that this tabloid was a free prostitution.
Su Ze used the [Valuation] skill to do a simple calculation, but he didn't think how much money this tabloid could make.
The reason is also very simple. The cost of engraving printing is too high.
Block printing requires engraving the layout before printing. Such a tabloid requires at least a dozen skilled engraving masters. The wages of these masters cost twenty taels of silver a month.
In addition to the engraving master, you also need to hire a literati to proofread, spend money on wood boards, ink and paper, and copy news from newspapers. All these things have been summed up. In fact, you can't make a tael of money from the price. How much.
Yes, movable type printing!
Su Ze suddenly thought of this technology. Can he run a tabloid in Yanping Mansion?
If you use movable type printing to run a tabloid, you can reduce the cost of block printing, and you can naturally make money.
More importantly, Su Ze also needs a position for public opinion and propaganda. Mastering ideology is very necessary for rebellion work!
How could he have forgotten this? If he hadn't read Hai Rui's tabloid, Su Ze would have forgotten the magical skill of printing!
This is one of the most important technologies in Civilization 6!
Su Ze further thought that his Level 3 literature included some articles that could be published in tabloids. The first few issues could be supported by ancient prose and poetry, and when he became famous, he could be like the tabloid in Fuzhou City. I have made an appointment with the scholars in this mansion for a manuscript.
Su Ze can also promote his private goods in tabloids!
The more Su Ze thought about it, the more feasible it became. He thought about his "lecturing" skills. If he published his ideas in a newspaper, would this be considered lecturing? Can you increase your teaching experience?
Thinking of this, Su Ze's intention to run a newspaper became even stronger!
First find a place to activate the "printing" skill, and then you can go back and make movable type!
When Su Ze was in college, he had participated in the news agency of the history department. In order to improve the work, the news agency had restored movable type printing by making movable type according to the ancient method. Su Ze still remembered some of the movable type production process.
Making movable type requires lead, tin and antimony. Lead and tin should be easy to buy, but antimony requires some effort.
Antimony was called Liantin in ancient times. Because this mineral was often associated with tin ores, it was initially mistaken for tin and was mixed into metal products and coins.
Lead is also needed to make lead bullets. After class, Su Ze burst out with amazing action. He first found a printing shop in Nanping City and learned the "printing" skill.
[Discover the printing shop where you can learn the skill "Printing". Do you want to learn it? 】
Although the printing skills of Level 1 only have basic knowledge of printing, it also helped Su Ze recall the experience of making movable type in the university club, and he became more confident in making a movable type printing machine.
Su Ze visited several shops and finally gathered these materials.
The lead was bought at Huimin Pharmacy. Huang Tiju was once obsessed with external alchemy and bought a batch of lead to make elixirs. Su Ze came over to ask where he could buy lead. Huang Tiju sold half of the lead and half gave it away. Twenty pounds of lead was given to Su Ze at a low price.
Xi and Lian Xi didn't go through too much trouble. Su Ze found these two materials in a tin shop.
People in the Ming Dynasty liked to use tin utensils to serve wine, and believed that tin had the effect of purifying water. There was a tin utensils shop next to Huimin Pharmacy, and Su Ze could easily buy ten pounds of tin and one pound of continuous tin.
Chen Chaoyuan and the others looked at Su Ze with confusion as he came back with a pile of metal. They didn't know what kind of stimulation he received.
Su Ze then said to the three of them: "Brothers, I have something to ask for your help." The
three of them looked at Su Ze in confusion, and the honest Chen Chaoyuan immediately said: "Brother Su, I will do whatever I ask you to do."
Su Ze said with a smile: "This is not difficult, just ask the three brothers to help me 'break the characters'."
(End of Chapter)