Zhenguan Crown Prince Li Chengqian

Chapter 59 The Impact of the New Papermaking Technology (1)

In Weinan County, since Li Chengqian established an industrial zone here, a large number of handicraft workshops have been established in this small county in a short period of time.

And these workshops also recruited a large number of refugees and poor local people, which also counted as an extra income for the poor local people.

During the locust plague that just passed, no one died of hunger in Weinan County. If it were the previous years, they would have left customs and fled famine long ago. As for how many people died, there is no way to count them.

After the people entered the workshop, the stewards here did not enslave them like landlords, but gave them uniform uniforms, enough to eat every day, and only had to work for four hours, without delaying the farming season.

If the stewards ask for more working hours, they will also be paid "overtime pay".In this way, the people in Weinan slowly adapted to this new life.

It is the consensus of the common people that half-children will eat my father to death, but there is no need to worry in Weinan. You must know that the children of common people's families cannot afford to go to school. Apart from farming, there are not many options for them to choose.

The stewards of the industrial area will select suitable young people as apprentices to learn their skills.The children here can not only earn some money to supplement their families, but most importantly, they can learn the skills of survival.

Let’s just talk about the craftsmen in the paper workshop in front of me. They are all craftsmen from the East Palace. Like other craftsmen, they only have a meager salary that can barely guarantee food and clothing for the whole family.

But since arriving in the industrial area, under Li Chengqian's reward system for more work, everyone has lived a good life, and their children can wear new clothes.

And these craftsmen who are gradually becoming rich have not forgotten Li Chengqian's grace, and they lead their apprentices to study how to make paper cost lower and quality better every day.

When it comes to papermaking, we have to go back to the source. Cai Lun improved papermaking in the first year of Yuanxing in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

He used raw materials such as bark, hemp, cloth, and fishing nets to make paper through methods such as frustrating, pounding, copying, and baking. The raw materials of this kind of paper are relatively easy to find, very cheap, and the quality has also improved. gradually become common use.

There are roughly four steps in the production of this kind of paper: the first is the separation of raw materials, that is, the raw materials are degummed in lye by retting or steaming, and dispersed into a paste;

The second is beating, which is to cut off by cutting and pounding, and make it broom, and become pulp;
The third is papermaking, that is, the pulp is infiltrated to make a slurry, and then the pulp is scooped with a scooping tool, so that the pulp is interwoven into a thin sheet of wet paper on the scooping scoop.

The fourth is drying, that is, drying or drying the wet paper, and peeling it off becomes paper.

Since the Han Dynasty, although the papermaking process has been continuously improved and matured, these four steps have basically remained unchanged.

Before the Sui Dynasty, mulberry bark, rattan bark, sandalwood bark, wheat stalks, and rice stalks were also used as raw materials for papermaking, but the cost of papermaking never came down.

Datang now uses bamboo paper. Although it is much better than the previous paper, the paper made from bamboo is hard, brittle, and easy to break, making it difficult to handle.

Later, in order to change this situation, alum, powder coating, gold sprinkling, dyeing and other processes were added during the papermaking process.But with so many crafts added, the paper looks good, but the cost still hasn't come down.

Fortunately, Huang Tian paid off. With the continuous research of these craftsmen and apprentices, they discovered a new kind of paper: Chu paper.

The new Chu paper produced in the Weinan Industrial Zone is quite different from the previous paper. Not only is it cheaper, but the writing effect is also better than before.

The production method of mulberry paper is mainly to soak the mulberry material in water for several days and pedal it, then bundle it into small handles, steam the mulberry material with clean water, peel off the inner bone, tear the mulberry skin into silk, and use a knife or an ax to cut the mulberry skin into silk. Cut short, tie into small bundles and soak them in lime slurry.

After storing for a period of time, put the mulberry skin soaked in lime slurry to cook in a pot, take the material out of the pot, put it in a cloth bag, rinse it with river water for several days, and then step on it to remove the lime water, and spread the mulberry skin on the ground or on the hillside to dry in the sun Drenched in rain, pounded finely with a pestle or mortar until the color turns white.

Add boiled plant ash water to soak the mulberry paper material, dry it in the shade for half a month, wash the material with river water, put it into the pot again to cook, float in water, and expose it to sunlight.

Remove the secondary material and impurities by hand and finely chop with a knife, then repeatedly crush the secondary material into powder, put it in the inner bag, wash it, put it into the tank, add water and stir.

Then add paper syrup to the tank, dredge the tank to fish out the paper, press off the water, dry the fire wall, peel off the paper from the wall, trim and pack it.

This method includes four times of cooking, including the second time of water cooking and the second time of solution cooking. The new paper obtained after such treatment is as white as jade, with fine lines and smooth surface.

A month later, when Zhang Xuansu came to inspect the production in the industrial area, the craftsmen took out this new mulberry paper and handed it to him.

The old master immediately asked the craftsmen to take him to inspect the production of the paper workshop. The steward of the paper workshop explained to Zhang Xuansu carefully how the Chu paper was produced, the quality and cost of the paper, etc.

Seeing the craftsmen keep cutting the new Chu paper, Zhang Xuansu was so excited that he didn't know what to say for a moment. Of course he knew what kind of changes this new paper could bring to Datang.

Aside from his joy, he did not forget his old friend Li Gang, so he hurriedly invited him to share the joy.

These two teachers of Li Chengqian don't love gold or silver. They are typical Confucian children.

When the cheap Chu paper was placed in front of them, the two old masters were extremely excited. The cost of paper has always been one of the important factors limiting the number of students.

Ordinary people don’t want their children to read and write, so that they can become officials and honor their ancestors in the future, no, because they really can’t afford it, which is why most of the officials in the DPRK and China come from wealthy families.

Of course, this also made the two of them can't help but think that if there is an efficient and cheap printing method, wouldn't it be possible for more people to learn the way of saints.

But it is so easy to develop a new technology in a short period of time. The request of the two old masters also made the craftsmen in the industrial area scratch their heads.

At this moment, the two of them thought of their troublesome student, although Li Chengqian's many strange ideas made them often helpless as teachers.

But I have to admit that Li Chengqian's ability to investigate things is indeed beyond the reach of ordinary people.

Often when others have no other way, Li Chengqian can always use ingenious solutions to solve it, otherwise the industrial zone would not be where it is today.

And this little bastard made the two of them worry a lot, so he didn't need anyone at this time.

(End of this chapter)