Royal road

"Engrave this line of characters on the wooden board, like a mirror reflection, the font protrudes from the wooden board, the shape of the font is good, and the font does not change. Every word must be at the same height."

A group of stone carving craftsmen took the note from the servant in a daze.Lettering on wood?It has to be engraved in reverse, what is this for?

Two days ago, the Liang Mansion recruited a group of sculptors.Engaging in Buddha sculpture is not like others. The amount of work is often quite large, and the cost of money and food is very large. Therefore, once a war breaks out, the sculpture is likely to be interrupted.There have been frequent wars in these years, and many of them have lost their vitality, and the rest are lingering under the control of the government.Now that an opportunity suddenly appears, naturally he refuses to let it go.

However, after they came to Liang Mansion, they realized that the job they got was a little different from before.A stele engraver carefully asked: "It's okay if the characters are concave inwards, but if they protrude, they have to be engraved in reverse. How to ensure the same height?"

"Among you, there are those who have engraved steles, and those who have carved Buddhas. Think carefully based on your experience. The master ordered that if someone is the first to make a qualified engraving, he will be promoted to the head of the craftsman." A Liang stood with his hands behind his back. In front of this group of people, he said loudly.

Among a group of craftsmen, the craftsman is often paid the highest and has the greatest power.Not to mention that Liang Mansion has become very famous recently, and even the county lord has to show his favor in every possible way.If he can really become a craftsman in the Liang Mansion, it will be a blessing for several lifetimes!

Hearing that these craftsmen didn't dare to ask more questions, they began to ponder with the paper strips and wooden boards in their hands.After a while, sawdust flew across the yard, making a loud noise.Wood is not as easy to use as stone, and it is also difficult to control the strength. Some people accidentally broke the board in their hands. The steward did not mean to blame, and immediately offered a new board without interrupting, just watching silently from the side.

After tossing like this for more than half an hour, a man finally stood up and handed over an engraving block: "Is it possible to engrave like this?"

A Liangzai looked at the board carefully for a while, and said to him, "Come with me."

Unexpectedly, the winner would be decided so soon, and everyone's eyes swept over. Although the man was a little nervous, he still patted the sawdust on his lapel and followed.

After leaving the courtyard, we walked around a corridor and arrived at the main courtyard.After all, he is also a craftsman from Fucheng, so the man has naturally heard about the "Buddha son".He didn't even dare to lift his head, he followed closely behind the steward, and knelt down as soon as he entered the door.Only a fairly clear voice came from the chief seat: "It will be ready so soon? Show me."

After receiving the wooden board from A Liang, Liang Feng looked at it carefully. He had to say that the carving was really good, such fine handwriting could keep the same lines, and what was even more rare was that the fonts were of consistent height and strength, and the force was quite precise. .No nonsense, he picked up the brush on the side, carefully painted a layer of ink on the wooden board, attached it with paper, and brushed lightly.When the paper was uncovered again, only a line of clear text was printed on the paper.

Liang Feng nodded slightly, then rushed down and asked, "What's your name?"

"The younger one's name is Wei Fonu, and he is a Buddha carver in the county government." Wei Funu quickly replied.

It seems that this is also an ancestral carver, Liang Feng said again: "How did you carve this reverse calligraphy?"

Wei Funu replied honestly: "Put the paper upside down on the wooden board, and carve according to the shape of the characters."

This is a standard engraving method in Yangwen. It is a brain that can come up with the correct method so quickly.

Liang Feng said: "From now on, you will be the head craftsman of Liangfu Bookstore. I will provide you with ten engravers, one ink maker, and five servants to assist you. Your task is to engrave Book blocks, engraved Buddhist scriptures."

Wei Funu immediately saw sweat on his head: "But the little one, the little one is illiterate, and has never cared about others..."

"It doesn't matter, what you are responsible for is the quality of the engraving. I will let other people do the text proofreading and book binding. The bookstore belongs to one of the four workshops in my house, and the people in the workshop are all shaded households in the Liang family. "

The word Yinhu immediately cheered up Wei Funu.As long as you become a noble family, you don't have to be forced to serve by the government, and you can eat and live in the mansion, and maybe you will have the last farmland, which is much better than being a craftsman.

He hurriedly said: "The little one will definitely do his best to make a good engraving!"

