Chapter 209: The National Treasure, a Cup of Wine When discussing the development of books, we have to start from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. As we all know, the Zhou Dynasty used writing as a carrier of knowledge. It appeared three thousand years ago and the writing was engraved on tortoise shells and animal bones, which are called oracle bone inscriptions. As time went by and the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period came, bamboo slips began to become popular. As a result, culture began to flourish, hundreds of schools of thought emerged, and knowledge was passed on to future generations in the form of books. Hundreds of years thereafter, the scroll format was passed down all the way to the Eastern Han Dynasty. Even though Cai Lun invented Caihou paper, books at that time were still heavy documents. This situation was not improved until the Eastern Jin Dynasty, when people began to write on paper. Then, printing was invented in the Sui Dynasty, and paper books began to appear. However, books with clear handwriting and low prices did not become popular until the invention of movable type printing in the Song Dynasty. In other words, the book in Liu Biao's hand appeared here after spanning a whole thousand years.

Therefore, looking at books, which were such ingenious things ahead of their time, he could not help but exclaim in admiration. His praise was noticed by a group of great scholars. Seeing Liu Biao's surprise, the great scholar Song Zhong looked at Qin Zhen and said: "Zixuan, could this thing be made of Huai paper?" With the development of light industry in Huainan, Huai paper also flowed into the Jingzhou market. Great scholars like Song Zhong had also seen the light paper produced in Huainan. It’s a pity that due to the small production volume, the price of Huai paper is very high, comparable to silk, so only a few wealthy families can afford it. Now listening to Liu Biao's praise, they knew that most of the books were made of Huai paper. After hearing this, Qin Zhen turned around and took out a copy of the Book of Songs, handed it to Song Zhong and said: "Mr. Song is right. This is made of Huai paper. I am concerned about the weight of books today. A set of books weighs hundreds of kilograms, so I want to use paper instead of bamboo slips." "With the help of seal technique, the contents on the bamboo slips were published on books, which were called Huaishu!" "This book is the first batch of books produced by our army, and there will be continuous production in the future." "I came to Jingzhou this time because I was concerned about the large number of great scholars here, so I brought it here for you to see!" After explaining the story, he placed the scroll in front of Song Zhong. Then, without waiting for Song Zhong to say anything, he took another book and said to the servant: "There are a total of one hundred copies in this box. I hope you can help distribute them to the gentlemen!" When the servants heard this, they stepped forward and began to distribute the books. The result was that when these books fell into the hands of great scholars, they could not wait to open the books. He was pleasantly surprised at first, then became shocked, until his eyes widened as he stared at the words on the scroll in disbelief. You have to know that the bamboo slips of that era were not only bulky, but also had a lot of errors and omissions. Sometimes the misprints were also corrected and had ink marks.

But now, the fonts on every page of these books are extremely neat and look effortless. For a moment, everyone held on to their books and couldn't let go, feeling as if they couldn't put the book down. The old Song Zhong looked at the scroll and burst into tears as he said: "What a wonderful thing! If this thing had existed earlier, the ancient books of the Qin and Han dynasties would not have been lost here!" For scholars of this era, the biggest regret is the large number of classics before the Qin and Han dynasties that are missing. Because bamboo slips are very difficult to preserve, they have to take into account mold, insect infestation, water immersion, fire, as well as mistakes made by copiers, making them extremely difficult to circulate for a long time. In addition, the burning of books and burying of scholars during the Qin Dynasty resulted in the loss of a large number of classics. For example, the Book of Music, one of the Six Classics of Confucianism, was lost in the war at the end of the Qin Dynasty. Therefore, Song Zhong's first feeling when he saw the book was that he regretted having met it too late. If it had appeared earlier, the Confucian scholar would have hidden one or two copies, and the Confucian classics would not have been lost. When he said this, the Confucian scholars couldn't help but feel sad. Of course, there are those who are sad, and there are also those who are happy, such as Yingrong, Xie Gai and others. Song Zhong's specialty is studying the five classics, while Yingrong and Xie Gai are both studying "Zuo Zhuan", so when they saw the Book of Songs, Yingrong said with joy: "I wonder if you can print the Zuo Zhuan and come here?" "Of course there are. The first batch of our army is specially printed for the Five Classics!" Seeing him asking questions, Qin Zhen turned around and took out two large volumes of the Spring and Autumn Annals and placed them in front of Yingrong. Yingrong was overjoyed when she saw it, and hurriedly hugged the book and said: "Thank you very much, my friend! Now that we have this, it will be much easier for us to study the scriptures in the future." Beside him, Xie Gai saw this and wanted to ask for it. But when he thought about being refuted by Qin Zhen just now, he felt a little embarrassed. But when Qin Zhen saw this, he turned around and got another set for Xie Gai, and personally placed it on his desk, saying: "I heard that Mr. Xie likes to study the Spring and Autumn Annals. I will give him a set of this book as a gift!" Seeing his behavior, Xie Gai felt mixed emotions for a moment, secretly praising him for being a true gentleman, and then sighed: "Just now I heard that you didn't study the classics, and I thought you were not doing your job properly." “Looking back now, although my friend did not study the classics, he was able to do a good job in governing the country.” "Now that we have obtained this country's precious weapon, not only us, but also students all over the world should be grateful for your contribution!" "I am here to thank Zixuan on behalf of all the students in the world!" As he said this, he stood up and bowed solemnly towards Qin Zhen. Seeing this, Song Zhong and others also stood up and said: "Wen Yi is right. Zixuan was the first to invent this thing. He will surely promote Confucianism in the future. We are doctors of Confucianism and we should thank Zixuan for his contribution!" After they bowed, all the students present also bowed to Qin Zhen: "Thank you for the grace of teaching the sutra, sir. We are here to express our gratitude." At that moment, everyone present bowed and saluted. Qin Zhen saw this and hurried forward and said:

