Guan Yu has no intention of looking down upon Jiang Dong now.
And since the battle in Jingnan, Guan Yu couldn't take any chances. He was very aware of Sun Quan's insatiable greed for Jingzhou, and he also understood that the so-called alliance was just a stopgap measure because Cao Cao was too powerful.
Therefore, in fact, at this time, Guan Yu did not need Zhang Xi to remind him, and he never relaxed his vigilance towards Jiang Dong.
As soon as Zhang Xi saw Guan Yu's attitude, he knew that he didn't need to say more. After drinking New Year's greetings with the second master, he went home to be with his wife.
In the middle of winter, even officials and nobles are reluctant to go out unless necessary.
But, sometimes this "necessity" will always come to your door.
The first lunar month had not yet passed, and someone came to visit Zhang Xi's house.
The visitor was Sima Hui's book boy. The purpose of the visit was to invite Zhang Xi to Sima Hui's house. Sima Hui said he wanted to discuss academic issues with Zhang Xi.
Zhang Xi was puzzled. He was from a poor family and had not read the "Book of Rites", a family biography. What kind of knowledge would a famous scholar like Sima Hui discuss with him? !
Nonsense? ! I am good at this.
But if a great scholar comes to invite you, you still have to give face and refuse to go.
And there are advantages to going there. If word of this gets out and all the great scholars of the world discuss knowledge with Zhang Xi, Zhang Xi's reputation will increase by at least five percentage points.
So, Zhang Xi took Xiao Qibao and big and small packages of gifts and went to visit her.
Arriving at Sima Hui's mansion, Zhang Xi not only saw Sima Hui, but also representatives from the four Nanjun aristocratic families: Pang, Huang, Liao, and Li.
Moreover, it was the head of the family who came in person, and everyone on the ground in Jingzhou was stamping their feet and trembling. Zhang Xi did not dare to neglect, saluting and saying hello to everyone.
Then, Sima Hui sat in the main seat and really started to discuss academic issues.
Zhang Xi was confused by the citation of scriptures and had no idea what these people were talking about.
But it's amazing. In the past, in this situation, aristocratic families would show some disdain. After all, Zhang Xi is so "ignorant and unskilled" that it is normal to be ridiculed on the spot. Expressing disdain is considered normal. Be self-restrained.
But this time, the heads of the four major families and Sima Hui were smiling from beginning to end, and did not mean to despise Zhang Xi at all.
Zhang Xi was sitting and listening to the lecture. When he heard that his legs were going numb, Sima Hui laughed and said, "Recently, I came across some works by great scholars from Xichuan. Hui studied them day and night, and he benefited a lot. All the gentlemen are here today, Hui is also interested in asking for advice and asking you to read the masterpieces of Confucian scholars from Xichuan, I wonder if that’s okay?!”
The heads of the four major aristocratic families also agreed, but Zhang Xi was stunned for a moment.
Aren't the works of people from Yizhou just the several large boxes of books that I sent some time ago? !
Suddenly Zhang Xi's spirit was shaken, thinking that Sima Hui was going to advertise and fire the first shot for the Yuelu Academy's signboard.
But then, Zhang Xi realized something was wrong.
Sima Hui ordered his people to put out the boxes for the books, revealing the paper books. Everyone from the four great families was "excited in admiration".
I admire this book made of paper. It is easy to carry and neatly printed. It is really a rare product.
Well, in theory, this reaction is not wrong, but the acting skills of these people are too fake. They say "wonderful, wonderful", but in fact, no one has this kind of emotion in their eyes. from.
Zhang Xi did a little reasoning and figured it out - these people must have seen these paper books in advance, and they have already experienced "wonderful and wonderful".
In fact, Zhang Xi was right. These people had indeed read these books.
On the fifth day of the first lunar month, Sima Hui organized a party. On the one hand, he wanted to maintain relations with the aristocratic families in Jingzhou. On the other hand, he also got a new book and wanted to show it off.
After all, Sima Hui was just a celebrity, not the head of a powerful family, and the issues he considered were not that far-reaching.
But when the invited aristocratic families saw Sima Hui's entire box of paper books, the scene was so quiet that it could scare people to death.
Sima Hui knew that making books with paper would have a greater impact on the aristocratic family, but he did not expect that it would be so big.
After asking Sima Hui for permission, the aristocratic families looked through the books. The first thing they noticed was not the content in the books, but the exquisite layout and uniform fonts. This was another even more incredible thing.
No matter how skilled a person is in calligraphy, it is impossible to keep the same fonts when copying a book. Moreover, the fonts in these books are stiff, full of craftsmanship, and soulless. It is obviously impossible to be handwritten.
The aristocratic families thought of too many things after reading this book, and they had no intention of discussing academic issues with Sima Hui.
After finding out that the source of these books was Yizhou and Chengdu, a group of aristocratic families fell silent, and the literary meeting naturally broke up.
After the aristocratic families figured out the source of the book and realized that this was Liu Bei's intentional act, they knew that there was nothing they could do to prevent this from happening.
After returning home, the Nanjun aristocratic families who had the ability all sent their servants to Yizhou to find out the truth about the paper, and asked the servants to understand the situation as soon as possible at all costs.
After going back and forth, I don’t know how many horses were killed, but I finally figured out everything in less than a month.
