Chapter 157: The Supreme Among Rice

After a good while, having finished three bowls of grilled meat bibimbap, Wei Renshi finally wiped his mouth and let out a satisfying burp.

He then bowed to Crown Prince Li Song, saying, "Many thanks to Your Imperial Highness for the meal. Your humble subject has never tasted such delicious rice, and having gone hungry for two consecutive meals, I lost my manners before Your Highness. I beg Your Highness to forgive my offense!"

"It was this old subject's oversight. Although Renshi is precocious and sharp-minded, he is still young at heart and naturally cannot endure hunger as well as I can," Scholar Gao chimed in from the side. "This old subject was so absorbed in verifying Renshi's method that I entirely forgot he had skipped two meals."

Li Song wore an expression of surprise, glancing at Scholar Gao and feeling astonished by his defense of Wei Renshi.

He could not help but ask, "Verify? Verify what method?"

"Your Highness, as Your Highness well knows, since ancient times, books in the world have mostly been kept by noble families. Ever since the founding of our dynasty, we have placed great importance on collecting and compiling books. The Hongwen and Chongwen academies bear the heavy responsibility of editing books. Later on, the Jixian Hall Academies in the two capitals widely gathered classic texts from across the realm for compilation, organization, collation, and preservation," Scholar Gao explained. "Even so, it remains difficult for scholars throughout the land to find books to read. Within the two academies themselves, students' textbooks still need to be copied out by hand."

"Block printing is extremely time-consuming and laborious, making it hard to widely circulate newly written books. As for ancient classics, they can only be copied by hand and cannot be spread far and wide."

"Scholars across the realm have no books to read simply because manual copying does not lend itself to wide dissemination, while block printing is exceedingly tedious and laborious."

Scholar Gao said to Li Song with considerable agitation, "And now, this very problem has been solved by the student Wei Renshi!"

"Oh?!" Li Song's expression turned serious as he hurriedly asked, "How was it solved?"

Scholar Gao replied, "Block printing as it stands today has three major drawbacks. First, any given classic text runs to thousands of words, all of which require artisans to carve word by word onto wooden blocks page by page before printing can begin. This consumes a massive amount of time and energy. Second, if even a single character in the book needs to be changed or was carved incorrectly, the entire wooden block becomes completely unusable and must be carved all over again. Third, whenever a different classic text is produced, countless new blocks must be carved, leading to extreme cumbersomeness."

"Now, Renshi has offered a method to replace carved blocks with movable type, and these three problems are immediately resolved!" As he spoke, Scholar Gao brought out the movable type and molds he had brought along. "Your Highness, please watch as this old subject demonstrates for you!"

With that, Scholar Gao repeated the demonstration from the afternoon, picking out movable types to assemble them into a page, and showing that if a mistake occurred in the middle, one only needed to extract that specific character and replace it with the correct one without having to recarve the wooden blocks.

"Brilliant!" After watching Scholar Gao's demonstration, Li Song slapped his thigh and exclaimed, "Indeed! How much superior is this method compared to block printing!"

"Your Highness, the commonly used characters in the realm number no more than a few thousand. If these frequently used characters are all carved as ready-made pieces in several sets, we can print as many copies of various classics simultaneously as we have sets of types. There is no need to make wooden blocks at all; one simply picks out the characters needed and assembles them into what instantly becomes a 'printing block.' After printing, the types are put back in their places, ready to be picked out again for different characters the next time they are needed," Wei Renshi added from the side. "In this way, whether it is a newly written book by an author or an ancient classic, large-scale printing can be achieved just like this."

Li Song turned his head to stare at Wei Renshi, his expression extremely complex.

After a long while, he finally spoke, "Student Wei, student Wei! You truly have given Gu a tremendous shock! How on earth did you come up with such a device?"

Before Wei Renshi could reply, he continued, "Once this achievement is made known, scholars all across the realm will benefit from your grace, and future generations of readers will have to thank you!"

"Your humble subject only thought of it by sheer luck. If it truly comes to benefiting the scholars of the world, it is thanks to the discerning eyes of Your Highness and the Academy Director, which prevented this method from remaining buried," Wei Renshi bowed and replied.

