Traveling through the busy farmland of a peasant girl

Chapter 134 The Emperor's Joy

As luck would have it, just as various forces were secretly wrestling with each other in Qingshan County, Yan Feng had already successfully presented Bai Jin's secret report and rain talismans to the emperor.

After receiving the secret report from Bai Jin of Qingshan County, the eunuch Li Quan knew that the matter was of great importance. He did not dare to delay for a moment and hurried to the emperor's study.

In recent days, the emperor has been frowning and worried because of the fierce quarrels and attacks on Prince Fuxi by the ministers in the court. He often tosses and turns on the dragon bed, unable to sleep.

At this moment, the emperor slowly opened Bai Jin's secret memorial in the imperial study. His originally expressionless face was gradually filled with joy as he read more, and it became more and more intense. In the end, he couldn't help but burst into laughter.

Li Quan stood aside, raised his hand slightly, and wiped the corner of his eyes with his sleeve. He had been with the emperor since he was a child, and he knew the emperor's past experiences very well.

I still remember that when the emperor was just a prince, he was not the smartest among the princes.

He was of ordinary character and behaved quietly. In the huge imperial palace, he was inconspicuous and naturally did not receive special favor from the late emperor.

His biological mother was just the daughter of a minor official. Her family was poor and she did not have much money to bribe the greedy servants and eunuchs in the palace. In the treacherous harem struggle, she was secretly murdered early on.

The little prince lost the protection and love of his mother, so one can imagine the difficult situation he was in.

The emperor happened to be strolling in the palace one day and saw his small body shivering in only thin clothes in the cold winter.

After asking the eunuchs around him, he learned that he was the fourth prince and his biological mother had passed away. Out of pity and helplessness, he was given to the then Concubine Shu, who is now the Empress Dowager, to raise him.

Who could have expected that later on, in order to fight for the throne, those princes would fight openly and secretly, and even send assassins to kill each other, and eventually they all died in this brutal fight.

At this critical moment, the desperate emperor could only regard the fourth prince as his only lifeline to continue the royal bloodline and consolidate the throne.

So, he hurriedly summoned several Confucian scholars to give him a rote learning session.

However, due to his weak foundation and long-term lack of attention, even though the Fourth Prince tried his best, there was still a big gap between his academic studies and understanding of statecraft and those princes who had been carefully trained since childhood.

But with his unyielding perseverance and determination, he struggled hard in difficult situations, and step by step reached his current position, becoming the master of the world. The hardships and difficulties involved are only understood by himself and Li Quan who is by his side.

Seeing the emperor's face light up with joy after not showing any expression for many days, he naturally rejoiced as well. He approached cautiously, bowing, his face full of ingratiating smiles, and asked softly, "Your Majesty, is there any good news from Qingshan County?"

Emperor Xuan Ye naturally had no need to hide anything from Li Quan, who had been with him since childhood.

His brows relaxed, a smile spread across his face, his eyes revealing unconcealable excitement and admiration. He said loudly, "Li Quan, I really wasn't wrong about Shen Li. She's truly a prodigy!"

As he spoke, he picked up the rain-making talisman and gently stroked it, his movements so gentle as if he was afraid to damage this magical object. His eyes were full of amazement. "This is the rain-making talisman that Shen Li developed based on the magic talisman left by her master. Bai Jin mentioned in the letter that as long as you hold this talisman and recite these words devoutly, the rain will fall as expected! If it weren't written in black and white in the letter, I really wouldn't believe such a magical thing. I'm worried about the people of this world. Now, if this rain-making talisman really has this magical effect, it will relieve my great worries."

The emperor's spirits grew increasingly high, and he pointed at the letter with great interest, saying, "Most importantly, Shen Li also presented movable type printing! Once this technology is implemented, it will have a profound impact on the cultural dissemination of our dynasty. I can almost see the scene of our dynasty's cultural prosperity. What a grand event that will be."

Li Quan scratched his head with a puzzled look on his face, frowning deeply. He asked in confusion, "Your Majesty, what is movable type printing? It sounds very novel. I am truly ignorant."

The emperor stood up and paced back and forth in the imperial study. His steps were light and powerful, as if every step was on the road to prosperity. His face was filled with excitement, as if he had already seen the prosperity that movable type printing brought to the dynasty.

As he walked, he explained, “Previously, printing methods were all done using woodblock printing.

Every time a book was printed, an entire wooden board had to be carved, which was not only time-consuming and laborious, but if there was a mistake in a word in the book, the entire board had to be discarded and re-carved.

The waste of manpower and material resources is like running water, which is really heartbreaking.

However, movable type printing is quite different. Each word is made into a separate movable type, like a chess piece.

When typesetting, you only need to arrange and combine these movable types according to the content of the manuscript and then you can start printing.

If there is an error, you only need to replace the incorrect word, which is very convenient.

In this way, the printing speed of books will be greatly accelerated, the cost of books will be reduced, and knowledge can be spread more widely throughout the world. Shen Li has contributed such a miraculous skill, which is indeed a great achievement! I will definitely reward her well.

The emperor became more and more excited as he spoke, his steps became more and more hurried, and his robe sleeves danced in the wind, as if movable type printing had become the key in his hand to open the door to a prosperous age.

He stopped and turned to look at Li Quan, his eyes filled with anticipation. He spoke with a burning gaze, "Li Quan, do you understand the significance of movable type printing? This isn't just a technological innovation; it's the ray of hope for the cultural prosperity of our dynasty! I can already see our students having access to books, and a culture flourishing in every street corner. That will be a blessing for our dynasty and a blessing for all our people."