No one can disturb my retirement life in the Red Mansion

"Yes, I'm still not satisfied. My mother-in-law wants to use it to print books, but she said that if it is used for printing, the paper is not tough enough. It's a bit brittle!" Jiang was busy shaking the paper gently so that her husband could hear the sound of the paper. In fact, Jiang liked the sound very much, which actually meant that the paper was slightly hard, without the rustling feeling of the grass and wood like the Caihou paper before. She didn't really know what printing was, but she listened to what her mother-in-law said. She recounted it truthfully.

Sun Lang pursed his lips, took a seal, stamped it on the paper, and then looked at it against the light.

His mind was a bit confused! He didn't even know that his mother wanted to print a book?
Cai Hou invented paper because he wanted to use paper to replace bamboo slips so that the emperor would not be so tired when reading memorials. Most books were bamboo slips, with a small amount of silk records and leather books. So once she found paper that could replace bamboo slips, paper books would naturally appear.

He didn't understand printing, but he could guess the meaning. It should be similar to rubbing. If he could find rubbing paper to replace silk, it would be a great thing. Seals are actually rubbings. He just tried it and the print was very clear and beautiful. (At this time, seals are all metal seals, and the handwriting is very clear.) As for the crispness, he didn't think it was a big problem. From this, it can be seen that his mother is infinitely close to success.

He became more serious.

As I just said, Zhang Qian brought back parchment from the Western Regions during the Western Han Dynasty, and it took more than 200 years for Cai Hou to improve the papermaking technique; and more than 100 years have passed since Cai Hou improved it. In other words, it took more than 300 years for papermaking to be introduced to the Central Plains, but it has not yet been completed and used to replace the function of paper for writing.

Why does the mother think she can do it?

This is not to say that Sun Lang does not believe his mother, but he knows very well that this has never been a technical issue!
Some things are better known than spoken. There must be a reason why the policy has not been popularized for three hundred years. Besides the fact that the paper does not meet the requirements, there is also the question of whether the upper class really wants to implement this policy.

If you really want to implement it and can implement it, you would have already done it. Why wait for your mother to come? Look at the taxes! If you really want to implement it, you can implement it all over the country right away. No one will stop you.

And this time when they opened a school, many people wondered why orphans should go to school? They couldn't even study medicine! What qualifications did they have to read, learn to read, and learn medicine? What's more, there were girls among them.

If it wasn't for the strong promotion of the second brother, and the support of Zhou Yu and Zhang Shao, it would have been impossible to succeed. Later, the second and third generations of doctors joined in, and then slowly no one said anything. However, he knew that some of the aristocratic families had a certain aversion to medical schools.

For example, paper was brought back by Zhang Qian and improved by Cai Lun, which took more than 200 years. Cai Lun started with the support of Empress Deng. It took him only three years to succeed.

My mother, who knows nothing at all, managed to make it like this after half a year. So, can't other people do it?

Can't do it, or don't want to do it?
The right to read is in the hands of the great families to ensure the inheritance of the family. If she really reduces the cost of paper and books like my mother did, so that everyone can read and write, I am afraid that even my second brother will not be able to support her, right?
"Wulang?" Seeing that her husband didn't say anything, Jiang was a little afraid that she might have said something wrong.

"It's okay, mother just said she wanted to print a book?" Sun Lang calmed down.

"Yes, I think this paper can be used. I feel that my mother-in-law is overworked and I'm afraid she will be too upset." Jiang said hurriedly. This was the main point she wanted to talk to her husband about. "I don't know when to print the book. Please persuade the old lady not to worry herself to the point of getting sick."

Sun Lang thought about asking someone to prepare the materials for rubbing the stele, so he took the papers and went to the garden, where there was a stele. When he had nothing to do before, he also asked someone to rub the stele for fun. It was also to practice his skills, and he just wanted to do it quickly.

Stone rubbing is also considered a hobby for scholars, and it is considered a basic quality of a cultured person. The servants in the mansion are also experienced, and they went to prepare as soon as they heard about it. Although they felt a little strange when they saw that they were holding paper, they were used to it, and they were gentle without Sun Lang's reminder. When peeling off the paper, they were still heavy-handed and broke it a little, but Sun Lang knew that it had nothing to do with the paper, but he just hadn't mastered the measure.

However, he brought enough paper, and it took him a lot of effort to make rubbings of each sheet.

Jiang also watched from the side. Although she didn't understand, she could still tell the difference between good and bad rubbings. After all, she was the wife of a country gentleman, so she had some knowledge.

The servants lit up all the lights in the garden, and the couple made the rubbings, tied a rope in the garden, and hung the paper on the rope. It is impossible to compare the quality of the words printed on a stele.

After they had finished rubbing all the papers, the couple just watched quietly.

"Wu Lang, what does the old lady mean by 'brittle'?" Jiang saw that every piece of paper was printed. Thick or thin, the words were not blurred. Of course, she knew what 'brittle' meant. But the problem now was that the words were all correct and the paper was not torn, so what did the old lady need?

"You'll have to ask the old lady!" Sun Lang waited for it to dry, and he had a vague idea in his mind. Just like using silk, when the ink dries, the silk will also become hard. It is also difficult to preserve. This is paper. When the ink dries, I'm afraid it will become crumbs if I move it or shake it.

They don't have to wait until everything is dry, so they don't have to take them one by one. After the ink dries, the thick paper will be deformed, and the thin paper will be even worse.

"So this is what the old lady meant by fragile. It becomes like this after just one stamp." Jiang sighed.

"It's already very good. The paper didn't tear when I was making the rubbing. Now it's dry, and the deformation is not too bad. Before, I didn't even dare to think that I could use paper." Sun Lang pursed his lips. He really didn't expect the old lady to do it so well.

His mother had always told him that she was just playing around, but now she told him that she had been improving the papermaking technique over the past few months and had even let him make it. This kind of paper could actually meet daily needs. So, how far would it be for her to use paper to print books?
He put the sheets of ink-covered paper in his hand, held them up to the light, shook them gently, and felt the texture of the paper with his hands.

Sun Lang thought about it and shook his head. Although his mother had taken him out of family affairs on the pretext of letting him study medicine, he understood what his mother meant. She didn't want him to join the army. Even if he was only in charge of family affairs, he would eventually be taken into the army. Otherwise, they would say that he was not like his father's son.

His mother just wanted him to find a serious job. If he learned medical skills in the future and joined the army again, he would be a medical officer and would not go to the battlefield.

It's not that he was afraid of danger. After all, no one could let Sun Quan's brother be in danger. Who could really take the blame? If something really went wrong on the battlefield, who could be more suitable to take the blame than Sun Quan's brother?

As a result, it has been almost half a year since he started working at the National Medical Hall. He is still doing clerical work, but he has grasped more important things in his hands. He helps his second brother make medicine, grow medicine, and control the doctors in the world. Isn't this more meaningful than his military service? And is his mother adding more weight now? (End of this chapter)