Forbidden City, Fengtian Palace.
Under the watchful eye of Ming Emperor Zhu Jianyan, two young officials from the Ministry of Rites demonstrated the use of a typewriter on the spot.
Come and try it quickly. 】
Putting the display location in Fengtian Hall shows how seriously the Ming Dynasty paid this matter.
The two officials printed two simple documents on the spot, and Huang Yue, the Minister of Rites, sent them to Zhu Jianyan.
The typewriter used for demonstration is engraved with "square" characters.
The square body was formed in the middle of the Ming Dynasty in history. It was born under the increasing demand for printing. It is a printed Chinese character that is as convenient as possible for engraving on woodblocks.
In the Qing Dynasty, it was named "Song Style" by Kangxi.
Japan introduced this font from the Ming Dynasty, so it has always been called "Ming Dynasty style".
There is no Qing Dynasty in this world, so the Cube Ti style was not renamed Song Ti, and it was still called Cube Ti style.
If the Ming Dynasty people of this era mentioned "Song style", they were actually referring to the fonts commonly used in the Southern Song Dynasty.
After the square style of the Qing Dynasty was called Song style, the Song style of the Ming Dynasty was called "Old Song" or "Old Song".
In modern times, some people imitated this old Song Dynasty and the old Song Dynasty and made a modern "fake Song style".
Corresponding to the square body is the "soft body", which is the "kai style" used for handwriting.
Zhu Jianyan looked at the two pieces of printing paper. The handwriting on them was quite clear, and he nodded with great satisfaction:
"Okay, that's right. The words typed in this way can be as clear as printing, and can avoid many omissions.
"But how fast is this typing? How much can you do per minute now?"
Huang Yue said excitedly:
“Now, several people who have specially practiced using typewriters can already do 40 words per minute.
“But now they still have to stop and think occasionally, which wastes a lot of time.
"When they are fully proficient in using it and are focused on it, it will be possible to do a hundred per minute."
The Minister of Industry on the other side saw Huang Yue saying this and quickly reminded:
"Your Majesty, Uncle Zong, the typewriter has a complex structure, and the internal structure requires physical operation.
“If the key speed is too fast, the machine may not have time to respond, and the words will not be printed correctly.
"So the speed cannot be increased infinitely. I think that reaching up to sixty is the limit.
“Unless His Highness Prince Dashi’s complete design is completed.
“The so-called electronic computer is used to directly output the code, and the electric motor is used to directly drive the axis of the typewriter to move.
"In that case, the printing efficiency may be increased to more than a hundred per minute."
Zhu Jianyan also understood, but he was still very satisfied:
"The speed is already very fast. The key is to be precise, clear, and convenient for dissemination and small-scale mimeographing..."
Mimeography, a technique of printing using wax paper, can be accomplished using simple equipment.
It was often used in education and training in the last century to produce batches of materials and test papers relatively quickly.
However, the fonts written directly by hand are not clear, and printed manuscripts can solve this problem.
Several ministers around him also nodded.
The most important use of a small device that can quickly print standard characters is not just the printing itself.
Equally important is the ability to quickly create mimeograph templates.
Those Chinese character printers that are like small movable type printing machines can only select and press one by one on a large plate. The "printing" speed is even slower than handwriting.
But they have occupied a large market for a long time, and the main reason is to make mimeograph templates.
Although "printing" is very slow, after one set is completed, dozens of copies can be quickly mimeographed, and the overall efficiency is increased.
Zhu Jingyuan's invention is actually more important than he thought.
Perhaps even more important than all other inventions of Zhu Jingyuan.
It is about the inheritance of civilization.
Traditional Ming officials and literati could not imagine the trend of abolishing Chinese characters in another world, but they understood its importance.
They will even list this as an important achievement of their tenure.
Even Emperor Zhu Jianyan had this idea.
Zhu Zhongliang has achieved unprecedented martial arts, which will give him a very important "civilization".
Of course, Zhu Jingyuan deserves the greatest credit, and this credit will once again add to Zhu Jingyuan's weight in Ming Dynasty.
And Zhu Jingyuan's contribution to "literary governance" goes far beyond this.
