Datang Nongsheng

Chapter 201
The principle of movable type printing is so simple that people can understand it at a glance. However, there is a reason why this technology could not be popularized so quickly in ancient times.

First of all, before the beginning of the Tang Dynasty, paper that could be printed was a very valuable item, and most of the books existed in the form of bamboo slips, which meant that printing could not be used. In the former Sui Dynasty, it was only because Yang Jian worshiped Buddhism that woodblock printing was used. Some Buddhist scriptures.

But Xingfu Village has already solved this problem. The cost of their self-made paper is low enough to be used by villagers to wipe their asses. Of course, the aborigines in Xingfu Village are relatively rich, so this is nothing.But if they knew that Sun Xiangfu's birthday gift to Yu Shinan was [-] sets of Four Books and Five Classics and [-] sets of Chinese Pinyin textbooks re-edited by Yu Shinan, they would definitely let them figure out the cost of papermaking in Xingfu Village.

You know, these are thousands of paper books, and the market price of each book is one or two pennies. To celebrate a birthday and give a gift worth nearly ten thousand pennies, this is too generous a deal.

"Wonderful, this thing is wonderfully made, at this speed, at least hundreds of books can be printed a day."

Chang He and other generals didn't care about books, but literary masters like Xiao Yu only felt that their eyes were glistening. While praising, they quickly chased after Li Shimin who had already stepped forward.

"Who created this method?"

Li Shimin's words were not angry and prestige, but they scared the mud printing craftsman into a little panic.

"Your Majesty, this object was conceived by Sun Zhengming, head of our farming sect, and made by Caomin's master Wang Fu."

Movable type printing was invented by Sun Xiangfu before Wang Fu went to Shuozhou. This thing requires reverse engraving mud printing. After several months of perfection, the whole process can be typeset quickly two months ago. For printing, there are many types of mud used for engraving movable type, and Sun Xiangfu paid for this technology with only one sentence: "I want a technology that can use a single movable type for typesetting and printing."

"Where is Wang Fu?"

"Uh, I went to Shuozhou with the head wife."

In Li Shimin's view, a craftsman like Wang Fu who can produce movable type printing is already a great talent, but Wang Fu is not ranked high in the sequence of Xingfu Village. In Sun Xiangfu's words, their A generation, at best, can only be regarded as a person who can do it, and those who can really do research and creation are still children like Sun Deshou who have not yet grown up.

Unable to see Wang Fu, Li Shimin had no choice but to wander around the printing workshop by himself. When he opened a book with three words of exercise questions written on the cover, he was immediately confused by the dense numbers inside.

"What are you printing here? Why are they all algebraic symbols?"

"Reporting to Your Majesty, this is a math exercise, not a book. It is a question for students to do. There are also geometry exercises here. Not only students, but we craftsmen must also be able to do it. Everyone There are [-] copies of math exercises a month, which is a quota to be printed."

"Three thousand copies per month?"

Li Shimin was surprised by a number again. According to the craftsman, it seems that this kind of exercise book should be done every month, and it will be unnecessary after finishing it once.

"Yes, we apprentice craftsmen, children from the village, and children from several farms in Luoyang, Yangzhou, and Yizhou have to do it. I heard that there will be a big exam every six months in the future!"

Later generations, Sun Xiangfu's math scores are not good, so he believes in a truth, the sea of ​​questions tactics, other things may need to read more and understand more, while mathematics needs to do more questions to reduce the error rate, because the answer to mathematics is often unique, When people get used to precision and precision, they will get twice the result with half the effort when doing things.

"But I see that the handwriting on your practice questions is so small, how do you answer it?" Li Shimin also knew a little about Sun's algebraic symbols, and he was a little puzzled when he saw the characters on it and the space left.

"Well, people in our village are accustomed to using chicken feather pens and quill pens. These pens consume less ink and have small fonts, so they can answer questions on this." The little craftsman scratched his head and replied.

"Then where did your village spend so much money to buy paper? No, your paper is not Shuzhong hemp paper, but the quality is also very good." Xiao Yu followed Li Shimin's words and raised his own doubts.

However, Li Shimin was not surprised by this problem. Yu Xiuer sent a batch of paper to the palace when the paper was made. Later, Xingfu Village also developed a soft toilet paper. Now the nobles in the palace like to use it. .

Li Shimin believes that Sun Xiangfu is willing to spend money for his own people. In the past two years, Li Shimin has been jealous of Sun Xiangfu. From the equipment of the guards to the usual food and objects used, Sun Xiangfu is better than him. The emperor is still extravagant, so why don't he get angry!

"My lord, this kind of paper is produced by our Xingfu Village. Even the used book paper can be remade. There is a papermaking workshop next to it. You can go and see for yourself."

The primary school apprentice didn't know Xiao Yu, but the questions he raised were easy to answer, so Li Shimin and the others went to the nearby papermaking workshop.

The scale here will be much larger than that of the printing workshop. In fact, half of the original [-] mu of land in Xingfu Village has been turned into houses. It is already devouring the land of surrounding villages.

