Three Kingdoms

The technology tree is like solving a mathematical problem. Without any prerequisites, you can make a dead end during the derivation.

If you want to implement something more advanced in the Han Dynasty, you often need a lot of prerequisites. If one of them is missing, it seems that it will either lead to half the result with twice the result, or it will backfire.

In Chang'an City, at General Zhengxi's mansion, thirty or forty soldiers escorted a group of craftsmen and arrived at the front yard of the mansion. Then they worked together with the craftsmen to move the equipment from the vehicles and set up in the front yard. got up.

In later generations, everyone knows that movable type printing is more advanced than engraving printing and is a more advanced technological skill. However, when it comes to movable type printing, many prerequisites are often forgotten...

Such as paper...

Such as ink...

Another very important point is whether there is any social demand...

Tai Shiming can be regarded as someone who has been following Fei Qian for many years, and the most important thing is that Tai Shiming and Zao are only slightly acquainted. He doesn't like to take care of any government affairs, and only wants to do things he likes. Today's set of equipment was naturally made under the supervision of Tai Shiming.

With Fei Qian's demand for equipment and the upgrade of soldiers' equipment, Tai Shi Ming's position has become more and more important. It is even a combination of the Examiner and the Salt and Iron Officer, but it is not so comprehensive, and it is quite a bit like Zhengxi. The feeling of a young master.

Because of General Fei Qian's constant demands and guidance on manufacturing technology, Tai Shiming has always been obsessed with making new equipment. For him, the satisfaction of creating a brand-new equipment is far greater than what he is responsible for. It's an official position, so I feel quite happy about it.

This time, Tai Shiming also moved most of his workshops originally in Pingyang to Chang'an with Fei Qian. Those who stayed in Pingyang were some Huang clan members and a small number of craftsmen who worked for him. It was basically Huang Yueying's private workshop. This way, large-scale production equipment and other equipment can basically be produced in Guanzhong, and high-quality handmade parts can be manufactured in Pingyang. The division of labor between the two will be clearer, and there will be no need to Certain things delay each other.

At present, General Fei Qian of the Western Conquest not only needs to manufacture weapons and armor on a large scale, but also needs to manufacture ideological weapons, and this ideological weapon is books.

In fact, it is only now that Fei Qian has gradually figured out that it is simply unrealistic to rely on Confucianism to promote the large-scale dissemination of books...

Just like asking tinkers to promote large-scale pot-making technology, Confucian people rely on this to survive, so how could they willingly promote the popularization of the Four Books and Five Classics? It was not until after the Tang Dynasty that the imperial examination had become an irreversible trend, and Confucianism gave up the practice of resting on one's laurels.

To implement the imperial examination, the people must have a considerable literacy foundation, otherwise wouldn't the imperial examination be a joke?

In order for the people to have a large literacy foundation, a large number of books must be printed and spread.

To have a large number of books requires not only complete printing technology, but also huge social demand. Since Confucianism cannot provide such demand, Fei Qian can only rely on his own methods to achieve it...

What Tai Shiming brought this time was this batch of woodblock printing utensils and books.

Although engraving is more backward than movable type, it has an inherent advantage over movable type in promoting books. At least engraving only requires a carpenter, and it can basically be done. Even if the carpenter does not know the calligraphy, he can copy and engrave according to the pattern. , but if you use movable type, whether it is using lead, copper, or other metals, or even using clay firing methods, etc., the initial threshold is much higher than simply using a piece of wood. Therefore, at the beginning, the implementation of movable type Printing does not involve engraving.

After all, what Fei Qian pursues is not his own convenience, but the convenience of knowledge dissemination.

The craftsmen were busy one after another. Some people arranged the engravings one by one according to the numbers, some started to mix the ink with soot and grease, and some hung up ropes to prepare to hang the printed papers...

After Pang Tong arrived in Guanzhong, he had almost never been to Pingyang, so this was the first time he saw such a scene. Naturally, he was very curious. He wandered around, looking here and there, until he accidentally stepped on a carved block. He almost stepped on the engraving and cracked it, but under Tai Shiming's angry eyes, he shrank his head in dismay and returned to Fei Qian.

"It's time for you to lose weight..." Fei Qian said slowly, stabbing Pang Tong, "Ordinary people wouldn't be able to crack the carved wood with just one kick... Look at your belly, if you get fatter it will make you lose weight. On the ground..."