The device displayed today is not just a typewriter, but also another equally important invention:
Movie.
The typewriter display was completed, and workers and servants immediately began to clean up the place.
On the side of Fengtian Hall, a huge white curtain was hung.
A complex set of mechanical playback equipment is set up on the other side.
It includes a projector for playing film, a phonograph for playing recordings, and supporting amplifiers and speakers.
Yes, the film equipment directly planned by Zhu Jingyuan was sound from the beginning.
Sound may not have been the most important thing to European and American inventors in history.
But it was different for Ming Dynasty, the inheritor of Eastern civilization.
Because the earliest movies of both parties, of course, the content planned to be broadcast was also completely different.
The early movies in history just shot some scenes of life.
What Ming Dynasty prepared was "The Minister of Rites lectures on the Analects of Confucius".
When everything was ready, the projection light came on, Zhu Jianyan gave the order, and the film began to rotate.
Black and white images appear on the curtain in the wide area.
The image of Huang Yue, the Minister of Rites, bowed his hands in front of him, and then began to speak the simplest Analects of Confucius.
Confucius said: "It is not pleasant to learn and practice it from time to time..."
Zhu Jianyan and the surrounding ministers have long been extremely familiar with this passage.
But at this time, they all calmed down very patiently and watched Huang Yue's simplest explanation on the screen.
Officials of the Ming Dynasty have seen dynamic pictures and continuous switching of images, so they understand the principle of movies.
But at this moment, when the dynamic picture was amplified on the screen and played together with the amplified sound, the effect produced made them feel unprecedented shock.
The first test, and it was mainly a demonstration and test, plus the cost of film and recording equipment was very high, so the length of the film was very short, only five minutes in total.
The playback ended quickly, but the silence lasted for a while.
It wasn't until the staff turned off the projection light that Zhu Jianyan couldn't help but say:
"Okay...if the cost of this facility can be reduced, if it can be narrowed and simplified, it can be used for education.
“Let all common people and children in all corners of the world, in overseas countries, hear the explanations of the best teachers.
"My son Jingyuan is truly a genius, truly a genius..."
The surrounding parks also followed suit.
After the movie display was completed, Zhu Jianyan led the officials to the main hall of Fengtian Hall.
Zhu Jianyan did not want to restore the "imperial gate to listen to politics", but wanted to try out the amplification equipment installed here.
The movie has already been dubbed with sound, but there are still obvious differences from amplifying direct live speech.
Zhu Jianyan stood in front of the microphone, played the content of the video just now, and directly spoke the Analects of Confucius:
"Do review after learning……"
The huge sound echoed throughout the Fengtian Temple Square.
Zhu Jianyan himself suddenly smiled and said:
“If Emperor Taizu had had something like this at that time, he would have really been able to work here every day.
"Call all the officials from the capital here. This will also allow everyone to hear what Emperor Taizu said."
Zhu Jianyan's two sentences spread throughout the square again.
The surrounding ministers couldn't help but smile, and at the same time, they subconsciously sighed in their hearts. Fortunately, Emperor Shizu had reformed.
Otherwise, I would get up in the middle of the night every day, come to the palace to attend court in the dark, and spend the cold winter and heat in this large square.
The key point is that the officials standing in the back cannot hear what is said in front at all, and they are just there to show off.
Thinking about that kind of life is too painful.
His Majesty Emperor Shizu was really so considerate of the officials. After the Renwu restructuring, the officials only went to court at nine o'clock every day, and they sat in the main hall for meetings, and only the chief officials of each yamen were required to participate.
The life of officials now is much more comfortable than before the Chongzhen Dynasty.
The officials were recalling the bitterness and sweetness in their hearts, and Zhu Jianyan continued to express his thoughts:
“Although this combination of signal amplifier and speaker is not as capable of recording and recording as in movies, the structure is obviously much simpler, and it should be much easier to make and move.
"You can teach and educate hundreds of people. It is also a powerful tool for educating people and commanding soldiers.
"Both of these devices must be optimized and simplified as much as possible and popularized as soon as possible."
The surrounding officials immediately woke up and responded in unison:
"According to the order."
