Chapter 96: Flying Into the Homes of Ordinary People

Hearing Sister Lin's question, Chen Heng turned around and smiled at her, motioning everyone to go up first.

A group of five people climbed up the steps and walked into the pavilion, where they saw three more people. Chen Heng only recognized Miaoyu, but it was the first time he saw the other two.

After Daiyu's introduction, Chen Heng knew that they were the family of Mr. Wei, the governor of Yangzhou, and the two aunts Wei Qijun and Wei Shu.

Inside and outside the pavilion, there were four or five maids and three mature and steady maids who were responsible for taking care of this gathering.

One of the maids was specially sent by the Wei family to serve the two young ladies.

Like in the opera, the situation of a single man and a single woman living together. It is absolutely impossible to appear in a well-behaved family.

Jia, who had a rare half-day of leisure, half leaned on the soft couch by the window. She moved her eyes away from the book in her hand, and just raised her head slightly, she could take in the situation in the pavilion.

Seeing that her daughter's guests had all arrived, she hurriedly asked the maid beside her to go down and tell them that they could serve some sweets, drinks and other things to the children.

The pavilion is not high, but it can have a panoramic view of the courtyard of the Lin Mansion.

On the left are Taihu stones shipped from Suzhou, with various shapes, and they are thin, leaky, wrinkled and transparent, and they are natural.

The trickling pool water is hidden under it, and is covered by the bamboo forest in the distance. People can only hear the pleasant sound of water, but can't find any trace of the pool water.

I heard that there is a saying that water is hidden in the Yang house. Chen Heng didn't know much about this, and didn't know whether it was true or not.

On the right side of the pavilion is a small pond surrounded by flowers. The blooming lotus flowers are far along the surface of the pond. At the end of the green water, a green tile and white wall are in front of you. On the white wall, there is a huge picture of mountains painted with pen and ink with a lot of ingenuity.

There are mountains, some big, some small, some far, some near, and they are reflected in the green water.

The two scenes merge into one color, which makes the viewers admire endlessly.

Who said that Yangzhou has no mountains! Romantic Yangzhou people, don’t they paint mountains on the wall? !

Chen Heng thought of the plaque on the pavilion written by Lin Bo’s father: Lin Feng Pavilion.

It’s really interesting, interesting.

The scholarly family is indeed elegant and has scenery, and there are thoughts in the scenery.

A little bit of thought reveals another word of cleverness.

After everyone sat down for a while, Wei Qijun couldn’t wait to take out the treasures she brought, a total of eight glass cups sent from Guangdong Province.

Lin Daiyu organized this party to let Chen Heng see this thing.

Shen Tingfang, the prefect of Guangzhou Prefecture, Guangdong Province, is the same year as Wei Yinghong and Lin Ruhai. Western ships often passed by their place. Shen Tingfang accidentally saw these cups and thought they were very interesting, so he bought them and asked someone to send them to Yangzhou through the post station to open the eyes of the top scholar.

Wei Yinghong played with them for a few days and gave them to Wei Qijun. That's how it happened. Wei Qijun brought the glass cups to Lin Daiyu to play with.

Western things are new things in the eyes of children after all.

Even Xue Baoqin and Xue Ke, who have traveled to Zhenzhen Country, think this thing is very good.

Chen Heng's focus is not on the glass cup. He has seen many similar and more high-end things in later generations. He only asked his sister, "Can things from Guangzhou be sent to Yangzhou via the post station?"

Lin Daiyu has always been well-informed and has a good memory. She only tilted her head and thought about it, and then she recalled the casual conversations with her father and answered, "Officials can use it."

She saw her brother's eyes light up slightly, and couldn't help but give Chen Heng some popular science, "It can't be used often. Generally, the post station is mainly used to receive documents from the emperor, officials rushing to various places, and candidates participating in the imperial examination. If it is used too much, the imperial censors of the court will report it."

Lin Ruhai took the path of a censor in the officialdom. Lin Daiyu was influenced by this and understood such things.

