General Qin

"Mulberry tree bark, mulberry bark...the quality of this parchment paper is pretty good."

Zhao Tuo inspected the papermaking workshop, looked at the dried leather paper in front of him, and nodded in satisfaction.

"Now that the parchment paper is out, the cost of paper will be reduced again, and it will be easier to promote it on a large scale."

In the original history, hemp paper had already been produced in the early Western Han Dynasty, on which characters could be written and maps drawn, and the quality was not much different from the hemp paper produced by Zhao Tuo before.

Therefore, Zhao Tuo's creation of hemp paper is actually just a few decades ahead of this technology, which is nothing. Only the emergence of vellum, that is, the technology of making paper from bark, can be regarded as a major advancement in the history of papermaking.

Because this thing is the papermaking technique improved by Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty.

Cai Lun did not invent paper, but expanded the range of papermaking materials and invented papermaking using bark, rotten fishing nets, and rags as raw materials.

This made papermaking materials more diverse. At the same time, papermaking materials such as bark, which can be seen everywhere, are far cheaper than hemp papermaking, further reducing costs and making paper popular.

Now, Zhao Tuo is doing Cai Lun's affairs together!

When the hemp paper was made and began to be tested in several government offices, Zhao Tuo also asked Zhang Han to experiment with making paper from various bark.

Today's test results show that the cheapest and most durable paper is made from the bark of mulberry tree and mulberry tree. The price of a piece of parchment is cheaper than that of hemp paper, and the quality is better.

Of course, the most cost-effective paper should be bamboo paper, but the production process of bamboo paper is the most complicated, and the artisans of Shaofu need to further explore and study.

But it can be foreseen that when the production process of bamboo paper matures, the cost of paper will be further reduced, so that everyone in the world can use it, no longer just talk about it.

After getting out the leather paper and further reducing the production cost, Zhao Tuo turned his attention to other aspects.

"Shao Rong, next you need to study how to prevent moths in paper. I heard that the juice of amurberry (bò) is quite medicinal. You can try to use it to dye paper in the process of making paper and see if it works. Moth-proof."

Zhao Tuo gave instructions to Zhang Han who was following him.

"only."

Zhang Han immediately responded, looked at Zhao Tuo with some admiration, and praised: "The Shaofu is really capable. If paper can really prevent moths, then in addition to administration, it can also be used to copy ancient books for long-term storage , far easier to use than bamboo slips.”

Zhao Tuo smiled slightly. He thought of adding anti-moth effect to the paper, which was exactly the plan for the emperor to back up the precious books.

But when mentioning Huangbo, Zhao Ti couldn't help thinking of another thing, and said: "By the way, you need to get some more orpiment, this thing is also a good thing, it is very helpful for writing."

...

After coming out of the papermaking workshop, Zhao Tuo, accompanied by his subordinate officials, visited several major projects of the Shaofu in Guanzhong.

Today's Shaofu, in addition to the papermaking process, also undertakes the major projects of casting swords into plows and new coins.

Because to catch up with spring plowing, casting swords into plows is the most important thing. After almost two months of busy work, it is almost coming to an end, and by the beginning of May, everything should be done.

As for the minting of new coins, this matter is related to the unification of the currencies of the world. It also involves the abolition and recycling of the old coins of the seven countries, and the corresponding exchange.

After he finished all the inspections and made corresponding guidance, he returned home at dusk with exhaustion all over his body.

However, Zhao Tuo's busyness didn't end with his return home, and even before he and the princess had some intimacy, someone came to visit him.

In the hall, Zhao Tuo and Li Shiqi sat facing each other, each with delicious food and wine in front of them.

"Those Confucian doctors, want to use Prime Minister Zuo to advise the emperor on the defects and disadvantages of paper, saying that the paper I make is a waste of money and people?"

Zhao Tuo had a strange expression on his face.

Paper wastes money.

It was also unexpected for him that these two things could be linked together.

Li Shiqi took a sip of the wine, then nodded and said: "Those Confucian scholars think that if you write a wrong word on the paper made by Shaofu during use, the whole paper will be considered discarded, and you have to change the paper to rewrite it." You can't scrape and correct mistakes like bamboo slips, and using paper to carry out administrative affairs seems cheap and light, but it is time-consuming and labor-intensive, and if there are too many mistakes, it will waste manpower and financial resources, which is not a good thing."

