Chapter 29 Section 17

Shi Yuesan refused the imperial court's imperial edict and published ten books in the world within half a year, which finally made him famous all over the world. Shi Yue seemed unafraid of being a celebrity in the Song Dynasty. After the publication of "Seven Books on Stone Studies", his life gradually became more leisurely.Tang Di and others let go of their foreign posts one by one, and went to the localities one by one. In addition to talking about knowledge with Sang Chongguo and asking about the situation of the printing press, he had a chat with Su Shi, Wang Anli, Zeng Bu and others. Talking about ancient and modern times; or accompanying Sangzier at home to comment on poems and Danqing... In short, the July of the third year of Xining, except for the hot weather, was really the most pleasant time for Shi Yue.

Sang Yuchu was also very happy, because there was a Jinshi in his family, and there was another Shiyue living in his family. His current status is different from the past-how many merchants have received imperial envoys three times?Although he pays attention to not showing his emotions and anger, but in his heart he can't help being secretly proud.Soon he received another letter from Tang Gannan, saying that everything was going well for him in Hangzhou, and the magistrate there also knew that he had a Jinshi from the Tang family. If it is of great use one day, it must be a prominent official, so no one wants to offend the Tang family at this time-plus Tang Gannan knows how to manage things from top to bottom, every now and then every official has gifts, so naturally it is even more important. Be open to everything.In the letter, Tang Gannan asked about the situation of Sang's Press, and asked if he intended to open a branch in Hangzhou - but this matter still needs to hear Shi Yue's opinion first, and everyone began to follow Shi Yue's lead.

After showing Tang Gannan's letter to Shi Yue, Sang Yuchu asked, "What's your nephew's intention?" Shi Yue thought about it for a while, and said: "The reading atmosphere in the south of the Yangtze River is growing day by day, and there are so many book printing shops. The competition must be fierce. Let the second uncle handle this matter. Just tell the second uncle that if you want to print books, you can choose any one of them." From classics to Buddhist and Taoist collections, from poems and operas to commentaries and miscellaneous talks, as long as someone buys them, they can be printed. In addition, I heard that there are many skilled craftsmen in Hangzhou in the south of the Yangtze River, and my second uncle can try color overprinting. If it succeeds, it will definitely be popular." Then he introduced what is color overprinting.

Sang Yuchu nodded quickly and said yes: "This is a good idea." Shi Yue laughed again: "The flowing water production method we use here, you can also talk to the second uncle, even if you are doing cotton spinning, you may not be able to use these methods. Naturally, the lower the cost of doing business, the better." "That's natural." Sang Yuchu felt the same way. After saying this, Shi Yue pondered for a while, looked up at Sang Yuchu, and said, "My nephew also wants to discuss something with my uncle." Seeing Shi Yue's solemn expression, Sang Yuchu knew that there must be some serious matter. He stroked his short beard habitually, and said with a smile, "Nephew, please tell—"

"I want to set up an academy to give lectures, and my uncle needs to be considerate about it." Although Shi Yue's tone was gentle, his attitude was unusually firm. Sang Yuchu couldn't help being startled: Shi Yue's idea of ​​not being an official but wanting to teach and run an academy is really strange.He thought for a while before he said: "Academies in various places can only maintain the daily expenses of an academy with the support of local officials or the joint efforts of gentry. Scholars are probably not rich. Studying, half-farming and half-studying, can barely make a living. With the reputation of my nephew today, it is not difficult to establish an academy..."

Shi Yue didn't think of this much at first, he also thought about it for a while, and said: "Let's not talk about the government's support. Although the Kaifeng government will support it, it doesn't need to be counted. For the current plan, choose a place first. There should be no objection to running a school locally, and the elders in the neighborhood should have no objection to running a school locally, and then call on the gentry nearby to ask them to contribute and sponsor, so there should be no major obstacles.” No matter how difficult it is, he is willing to establish an academy. Willingness must be done.

Knowing his misunderstanding, Sang Yu shook his head and said with a smile: "You don't need to find others to set up schools and so on. I have absolutely no reason to watch what my nephew is going to do. You don't need to work on others for this money. The biggest difficulty in this process is the academician. How to guarantee their livelihood, with the reputation of my nephew, there must be a lot of scholars who want to study, and it is not an easy task to support these many people for a long time." Shi Yue didn't expect that he was worried about this matter, so he couldn't help laughing and said: "My academy is different from ordinary academies. Confucius gave lectures to 3,000 disciples back then, is it possible that he still has to support these 3,000 disciples? Half-reading, that’s because his disciples are all from the nearby township party, and they all have a sense of voluntary learning. The school run by the imperial court is to raise talents for the country, so it has to pay these scholars. My academy, But there are other scales. Scholars who come here to study must pay tuition fees every year, board and lodging, books and ink, and have to study for three consecutive years before they can graduate..." Now talk about it in detail with Sang Yuchu, straight to Sang Yuchu I was dumbfounded when I heard it - would someone come to such an academy?