"Please don't do this. I am only doing this for my own convenience. How can I accept such a great gift from you?" He did not step forward to help everyone up, but directly returned the greetings to everyone. In fact, he didn't expect things to develop into this situation. According to his original idea, the first purpose of bringing the book was to make friends with this group of Confucian scholars so that Liu Biao would not have the opportunity to blame him again. The second thing is to increase sales of books. After all, they are short of money now and need to make money through books. The Huainan gentry are no longer as powerful as they used to be, and a lot of their assets have been drained away. Under such circumstances, Jingzhou, which is close to Huainan, is the best market for him to sell books! This first batch of books can be considered as an advertising effect, but the second batch of books will make big money. Therefore, he didn't expect to be thanked by everyone at all, but he didn't expect Xie Gai's reaction to be so big. Now Liu Biao was right in front of him, and he couldn't accept this ceremony. Otherwise, these great scholars were all bowing, so should Liu Biao bow or not? If he bowed, it would make people laugh, and if he didn't bow, it would cause controversy. So when he saw everyone bowing down, he knelt on the ground and returned the greeting. When he returned the greeting, Liu Biao looked at the current situation with a deep expression and mixed feelings. If he had known this would happen, he should not have accepted Qin Zhen's gift. Originally, there was an opportunity to provoke a fight at the banquet, allowing the Confucian scholars to blame Liu Bei's army for starting the war. But now with the release of Huai Shu, things have suddenly backfired! After receiving such a "great gift" from Qin Zhen, the Confucian scholars basically would not make things difficult for Qin Zhen anymore. And this time, he made the Confucian scholars embarrass Qin Zhen, which would further make Qin Zhen famous! It can be imagined that after tonight, Qin Zhen's reputation for debating with scholars and inventing books will spread widely. Not only was his goal no longer possible to achieve, but it also gave Qin Zhen an opportunity to become famous! On this basis, if he continued to embarrass Qin Zhen, it would probably cause opposition from his own men. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but say inwardly: This boy is truly extraordinary! Thinking this in his heart, he stroked his beard and smiled when he saw Qin Zhen finished returning the greetings to everyone: "In my opinion, you deserve this tribute for your contribution to the book!" "This achievement will benefit future generations. One day I will present a memorial to the emperor to commend you for your contribution." "But I don't know how much this thing is worth, and whether it can be sold. I want to buy hundreds of copies for my collection!" As soon as he spoke, everyone reacted and realized that books are indeed good things, but price is also important! If the cost is too high, they may not be able to afford it! When Qin Zhen saw Liu Biao asking questions, he turned around and said to Liu Biao with a smile: "This book is very expensive, the lowest price is one tael per copy, and the highest price is several taels per copy." "But this thing is convenient, and its cost is much lower than bamboo slips." "As for the collection of books, you don't have to pay. I brought you a box with a total of 123 books."

