SEHE Chapter 115

Printing House

After the others had left, Pei Yanci pulled the reluctant Tang Xizhui back to sit down. “Eat properly. Why quarrel with people? He’s immature, but you’re just as childish.”

Tang Xizhui snorted and dramatically collapsed into his chair with a wounded, resentful expression. “Xiao Pei’er, how cruel your heart is, scolding me for the sake of an outsider.”

“……”

“I’ll go call them back in so you can continue your performance.” Pei Yanci made to stand up.

“That won’t be necessary.” Tang Xizhui hastily grabbed his sleeve, stealing a glance at him. Leaning across the armrests of their two chairs, he held onto him with a mix of coyness and complaint. “The Wang family dotes on him, so why do you indulge him too?”

“He’s just an outsider. I can’t be bothered wasting words on him.” Pei Yanci silently cursed this seductress and took a sip of soup to cool down. “If you don’t like it, I’ll advise him to go home.”

“That’ll probably be difficult. You might as well let him continue staying. Outsiders will think you have connections with the Wang family too, which makes things more convenient.”

“Oh, now you’re being reasonable and considerate.” Pei Yanci personally served him some food with his chopsticks, only then seeing his expression soften. “That’s exactly why I haven’t urged him to leave. The household doesn’t lack one more mouth to feed.”

Tang Xizhui kissed his forehead before sitting up properly and eating the food he’d served. “The Wang family has always been troublemakers. Be careful. A few days ago, Wang’s daughter was left by her own mother in a side room at a temple outside the city. In the middle of the night, she helped arrange for a man to enter and meet privately with her daughter. Fortunately, that daughter had her wits about her and avoided it in time.”

“No wonder that fool rushed to the Wang household a few days ago and came back in a terrible mood.” Pei Yanci shook his head. To actually sell out one’s own daughter—the Wang family was truly in a class of their own. “After all, they’re still a prominent family, yet they do things only lowly households would do.”

“When you have no foundation at court, that’s what happens. Apart from the family head having a title and holding an idle position at court, have you ever seen any other Wang family member stand in the Golden Luan Hall?”

Tang Xizhui continued, “The family’s revival and the glory of future generations all rest on Wang Lingche’s shoulders. Yet he was taught to turn a deaf ear to the outside world, only knowing how to study books mechanically. After being oppressed for twenty years, once he obediently passed the exams and became the top scholar, he immediately made a fuss about becoming a monk—deliberately going against Gui Jingbo, intentionally poking at their sorest spot to anger them. Does he really want to become a monk? I think not. This skill at enduring and lying low, this perseverance and talent in studying hard to win the laurels, and finally this boldness to abandon everything just to take revenge on his parents—have you ever seen a second person like this? You, don’t always think people are simple. This one is no easy character.”

Pei Yanci hadn’t paid much attention to the Wang family before, but hearing this, he had some thoughts.

****

After breakfast, he instructed Tang Xizhui to find time to return to the Chief Overseer’s mansion, while he himself went to the Imperial Academy.

Today was the opening day of the printing house. Since the Emperor had not yet approved this as an official bureau, it was merely a public-private joint business venture between the Imperial Academy, the Ministry of Works, Pei Yanci, Chen Sihong, and several other parties.

Pei Yanci had chosen the office location in Wuben Ward, only two streets away from the Imperial Academy, while the printing workshop was opened in the southern part of the city, where land prices were more than half cheaper and there were many common people available as laborers.

At the auspicious hour of Si, as firecrackers thundered, Pei Yanci and the Director of the Secretariat together pulled down the red silk. The Jianji Printing House was officially opened.

Entering through the eight main doors, the spacious main hall and the three or four floors above were all bookstores. More than thirty clerks and shopkeepers had already filled the shelves layer by layer and were waiting to patrol each floor.

Books were still expensive items these days, so they inevitably had to guard against people damaging or stealing them.

As Pei Yanci led several important court officials through, he introduced, “The front is the bookstore, and the back is where we receive books and review, proofread, and price them. If anyone wants to publish a book, they can send it here. The first and second floors of the bookstore mainly sell elementary primers, poetry, and classics like the Four Books and Five Classics—all books for the imperial examinations. The third floor has Buddhist and Taoist scriptures. The fourth and fifth floors sell biographical records, various miscellaneous works, medical texts, dyeing techniques, pottery-making crafts, and so on. The Ministry of Works has also sponsored some books—all of them covering crafts that have been researched for at least thirty years or more.”

