The exposure of the printing press: The contest over grain prices
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After hearing Li Shimin's words, Li Zhi replied, “At present, my new workshop has already been completed. Together with my previous enterprises, I believe they are sufficient to deal with the current situation.”
Li Shimin silently nodded.
He then continued, “I’ve heard you established a free school at the resettlement site. How many people were involved in copying so many books?”
Li Zhi answered, “All the books for the school were printed by myself. I did not hire anyone to copy them.”
His words left everyone stunned.
Printing—this was a term none of them had ever heard before, just like the resettlement site, both introduced by Li Zhi. The resettlement site had now been widely accepted and used, but the meaning of “printing” remained a mystery.
At this moment, Fang Xuanling spoke, “Your Highness, what do you mean by printing? We seem never to have heard of it.”
Li Zhi explained, “Printing means using machines to replicate the contents of books, thus saving the labor required for copying.”
Fang Xuanling continued, “Is this method easy to use? Can it save time?”
Li Zhi said, “This method requires only two or three literate people for typesetting and proofreading, and a few more for printing and binding.”
He paused to mentally calculate the efficiency.
Then he continued, “To print ten thousand copies of a book should take two days.”
Li Zhi had barely finished speaking when Li Shimin suddenly sprang up from the dragon throne.
His voice, now trembling, rang out, “What did you say? Two…two days…ten…ten thousand books?”
Everyone else was left utterly blank, their minds unable to process the information.
Li Zhi spoke again, “Movable type printing is suitable for text, woodblock printing for illustrations. All in all, two days is sufficient.”
The great hall fell silent once more.
But soon, the sound of heavy breathing began to fill the space, growing ever more rapid.
Finally, Wang Gui was the first to speak, “Your Majesty, this is a great fortune! With such an invention, literature in our Tang dynasty will surely flourish, surely flourish!”
He was almost incoherent, yet his response was the most composed among them.
Fang Xuanling and the others were still at a loss for words, unable to find anything to say.
Li Shimin, hearing Wang Gui’s words, burst into joyous laughter.
It was only after a long while that he spoke, “Shujie is absolutely right! This is a blessing not only for the Tang court, but for all the people!”
Only then did the others finally regain their composure.
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Everyone spoke in unison, “Congratulations, Your Majesty! Felicitations, Your Majesty!”
Li Shimin laughed heartily once again.
After a while, Li Shimin, still elated, said, “Prepare the edict.”
Upon hearing this, everyone stood respectfully.
Zhang Anan quickly fetched paper and brush.
Li Shimin then proclaimed, “Prince Jin, Li Zhi, is clever and gifted in investigation, moreover loves the people as his own children. First, he has the merit of resettling the masses, and now he brings forth a method to spread literature. Today, I appoint Prince Jin, Li Zhi, as Governor of Bingzhou, Grand General of the Left Martial Guard, and increase his fief to twenty thousand households.”
After Li Shimin finished his decree, the gazes directed at Li Zhi were full of complex emotions.
This round of rewards left Li Zhi far ahead of all the other princes.
And yet, all of it was earned by his own abilities; aside from envy, no one could utter a word of protest.
Still, everyone felt a sense of unease. Li Zhi’s achievements now surpassed not only the other princes, but even the crown prince’s performance paled in comparison.
Who knew what chaos might arise in the court in the future if this continued?
Not to mention others, even their own hearts were stirred with powerful emotions.
Just as everyone expected, Li Zhi’s promotion soon caused a sensation at court.
The ones feeling the greatest pressure were Crown Prince Li Chengqian and Li Tai.
Li Chengqian decided to temporarily set aside his passion for martial arts and military strategy, and instead focus his energy on governance.
Li Tai, meanwhile, recruited more people, hoping to accelerate the compilation of geographical books.
He still longed to compete with Li Zhi in literature.
Unfortunately, the circumstances that followed gave him not the slightest opportunity.
As refugees consumed more and more supplies, the court’s grain reserves were running dangerously low.
Li Zhi began sending people to purchase grain from various regions.
By then, grain prices everywhere had already risen noticeably.
In Chang’an, the major grain merchants had uniformly set the price of rice at one hundred fifty coins per dou, twice what it had been before.
Not only that, but they sold the cheapest millet at ninety coins per dou, nearly three times its previous price.
Behind these merchants stood the great clans, all fully aware of the court’s predicament.
They had unanimously decided to seize this opportunity to make a hefty profit—and to retaliate against the court’s suppression.
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At first, Li Zhi paid little heed to these merchants, planning to rely on grain purchased from other regions to maintain life at the resettlement sites.
But soon he realized he had severely underestimated the influence of these clans—they had managed to control grain prices across the entire realm.
The reports from various regions were all much the same.
While the prices elsewhere were slightly lower, once transportation costs were factored in, they were nearly identical to those in Chang’an.
Even areas known for their abundant harvests had unreasonably high prices.
Li Zhi found this unacceptable.
So, these clans meant to join forces in a show of defiance against the court.
In that case, he resolved not to show them any mercy.
He would teach them what a price war truly meant.
He immediately ordered his agents to turn instead to local temples and common folk for grain purchases, using the original market price as reference.
If money was to be spent, he would make sure it went directly to the people.
So, the grain-buying teams originally stationed in the cities moved overnight to the countryside.
The prices they offered quickly attracted households with surplus grain.
Soon, the procurement was yielding results.
Cart after cart of grain was shipped directly to the capital or the nearest river port.
The greatest gains came from the teams buying from temples.
Temples possessed extensive farmland. After their relations with the clans deteriorated, their grain shops suffered suppression from those same clans.
Thus, the temples held considerable stocks of grain.
Now, with the court proactively seeking to buy, although the offered price was far lower than that of the grain shops, the quantity demanded dwarfed what ordinary households could provide.
Selling grain to the government not only demonstrated support for the court, but also cleared out large reserves.
Where else could one find such a mutually beneficial arrangement?
So, when the first batch of externally purchased grain appeared in Chang’an, the greedy merchants were left utterly dumbfounded.