Li Jie and Zhu Yunxie sat opposite him, Luo Guanzhong next to him was also there. There was a set of books in front of the three of them, with seven big words "Popular Romance of the Three Kingdoms" written on the cover.

On the surface, this book is no different from the books published by the Printing Bookstore, but when you look closely, you will find that the paper on the cover is relatively poor and the characters are a little blurred. When you open the book, a smell of inferior ink will come to your face, with a faint smell of odor, and the characters in the illustrations are all like ghosts.

"I didn't expect that the pirated version would appear so soon!" Li Zhenqi slapped the Three Kingdoms in front of him and said angrily. The Romance of the Three Kingdoms has only been on the market for less than ten days, and the pirated version has appeared. Although the printing is very low, the price is only half of the genuine version. In addition, the demand is hot now, so there is no need to worry about selling pirated versions.

"This is normal. After all, a book sells well and will definitely attract some booksellers to steal prints, and the court cannot control such matters." Compared to Li Jie's anger, Zhu Yunxiu was very calm and even felt that this book was a very normal thing.

In fact, Zhu Yunxi also represents the common idea of ​​this era. After all, there was no copyright awareness in ancient times. Even Luo Guanzhong next to him probably never thought that others would bring financial losses to him. In fact, compared to money, Luo Guanzhong valued the degree of dissemination of his book more.

It was precisely under this idea that Luo Guanzhong also smiled and persuaded: "Li Ban reads you don't have to be angry. We can't care if others want to steal the prints, but their printing is so poor that it will not have much impact on our genuine books."

"No, this book is your hard work. These people use pirated copies to make money, which is simply sucking your blood. I will ask for an explanation for you no matter what!" Li Jie said stubbornly.

Seeing Li Jie was also kind, Luo Guanzhong didn't know how to say anything else. At this time, Zhu Yunxie, who was opposite, asked curiously: "Then why are you going to help Mr. Luo seek justice? You can't just send someone to arrest all the booksellers who stole the Three Kingdoms, right?"

Zhu Yunyu's words also asked the key point, because there was no charge for piracy of books in the Ming Dynasty, and there was no provision for similar patent rights. As the saying goes, it is only possible that the law is not prohibited, so Li Jie could not find a suitable charge even if he wanted to arrest those booksellers.

"Not now, but it doesn't mean there will never be. I'll go to the palace to see Your Majesty!" Li Jie suddenly stood up and said.

"Li Bao must not read. How can you alarm Your Majesty if you steal a book? " Luo Guanzhong was frightened when he heard Li Jie's words and stood up to stop him. Although Li Jie had good intentions, he still felt that he had made a big fuss.

"Mr. Luo, don't worry. I entered the palace not just to steal the Three Kingdoms. In fact, I have wanted to suggest something to Your Majesty. It just so happened that this matter can be used as an introduction!" Li Jie explained patiently.

Hearing Li Jie say this, Luo Guanzhong couldn't stop him anymore. Zhu Yunxiu also showed an interesting expression, so he clamored to go to the palace with Li Jie to see Lao Zhu. Li Jie did not refuse. The two of them took the stolen Three Kingdoms and headed straight for the palace.

In the warm cabinet, Lao Zhu was also dealing with matters related to the capital relocation. He had just summoned several ministers to discuss some matters about the capital relocation. Many things needed to be handled by Lao Zhu himself. Of course, this was also the fault of Lao Zhu. After he took back the prime minister's power, the ministers had no right to autonomy, and no matter how big or small the affairs were, they had to obtain Lao Zhu's consent.

Of course, Lao Zhu also enjoyed it. For him, this feeling of power made him feel safe. In addition, his energy was extraordinary and he could handle matters of all sizes and big things in an orderly manner. Under his leadership, the entire Ming Dynasty was like an extremely efficient machine, which not only repaired the impact of the war at the end of the Yuan Dynasty, but also was developing rapidly.

After Li Jie and Zhu Yunyu entered the warmer pavilion, Lao Zhu then put down the brush in his hand and looked up, "Why are you two here? Is there any problem with cement?"

"Grandpa Huang, don't worry, cement is going well. We and the Ministry of Works have tried to build a cement workshop in the capital. Now some cement can be produced. In addition, the officials of the Ministry of Works have learned it almost. You can set off for Peking today!" Zhu Yunxiu immediately stepped forward to report.

"Can you set off for Peking so soon?" Lao Zhu nodded with satisfaction after hearing this, and then praised Li Jie and the others. They did a pretty good job in both the invention of cement or the training of officials from the Ministry of Industry.