Chen Heng smiled and nodded, just feeling that he understood the Great Yong Dynasty a little more.

Lin Daiyu remembered something and asked quietly, "Brother, you haven't answered my question just now."

At this time, Chen Heng and Xue Ke sat together at the table, Baoqin sat on her brother's left hand side, Daiyu sat on Chen Heng's right hand side, and Lin Jue was next to Daiyu. Only Wei Qijun, Wei Shu, and Miaoyu were sitting side by side opposite.

When Wei Qijun saw Chen Heng and Daiyu talking together, she immediately said: "Okay, we agreed to have fun together, why are you two hiding and whispering?"

Her niece Wei Shu also nodded beside her to support her aunt.

Lin Daiyu glanced at Chen Heng and saw him blinking slightly, then she smiled and explained to the two friends: "It's about the newspaper shop. Didn't you see that someone paid money to publish an article in the newspaper to scold Mr. Yuanhe?"

Wei Qijun and Wei Shu nodded, they also knew about this.

Jing'an Daily, this name knows who runs it. Daiyu and Baoqin didn't think of hiding it for their brother.

"Come to think of it, it seems that those symbols are used by Mr. Yuanhe?" Wei Qijun also knew about this. She asked the two owners of the newspaper shop, "Brother Chen, Brother Xue, do you know what Mr. Yuanhe meant?"

Who doesn't like to listen to gossip? Most of the people at the table pricked up their ears.

Chen Heng and Xue Ke looked at each other and knew that it would be more convenient for them to speak out about this matter. The two of them greeted each other tacitly, and Chen Heng coughed and said, "Those symbols, I remember that Mr. Yuanhe called them punctuation marks..."

Lin Daiyu couldn't help but pick up her handkerchief to cover the corners of her mouth after hearing the first sentence, for fear that others would see her smile.

Chen Heng briefly introduced the whole story to everyone.

It turns out that since "Shushan Swordsman" was published in the newspaper, many literati and scholars have noticed the symbols used by Chen Heng, such as ",.:" "!?".

Chen Heng was afraid that others would not understand the meaning of the symbols when they first came into contact with them. He also did various popular science at the end of each article.

There are only three main punctuation marks used in serious books nowadays: a capital period, similar to the shape of O, or a small hook standing upright, and the last one is a semicolon:,

How can these three runes be enough to read scriptures. Therefore, many teachers start with punctuation when teaching students. Use red lines to divide each sentence, and then let the students read along.

This is called the master leads the way, and the practice is up to the individual.

If there is no such a predecessor, it is unlikely that an ordinary person can understand the Four Books and Five Classics thoroughly.

The monopoly of knowledge is often in the details.

It is not the high rules and thresholds that most people think of.

The symbols used by Chen Heng in the storybook were regarded as a challenge by many literati and scholars.

Although it was just a storybook that could not be put on the table, Chen Heng also explained at the end of the popular science that these symbols were only used for the convenience of reading the storybook.

But these punctuation marks are really easy to use. Many people can see the author's meaning at a glance.

Chen Heng used it because Shushan is a long novel. If modern symbols were not used, it would be very tiring to write. After all, "Liao Zhai" is just a short story, and it is not too tiring to create.

However, if it is said that he did not take the opportunity to popularize science, then Chen Heng certainly did.

You must know that modern punctuation marks officially appeared on this land. Even in the previous life, it had to wait until the Reform Movement of 1898, which was started by Kang Youwei, Tan Sitong and Liang Qichao two hundred years later.

Coincidentally, the first folk newspaper in China was also written by these three people. There is also a saying that it was run by Kang Youwei alone, which is not disputed here.

Compared with these three masters of Chinese studies, Chen Heng's reputation is naturally not enough. Naturally, he can only use the way of storybooks to slowly promote this set of things in the dark.

After all, no one knows whether there will be such a reform in the future of the Yong Dynasty.