Zhao Tuo's face turned cold.

History has proved that whenever a new thing is invented, there will always be conservatives and opponents.

Such things, even after two thousand years, are still common.

Steam engines, trains, airplanes...

When all these new things appear in this world for the first time, they will be opposed by people.

It's just that Zhao Tuo thought that he would not encounter any resistance this time by standing next to the first emperor to promote paper from top to bottom, but he didn't know that opponents still appeared.

But this is also a normal situation. Most newly invented things will actually have great shortcomings. It is not as good as the old object it will replace. It cannot be perfectly replaced until after a lot of improvements.

Historically, paper was invented in the early Han Dynasty, but it was not used on a large scale. It was not popularized until Cai Lun improved it in the Eastern Han Dynasty. It wasn't until the Southern and Northern Dynasties that paper gradually phased out the bamboo slips and occupied a truly dominant position.

The problems raised by these Confucian scholars are probably one of the reasons.

Li Shiqi looked solemn and said: "Young Mansion, I have used paper before, and there are indeed problems mentioned by those Confucian scholars. Prime Minister Zuo was persuaded by them, and he should publicly criticize it at the court meeting. Young Mansion should have made preparations in the morning."

Zhao Tuo smiled lightly and said, "Don't worry, sir, this matter is not a serious problem. On the contrary, it can be used to make a name for the paper, making it easier to carry out this matter."

Those Confucian scholars were right about the shortcomings of paper. Judging from today's hemp paper alone, if there is no supporting technology, it is indeed not qualified to fully replace bamboo slips.

According to normal circumstances, it will take hundreds of years to gradually solve these problems.

It's just a pity that they met Zhao Tuo.

Who said that if you write a wrong word on paper, you can't correct it?

Who said that writing on paper would be less efficient?

With those two things, Zhao Tuo was very confident.

Not to mention, Zhao Gao euphemistically mentioned the meaning of the First Emperor to Zhao Tuo before.

The First Emperor had long seen through the truth of Gongshuzi that Zhao Tuo used to cover up.

He didn't care about this, but wanted Zhao Tuo to come up with more good things.

Since the first emperor had expressed his intentions through Zhao Gao, Zhao Tuo naturally had no scruples.

"If you know the plans of these Confucian scholars in advance, let's get that thing out. With this thing and paper matching, people in this world will know what is called real administrative efficiency!"

Zhao Tuo smiled slightly. There are still three days before the next court meeting, which is enough for him to prepare everything.

Thinking of this, Zhao Tuo saluted Li Shiqi with a glass of wine, and said, "The plans of these doctors should be kept secret. Sir, you can know. Could it be that friend from the Yin Yang family who informed you?"

Li Shiqi shook his head and said: "Confucian scholars want to use this to show their sense of existence, hoping to attract the emperor's attention and let go of the doctor's suffrage. This matter is good for the doctors of other schools, even if they don't help Confucian scholars will not stop me. My friend will not come to me. The Shaofu will definitely not expect the person who came to report this time."

When Li Shiqi said this, he showed a weird smile.

I can't think of it?

Zhao Tuo was slightly taken aback, and asked, "Could it be that the person who came to inform Mr. is a doctor of Confucianism?"

Li Shiqi clapped his palms and praised: "Although the Shaofu left the battlefield, he still has a clever plan. It is indeed a Confucian scholar who came to me to tell me about it."

Zhao Tuo asked curiously, "Who is it?"

"This person is a disciple of the Confucius family, a disciple of Kong Yu, the eighth grandson of Confucius, named Shusun Tong. Now he is a doctor waiting in the doctor's school."

Li Shiqi chuckled: "I didn't expect that among the group of rotten scholars in the doctor's palace, there are also people who know current affairs!"

Zhao Tuo narrowed his eyes slightly.

Uncle Sun Tong!

Such a familiar name.

Isn't this the "Han Confucianism" that Sima Qian respectfully called?

Thank you book friend Huaishu for your reward, and all book friends for your votes, thank you!