Rebirth of Wu Ba Spring and Autumn

Chapter 137 Papermaking

Looking at the irregular "Zhun" character on the tablet, Qingji couldn't help frowning.

The ink problem is secondary, Qingji thought, the brush in his hand is too stiff, it is really inconvenient to write.

Moreover, the written font is not beautiful!

It's time to improve the brush and move out the papermaking technique.

Qingji thought secretly in his heart.

It is very simple to improve the craftsmanship of brushes, but this papermaking technique is really extraordinary, and it is not a day's work!

"Slippery."

"The minister is here."

"Summon the master to order the generals to enter the palace for an audience. Also, find some small bamboos and brushes."

"only."

The order of the CRRC Mansion, who was originally standing on the side, was slippery, but after receiving Qingji's order, he immediately went down to convey it.

Not long after, a pile of verdant bamboo and the entire fur of a sheep were placed in front of Qingji.

It seems simple to make a brush, but it takes dozens of processes, or even hundreds of processes to make a high-quality brush!

Of course, the writing brushes of this era often use wood as the rod, and the bamboo tube is used to cover the hair on the wooden rod. This is the original brush.

Legend has it that Meng Tian, ​​a general of the Qin Dynasty, invented the wool brush first by trapping wool into the tip and stuffing it into the hole of the pen holder.

The improvement of Mengtian's brush is of great significance to the formation of Xiaozhuan. Unlike Dazhuan, the lines of Xiaozhuan are tactful and tortuous, which cannot be done by hard objects, so it should be written with a brush.

The pen-making industry of later generations regards Meng Tian as the ancestor!
At this time, various countries have different names for brushes. For example, the name of Wu State is "Bulu", and the name of Chu State is "Zhu (Bamboo)".

It is worth mentioning that the brush has a long history. As early as the Shang Dynasty, people's daily writing was not "knife and brush writing", but the same as the writing on bamboo slips or wood chips after the Qin and Han Dynasties.

"Chen Ganjiang, see the king. The king will live for ten thousand years!"

The general who hadn't been summoned for a long time, the moment he entered the Zide Hall, he hurriedly paid homage to the anniversary ceremony.

"There is no need to be too polite, Pingshen."

"Thank you king!"

Gan Jiang owed half his body and stood aside respectfully.

"sit down."

Qingji stretched out his hand and asked the general to sit opposite him.

The general said he didn't dare, until Qingji spoke again, and then he sat down flattered.

A general with a humble background, he really dare not be presumptuous when facing Ji Ji!
"Go-getter, do you know how to make Bulu (brush)?"

"Understood."

The general quickly replied: "My lord, it is very simple to make the method of not law. Use wood or bamboo to make a pole, put it on the hair of livestock such as sheep's hair, rabbit hair or ox hair, stain it with ink, and you can write."

"However, such irregularly written characters are probably not very beautiful, and there is a lack of dyed ink. Isn't the writing speed too slow?"

"Exactly."

"General, I have called you here this time to improve the lawlessness."

Qingji picked up a piece of bamboo that had been whittled into the shape of a pen shaft, and said slowly: "I have a sudden whim, and I have a new method of making pens."

"Please instruct the king."

"The new brush-making method has complicated procedures. The raw materials can be the hairs of sheep, rabbits, cows, horses and other beasts. The furs are soaked in water, and then combed and collected with a comb. The hair front..."

Qingji told the go-getters one by one how he improved the brush.

He can make this new brush by himself, but the process is too complicated, time-consuming and labor-intensive, and the final brush may be unsatisfactory.

After all, a brush is not the same as a toothbrush, so choosing a brush is a very crucial step!
Bai Juyi, a poet in the Tang Dynasty, wrote a poem "Zihao Brush": "There are old rabbits on the rocks in the south of the Yangtze River, eating bamboo and drinking springs to produce purple hairs. People in Xuancheng pick pens from thousands of hairs." Wrote the selection No difficulty!
The truly intact hairs are round and straight, and there are only three or five out of a hundred.

Others are often defective, such as split ends, no sharp edges, damaged hair shafts, bending, and so on.

When selecting hairs, brush and wash them repeatedly in the water basin, select them one by one, remove defective hairs, and then classify them according to color, softness, length, thickness, etc. This is a very delicate process.

Of course, there is no need for Qingji to make such a fine brush, but we must strive for perfection, right?

After learning of Qingji's idea, Gan Jiang was frightened into panic.

After all, what he is good at is making sharp swords, not brushes...

"Go-getter, I can give you a month. During this period, you must make a brush that satisfies the widow."

"Brush?"

"Irregularity. From then on, the irregularity of my country of Wu is the writing brush."

"Sir, obey the king's orders!"

Since Qingji is so excited, the generals can only take over this drudgery with indescribable bitterness.

Fortunately, he is not good at making brushes, which does not mean that there are no such craftsmen in Wu!

As the great engineering order of the state of Wu, the generals naturally have the power to issue orders and dispatch their craftsmen.

"General, do you know about paper?"

Qingji asked again.

"Paper?"

The general was stunned for a moment, then bowed and said, "Reporting to Your Majesty, I am ignorant and ignorant, but I don't know what paper is?"

"Paper slips, like bamboo slips and wooden slips, are book slips. However, paper slips are thinner, neatly written, and easy to carry. Therefore, a few people want to make paper to benefit the world and publicize it to the world."

Hearing this, the general had no choice but to bite the bullet and ask, "Dare to ask your majesty, how should this paper slip be made?"

"The specific production method, you and other craftsmen have found out by themselves, few people only know that the raw materials of the papermaking process should be hemp head, rags, mulberry skin, etc., after soaking in water, chopping, washing, steaming, rinsing, pounding, Add water to form a suspended slurry, scoop out the pulp, and dry it to become paper.”

"..."

The go-getter hurriedly wrote down the method of making paper that Qingji said on one side.

Like the improvement of the writing brush, the invention of papermaking is equally complicated and time-consuming.

Therefore, Qingji can only teach the method to the generals, let the craftsmen go through many experiments, and finally hand over the results to Qingji!
When the time came, Qingji still didn't forget to draw a big cake for the general, and said: "General, if you can make this brush and paper slips, you will be rewarded a lot."

"Tell the craftsmen that I have prepared a hundred hectares of fertile land and five hundred bolts of cloth. If they can do their best to produce writing brushes and paper slips that satisfy the widow, they will all be rewarded to the craftsmen!"

"Sir, take orders!"

The go-getter was instantly stimulated!

Qing Ji looks at craftsmen like them like this, how can the generals not be honored?
After the general left, Qingji was about to go back to deal with government affairs, but saw that he entered the Zide Hall step by step, and said in front of Qingji with a low eyebrow, "Your Majesty, the Great Sima is asking to see you."

"pass!"

"promise."

As the great Sima, Sun Ping was in the third rank, and he was trusted and valued by Qingji. Since he asked to see him, he must have something important to do.

Gein had nothing important to do, so it was generally impossible for Sun Bing to see Qingji.

(End of this chapter)