"He really is a descendant of the Kong Family!" The onlookers couldn't help but exclaim when they saw the huge Kong Family sign outside the shop.
"Could it be that the Kong Family is running a bookstore? I heard that the Kong Family swept through all the major booksellers in Chang 'an City a few days ago and bought no less than tens of thousands of books." A merchant recalled the rumors of the Kong Family's strange behavior a few days ago in Chang 'an City and finally got an explanation today.
"The descendant of Kong Sheng is running a business! This is the biggest joke in the world. Could it be that the imperial court hasn't treated the Kong Family well enough? The Kong Family is actually so greedy! "A Confucian scholar angrily rebuked.
The Kong Family had been treated very well by the previous dynasties. The head of the Kong Family would be conferred the title of Duke Yansheng, which would be passed down from generation to generation. At the same time, the imperial court would also bestow a large amount of land to support the Kong Family. Naturally, the Kong Family was tactful and was willing to be a clay Bodhisattva, working hard to protect the reputation of Kong Sheng and becoming the symbol of Confucianism.
"I'm afraid that the thousand-year reputation of the Kong Family will be destroyed today." A Confucian scholar looked up to the sky and sighed bitterly.
As more and more people gathered, many people pointed at Kong Desheng and mocked him. Seeing all this, Zheng Chang couldn't help but reveal a trace of complacency.
Kong Desheng was expressionless and still stubbornly waited for the auspicious time to arrive.
"The auspicious time has arrived!" As the sun rose high in the sky, a Kong Family servant shouted.
Kong Desheng couldn't help but reveal a trace of a sneer when he saw the packed crowd in front of the shop. The son of the Zheng Family thought that he could make things difficult for the Kong Family with this plan, but he didn't know that the more people he invited, the more he would humiliate himself. In the end, he would only be working for the Kong Family.
"Thank you for coming, I am very grateful." Kong Desheng cupped his hands to the crowd and waved his hand, preparing to unveil the signboard of the shop.
"Wait!" Suddenly, Zheng Chang raised his voice and stopped the Kong Family from unveiling the curtain.
"Senior, you must think this through carefully. This concerns the Kong Family's thousand-year reputation. If this plaque is unveiled today, then there will be no turning back. This humble one is not talented, but I have revered Kong Sheng's great name all my life. I really cannot bear to see the name of Kong Sheng being tarnished like this." Zheng Kuai spoke with a noble air.
"That's right. Confucius is our Sage Ancestor. Although Senior Kong and the others are descendants of the Kong Family, they can't wantonly tarnish our Sage Ancestor's reputation." The Confucian scholars were filled with righteous indignation.
"If Senior Kong can mend his ways, we will definitely treat this matter as if it never happened and let bygones be bygones!" Zheng Chang said proudly when he saw the crowd's excitement.
Kong Desheng sneered and said, "No one is more responsible than the descendants of the Kong Family to protect the reputation of our ancestors. The Old Man doesn't need you to teach him how to act. Only the Old Man will bear all the consequences."
At that moment, Kong Desheng waved his hand. The red satin floated down and revealed three large words — Library!
"Library!"
"The Kong Family is really in the business of selling books."
The crowd was in an uproar. They had already guessed the answer based on the Kong Family's previous actions. The scene in front of them confirmed their guess.
"The Kong Family is digging their own grave!" Zheng Kuai snorted. He didn't care if the Kong Family was digging their own grave. Just now, he had persuaded Kong Desheng in a righteous manner. If word got out in the future, he would definitely gain a good reputation.
Kong Desheng said loudly, "In this library, there are thousands of books carefully collected by the Kong Family. All the books that can be bought in Chang 'an City are included in this library."
The crowd suddenly understood why the Kong Family was buying books in Chang 'an City a few days ago.
"In addition, the Kong Family's thousand-year collection of tens of thousands of books is also open to the students of Chang 'an City." Kong Desheng revealed another piece of shocking news.
"The Kong Family's collection of tens of thousands of books!"
The crowd was in an uproar, especially some of the Confucian scholars. They were so excited that they couldn't control themselves. The Kong Family's thousand-year collection of books was rare and unique. It was hard for ordinary people to get their hands on them!
"The Kong Family is willing to give away such precious books. If they accidentally damage them, I'm afraid they will lose more than they gain!" The crowd was discussing. As book lovers, they naturally knew how precious these unique books were.
"Of course, these are all rubbings." Kong Desheng explained to the crowd.
"I see." The crowd was enlightened. However, even rubbings were extremely rare.
"Let's not talk about Kong Yingda. Even if the Kong Family of Qufu were to exhaust all of their wealth, I'm afraid it would still be difficult for them to print tens of thousands of books." Zheng Chang snorted coldly.
However, Kong Desheng's next words instantly slapped him in the face. "Right now, time is of the essence. The Kong Family has only printed close to a hundred rare books from the Han Dynasty for everyone to borrow. However, everyone can be at ease. Within half a year, the Kong Family will definitely print all ten thousand books and let all the scholars in the world take a look."