Hearing this introduction, the Minister of Works felt somewhat uncomfortable.

Like traditional medicine and cloth dyeing, many of the Ministry of Works’ techniques were not to be shared—these were secrets among secrets. Many of the talented people there had been passed down through families for several generations, such as the construction of palace beams, the firing techniques for imperial bricks, the building of hydraulic bridges, and the surveying of geomantic dragon veins. They relied on these skills to secure their positions.

He had believed Pei Yanci’s smooth talk and in a moment of heated enthusiasm, had taken out some commonly used techniques, worked overnight to compile them into volumes, and handed them to the printing house.

Only now, seeing these books, did he realize that Pei Yanci had been going around collecting donations everywhere.

The Qintian Observatory’s Wo Shu on celestial phenomena studies, the Shallow Discussion of Acupuncture and Shennong’s Miscellaneous Classic compiled by the old men at the Imperial Medical Bureau, and even palace secrets on porcelain-making, dance, painting, dyeing, and weaving—though all were superficial general discussions or outdated theories, they were things that couldn’t be seen elsewhere. For commoners, this opened a door to a treasure trove they had never witnessed before.

As Pei Yanci had said, he wanted inspiration, not to steal others’ livelihoods.

He didn’t understand what kind of inspiration this was, nor why one would want to inspire common people who barely knew a few characters.

Fang Qingdu was clearly equally baffled.

Taking advantage of when the other officials weren’t paying attention, he pulled Pei Yanci aside and quietly demanded, “What scheme are you cooking up now?”

“Selling books to make money.” He replied, puzzled. “Isn’t opening a printing house for printing and selling books?”

“I’ve said it before—how many real scholars are there in Great Yu? How could they possibly buy so many books? Moreover, how can these frivolous items be considered refined?” He tapped a book titled Secret Boudoir Dances against his palm.

Pei Yanci’s eyes widened, the corners of his mouth twitching awkwardly. Without changing expression, he took the book from his hand and with quick hands and sharp eyes, replaced it with a copy of Discussions of External Objects.

Xiao Yu’s books had been placed in the most inconspicuous corner—how did this old fuddy-duddy still manage to fish one out?

“Look at this,” Fang Qingdu had no suspicions as he flipped open the pages. “Why would a perfectly good scholar be taught woodworking? Isn’t this misleading the young?”

“Fang Daren, some people are suited for studying, some for carpentry. Not everyone has to study,” Pei Yanci deflected.

“Then what’s the point of them learning to read? If they want to do these things, they can just find an old master in their village and apprentice themselves.”

“You can’t say that.” Pei Yanci knew that reasoning with him about other matters now would be useless, so he simply said, “Didn’t you say before that commoners can’t afford books, can’t learn to read, can’t afford school, there aren’t enough students entering government schools, the Educational Affairs Bureau will eventually become an idle bureau, and the Imperial Academy and academies will ultimately remain the domain of aristocratic families? Look, aren’t we giving commoners an opportunity to afford books?”

Fang Qingdu was exasperated. “But this…”

“Compiler Yu, how did you end up here?” The Director of the Secretariat exclaimed in surprise from ahead. “Giving up a perfectly good seventh-rank position at the Hanlin Academy—why are you holed up here?”

Yu Sucheng looked up and saw a crowd of purple-robed and red-clothed officials. Just as he was feeling awkward, a thin, familiar figure emerged from the crowd, and he immediately relaxed. “Pei Daren asked me to come. I thought it was good, so I came.”

Pei Yanci smiled. “Yu Daren has now been transferred to the Ministry of Works, working under Minister Zhao, and simultaneously serves as the Supervisor of Books at Jianji Printing House.”

The various high officials weren’t interested in him, and many didn’t even know him. Only the Director of the Secretariat was acquainted with him, which attracted their attention.

But Pei Yanci pushed him from the corner to the forefront, smiling. “The reason our books can be sold for three to five hundred wen per volume is all thanks to Yu Daren. He invented movable type printing, greatly reducing our costs and labor, allowing us to sell books this cheaply and still make half the profit.”

Upon hearing this, several darens began to view this thin and dull middle-aged man in a new light, and their words became much warmer.

Yu Sucheng instead felt somewhat uncomfortable and responded coolly a few times. After they left, he called out to Pei Yanci.

“Thank you, Pei Daren.” He bowed formally and respectfully.

