Chapter 50 Printing Problems
He Xi said: "Brother, neither the Ministry of Industry nor the printing place within the university can print it."
The prince said: "Why do you say this?"
He Xi didn't say anything else, and casually pulled out a book from the Prince's bookshelf. It was a volume from the Historical Records, and it was densely packed with annotations. He Xi said: "Brother, there are 130 volumes of historical records with more than 500,000 words. This volume is less than 10,000 words, so it is so thick. And what eldest brother wants to write in the newspaper is probably more than 10,000 words." .Even if there are four pages. Both front and back have to be printed, it is estimated that not many words can be printed."
A volume of historical records is roughly as thick as a little finger. In later generations it would only be a few pages of words, but at this time it is so thick. But there is no way. The printed fonts are all centimeters square. There are only dozens or hundreds of words on a page. More is impossible.
The prince still didn't realize the seriousness of the problem and said, "In this case, just one booklet. Anyway, one book every ten days, which is not much every year."
He Xi was stunned.
At this point, He Xi suddenly felt that she had some preconceptions.
Yes, according to He Xi, a newspaper is just a newspaper, the kind of big paper that can be opened and closed. But in the eyes of the prince, it was different. There is no specific form for Di Bao, and many of them are handwritten. So it doesn’t matter whether the newspaper is in the form of a piece of paper or a book.
He Xi said: "Not only here, but the books here by Your Highness are all high-quality. Even if they are not ancient books from the Tang and Song Dynasties, they are all carefully carved by Ouchi. If printed with movable type, it will not work. There are often falling off, ink leakage, etc. Problem. And if engraving is used, the cost will be too high."
The prince said, "Cost? This is a sharp tool for education. It doesn't matter if the cost is higher. At worst, it will cost tens of thousands more taels of silver every year. Don't worry, I am willing to spend money on something that is really useful. Your Majesty is also willing to spend money."
He Xi had a headache. He felt that he couldn't match the prince's brain circuit.
In fact, the biggest problem is that, in He Xi's view, newspapers should be distributed on a large scale. Tens of thousands of copies are released at one time, and they are released every day, even millions, tens of millions of copies. An issuance of this scale is very cost-sensitive. Not a tiny bit too much.
In the case of the prince, it is a weapon of enlightenment, a magic weapon used by the court to control and influence officials. In the Prince's case, the circulation scale of this newspaper has been determined. It will not be expanded. In the Ming Dynasty, there were more than a thousand counties, hundreds of prefectures, 13 provinces, dozens of governors, and more than 300 guard posts, plus the Jiuqing yamen of the six ministries and five military governors of the imperial court, as well as yamen at all levels, and various Adding up the family's distinguished family, senior officials, etc., this would require several thousand copies. Plus loss replenishment, distribution to foreign countries, etc. Ten thousand servings are enough.
Even over time, it can be determined to be within a few thousand copies.
In this way, the cost does not matter. It should be noted that Zhu Yuanzhang did not print a lot of books and distributed them to the people for free to popularize the law. Even summoning social studies professors from various places to promote social studies requires money.
The prince has seen this kind of thing too often. I don't think it's anything.
Another problem is that although the prince is said to be very frugal and spends money arbitrarily, the environment in which the prince grew up is after all, Zhu Yuanzhang has already gained power. The prince only worried about big money and the country's expenses, but never worried about small money.
He also has no concrete concept of money and is stingy in spending money and protection on state affairs. What is the concept of tens of thousands taels per year?
More importantly, the court has money.
Yes, Zhu Yuanzhang has been in business for more than ten years, and the current political situation of the Ming Dynasty can make all the emperors of the Ming Dynasty cry.
He Xi adjusted his thoughts and said: "Brother, if Your Highness feels that newspapers only exist in the officialdom, then I won't say anything. But if Your Highness feels that the potential of this newspaper is far beyond what it is now. Then please Just a word from me.”
The prince said, "That's what I said. You and I, brothers, just say what you say. Why do you need to do this? As the eldest brother, why don't I let you speak? If this is the case, my sister Anqing will not be able to forgive me."
