Chapter 23

A few days later, Zhao Xu came to his study with the letter Wang Jinghui wrote to him. Zhao Xu felt very uncomprehensible about Wang Jinghui's very cautious approach. In his eyes, it was difficult to believe that writing books alone would be dangerous. If there is anything bad in the book, it would be just an exile to other places. Wang Jinghui is different from him. The history books he has read have very detailed records of "*" and its consequences. Even in the Song Dynasty, he was famous for his talent like Su Idol, he almost died in prison. "*" such as "Wutai Poetry Case" made him extremely strict in his control of speech and behavior. After all, the more famous you are, the more eyes you have. It is precisely this that Su Idol was plotted against because of his "a belly full of inappropriateness". Wang Jinghui is not willing to go on this old path again.

Zhao Xu said: "Brother Wang, the previous emperor of this dynasty once established a ancestral system: literati will not be punished for words, nor will they kill literati. Although Brother Wang's commercial printing library has strict requirements on the publication of personal works, I hope the court can send officials to supervise this. This is good, but what Brother Wang said in his heart is probably a bit unfair?!"

Wang Jinghui said: "Although the ancestral system of this dynasty has literati who are not guilty of words and the court does not kill literati, Your Highness Ying should also remember that the crime of 'great disrespect' is an exception! As you said, there is no such precedent in this dynasty, but before, it does not mean that it will not appear in the future. To put it bluntly, these people who make articles on their writing are just a group of villains. In the eyes of villains, they will not have so many concerns. What they are considering is just how to reach the opponent and the death of the enemy, and this promotion of '*' is the best and easiest way!"

After hearing Wang Jinghui's words, Zhao Xu also fell into a deep thought. In fact, he also understood that this situation would indeed happen according to what Wang Jinghui said, but he would not face such a reality. Wang Jinghui thought to himself: The first * of the Song Dynasty was born when you were in power, I'm afraid this is something you would never have imagined!

"There is no place where the roots reach the nine springs, and only the dragon knows it in the world." Wang Jinghui recited a poem softly, and Zhao Xu was very puzzled by this. Wang Jinghui said: "Your Highness, this poem is a new poem written by me, but I did not list it in the upcoming "Lanshan Poetry Copy". What do you think of these two poems?"

Zhao Xu said: "These two lines of poetry are well written. Why didn't Brother Wang include it in the collection of poems and publish it?"

In fact, the poem that Wang Jinghui recited was a poem that Su Shi was selected by officials of the Censorate in his collection when the Wutai poem case broke out more than ten years later. Of course, Wang Jinghui remembered such a "famous" poem very clearly. Wang Jinghui said: "Actually, this poem simply means that Lao Song has a deep root, but I am afraid that it will be used by some people who are interested in it at that time, and said: 'The emperor is like a flying dragon in the sky, but Wang Jinghui wants to look for the dragon under the nine springs. No one is better than this!' What does your Highness think?"

Zhao Xu really didn't expect that people's imagination was so "strong" and could not say anything at the moment. Wang Jinghui was stunned again when he saw him and said with a smile: "Your Highness, do you know how much the price of books on the Kaifeng Book Market has been reduced in the past three months since the Commercial Press began printing books to the present day?"

Zhao Xu's thoughts were a little bit shocked, and it was difficult for him to keep up with Wang Jinghui, so he asked in confusion: "What does Brother Wang mean? How much has the price of the book been reduced?"

Wang Jinghui said: "The price of books in Kaifeng has been reduced by 30%. In fact, it is because my mercy has not been reduced even lower! Your Highness, the Commercial Press may be the fastest printing workshop in the world, and the cost is extremely low. It turns out that the workshops that use woodblock printing are no match for me at all. If many people in other workshops were not concerned about the fact that many people in other workshops would also have to eat this bowl of rice, I would have squeezed them out of the Kaifeng book market long ago! The price of books can make more people afford books, and it will also make more people the pillars of my Song Dynasty. If the Commercial Press was sealed by the court because it published books containing such 'big disrespectful' poems, the price of books will immediately rise, and how many people will not be able to afford books because of this? So letting the court send a few officials to the Commercial Press to supervise the content of these books will be beneficial to the court!"

At this point, Zhao Xu understood Wang Jinghui's real purpose: he was afraid that the debate in the court involved the Commercial Press, so he hoped that the court would be responsible for reviewing what kind of books can be published and what kind of books can not be published. It was the court's own business that would be the court's own business. Thinking of this, Zhao Xu smiled and said, "Brother Wang has been involved in such a big bend for a long time, just because he wants the court to take this responsibility, but is it worth it for you to work so hard?"

