On the occasion of rebirth Zhou Sui

Chapter 75 Engraving and Printing

Author: He Tiantian from Lotus Picking

Chapter 75 Engraving and Printing

"Zicheng has a good plan!"

Listening to the praises of the mountains and tsunamis outside, in the main meeting hall, Yang Guang said with a hearty smile.

At least in his opinion, Cui Che did this very well.

Colleagues also came forward to praise him one after another. Cui Che smiled and said a few words of humility, and then dispersed with everyone, each going back to the wing to handle government affairs.

At this time, the smile on Cui Che's face has disappeared, and the answers to the previously confused questions have been answered.

He hoped to be able to accept the praise of the poor people openly, instead of cheering outside the door while he left in shame inside the door.

To do this, you must control power.

The so-called title of Duke is no longer Cui Che's goal. He wants to go higher and further.

God allowed him to travel to this era, not to let him live in confusion in the officialdom. He had to make a difference and benefit the people.

After recognizing his life goals clearly, Cui Che became more serious and meticulous in his official duties and became more diligent.

At the same time, the latest news came from Chang'an City. At the end of last month, Yu Xuanmin, the captain of Fengche who was ordered to inspect Bashu, returned to the court and asked Yang Jian to establish a vassal state in Shu and bestowed upon his descendants.

Yang Jian was kind to his words, so he appointed his fourth son Yang Xiu, king of Yue, as the general manager of Yizhou and changed his title to king of Shu.

Before Yang Xiu left, Yang Jian had a secret conversation with Queen Dugu Jialuo:

"It's hard for Xiu'er to end well. If I were here, he wouldn't dare to rebel. If I were to go, we would definitely kill each other."

But in the end, Yang Xiu was sent to Shu. Compared with possible fratricide, Yang Jian cared more about controlling the place while he was still alive.

Since Yang Xiu was only nine years old, unlike Yang Guang's own conquest, Yang Xiu's staff was formed by Yang Jian. Yuan Yan, the Minister of the Ministry of War, was the general manager of Yizhou, assisting Yang Xiu in governing the 24 states of Shu.

Yang Guang was greatly surprised when he heard the news that his fourth brother was conquering Shu. At this time, his third brother, King Qin Yang Jun, who was eleven years old, had not been appointed. Logically speaking, Yang Jun should be allowed to go to Shu instead of skipping him and choosing

Nine-year-old Yang Xiu.

This doubt was soon answered. Yang Jian soon ordered the abolition of the six prefectures in Tokyo. Yang Yong's father-in-law Yuan Xiaoju was also packing his bags, preparing to be drafted and return to the court. The King of Qin, Yang Jun, naturally wanted to be placed in Henan.

The Six Prefectures of Tokyo were originally set up by Emperor Wu of the Zhou Dynasty in Yecheng, Xiangzhou, to rule the old territory of the Northern Qi Dynasty. They were another set of administrative agencies different from Chang'an. They were later moved to Luoyang for easier control.

The abolition of the six prefectures in Tokyo also showed Yang Jian's determination not to move the capital to Kanto.

During this period, Yang Guang, with the assistance of Cui Che, implemented favorable policies in Shanxi, which was highly praised by the scholars and people. When Yang Jian heard the news in Chang'an, he specially issued an edict to commend him, and gave him a bundle of silk and an imperial umbrella as encouragement.

At the same time, the "Kaihuang Code", which had been compiled for a long time, was finally promulgated and sent to Jinyang in mid-November.

The "Kaihuang Code" abandoned the laws of the Northern Zhou Dynasty and was based on the "Northern Qi Code". It abolished the punishments of the previous generation, such as whipping and owl heads, splitting of the shaft and other tortures, and defined the five punishments as death, exile, imprisonment, cane and flogging, and set up the "discussion"

The "redemption, atonement, and compensation" system provides privileges to guilty officials and dignitaries.

‘Yi’ refers to the Eight Yis, which provide special trials for eight types of people and reduce their guilt according to the law.

Common people naturally do not belong to the Eight Councils, but are relatives of the emperor (relatives), the emperor's old friends (gu), outstanding moral character (virtuous), outstanding talents (neng), outstanding merits (gong), high officials and dignitaries (noble), and diligent

To serve (diligently), to be a noble (guest) in the former dynasty.

