Chapter 344 Come for the Living Water from the Source (Part 2)
In fact, Chen Ke's "translating books for gold" is just a scaled-down version of what the Arab kings used back then.
The Arabs exchanged gold for manuscripts, but Chen Ke exchanged gold for the weight. The difference was more than double?
Although the weight of a book is not necessarily certain, the workload of a translator in a year is certain. Although Chen Ke still does not know how efficient those Arab scholars are, he knows that Fu Lei, a great translator in later generations, said that he translated the first draft of about a thousand words every day.
, the second revision, I could only change more than 3,000 words in one day, and I had to re-translate it several times.'
Another translator, Cao Ying, works non-stop for 360 days a year, and his daily translation speed is only a thousand words.
The technical conditions of translation at that time were not much different from those now. The level of Fu Lei and Cao Ying was by no means inferior to those of these Arab scholars. The Arabs were notoriously slow, so they would never go beyond revising and revising in a year.
Three hundred thousand words produced.
The Bianjing Bookstore has accurate figures for how much a printed book of 300,000 words weighs - based on the current paper quality and printing standards, even with the book cover, the average weight is two kilograms.
Because the sharp increase in copper coins on the market has led to rising prices, or the depreciation of copper coins, two pounds of gold can be converted into about 500 guan... This is also the most controversial aspect of Chen Ke. People generally believe that the entry of Yunnan copper into Beijing has led to the loss of rich households.
A large number of stored copper coins were thrown out. Although the "money shortage" was solved, prices also rose. The monthly allowance of ten guan given by Chen Ke to the Arabs was actually only equivalent to the seven or eight guan four years ago.
It's just that people don't understand why, despite the fact that prices are rising and money is worthless, everyone's life seems to be generally much better? The government's tax revenue has also increased. Fortunately, Chen Kecai only got a bad reputation and no real consequences.
s attack.
Closer to home, five hundred guan is indeed a lot of money. But it is not too much... The annual income of an official of Chen Ke's level is roughly the same. These top scholars traveled across the ocean to the Song Dynasty and worked hard for a year.
Earning half a million, Chen Ke even felt a little sorry for them.
The reason why the Arab Empire could not afford it at that time was because the century-old translation movement had turned into a translator class, with tens of thousands of scholars specializing in translation work. Even a golden mountain was emptied by them.
As for Chen Ke, there are only a few dozen people on his side, which will not put much pressure on him. Even if the number of Arab scholars increases dozens of times in the future, he will be able to withstand it by tightening his belt.
But his financial officer pointed out that his bankruptcy crisis was not far away - what could really cause him to go bankrupt was that people in the Song Dynasty would definitely join in after learning about it. Of the millions of scholars in the Song Dynasty, only a handful of them were officials and businessmen.
The vast majority of those who are well-off live in poverty and even have no future. They absolutely cannot resist the temptation of both dignity and high salary.
When the time comes, there will be a swarm of scholars asking to join the army of translators. Will you agree or not? If you don’t agree, what is the meaning of the translation movement? Your reputation in the Song Dynasty will also be ruined. If you agree, rapid bankruptcy is certain...
"Do you think translating books is that easy? It's useless to just learn Arabic. You have to become an expert in this subject before you can translate the works in this subject into texts." Chen Ke shook his head and said with a smile: "Even if you are a genius, it is no less than
Even after seven or eight years of hard work, it is impossible to achieve it."
"Are you bragging, sir?" Zhou Dingkun said suspiciously: "It seems that you have only been studying Arabic for more than a year and you can start translating "Elements of Geometry"."
Chen Ke rolled his eyes and thought to himself, those are all middle school knowledge for future generations, okay? But other people's minds are blank!
"That's it." Chen Ke stopped explaining and said categorically: "All the money I have earned in my life has been invested in this matter, and I will never regret it!"
"..." Seeing that his master had made up his mind, Zhou Dingkun stopped talking. Instead, he stared at Chen Ke, and after a long time he whispered in Jewish: "I don't know if you are our Messiah. But...
You must be the Messiah of the Song people."
"What did you say?" Chen Ke has not yet put learning Jewish on his agenda.
"I mean, in the eyes of us Jews, knowledge is wealth." Zhou Dingkun said: "The knowledge in the brain is wealth that no one can take away."
"Right." Chen Ke smiled and said, "So you go back and ask Li Wei and Lan Bi if they can sponsor me?"
"Ha..." Zhou Dingkun laughed and said, "It turns out that adults sometimes don't act like heroes."
"How can the flames be high when everyone adds firewood?" Chen Ke smiled helplessly: "Besides, they are so smart, how could they not know the benefits of sponsoring culture?"
"If it is an official act, they should be more willing to pay." Zhou Dingkun's professional ethics is clear. Since he is Chen Ke's financial officer, he naturally has to calculate from his perspective.
"Don't expect it within a few years." Chen Ke shook his head and said, "Let's look at the future..."
"Then I'm afraid they won't pay much money." Zhou Dingkun sighed and lowered his voice: "To put it bluntly, sir, Levi and Rabbi don't have much confidence in the winner, so they would rather spend the money they earned.
