Daqin: Compared with his sons, Ying Zheng is jealous

【Seeing Prince Fusu once again lost in thought, everyone tacitly agreed not to disturb him.】

【After all, Prince Fusu has proved the importance of his meditation through his repeated meditations and the surprises that came after meditation.】

【However, even Prince Fusu could not immediately think of a way to reduce the production cost of writing tools such as bamboo slips and wooden tablets, or how to increase the number of such writing tools.】

【After thinking for a while, Prince Fusu, who still had no idea, walked into the classroom and picked up a bamboo slip that one of the students had already written.】

【Then he took a knife in one hand and a bamboo slip in the other and scraped off all the writing on it.】

【Then use the brush to write again on the scraped bamboo slips, and repeat this cycle.】

【After two or three times, the bamboo slips, which were originally half an inch thick, were reduced to a thin layer.】

【Looking at the bamboo slips that were only a quarter to a sixth of an inch, Prince Fusu nodded, then shook his head.】

【If you don't consider the possibility of making a mistake later and need to use a knife to scrape off the writing to make corrections,】

【Then it would be possible to reduce the thickness of the bamboo slips currently used from the original half-inch thickness to a quarter-inch thickness, or even to a sixth-inch thickness.】

【In this way, the original bamboo slip can be further divided into two bamboo slips, or three bamboo slips.】

【From another perspective, this is also a disguised way of increasing the number of bamboo slips by two to three times.】

【However, this method is still a bit tricky in the eyes of Prince Fusu.】

【It does not really solve the production cost problem of writing tools such as bamboo slips and wooden tablets, nor does it really significantly increase the output of writing tools such as bamboo slips and wooden tablets.】

【At least in the eyes of Prince Fusu, at least the same raw materials can produce more than five times or even ten times the current writing tools.】

【This is the only way to truly reduce the production cost of writing tools and increase the output of writing tools.】

【And even if this could be achieved, bamboo slips and wooden tablets were still very inconvenient in the eyes of Prince Fusu.】

【Prince Fusu grabbed the upper and lower ends of a bamboo slip that he had cut to only one-sixth of an inch thick, bent it at random, and said casually:"It would be great if bamboo slips and wooden tablets could be as light, foldable, and easy to use as silk."】

【As soon as these words came out, Prince Fusu was stunned. It was as if a flash of lightning flashed through his mind, and the movement of his hands suddenly stopped.】

【Then Prince Fusu kept repeating:"Like silk......Like silk......Like silk......"】

【It was not until a moment later that Crown Prince Fusu showed a look of joy and said in a serious tone,"Yes, it's just like silk!"】

【After thinking of a way, Crown Prince Fusu immediately turned his head to look at Zhang Han behind him and ordered:"Let's go to Baicao Division!"】

【"In addition, I invited the Minister of Industry to the Herb Department and told him that I had something to ask him."】

【After hearing the order from Prince Fusu, Zhang Han immediately ordered someone to invite the Minister of Works Xiang Liji, and at the same time ordered someone to drive the carriage over.】

【Soon, Prince Fusu, King Ying Zheng of Qin, Zhang Cang, Zhang Han and others boarded the carriage and headed towards the Department of Herbs of the Ministry of Agriculture.】

【Prince Fusu was also in the carriage, telling everyone an idea he had just thought of:"I was just thinking, can bamboo slips and wooden tablets be made as light, foldable, and easy to use as silk?"】

【"At first, I thought it was impossible"】

【"After all, in terms of appearance and form, bamboo slips, wooden slips and silk can be said to be two completely different things."】

【"Among them, silk can be crumpled into a ball, but can bamboo slips and wooden tablets be crumpled into a ball?"】

【"But then, I suddenly thought of the tofu I had eaten before!"】

【"In terms of appearance and shape, soybeans and tofu are two completely different things."】

【"However, after being soaked, ground, boiled, pulped, and pressed, soybeans can be reshaped into soft and smooth tofu or layers of extremely thin tofu skin."】

【"In addition, when I shaved the bamboo slips into thin layers, they could still be used."】

【"So if I treat bamboo like soybeans, can I also reshape it into a thin layer like silk and use it for writing?"】

【"I don't know if this idea is feasible, but I think it's worth a try."】

【Xiang Liji, who was invited by Prince Fusu, couldn't help but praise after hearing Prince Fusu's idea:"Genius! It's really an incredible genius idea!"】

【Zhang Cang, who was standing by, looked at the excited Xiangli Ji and couldn't help asking,"Minister Xiangli, do you think your highness's idea is really feasible?"】

【Xiang Liji shook his head very decisively:"No, I don't know whether your idea is feasible."】

【Hearing this, Zhang Cang's mouth twitched slightly.】

【You don't even know if this idea is feasible, why are you so excited?】

【Xiang Liji seemed to see Zhang Cang's thoughts, and said in a serious tone:"I really don't know whether your Highness's idea is feasible, but I know that no one has ever thought of this before."】

