The Lone Star of the Tang Dynasty

The old man of the Cui family was not carried away by the anger of the crowd, he said lightly: "The rebellion is not concerned for the time being, but we have our own ways to deal with this imperial examination." Do you know how much a book costs?".

Everyone discussed the price of the book, but they couldn't guess it accurately, until the old man of the Cui family revealed the answer: "Each book costs about five taels to ten taels of silver." "

"So cheap?!" everyone was stunned, unbelievable that the way of a saint was so cheap. "Doesn't this mean that more mud legs can come into contact with the learning of the sages?"

The head of the Cui family smiled and said nothing, and finally pointed out: "Although five taels of silver is not much, for most people, it is already the cost of food and accommodation for half a year. Nowadays, the people have a little more money, and many families will buy books for their children. Therefore, we need to start by controlling the circulation of books and education, so as to prevent the people at the bottom from changing their fate through the imperial examination. "

"Oh, what is Brother Cui's plan?" everyone asked for advice, and they were all attracted by the proposal of the old man of the Cui family.

The

old man of the Cui family looked at him brightly, and said slowly: "Paper is the foundation of making books, and most of the paper industry in Datang is controlled by my Cui family. Today, I plan to take advantage of this imperial examination to raise the price of paper, so that the price of books will naturally rise. "

When the old people heard this, their eyes lit up, and they quickly understood the logic: the price of paper rose, the cost of books increased, and the price of books rose, and the people at the bottom naturally could not afford the high cost of buying books.

Everyone was amazed by the wisdom of the old man of the Cui family: "Brother Cui is really hidden, and he can even think of using his own industry to deal with Li Erxiao'er's trick." "

They believe that the Cui family's move is not only for the interests of the family, but also to maintain the power position of the family, which can be described as killing two birds with one stone.

"Brother Cui, although you are a businessman, you are concerned about the community, and you will not hesitate to come up with this strategy for Kuang Fu Chaogang, which is really rare!" The old men praised the old man of the Cui family for having the demeanor of a national soldier and being a real person who understands righteousness.

......

After taking a few sips of the drink in the cup, Li Changge breathed a sigh of relief and twisted his stiff neck.

After several days of studying and planning affairs, the physical and mental pressure made him a little unbearable, and he couldn't help but secretly think to himself: Why do you still work so hard when you are already rich and free? Could it be that the "involution" disease that modern people often say is not committed? Accustomed to a busy life, now I feel uncomfortable when I am idle.

At this time, Mian'er gently pushed the door and entered, entering Li Changge's study, her gentle voice broke the silence in the room: "Childe, the opening of Chang'an shop is going well, and the recent flow of people in the market has been full of people, and when I met with Ying'er yesterday, she was also full of praise for the location of the store." "

Li Changge responded with a smile: "I have long expected this, Chang'an, as the core of the Tang Dynasty, will naturally attract a large number of scholars and people as soon as the news of the imperial examination comes out." He knew that he had recently arranged for Ying'er to open a store in Chang'an, which was based on the opportunity of the imminent reform of the imperial examination system.

Recently, the Tang Emperor issued an edict for the imperial examination, which surprised Li Changge.

Not long ago, he talked to Lao Li about the imperial examination, but he didn't expect it to be implemented so soon.

What is even more surprising is that the newly promulgated imperial examination syllabus clearly states that among the six Confucian arts - etiquette, music, archery, royalty, calligraphy, and mathematics, mathematics accounts for the highest score.

Li Changge muttered in his heart, could it be that his own crossing has caused some kind of butterfly effect? Such a change seems to reveal a trace of mystery and strangeness.

In Li Changge's view, although Li Shimin's decision to promote the imperial examination and highlight mathematics subjects was unexpected, it was also logical when you think about it. Ancient monarchs did fear that the knowledge of mathematics would be used by the people to incite rebellion, but wise rulers knew that as long as the country was stable and the people lived and worked in peace, learning some mathematics would not lead to any real threat. Li Shimin was obviously not worried about the open rebellion of the vassal kings, but worried about their power tricks, so opening up the imperial examination and emphasizing practical skills education could attract talents to the imperial court and further weaken the power of the vassal kings.

And Li Changge keenly grasped the business opportunities brought by this change.

After the opening of the imperial examination, the number of readers is bound to increase, and the demand for books and paper will increase significantly, which is undoubtedly a major benefit to the media and paper industry. With his mastery of papermaking technology, Li Changge quickly made a decision to let Ying'er go to Chang'an to open a store in order to seize market opportunities.

Although Mian'er failed to become the shopkeeper, she had no objection to this, and was only willing to serve Li Changge wholeheartedly.

Li Changge understood Mian'er's ability and potential, and he arranged for Mian'er to take charge of a new task - training retired maids to equip them with basic literacy and business literacy. Because these maids have served in large families, they not only have a good sense of service, but also have a wide range of network resources. Although most of them are uneducated, in Li Changge's eyes, they can master common Chinese characters within half a month with simple training through pinyin cards.

Mian'er was surprised to hear that Li Changge's new project was papermaking, and she suggested that it could be purchased directly from the market. However, Li Changge pointed out that the existing rice paper on the market has many problems, such as ink staining, uneven thickness, easy breakage, etc., and is not an ideal choice. The reason why he asked Mian'er to participate in this matter is because in addition to being nimble with his hands and feet, Mian'er also has a certain writing experience and cultural foundation, and can understand and improve the papermaking process.

"How is this possible?" Mian'er was a little unconvinced by Li Changge's statement that all the rice paper in the world was flawed.

Li Changge knew in his heart that although Mian'er was a gift from a big family because of his family's downfall, he was not an ordinary maid. She has been educated for several years, not only proficient in housework, but also quite accomplished in various talents such as piano, chess, calligraphy and painting. In rice paper alone, Mian'er has seen no less than 20 types, because in her early years as a potential master of the house, she had to learn to distinguish between all kinds of valuables, including those that were important to give or exchange.

When Li Changge mentioned that he wanted to make an unprecedented paper, Mian'er was about to express his opinions with his knowledge and insight, but Li Changge had already predicted her intentions, and waved his hand lightly to signal her to be calm: "What you said is right, but it's not ......

."

"Childe, Mian'er hasn't had time to say her thoughts yet. Mian'er interrupted him suspiciously.

Li Changge responded with a smile: "I know, even if you didn't say it, I understand your concern." But the paper I'm going to create is definitely better than anything you've ever seen before. "

When Mian'er heard this, her eyes couldn't help but widen, and her surprise was beyond words. Is this a challenge to the world's fame? This is not a trivial matter. You know, it is understandable that novelties such as penicillin, which are popular in Chang'an stores, are widely sought after because of their originality and practicality. However, since the improvement of the process of paper by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty, after thousands of years of development, countless kinds of extremely precious rice paper have been derived. Behind every famous paper is the painstaking inheritance and wisdom crystallization of generations of craftsmen

Despite her misgivings, Mian'er still complied with her master's wishes, because she knew that Li Changge was not a person who came out of nowhere.

As a result, a bold experiment on innovating papermaking technology was quietly launched under the leadership of Li Changge.