flstandardbreds Chapter 1019 Trip to Yunmeng Mountain (9)
Chapter 1019 Trip to Yunmeng Mountain (9)
Inside the cave, along the cave wall, were about ten tall bookshelves, neatly stacked with books.
Although the total number was not as large as that of the stone houses outside, it looked more orderly and the paper quality was better.
Xu Jiezi spoke up from the side, his voice echoing softly in the cave: "Your Majesty, the books stored here are different from the classics collected throughout the ages outside."
"Apart from the core of my Guigu lineage, the art of diplomacy, all the others were written by my late master himself."
Upon hearing this, Li Che's opinion of his fellow townsman, whom he had never met, rose even higher.
Even someone as brilliant as Xu Jiezi, who could study it for a lifetime, felt that he had only scratched the surface.
It is evident that the knowledge contained in these books has reached an absolutely astonishing level.
The fact that this pioneer could achieve this level of skill shows that he was definitely not an ordinary modern person.
The reason is simple: an ordinary person cannot write down so much knowledge.
Li Che once had a girlfriend who wrote online novels. She updated them every day, which was considered a lot of writing for an ordinary person, but she only updated two million words a year.
With so many ex-girlfriends helping him, Li Che possessed a considerable amount of skills and knowledge, yet he could never have written so many books.
This person's knowledge is terrifying; he is at least a top scholar in a certain field, and may even be a professor, scientist, or academician.
He suppressed his excitement and casually picked up a book from the nearest bookshelf.
The book cover is made of cardboard and has a simple, old-fashioned design.
I randomly flipped to a page and looked at the title, which clearly read: 'Interpretation and Utilization of Terrain and Land Features in Wartime'.
This title! This word choice!
Li Che eagerly flipped to another page, where the title of one section was: "An Overview of the Development of Dual-Use Military and Civilian Personnel".
Li Che felt a chill run down his spine. He let out a long sigh, as if he were about to release all the pent-up emotions that had been building up in his heart for years.
Yes! That's the taste!
This format, this writing style, it's so damn familiar!
This is something that ancient scholars could never have written!
This fellow countryman not only comes from the same world as him, but must also share the same Chinese bloodline and the same faith!
What Li Che cared about most was the form of these characters.
He couldn't help but turn to Xu Jiezi and ask, "Sir, can you read these words?"
These fonts are slightly different from the fonts commonly used in Daqing today.
Xu Jiezi replied, "At first glance, there were indeed some obstacles, but after looking at it for a while, one can grasp the pattern. My master called this 'standard characters'."
Li Che nodded; it was pretty much what he had guessed.
These characters are traditional Chinese characters, which differ slightly from the official font used in Daqing today, and also from the simplified Chinese characters he learned in his previous life.
"If it's traditional Chinese characters instead of simplified characters..." Li Che thought quickly, "That fellow villager lived in an era much earlier than mine."
When did simplified Chinese characters begin to be widely promoted?
Li Che was not a literature and history expert in his previous life. He only vaguely remembered that the simplified Chinese character scheme had begun to be conceived during the Republic of China period, but it seemed to have become the official standard and was fully popularized after the 1960s and 1970s.
Therefore, this senior figure was likely born in the Republic of China era and active in the early days of the People's Republic of China.
“That’s not surprising, that’s not surprising at all,” Li Che thought to himself. “The scholars of that era were all outstanding individuals, with top-notch talent, perseverance, and knowledge.”
For example, Mr. Qian Xuesen once believed that "a person with normal intelligence should master calculus before the age of fourteen," which shows that the intellectual level of the elites in that era already had very high academic requirements.
However, these details are no longer so important at this moment.
Li Che's gaze swept intently around him. On the ten bookshelves, hundreds of books of a similar style to the one in his hand were neatly arranged.
Military, Geography, Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry, Agriculture, Medicine...
What an amazing and invaluable wealth of knowledge this is!
What terrifying legacy did that unseen ancestor leave behind?!
Looking at the ten bookshelves filled with modern classics, Li Che was not only shocked but also amazed by the writing ability of that predecessor.
He asked Xu Jiezi, "Sir, how many books are there in this cave?"
Xu Jiezi knew this perfectly well and answered without hesitation: "There are a total of 231 volumes, each with approximately 100,000 words."
"My late teacher was a prolific writer throughout his life, and his writings amounted to no less than 30 million words."
He paused, then added, "This is mainly because my late teacher strived for clarity and straightforwardness in his writing. He often said, 'Good scholarship should first and foremost be understandable to a wider audience; if one blindly pursues obscurity and abstruseness, it falls short.'"
"If not for this, with my teacher's abilities, the same content could have been simplified by more than half."
Li Che nodded slightly, deeply agreeing.
The reason why ancient people's writing is difficult to understand is not because that's how they spoke, but because writing was difficult and paper was expensive.
Thinking of this, Li Che immediately asked, "Such a huge amount of writings would require an astronomical amount of paper. Paper was very precious a hundred years ago."
Xu Jiezi's face showed a hint of reminiscence: "That's right. Back then, paper was difficult to produce and was as expensive as silk and brocade. It was a luxury item that only aristocratic families could afford to use in large quantities."
"My late master donated most of the money he earned from his travels to Yunmeng Mountain to maintain his livelihood, and almost all of the remainder was used to buy paper."
"In this light, Your Majesty's achievement in papermaking is truly a contribution that will last for generations."
Now that Li Che has improved the papermaking process, Daqing's paper, while not yet cheap, is an affordable commodity that ordinary people can afford even if they have to grit their teeth.
Li Che asked curiously, "My late teacher was very knowledgeable. Since he knew the benefits of papermaking, why didn't he improve the process himself? He could have used it to benefit the world and also satisfy his own need to write books."
He couldn't believe that a scholar from later generations wouldn't understand the principles of papermaking.
If that predecessor had improved the paper, it wouldn't have been his turn to reap the rewards.
Upon hearing this question, Xu Jiezi's expression turned serious: "My late master once said that the art of papermaking may seem ordinary, but in fact it involves a wide range of things and its far-reaching influence is immeasurable."
"If the timing is wrong and it is launched hastily, it will not only fail to benefit the people, but may also cause turmoil."
Therefore, it should not be made public easily.
Upon hearing this, Li Che was taken aback at first, then sighed deeply: "Truly a great sage with the world in his heart!"
It was only after he personally governed the region that he gradually came to appreciate the influence of technologies such as papermaking and printing.
It is no exaggeration to say that these things were nuclear weapons to the academic world in ancient times!
Hearing Li Che's heartfelt praise, Xu Jiezi's eyes also flashed with joy, and he couldn't help but ask, "Does Your Majesty mean that my late master's knowledge was also very impressive in your world?"