Duke of Zhenguan

Chapter 106 The Experiment (Part 2)

"Brother!"

"My lord!"

"Brother Lin!"

The moment Lin Chuan entered the room, three different titles echoed in the room.

Lin Chuan smiled and nodded, then asked Yan Liu Niangzi softly, "When did you arrive?"

"I just arrived a little while ago!" Yan Liu Niangzi said softly.

"Brother, you stay and chat with Sixth Sister. Meixiang and I will go check if dinner is ready!"

Er Ya, who had been driven away from the Yan family by Lin Chuan many times, already knew that she was just an eyesore in the house at this moment. She said something mischievous and then left the flower hall with Mei Xiang.

After everyone left, Lin Chuan looked at Sixth Sister, whose face was as red as if she had been blushing, and pulled her to sit down, asking, "Yu'er, why did you come at this time?"

"Grandpa sent me to deliver these calligraphy scrolls to Lin Lang!" Yan Liu Niangzi took out a stack of calligraphy scrolls from her sleeve and handed them to Lin Chuan.

Lin Chuan took it and opened the title page. What caught his eye was the neat regular script, each stroke as if it had been printed on.

Admiring the calligraphy copybook in his hand, which resembled a work of art, Lin Chuan was already thinking that when he was carving the seal, he must remind Gongshu Mozhu not to get it dirty or damaged!

This is a valuable heirloom!

After admiring the calligraphy for a while, Lin Chuan put away the copybook and said with a smile, "When I was busy printing books today, I was thinking of going to see Master Yan tomorrow. I didn't expect Master Yan to finish writing it so quickly!"

"Grandpa wrote until midnight last night! He got up again before dawn to write again, just in case he delayed Lin Lang's affairs!" Yan Liu Niangzi said softly.

"It's my fault for making Lord Yan work so hard!" Lin Chuan said with a smile.

"I didn't blame Lin Lang—" Yan Liu Niangzi punched Lin Chuan and said speechlessly.

After talking with Yan Liu Niangzi for a while, Mei Xiang came over to invite the two of them over for dinner.

Lin Chuan was the only male among them, and they did not eat separately. Yan Liu Niangzi also sat down and ate with Lin Chuan's family.

With Ah Shui and Ah Lang, it was the first time that Yan Liu Niangzi had eaten with so many people, so she was inevitably a little reserved.

However, Li's enthusiasm quickly melted away any initial awkwardness. Knowing that the Yan family had agreed to let Yan Liu Niangzi marry into the Lin family, Li, who was already very satisfied with Yan Liu Niangzi, began to treat her as her daughter-in-law.

After the meal, Lin Chuan personally escorted Yan Liu Niangzi back home.

Li San was very efficient. Two days later, the Second Research Institute of the Gewu Research Institute was officially established.

The steward, craftsmen, and servants were all arranged properly, and a palace maid was specially found to stay by Gongshu Mozhu's side.

Due to secrecy, in addition to the aforementioned individuals, more than ten Imperial Guard soldiers were also assigned to guard the vicinity of the Second Research Institute.

The fact that he could mobilize the soldiers must have been due to Li Shimin's orders. Lin Chuan originally wanted to wait until the book was printed before reporting to Li Shimin, but he did not expect Li Shimin to attach such importance to it.

The lead blocks that Li San obtained from the Imperial Workshop were not very pure, and were not as soft as high-purity lead blocks. Fortunately, they were not very hard either, and carving them was similar to carving on stone.

And this level of hardness is exactly the right one; it can only be said that the time was right and everything worked together in harmony.

The most important aspect of printing is that each Chinese character can be arranged freely. The Gongshu family members were temporarily transferred by Lin Chuan to the Second Research Institute to get the characters working first.

Gongshu Qi was indeed not lying. Gongshu Mozhu's seal carving skills were indeed masterful. He carved all the characters according to Yan Xiangshi's calligraphy model in just one day. The remarkable thing was that he only carved according to the model, rather than imprinting the characters on the lead block.