"Five of the classics were printed, and the rest were hand-copied." "There are many rare copies in the collection of Master Cai. I have asked someone to copy them and present them to you, Your Excellency. I hope you will accept them!" As soon as he announced the price, the Confucian scholars and scholars present all breathed a sigh of relief. The price of one gold is indeed not cheap, but it is not expensive either. After all, a bundle of Huai paper costs as much as one gold coin, and now it is made into a book and sold for one gold coin, which is considered a fair price. For scholars like them in Jingzhou, buying dozens of books is not a problem at all. At that moment, Song Zhong stroked his beard and smiled, praising Qin Zhen: "I heard that Zixuan built a workshop in Huainan to accommodate refugees, which is a rare good deed." "Now I have written this book. If Cai Zhonglang knew about it in the afterlife, he would be very happy to have such a disciple!" As soon as he spoke, everyone present burst into praise, which was in stark contrast to the condemnation just now. Seeing this, Liu Biao stroked his beard and nodded, saying: "This is really thoughtful of Zixuan, I should accept it with pleasure!" "Now that the discussion is over, it's time to start the banquet. Give the order to serve the dishes!" The servants in the mansion had already prepared wine and food. Upon hearing this, a large number of maids brought up the wine and food. As soon as the wine and food arrived, Qin Zhen sat down, and Liu Biao stood up with his cup and drank three cups with everyone else. As the wine started to flow, the scene became lively. But Liu Biao was not happy at all. When he was thinking about how to decline Qin Zhen's request, he saw Qin Zhen stand up and say: "I am here at the order of my lord Liu Yuzhou to pay a visit to you. Please wish you a happy birthday!" When Liu Biao saw him stand up to toast, he raised his glass and said with a smile: "Now that I see Zixuan's talent, my heart is also very happy, and I can't help but think back to the past meeting with Mr. Cai in Luoyang!" "Just now I heard Zixuan say that poetry is about expressing one's true feelings. I wonder if you can come up with a good poem at this moment?" This time, he had no bad intentions, he just wanted to use Qin Zhen to liven up the atmosphere. When the great scholars heard this, they all spoke up: "Your Excellency is right. In the past, Mr. Cai entered the Hongdu School and was known as the best poet in literature!" "Since Mr. Cai passed away, Zixuan is the only one who can lead the trend in poetry and prose. I wonder if he can produce any good works today?" Seeing everyone like this, Qin Zhen shook his head and smiled: "I came here for state affairs, and I've been traveling all the way, so how can I produce any good works?" "I am afraid that my mood may be indecent and may pollute your ears!" He actually didn't want to be too involved with Liu Biao. He just wanted to drink a few glasses of wine and go back to rest. He was not in the mood to copy poems. But as soon as he acted like this, a man stood up and said:

"I heard that Mr. Qin has the talent to compose a poem with a glass of wine. If you have this talent, why do you need a state of mind?" "But now that the banquet is going on and you are all in high spirits, what's wrong with doing something?" Qin Zhen didn't know this person, but as soon as he spoke, everyone started to make a fuss again. Seeing this, Qin Zhen simply raised his glass and said: "In that case, I will show you how ugly I am!" He pretended to ponder and took a few steps, muttering: "Only when I arrived at Jianghan, I realized how long the Chu Pass was." "Nanguan goes around Tongbai, Xiyue comes out of Bieshan." "No shadows remain in the cold suburbs, but the autumn sun shines brightly." "The sad wind blows through the dense forest, and the clouds and mist rise from the solemn river." Everyone listened to this sound, stroking their beards and appreciating it carefully. When they heard the line "No shadows remain in the cold suburbs, but the autumn sun hangs in the sky", Song Zhong praised: “This new sound is truly extraordinary!” As soon as he praised it, everyone present nodded, and all praised the extraordinary artistic conception of the poem. But as these eight lines were chanted, the mood suddenly turned negative. Qin Zhen chanted: "How are you at the New Year's banquet? My clothes are stained with tears." "The jade pillar is empty and covered with dew, and the golden cup is covered with frost." "Once I hear the bitter cold music, I will feel sad again from the erotic song." When this voice came out, everyone present was stunned. Liu Biao even put the cup on the table and looked at Qin Zhen with some dissatisfaction. (End of this chapter)