"That's enough, that's enough. I wonder if Mr. Li has brought the lead?" Lin Xuan nodded repeatedly.
With lead, movable type printing was possible.
Many people know that movable type printing was invented by Bi Sheng during the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty.
But no one knows that after the invention of movable type printing, it was not widely used.
The mainstream at that time was still block printing. Those students who thought that the popularity of imperial examinations in the Song Dynasty was due to movable type printing should rest a while.
The original movable type printing mainly used movable clay, which was later improved to include wood and copper.
However, movable type printing has certain requirements for the firing of type molds. The initial clay type molds had poor ink adhesion and the printed handwriting was blurred. Wooden type molds were difficult to carve and deformed after being exposed to water.
Although the printing effect of copper type stencils is good, it is easy for printers to steal and mint money, so it is not conducive to use.
So Lin Xuan has been looking for lead and wants to directly develop lead movable type printing.
Li Chunfeng nodded and said: "I have brought it, but those Taoist temples have a question they want me to ask Mr. Hou."
Lin Xuan asked with some confusion: "What's the problem?"
Li Chunfeng said: "Master Hou provided the map to Buddhism to Tianzhu. Did he have any misunderstanding about Taoism?"
Lin Xuan had a headache. He had been worried about this problem at the beginning.
"Master Li, is this question something you want to ask, or do the Taoists want to ask it?" Lin Xuan asked.
Li Chunfeng shook his head and said: "Although I practice Taoism, I have not joined any Taoist temple. I don't care about the battle between Taoism and Buddhism."
Lin Xuan nodded, he believed what Li Chunfeng said.
Historically, Li Chunfeng became famous because of "Tui Bei Tu", but it is just a legend.
Apart from these, the most traces Li Chunfeng left in history were related to arithmetic and calendar, and Taoism was not mentioned much.
Lin Xuan thought for a while and said: "It's not a good thing for one family to dominate. In fact, I have no interest in Buddhism and Taoism. I have no intention of helping one family suppress the other."
It is not a good thing for one company to dominate any industry. In the future, there will often be two companies in the same industry competing to give back to customers on a large scale.
This situation is the same for both Buddhism and Taoism.
Although Lin Xuan has not investigated the specific situation of the Buddhist and Taoist families.
But he often sees Buddhists giving porridge, while Taoists rarely do this.
Because they are the state religion of the Tang Dynasty, they don’t need to do this to have a large number of believers.
No matter what the purpose of Buddhism is, the result is good.
After all, many people have benefited, right?
Lin Xuan just wants to try to keep Buddhism and Taoism in balance. Only by restricting each other can abnormal development be avoided.
Although he knew that even if he did it, the rise and fall of Buddhism and Taoism would still be related to the reigning emperor.
But after all, he had worked hard, and he felt no regrets.
Lin Xuan also thought about maintaining the normal development of Buddhism and Taoism through some systems.
But in an era when imperial power was supreme, any system was of little use.
Unless he finds a way to limit the imperial power, he will not do it since it is a matter of seeking death.
Li Chunfeng nodded and said: "Master Hou, I understand everything you said, but Taoism would like to ask you if you can write a book similar to "Journey to the West" for Taoism."
Lin Xuan understood what the Taoist people had in mind. They just wanted him to write a book to enhance the influence of Taoism among the people.
Since "Journey to the West" became popular in Chang'an, it has spread throughout the Tang Dynasty through word of mouth.
Although the stories spread are not complete, they all talk about Buddhism and bring a lot of incense to Buddhism.
Of course Lin Xuan can write it, as long as he writes "The Romance of the Gods".
It not only talks about the Three Purities of Taoism, but also includes the story of Zhunti Jieyin betraying Taoism and joining Buddhism.
Just by saying that Buddha is originally Tao, the reputation of Taoism will definitely increase.
Even if Buddhism retrieves its true scriptures, it will not threaten Taoism.
But does he dare to write these?
As long as he dared to write, all the monks in the Tang Dynasty would like to kill him.
Even if they can't kill him, they will probably hang up his statue, burn incense and pray all day long, hoping that he will fly to the Paradise of Paradise as soon as possible.
Thinking of this, Lin Xuan shuddered a little.
"Master Li, because I wrote a few books for free, I was reprimanded by Your Majesty for not doing my job properly. I have already made peace with Your Majesty and will never write a book again from now on." Lin Xuan said quickly.
Even if the Taoists knew that he was telling lies, could they go to Li Shimin to verify it?
Li Chunfeng smiled and was noncommittal.
Of course he didn't believe what Lin Xuan said, but he just needed to give an explanation to those Taoist temples.
Lin Xuan breathed a sigh of relief after seeing Li Chunfeng away. Zhao Min looked for him several times after he came back.
Asking him to get another novel, Lin Xuan still thought that if he couldn't sign in, he would take the time to write one by himself.
Fortunately I didn't write it down, otherwise it would be really difficult to shirk it.
"Forget it, forget about this, let's get the movable type printing technology out first." Lin Xuan shook his head.
Asking Liu Da to bring the lead, Lin Xuan hurried to the furniture shop and found Chen Guangli.
"I've seen the Marquis before!" Chen Guangli bowed his hands.
Lin Xuan waved his hand and asked: "Old man Chen, do you know anything about woodblock printing?"
"When I first learned carpentry in my early years, I also made engravings. If Mr. Hou wanted to make engravings, there are many people here who can do it," Chen Guangli said.
Engraving is not a difficult task, but you need to be very careful when engraving characters. Once you make a mistake, the entire engraving will be wasted.
But for them, these are very simple. Carpentry itself is a delicate job, especially in ancient times when everything was done by hand.
Lin Xuan shook his head and said, "Old man Chen misunderstood. I don't want to do woodblock printing, but plan to do movable type printing."
"Movable type printing?" Chen Guangli was stunned, with some confusion on his face.
Lin Xuan explained: "That is to engrave all the characters separately. When you need to print a book, you only need to combine them together and print them according to the content of the book."
After Chen Guangli listened, he thought about whether what Lin Xuan said was feasible.
After a long time, Chen Guangli nodded and said: "What the Marquis said is feasible, but in this way, using wood is not very good. Does the Marquis have other materials?"
As expected of a lifelong carpenter, I can see the key to the problem at a glance.
"I've been prepared for a long time." Lin Xuan asked Liu Da to ask someone to bring the things in.
"Old man Chen, this is lead. Lead is relatively flexible and will not damage paper or rust. It is most suitable for making typefaces." Lin Xuan said with a smile.
Chen Guangli is a carpenter, and he only knows a little bit about metal things. He thought about it and said: "Master Hou, will it work or not? It still needs to be experimented. There is also a blacksmith here. Should I discuss with him to try it out?
"
Lin Xuan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll bother old man Chen. I'll come back tomorrow."
Making typefaces is not that fast, and it takes a lot of time to make molds. Naturally, Lin Xuan can't wait here all the time.
…
Lin Xuan rode on the horse and asked Liu Da who was following him: "Liu Da, how old is your son?"
A smile appeared on Liu Da's face and he said: "The older one is ten years old and the younger one is five years old."
"Have you ever thought about letting them study?" Lin Xuan asked with a smile.
Liu Da scratched his head and said: "The Marquis has given me a lot of rewards, and my family's conditions are also good. I have asked my mother-in-law to find a school for them, and I plan to send them there after the New Year."
"No need to look for it, my school is about to open. If you ask later, any children at home who need to study can be sent over." Lin Xuan said.