Chapter 468 Who Is Bi Sheng?

"Excuse me for being a lonely advisor, but who is this Mr. Bi Sheng? Could it be that he is a great Confucian who will only show his fame in the future?" Listening to his tone, Shen Long's admiration for Bi Sheng is still higher than that of Kou Zhun, Ouyang Xiu, Fan Zhongyan and others. However, he had never heard of this name before, so Wang Anshi could only guess like this.

The reason why he guessed it was a great Confucian was because Shen Long said the word commoner, and he could leave his name in history as a commoner. In Wang Anshi's imagination, the only great Confucian who declined to become an official may be the only one.

"That's not the case. This Mr. Bi Sheng was born in the third year of Kaibao in the Great Song Dynasty and died in the third year of Huangyou." Shen Long glanced at the words on the surface of the glasses and said, Kaibao is Zhao Kuangyin's year name, and Huangyou is Song Renzong. The year name used after the Qingli calendar has only passed seventeen or eighteen years from now.

"This?" Wang Anshi and his son looked at each other in blank dismay. The two of them had never heard of the person Shen Long admired so much. The two of them had a lot of knowledge. How could this happen?

"Mr. Bi Sheng is not a great Confucianist, but there are quite a lot of great Confucianists in the Northern Song Dynasty, such as Zhang Zai in Guanxi, Brother Cheng Yi and Chenghao, Mr. Lianxi Zhou Dunyi, etc. Oh, I almost forgot that Jiefu can also be regarded as a great Confucian in the world, but unfortunately, Jiefu Fu's knowledge was not widely spread in later generations, but the knowledge of the Cheng brothers and their disciple Zhu Xi dominated China for hundreds of years. In the future, Zhu Xi became the only person who was not a direct disciple of Confucius to worship at the Confucius Temple, and was listed in the Hall of Dacheng. Among the Twelve Philosophers."

"It's a pity that I don't like his learning. He's too old. On the contrary, I like Zhang Zai's learning. Confucianism has come to an end when it comes to Zhu Xi. Although Wang Yangming, Gu Yanwu, Wang Fuzhi, Huang Zongxi and others try to reform Confucianism in the future, It's a pity that the status of Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism still cannot be shaken."

"Cheng Hao is too rigid and doesn't know how to adapt, such knowledge..." Wang Anshi couldn't help shaking his head when he heard this.

"To enjoy the Confucian Temple, one of the twelve sages in the Dacheng Hall? Isn't it four for the ten sages?" Wang Yu asked. In the Song Dynasty, the fourteen people who enjoyed incense in the Confucian Temple were the four sages: Fu Shenggong-Yan Yuan﹑Shu Shenggong -Zi Si, Zong Sheng Gong-Zeng Shen, Ya Sheng Gong-Meng Ke; ten philosophers: Min Sun, Ran Yong, Duan Muci, Zhong You, Bu Shang, Ran Geng, Zai Yu, Ran Qiu, Yan Yan and Zhuan Sun Master .

The rest of the outstanding Confucians can only stay in the east and west verandas, which are the houses on the east and west sides of Dacheng Hall, including the disciples of Confucius other than the four sages and ten sages, as well as the great Confucians of the past dynasties, such as Zhang Zai, Cheng Yi, Cheng Hao and Zhou Dunyi mentioned by Shen Long just now. However, as for Wang Anshi, regardless of the Confucianism that will be interpreted by him in the imperial examination this year, he will not even be eligible to enter the East and West in the future.

"In the future, there will be more barbarian emperors, and you Ruo and the Zhu Xi I just mentioned will be added." This is what happened during the Qianlong period. I'll show you the book, but I guess you won't like it, it really doesn't make much sense."

Wang Anshi didn't think much of Cheng Hao's knowledge, so naturally he didn't need to talk about his reincarnated disciples.

Wang Anshi thought that the barbarian emperor Shen Long mentioned was from the same line as the barbarian who replaced the Song Dynasty, so he didn't continue to ask. As for Zhu Xi, he could get his book back and read it later, so he continued to ask about Bi Sheng. , "Dare to ask Daoist Shen, who is this Bi Sheng? Why have I never heard of it?"

"Bi Sheng is neither a great Confucianist nor an official, nor is he a literati. It's not surprising if you haven't heard of it." Shen Long pouted and said, "This Mr. Bi Sheng is a figure like Marquis Cai."

Caihou? Cai Lun of the Eastern Han Dynasty? Could it be that Bi Sheng is the big mink in the palace? If it's a famous big mink stall, I wouldn't know it? And how can eunuchs leave their names in history?

"Jiefu was wrong. Bi Sheng was not a eunuch. Caihou improved papermaking, which gave students all over the world cheaper writing materials. Bi Sheng invented movable type printing, which improved the efficiency of printing books and reduced the cost of printing. The cost of books allows more people to buy books, which is far superior to Kou Zhun, Su Shi and others, and even Jiefu is much worse." Seeing that Wang Anshi and his son seemed to have not figured out this truth, Shen Long couldn't help shaking his head.

Hey, you scholars, you always don’t pay attention to technology, forget it, let me explain it to you, "Forget it, you may not understand it just by saying that, wait a minute, let me show you something interesting !"

After finishing speaking, Shen Long slid down the mirror, and a board of unknown material fell from the air, blocking the outer water feature wall, and the study room gradually became dark; suddenly a light flashed from above and landed on the board, and immediately A rectangular picture appeared on the board, and above the picture was a Song man holding a wooden plate.

He should be dressed like an ordinary craftsman. There are many words placed on the wooden plate. This Song man is taking out a piece of engraved words to examine carefully. There are several large characters of Bi Sheng and Movable Type Printing written next to it.

I received too much stimulation today, Wang Anshi and his son were a little numb, just looking at the picture seriously, only to see that the picture suddenly came alive, and Bi Sheng's profile appeared, telling his simple life experience, Bi Sheng He is just a craftsman in a printing shop, and the only thing he does is to invent movable type printing.

Immediately after the picture changed again, the image of Bi Sheng in the painting gradually became clear, and he looked like a real person. Then he moved and began to demonstrate how he invented movable type printing, from engraving blocks to typesetting, to brushing ink to print every step of the way. The whole process is clear, and Wang Anshi and his son can understand it, but they still can't understand the meaning.

"May I ask Jiefu, how much does it cost to print a book in Song Dynasty?" Shen Long asked.

Wang Anshi also often prints books, so he is no stranger to this. He thought for a while and replied, "I printed six books a few days ago, which is more than usual."

"Well, where is the price? Is it rigid?" After seeing Wang Anshi nodding, Shen Long continued, "The rigid wood must be made of fine-grained wood, and it requires a master craftsman, so the price will naturally be more expensive; but Bi Sheng's After printing with movable type, the cost of engraving is saved, and the price of printing the same book may be reduced by at least half."

"It's not easy for poor students to study. If the price of books can be reduced by half, it will be a blessing." Wang Anshi nodded, but he still felt that this was not enough for him to be famous in history.

"Forget it, let me show you something more!" They might not be able to figure it out if they were more ruthless, but the picture on the wall flashed, and the style of the painting changed again, and a huge steel house appeared .

I saw that after a stack of thick white paper entered the steel cabinet, when it was spit out from the other side, it was covered with words, and then these words went into the next iron cabinet, and when they came out, they had been cut properly. When it comes out of a cabinet, it becomes a complete book.

Almost in an instant, hundreds of books were printed, and Wang Anshi and his son were shocked again.