"Lord Chancellor? How did you get this pen? "Liu Yinian asked in surprise.
"This is a new pen sent by the School of Mo. It's called a fountain pen. Both the tip and the body of the pen are made of steel." Kong Yingda showed the fountain pen to everyone.
"A fountain pen!"
"A fountain pen!"
The professors of the Imperial College looked at the fountain pen in their hands in disbelief. They had only heard about it from Liu Yinian. When they saw the fountain pen made of steel with their own eyes, they were still shocked.
Liu Yinian took the fountain pen and felt that it was cold to the touch. It was indeed made of steel. On the silver metal cap of the pen, there was a small "Confucian" character engraved on it.
This was a commemorative fountain pen specially made by the Village of Mo for the Hundred Schools of Thought. The one given to Kong Yingda was engraved with the word "Confucian", while the one given to Shen Hongcai was engraved with the word "Calculation". The rest of the Hundred Schools of Thought were given pens with their names engraved on them.
Shen Hongcai took the fountain pen engraved with the word "Calculation" and gently opened the cap to reveal the silver-white tip. He said, "This pen is an upgraded version of the quill pen. The School of Mo's skilled craftsmen used iron as the bone and steel as the tip to further improve on the quill pen's principle. Once it absorbs ink, it can be used for half a day."
"Half a day!" Everyone was stunned. This was much more than the thousand or eight hundred words they had expected.
"Won't it tear the paper if you use steel to write?" The professors of the Four Schools of Thought asked in disbelief.
"Of course not! The tip of the fountain pen is made very smooth. When writing on the paper, it doesn't feel dry. Instead, it is extremely smooth. " After Shen Hongcai finished speaking, he took the fountain pen and lightly drew on a piece of paper. It was indeed very easy and fast.
"Fountain pen, writing brush!"
In the prison, two fountain pens and a group of writing brushes were placed in two rows. Beside them were Meton's writing section and the other students' writing sections were also placed side by side.
After comparing the two, the advantages and disadvantages of both sides were obvious. Compared to the fountain pen, the writing brush was slow, used up a lot of ink, and wrote a lot of words.
The only fortunate thing was that the writing brush was suitable for the current writing style, and there were many users. On the other hand, the fountain pen had to be written according to the new writing style, and it would take a long time for it to be popularized.
"Right, how much is this fountain pen?" the imperial academician suddenly asked.
Shen Hongcai shook his head and said, "Currently, the Mo Family Village is only producing the Hundred Schools of Thought Commemorative Pens, and they aren't selling them to the public. If they want to sell them in the future, with the Mo Family's style, the price won't be too high!"
Everyone's heart sank.
A fountain pen was not a simple quill. Just the fact that the fountain pen did not need to be dipped in ink was enough to attract a lot of people to buy it. If the fountain pen spread in the Tang dynasty on a large scale, it would definitely have an impact on the existing calligraphy and writing formats.
"Lord Chancellor! China has been using the writing brush for thousands of years. Countless generations of literati and scribes have used the writing brush to form a splendid and splendid calligraphy culture. How can it be destroyed because of a kid's nonsense? Chancellor, please submit a memorial to the imperial court to ban this writing brush. "Liu Yinian said in fear.
Calligraphy was the foundation for him to establish himself in the Imperial College. If one day, everyone used the fountain pen to write, then what was the point of him, a doctor of calligraphy, existing?
Shen Hongcai sneered and said, "The people of the Shang Dynasty carved words on their bones. In the Shang and Zhou Dynasties, the inscriptions were replaced by the inscriptions. In the Pre-Qin Dynasty, the fountain pen was popular to replace the inscriptions. In the Tang dynasty, the students spent a lot of money on learning, and most of them spent on writing brush, ink, paper, and inkstone. Writing with the fountain pen can save 70% of the ink, 60% of the paper, and half of the time. In the Old Man's view, this is the gospel of millions of students, and the inevitable course of the development of the pen and ink. As a doctor of calligraphy, you don't want to make progress, but instead, you are narrow-minded and want to ban it.
Why don't you use the fountain pen for the students of the Imperial College? "Shen Hongcai said bluntly. When he took the initiative to teach the Indian numerals to the students of the Imperial College, it was Liu Yinian who kicked him when he was down. The two of them had been like fire and water for a long time. Naturally, he would not show any mercy to Liu Yinian at this moment.
"Don't slander me. Once the fountain pen is introduced, the thousands of years of calligraphy in China will be destroyed. Who can bear this responsibility?" Liu Yinian argued loudly.
"The benefits of the fountain pen are also obvious." Shen Hongcai retorted. In his view, the introduction of the fountain pen was almost the same as the situation when Shen Hongcai encountered the Indian numerals. The benefits and impact were obvious.
However, what was interesting was that the two doctors of the imperial college chose different ways to deal with this revolutionary change.
While the two were arguing, Kong Yingda fell into deep thought. He did not have any thoughts about the change in the rules of calligraphy. No matter how they changed it, the Confucian school would still be the Confucian school. The spiritual content would not change.
It was the same for the other schools of thought. Among them, the one that had the greatest impact was calligraphy. It was no wonder that Liu Yinian was like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
Moreover, Meton had directly given the fountain pen to every student. If the Confucian school objected, it would be a source of gossip.
Kong Yingda pondered for a moment and slowly said, "The fountain pen is a new thing. It has its advantages and disadvantages. If we were to abruptly ban it, I'm afraid it would be difficult to explain to the students."
The doctors could not help but nod inwardly. At this moment, the brush was the mainstream. Mo Jiazi had only just introduced the brush, and the Confucian school was already facing a great enemy. Wouldn't that be telling the world that they were afraid of the School of Mo?
"The use of the fountain pen or the brush is the choice of the students. If we were to interfere, it would only cause trouble!" Kong Yingda was very open-minded. Even if he wrote a letter to the imperial court, it would be difficult to pass a ban on the fountain pen. Moreover, it would offend the poor students, which would cause the Confucian school to suffer a great loss.
"Then let's just watch the fountain pen replace the brush step by step." Liu Yinian anxiously said.
Shen Hongcai sneered, "Who knows, maybe we'll create a new style of calligraphy!"
Kong Yingda raised his hand and stopped the two of them from arguing, "The Imperial College will not interfere with what the students use on a daily basis, nor does it have the right to interfere. However, the annual examination must be standardized, otherwise it will be easy to be suspected of fraud. In the future, the Imperial College's examinations and the imperial examinations can only use the brush. "
Kong Yingda's words were reasonable and dignified. If everyone else used the brush, and only one person used the fountain pen, then it would be obvious who this scroll belonged to.
"Chancellor is wise!" Liu Yinian was immediately overjoyed.
With the Imperial College and the Imperial Examinations as the baton, the writing brush had an absolute advantage. They now had a weapon to counterattack against the fountain pen. After all, when it came to personal prospects and saving money, the students naturally knew which choice to make.
"Then what about Mo Jiazi's annual examination?" The four professors were surprised.
"Separate his examination papers from the other students. Mo Jiazi's papers will be reviewed separately!" Kong Yingda made the final decision.
If it wasn't for the fact that there were too many people paying attention to Mo Jiazi and it wasn't good to cause too much trouble, Kong Yingda might have even included Meton in this year's examination.
Shen Hongcai sneered in his heart, "How many people are actually officials? If most people in the Tang dynasty use the fountain pen, how can a small number of students change the situation?
"Alright, let's continue with the annual examination. Next round, the four professors! "Kong Yingda looked at the four professors.
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