When Li Zhi resigned, he had worked in the Nanjing Ministry of Justice for more than two years. Because he was an upright and efficient official, he had quite an official reputation at this time and stood out even more among the Nanjing official circles.
Lin Yuntong, the Minister of Punishment in Nanjing, asked someone to persuade him: "Why not wait for a few months? When the current exam is over, it will not be too late to leave after the imperial court may commend him."
Li Zhi replied with a letter, thanking Lin Yuntong, and stated his thoughts: "Living here without his appointment is an unofficial official position, which Zhi would not dare to do; being full of gratitude is greedy for honor, and Zhi does not do it; If one hears a reputation in the court and then goes away, it is to catch the name, but it cannot be done by Zhi. If you go away, you will go away, so how can you care about anything else?"
Lin Yun has the same name as Ruyu and his nickname is Tuizhai. Already in his seventies, he had been petitioning for an official position since the fourth year of Longqing's reign. At that time, he submitted five memorials in a row before he was approved. But this year he was reinstated by the imperial court and appointed to the Nanjing Ministry of Punishment. He rejected it several times and had no choice but to take up the post.
After seeing Li Zhi's letter, Lin Yuntong appreciated and sympathized with it. He attached a memorial to the imperial court with the opinions of the Nanjing Ministry of Punishment, allowing him to resign. At the same time, he himself wrote another letter requesting to become an official.
This time Mr. Tuizhi took advantage of Li Zhi - Zhang Juzheng had absolutely no reason to allow Li Zhi to resign and let a man in his seventies continue to work. Soon the court's reply came and the two resignations were approved together.
Lin Yuntong's approval to become an official was different from Li Zhi's resignation. Retired veteran cadres enjoyed a set of benefits similar to Chiyi, and there was no shortage of rewards. In comparison, Li Zhi was much more embarrassed. He didn't say anything, and was looked upon with sympathy by his colleagues and friends as "Come and see a lunatic." After all, he was close to the fourth rank for his reputation as a scholar, which already made people admire him.
After completing the resignation procedures, Li Zhi felt so lost again. He said to Feng Bangning: "I am afraid of the constraints of being in an official position, but I am reluctant to leave the official position in my heart. I suffer both externally and internally. I am a person who will always be miserable."
Feng Bangning made a comforting expression and said: "Brother, resigning from office is different from being dismissed from office. There is still a day to come back after being dismissed from office. If you resign in your prime, there will be no chance of coming back again in the future, so don't worry."
Li Zhi laughed angrily, glared at Feng Bangning and said, "Are you trying to comfort me?"
Feng Bangning pushed him onto the carriage and called: "Brother, stop talking nonsense, this newspaper office is waiting for you to open." After saying that, he quickly told the coachman to move quickly.
The daily newspaper office is opposite Qingliu Bookstore. It used to be a bookstore. Because the boss saved some real estate and returned to his hometown to become a squire, Feng Bangning bought it when it was sold.
When Li Zhi arrived, he saw two tall horse-tying stones outside the gate facing the street. The black gates were inlaid with large copper nails, and they were neatly decorated everywhere.
When you walk in, you can see that the large house on the third floor covers an area of nearly four or five acres. There is a spacious yard in front of the main hall, and there is actually a garden behind the house on the last visit. Li Zhi was surprised and said, "Brother Xian, how much money did you spend?"
Feng Bangning said with a smile: "Brother, don't worry about this. I will take you to see the machine." After that, he led him to the second room where the workers worked.
Li Zhi followed Feng Bangning and entered the typesetting workshop first. Upon entering, there are two surprisingly large rotating typesetting trays. Li Zhi asked Feng Bangning: "But was it the character selection tray invented by Wang Zhen?"
Feng Bangning gave a thumbs up and said: "Brother is really awesome. It's just the wheel selection plate, but it's different from his method of selecting characters. I bought it at Tianji Pavilion."
When Li Zhi walked up to take a look, he saw that the character selection plate was different from what was recorded in the "Nongshu". The roulette wheel invented by Wang Zhen used a large roulette wheel with a diameter of seven feet, and placed the candidate characters in the grid according to the rhyme rules. Spin the wheel to pick the word.
Feng Bangning Here are two roulette wheels, one side has full characters and the other side has common characters. And there is not one big roulette wheel on each iron axis, but seven roulette wheels. Each wheel is marked with initials, rhymes, radicals and other words. The worker sits between the two axes and can select words with initial consonants, rhymes and rhymes, as well as partial words.
Li Zhi looked at it and was surprised: "What is this sound?"
Feng Bangning said with a smile: "Today, there are four methods of phonetic notation for characters: Bukang, Zhiyin, Duruo, and Fanqie. It is difficult to learn and find the characters."
"This is the movable type checking roulette sold by Tianji Pavilion. It is easy to learn and is most suitable for typesetting - I bought it for six hundred taels of silver. I have only trained the first batch of workers in the past two months."
