At this time, Princess Gaoyang is only a seven or eight-year-old little girl, and her eldest grandson Wugou is still alive. No one knows what the future will be like, and there is no need to care too much about those who are there or not now.
So after getting to know each other, Chen Jingke ignored her and started chatting with Changsun Wugou instead.
Changsun Wugou knew that he must have something to do when he entered the palace, so she made an excuse to ask Gao Yang to take his sisters to play in the garden. After sending him away, she said:
"Tell me, why did you come to the palace to see me?"
Chen Jingke said deliberately: "Looking at what you said, it can't be that I miss my aunt and come to see you?"
Changsun Wugou really liked what he heard and laughed and said, "With your slippery tone, I'm not sure how many girls will be deceived by you in the future."
Chen Jingke did not defend himself, but followed her words and said: "That relationship is good. My ideal is to marry ten or eight wives and have a large group of children."
"Haha... shameless." Changsun Wugou was amused by him and laughed.
No one has talked to her like this for many years, and even her children are serious and respectful when they see her. Well, except for Princess Chengyang, but this child is outspoken and not sweet.
"Okay, okay, I know you are filial, so let's get down to business."
Chen Jingke knew that the joke was over, so he immediately said seriously: "I have a good idea that I want to present to my aunt."
Changsun Wugou said curiously: "Oh, what's your idea?"
He took out a few pages of paper from his arms, spread them out on the stone table and said, "Auntie, please take a look... I named it woodblock printing."
The paper is full of pictures and texts, and what is written is exactly the principle and method of woodblock printing.
At first, Changsun Wugou didn't care. He engraved the words on the wooden board and spread ink on the white paper. Isn't this the rubbing method? But the more he looked at her, the more solemn his expression became, and then he became excited.
"Okay, okay, why didn't we think of such a good method? Jing Ke's doing this method is really meritorious."
Chen Jingke said with some embarrassment: "This method has been circulated among the people for a long time, but the technique is not mature enough, and the printed books are more like rubbings that are not clear and beautiful enough, so it has never been taken seriously."
"I made improvements based on their work, changing the negative engraving to positive engraving... and that's how I got the engraving and printing technology in front of me."
She was very satisfied with his humble eldest grandson Wugou, and what made her even more gratified was that he thought of her as soon as he got something good, instead of hiding it himself.
"Jing Ke is humble. Improving the methods of our predecessors is also a great achievement. With this method, your Majesty will be able to knight you."
Chen Jingke said quickly: "The title is a powerful weapon of the country, how can it be given lightly? Besides, it is useless for me, a Taoist priest, to ask for it."
The eldest grandson Wugou said: "Why is it useless? Taoist priests also need to marry, have children, and earn a family fortune for their children and grandchildren. But you are still young and not suitable for being knighted. I will remember this merit for you first, and wait for a few years before you can do it."
Give them a reward together."
This time Chen Jingke did not refuse and said: "Thank you, aunt."
Changsun Wugou said with satisfaction: "Is this right? Come on, tell me what this printing technique is all about."
Chen Jingke explained the woodblock printing technique to her in detail, from material selection to engraving, to ink dyeing, printing, and binding into a book.
By the way, I also mentioned the reason why I got into printing: in order to print Taoist scriptures.
Changsun Wugao smiled and shook his head: "You kid, you usually look smart, but why do you always get confused at critical moments?"
"Remember, no matter who asks you in the future, they must say that they feel that copying books by hand is too hard and too expensive, and many people cannot afford to read. This is why you do this specifically in order to carry forward the learning of the sages and educate all sentient beings."
Chen Jingke immediately understood the difference between the two statements and said movedly: "Yes, thank you, aunt."
After that, the two discussed how to open a book printing shop, and by the way, they also talked about the progress of the businesses mentioned before.
In a word, there is almost no progress.
It's not that Changsun Wujia doesn't pay attention to it, but the efficiency in ancient times was so slow.
It takes a long time to select the right talents, train enough craftsmen, organize production, etc.
"Donkey-hide gelatin and canned food are fine, but the most troublesome thing is sugar cane." Changsun Wugou said helplessly:
"The south is a wild land where ferocious beasts are infested, as well as malaria and miasma. How to ensure the safety of the people who grow sugar cane is a troublesome problem."
Chen Jingke was a little confused after hearing this. The natural environment in the south is indeed dangerous for northerners in this era, and it becomes more and more dangerous as you go south.
In previous lives, our ancestors also spent hundreds of years moving southward step by step, and spent countless lives to complete the development of Lingnan, Yunnan and other places.
Places like Jiaozhi County have also tried to rule, but various diseases can completely destroy the army here. The local indigenous people have always stayed away from the Central Plains Dynasty because of the environment.
In places like the Indochina Peninsula, Chen Jingke really had no solution for a while. But if it was just south of the Yangtze River, or even the Lingnan region, he wouldn't have no solution at all.
After thinking carefully, he said: "I have some methods, but I don't know how effective they will be."
Changsun Wugao's eyes immediately lit up and he said: "It doesn't matter, it's better to have a method than no method at all. You'll know once you try it if it's useful."
Chen Jingke said: "There are indeed three real dangers in the south, but they are not wild beasts, malaria and miasma, but insect diseases, malaria and miasma."
"Insect diseases enter the human body through food... I tell everyone not to drink raw water or eat raw food. Food must be steamed and cooked thoroughly before eating... This can effectively prevent and control insect diseases."
"Malaria is mainly transmitted through mosquitoes. If you can find ways to prevent mosquitoes, you can effectively control the spread of malaria. If you are unfortunately infected, you can use Qing (Huang) Hao Decoction to treat it."
"Miasma is a collective name for a variety of diseases. I know a medicine called Huoxiang Zhengqi Water, which can treat most diseases caused by miasma..."
"If we can control these three major problems, northerners can barely survive in the south. After a few years, they will be able to adapt to the local soil and water."
There seemed to be light coming out of Changsun Wugao's eyes, which was frighteningly bright.
On the surface, this is just a problem of sugarcane cultivation, but in fact it is related to a national strategic issue. Once the three major problems are solved, nothing can stop the imperial court from moving south.
By that time, the initiative was completely in the hands of the imperial court.
However, Changsun Wugou did not tell him these things. He just said: "Jing Ke is really my aunt's lucky star. No matter what kind of problem comes into your hands, you can always solve it easily."
Chen Jingke said naturally and modestly that he was exaggerating and he didn't know whether these methods could be used.
After chatting for a while, Changsun Wujiu allowed him to hire ten craftsmen and let him build a small printing shop in Zixiaoguan to facilitate the printing of Taoist scriptures.
After achieving his goal, Chen Jingke was ready to stand up and leave, but he was caught by Princess Chengyang before he could leave. He had to tell another story about monkeys fighting monsters before he could escape.
As soon as he left, eldest grandson Wujiu immediately called for sun Fucai and said: "Go to your majesty and tell him that I have something important to do, so that he must come when he is free."