In the Song Dynasty, there was no law or order.

Outside the old Fengqiu Gate, in the oblique street outside Shuxiangfang, where Chenzhou Bridge Street and Guangbei Bridge intersect, Zhao Jun listened to the rumors and could only call it outrageous.

It was already past noon, and the meeting of the Chuigong Hall yesterday spread throughout Bianliang.

The government has newly established the Political System Council, which is above the two governments and three departments, and takes charge of the national affairs. And except for military power, it has all powers, including the appointment and removal of officials.

Such great power has never been seen since the Tang and Song dynasties.

What shocked the people of Bianliang even more was that Zhao Jun, the former head of the Imperial City Department, was named Duke of Song, the governor of three towns, and was in charge of the Political System Council, with power comparable to that of the prime minister in ancient times.

In this case, the people of Bianliang could not think too much.

Even the spies of the embassies of Xixia and Liao in Bianliang knew the news and quickly passed this important information back to their country.

Many people speculated that Zhao Jun's true identity might really be the illegitimate son of the previous emperor.

Only Zhao Yunrang was still calm and acted calmly.

After all, as long as his son, the Thirteenth, has not been driven out of the palace, it means that Zhao Jun's identity is false, and he has nothing to worry about.

Zhao Jun went to the Political System Institute this morning and gave some instructions. In the afternoon, he came to Shuxiangfang.

He has a lot of things to do recently, such as organizing the establishment of new departments, dealing with underground evil forces, and researching and developing new weapons.

The more important thing is that a printing factory is needed. This thing is used to print notices on a large scale, and to establish newspapers and carry out propaganda activities in the future.

At present, the basic education of the Song Dynasty is still lacking, and the literacy rate is low. It can be seen from the fact that there are only more than 100,000 people in the provincial examinations across the country every year.

Even if this number is multiplied by 100 times, the number of literate people in the entire Song Dynasty is only 10 million. Compared with the population of hundreds of millions, the literacy rate is about 10%, which is very unfavorable for the spread of newspapers.

However, as the capital, the literacy rate of the people in Bianliang is still good.

The main reason is that the business here is developed, and there are many businessmen and officials. Even street vendors have to know how to read and do arithmetic before they can do business. Otherwise, they can't even figure out the accounts, so how can they trade?

So Zhao Jun planned to start a newspaper in Bianliang first, occupy the high ground in the field of propaganda through newspapers, and pave the way for big business in the future.

Recently, he heard that the owner of Yuanjing Bookstore was interested in selling the printing factory, so he came to take a look.

In the bookstore, Confucian scholars wearing oblique collars or round collars were walking around. They either wore belts and jade pendants, or tied a knot in the center of the waist with silk ribbons or silk ropes, and the excess part hung below the waist. They wore shirts inside, pants or skirts, and were elegant.

Because it rained a little last night and the sky was relatively dark, people were in a hurry to come and go. Some had just bought the four treasures of the study and were in a hurry to go back, some had just come and wanted to see some newly listed books, and some sat in the teahouse in the market, reciting poems and having fun.

Guangbei Bridge is located on the Wuzhang River. Willows are swaying on the river bank. There is a small cross bridge to the east. It is late autumn and early winter. The autumn wind is bleak. The bluestone slabs on the ground still have last night's water stains. The willows on the Sui embankment outside the small cross bridge gather countless tourists and writers.

After Zhao Jun came out of the Political System Institute, he went home to change into a scholar's Confucian robe and walked into Shuxiangfang. There were shops on both sides. Unlike other places, Shuxiangfang has more bookstores, but there are also breakfast shops and tea stalls. After all, even if the literati have a strong desire for knowledge, they still have to eat.

The discussion in front of the stall is still about yesterday's morning court. There are many people in Bianliang, and the people like to talk about gossip after dinner. The biggest gossip now is naturally Zhao Jun's news. His reputation in Bianliang is at least top-notch.

"The emperor knows how to recognize talent. Zhao Qingtian cleaned up so many pests in Kaifeng Prefecture, and now he is going to lead all officials. This is a great thing for our Song Dynasty."

"It may not be a good thing. It is true that Zhao Qingtian investigated and punished those people. But investigating corrupt officials and governing the country are two different things. And I heard that this Zhao Zhisi is only in his twenties, too young. What if he doesn't know how to govern the country, will it cause the country to decline?"