"Good." Liang Feng smiled, "Craftsmen should also be carefully selected. Those who are careful and skilled can carve characters, while others who are not good at craftsmanship can carve, engrave, and polish. There must be a division of labor and cooperation. Here is a plank, you take it Take a look, carefully decorated, elegant and beautiful."

After all, Liang Feng had seen some ancient books, so he generally knew the format.As for the decorative details, let the craftsmen enrich them.

Wei Funu heard the words and wanted to pick him up, but when he looked up and saw the person sitting on the seat, he suddenly froze in place, was stunned for a moment, and then hurriedly bowed his head.His family has carved Buddhas for generations, and he is familiar with all kinds of famous painters' brushes, but even if he has a wonderful brush, he can't describe such a face.This head of the Liang family really deserves the title of "Buddha son"!

Full of gratitude, and a little more pious, Wei Funu didn't even dare to lift his head, obediently took the drawing paper, and backed out.

Sitting on the seat, Liang Feng also heaved a sigh of relief.Now, with his inexperienced qualifications, he can't promote medical books from top to bottom, but there are more convenient ways to spread books.Jianshufang is for this.

In this era, there was no printing technique, and even in Wang Wen's mansion or Huai'en Temple, scriptures could only be copied by hand.Books are precious items that can only be owned by very few people. If you are born in a poor family, no matter how smart you are, it is difficult to borrow enough books for study.

It is precisely because of this monopoly of knowledge that printing has become insignificant.Those rich and powerful families have their own manpower and material resources, so why bother to spend time researching this?However, for Liang Feng, woodblock printing is very important.As long as you have this sharp weapon, you can copy a large number of books. Why don't you worry about the medical books left by Doctor Jiang not being spread all over the world?

However, the cost of woodblock printing is also surprisingly high.Not to mention those engraving craftsmen, the price of ink and paper is also high.If he gave it away for nothing, he would never be able to support it with his current wealth.But what if medical books are used as a supplement?For example, if you buy a copy of "Diamond Sutra", you will get a copy of "New Treatise on Febrile Diseases" as a gift. Anyway, the theory of epidemic prevention comes from the Buddha's dream, and it is not offensive in terms of emotion and etiquette.And when those noble women and believers bought back the scriptures, the medical books would naturally enter more noble houses.

Typhoid fever is not a family disease, and many scholar-bureaucrats have a little understanding of medical theory.As long as one more person sees it, one more person will know how to prevent and treat typhoid fever.If those who are proficient in medical skills see it, it will promote the development of medicine.Doctor Jiang's last wish could be realized.

More importantly, as long as there is printing, he has the means of disseminating knowledge.These two books are just testing the waters. What if the classics and history, agricultural books, and other Buddhist scriptures are printed?Selling knowledge is never a cheap business.He needs more talents, no matter how high the reputation is, this thin book will become the cornerstone of his footsteps.This is much more important than the mere title of "Buddha Son".

Time waits for me, only to find another way!

■

Five fine horses galloped across the official road, and pedestrians on the road gave way one after another.This horse looks like a good horse, even in the boundary of Bingzhou, there are not many people who can ride it, let alone a team of five riders.No matter which nobleman's powerful soldiers are under him, it's always good to hide.

"Team Zheng, should we stop for a while?" After riding for half a day, a knight couldn't help but suggest.

"It's not far from Wu Township, we must arrive tonight." Yi Yan replied coldly with a serious face.

With what Quezheng said, the others didn't dare to refute, so they just urged the horse forward, and finally felt the ground at nightfall.

It's autumn harvest now, but there are no crops to be seen along the way, and there are dry and cracked wasteland everywhere.Several dilapidated houses stood by the side of the road, the doors were wide open, and there was no one in the houses long ago.

These five cavalrymen were all Jie people, their complexions naturally became solemn, they slowed down their horses and moved forward all the way.Yiyan's village is in the east of the county, before approaching the village entrance, he saw a few blurred figures rushing out of the thatched hut and running towards the mountains.Yi Yan frowned, clamped his horse's belly, and chased after him.

The horse was running too fast, and it seemed that they couldn't hide, and all the people knelt down, and one of the thin men kowtowed and begged for mercy: "Master Bing, please forgive me! There are only old people and children left at home, or take me let's go..."

"Zaida?" Yi Yan jumped off the horse and walked up quickly.

Hearing the familiar accent, the man raised his head in a daze. After watching for a long time, he realized that he grabbed Yiyan's arm: "Are you Yiyan? That kid from the Xunsang family?"

