The great man will live forever

Chapter 269 The Appearance of Paper

"Prince, paper is made."

On this day, Lu Yuan reported to Liu Han.

"Okay." Liu Han was very happy. With paper, the cost of the imperial examination was greatly reduced. He took the paper with him and went to see Liu Xiu.

At this time, Liu Xiu was still handling government affairs in the palace. He spent many nights handling government affairs, and there were few concubines in the harem. As an emperor, he was very diligent.

Of course, even if Liu Xiu is as diligent as Liu Xiu, he is still inferior to Zhu Yuanzhang, who was not a later generation. This old Zhu can be regarded as the most diligent emperor in history.

Lao Zhu was one of the few commoner emperors in China, and he was also the emperor with the lowest status. He worked as a beggar and a monk. His whole family almost died of starvation, and he didn't even have a place to bury his parents. His poor background and experience affected his life. idea.

He is cruel, narrow-minded, and cold-hearted, but he is also a good emperor, and he is very diligent, so diligent that he is sick.

In the tenth year of Hongwu's reign, he once said to those around him: "Since I came to the throne, I have never forgotten the word diligence. I went to court before dawn, and only retired to the palace at night.

After lying down, I had something on my mind and couldn't fall asleep, so I got up to work or watch the sky at night. Once I saw something strange in the sky, I was very worried. Or when thinking about civil affairs, if something should be handled quickly, write it down and let your subordinates handle it the next day. "

Everyone advised Zhu Yuanzhang not to be too tired, but Zhu Yuanzhang believed that the living standard was too low before, and he had to rely on his own efforts to achieve the current prosperity, so laziness will lead to destruction, and only diligence can maintain prosperity, so the emperor must not be lazy .

He deeply believes that hard work can lead to wealth. This is an authentic old farmer's thought.

During the eight days from September 1160th to February 3391st in the seventeenth year of Hongwu, various yamen submitted a total of memorials, involving matters.

Each memorial is calculated in thousands of words, which is at least 120 million words. On average, one or two hundred thousand words have to be reviewed and things processed every day. This efficiency is unsatisfactory.

Some people call him the "Emperor of the Cock Crow". He gets up as soon as the rooster crows, does not rest even after midnight, and goes to court twice a day. Even so, he never forgets the beauties in his harem, and gave birth to more than 10 children after he ascended the throne. Children, the youngest Princess Baoqing was born when he was 67 years old.

This body is so good, it's simply terrifying. If he hadn't been so tired, he might have lived for many more years. No emperor could compare to his diligence, and the later generation Chongzhen might barely be able to compare.

Liu Xiu is a little behind them, but not too far behind. He does many things himself because he knows that it is easy to conquer a country, but difficult to sit on it.

Prince Liu Han entered Liu Xiu's hall, followed closely by several guards, holding rolls of paper in their hands.

He walked into the hall and stared at Liu Xiu's figure sitting in front of the imperial case. He was still unavoidably excited and expecting in his heart. That was paper. It was a huge improvement and would be implemented nationwide in the future.

Liu Xiu raised his head and saw his son walking into the hall, a trace of surprise flashed in his eyes. He knew that Prince Liu Qiang would only come in person at important moments, so he had a vague hunch that Prince Liu Qiang's arrival this time would be of great importance.

Liu Han saluted Liu Xiu respectfully and handed the paper in his hand to Liu Xiu. Liu Xiu took the paper and glanced at it. The paper was not as delicate and smooth as later generations, but it was already very good.

"What is this?" Liu Xiu didn't understand for a while.

"Father, this is something I recently invented, called paper. It can replace bamboo slips and silk as a carrier for writing and recording information. Paper is portable, easy to read, and the production cost is low. It is really great. A groundbreaking invention.”

Liu Xiu couldn't help but raise his eyebrows, looked at the paper in his hand carefully, and then his joy was beyond words. He is well aware of the significance of paper to culture and education, which will greatly promote the spread of information and people's learning.

He immediately picked up a piece of paper and began to write. The more he wrote, the more excited he became, and he even broke the paper.

