Wang Zongyao was born in the Wang family of Chengdu, and was of the same clan as Wang Gui, the former Prime Minister of the Song Dynasty. In terms of seniority, Qiwan Baguai could be regarded as the nephew of Qin Hui and his wife.
More than ten years ago, the Wang family in Chengdu was forcibly exterminated.
Wang Zongyao was not allocated much land in this house, but he was allocated the Wang family's bookstore business. He failed the three consecutive national examinations, and his qualifications as candidates expired and he had to take the examination again. In depression, he simply went home to learn business.
But he was just a concubine, and he had no share in inheriting the family business. At most, he could become a professional manager of the family business.
This time he discussed with his father and brother and brought some books and funds to Dali. Within ten years, he would return the capital to his family with interest, and the newly opened Dali property would belong to him, but from now on the family property in Chengdu would be with him.
Doesn't matter.
What is Meizhou carving?
It's all a pretense.
The books he brought were all printed in Chengdu and were of inferior quality.
Su Tong got a copy of "The Analects of Confucius" and looked through it. He felt that it was no more exquisite than the Dali books. He couldn't help but ask: "Is this really a fine product from Meizhou?"
Wang Zongyao smiled and said: "It was shipped from Meizhou. Sansu, which was famous all over the world at that time, often bought books in my store."
When the "Three Su" sign was shown, these Dali scholars immediately stood in awe, as if the textbooks in their hands had become more beautiful out of thin air.
“What are the entrance examination standards for state schools?”
"I'll post it right now, so you can take your time and read it. In fact, it's similar to the imperial examinations in various provinces. It only tests the Four Books, the Six Classics and mathematics. The Four Books and mathematics are compulsory, and one of the Six Classics is selected as the main classic."
"Which arithmetic book should I take for the math test?"
"The Ministry of Rites has compiled three types of elementary, secondary and advanced mathematics. Government-run elementary schools and county schools take "Elementary Mathematics". Government-run state schools and government schools take "Secondary Mathematics" as a compulsory course and "Advanced Mathematics" as an elective. Only Taixue,
It is compulsory to take "Advanced Mathematics", so once you graduate from Taixue, you will be able to have the status of a scholar."
"This is "Elementary Mathematics" in my hand?"
"That's right. Just go back and read it casually. Although it is a compulsory exam, you haven't studied it carefully after all. This time, Dali Fuxue will determine the number of students and select the best based on test scores. You don't need to learn all "Elementary Mathematics".
All you need to do is do better than others."
"Then don't you have to study hard?"
"That's right. I used to be a civil servant, and I know "Elementary Mathematics" well. I plan to set up a temporary private school to teach mathematics in the near future. Of course, the tuition fee is relatively expensive, and those who are interested can sign up."
"Sir, is he actually a member of the Ming Dynasty?"
"This is the admission ticket (admittance ticket) I took for the general examination that year. It has been stamped by the Ministry of Etiquette. I don't dare to falsify it."
"How is the tuition calculated?"
"There are still more than fifty days before the entrance exam for the government school. I will only accept thirty students, each with a tuition fee of fifteen yuan, and I will teach until the day before the exam."
"So expensive?"
"You don't have to come to study."
As long as you can afford the money, you would be a fool not to study. After all, the number of admissions to private schools is limited. The more you answer a math question correctly, the more hope you have of being admitted.
The scholars did not bring enough money with them, but they signed up with Wang Zongyao one after another. They only needed to pay a deposit to get a spot, and after paying the tuition within three days, they could officially join the math cram school.
If you don't make it up within three days, the deposit will not be refunded.
These scholars who were able to go to Dong Mingshou's house to stop the officers and soldiers from arresting people must be from the local wealthy families. They could easily afford fifteen dollars, and they all paid a deposit with Wang Zongyao.
Then, they began to read the Four Books and Six Classics.
The Dali Kingdom did not have the concept of the Four Books and Six Classics, and the "Great Learning" and "The Doctrine of the Mean" were not written separately.
Wang Zongyao introduced them:
"The four books are "The Analects", "Mencius", "The Great Learning", and "The Doctrine of the Mean". Generally speaking, you can learn whatever you want. But real scholars will learn "The Great Learning" first, "The Analects of Confucius" secondly, and "Mencius"
Again, finally "The Mean"."
"And the Six Classics of the Ming Dynasty are also different from the Six Classics of ancient times. There is no "Yue Jing", but more "Xunzi"."
Su Tong was surprised and said: "Is Xunzi also a classic? This is rare in Dali. I only know about Xunzi from other books."
Wang Zongyao said: "It doesn't matter. For the other Five Classics, you can take the exam whichever one you know. Anyway, the imperial court only takes one of them. "The Great Learning" is for students to study hard. The order of some chapters and sentences in it is different from what you have learned before.
"
"Why is it different?" Shi Luohanming asked.
