Chapter 1483 Printing of Tai Shiming
The technology tree is like solving a math problem. Without any prerequisites, it can be deduced from death to life.
If you want to implement some more advanced things in the Han Dynasty, you often need a lot of preconditions. If you lack one, it seems that you will either get twice the result with half the effort, or backfire.
In the city of Chang''an, a group of artisans was escorted by thirty or forty soldiers in the mansion of General Zhengxi. They arrived at the front yard of the mansion, and then worked together to remove the equipment on the vehicles with the craftsmen, and set up in the front yard. up.
If it is in later generations, everyone knows that movable type printing is more advanced than engraving printing, and it is a higher technological skill. However, when it comes to visual movable type printing, many preconditions are often forgotten...
Like paper...
Like ink...
Another very important point is whether there are social needs...
Tai Shiming can be regarded as a person who has followed Fei Qian for many years, and the key point is that Tai Shiming and Zao only know each other a little bit, and they don''t like to take care of government affairs. They just want to tinker with things they like. Today''s set of equipment was naturally made under the supervision of Tai Shiming.
With Fei Qian''s demand for equipment and the upgrading of soldiers and equipment, Tai Shiming''s position has become more and more important. It is even a bit like a combination of an examiner and a salt and iron officer, but it is not so comprehensive. The feeling of Shaofu.
Tai Shiming has always been obsessed with making new types of equipment because of the constant demands and guidance of General Zhengxi Feiqian on manufacturing technology. For him, the satisfaction of creating a new type of equipment is far greater than the responsibility Official position, so I feel quite happy about it.
This time, Tai Shiming also moved most of the original workshops in Pingyang to Chang''an with Fei Qian. Those who stayed in Pingyang were some members of the Huang clan and a small number of hand-craftsmen, which were basically Huang Yueying''s private workshops. It''s dealt with. In this way, mass-produced equipment and so on can basically be produced in Guanzhong, and fine hand-made workpieces are manufactured in Pingyang. The division of labor between the two will be clearer, and it will not be because of Certain things delay each other.
At present, General Fei Qian, who is conquering the west, 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.
Actually, it is only now that Fei Qian has gradually figured it out. It is simply unrealistic to rely on Confucianism to promote the large-scale dissemination of books...
It’s like asking tinkers to promote large-scale pot-making technology. Confucian people rely on this to survive, so how can they be willing to promote the popularization of the Four Books and Five Classics? It was not until the Tang Dynasty that the imperial examination had become an irreversible trend, and Confucianism gave up the behavior of resting on its laurels.
To implement the imperial examination, the people must have a considerable foundation of literacy, otherwise the imperial examination is just a joke?
In order for the people to have a large base of literacy, a large number of books must be printed and spread out.
To have a large number of books, not only must there be complete printing technology, but also a huge social demand. Since Confucianism cannot provide such a demand, then Feiqian can only rely on his own method to realize it...
Tai Shiming brought this batch of woodblock-printed utensils and books this time.
Although engraving is more backward than movable type, it has inherent advantages over movable type in the promotion of books. At least engraving only needs one carpenter, and it can basically be done. , but if you use movable type, no matter if you use lead, copper, or other metals, or even use clay to fire, etc., the initial threshold is much higher than that of simply using a piece of wood. Therefore, at the beginning, the promotion of movable type Printing is not like engraving.
After all, what Fei Qian pursues is not the convenience of himself alone, but the convenience of knowledge dissemination.
The artisans were busy. Some placed the engraving blocks one by one according to the number, some began to mix the ink with soot and grease, and some hung up the rope to hang the printed paper...
After Pang Tong arrived in Guanzhong, he had never been to Pingyang, so this was the first time he saw such a scene. Naturally, he was very curious, wandering around, looking around, until he accidentally stepped on a carving. The engraving was almost cracked, and then under Tai Shiming''s angry eyes, he shrank his head and returned to Fei Qian''s side.
"It''s time for you to lose weight..." Fei Qian said slowly, and repaired Pang Tong''s knife, "Ordinary people will not be able to crack wood carvings...Look at your belly, no matter how fat you are, you will almost drag it to the ground It''s..."