He Xi said: "The most important role of a newspaper is to convey sentiments from above to below, and to communicate sentiments from below. According to the eldest brother's opinion, this is only a message from above, and it reaches officials, not the common people. But if you want to make the imperial court's will, Down to the level of ordinary people, a few thousand copies, ten thousand, are simply not enough. The elder brother just said, tens of thousands taels, or even hundreds of thousands taels. I think the cost has been estimated. If the score of this newspaper is increased by ten Times, or even a hundred times. The cost cannot be afforded by the court."
"So, I think it is necessary to innovate technically."
The prince pondered for a moment and said: "You are big enough and tempting enough. It is a very good idea to communicate between Yin and Yang, from the ninth level to the common people. But can it really be done?"
The monarch is the yang of the highest yang, and the people are the most humble and belong to the yin. The communication between yin and yang is about the court and the people. In the thinking of ancient people, the theory of yin and yang and the five elements are almost everywhere. If you don't study it, you won't understand some words at all.
Fortunately, He Xi has gained some experience over this period of time, and as long as he doesn't make any allusions that are too remote, he can probably understand what they mean. It can be regarded as an escape from illiteracy.
He Xi said: "Actually, I am already doing it."
The prince said: "Then go and have a look."
He Xi said: "Let's see?" This was somewhat beyond He Xi's expectation, because the prince shouldered a lot of government affairs and was not much easier than Zhu Yuanzhang. Generally, they will not leave the palace.
The prince said, "What? You don't dare to let me see it?"
He Xi said: "No, His Highness is busy with everything. He didn't expect that such a trivial matter would alarm His Highness."
The prince said meaningfully: "What is a big thing in the world and what is a small thing? Everything my father tells me is a big thing."
Since the prince mentioned this. He Xi led the prince directly.
Fortunately, the Ministry of Industry is not far from the East Palace. The time will come in a moment.
Although He Xi has never held a position in the Ministry of Industry, He Xi's influence on lower-level craftsmen has always been there. The key lies in Ge Tiangong. Even when Ge Tiangong was studying in the Imperial College, he still held the rank of ninth-grade official.
Ge Tiangong only undertakes some tasks assigned by his superiors. Other than that, leave him alone. Rather than saying that his immediate superior is in the Ministry of Works, it would be better to say that his immediate superior is He Xi.
He Xi was a little uncomfortable at first. Later I got used to it.
Understand the difference between ancient times and modern times. The modern administrative system of various departments is very complete. Even if you give private goods to others because of your power, you still have to cover it up because it is a mistake. But in ancient times, it was almost a common phenomenon for the lower government offices to provide private goods to high-ranking officials.
It's an unspoken rule.
And what He Xi wants to do is not private work. For what he wants to do, Ge Tiangong can communicate with the Ministry of Works and allocate funds from the Ministry of Works. It can be seen that the above has been greeted. He Xi naturally did his part.
In the final analysis, this is a difference in the underlying logic of the country. The country of later generations is for the whole people and is a common world. Therefore, it is against discipline to do personal things for high-ranking officials. Today's world is a private world and a world under the Zhu family. As Zhu Yuanzhang's son-in-law, He Xi is naturally at the top of the country. Doing private work for him does not violate the underlying logic of the country, and is even reasonable.
He Xi brought the prince to the Arms Bureau of the Ministry of Industry. Ge Tiangong, Ding Xian, and a kind of craftsman had already arrived. If you salute and say hello, there is no need to mention it.
He Xi went straight to the point and said, "How is the printing press I want?"
Ge Tiangong said, "Sir, it's almost done. The general framework has been completed. There are only some minor problems that are still being debugged."
He Xi turned around and said, "Your Highness, please come this way? Let's go take a look. There is some mess in front, Your Highness, please be careful."
The prince said: "Don't underestimate Gu. Gu is not a squeamish person. There is nothing you can't see. Just go."
He Xi took the prince and walked around the two courtyards. As soon as he entered, he saw a strange machine in the middle of the courtyard, and there were many messy parts around the machine. There were also all kinds of papers and inks, and it was a complete mess.