“Yu Daren need not be so polite.” Pei Yanci helped him up. “I was worried you’d resent me for not recommending you to the Imperial Academy.”

Yu Sucheng shook his head. “Though this subordinate is learned, I’m not good at dealing with students and colleagues. Daren recommended this subordinate to the Ministry of Works, which counts as a promotion, and without holding grudges, you’ve confidently entrusted the printing house to this subordinate. Such understanding is rare—I’m grateful before it’s too late.”

“If you want to pursue scholarship, the printing house is the same, and publishing books is even easier than at the Secretariat. However, I transferred you to the Ministry of Works because I value another of your skills even more.” Seeing his confusion, Pei Yanci explained, “If you could create movable type printing, then I believe you can research even more remarkable things to benefit all people.”

“Even more remarkable things?” Yu Sucheng hadn’t even thought of this himself and couldn’t help feeling bewildered. “What does Pei Daren mean?”

“You may not know this, but the movable type printing you researched in your leisure time could benefit three million scholars of Great Yu.”

Yu Sucheng was shocked speechless.

“And it may even change the structure of power between the court and the aristocratic families.” Pei Yanci continued, “Before truly earth-shattering transformations begin, they’re always subtle and gradual. What you’re doing is like a small block in movable type printing—when they’re strung together, they become momentous events that can change heaven and earth.”

“Pei Daren, is this change a good thing?” He frowned.

“It’s a good thing.” Pei Yanci said. “So you can continue tinkering with your little hobbies at the Ministry of Works, such as making books easier to disseminate. That way, as book prices drop, we can extend knowledge to even more people.”

Fang Qingdu couldn’t stand watching any longer. He was now Pei Yanci’s subordinate. The several darens had just left after attending the opening ceremony of the printing house, but he still had to return to the Imperial Academy with Pei Yanci.

He hadn’t expected to witness a scene that made his conscience ache.

He pulled him out of the room. “You’re drawing big pies for people again.”

As they walked, Pei Yanci replied, “How is it a big pie? Other people’s books sell for a thousand wen per volume, I’m selling them for three to five hundred wen—the price is half cheaper. Isn’t that Yu Daren’s achievement? If someday he researches even more remarkable techniques and improves the book-making process, my books might be sold for just tens or a hundred wen. At that price, even poor families could afford to buy a few books if they economize a bit, don’t you think?”

Fang Qingdu frowned, pondering his words.

“With more scholars from the lower classes, our government schools will be supervised by the Educational Affairs Bureau. The Educational Affairs Bureau will be monitored by the Elu Bureau on one side to strictly prohibit corruption and bribery, and managed by us on the other. What we need to do is make government schools in all provinces, prefectures, counties, and townships standardized, unified, and prosperous. Once the lower-level government schools develop, our Imperial Academy can’t lag behind.”

Fang Qingdu seemed to grasp a bit of his scheme. “Wait, you said before that the Imperial Academy would offer a certain quota to sell to those who don’t meet the threshold—could it be…”

“That’s right. If this system were just to generate revenue for the Imperial Academy, the income would only barely maintain operations, far less profitable than the printing house.” Pei Yanci analyzed. “Selling quotas and ruining the Imperial Academy’s reputation is actually to make aristocratic families withdraw from their control of the Imperial Academy, and use this matter to lower the threshold, giving more children of commoners the opportunity to enter the Imperial Academy.”

“The Imperial Academy’s damaged reputation from this is only temporary. Even if the great scholars and erudite scholars currently in the Academy scatter to private academies, even if there are still many nobles calling the shots inside now, as long as we still hold the power of the Educational Affairs Bureau, in just a few years, the Imperial Academy will return to its former days when famous scholars gathered like clouds.”

“I feel like you’ve always been targeting aristocratic families?” Fang Qingdu mused. None of these measures were beneficial to the aristocracy.

“Daren is joking. How could that be?” Pei Yanci smiled.

Supporting commoner scholars was naturally to strangle these aristocratic families that had stood for hundreds of years without falling and were growing ever more greedy.

“Let’s go. Today the printing house opened—we should celebrate. I’ll treat you to a play.” Pei Yanci pushed him toward the carriage. “Today the theater is performing The Humble Scholar Becomes Minister and The Ghost Wife Encourages Study.”

Fang Qingdu thought in a daze that these stories were quite fitting.

Perhaps he still didn’t understand what Pei Yanci was scheming.