"It's me." Yi Yan helped him up and asked, "What's going on? Why are you the only one left at home?"

Ben Da wryly smiled and said: "Everyone else has gone out to flee the famine, so I left me and my mother. These days, there are always officers and soldiers coming, saying that they want to buy us to Youzhou, and make them slaves so that we can survive... ..."

Yiyan has tasted what it's like to be sold as goods.The big shackles are on the shoulders, two people are in groups, lack of food and water along the way, whether they can survive to the end of the land is one thing.The man in front of him is so thin that he has only a handful of bones. Wouldn't it be a dead end if he was arrested?

He spat: "This group of officials! Don't be afraid, this time I came to the village to recruit people in the name of my lord. As long as you are hardworking and willing to work, you can go with me!"

Ben Da was stunned for a moment, then looked at the big horses behind him again, and asked cautiously: "You recognize the lord? Who is that man?"

"Shenmen Tinghou is Liang Langjun who just rescued Jinyang recently."

"Liang Langjun? Is that the 'Buddha son'?" How can Wuxiang be closer to Jinyang? Hearing this, not only did he prostrate, even the eyes of those around him lit up.

"I heard that 'Buddha' saved the people of Jinyang!"

"Some people also say that he can relieve the pain by touching it!"

"'Buddha son' will take in Jie people as tenants?"

Hearing the name of the lord mentioned by the villagers, Yiyan couldn't help showing a proud look in his eyes: "It's Mr. Liang. He treats people with compassion, not only taking in the refugees, but also letting us join the trilogy. This horse is also given by the lord! "

There was more than one person standing behind him, and the knights also spoke up to help.Yiyan turned around and took out two dried bean cakes from the bag, and stuffed them to those people; "Eat some padding first, if you can go south with me, when you reach the Liang Mansion, there will still be land to cultivate!"

None of these words were as convincing as the pancakes in his hands. After several days of starvation, they couldn't bear it anymore and started to gobble it up.This kind of situation, a few months ago, Yiyan still thought it was commonplace.However, following the lord's side, no one in the entire Liang Mansion has ever suffered from hunger.That's hundreds of lives!The protagonist alone saved them all.Yiyan has never felt so personally the difference of the Liang Mansion.

He wants to bring back more men and horses to the lord, those who are honest and trustworthy, brave and loyal.He wants the protagonist to have more powerful moves and save more lives!He must return to the lord as soon as possible!

Yiyan took a deep breath: "Gongda, take me to meet other people in the village. I want to tell everyone the news. If someone is willing to go to Liang's mansion, they will be able to go on the road tomorrow!"

Benda almost choked, but under the moonlight, the pair of eyes on the opposite side were so shining, like stars in the sky.He was stunned for a moment, and regardless of the pancake in his hand, he pulled Yiyan up and ran towards the village.

In just one day, the fast horse passed through one village after another, and the dry ground was covered with dust.Family after family of hungry Capricorns packed their meager bags and walked out of the house.They have no way out, so naturally they are not qualified to be nostalgic for this piece of land.They didn't know where they were going, but the tribe boy with the gray blue eyes on the horse told them that someone would save them, their old and weak parents, their starving wives and children.

A good man called "Buddha's son".

Jie people believe in Buddhism, and there is nothing they look forward to more than the title of "Buddha Son".In this troubled world, if there is no compassion like the Buddha, how can he show mercy and save these poor and lowly barbarians?

An old man who couldn't even speak Chinese was struggling to follow behind the team, muttering words.

"That is not a son of Buddha, but the incarnation of Medicine Buddha. He sits on a lotus platform, seals the Three Realms, and makes a great wish to save all living beings. If someone believes in him, he will be able to escape from the sea of ​​suffering and return to the realm of bright glass. He has Twelve generals and seven thousand yakshas wiped out all evil spirits for him. My Buddha is merciful, and I care about my people..."

Amidst the murmur of prayers, two hundred bearded beards with high noses and deep eyes walked slowly towards the Liang Mansion.

The author has something to say: woodblock printing appeared a little later, probably only in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, and only became popular at the end of the Tang Dynasty.The popularization of printing appeared with the rise of the poor, and it was quite developed in the Song Dynasty, and movable type printing began.However, movable type has too high requirements for book editors, so it is better to use engraving blocks for the time being.