Wei and Jin cooks

News of Zhao Hanzhang's concern about movable type printing spread to bookstores all over the country. Not long after, good news came from Luoyang Bookstore. After unremitting research, they finally developed copper movable type. Currently, the number of copper movable types successfully cast has reached 280. Six, nine of each of the movable copper types were burned and cast, which was 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 had mastered relatively stable porcelain movable type and had someone bring a set of porcelain movable type.

Hu Jin did not disappoint Zhao Hanzhang in the end. He tried several materials. Due to the unstable wooden structure of wooden movable type, even if it can be made into type molds, it will crack after only a few uses and the loss will be too great;

It is difficult to control the temperature of clay movable type, so it is easy to break during firing and difficult to shape;

He also tried iron movable type and copper movable type, but the former was not effective and the latter was expensive. In the end, he returned to clay movable type and began to focus on it.

For this reason, he went to Liulifang to study while squatting. In the end, the thermometer made by Fu Tinghan played an important role. After a year of testing 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 Liulicang. Oh, that is Zhao Hu's workshop. He used the clay they used to bake porcelain and remixed it. With the help of the porcelain master, he made a set of molds. As long as the temperature was controlled well, he could bake it. The success rate of the sub-model is between 60% and 70%.

It is much easier to carve Yangwenzi molds on clay than on copper. As long as it is put into the mold and fired into porcelain, one furnace can bake up to 300 characters. Even if the success rate is only 60%, that is It can get more than a hundred characters, which is much more convenient than engraving.

Now Xiping has begun to use movable type to typesetting and print books. It is a pity that ordinary craftsmen cannot do this kind of work. It requires literate people to typesetting.

As for the carving craftsmen in the bookstore, two-thirds of them are illiterate.

So Hu Jin sent Zi Mo over and asked Zhao Hanzhang one more thing. He wanted the craftsmen in the bookstore to attend the school. It didn't matter if they couldn't write. At the very least, they had to be literate so that they could layout according to the books.

Zhao Hanzhang immediately agreed and wrote letters back to Xiping and Chen County in person, asking craftsmen from other bookstores to attend the school. She said: "The craftsmen can study in shifts, or if they don't have time during the day, they can also study at night. Don't be stingy with lamp oil. The bookstore should allocate a special amount of money to support the learning of craftsmen.”

For this reason, Zhao Hanzhang and Fu Tinghan wrote to schools in various places, asking them to open a class for craftsmen to teach them literacy.

The craftsmen of the bookstore are different from other craftsmen. Although they are also illiterate, because they have been comparing the carvings, they know the yang and yin characters of the characters very well, and they can recognize the characters faster than other craftsmen.

Zhao Hanzhang felt that since the craftsmen in the bookstore were going to learn to read, it would be better for all the craftsmen to participate in the learning and open night schools.

Fu Tinghan was in charge of the Luoyang side, and Fu Tinghan was in charge of the Yuzhou side, but he was too far away, so Zhao Hanzhang entrusted the matter to Zhao Ming.

Zhao Ming only glanced at it and put the letter aside and handed it to the officials below to do it. He frowned and read the letter that Zhao Hanzhang had just sent two days ago.

This is a letter to amend the tax law. It is not a notification, but a request for opinions.

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

Yu Shiming knocked on the door and came in. Seeing Zhao Ming reading the letter again, he stepped forward and picked up the wine bottle 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 message: "This law was promulgated at the beginning of this year. This is also the first time that taxes are collected according to this regulation. If it is revised at this time, wouldn't it be changed overnight?"

"When this law came out, the high-ranking officials and nobles in Yuzhou and Luoyang had great opinions. They scolded Hanzhang in private. If it is revised at this time, they are afraid that it will become more arrogant and it will be difficult to control them in the future."

Yu Shiming: “But when the law first came out, didn’t you also oppose it?”

"I object, but since the envoy has promulgated it, as the county governor, I have 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 will be changed immediately.

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

Moreover, the revised law did not appeal to him as he did not agree with either of them.

Zhao Ming read the letter again, finally pressed it down, gritted his teeth and said: "I will leave for Luoyang tomorrow, and I will have an interview with the envoy about this matter."

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

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

"I'm going to see what's going on in Luoyang. As for Chen County, I can leave it to Chen Siniang. She can do a great job now. You have set the rules and regulations. Just follow the rules."

"It's good to have rules to follow, but I'm afraid there are no rules to follow," Zhao Ming said: "Although Chen Siniang is careful, she is not quick-witted. Now that Zhao Ju is going to Jingzhou to suppress bandits, Chen County must keep a calm person in charge. You’re a good fit.”

Yu Shiming is a friend of Zhao Ming. After he took charge of Chen County, he visited the thatched cottage and invited people to come out to be his deputy. The last time Zhao Hanzhang came back to see him, he wanted to abduct people to Luoyang.

But Zhao Hanzhang didn't like drinking, and it happened to be a time of frugality. Although Yu Shiming was very tempted to go to Luoyang, he finally chose to stay in Chen County.

Here, although I was often ridiculed by Zhao Ming, I still had good food and drink, and my life was still easy.

Seeing that Yu Shiming was unhappy, Zhao Ming said: "I will only go for a few days and I will be back soon."

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

No, it's still relevant, Yu Shiming said: "You can stay for a while."

Now that the tiger is gone, he can be more at ease. A few days is not enough, preferably ten or twenty days.

Zhao Ming glanced at him and put the letter away, "Everything is done in accordance with the law, Shi Ming. I am a tolerant person, but Governor Zhao is not. She likes to do everything in accordance with the law. If she commits a crime, my face will not matter. "

"What you said was very false from the beginning. If you ask around, when will you, Zhao Zinian, be associated with the word tolerance?"

Zhao Ming ignored him and began to write down his work schedule 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. Apart from the shortcoming of changing orders every day, I really can't think of anything else. What are the disadvantages?”

Zhao Ming paused with his pen and said: "If you want to give preferential treatment to high-ranking officials and nobles, why bother with Sosou? Just restore the old system and cancel the new tax decree promulgated at the beginning of this year."