Cast to Nanyang."
"This is human nature." Chen Ke said unconcernedly: "I can't afford this money, but it is too eye-catching, so I want to set up a special foundation. The bonus for translating manuscripts will come from this fund.
They don't necessarily have to pay a lot of money, they mainly help me share some of my eyeballs."
"Sir, sometimes I feel," Zhou Dingkun said with a wry smile, "You are really asking for trouble."
"Humans, you have to pursue something else above material desires." Chen Ke smiled and said: "I have found my pursuit now, and I enjoy it, so why bother... As expected, there will soon be a censor.
He impeached Chen Ke, made friends with foreign countries, and had evil intentions. He also asked for a careful examination of the origins and identities of these barbarians to prevent enemy spies from being mixed among them. If Chen Ke had not made complete preparations in advance, it would have been enough for him to drink.
Even so, Chen Ke did not dare to be careless. He quickly wrote a book to defend himself and used an emotional article to describe a group of Arab scholars as noble characters who were unwilling to join the evil forces. After hearing that the wise king of the Song Dynasty was in
Position, political clarity, emphasis on culture and education, eclectic, resolutely overcoming all difficulties and dangers, traveling thousands of miles to invest...
He also vividly and tearfully describes the storms, plagues, pirates, treks, water shortages, diseases and other difficulties and obstacles he encountered along the way. The viewers are deeply moved by the tenacity and perseverance of these Arabs...
It is said that after reading the memorial, the official sighed repeatedly: "It's not easy, it's not easy."
The person on duty in front of the emperor that day was Mr. Wang Gui. He was Chen Ke's senior fellow countryman. However, he was too junior in the political affairs hall and had never dared to talk nonsense. But he could still help with this trivial matter that had no major purpose, so
He told the official: "Youdao is 'the barbarians are Chinese, and they are Chinese.' These foreigners are so sincerely loyal, and they are well-educated scholars. They have paid such a high price to come to Bianjing, but the imperial court ignores them."
Asking questions and even raising suspicions is really chilling. It is better to send an envoy to express condolences and be a little more generous to show that my heaven is tolerant and great!"
"That's right." Zhao Zhen nodded, but felt a little embarrassed: "But the origins of these people... It's really hard to reassure people just listening to Chen Ke's words. If the imperial court rashly rewards them, I'm afraid it will be embarrassing in the future."
"Your Majesty is very worried." Wang Gui said: "However, we don't need to give them official positions. We just send envoys to go there, give them a little comfort, and see if these people are the scholars Chen Zhongfang mentioned. If they are, we might as well
Reward them with more stationery and books and encourage them to learn Song Dynasty writing. It would not be a good thing if they can translate foreign books into Chinese in the future."
"Well." As an official, Wang Gui always puts safety first, and the ideas he comes up with are naturally very safe. It is quite appropriate to use them in this matter. Zhao Zhen nodded and said: "Let's do it this way, I love your life.
If a person is good at what he does, he will come back to fulfill his purpose."
"Yes." Wang Gui responded respectfully.
Soon, officials from the Huaiyuan Station of Honglu Temple, who were in charge of paying tribute to Jiaozhou in southern Tibet, Qiuci in western Tibet, Dashi, Khotan, Gan, Sha, Zongge and other countries, visited a group of Arab scholars on the emperor's order and sent them to
I got some charcoal, rice, wine, silk and other rewards.
Although there is a language barrier between the two parties, it is not difficult to see the so-called poetic and scholarly demeanor and the demeanor of a well-educated Confucian scholar. And Aziz, a well-rounded fraudster, is naturally coaxing and showing filial piety, which naturally makes the officials of Honglu Temple
He returned home satisfied, and in his report he really praised these Arabs, saying that although they looked different and spoke different languages, they behaved elegantly and seemed to be polite, and were by no means rude and barbaric people.'
At the same time, Aziz also prepared precious gifts, such as Persian carpets, Damascus swords, gemstone crafts, Arabic-style gold and silver products, and hundreds of other tributes to the officials of the Song Dynasty.
After hearing the reward, Zhao Zhen was very happy when he saw these gifts. He wrote two handwritings of "Come from afar" and "Treat everyone equally" and gave them to these Arabs. In addition, many books with pen, ink, paper and inkstone were given to the emperor.
Aziz, who was rewarded ten times and made a huge fortune, couldn't help but be shocked.
Later, Chen Ke told him that the Song Dynasty only showed its generosity to foreigners. Now that the officials recognize you as subjects, it is natural for them to accept your filial piety.
Besides, with the words "equal treatment", they can live peacefully in the Song Dynasty in the future, engage in learning, and their children may even participate in the imperial examination and become officials, which is already considered a profit.
Aziz had no choice but to knock off his teeth and swallow it. He turned around and boasted to those Arabs, saying that I had invested a lot of money to help you manage your relationship. In the future, you can live peacefully in the Song Dynasty, do knowledge, and have children.
Even taking part in the imperial examination and becoming an official, the previous festivals can be written off at once...divided...In the next chapter, try to do it before twelve o'clock.
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