"Indeed, even if the emperor thinks Zhao Zhisi is a talent, I heard that he did not pass the imperial examination to become an official. I don't believe that the ministers in the court will agree. Even if he is forced to govern, I am afraid he will be blocked from governing."

"Who said he didn't pass the imperial examination to become an official?"

On the tea stall in front of Yuanjing Book Club on the street of Shuxiangfang, several scholars were drinking tea and chatting.

There was basically no literary inquisition in the Northern Song Dynasty. Even the Wutai Poetry Case was an internal struggle among the literati. The emperor would not deliberately persecute the literati with literature, so it was not taboo to talk about the court and criticize the current situation on the street.

Especially in places like Shuxiangfang where there are many literati and scholars, there are often scholars talking and expressing their opinions in the hope of being appreciated by senior officials.

For example, Xia Song was originally a military officer who entered the officialdom through the family patronage, but because of his good literary talent, he showed his collection of poems to the then Prime Minister Li Hang, so he switched from military to civil service, and then participated in the imperial examination. After passing the imperial examination, he became a member of the literati and scholars.

Therefore, criticizing the current situation was a common thing for literati at that time. After all, the policy essays in the imperial examinations were also one of the criticisms of the current situation, which was beneficial to their improvement in the level of policy essays.

At this moment, the scholars were chatting.

Zhao Jun was stepping into the Yuanjing Book Club. Because he had many bodyguards around him, he naturally attracted everyone's attention.

One of them was stunned when he saw him, and then hesitated. Seeing that Zhao Jun was about to step into the book club, he finally mustered up the courage to stand up and shouted, "Brother Hanlong!"

"Hmm?"

Zhao Jun turned his head and smiled suddenly, "Brother Song!"

Song Cai left a few of his friends who were scholars and walked towards this side. The imperial guards of the Imperial City Division next to him were about to stop him, but Zhao Jun waved his hand to signal him to come over.

"I didn't expect it was really Brother Hanlong!"

Song Cai was very excited, but he still suppressed his joy in his heart, tried to keep himself calm, and stepped forward and bowed and said, "Brother, what are you doing in Shuxiangfang? I am very familiar with this place."

"Yes, there are some things. Since Brother Song is here, let's go together?"

Zhao Jun smiled and greeted.

"Then let's go together."

Song Cai suppressed his joy and turned his head to the group of scholars and said, "Brother Wang, Brother Li, Brother Sun, I met an old friend, I will accompany him for a walk first, and come to you later."

"Okay, then you go, we will go to Baihua Tower later, you can come directly when the time comes."

The person on the other side also replied.

Song Cai immediately said to Zhao Jun with an embarrassed look on her face: "What Baihualou, I don't even know where it is, does Brother Zhao know?"

"I don't know either, let's go and see it together next time."

Zhao Jun smiled.

He naturally knew Baihualou, it was a prostitute garden located on Beixie Street, not far from Shuxiangfang.

It seems that the scholars in Bianliang still live a very happy life.

After saying that, Zhao Jun walked into the book club.

The area of ​​the book club is probably more than 100 square meters, with more than ten bookshelves, on which a large number of books are neatly stacked.

A smell mixed with pulp, ink and incense hits the face.

The shopkeeper had noticed that many people gathered at the door. As a businessman, he knew that a big customer had come when he looked up.

Maybe this big customer didn't buy much, but his status must be noble.

After all, whose son would go out with so many bodyguards?

I'm afraid that even the son of a husband is not so extravagant.

"Brother Zhao, are you here to buy books at Shuxiangfang today? If you want to buy books, you have met the right person."

Song Cai followed Zhao Jun into the bookstore and said, "Xunzi annotated by Han Dajia, The Analects annotated by Kong Dajia, The Spring and Autumn Annals annotated by Gai Dajia, and The Book of Rites annotated by Lu Dajia are the best annotated explanations on the market. If you like other miscellaneous books, there are also Taiping Guangji, Taiping Yulan, and Yiwen Leiju."

He said more than 20 popular books on the market in one breath. The imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty required proficiency in the Seven Classics. There were many annotations by great Confucian scholars on the Seven Classics, but there were also differences in the great Confucian scholars. Therefore, the recognized great Confucian scholars included Han Yu, Kong Yingda, Gai Wenda, and Lu Deming. The books they annotated were hot items on the market.