Of course, there are people who can outrun horses and travel from Yizhou to Jingzhou in one month, that is, the four major families mentioned above. After all, some of these people are rich and have enough connections in Yizhou, and their official positions are not low. Can get a lot of inside information.
Generally speaking, even if an aristocratic family sends someone to Yizhou, not to mention wandering around on the road, even if they get to Chengdu, they still have to inquire for some time before they can grasp the basic information.
The heads of the four major aristocratic families almost made similar judgments immediately after receiving the returns.
Since Liu Bei is fully promoting paper, it cannot always be implemented in Yizhou. Sooner or later it will be promoted to Jingzhou.
Since this matter is unavoidable, what the family has to consider now is how to do what is best for their family.
Families that adhere to the old and conservative tend to have no great future. Even though the aristocratic families usually pay attention to ancient etiquette, when it comes to being the best at both ends and acting according to the situation, this group of aristocratic families are the best.
Moreover, the aristocratic families all have the same idea - whenever possible, paper must be in their own hands. It must not be easily lost among the people, and it must not be allowed to let their family heirlooms become unusable even for the children of poor families. Can be read easily.
So, the four major aristocratic families held a meeting, exchanged information with each other, reconstructed the whole thing, and understood one thing - all of this was Zhang Yuanchang's conspiracy.
Now look back and see that Yuelu Academy, which Zhang Yuanchang advocated for building, is waiting for us here, right? !
He is not stupid, and Zhang Xi’s thoughts are actually not difficult to guess. Zhang Xi just took advantage of the inconvenience of communication these days and created an information gap.
When everyone has equal information, if they really want to play tricks, can Zhang Xi deceive them? !
So, the four major aristocratic families met with each other, figured out the actual situation, weighed the pros and cons, and made the same decision almost at the same time - since the matter is irreversible, then think about how to use this Things, let’s seek benefits for ourselves.
First of all, it is necessary to take the distribution rights of paper and the printing rights of engraving and printing into one's own hands.
It's not that these aristocratic families don't want to master the manufacturing skills, it's really because they can't do it. According to the information provided by Zhuge Liang, the son-in-law of the Huang family, Liu Bei will really fall out if anyone cares about this matter.
Since the technology cannot be completely in hand, it is at least necessary to control the popular channels of this technology first. On the one hand, it can ensure the advantageous position of the aristocratic families. On the other hand, it can also expand the influence of the family in Jingzhou before other aristocratic families. .
Therefore, the four major aristocratic families found Sima Hui together, asked Sima Hui to organize such a literary meeting, and invited Zhang Xi.
We all found out that Zhang Xi is the bastard who contributed papermaking and woodblock printing. This bastard has a very high status in front of Liu Bei and is the founder of the craft. If his recommendation is passed, the four major aristocratic families can represent Jingzhou. In terms of paper distribution and printing on the ground, the status of the four major aristocratic families will definitely be maintained or even improved to the next level.
As for what other aristocratic families have to do with us? !
The Huang family said that my family is very influential in Wuling County, and the paper distribution in Wuling County should be left to our Huang family.
The Liao family said that we are related by marriage to the Pan family and can cooperate with the Pan family to represent Lingling County’s paper distribution rights.
The Pang family said that we have taken care of Nanjun. Do you have any objections? !
The Li family is the only one left. The Li family is depressed. They are the smallest of the four major families. Good places can't compete with these big families. After thinking about it, I can only say, if it doesn't work, why don't we go to Yidu County to get close to Meng Da? !
In this way, the four major aristocratic families divided up the agency rights of the four counties in Jingzhou in front of Zhang Xi. Zhang Xi said, "I haven't said anything yet?" !
What to say? !
The four major aristocratic families in turn questioned Zhang Xi. They were all under the rule of Uncle Liu Huang. How come his Yizhou aristocratic family could represent this paper, but my Jingzhou aristocratic family could not? !
What can Zhang Xi answer? !
The answer is nothing.
Say no? !
That's out of mind, just promoting paper on paper and leveraging the family's right to interpret classics.
Say yes? !
Liu Bei didn't even say it was okay, so why should you say it was okay? !
So regarding this matter, Zhang Xi said that he would report to the Lord and ask the Lord to make a decision.
The four major aristocratic families breathed a sigh of relief and nodded in agreement - this is what these people actually want.
Only then did Zhang Xi realize that he seemed to have fallen into a pit.
If these aristocratic families went to Liu Bei to talk about this matter themselves, Liu Bei might have to consider whether doing so would expand the influence of the four major aristocratic families and lead to instability in Jingzhou.
But if Zhang Xi takes the initiative to report to Liu Bei that there are four aristocratic families in Jingzhou who want to represent Jingzhou's paper and printing publishing rights, then Liu Bei will most likely not refuse because of Zhang Xi's contribution.
This is simply asking Zhang Xi to use his credibility with Liu Bei to endorse these four major families.
Damn it, these old foxes... Zhang Xi has to find a way to at least get some benefits back.
Then Zhang Xi mentioned the difficulties in building Yuelu Academy and the lack of craftsmen and manpower. The four major aristocratic families said, is this a big deal? !
Repair it, repair it immediately, repair it in the beginning of spring.
Zhang Xi can leave this matter alone and leave it to the four major aristocratic families. He promises to build both the library pavilion and the courtyard, and strive to complete it before the end of this year.
Zhang Xi suddenly understood that he had been careless and had lowered his conditions.
(End of chapter)
