Song Dynasty Official Publishing House

"Xiao Xianggong, where are you going?" asked the businessman who had been sitting at the side, and he looked at Song Cheng with a smile.Song Cheng was thinking about something, when he was suddenly asked, he was taken aback before he replied with a smile: "Go back to Bianjing for a study tour."

"To Bianjing, I'm afraid it will take a lot of effort for you to walk all the way back." The man smiled.

Song Cheng smiled and said, "Spring is just right, so you can walk slowly."

"Little brother, have you ever been to my Hangzhou?" The businessman asked with a smile.

Song Cheng shook his head and said, "I heard that the tide of the Qiantang River is a great sight in the world, but it's a pity in my life that I don't have the chance to see it."

"Haha, little brother is right. We are from Hangzhou. Since the spring day is just right, little brother, why don't you go with us. Our next business trip will be to Bianjing. Then we will go up the canal directly to Bianjing, you’ll arrive comfortably all the way.” The businessman said with a smile to the man who was sitting with him, “Mu Er, don’t you think so?”

Song Cheng and Cui Pingzhi looked in the direction the businessman was looking at, and saw a rather strong man looking at them and nodded, "Shang Yi is right."

Only now did Song Cheng realize that the person in front of him who had been smiling and talking was called Shang Yi.Shang Yi is a self-acquaintance, and the businessman's mouth is very sharp. He stretched out his hand and patted himself on the head and said, "Yo, I forgot to introduce our name to the young man. My name is Shang Yi, the one who came back from the north His name is Jia Wei, and the person next to him is Huang Qijun."

Song Cheng and Cui Pingzhi followed Shang Yi's introduction to greet each other, and finally said with a smile: "Xiaosheng Song Cheng, this is my brother Cui Pingzhi."

"Hello, everyone." Cui Pingzhi clasped his fists together.

"Little Master, can you go to Hangzhou with us?" Shang Yi invited again with a smile.

Song Cheng thought for a while, this idea is not bad.Let’s say that Wuyue has a country since the end of Tang Dynasty, but it is rich and prosperous in a corner of Pian’an. , The whole country came to surrender, but it left a good reputation for being aware of current affairs and caring for the people, so that in the next five or six hundred years of the Ming Dynasty, people in Wu and Yue could still be seen thinking about Qian's family for a hundred years.

Shang Yi kindly invited him, Song Cheng glanced at Cui Pingzhi, seeing that he had no objection, he cupped his hands to Shang Yi and said, "Then thank you, Boss Shang."

"Young Master, you are welcome. We are destined to meet each other." Shang Yi changed the subject and put away the smile on his face. He sat sideways and approached Song Cheng and said, "Just now when I was talking about the war in the north, the little brother seems to be Some people disagree with our views, so I don’t know if you can elaborate a little bit.”

Song Cheng smiled and said, "Xiaosheng's knowledge is vulgar, so I dare not speak rashly."

"Young Master, what are you being polite to? We merchants can say it, so why can't you say so?" Jia Wei raised his voice as soon as he opened his mouth, and he waved his hand and said with a smile, "Just say it, Little Master!"

Song Cheng lowered his head and smiled and said, "Cheng privately thinks that although the Liao Kingdom is rotten, the foundation is still there after all, and the Liao people drink blood and are fierce by nature. My Song Dynasty has just recovered from self-cultivation and vitality. Small battles are okay, but If there is a big war, we must pour out the power of the whole country, and then it will be fine if we win, and if we lose, we will leave behind a disaster that can only be alleviated in a hundred years."

"Scholars are afraid of wars. If they don't fight, how will they know the result? I think the officials must fight this battle!" Jia Wei said loudly.

"I also thought the same way. When the opportunity came, it would be a pity not to fight." Huang Qijun also said.

"Then let's just wait and see." Song Cheng said with a smile, "In less than a year, we will see the outcome."

Shang Yi smiled and said: "Just now I saw that the young man is intelligent and capable, and Shang Yi will definitely benefit a lot from walking with the young man."

Song Cheng was also embarrassed by Shang Yi's words, he waved his hands again and again and said, "Boss Shang is absurd."

Several people chatted for a while, and the noon sun also avoided, Song Cheng and Cui Pingzhi followed the group of four, and went south again.During the period, Song Cheng asked if there was a large bookstore in Hangzhou, but Shang Yi said with a smile: "This is the right person to ask, the biggest bookstore in Hangzhou is opened by Mu Er. Isn't it, Mu Er?"

"Yes." Mu Er nodded and said, "Mu's Bookstore is my family's property. Brother Song asked what the bookstore does?"

"My family also has a small library, but it's not well managed and has never sold a single book." Song Cheng was a little embarrassed at this point, and he smiled, "So I want to see how the big bookstore works, and see if it can Can’t save my small library.”

"Paper is expensive and ink is expensive, and the engraved panels are labor-intensive and easy to damage. This bookstore is not easy to open." Mu Er shook his head and said, "I really liked this bookstore when I opened it, but now it is more profitable than profitable. If you can't break it back this year, it will be closed next year."

"Don't." Shang Yi said. "Our students in the land of Wuyue rely on your bookstore. Besides, you have already invested so much money. It's a pity to close it. If you don't want it, how about giving it to me?"

"No." Mu Er resolutely refused.

Song Cheng asked, "How much does a book cost now?"

"About [-] Wen, and the wages are not included in it." Mu Er thought about it and replied.

