Tang Dynasty Xie Lu Lang

Chapter 153 Long Live the Lord
Wang Shouzhen returned home to the inner garden in disgrace, informing his father that he had been prevented from withdrawing the money by Yang Sixu.

Upon hearing this, Wang Maozhong was also furious, and said hatefully, "This old eunuch is extremely cruel. He slaughters his fellow villagers and barbarians to make a name for himself. Does he really think he is powerful and influential? I only did not want to bully the old man because of his age!"

Even so, he didn't dare to openly confront Yang Sixu, given Yang's advanced age and lack of blood relatives, making him even more reckless in his actions. He didn't need to fight him head-on; he could outlast him by simply trading blows.

Moreover, he also needs to be careful to maintain his image in the eyes of the emperor. Yang Sixu has just returned to the capital in triumph, and if he were to quarrel with him, it would inevitably make the emperor think that he is arrogant, narrow-minded, and intolerant.

"Why don't I go and find Zhang Liulang? He's a smart man. He offered me advice before, which shows he's already trying to befriend me. Even though Consort Hui is related to him, she's just a woman in the inner palace. How much care can she possibly give him? He doesn't need to get involved in these disputes and make enemies of my family."

After thinking for a moment, Wang Shouzhen spoke again.

Upon hearing this, Wang Maozhong said in a deep voice, "The guards at the North Gate reported that Consort Hui had summoned him to an audience after her return. This man is also a rare confidant, but as you said, he is a smart man and should understand that being caught up in this situation is of no benefit to him."

If he's willing to help, that would be good. If not, I'll only suffer a slight inconvenience in terms of money and silk, but I will still have to discipline Zhang Yan's unworthy children and grandchildren! If Yao's grandson can be expelled, so can Zhang's grandson!

Those high-ranking officials and prime ministers in the Southern Province, or leaders of the officials, were nothing more than that in his eyes. He was currently only focused on the affairs of the Northern Guard and the herdsmen. If a sage were to grant him a post in the Southern Province, he would still be able to handle it properly, no less than those so-called famous ministers who had served as generals and prime ministers.

Both the Wang father and son felt that if Zhang Dai was smart, he should be honest and not get involved in personnel disputes that he couldn't handle. Zhang Dai was certainly not stupid, so he had no intention of getting involved.

When Wang Shouzhen went to visit the Zhang family mansion in Kangsufang again, he was disappointed to find that his young master had gone on a trip to Nanshan with friends several days earlier, and his whereabouts and return date were unknown. Wang Shouzhen could only leave a message and then returned home disappointed.

Zhang Dai knew to send Wang Yuanbao away, so he certainly wouldn't stay in the city and be caught in the middle. Giving his aunt advice was a favor, and since Wang Maozhong wasn't directly targeting him, he naturally didn't need to make a fuss. So he left the city early to socialize.

After leaving the city, he moved into his own estate in the south of the city, where construction and building are currently underway.

In addition to the original villagers and tenants, some monks and artisans from the Changshou Temple in the city were also arranged to work here. Zhang Dai planned to build the workshop in the manor outside the city, while the Pure Land Temple in the city would only be used as a place for entertaining guests and for publicity.

The estate originally didn't have many houses, but with the sudden arrival of over a hundred people, it naturally became very crowded, and many people had to live in temporary tents. As winter approached, such living conditions became quite difficult.

Zhang Dai was not a heartless landlord. When he came to the manor, he brought a lot of living supplies, including more than a hundred fat sheep for food. He also stipulated that one sheep be slaughtered and cooked every day to improve the meals.

"Long live the Lord, for his benevolence and righteousness!"

Upon hearing this, the villagers and the newly arrived craftsmen all applauded and praised him.

Zhang Dai was startled when he heard the slogan and waved his hand repeatedly, ordering everyone not to shout it.

Although "Long live the Emperor" is not currently exclusive to emperors, and servants may use it when praising their masters, it is still somewhat inappropriate. If people get used to it in the future, and servants shout it in the bustling city, and the emperor happens to be wearing a yellow robe, then it's hard to say whether they will end up in the palace or the underworld.

"My lord, the molds for the documents I requested have been completed and are ready for printing!"

At this moment, a craftsman stepped forward and bowed somewhat reservedly to Zhang Dai.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai was overjoyed and hurried to the warehouse that was temporarily serving as the printing workshop. After the craftsmen finished carving the printing blocks, they had to carry out a series of maintenance procedures such as oil soaking and varnishing to increase the toughness and lifespan of the printing blocks.

These people are all skilled workers with many years of experience. Now they are returning to their old trade, only the content they are printing is slightly different. But this makes no difference to them, because most of these craftsmen are illiterate and cannot tell whether they are carving Buddhist scriptures or literary collections.

At this time, the woodblocks used were still long wooden boards, and each printout was a single scroll. This was because the content of the sutra illustrations that they needed to carve and print often required continuous lines to outline the patterns, and it was best not to have any breaks in the lines.

So even though the printed text doesn't require this type of plate, because Zhang Dai didn't realize this problem and didn't explain it, they still carved it from a single plate according to past habits.