Chen Heng's matter is not a big deal. If it is small, there must be complaints.

Some people scold him because they think he is insulting. Maybe this Mr. Yuanhe, who does not show his true face, is not even a juren, how dare he create his own symbols.

But most people just laugh it off. After all, it is just a storybook novel.

If Chen Heng dares to use it in the Four Books and Five Classics, it would be really disrespectful. You should explain it to the scholars of the world. Why do you break the words and sentences of the saints' scriptures?

As for most people in Yangzhou, they are still happy to watch the excitement. First, these symbols are indeed convenient for reading. Second, it is also interesting to see people quarreling in the newspaper.

Chen Heng himself didn't care at all. They were just some talkative literati. If they had the ability, they could bypass the Hu family, Xue family, Wang family and the government office, rush into the academy, and beat him up in front of the headmaster.

Even the headmaster Pei Huaizhen only smiled and commented "interesting" when he saw these symbols.

As long as they didn't touch those taboos, the customs of the Yong Dynasty were still quite open-minded.

"What about your newspaper shop, brother? Let them scold Mr. Yuanhe like this?" Lin Daiyu "asked" curiously.

"No hurry, no hurry." Chen Heng smiled slightly and looked at Xue Ke beside him. "Uncle Xue, he should have been dealing with this matter."

Xue Ke smiled and nodded.

Daiyu and Baoqin knew that their two brothers had their own plans, so they simply concentrated on accompanying the guests beside them.

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When Xue Zhen walked out of the gate of the government office, he still felt a little incredible.

He came here just to donate the little revenue that Chen Heng mentioned to the Yangzhou government office. Xue Zhen originally thought that he would have to spend more time to convince Lord Wei.

As a result, when Xue Zhen explained his purpose, Lord Wei had already led him to sit down with a smile on his face.

This was not because Wei Yinghong was greedy for money. He was now in the limelight of his official career and there was no need to covet this insignificant little money. He just felt that it was safer for the government office to control the new things such as newspapers before reporting to His Majesty.

Xue Zhen's delivery was just what Wei Yinghong wanted, and it just gave the government office a reason to control it in the future.

As for the insignificant little money, Lord Wei donated it to the major academies in Yangzhou as a subsidy for the scholars in their academies. Of course, this is a later story.

After a pleasant conversation with Wei Yinghong, Xue Zhen sat in the carriage on the way back, still a little bit unbelievable.

Thinking back to the time when he rushed from Jinling to Taixing County to deal with the affairs of a shopkeeper, he had to be turned away by County Magistrate Xu. Look at today, he was treated as a guest of honor by the prefect, and praised him for his generosity and Confucian business style after coming to Yangzhou.

The strange changes in his circumstances made him sigh. He was a little excited.

It is true that when a tired bird escapes from the cage, it will know the vastness and freedom of the world.

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On the ninth day of June, the new "Jing'an Daily" was sold again in Yangzhou City.

This time, the newspaper shop supplied 20,000 copies, and it took two or three days to sell them all out.

The content on the paper is not much different from the previous issues. Only a short article in bold characters attracted the attention of many down-and-out scholars in the city.

"At the end of last month, Mr. Yuanhe donated all his 20 taels of manuscript fees to the orphanage. Mr. Yuanhe is very grateful to this newspaper shop..."

The Yangjiyuan is a relief institution that takes care of orphans, beggars and the poor in the Yong Dynasty.

The scholars were not concerned about Chen Heng doing a good deed. They did not expect that they could make so much money by writing stories for newspapers, and they all wanted to make a fortune.

By the end of the month, many stories with new punctuation marks came to Jing'an Newspaper Shop like birds dropping letters.

When Xue Ke told Chen Heng about this, he was very happy and felt that he had made the right move.

Sure enough, don't try to teach others how to do things. As long as you show them that they can make money with this method, smart people will naturally flock to it.

I had a full sleep last night, and I feel much more comfortable today, hahahahaha. Thank you for your understanding and care, thank you.