"Father, be gentler, don't use such force."

"Father is the one who is excited. Haha, paper is very important to the cultural development of our dynasty. You are working for the benefit of our great man, so congratulations!"

Liu Xiu's voice was full of excitement and encouragement, and he immediately thought of something.

"Is this expensive? If it's too expensive, like silk, it's not cost-effective."

"It's not expensive. It's made of the same bamboo used to make bamboo slips. One piece costs about 2 Wen."

In the Eastern Han Dynasty founded by Liu Xiu, the country's economy was weak in the early days of the dynasty, and the circulation of private currencies was mixed. In the first fifteen years, half two coins, five baht coins of the Western Han Dynasty, Wang Mang's currency and Daquan fifty coins were mainly used. Time is spent casting five baht coins.

Compared with the five-baht coins of the Western Han dynasties, the five-baht coins of the Eastern Han Dynasty were lighter and the five-baht coins of the Eastern Han Dynasty were the most popular ones.

"Can you make this with bamboo?" Liu Xiu didn't believe it.

"No one thought before that silkworms spin silk and that hemp in the ground can be used to make clothes. If my father doesn't believe it, just go and see for yourself and you will know."

"Okay, take me to see it quickly."

Immediately, Liu Xiu followed Liu Han to the paper-making place and took a look. Many eunuchs and maids were still making paper.

The steps are actually not difficult, including chopping bamboo to float on the pond, boiling the bamboo shoots over a large fire, pouring the ingredients into the curtain, and covering the curtain with paper.

Liu Xiu watched the paper being made with his own eyes, his eyes brightened, and his hands were shaking as he held the paper.

"With this, combined with the imperial examination system you mentioned, Qiang'er, I will have an inexhaustible supply of talented Han men."

It must be said that Liu Xiu's vision was extremely unique. He could tell at a glance that this piece of paper was a great weapon in conjunction with the imperial examination.

"I will implement it nationwide immediately. I will leave the papermaking to you. Tell me whatever you want."

Liu Xiu was very happy and pulled Liu Han to praise him, which made Liu Han feel embarrassed.

"By the way, how did you come up with the idea of ​​making this paper?"

"When the child went to the toilet, the toilet seat was uncomfortable, so I thought of other alternatives. The first one was silk..."

Liu Xiu was a little speechless. He was the emperor, but he practiced frugality and did not use silk. "You use silk after going to the toilet?"

"After using it, I would wash it in the house and replace it with a new one, but it was troublesome, so I wanted to use something else to replace it. I saw in ancient books that there seemed to be something like paper, so I gave it a try. It worked. Later I thought it could be used for writing. …”

"..."

Liu Xiu was a little speechless and didn't know what to say. He could only ask: "Which ancient book said this?"

"I forgot. I looked for it several times later but couldn't find it. After all, there are too many ancient books."

"It's empty, let's look for it again. Maybe this ancient book also records other useful things, such as the curved shaft plow, waterwheel, and horse iron hooves. They were all extremely good, which made the country's power greatly increase during Emperor Wu's period. , capable of defeating the Huns.

I remember that these seemed to have been invented by Liu Han, the Marquis of Lanling of our Liu family. He was also a strange man. He conquered east and west and was said to have never been defeated. Unfortunately, he was already a man more than 100 years ago. I wish I could meet him! "

"Liu Han, Marquis of Lanling? Father, why haven't I heard of this person?" Liu Han pretended not to know. He had also checked some information over the years and knew what happened after death.

At that time, Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty wiped out the whole family of his prince's house, and even the ants were not spared. They were all set on fire.

How much trust and support I had back then, how painful it was after being betrayed. I even ordered that this person should not be mentioned again and all books recording him were destroyed.

Time is extremely scary. More than a hundred years have passed, and no one remembers that there was a Marquis of Lanling.

"My father didn't know this before. After becoming emperor, he collected books from all over the world. When Deng Yu broke into Chang'an, he also found some secrets in the palace.

The historical records currently circulating are not complete, but the complete historical records record things about him. He was a strange person, but he was also treasonous, so Emperor Wu eliminated all his records..."