Although it added to the difficulty of woodblock carving, the carving time was not significantly increased due to the craftsmen's high level of skill.

As Zhang Dai entered the warehouse, the craftsmen slowly rolled and flattened the scroll-shaped white paper onto the evenly ink-coated printing blocks. One person pushed the paper forward, while another pressed a bamboo ruler wrapped in fine silk evenly across the paper from behind. The printing process was not complicated; the key was to apply steady pressure. When the paper was slowly lifted, its surface was already covered with clear, evenly colored characters.

Because the ink on the paper was not yet dry, there was still a somewhat pungent smell of pine resin and ink, but Zhang Dai did not care about it. He gestured to the craftsmen to place the scroll on the long table, and he bent down to examine it carefully from beginning to end. He found that the characters were printed very clearly, and what was in front of him was a very mature printed product.

"How many volumes of books can the estate produce? What is the cost of each volume?"

After admiring the product, Zhang Dai couldn't help but ask a question. The biggest advantage of woodblock printing is its high efficiency and mass production. Now that everything is ready and production is just a matter of time, Zhang Dai naturally wants to put it on the market as soon as possible to test its acceptance.

"The paper, ink and other materials in the manor are all from the old reserves of Changshou Temple. We cannot produce them ourselves at the moment. The remaining materials can still print a few thousand rolls. There is still a surplus of paper, but a shortage of ink. As for the cost, the total cost of all materials should be around seven hundred coins."

The person in charge of production was a tenant farmer from the village who had some basic literacy and arithmetic skills. His name was Zhao Ming. He had planned to go with Zhang Dai when Zhang Dai was planning to flee, but after Ding Cang moved to the city, Zhang Dai chose him to manage the village affairs.

"This volume of book is really that expensive?"

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai couldn't help but frown and said, "If the cost of materials used is this high, then with the addition of labor and subsequent sales costs, this volume of book would need to sell at least one or two strings of cash to generate a significant profit."

He didn't expect to make a fortune from this initial attempt, but he at least had to break even. Otherwise, even if he only lost a hundred or so coins per volume, with thousands of volumes printed, he could lose hundreds of coins per volume!

Moreover, it's really hard to determine its market value. Although some handwritten scrolls are also quite valuable, it's really hard to say what price these mass-produced items can fetch without the support of religious sentiment.

"The high cost is due to the expensive and refined materials used. This type of paper is slightly resistant to fire and water immersion. During the papermaking process, the pulp needs to be washed with lime, and then tung oil, deer glue, fish bladder, and other ingredients are added..."

Zhao Ming quickly explained that he had only learned from these craftsmen that the papermaking process at Changshou Temple was so complex and the materials used were so precious.

Hearing this, Zhang Dai finally understood. The high cost was due to the expensive materials used. The fact that Changshou Temple's "peace paper" could sell for such a high price and still have a market meant there was definitely a reason. Now, using the same materials to print documents, of course the cost would remain high!

If these somewhat luxurious materials are replaced, the material cost per roll can be controlled at around three hundred coins, which greatly highlights the advantages of the printing process.

It should be noted that hiring a scribe to copy scriptures nowadays would cost three to five hundred coins a day, not including the cost of paper, ink, and other materials. Moreover, the skill level and efficiency of these scribes were not consistent, and errors and omissions were inevitable.

Therefore, even without considering the intrinsic value of these collections of writings, and even if they were sold as ordinary books, they would still be highly competitive once the materials and labor were controlled.

However, after thinking it over, Zhang Dai decided not to be too frugal with the first shot and to use the best materials and labor.

Even if it doesn't receive much attention now, there's no guarantee that someone will cherish these paper and ink materials in the future and include them in their graves as burial items, which could add some cultural relics for future archaeological excavations.

Although he has now traveled to the Tang Dynasty, he still feels warm inside when he thinks about his academic life in the future. He is willing to provide some convenience for his senior female classmates, at least by providing them with a topic for a mediocre paper.

He indulged in a moment of self-pity, trying to appear understanding, before leaving the storeroom. Just then, Ding Cang and his entourage entered from outside the manor, accompanied by a carriage. An old eunuch alighted from the carriage after it came to a stop.

"Ah Lang, this is Li Jing'en, the old friend of the Prince of Gaoping's Mansion whom I mentioned the other day. Knowing that you have some free time recently, he has been begging me to introduce him to you, as he wants to discuss the Dongshan Cave matter with you in person!"

After dismounting, Ding Cang quickly approached Zhang Dai and introduced him to the old eunuch Li Jing'en.

Upon hearing this, Zhang Dai nodded in greeting and said with a smile, "I've heard Ding Cang recount Li Cheng's deeds. I never imagined that even after so many years since the Duke of Kuai passed away, there would still be loyal servants who remember his story and still wish to revive him. Such sentiments are truly rare and moving!"

"Sixth Brother, you flatter me. I am truly unworthy of such praise. Although I possess loyalty and righteousness, I regret that I lack the talent and ability to achieve them. I still need to rely on a talented and virtuous person like you, Sixth Brother, to dare to hope that my wish may be fulfilled."

Upon hearing this, Li Jing'en quickly bowed to Zhang Dai in greeting.

(End of this chapter)