There were also many other miscellaneous books, such as the books he mentioned, which were all books that brought together various things on the market. Others included history books, works of various schools of thought, poetry collections, contemporary prose transcriptions, political analysis, and prose and song collections, which were collectively called classics, history, and literature at the time.

"Of course."

After talking about some mainstream books, Song Cai suddenly smiled and said, "If Brother Hanlong likes vernacular novels, we have them here too."

He said meaningfully, "We have everything."

In fact, there were already novels in the Song Dynasty. Because of the popularity of vernacular, vernacular novels appeared, with tens of millions of words.

Many people think that ancient times were all classical Chinese. In fact, classical Chinese is only written language, and vernacular is the main spoken language.

In the middle and late Tang Dynasty, vernacular spoken language already existed among the people, and vernacular was basically popularized in the Song Dynasty.

Even in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the way people spoke was not much different from that in later generations.

A modern Beijinger who returned to Beijing in the Ming and Qing Dynasties would be regarded as a local Beijing master with his authentic Beijing accent.

Although the vernacular in the Song Dynasty was slightly different from that in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the difference was not much.

As the market developed and prospered, vernacular novels naturally became popular, greatly enriching the lives of the people in Bianliang.

Zhao Jun was puzzled when he heard Song Cai's words, "What do you mean by 'everything'?"

"That's it."

Song Cai winked and her expression gradually became vulgar.

When Zhao Jun heard it, he immediately refused sternly, "What are you talking about, Brother Song? I am not that kind of person. I read the Spring and Autumn Annals! If I see this kind of thing, I must criticize it severely!"

Song Cai changed his expression and nodded repeatedly, "That's right, I mean to take some of these books to Brother Zhao's house and let Brother Zhao criticize them!"

"That's the best."

Zhao Jun nodded and looked around.

The boss came over and said to Song Cai with a smile, "This official is really knowledgeable. Our Yuanjing Bookstore has the most books in the whole Shuxiangfang. We have all kinds of books."

Then he said to Zhao Jun, "What books does this young master want to buy? As long as you can give a general idea, our store will be able to meet any of your requirements."

He called Song Cai an official and Zhao Jun a young master, which was like serving dishes to people, recognizing that Zhao Jun's identity was not simple.

Song Cai was not annoyed, and pointed to the inner room and said familiarly: "I'm thinking of buying some vernacular novels to read recently. The owner will take me to have a look later."

"Yes, yes, yes."

The shopkeeper nodded repeatedly.

Zhao Jun said: "I heard that your Yuanjing Bookstore has a printing house?"

The shopkeeper's eyes suddenly lit up and said: "Yes, yes, yes, sir, do you want to publish a collection of poems or write articles?"

This is a big deal.

If the ancients wanted to publish their works, they would not submit them to a publishing house, but find a printing factory at their own expense.

At that time, printing was quite difficult. If you wanted to print your own poetry collection, you had to have the printing house carve the woodblocks yourself, and the cost was very exaggerated.

A complete set of woodblocks often cost dozens or even hundreds of strings of cash according to the number of words. If the number of words is large, such as tens or millions of words, it costs thousands of strings of cash. Therefore, printing poetry collections can make more money than simply selling books. No matter how many books others print, they are all sold at the price of woodblocks.

Therefore, the shopkeeper was naturally very happy to meet such a big customer.

But what he didn't expect was that Zhao Jun said: "Well, I want to buy a ready-made printing house and print it myself. I heard that you want to sell the printing house, so I came to ask."

The shopkeeper was very surprised at the time.

I thought it was a big customer, but I didn't expect that he was so rich that he wanted to buy a printing house directly.

He advised: "If you want to print your own poetry and articles, there is no need to buy a printing house. Send the sample paper to us and we will help you carve it."

"You don't understand. There will be too many things to do in the future. It is more convenient to buy a printing house."

Zhao Jun said: "Aren't you selling it to the outside?"

The shopkeeper thought for a while and said: "This is indeed the boss's order, but the specific matters still need to be asked to the boss."

"Go and call your boss."

"Yes."

The shopkeeper knew that this bodyguard outside was a distinguished guest, so he did not dare to neglect him. He told the shop assistants to entertain him and ran out in a hurry.