Liu Xiu didn't say much. After encouraging Liu Han, he went back to deal with government affairs. He was now busy working out the system of three provinces and six ministries, and then prepared to try it out for a period of time.

Liu Han was also planning to expand the paper-making area. There was no room in the palace, so he asked Lu Yuan to find a place both inside and outside the city to gather people for a big fight.

Just when he was in full swing, the maid Chang Xuelan came.

"Sister Xuelan, what's wrong?"

"Prince, the Queen has summoned you." "Mother, what do you want from me?"

Liu Han was a little speechless, thinking what the hell could this cheap mother do.

"This, I guess it's for the prince's marriage, right?" Chang Xuelan said, blushing, thinking in her heart: "If the prince gets married, then I can... Yeah, how can I think like this?"

She thought about it and glanced at Liu Han from time to time. She felt that Liu Han was getting more and more handsome as she looked at him, but she was also afraid that he would find out. She glanced at him and lowered her head quickly, but she couldn't see her toes.

"Getting married? I'm still like this, so I'm going to get married?" Liu Han was speechless.

"The queen said that since the prince is not young anymore, he can get engaged first."

……

At this time, in Jiaofang Hall, Guo Kuang said angrily: "The emperor put the fourth prince who was a concubine and the eldest prince in the same position. It is obviously not as simple as partiality."

"Bah!" With a sound, Guo Shengtong slapped his palms on the table and cursed, "This bitch instigated Your Majesty to let the fourth prince take charge of the government. She clearly wanted to take the opportunity to seize Qiang'er's crown prince position."

She couldn't help but be angry. Recently, Liu Xiu ordered Liu Yang to follow him to listen to the government. Liu Han naturally didn't care. He was strong and he was strong. The breeze blew on the hills and he was on his side. The bright moon shone on the river.

As long as he does his own thing well and lets Liu Xiu see his unparalleled ability and let all officials see it, then he won't be able to change him for the crown prince.

Guo Shengtong was naturally unhappy, "This Qiang'er is really brave. He finally proposed a three-province, six-ministry system and an imperial examination system, and his father was very satisfied.

He didn't take the opportunity to insert his own men and power inside. Instead, he huddled in the harem and didn't know what mess he was making. Seeing that his position as the prince was no longer guaranteed, he didn't say a word. What did he want to do? ? "

At this time, she felt a little resentful that iron could not become steel.

Guo Kuang sighed, "I don't know what the prince is thinking? Our prince is smart, but he always thinks of some weird things that make people confused. It's a pity that the mother and son were left behind." One life, otherwise..."

There was murderous intent in his eyes. He sent assassins back then but they failed. If Yin Lihua, mother and son were killed, everything would be fine.

Guo Shengtong cursed, "What's the use of talking about this now? Your Majesty is being deceived by their rumors. Qiang'er is so smart, capable, honest and kind, and he thinks his mother and daughter are good people. Don't you know that they are plotting against him behind his back? I'm really worried." Me."

Guo Kuang shook his head and said, "Regarding the prince's entry into the East Palace, have you heard from His Majesty recently?"

Guo Shengtong sighed and said: "Your Majesty is currently keeping silent on this matter. I also urged Qiang'er several times to tell him personally while your Majesty was happy. However, he refused to say anything and said that the father himself There are plans to make me angry to death."

At this time, Lord Guo who was standing aside shook his head, "Over the years, although His Majesty has given many awards to the Guo family, he has not promoted him to any official position. Instead, he has granted titles to the Yin family, especially Yin Xing. The defense of the palace is entrusted to him, we have to guard against it!"

……

On the other side, Yin Xing was walking in the palace at this time, and shouted when he saw Pearl holding a bamboo slip.

"pearl!"

"Zhuzhu pays homage to the young master." Maid Zhenzhu saluted quickly.

"What are you doing?"

"The noble lady said she wanted to read some books. She just found them and was planning to give them to her."

"Just in time, I also have something to do with my sister, and I have some news I want to tell her."