Pang Tong cupped his belly up subconsciously with both hands, stared at Fei Qian and said, "Nonsense! I''m obviously not fat! This is called being strong! Be strong!"
Fei Qian just touched his belly, which was protruding due to the long-term military travel and fatigue, and did not have time to accumulate fat, and smiled without saying a word.
"Huh!" Pang Tong turned his head away.
Tai Shiming didn''t have time to pay attention to the episode between Fei Qian and Pang Tong. He just stared at the preparation of each process until the last preparation was completed. He ordered the craftsmen to start printing.
The craftsman in charge of printing pressed a piece of engraving, picked up a brush, dipped in the ink made of hempseed oil and soot, and brushed an even layer on the engraving back and forth. At that time, he quickly covered the cut paper on the engraving board, then took a cork stick, and lightly pressed on the paper, so that the paper and the engraving board were in full contact, and the ink was absorbed, and finally, the paper was gently removed from the When the engraving was peeled off, someone took over immediately, and carefully cooled it on the hemp rope, waiting for the ink to dry...
"Oh..." Pang Tong looked at it interestingly, and completely forgot the topic of the stomach before, and couldn''t help but move forward, "It was printed like this? Oh, it is indeed much faster than copying..."
"It was not possible to print in large quantities before, the most important thing is that the materials for making paper were insufficient..." Fei Qian said, "The paper is made of hemp skin, the paper is rough, and the color is gray and black, and it is not easy to bleach. It is not as good as bamboo paper... If Zijing can Cotton was successfully grown to make paper from cotton..."
"Huh..." Pang Tong leaned in front of the paper hanging to dry, looked at the text, and said with some strangeness, "Is this printed... Taoism?"
Fei subtly smiled and remained silent.
Is the woodblock printing technique difficult?
In fact, it is not difficult at all. Even in the Han Dynasty, all the pre-technologies were already complete. Although the quality of paper may not be good, there should be a pass line.
Just like in the Han Dynasty, the printing and ribbon system was already quite mature. No matter whether it was an official, big or small, everyone had a seal handle, and this custom even lasted for thousands of years until later generations, which can prove how deeply rooted this system is in the hearts of the people. Well, take Fei Qian as an example, it basically turns over the stamps every day, but everything that needs to be approved and executed must be stamped with a bang.
Therefore, ink and engraving techniques are already in place. It''s just that the metal printing ribbon of the small printing surface has been replaced by a wooden engraving block of a larger layout.
Tai Shiming, as a relatively mature craftsman manager, naturally knows what kind of wood is the most suitable. Of course, pineapple wood that does not absorb water and is not easy to deform is of course the best, but if it is not available, you can use some boxwood instead. Of course, jujube wood is the worst, and there are many alternatives. After cutting, polishing, oil immersion, drying and other processes, these woods can be used as carving boards.
So, in fact, in the Han Dynasty, it was not difficult at all to introduce woodblock printing. Rare is not technology, but promotion and application, just like guide cars, seismographs, mileage cars, etc., even in later generations, it is not something that an ordinary craftsman can make, but because these things only satisfy It met the needs of very few people and was not needed by the majority of folk sects, so it quickly disappeared into the long river of history, and even left a drop or two of ink in the history books...
Chinese engraving and printing appeared probably in the Tang Dynasty, but this engraving technology was not used to print ordinary literacy books at first, nor was it used to print the Four Books and Five Classics, but was used to print Buddhist scriptures. After all, the Buddhist scriptures, under the constant admiration of the bald people, it seems that anyone who believes in Buddhism must have a copy...
In this way, manual copying with natural light cannot meet the huge demand, so engraving came into being. At the same time, the publication of a large number of Buddhist scriptures did not encounter strong resistance from Confucianism, because in the view of Confucianism, these things are only within the scope of "Zibuyu", and there is nothing to talk about.
I have to say that religion is indeed stronger than Confucianism in terms of being close to the people.
Under Fei Qian''s command, there is Zuo Ci, a great idler, um, a great immortal, plus Zuo Ci is in Hanzhong, it is also in a trance, so taking this opportunity to push a wave of Taoism, naturally it is reasonable things in. The key point is that when Taoist priests teach Taoist scriptures to believers, their patience and thoughtful service are often not possessed by those enlightenment envoys promoted by Feiqian before...