At this time, Zhu Yunxiu looked at Li Jie, and saw Li Jie holding the pirated Three Kingdoms in both hands and said again: "Report to Your Majesty, I have another thing to report to you today!"

"What book are you holding?" Lao Zhu also found the books in Li Jie's hand at this time, and immediately asked with an interesting expression. He thought Li Jie had some new books for him. The Three Kingdoms and Water Margin last time gave him a great surprise. Until now, he occasionally turned a few pages.

"Please read the emperor!" Li Jie immediately presented the Three Kingdoms in his hand, and then an eunuch took the books and put them on Lao Zhu's table.

"Isn't this the Three Kingdoms? What did you ask me to see?" Old Zhu immediately frowned and asked with a frown when he saw the name in the book.

"Your Majesty, please take a closer look!" Li Jie did not answer, but said again.

When Lao Zhu heard this, he opened the book patiently, but soon found the difference between the Three Kingdoms. Then he reacted and smiled: "So that's it. I didn't expect that in just a few days, people began to steal the Three Kingdoms."

Just look at the smiling expression on Lao Zhu's face, you can tell that Lao Zhu didn't care much about such trivial matters. After all, this fact is too common, and the people did not violate any laws, so the court could not control it.

"Your Majesty, this book was written by Mr. Luo for half of his life. With His Majesty's grace, he allowed the sealing bookstore to publish books for him. Moreover, half of the proceeds obtained after selling the books printed by the sealing bookstore will be used as the money for Mr. Luo's pen. However, when these pirated books are released, no matter how much they sell, Mr. Luo will not get a penny. Isn't this too unfair?" Li Jie reported it very seriously.

"This..." Old Zhu was stunned when he heard this. He had never considered this. Although what Li Jie said made sense, scholars always value fame but not profit, so Luo Guanzhong should not care too much about money.

"Your Majesty, if Mr. Luo did not get his Majesty's grace and could not print books in the bookmarket. On the contrary, all the Three Kingdoms were stolen by those illegal book merchants. Wouldn't that mean that the old man spent half his life to get half a penny of reward? Although scholars value fame but not profit, as long as they are humans, they will always have to eat. If there is no profit, then who else would do such a thankless thing?" Li Jie asked again at this time.

"No, scholars write books and make more of fame. Confucius has printed so much of the Analects of Confucius, and no one has given the descendants of the Confucius family half a penny?" Lao Zhu felt that there was a loophole in Li Jie's words and immediately pointed it out.

"Your Majesty said something makes sense, but you should know that not everyone can become a saint. Most people work hard all their lives, but in fact, it is just for the word "cloth, food, and food". In addition, it is not just writing books, but also some new inventions, such as the glass mirror I invented before. Now some people have begun to steal the method of making and imitate it. These people are simply getting it for nothing. If Your Majesty cannot guarantee the interests of the inventor, who will have to work hard to invent new things in the future?"

"I understand, it turns out that you are angry about your own interests!" Old Zhu laughed again after hearing this, as if he understood why Li Jie came to find him.

"Your Majesty, I don't take a mere mirror workshop seriously. I just feel unfair for others to get nothing. Not to mention anything else, the sea trade has developed rapidly during this period, and there is a great demand for sea ships. It is said that a shipbuilding workshop has spent a lot of material and financial resources to create a new sea ship. Not only is it fast, but its ability to resist wind and waves has also been greatly enhanced. But they have just produced few, and this new ship was imitated by other shipbuilding workshops, which has caused them to not even recover the cost of their previous investment. If this continues, who else is willing to do these thankless things?"

At this time, Li Jie finally brought the topic to his own purpose. The protection of intellectual property rights was a blank area of ​​ancient laws, and there were no patent laws in later generations. If his inventions were not protected, it meant that the inventors could not gain benefits from it. In this way, it would naturally be impossible to encourage inventions and creations, and it would not be possible to promote the development of productivity.

Lao Zhu is also a very smart person. After hearing this, he finally understood what Li Jie meant. Of course, Li Jie's words were both emotional and reasonable, just like he was fighting. As the saying goes, there must be brave men under heavy rewards. Even a group of rash men in the army understood this truth, let alone those smart people who were able to invent new things.

"Then what do you think about this?" Old Zhu thought for a long time and finally asked Li Jie again.

"I suggest promulgating a patent law and a writing law to protect the interests of those who like Mr. Luo and shipbuilders!" Li Jie said immediately.
Chapter completed!