Li Zhi carefully looked at the initial and rhyme phonetic notations and saw that they were all weird symbols that looked like radicals. After asking Feng Bangning about the pronunciation, he had a preliminary grasp of it in less than a quarter of an hour. I tried a few, but they all fit the bill.
The harder Li Zhi worked, the more frightened he became, and finally he went crazy and shouted loudly: "What a great talent, with superb exegesis and all-inclusive ability to invent this phonetic notation method - this method can be famous forever, why not Borrowing from Wuming?"
After hearing this, Feng Bangning looked at him strangely and said with a smile: "Big brother is joking, what's so difficult about this? Little brother, I haven't thought about it. If I thought about it, I can also invent it."
Li Zhi couldn't explain clearly to this unlearned and unskilled man, and he wanted to vomit blood after hearing these words. He said to Feng Bangning: "My dear brother, don't print the newspaper first. Print this phonetic notation method first - no one in the world of sociology can use it, and the name of Qingliu Bookstore will be resounded all over the world!"
Feng Bangning smiled after hearing this and said: "Brother, you can edit books, but I can't; I can do business, but you can't. Who is that? Go to the printing room and get the "Disciple Regulations".
After hearing this, Li Zhi asked again: "What is the Disciple Regulations?"
Feng Bangning said: "This is a book compiled by the Hanlin Academy in accordance with the emperor's decree. It is imitated in the style of Wang Yinglin's "Three Character Classic" and is composed of four chapters in a row. It is specially used for children's education. I heard that the sample book will soon become popular all over the world. I am my godfather. Get me a copy so I can get the upper hand."
While he was talking, someone beside him brought the "Disciples' Regulations" and gave a copy to Li Zhi. Li Zhi unfolded two pages and shouted "Miao!" When he wanted to take a closer look, Feng Bangning said: "I'll give this to my eldest brother. I'll read it slowly when I have time. The phonetic notation is at the back."
Li Zhi quickly turned to the back and saw that the last dozen or so pages were printed with new phonetic notation methods. He asked: "You bought it from Tianji Pavilion, can Tianji Pavilion still allow you to sell this method?"
Feng Bangning pointed to the last few lines of the book and said, "Brother, please read it."
When Li Zhi looked at it, he saw the last line of writing: "This phonetic notation method has been bought out by Rishenglong Tianji Pavilion with ten thousand gold to benefit the world. If you have a wonderful way to help the world, Tianji Pavilion is always waiting for you. The price is fair and you will not be deceived." "
When Li Zhi saw it, the corners of his mouth twitched wildly. He smiled bitterly and said, "Are all businesses now so caring about the world?"
After hearing this, Feng Bangning curled his lips and said, "Brother, don't let them fool you. There are hundreds of bookstores in the world. He sells phonetic notation, not roulette making. Wait for someone who is interested in using phonetic notation to figure out the roulette. If we use it first, we will defeat him long ago - then, who dares not to buy this roulette?"
Pointing at the roulette wheel, he said: "How many kilograms of iron does this thing use? They dare to sell it for 600 taels! Are there any bookstores in the world who dare not buy it? Brother, look at this "Disciple Regulations". This is movable type printing. Compared with How about engraving?”
Li Zhi was surprised again when he heard this. Pointing at the book, he asked, "Is this printed with movable type?"
Feng Bangning said: "Brother, come and take a look at this movable type. This is not wood or copper type, but lead movable type. Wait a minute and go to the printing room to have a look. There are many more mechanisms inside. I don't know if Tianji Pavilion has raised it." How many craftsmen are thinking about this thing every day."
After saying that, he cursed: "Mom, Tianji Pavilion sells roulette type, and Rishenglong sells ink. Except for paper, I can buy it myself. Rishenglong has made all the good money!"
Li Zhi laughed and said, "The ink used here is different?"
Feng Bangning shook his head and said: "That's the hateful thing about Ri Shenglong's business today - if we don't use his ink, the typeface won't be able to be hung with ink! I have already found several ink-making masters, and I have to research the formula." .”
Li Zhi laughed loudly after hearing this and asked: "Does Tianji Pavilion sell this ink-making formula?" Feng Bangning shook his head and said: "Ri Shenglong's business is domineering. I asked several times and they all said that Tianji Pavilion does not have this method - if If I have this method, I won’t sell it. How about making ink and selling it?”
Li Zhi listened and said with a smile: "Then you have invested a lot in making this newspaper. Can you get your capital back?"
Feng Bangning smiled bitterly after hearing this and said: "Brother, you don't know something. Since Tianji Pavilion started selling this new printing press this year, as I said, everyone has to buy it - no matter how much it costs, it will save money than engraving! After this engraving, , I can only carve paintings or do other things to make a living."
"Whether I'm in the newspaper business or not, I have to buy this set of printing machines. Fortunately, Qingliu Bookstore is used to using movable type - some people specialize in engraving. Once they learn all this and can print books, this year will be over. Got it!"
Bookstore