Wang Jinghui said seriously: "Your Highness, this is to prevent the problem from getting worse. You have also seen how fast and cheap the water conservancy movable type printing machine is in printing books. In the future, as the Commercial Press becomes bigger and bigger, the books on the book market will become cheaper, and more and more people can afford books, and more and more people can publish personal works at their own expense. Literature is good at talking, especially when discussing the gains and losses of the state and the government. This is something that no one can keep their mouths. These people often make such an inappropriate sentence or two inappropriate words, but if they meet narrow-minded people, wouldn't we even be punished by the court, so I can't take this risk. Then again, the money for running a charity school in the future will be derived from the profits obtained from the Commercial Press. If it is sealed by the court, wouldn't it be completely over?"

Zhao Xu said: "Since Brother Wang is so persistent, I will report it to my father. In fact, it is no big deal to send a few casual officials here to serve as supervisors. I think there will be news in a few days. Please rest assured, Brother Wang!"

Wang Jinghui smiled and said, "Then I'll ask Your Highness to worry about this matter. In fact, there are still very few personal works to be published in the Commercial Press. If you just want to send officials to the court, I don't have to send officials to you, but I think that after a while, newspapers like the imperial court's residence will be issued, which will be published in it. Some of the court's policies and regulations, some news from various places and some articles written by folk scholars. I think there are thousands of scholars in the world, here

Most people cannot pass the imperial examination to serve the country, but they can express their views on national governance policies by writing articles for newspapers. This is also the addition of thousands of censors in various places for Song Dynasty, so that the court can know the effectiveness of these laws in various places. There are inevitably some complaints here, but their starting point is also for the good of the Song Dynasty, so it is very necessary for the court to send officials to the press library to identify articles."

Zhao Xu understood these principles very well. Wang Jinghui's statement that "the added thousands of censors to the Song Dynasty" also made him very moved. The benefits and risks coexisted, but they still attracted him very much. Although the court also issued things like newspapers such as Dibao, the targets of these distribution were all the courts responsible for printing and sending them to various government offices. They rarely fell into the people, and the information of the people could only be reported layer by layer through various government offices. Such communication is one-way. The newspapers Wang Jinghui mentioned were distributed by the private sector, and the communication was far superior to Dibao, but the content was difficult to control. Zhao Xu saw this keenly and believed that it was very necessary to dispatch officials, not to say that newspapers were allowed to report good news and not to report bad news, but to control the orientation of public opinion. Although Zhao Xu was in the era that he did not know what the power of public opinion was, the power of it could be felt by no means a fool.

Newspapers are what Wang Jinghui wants to control the most. He doesn't want to be an official, so he has to find a self-defense weapon, and finally chose the newspaper. In this era when print media dominates the world, Wang Jinghui's hydraulic type printing machine is undoubtedly at the top of media in this era. Who can shake his position? There are so many scholars in the world, and only one-two percent can pass the imperial examination and become officials. Some rely on their family assets to do so, but most people still have a hard time living. Newspapers provide them with a path to increase their income. If Wang Jinghui doesn't do this kind of fame and fortune, he will really become an idiot.

But the only concern in Wang Jinghui was how big the sales of this newspaper could be. He did not burn his brains when reading online novels in the 21st century. He naively believed that the newspaper would roll in as soon as it was printed. After coming to this time and space, although he knew that the Song Dynasty was the most popular dynasty in ancient China, there were still not many people who could read the text and make sentences in this era from the people he came into contact with. He was not very optimistic about the prospects for newspaper sales. But no matter what, Wang Jinghui could no longer wait. Now he has a wealthy fortune. Even if he loses money to cultivate the market, he must do it.

Because in three or four years, the future emperor in front of him will reuse Wang Anshi to implement the Xining reform. If there are public opinion tools such as newspapers to supervise, Wang Anshi may take more gentle measures when reforming. However, Wang Jinghui does not have any expectations for this. After all, Wang Anshi's bad temper is absolutely famous in history, and he even organized spies to suppress opposition voices. All of this made Wang Jinghui feel powerless and could only do his best to do what he should do and leave it to fate.

In any case, Zhao Xu, the King of Ying in the twelfth lunar month of the first year of Zhiping, gave a detailed explanation of Wang Jinghui's opinions and Emperor Yingzong. Emperor Yingzong strongly agreed with Wang Jinghui's ideas and called it "old and successful". The result was that in the spring of the second year of Zhiping, a two-story building was divided into the buildings of the Commercial Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press and Public Press are also in the same building. They jointly built an inspection agency for the printing works of the Commercial Press.

On the fifth day after Zhao Xu came to visit, Wang Jinghui's "Lanshan Poetry Copy" completed the layout work. Zhangji Zeng also began to be a bit like a top book supplier in Kaifeng. He posted a post and collected all the booksellers in Kaifeng in one go: this time his boss published books and magazines, and he would of course work hard. The bookmakers below knew from Zhangji Zeng that the backend boss of the Commercial Press was going to publish books, so of course they spared no effort: put the writing aside first, and this little face must be given. Even if the book was thrown into his hands, the big boss could not be refuted. So as soon as the news was released, the book merchants ordered the book again flooded Zhangji Zeng's not-too-tall body.