Regarding this point, Fei Qian actually took many detours. Who said that the traveler will definitely be able to find shortcuts to all things?
Among the enlightenment envoys that Fei Qian promoted before, some of them are indeed very good and dedicated to their responsibilities, but there are also a large number of people who come here just to seek better and higher official positions, and their minds are not really used in the aspect of enlightenment. In comparison, these Taoists for religion and belief, especially the Buddhists who came from behind, obviously have greater advantages in terms of grassroots people.
Of course, Feiqian’s grand promotion of engraving and printing is definitely not just for the promotion of Taoism or buddhism. Similarly, apart from popularizing literacy, Feiqian has another deep-seated need .
Eliminate the degree of control over the grassroots by local powers such as gentry, aristocratic families, and rightists within the territory!
And this method does not rely on shouting and shouting to kill, does not require blood to flow into rivers, but can also be carried out by a small engraving block or a piece of paper...
"...This, this is..." Pang Tong turned to the other side, looked at the paper printed on the other side and said, "Is this the Nine Chapter Law? This one is the Yuegong Law? This... Could it be..."
Fei Qian said with a smile: "Nowadays the world is chaotic, the law is corrupt, and the people don''t know what to rely on, so it is time to urgently order the law. It is urgent to revise the Sanchi Law and promulgate the counties..."
When Liu Bang invaded Xianyang, he announced the abolition of Qin''s harsh laws and "three chapters" with the people in Guanzhong.
Later, the simple Three Treaty Agreement could not meet the complex needs of folk production and life, so the "Nine Chapters Law" came into being, and later, there was a new supplement, called "Pong Zhang Law", and later added After Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it became more and more cumbersome. There are not only laws, but also various laws, such as the "Shen Ming Law", "Popular Diet Law", and even the famous "Beauty of the Abdomen". Law"…
These complicated laws, on the one hand, strengthened the centralization of the rulers, and on the other hand, made ordinary people confused. Therefore, Feiqian removed a lot of various messy laws that were added indiscriminately in the late Han Dynasty, and returned to the simplest nine-chapter law. Some supplementary and newly implemented land administration systems use woodblock printing technology to distribute these legal prints to each county.
In this way, even officials who are not proficient in the law, even those inspectors who have retired from the army, can act in accordance with the law. It is much better to restrict the people by clan law.
And these inspections that have obtained law enforcement powers are the embryonic form of the armed police.
At the same time, maintaining law and order is also the common interest of the gentry tyrants everywhere. No matter what, these gentry tyrants do not want their land to be a group of lawless mobs, so to a certain extent these gentry tyrants will support And cooperate with Fei Qian''s part of the work, and when these gentry Haoyou find that their law enforcement and judgment powers are slowly being transferred out, I am afraid that the general trend has become irreversible.
Fei Qian took the printed law in his hand, wrote the eight words "the words of the past, the law of today" on the title page with pen and ink, smiled slightly, and then called for the guards to tell them This book was sent to Longyou by post to Li Ru...
Perhaps among the many counselors, only Li Ru knows the profound meaning of Fei Qian’s book of law the most. Well, maybe Jia Xu can also guess a bit. As for the fat hair-shedding little Phoenix...
Fei Qian looked at Pang Tong with a smile, and said, "Shi Yuan, it is your business to promote the law in this pass..."
"Huh?" Pang Tong was taken aback for a moment, then pointed to his nose, "My business?"
"Of course, could it be Zijian''s business?" Fei Qian said with a laugh.
Tai Shiming also laughed, saying that he only cares about printing and doesn’t care about other things...
"Why worry?" Fei Qian patted Pang Tong''s shoulder with a smile, and said, "I told Wen Zheng once before, and I will tell you again this time...don''t let you do everything. We have to divide it up, otherwise how will the subordinates grow and how can they be independent..."
Pang Tong snorted and said, "Is this the reason why you don''t do any work, my lord, but let us do it?"
"Uh..." Fei Qian quickly denied it, but his defense was a little pale, "I''m busy too..."
(end of this chapter)