Pang Tong subconsciously lifted his belly up with both hands, glared at Fei Qian and said, "Nonsense! I'm obviously not fat! This is called strong! Strong!"

Fei Qian just touched his bulging abdomen due to years of military travel and fatigue, and had no time to accumulate fat, and smiled without saying a word.

"Humph!" Pang Tong turned his head.

Tai Shiming had no time to pay attention to the little interlude between Fei Qian and Pang Tong. He just stared at the preparations for each process until the last preparation was completed. Then he inspected it again, glanced at Fei Qian, and after receiving approval, He ordered the craftsmen to start printing.

The craftsman in charge of printing pressed a piece of engraving, picked up a brush, dipped in ink mixed with hemp seed oil and soot, and applied an even layer back and forth on the engraving, and then while the ink was still wet, At that time, he quickly covered the cut paper on the carving board, then took a cork stick and gently pressed it on the paper, so that the paper and the carving board were in complete contact and the ink was fully absorbed. Finally, he gently removed the paper from the carving board. After the engraving was peeled off, someone immediately took over and carefully placed it on the hemp rope, waiting for the ink to dry...

"Oh..." Pang Tong saw it interestingly. He completely forgot about the previous topic and couldn't help but move forward, "Is it printed like this? Oh, it is indeed much faster than copying..."

"We couldn't print in large quantities before. The main reason was the lack of materials for making paper..." Fei Qian said, "Paper made from linen bark is rough, gray and black in color, and difficult to bleach. It is not as good as bamboo paper... If it is I wish you could successfully grow cotton and make paper from cotton..."

"Huh..." Pang Tong approached the paper hanging to dry, looked at the text, and said with some strangeness, "This is printed... Taoist Scripture?"

Fei Qian smiled and said nothing.

Is the technique of woodblock printing difficult?

In fact, it is not difficult at all. Even in the Han Dynasty, all pre-processing technologies were already complete. Although the paper may not be as good as Fei Qian, there should be a passing mark.

Just like in the Han Dynasty, the sealing and ribbon system was already quite mature. No matter whether they were big or small officials, everyone had a sealing handle in their hands, and this custom even lasted for thousands of years until later generations, which proves how deeply rooted this system is in the hearts of the people. Well, taking Fei Qian as an example, he basically turned over seals every day, and anything that needed approval and execution had to be stamped with a stamp.

Therefore, the ink and engraving technologies are actually already available. It's just a small metal seal ribbon replaced by a larger wooden engraving.

As a relatively mature craftsman manager, Tai Shiming naturally knows what kind of wood is most suitable. Of course, yellow pear wood that does not absorb water and is not easily deformed is the best, but if not, some boxwood can be used instead. Of course, the worst one can be jujube wood. There are actually many alternatives. After cutting, polishing, oil soaking, drying and other processes, these woods can be used as carving boards.

Therefore, in fact, in the Han Dynasty, it was not difficult at all to introduce woodblock printing. What is rare is not technology, but promotion and application, such as compasses, seismographs, mileage meters, etc. Even in later generations, it is not something that an ordinary craftsman can make, but because these things are only satisfying It met the needs of a few individuals but was not needed by the majority of the people, so it quickly disappeared in the long river of history, or even just left a drop or two of ink in the history books...

The emergence of woodblock printing in China probably occurred in the Tang Dynasty, but this woodblock technology was not originally used to print ordinary literacy books, nor was it used to print the Four Books and Five Classics, but was used to print Buddhist scriptures. After all, Buddhist scriptures are constantly praised by bald people, and it seems that everyone who believes in Buddhism must have a copy...

As a result, natural light and handwriting could not meet the huge demand, so engraving came into being. At the same time, the large-scale printing of Buddhist scriptures did not encounter strong resistance from Confucians, because in the eyes of Confucians, these things were just within the scope of "Zi Buyu" and there was nothing to say.

I have to say that religion is indeed stronger than Confucianism in terms of being close to the people.

Fei Qian has Zuo Ci, a great idler, um, a great immortal, under his command. In addition, Zuo Ci is in Hanzhong, and he is also in a trance, so it is reasonable to take this opportunity to push a wave of Taoist scriptures. in things. The key is that when Taoist priests teach Taoism to believers, their level of patience and thoughtful service are often not what the previous enlightenment envoys promoted by Fei Qian...