"A hundred rare books from the Han Dynasty!" The crowd couldn't help but gasp. Some of the book lovers couldn't wait.
When Kong Desheng saw this, he couldn't help but smile. He had to admit that movable type printing was indeed terrifying. In addition, the Kong Family had specially selected books with fewer words to print. Before the New Year, they had actually printed nearly a hundred books after working through the night. Of course, the small number of books printed was also one of the reasons why each book was printed.
"Since this is the Kong Family's business, we juniors will naturally support it. Moreover, this junior is also a book lover and admires the great works of our ancestors. May I know how much these rare books of the Han Dynasty are?" Zheng Chang deliberately asked.
Kong Desheng proudly said, "Little Zheng, you underestimate the Kong Family. The Kong Family does not sell books. We will only borrow them. We will not charge a single book."
"Borrow books!"
"Not a single copper coin!"
The crowd couldn't help but be stunned.
"That's right! As long as you are a student, you can come to the library to borrow three books. The borrowing period is one month. You only need to return it when the time is up. If you have not finished reading it, you can extend it for half a month for free. We will not charge you a single copper coin! "Kong Desheng said loudly.
"You can borrow three books for half a month for free!"
The surrounding scholars were in an uproar. It was said that traveling ten thousand li, reading ten thousand books. However, in this world, there were many people who traveled ten thousand li, but not many people who read ten thousand books. The reason was that whether it was borrowing or buying so many books, it was not easy. However, the library opened by the Kong Family allowed people to easily achieve this goal. Moreover, it could be achieved without spending a single copper coin.
"The Kong Family is truly worthy of being the descendants of Kong Sheng. Today's action will definitely go down in history! This junior apologizes to Senior Kong Desheng. "A scholar solemnly bowed and apologized to Kong Desheng.
"Sorry for the offense!" Many scholars were ashamed. They had previously reprimanded Kong Desheng for tarnishing Kong Sheng's reputation by doing business. However, the library did not cost a single copper coin. Even if Kong Sheng came back to life, he would still praise it.
"What is wrong with all of you protecting the name of our ancestors? This Kong Family cannot thank you enough. Today, the opening of the library by the Kong Family is to carry on the legacy of our ancestors. We will educate everyone regardless of background. Today, the library will open for business. You can choose as many books as you like." Kong Desheng cupped his fists to the crowd and opened the door.
"Good!"
In an instant, the impatient crowd rushed into the library. They could not wait to choose the books that they wanted to buy but could not bear to buy. One and a half months was enough for them to finish reading all the books.
As the crowd rushed into the library, only Zheng Chang was left standing there in a daze. The reason why the children of aristocratic families were outstanding was not only because they had a good education, but also because they had a large collection of books at home. Whether it was knowledge or experience, they were far superior to the children of poor families. This was the only way for the children of aristocratic families to maintain their advantage. However, the library opened by the Kong Family allowed the children of poor families to read countless books without spending any money. The number of books they could read would even surpass that of the children of aristocratic families.
If it was the promotion of primary schools to nurture children, these children would need more than ten years to grow up. This way, there was still a buffer of more than ten years for the aristocratic families. However, the establishment of the library directly took the firewood from under the cauldron of the aristocratic families. They did not need to wait for the children to slowly grow up. Instead, it could directly increase the knowledge of the children of poor families. It could even surpass the children of aristocratic families, allowing the children of aristocratic families to immediately face the challenges of the children of poor families.
"Young Master, it's not good!" At this moment, Uncle Zheng hurried forward and handed a Confucian journal to Zheng Chang.
Zheng Chang took a look at it and saw that there were three poems in the poetry column of the Confucian journal.
"There is a house of gold in the book, and there is a beautiful jade in the book …"
"… Advising the gentleman to cherish his youth."
"Knowledge is power, knowledge is wealth!"
Zheng Chang muttered in his heart. However, he heard the respectful voices of people reading in the library. Obviously, these poems were also posted in the library. With such inspirational poems, coupled with a library where one could read tens of thousands of books without spending a penny, he could imagine that the whole of Chang 'an would be set off a craze for learning. If he was not a child of an aristocratic family, he would have rushed into the library to borrow a few books.
Last time, when the Kong family was renovating the primary school, the aristocratic families were able to stop them by instigating the teachers and students to rebel. However, this time, when the Kong family opened a library, the aristocratic families could only watch helplessly. After all, how could they control the legs of the children of humble families?
"Young Master, look at the name of the poem!" Uncle Zheng reminded him.
Zheng Chang did not even look at it. He gritted his teeth and said, "Mo Jiazi.
After all, in the world, Mo Jiazi was the only poet who could write such wonderful poems and was used to writing two and a half poems. There was no other poet.
However, this was not the worst of it. The Confucian family had opened a library, and the Mohist family had written poems to encourage learning and published them in Confucian journals. The message conveyed by this made Zheng Chang realize an even worse situation.
That was, under the strong pressure of the aristocratic families, the Confucian Family and the Mohist Family had begun to cooperate.
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