However, before devouring the land, it first devours the population. People in the surrounding villages are now rushing to move to the side of the two cement roads along the small river, and build a set of brick and tile houses along the cement road. It's easy to get in and out, mainly because it can be connected with Xingfu Village, and it can receive more information, making it easier to find jobs and make money.

Piles of dry white paper are neatly cut, and workers bundle them into boxes in bundles of [-] or [-] sheets according to size. Although these papers have not been sold on the market, they have already been processed. Been stocking for a long time.

Xiao Yu, who is also fond of calligraphy, wanted to know the cost and selling price of this kind of paper very much, so he pulled a craftsman with the word "Nong" on his chest and asked, "How much are you going to sell for a box of this paper?"

"Reporting to Mr. Xiao, the village chief has no sales plan at present, but it should not be too expensive. The cost of making a box of paper is less than usual money."

A box of paper, several bundles of large and small, hundreds of sheets, is actually less than the usual cost. At least ten times.

The reason why the paper made in Xingfu Village is so cheap is because they use coal with a higher temperature and longer burning time as the fuel for melting paper pulp, and secondly because the materials they make paper do not need the kenaf grown in the farmland. All you need is some platycodon, tree bark, or even withered grass. Although the paper produced is not as white and exquisite as the rice paper of later generations, what is pursued is the practical function of being able to write and draw.

First reduce the manufacturing cost, and then pursue exquisiteness. This is the policy set by Sun Xiangfu for the papermaking technology research team.

"Why do you make such cheap and easy-to-use paper, but don't sell it on the market?"

"Have you ever thought about it, once the white paper in our Xingfu Village goes on sale in large quantities, and the hemp grown by the tens of thousands of hemp farmers in central Sichuan is unsalable, how will they make a living?"

"Uh, this..."

Xiao Yu was immediately stopped by the question. Even in modern society, in order to feed more people, the country has to let some backward enterprises continue to exist, let alone in ancient times when there were not many choices.

Previously, Sun Xiangfu and Webster cooperated in the development of coal, and also considered the original farmers who made a living by collecting firewood, and agreed with Webster that they must be recruited to work in coal workshops. In order to absorb all the manpower, Sun Xiangfu even recruited some of them. I came to work in the papermaking workshop because I didn't want to ruin the lives of some people who could survive because of an industry I created.

The rise of a new industry may have a devastating impact on the old industry. If you don't think carefully, you can't start a horse indiscriminately. Li Shimin has experienced Sun Xiangfu's good intentions and knows that he is a man who can maintain restraint in the face of interests. Immediately, the mood improved a lot.

"A few lovers, let's follow me to other workshops to have a look!"

Since Li Shimin spoke, Xiao Yu didn't bother with this issue. Following Li Shimin's footsteps, he walked to a large yard next to the papermaking workshop. This is one of Li Shimin's most important industries, the smelting workshop.

Smelting technology is the core of a country's development, even in later generations. Therefore, there are layers of guard handles at the door of this workshop. People without permission are not allowed to approach. Of course, there is no defense against Li Shimin here.

Ma Lin is the steward of the smelting workshop, but he also went to Shuozhou with Yu Xiuer, so his apprentice, Ma Sai, is in charge here.

And being able to wear a shirt with Nong characters written on the chest and back in Xingfu Village is a proof of strength. Ma Sai wears such a suit, even though he is a blacksmith.

Gears, pulleys, hinges and other exquisite ironware are innumerable in the workshop, those civilian agricultural tools, pots!Shovel!Such things can't be made here at all, and can be made in a few blacksmith shops in Xiaoheji.

Here, it is a place dedicated to making core objects, and even a place dedicated to researching smelting technology, such as the entire power system on a water steamer. For example, after hundreds of tests, the optimal ratio of high-carbon steel has been found.

Li Shimin's eyes were first placed on the wooden weapon rack. There was a long-handled mo knife made by the Tang army. The extraordinary thing about this Mo Dao.

"Who made this knife?" When Li Shimin spoke, he was already holding the handle of the long knife with one hand.

"It's the grassroots." Marseille answered with a bow.

At this time, Li Shimin, who was holding the handle of the knife, changed his expression, and asked, "This knife looks the same as the standard Mo knife, why is it so heavy?"

"The material and forging process used for this knife are somewhat different. Its toughness and sharpness are beyond comparison with ordinary war knives." Ma Sai said a little proudly.

It was precisely because of the creation of this Mo knife that Sun Xiangfu allowed him to join the Nongmen before he had studied for a year. If we want to talk about the extraordinaryness of this knife, we must first talk about the steel used to cast this knife. This is an Indian specialty woozi steel.

In the [-]th to [-]th centuries BC, the ancient Indians had mastered the technology of ultra-high carbon steel. Among the wives brought back from India by Xi Junmai last year, there happened to be a family who smelted iron for generations, combined with some secret recipes dictated by her. , and finally there is this ultra-high carbon steel with a carbon content of [-]% to [-]%, which is later known as Damascus steel.

This kind of steel is much heavier than the steel of the same volume in Datang, so Li Shimin will be surprised after getting it.

(End of this chapter)