For the experiment, Lin Chuan first asked Gongshu Mozhu to carve a set of lead type that was about the same size as handwritten characters.

The evening after the type was prepared, Lin Chuan went to the Yan family again.

Now Lin Chuan goes to the Yan family more casually. The servants have heard about Lin Chuan and Yan Liu Niangzi's affair, so they don't treat Lin Chuan as an outsider. The gatekeeper greets Lin Chuan and then ignores him.

Lin Chuan went to the flower hall on his own, and sure enough, Yan Xiangshi and the others were preparing to eat.

"They certainly know how to pick their timing!"

Yan Xiangshi said irritably, and then ordered the servants to prepare bowls and chopsticks for Lin Chuan.

After dinner, Lin Chuan and Yan Xiangshi came to the living room and got down to business: "Master Yan, the printing of the book is almost ready. We will start testing it first thing tomorrow morning. I plan to use Master Yan's commentary on the Book of Rites to test it first. I have specially asked someone to print the punctuation marks as well!"

"It's just that I haven't read much of the Book of Rites, and none of the craftsmen at the Institute of Natural History have read it either, so I'd like to ask Master Yan for guidance!"

Yan Xiangshi did not immediately agree, but asked in a deep voice, "You really managed to do it?"

"You wouldn't lie to me, would you, kid?" Lin Chuan said with a smile.

Yan Xiangshi valued the printing of books more than Lin Chuan, and said in a deep voice, "I invite my elder brother to go with me!"

Bringing Yan Xiangshi along was all about sharing the credit. While having Yan Shigu along would mean sharing some of the credit, since it was Yan Xiangshi who suggested it, Lin Chuan naturally had no reason to refuse: "It would be best if Master Yan could come along!"

The next morning, before dawn, Lin Chuan was awakened from his sleep by Mei Xiang from the outer room.

Yawning, Lin Chuan walked to the front yard and, seeing the energetic Yan Shigu and Prime Minister Yan, said speechlessly, "Master Yan, Master Yan, it's only a quarter past the hour of Yin (3:45 AM) —"

"Is it still early at 3:45 AM?"

Yan Xiangshi glared at Lin Chuan with annoyance, then stood up and urged, "Let's go!"

Just then, Madam Li entered with Er Ya and A Shui, carrying steaming bowls of noodles. She respectfully said to Yan Shigu and Yan Xiangshi, "Gentlemen, please eat first!"

"Thank you for your trouble, Madam!"

Li brought in the noodles herself, and Yan Shigu and Yan Xiangshi couldn't refuse. After thanking her, they ate the noodles.

Nowadays, we have plenty of money. The flour is carefully sieved, hand-rolled into noodles, and then cooked in chicken broth that has been simmering for a day. Seasoned only with dried mushrooms and salt, it is a rare delicacy.

This method was never meant to be kept secret, but neither the cooks from the Yan family nor the Cheng family could replicate the Lin family's cooking.

Both Yan Shigu and Yan Xiangshi were gourmets. After finishing their noodles, Yan Shigu let out a satisfied burp and said to Li Shi with a smile, "No wonder Xiangshi kept talking about it; it truly is a rare delicacy!"

After finishing their noodles, Lin Chuan led the two elderly people to the Gewu Research Institute just as dawn was breaking.

The craftsmen all arrived very early, and Gongshu Qi was especially eager to wait in the experimental room with his niece.

After Lin Chuan, Yan Shigu, and Yan Xiangshi arrived, they immediately began the experiment.

The sandalwood board had neat grooves that were just right for inserting movable lead type. Yan Shigu and Yan Xiangshi personally typed out a commentary on the Book of Rites by Yan Xiangshi. Then Lin Chuan took a brush and applied ink evenly to the movable lead type.

Gongshuqi, standing to the side, steadily pressed down the template with the paper already placed on it.

Gongshuqi picked up the template and, under everyone's watchful eyes, flipped it over, revealing clear and even characters on the paper.

"It's done!"

Yan Xiangshi, his eyes red-rimmed, murmured to himself.