Tianliangyuan

Chapter 175 His children are naturally close to me too!

The matter of printing technology eventually alarmed the palace.

Outsiders might not be able to find out that all of this was related to Xu Zhaozhao, but the emperor could not possibly be unable to find out. Even if the emperor used the most rudimentary method, arresting and interrogating everyone one by one, he would still be able to find out Xu Zhaozhao's role behind the scenes.

Therefore, from the very beginning, Xu Zhaozhao had no intention of hiding it.

Moreover, she did not use this printing technology on a large scale, mainly because she wanted to wait until she received an audience with the emperor before making any plans.

In fact, printing technology is not new; it has existed for a long time. However, it has not been widely adopted. The biggest reason is not the difficulty of carving the printing blocks. Although carving the blocks is laborious, it can generally be quite profitable. As for booksellers, the profits are considerable.

The real obstacle to printing technology was the problem with ink.

Many printed materials often have blurry text, sometimes even blurred or unevenly printed text, which greatly affects the reading experience.

Therefore, printing technology did not achieve particularly widespread adoption, and for this reason, many bookstores still employed students to copy books.

It may seem like it's providing students with a way to make a living, but in reality, it's just a way to exploit them.

Imagine if a scholar were to copy several books in a month, how much time would be wasted on that? How could he concentrate on reading and writing essays?

Furthermore, if they weren't scholars, the price they would pay for copying a book wouldn't be that high, as it also involves the cost of writing materials.

Some conscientious bookstores are naturally willing to pay a higher price, or provide one or two items for free, but most bookstores still want to make more profit.

Left with no other choice, those impoverished students had to choose this path, no matter how low the price.

They were too weak to do manual labor, so they could only wait to do some similar jobs.

Xu Zhaozhao was summoned to the palace for questioning, and Xu Han accompanied her, along with his wife Wang Ruolan, though she was summoned to the inner palace by Empress Qu.

"Xu Zhaozhao, let me be blunt: are these inexpensive yet clearly printed books your doing?"

"Your Majesty, I dare not deceive you. It was indeed made by the craftsmen under my command. However, I did not think too much about it at the time. I had only seen some of my third brother's classmates who were short of money and were often ridiculed for not being able to afford books. So I thought of promoting it on the market."

Emperor Yong'an laughed loudly: "You are indeed honest. Then tell me, how do you plan to use this printing technology?"

"Your Majesty, I haven't really decided yet. My brothers have discussed this with me before, and they think it would be best to hand it over to the court. It would be more reliable for the court to take the lead, and the court's intervention would be the most powerful and would benefit all the scholars in Daxing."

Emperor Yong'an was in a great mood, his eyes full of admiration.

"Xu Han, you've raised a wonderful daughter!"

"Hehe, thank you for the praise, Your Majesty. I also think Zhaozhao is very good."

Emperor Yong'an, seeing his silly expression, knew that this guy's doting fatherly nature had kicked in again.

"Xu Zhaozhao, I'll ask you one last time, have you thought it through? Are you truly willing to offer yourself to the court without compensation?"

"Your Majesty, I dare not lie. I only hope that Your Majesty can grant me permission to continue using the shops under my name in the future. Moreover, I do not think that movable type printing is anything special. Even if it gets out, it will not matter. If the court wants to do it, it may be fine to just do the business of ink."

Emperor Yong'an's eyes lit up; this was indeed a good idea.

The border is unstable now, and foreign tribes often raid the border. The Great Xing Dynasty supports an army of hundreds of thousands of people, and the daily expenses of that army are enormous!

Therefore, no matter how full the national treasury is, it cannot withstand the threat of war.

When it comes to war, the worst thing is to lack money and food.

“That makes sense. Summon Gu Dongyangqin, the Minister of Revenue, for an audience. Also, draft an imperial edict: Wang Changgeng is a man of prudence and conduct; he shall be promoted to Vice Minister of Works.”

"According to the order."

Xu Han stood to the side and could only chuckle.

Whether he gets promoted or not is another matter, but he doesn't like going to court anyway. He always falls asleep during the grand court assemblies, or he argues with a bunch of scholars until the heavens and earth are in turmoil. In short, he just doesn't like sitting in the government office.

It's a good thing that His Majesty is now paying attention to his brother-in-law; after all, they're family.

Emperor Yong'an was even more delighted to see Xu Han still smiling and Xu Zhaozhao's expression gentle, and it was clear that she was very satisfied and had no other requests.

If he had ministers like that, how wonderful that would be!

"Xu Han, your daughter has rendered meritorious service, don't you want to ask me for a reward?"

Xu Han was stunned for a moment, then shook his head like a rattle drum: "I don't want to! I am a military general. My promotion should be based on the merits I have earned on the battlefield. I am not a spineless coward. How can I live off a woman!"

"Ha ha!"

Emperor Yong'an burst into his loudest laughter in days. The eunuchs waiting outside the door shuddered in unison, secretly thinking that the Xu family had won the emperor's favor.

If the Xu family enters the palace again in the future, they'll have to be more discerning.

Gu Dongyang was summoned, and Wang Changgeng followed him into the palace. Although the emperor was pleased, the task was actually handled by his subordinates. Therefore, he considered entrusting the matter to the Ministry of Works. However, how to calculate the revenue—whether to collect taxes or allow it all to go to the national treasury—required careful discussion.

Since it did not involve other government departments, the emperor did not intend to summon all the third-rank officials.

Firstly, I felt it was unnecessary, and secondly, I felt that such matters should be kept secret.

It feels really good to be able to make a fortune quietly!

Wang Changgeng was still confused. How could there be new ink?

Who provided the recipe?

How did I become the Left Vice Minister of the Ministry of Works?

Wang Changgeng had previously worked in a low-level government office, and suddenly becoming a semi-leader in the Ministry of Works was quite a change for him.

Seeing his reaction, the emperor knew that he was also unaware of the situation, and even unaware that the best-selling and cheapest printed books on the market were produced by his own niece.

Hehe, just thinking that he, the emperor, knew about it first makes me feel a bit superior!

Hmph, so what if you're my own uncle?

I have been friends with Marquis Xu since childhood. Since Marquis Xu is close to me, his children are naturally close to me as well!

For some reason, Emperor Yong'an suddenly felt this strange sense of victory and defeat.

With the matter settled, Xu Han led Xu Zhaozhao outside. Without the Empress's decree, Xu Zhaozhao could not enter the inner palace at will, so the father and daughter could only wait outside the palace gate.

Wang Changgeng caught up with the father and daughter in a few steps and finally figured out what had happened.

"You little brat, you've got some nerve! If this happens again, I'll make sure your father presents it to the Emperor first and gets his permission before you do it. Don't ever do it again."