Regarding this point, Fei Qian actually took many detours. Who says that time travelers will definitely be able to find shortcuts to everything?

Among the enlightenment envoys promoted by Fei Qian before, some were indeed very good and dedicated to their responsibilities, but there were also a large number of people who came just to seek better and higher official positions and did not really focus on the aspect of education. In comparison, these Taoist priests, especially the Buddhists who came from behind for the sake of religion and belief, obviously have greater advantages among the grassroots people.

Of course, Fei Qian's promotion of woodblock printing with such great fanfare is definitely not just to promote Taoism or the budding Buddhism. Similarly, in addition to popularizing literacy, Fei Qian also has another deep-seated need. .

Eliminate the degree of control that local powers such as nobles, noble families, and powerful people have over the grassroots within their territories!

And this method does not rely on shouting and killing, and it does not require rivers of blood. It can also be implemented by relying on a small engraving or a piece of paper...

"...This, this is..." Pang Tong turned to the other side, looked at the printed paper on the other side and said, "Is this the Nine Chapters Law? This one is the Yue Palace Law? This...could it be..."

Fei Qian said with a smile: "Now the world is in chaos, the laws are corrupt, and the people don't know what to rely on. Therefore, it is urgent to establish order through laws. It is urgent to revise the Sanchi Law and promulgate it in each county..."

When Liu Bang invaded Xianyang, he announced the abolition of Qin's harsh laws and made a "three-chapter agreement" with the people of Guanzhong. The so-called "Those who kill will die, and those who hurt others and steal will not be punished. I will remove Qin's laws." This can be regarded as the beginning of the earliest laws of the Han Dynasty.

Later, the simple three-part agreement could not cope with the complex needs of civilian production and life, so the "Nine Chapters Law" was created. Later, a new supplement was added, called the "Pong Zhang Law", and then more were added. After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the law became more and more complicated. There were not only laws, but also various laws, such as the "Shen Ming Law", the "Tongxing Diet Law", and even the famous "Abdominal Fei Zhi" Law"……

These complicated laws, on the one hand, strengthened the centralization of power by the rulers, and on the other hand, they also left ordinary people at a loss as to what to do. Therefore, Fei Qian removed a large number of all kinds of messy laws that were added wantonly in the late Han Dynasty, and returned to the simplest Nine Chapter Law, plus Some supplementary and newly implemented land administration systems used woodblock printing technology to distribute these legal prints to every county.

In this way, even officials who are not proficient in the law, or even those who have retired from the army, can act in accordance with the law. Although they cannot escape the influence of human rule to some extent, it is at least better than being clueless and letting the local gentry do what they want. It is much better to control the people by clan law.

These inspections, which had obtained the power of law enforcement, were the prototype of the armed police.

At the same time, maintaining public security and stability is also the common interest of the gentry and right-wingers everywhere. No matter what, these gentry and right-wingers do not want their lands to be filled with a group of lawless mobs, so to a certain extent, these gentry and right-wingers will also support And cooperate with Fei Qian's inspection work, and when these noble gentry find that their law enforcement and judgment rights are slowly being transferred out, I am afraid that the situation has become irreversible.

Fei Qian took the printed law in his hand and wrote the words "Words of the past, laws of today" on the title page with pen and ink. He smiled slightly, then called the guard and asked the guard to This book was sent by post to Longyou for Li Ru...

Perhaps among the many counselors, only Li Ru knows the profound meaning of Fei Qian's law best. Well, maybe Jia Xu can also guess a little bit. As for the fat little hairless phoenix...

Fei Qian looked at Pang Tong, smiled, and said, "Shi Yuan, it's your business to promote the law in this pass..."

"Ah?" Pang Tong was stunned for a moment and pointed to his nose, "My business?"

"Of course, could it be Zijian's fault?" Fei Qian laughed and said.

Taishi Ming also laughed and said that he only cares about printing and does not care about other things...

"What are you worried about?" Fei Qian smiled and patted Pang Tong on the shoulder and said, "I told Wen Zheng once before, and I will tell you again this time... Don't leave everything to you, it should be divided. It must be divided, otherwise how will the subordinates grow and be able to act independently..."

Pang Tong snorted and said, "Is this the reason why, my lord, you don't do any work and allocate it to us?"

"Uh..." Fei Qian quickly denied, but his defense was a little pale, "I'm also very busy..."