The First Young Master of the Tang Dynasty

Chapter 40 Preparation
After sending Li Chengqian and Li Tai away, Xuan Shijing went back to the study alone. In fact, it was because he was too leisurely, so he wanted to find something for himself. Since he wants to improve the paper of the Tang Dynasty, he must first understand some aspects of papermaking Now the craftsmen are at home for the New Year, and it is not easy to ask someone to come to the house directly to inquire, so they can only read books by themselves.

"Xiao Ji." Xuan Shijing called out of the study.

Xiaoji pushed the door open and entered.

"What's your order, Young Master?" Xiaoji walked up to Xuan Shijing and bowed.

"Long'er is still at Erbao's place?" Xuan Shijing asked.

"Sister Long'er just brought Erbao to Dabao's place, and she should be heading to the study now." Xiao Ji replied, "Young Master, do you have something to order?"

"It's nothing serious, by the way, Xiao Ji, go and find Uncle Zhong." Xuan Shijing ordered.

"Yes." Xiaoji responded, and then exited the study.

Making paper... Xuan Shijing scratched his head, and walked to the room inside the study, where there were several shelves of books, maybe he could find some information in it.

Just walked into the back room and saw the books on the bookshelf, Xuan Shijing's head was one head and two big, how can I find it!
The door of the study was pushed open, and Longer walked in.

"Young Lord." Long'er called softly.

"I'm in the back room, Long'er, you came just in time, come, come in." Xuan Shijing shook his head and looked outside.

Long'er followed the sound and saw Xuan Shijing facing the books on the shelf with a worried expression on her face.

"Young Master, what are you looking for?"

"Didn't we say we want to open a paper-making workshop? I'll look for books related to this, Long'er, do you know what kind of books record these things?" Xuan Shijing looked at Long'er asked.

Long'er pursed her lips: "How did Long'er know, young master, didn't you say that you had seen some paper-making methods in ancient books?"

Xuan Shijing opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say. She just found an excuse to prevaricate Long'er, but she didn't expect this girl to remember, so she could only make up some nonsense. It really takes more to tell a lie. The lies come round.

"That was a long time ago. As for which book it is, I have forgotten, but I do know that this paper is a eunuch in the palace of the Eastern Han Dynasty. Oh yes, Cai Lun, it was improved by Cai Lun, so The paper made at that time was also called Caihou paper, Long'er, do you know this?" Xuan Shijing told Long'er the information she remembered about paper.

Long'er shook her head and said: "This Long'er doesn't know, but Young Master, since Cai Lun is from the Eastern Han Dynasty, and the paper has been improved, it must be recorded in the book." Long'er tilted her head and thought for a while : "During the Eastern Han Dynasty..."Han Shu"! Xiao Houye, there should be something written in "Han Shu"."

"Okay, Long'er, just help me find the "Book of Han". I'll take a close look, Lord Hou." Xuan Shijing said with a smile, and then looked at Long'er seriously: "This is difficult and difficult. Glorious mission, Long'er, come on!" After speaking, she nodded to Long'er to show her encouragement.

"Xiaohou...Master..." Long'er was about to say something, but Xuan Shijing quickly turned around and left, and went to sleep on the couch at the other side of the study.

Looking at Xuan Shijing's back, Long'er stood there blankly, muttering something: "Didn't the young master say that if you sleep during the day, you won't be able to sleep at night..."

Xuan Shijing just lay down, and suddenly bounced up again.

"Almost forgot, Uncle Zhong will come over soon." Knocking his head, Xuan Shijing went to sit in front of the desk again, taking advantage of this time to think carefully about the next matter of papermaking.

Papermaking workshops don’t have to be located in Chang’an City. The land in Chang’an City is so expensive. If the improvement of paper is really successful, it will definitely be bigger in the future. There is no suitable place in Chang’an City, so it can only be done in Chang’an City. Find another place outside the city to open the workshop, but not too far away from Chang'an City. After thinking about it, Xuan Shijing found that it would be convenient for him to have a detailed map of Chang'an City including the suburbs.

"Long'er!" Xuan Shijing shouted towards the back room.

"Little Lord, what's the matter?" There was some difficulty in Long'er's voice, as if she was carrying something.

"Put the "Hanshu" first, and see if there is a map of Chang'an City and its suburbs in the library." Xuan Shijing said, this was originally the Qin Palace, and His Majesty Li Er often led troops to fight before he ascended the throne. Maps and so on Well, there should be storage in the library. It seems that we need to find a time to organize the library, so that it will be convenient to find things.

"Oh, good." Long'er replied, and then there was a sound of rummaging through boxes and cabinets from the inner room.

After a while, Long'er came out with a roll of silk in her hand.

"Little Marquis, here, here is a detailed map of the vicinity of Chang'an, the latest one, drawn in the eighth year of Wude." Long'er handed the silk and satin in her hand to Xuan Shijing.

Xuan Shijing took the map and unfolded it on the desk. After looking at the map, his face showed joy. It really is a detailed map. This is a military map, and all the terrains on it are clearly depicted. The fief divisions of honorable nobles near Chang'an can be seen at a glance, and even the deployment of troops back then.

"Long'er, let me study this map, you can continue to help me find "Han Shu"." Xuan Shijing said: "Thank you."

Long'er nodded helplessly, then went back to the back room to help Xuan Shijing find the book.

Xuan Shijing carefully looked at the map placed on the desk, and began to search for a suitable place. The papermaking workshop had better be near a river, so that water can be easily fetched, and it must be a place with plenty of sunshine... Fingers across the area, Chang'an There are some scattered towns on the outskirts of the city, Xuan Shijing thought, the paper mill must recruit workers by then, so it is best to be closer to the towns.

A knock on the door came to Xuan Shijing's ears, Xuan Shijing didn't lift his head, but just said please come in.

"Young Master, you are looking for me." Zhong Zishuo went to the desk and bowed his hands to Xuan Shijing.

"Uncle Zhong, come, sit down, and look at this map with me." Xuan Shijing beckoned Zhong Zishuo to sit down.

Zhong Zishuo knelt down opposite Xuan Shijing, glanced at the map on the desk, and was startled.

"Young Lord, this is the battle map near Chang'an City. Where did you find it?" Zhong Zisuo's tone was filled with shock. This thing is invisible to ordinary people. How could it fall on his little Lord hands.

"What are you panicking about, Uncle Zhong, don't forget that this was originally the Prince Qin's Mansion. It's not uncommon to find such a map in the study. Besides, these are military maps from several years ago, and they have long expired. Come on, Uncle Zhong, let me have a look, let's choose a place near Chang'an, and I'm going to build a workshop." Xuan Shijing pushed the map on the book case in front of Zhong Zishuo.

Zhong Zishuo looked at Xuan Shijing curiously: "What kind of workshop does Hou Ye want to build, why do you need to find a place outside Chang'an City?"

"The land outside Chang'an City is cheap, so the cost is low." Xuan Shijing said: "I'm going to build a paper-making workshop and improve the hard yellow paper we use now. When it comes, my ass will be the same in the future. Save yourself some crimes, and secondly, earn some money for the Hou Mansion."

　The power outage was accidentally interrupted and it will be replaced today.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)