The strongest nine thousand years old

"Your Majesty has given us commoners a chance to stand out. Thank you, Your Majesty!"

“The heaven has eyes. I, Li Qiye, will finally stand out! If the heaven had not given birth to me, Li Qiye, the eternity would have been like a long night!”

"Study! Go study! You'll have a chance to become a high-ranking official!"

"God bless Dayan, God bless your majesty!"

The people are in favor of it and are cheering.

Bookstores, academies, learned gentlemen... became popular in an instant.

Books, in particular, are selling like hot cakes.

For a time, paper was expensive in Yanjing.

Especially the big merchants, who hoarded rare goods and raised the prices of pens, inkstones, paper and inkstones. Some bookstores also took the opportunity to raise prices and make a fortune.

The originally good policy has led to complaints due to unscrupulous businessmen.

"Those profiteers are so despicable. They charge ten taels of silver for a book!"

"It's not just books, the prices of brushes and rice paper have also increased a hundredfold."

"Your Majesty, the imperial examination is a matter of benefit to the country and the people, but those businessmen who made a fortune for the country really deserve to die!"

"If you ask me, it would be better not to hold the imperial examination and maintain the status quo."

"Yes, Your Majesty is just tossing and turning, patting his head and coming up with whatever he wants."

"Your Majesty has been on the throne for three years, and taxes have been raised for three years. Life is becoming unbearable."

"The imperial examination system? I think your Majesty and those merchants are teaming up to rob us of our money. When the merchants have made enough money, your Majesty will abolish the imperial examination system, and we, the common people, will suffer."

"A tyrant and a tyrant!"

…………

After the national policy of selecting officials through the imperial examination was announced, Yang Ge Lao and others disguised themselves and wanted to find out the people's acceptance of such a national policy.

Unexpectedly, the government first praised the government but then suppressed it, causing widespread complaints from the people.

Yang Ge Lao and others did not dare to delay and immediately reported the situation to Yan Yunzheng.

"How ridiculous! These businessmen are so despicable!" Yan Yunzheng said gritting his teeth.

Elder Yang said solemnly: "Small merchants don't have such great ability. Only those big merchants supported by aristocratic families can monopolize the sale of books."

"Aristocratic families are truly despicable!" Yan Yunzheng said hatefully.

"Xiao Dongzi, do you have any solution?" Yan Yunzheng turned his head and asked Chen Dong who was standing beside him.

During these few nights, Yuwen Rou transformed herself into a juicer and came to serve the emperor in bed every night.

Chen Dong could only water the plants with all his strength, feeling tired but happy.

Unfortunately, due to Yuwen Rou’s obstruction, Chen Dong was never able to succeed in getting Xiao Yourong.

The unreachable peaks had already made Chen Dong salivate.

He was dozing off with his eyes closed when Yan Yunzheng suddenly asked him a question. He subconsciously said "Ah?"

Yang Ge Lao said with a sullen face: "What's wrong with you, little eunuch? Is this how you serve His Majesty?"

"It's no problem." Yan Yunzheng said.

Yang Ge Lao said angrily: "Your Majesty is too kind. In my opinion, this eunuch should be beaten to death!"

Chen Dong was angry. "Damn it, you old fool, you keep talking about beating to death. You look down on me too much. Don't treat eunuchs as cadres!"

"Mr. Yang, since you look down on me so much, why don't you make a bet with me? Do you dare?" Chen Dong asked provocatively.

Yang Ge Lao glared at him and said, "How dare you! You little eunuch, what qualifications do you have to gamble with me? When I entered the court as an official, you were not even born yet!"

"I have a way to deal with those businessmen, but you can't. Doesn't this mean that Lord Yang is living a dog's life at such an old age?" Chen Dong said with a grin.

"How ridiculous! How disgraceful!" Elder Yang was so angry that he was shaking all over. He picked up the teapot on the table and threw it at Chen Dong.

"Click"

Chen Dong dodged quickly and the teapot fell to the ground, breaking into pieces in an instant.

Yan Yunzheng shouted coldly: "Lord Yang! This is my bedroom, not a vegetable market!"

"Your Majesty, please forgive me. I am really too angry." Lord Yang glared at Chen Dong. A mere eunuch actually challenged him. Where could he put his face?

When people get old, the most important thing is their face.

Yan Yunzheng pinched his brows with a headache and said unhappily: "Xiao Dongzi, Yang Ge Lao is an important official of three dynasties, you should be more respectful. I know you have many tricks, come up with a solution quickly."

Chen Dong's smile faded, and he said seriously: "The solution is very simple, kill!"

"Kill?" Yang Ge Lao asked sarcastically, "Kill all the merchants who caused trouble? It sounds easy, just kill one and see."

"These people have someone behind them supporting them. If you dare to touch any of them, you will be drowned in spit!"

"What's more, these people control the source of books. If we kill one of them, they will join forces to boycott. There will be no books to sell in the world, and the people will have no books to read. Great Yan will be destroyed!"

Yan Yunzheng's expression also turned serious.

Books come from aristocratic families. If aristocratic families are determined to block the books, there will be no books to read in the world. Not only will the imperial examination become a joke, but benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom and trustworthiness will also collapse. The ruler will not be a ruler, the ministers will not be ministers, and the world will be in turmoil.

The talk of national destruction is not alarmist.

Chen Dong clicked his tongue and said nonchalantly, "Master Yang is just worried that there are no books to read. Isn't that simple?"

"Simple?" Elder Yang sneered, "You ignorant boy, you are just talking nonsense!"

"A book not only needs to be carefully compiled by great scholars, but also carefully copied by students. A single word difference can lead to a huge deviation in meaning."

After three years of traveling through time, Chen Dong certainly knew that if he wanted to read a book now, he could only copy the original text.

Moreover, due to different understandings of the article, people will have different ways of punctuating the text. If the sentence is punctuated incorrectly, the meaning of the article will be completely different.

Chen Dong picked up a pen and wrote four words on the paper: "Don't eat chicken anymore." He smiled and said, "I know what Yang Ge Lao is worried about. Let me give Yang Ge Lao a small test. Read these four words."

Yang Ge Lao said angrily: "I am not interested in playing childish games with you."

Yan Yunzheng advised, "Lord Yang, let's see what he means first. I understand that the chicken is full, so it doesn't want to eat anymore."

Elder Yang snorted and said disapprovingly: "What else could it mean besides this?"

Chen Dong smiled and typed a "?" after the word "chicken". "Now the meaning of this sentence has changed. Someone asked me if I eat chicken, I asked him back, and then said I don't. The same four words have different meanings. Is this what Yang Ge Lao just said, compiled by a great scholar, yes or no?"

The expressions of Yang Ge Lao and Yan Yunzheng changed at the same time.

Yan Yunzheng just thought it was outrageous.

But Lord Yang saw the deeper meaning in it. If every sentence was separated and marked by this symbol, there would be no ambiguous sentences!

And if it can be popularized, it will definitely go down in history!

Yang Ge Lao's skinny hands tightly grasped Chen Dong's arm and asked excitedly, "What is this?"

Chen Dong smiled calmly, "Punctuation!"

"As for the copying problem mentioned by Elder Yang, I also have a solution."