Wang Zongyao bowed toward the northeast: "It was revised by the emperor himself, including the annotations in "The Great Learning", and they were all written by the Holy Emperor. Not only "The Great Learning", but also five of the Four Books and Six Classics were in the imperial court
When the annotations were re-edited, the emperor gave more or less opinions. Today's emperor, regardless of his status as emperor, can still be called the great master of Confucianism."
Everyone was shocked when they heard this.
Ju Ming's status as the "Grand Master of Confucianism" was relatively high. He used the power of the emperor to revise the contents of the imperial examination, and in the past twenty years, scholars all over the country had to study as required.
With more people studying, mainstream academic thought will naturally move closer to Ju Ming.
If it were someone other than the emperor, it would be difficult to achieve this.
Even Zhu Xi's knowledge did not become mainstream in the Southern Song Dynasty. I don't know how much spitting was exchanged with his colleagues.
In the end, although Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism became an official school, it had become a castrated and deformed version of the Ming Dynasty. Especially the "Complete of the Five Classics" was urged by Zhu Yuanzhang, and the compilation was called perfunctory, and could even be said to be misleading. By the middle of the Ming Dynasty
Not many people use this legal textbook anymore, and students have picked up the "Five Classics of Justice" from the Tang Dynasty as their textbooks.
At this moment, the Dali scholars in the bookstore were buying a set of four textbooks and "Elementary Mathematics", and then selected a classic book that they were good at.
Wang Zongyao was very happy to see it. Sure enough, if he wanted to make money, he had to take risks. Now he could run his own business in Dali City.
Unfortunately, the cost of transporting books from Sichuan is too high. In the future, we will have to print books ourselves in order to last long.
The content of the textbooks of the Four Books and Six Classics has become stable and has not been revised in the past ten years. Therefore, the textbooks are all printed with engravings. Firstly, the printing quality is higher, and secondly, it saves costs. A set of engravings can even be used repeatedly as a family heirloom.
.
Books with a large circulation, especially textbooks and Buddhist scriptures, are basically printed with engravings. Although the initial cost is high, the cost will be reduced in the long run.
There are also engraving craftsmen here in Dali, and Wang Zongyao already has mature ideas.
He knew very well that the government would crack down on Dali Esoteric Buddhism and Theravada Buddhism, and might even wantonly ban temples. The craftsmen who used to carve Buddhist scriptures and engraving blocks for temples might have sharply reduced job opportunities in the future, and some could be hired at very low prices.
After the exam is over, Wang Zongyao plans to hand over the bookstore to his confidants and take his assistant back to his hometown in Chengdu.
While a new batch of books was being shipped, I asked my father to get some low-interest loans. The Ming Dynasty treasure banknotes are easy to carry, and a Baoquan branch will definitely be opened in Yunnan, and then craftsmen will be hired to engrave textbooks.
When funds become abundant in the future, they can engrave movable type and set up a book printing factory to pirate and reproduce various novels, plays, anthologies, etc.
The imperial court is about to launch a large-scale enlightenment campaign in Yunnan, so there is no need to worry about sales when printing and selling books here!
At present, only government schools are opened. In the next few years, state schools, county schools, and primary schools will be opened one after another. When the trend of imperial examinations takes shape, social studies and village schools will also appear in urban and rural areas, and then more people will buy books.
.
As the number of literate people increases, the sales of books such as novels and anthologies will also increase.
Of course, there will also be more competitors in opening bookstores and printing plants, and you have to take advantage of the opportunity to build your own brand.
"What are these?" Suddenly a scholar asked.
Wang Zongyao turned around and looked at it, and immediately laughed and said: "The top two rows are novels, and the middle row is playbooks. I only ship one set of each novel and playbook. Once it is sold out, it will be gone. I have to ship it again from Sichuan."
Come on. This kind of books do not require engraving. They are all printed with movable type. They must have their own movable type library. It is impossible to copy them in Yunnan in the short term. Therefore, they are very expensive to sell."
Really expensive!
Wang Zongyao dared to sell a set of the official version of "Journey to the West" for fifty guan in Dali City, directly selling the novel as a luxury product.
Just because there is no movable type library in Yunnan, "Journey to the West" cannot be printed locally. Nor does it exist in neighboring Guizhou. Guangxi only has it in the provincial capital, so it's better to have it shipped from Sichuan.
It’s so expensive, will anyone buy it?
There really is.
Dali originally believed in Buddhism. The scholars heard that it was the story of Master Xuanzang's Buddhist scriptures. After reading the first two chapters, they were attracted by the novel plot and actually discussed buying a set together.
Since photocopying is no longer possible in the short term, let’s hire someone to copy the book.
It’s okay to copy the book yourself, but it’s time to practice calligraphy.
Su Tong spent money to buy a copy of "Arabian Nights" and went home to study the Four Books and Six Classics. He was bored out of his mind and was soon attracted by the novel.
Su Tong didn't forget that a familiar scholar was killed, but he didn't want to think about it.
To be continued...