Great Qin Emperor

Chapter 29 Amazing Skill

Zhou Chong thought that Wei Liaozi would make a world-shattering move, but he didn't expect his actions to be too disappointing. The master and apprentice swung their axes and felled a tree as thick as the mouth of a bowl in a short while.Then cut it into small pieces with a length of one foot, and then split it into thin slices. Zhou Chong had to admit that the master and apprentice were superior in chopping wood. The thickness of the wood slices was almost the same. It was obvious that they had practiced a lot.

"They chop wood and make letters." Zhou Chong suddenly realized, and said, "Mr. Liaozi's kung fu is truly unique, rare in the world." This is not a compliment, but a pertinent evaluation of the master and apprentice's unique skills.

Wei Liaozi split the wood, said: "Mr. Zhou has won the prize, he has chopped a lot, and if he is familiar with it, it will be fine."

"This is no other, only familiar oil seller! The ancients really worked hard, and it was so difficult to produce some books. It's not like modern people. There is no paper. It costs two pennies to buy it in the store. More advanced I just use the computer to write, I don’t even need a pen and paper, one is in the sky, and the other is underground.” Zhou Chong compared in his heart, and said, “Dare to ask, sir, how many volumes is Dazuo going to write?”

Liaozi pondered for a while, and said: "There are five volumes, and each volume has four to five chapters."

Zhou Chong asked again: "How many wooden slips are you planning to use for each article?"

"One catty less, three taels more." Wei Liao replied.

Zhou Chong calculated and said: "In this way, the master's masterpiece will cost at least twenty or thirty catties of wooden slips. After the book is completed, the master will carry it with you. Wouldn't it be cumbersome?"

Some people think that the ancient scholars were very relaxed, but in fact, the ancient scholars were the hardest. Before paper became popular in the world, these slips alone were enough. Maybe hundreds of catties.It is not easy for a scholar to become a real porter.Some people may say that you can spend money to hire someone to pick it up, but that also costs money. Generally speaking, scholars are very poor. Have you never heard the saying that "the poor are rich in literature and martial arts"?
A very interesting story is that Su Qin sold all his family property in order to go west to lobby King Qin Huiwen, dressed himself up as rich or noble, and asked someone to carry books to Qin.The result was unsuccessful. When I got home, I became a beggar. I didn’t talk about my books. I was so hungry that I didn’t have the energy. I asked my wife to cook and ignored him.Asking my sister-in-law to cook something to eat, and not dumping him, how desolate!

"It's nothing, I've been used to it for a long time." Wei Liaozi didn't care.It can be heard that he recited Jane a lot.

Zhou Chong sighed in his heart: "Even a learned man like him has not suffered less from the books, so poor scholars have suffered more than him. If we can find a way to make them less It’s good to suffer a bit.” After thinking about it, he immediately had an idea, and said, “Sir, can you listen to me?”

Wei Liao put down his work, looked at Zhou Chong with great interest, and asked, "Sir, if you have something to say, please tell me, Liao Zi will listen to you."

"Mr.'s book must be a shocking work. If you use wooden slips, it will be bulky, not easy to clean up, and it is not convenient to store." Zhou Chong went straight to the point and said: "I mean, I'm going to buy some paper, or It is silk, sir can write on silk."

During the Warring States period, papermaking had been invented, but the process was too complicated and the output was surprisingly low. Those who could afford it must be the rich and powerful.Silk is also very valuable due to the production problem.

Wei Liaozi politely declined Zhou Chong's kindness, saying: "Mr. Liaozi appreciates your kindness. Scholars are born with that destiny. If you don't recite the letter, you are not called a scholar. Don't worry about it, sir."

It can be heard that what he said was not casual, but out of sincerity. Zhou Chong praised: "Mr. Liaozi is not only excellent in knowledge, but also has a character that is unique in ten thousand. Zhou Chong admires it."

Wei Liao started chopping wood again, and said: "Sir, you are serious, Liaozi is just doing his duty as a scholar."

"For an educated person like you, there must be many rich people who support you. You can still remember your duty as a scholar. You would rather memorize the letter than I don't admire. Those who are educated in modern society, they only think about it. They just look for money, and if they have money, they will buy luxury cars, which are extremely luxurious. If they know Mr. Liaozi's high integrity, they will be ashamed." Zhou Chong sighed in his heart for Wei Liao's high integrity, and his heart became hot, and he said : "Mr. Liaozi, Zhou Chong once learned the art of making paper. We can make it ourselves. What do you think, sir?"

The lives of scholars in ancient times mainly came from two aspects. On the one hand, they were sponsored by rich people. There must be many people with knowledge like Wei Liao who sponsored him.

The other is to rely on your own efforts to earn some money. In modern terms, it is a work-study program. This kind of scholars are the hardest.Zhu Maichen, a famous official in the Western Han Dynasty, liked to study, but his family was poor, so he had to make a living by selling firewood.He was picking firewood while reading. This kind of spirit is indeed worthy of advocacy. Unfortunately, his wife couldn't stand it and "divorced" him.Later, Zhu Maichen was appreciated by Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty and returned home rich and honored. His wife was already married, and he and her husband hid in the crowd and did not dare to see him.Zhu Maichen found them and invited them into the car to go back to the mansion together.His wife was so ashamed that she finally hanged herself.

Zhu Maichen's experience is still good, the ending is not perfect, but it is still good, and there is no scholar who is more miserable than starving to death on the street.These stories are the bitter history of scholars, how many scholars cry!

The two masters and apprentices put down their work and looked up at Zhou Chong. They were very surprised. The meaning couldn't be more clear. There are such skills.

"Mr. Liaozi appreciates your kindness." Wei Liao politely declined, "Paper making is a skill that Liaozi can earn a little. It's too time-consuming and laborious, and the income is very little. On the contrary, it's not as convenient as the book slips. With an ax in hand, there are many things to do."

A scholar like Wei Liao must have studied papermaking. The purpose of his papermaking research is of course to make paper, so as to save the use of wooden slips, but he is too unlucky and always fails.

In his words, there was a feeling of repeated defeats and no confidence. Zhou Chong never imagined that a tough person like him would be so unaffected.After thinking about it, it is also reasonable that papermaking has existed for many years. It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty that it was improved by Cai Lun before it became popular in the world. It makes sense.

"Sir, I don't know that the papermaking technique learned by Zhou Chong is different. It is not only easy to obtain, but also produces a lot of paper." Zhou Chong calculated: "It only takes a few days, enough for sir to use it for three months."

His words immediately aroused the interest of the two masters and apprentices, and they said together: "Sir, you have such a skill, tell me quickly." Seeing their appearance, they really couldn't wait, Zhou Chong saw it in his eyes, rather for fun.

(End of this chapter)