After Yin Xing finished speaking, Guo Kuang had just come out of the Jiaofang Hall and happened to see the two people talking. He walked over and said nonchalantly: "What news do you have about Mr. Yin?"

"Guo Shilang." Yin Xing saluted.

"Oh, no, I recently heard that Minister Yin has been promoted again. This is indeed good news. Congratulations!"

"Thank you, Mr. Guo."

Both of them were planning how to kill each other, but on the surface they pretended to be harmonious.

"Shilang Yin is proud of his official career, but he has been reluctant to get married. I don't know which girl it is because of?"

Guo Kuang said as he glanced at Pearl beside him intentionally or unintentionally.

"You don't need to worry about this matter, Mr. Guo."

"Yes, you are the younger brother of the Yin nobleman. When you marry, you should marry the daughter of a wealthy prince. You can't marry a humble slave, right?"

He said and looked at Pearl Eyes with disdain. He had long discovered that there was something going on between the two of them.

Yinxing's face fell, and he said: "When marrying a wife, of course I should marry someone who shares the same sufferings with me and has the same thoughts. So what if it's a daughter? So what if I'm a slave? I have something important to do, so I'll take my leave first."

Then he ignored Guo Kuang unceremoniously and took Pearl away. Guo Kuang looked at their backs with a sinister expression on his face.

Inside Yuntai Hall.

"Yinxing pays homage to the noble man."

"Do we still need so many etiquettes?" Yin Guiren put down the book in her hand. She also likes reading very much. Her knowledge has always been good, otherwise she would not be loved by Liu Xiu, and she could even help Liu Xiu with ideas from time to time.

"It's not surprising that there are so many people. After all, this is the palace."

"Well, it's up to you. Your Majesty wants Yang'er to take charge of the government because he wants to support Yang'er as the crown prince, or he feels pressure and wants to weaken the crown prince.

There is no room for two tigers in one mountain, but Qiang'er is very capable. He has been supervising the country since he was a child, and he also proposed the three provinces and six ministries system and the imperial examination system. He is so smart that Yang'er will never be able to fight him. "

Yin Lihua said, her face full of worry, and her parents' beloved son had far-reaching plans.

"Sister, there is no way. Some things must be fought for. Even if the prince can let us go, the Guo family behind him will probably not let us go. But things in the world may not be as you think. There are Let God decide the matter on his own, we just have to go on, whatever we plan will be decided by man, and God will make it happen."

Yin Lihua sighed, "That's all. Did you come to me because of your affairs? Then what are your plans?"

Yin Lihua looked at Yin Xing and Pearl. She had known for a long time that the two of them had a mutual friendship.

"In the blink of an eye, my mother has passed away for more than a few years, and your period of filial piety has passed long ago. Yang'er and I have delayed your marriage for so long, and I have caused you two to suffer."

Yinxing smiled, "It's good if my sister knows. Who asked me to have such a careless sister and nephew, and a loyal lover?"

After saying that, he and Pearl looked at each other, and their eyes almost went numb.

"By the way, there's one more thing. The prince has been tinkering in the palace recently and really made something. His Majesty showed it to me yesterday. It's said to be called paper, which can be used to write. The cost is very cheap. It's much better than bamboo slips. I'll be there soon. With large-scale promotion, coupled with the imperial examination system, the court will have an inexhaustible supply of talents..."

Yin Xing said, taking out the paper from his sleeve.

"Is this paper?" Yin Lihua looked at it. It was thin and very light.

"Yes!" Yin Xing said, and also demonstrated and wrote a few words on the paper.

Yin Lihua's eyes lit up after reading it, "It's really magical. The prince did it? What did he do recently?"

"Yes, it is said to be made of bamboo. It is very cheap. It is about the same cost as bamboo slips. His Majesty told me some. If you want to know it thoroughly, I guess you have to ask yourself. We are already preparing to promote it on a large scale."

Looking at the paper on the table and the handwriting, the pen and ink were not dry yet, Yin Lihua was stunned and had many thoughts.

(End of this chapter)