On the fifth day of the twelfth lunar month of the first year of Zhiping, booksellers from all sizes from Kaifeng, all sold the "Lanshan Poetry Copy" in the same day. This time, it was not entirely due to the fact that Wang Jinghui was the owner of Commercial Press, but because after these booksellers received the "Lanshan Poetry Copy" from Zhangguan Zeng, they all knew that his boss Wang Jinghui was the most popular poet in Kaifeng in the past six months. His awe of the Commercial Press has been raised to a new level, and he is more convinced that this book will never be lost in his own way, so he ordered from Zhangguan Zeng.

Ten thousand volumes, this number seemed very terrifying at the level of the Song Dynasty at that time. Only Confucian classics like the Analects of Confucius could print so many volumes in the first edition. Of course, the local market in Kaifeng could not bear so many volumes. Book merchants had already spread the "Lanshan Poetry Copy" to various places through their own channels, including the market in the Liao Kingdom. The happiest person was Zeng Jiangui and Liu Chanfang. The issuance price of such single-line books is only 300 cents, but after deducting the cost of a few dozen cents, it was also a small fortune.

The publication and distribution of "Lanshan Poetry Copy" also captured all the rogue poets who borrowed Wang Jinghui's name in Kaifeng City, but they didn't know that Wang Jinghui himself was even more rogue than these people. Wang Jinghui's personal reputation also reached a new level with the release of this book "Lanshan Poetry Copy". Everyone knows Wang Jinghui's specific situation through the mouths of the book merchants, and of course he also included his address. From then on, he knew the pain of those singers and movie stars in the 21st century. Fortunately, there was no puppy team in this era, otherwise he would never plagiarize the poems of future generations again.

Since the release of "Lanshan Poetry Copy", Wang Jinghui's civilian clinic has been cut off by patients who came to seek medical treatment, and he has to endure the scholars who come to see if this newly emerging peerless poet has three heads and six arms like a legendary monster. Wang Jinghui initially felt a few out of excitement about being famous, but later he was bored by these admirers: he still has a lot of things he hasn't done, so there is so much time to greet these admirers? Wang Jinghui asked the housekeeper to reject all the students who come to the door with various excuses.

After Wang Jinghui came to this era, he worked hard on ancient Chinese and various classics and classics, and was even able to recite some books from beginning to end. However, this was not comparable to the influence of the poets of the Song Dynasty since childhood. So after meeting a few of the visitors who came here, Wang Jinghui was unwilling to offer treasures in front of them again, which would cost him his life. In addition, he had been receiving visitors for a long time, and the scholars of this dynasty had a very empty talk personality from the bottom of their hearts, which made Wang Jinghui feel very uncomfortable, so he simply avoided it.

However, the development of the matter was not something that Wang Jinghui could not expect. It doesn’t matter if people couldn’t see him. However, various invitations gathered in civilian clinics. Wang Jinghui opened a few posts and asked the butler Wang Fu next to him: “Can I not go?”

The butler Wang Fu said: "These are all selected from the invitations according to your wishes. In addition to the invitations from some famous poets, there are also some posts that I think you'd better go there. The people in these posts are all powerful and powerful. We can't offend you, so it's unreasonable if you don't go!"

After hearing this, Wang Jinghui felt a chill in his heart: I've stabbed a hornet's nest now! Why is the petty bourgeoisie of the Song Dynasty so serious? Inviting guests to dinner is not counting, but the wine tasting in the garden has come. Fortunately, it's winter, otherwise I can't escape the flowers and outings! "Forget it, I can't afford to offend, so I'll show up!" Wang Jinghui said to the butler helplessly.

Although Wang Jinghui was reluctant, there was no way to do this. There were many such banquets in the Song Dynasty, especially those who had achieved success in poetry, calligraphy and painting, so there were more opportunities. These similar literati and scholars often gathered at home, chanting the wind and moon, sang ink, and jointly appreciated the master's collection of famous calligraphy and painting works. From time to time, they also talked about Zen and talked about Taoism, and criticized the current problems. Of course, there were also some alternative figures, such as "official residence"

Li Gonglin, a famous painter who has not traveled to the powerful for ten years in the capital, but he is also a regular visitor to the family of Wang Shiguo, the son-in-law, Wang Shiguo. Li Gonglin once described the scene of Su Dongpo, Su Che, Mi Fu, Huang Tingjian, Qin Guan and other 16 people gathering in the West Garden in Wang Shiguo's Mansion in the famous "Si Jing Jiao". Another painter Mi Fu also left a similar narrative in his works. The Xiyuan Jing Jiao later became a common creative theme for painters of all dynasties.
Chapter completed!