Although dubious, Sang Yuchu still decided to support Shi Yue.So Shi Yue and Sang Chongguo chose a site called "Bai Shui Tan" ten miles southwest of Kaifeng City.It was originally a public land of the Bai family. There was a fruit forest planted on several small mounds, and there was a pool nearby, which was quite quiet and not too far from the official road. Shi Yue and Sang Chongguo could see it at a glance. in this place.The elders of the Bai family were also very happy when they heard that they were going to set up an academy here.Several educated scholars in the clan have heard of Shi Yue's name, and when they talk about it with the clan leaders, there is no reason not to disagree.They are willing to sell the land at half price, on the condition that a free school will be set up in the academy, so that the children of the Bai family can go to school for free, and the Bai family will pay the husband's board, lodging and gift money.This request is also very common. Shi Yue thought that although he didn't intend to run an elementary school, he definitely had no reason to refuse, so he agreed.

After the address was settled, the construction of the school building began.Shi Yue wanted to build it as soon as possible, so Sang Yuchu bought all the green bricks, limestone and wood, regardless of the cost. Looking at the piles of limestone, Shi Yue couldn't help wondering: "At this time, people are using lime to paint the house?" After asking the craftsman, he found out that the limestone is not only used for adhesive, but also for tidying the ground. , the ground is neatly made of limestone and loess, smooth and dust-free, and it has been as smooth as a mirror for decades.It's just that the manpower and material resources required for this are not something ordinary people can afford.

Shi Yue grew up in the countryside. When he was a child, his family burned red bricks, built houses, painted walls, and used cement to lay the ground. It can be said that no one in his generation who is in the countryside has not experienced it.Moreover, most of these things need to be done by yourself. He did not know how many things he did when he was a child, such as digging loess and using brick molds to make bricks. Twenty percent of the clay is mixed and burned to become cement. Using cement as a binder or painting the ground is much more efficient than people in the Song Dynasty using limestone and loess to build the ground.

His little invention was amazed by those craftsmen. A few scholars originally thought that Shi Yue just spent time here all day because he cared about the school buildings. They refused to let go of this opportunity to communicate with celebrities, and often came to ask for advice. Seeing that Shi Yue still has this kind of means at this time, all of them were extremely impressed, and they all shouted "Those who are capable can do anything". After being so busy in Baishuitan, it took two months for this courtyard to be in order. During this period of time, the villagers of Shiyue, Sangchongguo and Baishuitan also became very familiar with each other, because the patriarch asked the men in the clan to take turns to help the college as a volunteer, and the villagers came to do things as their own family. Do the same thing, do your best - Shi Yue hasn't seen such a simple scene for a long time, the so-called "throw a peach and return it with a plum". A house built with bricks has its advantages, but the biggest disadvantage is that it is not open to light.After all, Baishuitan is a suburb, so it can't be compared to Bianjing where every family burns charcoal, and the house is even more gloomy after being smoked with firewood.Shi Yue then taught them how to burn red bricks. Although the cost is higher than that of clay bricks, after all coal is used, it is much cheaper than green bricks.In addition, Shi Yue usually speaks very kindly. If anyone's family is too poor, he can't help feeling compassionate and giving some money and things at any time. For a while, the entire Baishuitan villagers like him very much, even people in a radius of ten miles. Knowing that a very kind big man has come to Baishuitan - this big man is not only admired by the scholars in the village for his knowledge, but also for things like building houses and firing bricks, even the old master can't compare with him - but there must be rumors To exaggerate, the villagers have long secretly rumored that this Mr. Shi is actually a certain star who came down to earth to help Zhao Song's official family build a peaceful and prosperous age. According to Shi Yue's original intention, he never cared about such things as cement and red bricks.Cotton spinning, printing, and the publication of several books before were all intentional by him. He also believed that these things were necessary for him to turn the wheel of the times. With his understanding of history, he naturally understood that the cotton yarn industry is the British One of the important components of the Industrial Revolution, and the printing industry, everyone knows that "Gutenberg Galaxy" is the beginning of an era; the release of several books is not only to win a position for themselves, but also to slowly influence People's thoughts—these are the things that he intentionally does to fulfill his own ambitions.But Shi Yue never even thought about what cement and red bricks can change. It's just that when he saw with his own eyes that the things he "invented" could be put to use, the sense of accomplishment in his heart was the same as writing a novel. The feeling after the book is the same.