"Hahaha, why should Student Wei be so modest?" Li Song laughed. "This matter is of great moment. Tomorrow morning, Gu will report this to my father. Student Wei has only recently entered the ranks of nobility, enfeoffed as the Baron of Weinan, and has not been in Chang'an for long before achieving yet another great merit! My father will likely be racking his brains over how to reward Student Wei."

"I dare not claim such a thing," Wei Renshi replied.

"My father's reward is my father's affair. As the head of the Eastern Palace and with Student Wei having rendered such great service in the Chongwen Academy, Gu, too, should offer a reward," Li Song continued. "How would Student Wei like Gu to reward you?"

An imperial reward from the Emperor was the formal reward for merit.

As for Li Song's gesture, it was merely a token of personal appreciation.

After all, the Chongwen Academy belonged to the Eastern Palace, and the Crown Prince was the master of the Eastern Palace, naturally making him the master of the Chongwen Academy as well. When a student within the Chongwen Academy achieved great merit, it was only right for him to express his gratitude in a personal capacity rather than in the name of the imperial court.

Therefore, Wei Renshi smiled and said, "Since Your Imperial Highness has asked, this subject dares to speak up. I want nothing else; could Your Highness bestow a few catties of the aforementioned rice upon this subject?"

Li Song was slightly taken aback. Looking at Wei Renshi in utter bewilderment, he asked in astonishment, "Student Wei wants just this?"

Wei Renshi nodded and said, "This subject lacks for nothing else, I simply love eating rice. Yet the rice in Chang'an city is terribly expensive, and eating it feels like chewing a mouthful of paper scraps—how could it compare to the delicious rice here at Your Highness's residence? Hehe..."

"Student Wei certainly has a palate capable of discerning good things," Li Song laughed. "This rice is no ordinary grain; it is Lucheng rice paid as annual tribute by the Bohai State. Its grains are as heavy as sand, bright as jade, its broth like milk, overflowing with rich fragrance. It is the absolute pinnacle of rice."

Lucheng rice? So it was that!

In his later life, Wei Renshi had naturally heard of its great reputation—it was the predecessor of the rice used in state banquets.

Then he heard Li Song say, "That being the case, Gu will grant Student Wei ten *dan* of Lucheng rice, and have it sent over tomorrow."

Ten *dan*?

Wouldn't that amount to around five hundred catties?!

He had not expected to receive so much!

Overjoyed on the spot, Wei Renshi bowed and said, "This subject thanks Your Imperial Highness for the reward!"

"Hmph! Always thinking about food!" An untimely voice suddenly chimed in. Turning his head, Wei Renshi saw Li Daizong staring at him with disdain. She was still disgruntled about not getting to taste the grilled meat bibimbap earlier.

Wei Renshi smiled as if he hadn't heard a thing. He deliberately glanced at her before turning back to Li Song, saying, "Your Highness, actually, this rice can be prepared in ways far beyond just boiling porridge or steaming rice. This subject knows a few other culinary methods, but has been held back by a lack of fine rice, unable to execute them. Now that I have received Your Highness's generous reward, I can finally make them, and when the time comes, I will surely present them for Your Highness to taste."

"Splendid! Judging by these grilled meat dishes and seasonings, Student Wei's culinary skills must be quite exceptional," Li Song nodded with a smile.

Watching Li Song, Wei Renshi felt a wave of internal sentiment.

This man was not bad at all; it seemed the historical records had not overly exaggerated their praise of him.

"Benevolent and decisive." During the crisis of Fengtian, when faced with war, he could "lead from the front, ride the city walls to resist the enemy, encourage the soldiers, and rouse the entire army." He could also "calmly debate and contend, thus ultimately preventing Yueling and Qumou from becoming chancellors," urging Emperor Dezong not to employ treacherous sycophants. He used the concept of "loving music without extravagance" to advise Dezong not to indulge in extravagant palace pleasures, and "never bestowed undue favors or familiarity upon eunuchs."

Later, Han Yu compiled historical records regarding Li Song and evaluated him thus: "Residing in the position of crown prince for twenty years, the realm secretly received his blessings."

Had he lived longer, Li Song's ascension to the throne might well have brought about a resurgence and restoration for the Great Tang.

What a pity.

Indeed, physical health is the foundation of all endeavors!