Da Tang: Father, can I resign?

Chapter 50 Target: Li Shimin!

Movable type printing... Wei Daijia repeated it in his mind.

Before, he thought that His Highness Li Ming was too young, and did whatever he wanted without thinking.

But it turned out that he was the one who thought too little.

The method of movable type is indeed easy to understand after someone points it out.

But easy to understand does not mean simple.

Before someone points it out, who can find another way to carve movable characters out of the dead clay plate?
Not just movable type.

The offensive of leaflets that spoke in a sarcastic way, mixing dirt into the porridge pot for charity, suddenly buying a printing house, and redeeming the freedom of dozens of craftsmen...

His Highness Li Ming’s ideas are always so... unique.

But it always works and solves the problem just right...

"What are you thinking about?" Li Ming kicked him lightly.

Wei Daijia pointed at the sun in the west and answered seriously:
"I'm thinking. It's almost time for dinner."

"Eat, eat, eat. All you do is eat." Li Ming's face was full of disgust.

Wei Daijia sighed softly:

"What I mean is that it's time to return to the palace. If you're any later, there will be curfew."

"Wait a little longer," Li Ming started to act like a naughty kid who was having fun.

Wei Daijia was right. Not long after, the sun completely set, leaving only a streak of fiery clouds in the sky.

Lamb was stewing on the stove outside the printing house. The rich aroma of the meat made the workers, who had not eaten meat for several months, instinctively swallow their saliva.

But they still did not stop their work, as if they were tirelessly rubbing, carving, inking and printing, and their hands and feet were much more dexterous than before.

There are also several young workers with superb skills who are trying to make "movable type" with the children.

"Tear off all the words on the carved plate?" The little charcoal-headed Yuchi Xunyu thought of the most direct way.

The young carpenter took out a carved block from the waste pile and chiseled it hard with a carving knife.

Snapped!
The plate was broken into pieces and the font is completely unusable.

A bad start.

"It's okay, just carve a smaller clay character."

Li Ming felt that these were minor issues.

As long as the direction is correct, technical difficulties can be overcome quickly!
One craftsman asked:
“Movable type is flexible, but too flexible.

"How do I fix it when printing? What if it falls off? What if the printing line is out of order?"

The young man slapped his head:
"That's easy. Just use iron or bamboo strips to weave a fixed frame horizontally and vertically, and embed the square characters in it."

After some discussion, everyone thought this was a good idea.

Li Ming noticed the young man who was very active from the beginning and asked him:

"What's your name?"

"My name is Zhang Heng." The young man no longer felt unfamiliar and answered with ease.

He is Zhang Heng, the person who improved the papermaking technique in history, and he has the same name as the astronomer in the Han Dynasty.

"Okay Zhang Heng."

Li Ming waved to him.

"?"

Zhang Heng bent down in confusion.

Li Ming finally reached him, stood on tiptoe, and patted his shoulder earnestly:

"I'll leave the workshop to you. Please make sure that both production and research and development are not left behind.

"The more you work, the more you get. I'll give you a raise."

Zhang Heng was amused by the clever child and then bowed solemnly.

"You will live up to your trust!"

…………

“It’s a pity you weren’t there at the time.

"Mr. Ming only said a few words and the craftsmen were willing to work hard. It's amazing!"

On the way back, Lai Junchen boasted proudly to the children of nobles.

The friends were skeptical.

They knew that Ming Ge was good at making inspirational speeches. But he fooled dozens of adults...

"She is a lowly person." Wei Daijia explained with a dark face:

"It was His Highness Li Ming who paid to redeem them."

Oh~ turns out it’s the power of capital.

The children understood and continued to chat.

With a good family background and a carefree age, nothing could really bother them. But since leaving the bookstore, Li Ming has been silent.

The image of those skinny workers kept lingering in his mind.

Speaking of filters, does he also have a filter for the Tang Dynasty?

The abundant martial virtues, the coming of all nations, the grandeur of the Tang Dynasty... all of them fascinate the Chinese people.

However, beneath the prosperous appearance, there is a strict and rigid hierarchy.

And it's not just about low status. If you look closely, there were quite a few "questions on the status of the country" in the Tang Dynasty.

For example, under the fubing system, soldiers worked as farmers in their spare time. They might be living well on their farms at home, but suddenly they would be pulled to fight in a war thousands of miles away.

It is no wonder that it could not be sustained later and was gradually replaced by the conscription system at the end of the Zhenguan period, which became the fuse for the collapse of the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

There was also the "equal field system", which theoretically divided the land equally among each laboring household, so that those who tilled the land owned the land. However, in reality, most of the fertile land was annexed by the gentry and powerful.

However, farmers still had to bear corresponding taxes and labor service, namely "rent, labor service and tribute", according to the theoretical allocation of land on the books.

The result is predictable. If you plant one acre of land, you have to pay the tax of ten acres. Whoever wants to plant this land can plant it.

Large numbers of farmers abandoned their land and fled, which further led to the concentration of land in the hands of a few landlords, and the economic foundation of the "equal-field system" was in name only.

It is no wonder that the Tang Dynasty did not escape the law of historical cycles. The streets were trampled with bones of nobles, and the inner treasury was burned to ashes...

Since traveling through time, Li Ming has been busy protecting himself.

It was the first time that he really thought seriously about the future of this dynasty.

In fact, the seeds of the Tang Dynasty's demise already existed as early as the Zhenguan period.

The equal-field system, the rent-and-labor system, the military service system, the distinction between the nobles and the common people, and the distinction between the gentry and the common people... these are systems that exist today.

And the consequences have already begun to emerge.

An example of this is the crowds of refugees waiting for alms in the West Market every day.

And these problematic systems can be traced back further.

The Tang dynasty inherited the Sui dynasty, and the Sui dynasty inherited the Northern Zhou dynasty...

Except for the hereditary gentry, the prototypes of the above-mentioned systems can be traced back to the reforms of Emperor Xiaowen of the Northern Wei Dynasty during the Southern and Northern Dynasties.

"Using the experience of separatist forces more than a hundred years ago to govern a super unified empire more than a hundred years later, this system problem is extremely serious...

"It's like installing Windows 9 on an i computer..."

Li Ming couldn't help but complain and scratched his hair in annoyance:
"I don't think these are any use, they just add to my troubles.

"I am not the emperor. I am in a difficult situation. How can I have the power to carry out reforms?"

hiss~
that power.

that power……

Li Ming's thoughts raced uncontrollably.

When he suddenly came to his senses, he was already standing in front of the palace gate.

The children all went back to their homes and their mothers.

After Wei Daijia finished speaking with the soldiers guarding the gate, he bowed to the young prince and said goodbye:
"It's getting late, so I can't accompany you into the palace. This guard will take you in."

The guard had a high nose and deep eyes, and the torch cast a deep shadow on his face. He did not look like a Han Chinese.

Li Ming was instinctively disgusted and pouted his lips in anger:
"The new Right Supervisor... Where is the Gatekeeper General? Why doesn't he personally accompany me back to the palace?"

The guard spoke in an unfamiliar Chinese accent:

"General Ashina is on patrol, please follow me."

They are Turkic.

Why did the emperors of the Tang Dynasty always like to use the International Brigade...

Li Ming murmured in his heart, but still followed the guard through the deep palace gate.

…………

Somewhere in a dark chamber.

The dim starlight shines through the window lattice, and a few dark shadows can be vaguely seen.

A rude voice:

"Did the Tang people solve Li Xiaogong's case?"

Another respectful voice:

"not yet."