Li Shimin was a little confused about this later term. Li Mu also made it easy, and fortunately it was not difficult to explain, saying: "The studio is where I work on weekdays. When I am working, I don't like to be disturbed.
I just cleared out a few rooms and opened them up, right next to this."
Li Mu led the way and took Li Shimin and the others to his studio. Several carvers were at the door of the studio. When they saw Li Shimin and others, they didn't recognize them. They looked up and then lowered their heads to work again. They
He is just a craftsman. Apart from officials from the Ministry of Industry, he has never seen any officials. Moreover, today Li Shimin and others are dressed in ordinary clothes, and their identities cannot be seen. It is only from their demeanor that they can be judged to be high-ranking officials.
The craftsmen all leaned against the wall for fear of upsetting the nobleman.
Although Li Shimin came here for the new plow, he was very curious when he saw these carvers knocking, so he stopped. When he stopped, others also stopped, and Li Mugang opened the door of the studio.
, turned around and saw that the three of them were watching the engraver carving movable type. He quickly came over and said, "Your Majesty, the studio is over here. Come over here."
When several craftsmen heard Li Mu call him "Your Majesty," they realized that the noble man in front of them was the emperor. They quickly put down their tools and knelt in front of Li Shimin.
"You guys," Li Shimin pointed to the movable type carved on the ground and said, "What are you carving?"
A craftsman stammered and replied: "Reply, your Majesty, we are just following the Lord Marquis's instructions. We don't know what the Lord Marquis wants to use it for."
"Li Mu?"
"Ah, Your Majesty, this..." Li Mu smiled sheepishly and said, "This is a little invention of my own. Its main function... Well, didn't you ask me to practice calligraphy? I wanted to practice calligraphy, wasn't it?
It happened overnight, and I was afraid that I wouldn't be able to practice well within three months, so I came up with this method. With this thing, I don't need to practice calligraphy, and you can still understand my memorial."
"Oh?" Li Shimin frowned slightly and said, "How do you use this thing?"
"I will demonstrate for you." Li Mu knelt down and picked out a few engraved movable types. It was the first sentence of the Thousand-Character Classic, 'Heaven and earth are black and yellow, and the universe is primitive.' Li Mu laid them out in order, and then returned to the studio to take out the paper and
Ink, apply the ink on the movable type, then cover the paper with the paper, and press it lightly, and the eight characters will be clearly left on the paper.
"This is rubbing!" Li Shimin suddenly realized that although there was no printing in the early Tang Dynasty, inscriptions were popular in the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the technology of rubbing had long been available. Li Shimin pointed at Li Mu and said: "I see you are lazy, so I will let you
When practicing calligraphy, you are just trying to take advantage of others!"
"Your Majesty, you have wronged me!" Li Mu immediately called out Qu and said, "Your Majesty, please forgive me. After I was drunk with wine that day, I came back to reflect on the matter. I feel that your Majesty is right. Cultural and educational matters are also national affairs.
I just thought, what can I do for the sake of culture and education? I have no knowledge of the classics, and it is impossible for me to have as many disciples as Confucius Jijiu. But I am not willing to give up.
After much thought, I came up with this method."
"I believe that if you want to prosper literature and education, the most important thing is 'books'."
"Book?" Li Shimin asked in confusion: "Why did you suddenly mention the book?"
"Your Majesty, do you think that most of the people who passed the imperial examination are nobles? It's because the nobles have received a good education since childhood. They have books at home and can read books when they are still children, while the children from poor families do not.
This condition. If this situation can be changed so that children from poor families can read early, the chances of children from poor families becoming successful will increase."
"This thing I invented can change the dilemma of having to copy books. You see, although these movable types are carved according to the Thousand-Character script, I can change their order and turn them into any article. Just paint them.
With just one brush of ink, you can make as many rubbings as you want. You can rub the Four Books and Five Classics, or you can rub thousands of characters. With this thing, you can break the monopoly of books by the gentry.
, let everyone in the poor families in the world have books to read!"
Li Shimin understood and was shocked. He did not expect that this small movable type could be of such great use and said, "You are absolutely right. Why didn't anyone think of it before?"
Li Ji smiled and said: "This boy is very clever at this. Your Majesty, have you forgotten about the horseshoes?"
"Yes, yes!" Li Shimin said, stroking his hands: "This thing has the same purpose as a horseshoe!"
Changsun Wuji smiled and said: "Your Majesty, I am not mistaken, this boy is indeed a talent. Whoever wants to study in the future must count on him and make a fortune again."
"No, no, no." Li Mu waved his hands repeatedly and said, "You misunderstood me. I didn't intend to make money by printing books."
"Oh?" Li Shimin was quite surprised and said, "Why is this?"
Li Mu Surong said: "Your Majesty, I named this set of things movable type printing. This movable type printing can print a large number of books in a short time. This is a good side, but it also has disadvantages.
On the one hand, Your Majesty, do you think that if someone with evil intentions uses it to print something that is not good for Your Majesty and the Tang Dynasty, and spread it widely, what impact will it have?"
"I believe that the movable type printing technology should be in the hands of the imperial court. The imperial court should set up a special yamen to manage this matter. Whatever your Majesty wants to print, this yamen will be done. Not only can it print books to open up the people's wisdom, but it can also make your majesty
The policies spread all over the world. There is no need to worry about aristocratic families using this technology to confuse people. Only in this way can we make good use of this movable type printing technology and let it reflect its true value."
Li Shimin nodded, looked at Changsun Wuji, and said, "What do the auxiliary machines think?"
When it came to business, Changsun Wuji also became serious, thought for a while, and said: "Your Majesty, although what Li Mu said is correct, the movable type printing technology, like the horseshoe, is very easy to copy. Even if it becomes a yamen specialty
No matter what, I’m afraid it’s difficult to keep it secret.”
Li Mu said: "This is easy to solve. Since it is difficult to keep movable type printing secret, it will not be kept secret. However, it can be passed down to all counties and counties in the world. Anyone who publishes books without permission from the government is considered illegal. If there is any problem among the people,
For printing needs, the government can help with printing. In this way, the court can also get an extra income."
Changsun Wuji nodded and said, "This is a perfect strategy."
Li Shimin was overjoyed and said: "In that case, as you said, we will set up a printing supervisor under your Ministry of Works Department to be responsible for this matter. Come up with a charter and submit it to the Taoist memorial tomorrow. The specific matters will be returned
We need to invite the Prime Minister, the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Civil Affairs, etc. to discuss this together."