As Mingyue conducted repeated experiments, she finally added a mixture of rosin, wax and paper ash into the clay mold. When the clay mold was needed, she only had to put the clay type into the fixed type plate and arrange it, then brush ink on the plate and cover it with paper, and the printing could be completed quickly. After printing, she would use fire to melt the agent on the clay mold, and the clay mold could easily fall off the type plate.
After many repeated experiments, this process has finally matured and large clumps of ink will no longer appear.
Mingyue felt that the time had come, so she informed Prime Minister Yun about this.
At first, when Prime Minister Yun heard his daughter talking about the clay text molds, the reusable character plates, and how it saved time and effort, his head was completely confused and he didn't understand a word she said.
It was not until he was brought to the study by Mingyue and saw Mingyue demonstrate the printing of poetry on the spot with his own eyes. In just a short moment, several copies of the poetry collection were printed. He was so shocked that he stood up from the stool.
"Hey, how was this done?" Prime Minister Yun carefully examined the neat and completely consistent collection of poems, and then looked at the plate of neatly arranged clay characters. His usually calm face was filled with surprise and joy.
Mingyue used fire to melt the medicine on the clay mold, and easily shook it with her hand to take out the individual clay molds from the dial.
"My daughter saw this in a book when she was free. The owner of the book wrote that he felt that traditional woodblock printing was cumbersome and inconvenient, so he wanted to try movable type that could be used repeatedly, and thus he wanted to use hardened clay to make clay movable type, which is also called movable type printing. But the owner of the book died before he could start trying, so the project ended without success."
Mingyue casually took out a clay model and handed it over, winking playfully:
"But my daughter thinks this is very interesting, so she has been secretly trying it these days. Now it seems that the results are good, so she wants to ask Dad to come and take a look."
Prime Minister Yun took the clay model very carefully, and his breathing became a little rapid.
The most common printing methods in this era were copying, rubbing and woodblock printing. If a typo was accidentally made, the entire print would usually be scrapped. Not only was it inconvenient to store, it was also heavy, laborious, and time-consuming. This was one of the reasons why books in this era were so "expensive".
Today, the appearance of this small clay model has completely broken the shackles of cultural inheritance.
After all, once movable type printing really begins to be popularized, the prices of books in bookstores, which have always been high, will naturally fall. Even books that have always been expensive may become something that ordinary people can afford.
If that time comes, there will probably be many more writers and poets in the world.
Therefore, not everyone was willing to see the emergence of movable type printing, especially those aristocratic families and nobles. They would rather keep all resources in their own hands than let common people defile the noble paper and ink.
However, Prime Minister Yun never thought of hiding his personal interests. As an important official who accompanied the emperor from being a prince to the throne, although he had his own selfish motives in certain matters, he still knew what was important when it came to major issues.
For Prime Minister Yun, rather than keeping movable type printing as his own treasure trove, he would rather donate this technology to others so that there will be more reasonable and sensible people in this world.
Prime Minister Yun placed the clay model on the plate, turned around and looked at his daughter seriously and asked, "Yue'er, are you willing to donate this movable type printing technology?"
Although his idea was to maximize the benefits for the people and it would be better to donate this technology, he also knew how to respect his daughter's wishes. This was something his daughter had made, so of course she had the right to dispose of it.
Mingyue smiled slightly: "It was just something I made for fun. I'll let Daddy do whatever he wants with it."
Prime Minister Yun laughed: "Okay, okay, I really gave birth to a good daughter, Yue'er, you don't know how great your contribution is. Your father will definitely ask for a reward from the emperor on your behalf." Mingyue lowered her eyes to hide the gleam in them.
She was just waiting for Prime Minister Yun to say this!
However, when Prime Minister Yun asked Mingyue about the book that she had seen, Mingyue quickly gave an explanation, saying that she had seen it by chance a long time ago, but now she had forgotten where it was or what it was called.
After hearing what Mingyue said, Prime Minister Yun had no choice but to ask her to write down the process flow of movable type printing from memory, and even the type plate was confiscated.
Fortunately, Mingyue had more than one calligraphy plate in her hand. When Prime Minister Yun brought the calligraphy plate and Mingyue's manuscript into the palace, Mingyue also took the calligraphy plate to the Huo family.
She had previously agreed with Huo Sanlang to open a shop, and now was the time to show the real thing to people and to finalize the contract and the location of the shop.
Mingyue went to find Huo Yuzhu first as usual, and then Huo Yuzhu invited Huo Sanlang over.
When Huo Sanlang saw the movable type clay model, he was as amazed as Prime Minister Yun. He held the clay model as if it were a treasure and arranged and printed the characters back and forth, wasting a lot of paper and ink.
Finally, he looked at Mingyue with sparkling eyes and said, "Miss Yun, you are really a genius. With such skills, you will definitely make a lot of money. It seems that I have gained the advantage in this cooperation."
Mingyue shook her head and said sincerely, "Sorry, I forgot to tell you something. My father has already presented this movable type printing technology to the emperor. If the emperor asks us to promote it vigorously, our shop will be just an ordinary one."
Huo Sanlang was stunned: "Presented to the emperor? The prime minister is so generous that he actually gave the cash cow in his hand to..."
At this point, he seemed to finally react and quickly shut up.
Mingyue didn't care about these, she just asked him: "So what do you think about this cooperation, Third Young Master?"
Huo Sanlang naturally said without hesitation: "We had an agreement before that everything will be up to you, Miss Yun. It is naturally the same now."
He is not stupid. He is just cooperating in a shop. Even if there is a loss, it doesn't matter. Yun Mingyue is the daughter of the Prime Minister. If the two of them become good friends, it will naturally be beneficial to him.
Mingyue nodded with satisfaction after hearing this: "In that case, let's talk about the profit sharing. Also, the location and name of the bookstore, as well as the decoration and furnishings, all need to be discussed carefully."
Huo Sanlang perked up: "Of course."
Then the two of them had a detailed conversation. Time passed quickly as they talked, and Huo Yuzhu, who was listening on the side, was so bored that she dozed off. The sky gradually darkened, and Mingyue finally stopped talking.
The two of them agreed to look after the shop the next day. Mingyue then refused Huo Yuzhu's invitation to have dinner and said goodbye and left the Huo family.
(End of this chapter)