"Reduced" refers to the crimes committed by officials above the seventh rank and members of the eighth rank. Compared with ordinary people, the crime is reduced by one level.

"Redemption" refers to crimes committed by officials above the ninth rank, and they are allowed to redeem their sins with money. Each level of punishment has a corresponding ransom.

"Dang" means being an official. If an official commits a crime and is punished by imprisonment, a person who is exiled can use his official rank to trade in as a prisoner, and the punishment is exile.

The law is naturally gentle to powerful officials, but it deals hard blows to ordinary people who commit crimes.

Under Cui Che's arrangement, legal officials read out laws and decrees in various busy streets in Bingzhou to warn the people.

I thought that the first year of the founding of the Emperor would be spent in a busy and fulfilling life, but I didn't know that Yang Jian of Chang'an acted like a monster again.

Last year when Yang Jian ascended to the throne, in order to win over people's hearts, he relaxed the restrictions on Buddhism, Taoism and other religions. Now he has even issued an order to allow ordinary people to become monks without any obstruction from the government.

That's all. He ordered all localities to pay according to their population to build temples and Buddha statues.

At this time, it had only been five years since Emperor Wu of Zhou ordered Buddhism to be banned in Guandong.

Brother Che really didn't want to scrape the poor man's money anymore, so he summoned a group of craftsmen to work on it for a while, and finally brought the engraving of one of the Mahaparinirvana Sutras to Yang Guang.

Yang Guang was commended by Yang Jian some time ago, and Yang Guang's good mood continues to this day. He watched Cui Che easily print a piece of "The Mahaparinirvana Sutra of Kasyapa Bodhisattva" using engraving, and he also noticed the profits.

Five years ago, Emperor Wu of the Zhou Dynasty banned Buddhism and a large number of scriptures were burned. Faced with the demand of millions of believers, printing Buddhist scriptures would definitely not worry about sales.

After Cui Che waited for the ink to dry, he handed the scriptures to Yang Guang, bowed and said:

"I also ask Your Highness to use the profits from selling scriptures to fund the construction of temples on behalf of the people."

Yang Guang nodded slightly when he heard the words. He wanted to set up a virtuous king and did not care about the little profit. If he relied on selling scriptures to build temples and Buddha statues instead of extending his hands to the people, how could the people not feel grateful for their merits?

But he was not satisfied with this. After agreeing to Cui Che's request to build a printing factory on the outskirts of Jinyang, he also asked Cui Che for advice on engraving techniques and prepared to submit it to Chang'an, which was praised by Yang Jian.

In fact, block printing was invented in the Tang Dynasty and was widely used in the middle and late Tang Dynasty. It was mostly used to print Buddhist statues, sutras, mantras, almanacs, etc. Even though movable type printing was invented in the Northern Song Dynasty, it could not replace the status of block printing.

After the matter was ordered, there were officials who took care of it, and a large number of scripture engravings were produced due to the hard work of the craftsmen, including an engraving of the "Kaihuang Code", which was used as a tribute.

The messenger sent to Chang'an rode away with the engraving of the "Kaihuang Law", and a printing factory outside Jinyang City was quickly established. The scriptures were printed day and night, which also brought large profits to the Bingzhou Governor's Office.

Yang Guangyi followed Cui Che's instructions and did not impose excessive taxes on the people, but used the profits from selling scriptures to build temples. This can be considered as taking money from the Buddha and using it for the Buddha.

Comparing the practice of local governments in Henan, Hebei, and Guanzhong in distributing donations to the people, the people of the 24 states under the jurisdiction of the Bingzhou Governor's Office all praise Yang Guang as a wise king, and Cui Che is also indispensable behind the scenes to add fuel to the fire. In this regard, Brother Che

Considered a veteran.

Yang Jian received the engraving of the "Kaihuang Law" in Chang'an and ordered it to be made on the spot. After seeing the results, he was very happy. Not only did he see business opportunities, but he also knew the importance of engraving and printing in promoting culture and education. Who said that he could only use

Buddhist sutra engraving.

Go get some sleep first.

(End of chapter)