The consistent money in the Song Dynasty was 770 copper coins. At the beginning, he sold it for only a few coins, and the price of a few books he co-authored was really expensive.

"Besides, one engraving panel can only print one kind of book, and if you want to print other books, you have to re-carve it, which is really a waste." Mu Er shook his head with a smile, "Not everyone can start a bookseller, or You need to have some background, otherwise you won't even be able to squeeze out the money at a loss." Mu Er said and laughed.

"If we make the characters one by one, if we want to print "The Analects of Confucius", we will discharge the words of "The Analects of Confucius", and then pick out these characters one by one, and wait until the next time we print other books. Re-typesetting, wouldn't it save a lot of effort?" Song Cheng said.It seems that woodblock printing had not yet been invented in the Song Dynasty at this time, but Song Cheng wanted to use it in a hurry, so he might as well have said it earlier, but it was inevitable that he would take the credit of that senior Bi Sheng.

"That's a good idea!" Mu Eryi's eyes lit up when he heard Song Cheng's words. He patted his thigh and said, "When Brother Song arrives in Hangzhou, he must visit my bookstore. Let's try this method together. Last try.

"Okay!" Song Cheng said with a smile.

But half a month later, the few people arrived in Hangzhou, Song Cheng didn't even bother to visit the West Lake, and followed Mu Er directly to Mu's Bookstore.As expected, Mu Er's bookstore opened in a very grand style, in a very conspicuous place on the street, there seemed to be quite a lot of customers coming and going.

"Xiao Xianggong, you follow Mu Er to the bookstore, and the three of us will go home first. Let's meet again at another day. I invite you to see the West Lake and the Qiantang River tide." Shang Yi said with a smile.

"Okay." Song Cheng smiled and said to Shang Yi, Jia Wei, and Huang Qijun, "Everyone, go slowly."

Cui Pingzhi followed Song Cheng and said, "Go slowly."

"Let's get together some other day." Mu Er also smiled and said, "My house has newly built a small attic and planted a pond of lotus, please come and enjoy it together."

"Okay." Shang Yi said with a smile, "It's rare for you to speak, we will definitely cheer you on."

"Second Brother Mu is elegant." Huang Qijun said with a smile, "I will definitely come later."

"I want fine wine!" Jia Wei said directly without any hesitation.

"Fine food and wine are waiting for you." Mu Er said with a smile.

After they dispersed, Mu Er directly led Song Cheng and Cui Pingzhi in.Song Cheng saw that the bookshelves were full of brand new books, and he couldn't put them down.He loves to buy books when he is not wearing them. When he buys them home, he puts them in his study one by one, even if he doesn't read them, he still has them as decorations.Seeing such a new book at this time, my first thought was to rush to buy a few copies.

"Brother Song likes these books?" Mu Er asked with a smile.

"Yeah." Song Cheng rubbed his nose embarrassedly and said, "It's just greedy, let's go, let's go to the workshop behind."

Mu Er smiled and said: "Brother Song will send you a boatload of books when Brother Song returns to Bianjing."

"How embarrassing." Song Cheng waved his hands repeatedly.

"How can I not make it?"

While talking and laughing, the two went to the inner room, and saw a pool of water in the courtyard dyed black, and there were several large water tanks beside it, and a dozen or so workers in the corridor lobby were busy printing again.

"Foreman Bi, come and meet this little brother, he is your lucky star!" Mu Er said with a hearty smile.

Mu Er had been away from home for three or four months, and he didn't come back until this time. When they saw him, everyone rushed forward to salute. They saw a man who was quite thin, about eighteen or nineteen, with a coarse cloth wrapped around his body, and his hands were stained. With a little dried ink, he greeted him with a smile and said, "My master is back!"

Mu Er smiled and said: "I'm back, how's the business going?"

"It's still the same, the shopkeeper's hair is turning gray again." The visitor said with a smile, and he turned his head to Song Cheng and said, "Little man Bi Sheng, I have seen my little gentleman."

Song Cheng felt as if ten thousand alpacas were passing by before his eyes, who are these?who?Bi Sheng!Oh My God!This is the first time to see a living person in history!

"Bi, hello brother Bi!" Song Cheng said with a deep bow, out of fear and sincerity. He just stole someone else's patent, and now he's meeting the right owner.

"Little Xianggong doesn't need to be so polite." Seeing Song Cheng's agitation, Bi Sheng was also agitated for a while, and he quickly helped Song Cheng up.Mu Er told Bi Sheng what he said on Song Cheng Road again, and Bi Sheng slapped his thigh when he heard it, and said, "Little Xianggong is really Bi Sheng's bosom friend! I also had such thoughts in a trance a few days ago, but I haven't figured it out yet, I didn't expect that the little Xianggong would think it out before me, really, really bosom friend!"

"Ha, haha, yeah, this is all Cheng's random thinking." Song Cheng smiled awkwardly.

"What a coincidence!" Mu Er said with a smile, "We are also tired from the long journey today, why don't Brother Song rest at the house for two days, and then have a good communication with Foreman Bi?"

Song Cheng suddenly saw the living version of Bi Sheng, and the excitement in his heart hadn't passed yet. Hearing Mu Er's words, he felt that he was really tired. Brother." Then he said to Bi Sheng: "Let's talk about it in detail later."

Bi Sheng said again and again: "Alright, let's go back and discuss it again. Young Master, hurry up and go back with the owner to have a rest."

Mu Er explained a few more words to Bi Sheng, and brought Song Cheng and Cui Pingzhi back home.