【"In my opinion, your highness’s wild and even incredible ideas are the most important!"】

【"Because this represents an experiment and research direction that has never been explored or tried before."】

【"In this unknown experiment and research direction, no matter what we study and discover, it means that there is a high possibility that there will be a new thing in the world that has never existed before!"】

【"And such new things may bring earth-shaking new changes to this world and the people of the world!"】

【"This is what we Mohists have always been pursuing and looking forward to!"】

【At this point, Xiang Liji smiled and continued,"Even if your idea is not feasible, so what?"】

【"It is nothing more than a waste of manpower and material resources. The Qin State is a big country with a great cause, and such research losses can still be supported."】

【While everyone was talking, they came to the Herb Department of the Ministry of Agriculture again.】

【Compared with before, Baicaosi also has several more grinding wheels specially used for grinding soybeans and wheat.】

【Xiang Liji then asked a group of Mohist disciples to go to the surrounding area to cut some bamboo and bring it back.】

【After the bamboos were cut down, because they were too long, they dug a large rectangular pit outside the Baicaosi and introduced water to form a pond.】

【Then they threw the bamboos into the pond to soak them. In order to make the bamboos soak more thoroughly, they tied stones and other heavy objects on the bamboos to make them sink completely into the water.】

【Since it was the first time to make it, everyone didn’t know how long to soak it.】

【So, I just soaked it for a day and a night.】

【The next day, everyone started the second step.】

【The second step in making tofu is to grind the soybeans into soy milk.】

【But bamboo is so big that it is not very convenient to grind】

【After thinking about it, Prince Fusu decided to split the bamboo into two parts for the experiment.】

【One of the bamboos is cut into small pieces like soybeans, and then thrown into the grinding plate to be ground into bamboo pulp and bamboo residue.】

【Then in the third step, when boiling the bamboo pulp, the ground bamboo pulp and bamboo residue are divided into two parts. 】 (To read the exciting novels, go to Feilu Novel Network!)

【One of them is to boil bamboo pulp without adding bamboo residue; the other is to boil bamboo pulp and bamboo residue together.】

【The other portion of bamboo is not ground, but roughly chopped, mashed, and then boiled.】

【Then keep boiling until everything is cooked, and you will get three portions of bamboo pulp with different concentrations.】

【The next step is to make tofu. If you are making tofu, you should use brine to make it starchy.】

【But now they are not making tofu, so no one knows whether to use brine to make the starch.】[]

【So Prince Fusu divided the three portions of bamboo pulp with different concentrations into two again, and obtained six portions of bamboo pulp with the same concentration.】

【Next, three of the bamboo pulps were added with brine for pulping, and the other three were pulped without brine.】

【After the bamboo pulp cools down naturally, it is time to press the tofu or to make bamboo slips."】

【Because I wanted to make a writing tool that was as wide and flat as silk.】

【Therefore, Crown Prince Fusu specially ordered people to use a one-foot square wooden board to swing back and forth until the bamboo pulp evenly covered the board, and then take it up.】

【Then the board is turned over and over again, so that the semi-solidified wet"bamboo slips" fall onto the board, forming wet"bamboo slips" one foot square."】

【Then, repeat the above steps of sweeping and covering with boards, and when the wet"bamboo slips" are stacked to a height of one foot, they are covered with wooden boards, and then stones are added to press the wooden boards to remove most of the moisture.】

【After several hours had passed and there was almost no water dripping, everyone removed the heavy wooden board pressing on the wet"bamboo slips" and separated the half-dried wet"bamboo slips" one by one.】

【After that, wait for it to dry naturally, and you will probably be able to see the final result.】

【However, it would take too long to dry naturally, so Prince Fusu put the half-dried"bamboo slips" on the edge of the fire to dry.】

【After being completely dried and peeled off, the originally half-dried wet"bamboo slips" have become dry"bamboo slips" one foot square in size."】

【Looking at the one-foot square dry"bamboo slip" that he and his team had spent several days to make, it was flat, slightly yellow in color, and felt a little rough to the touch."】

【Prince Fusu, Xiang Liji and others were all a little excited.】

【Next, it is time to verify whether this dry"bamboo slip" is truly usable.】

【Prince Fusu, with his pen dipped in ink and his hand suspended in the air, looked up at his father, and King Ying Zheng of Qin nodded slightly at him with a smile on his face.】

【Prince Fusu, who was encouraged, immediately started writing on the bamboo slips.】

【After a few breaths, Prince Fusu wrote the four characters"Da Qin Wan Nian" on the bamboo slips.】

【Looking at the gradually blurring words on the dry"bamboo slips", Prince Fusu frowned.】

【Then Prince Fusu turned the bamboo slip over and checked the back of it. After seeing that there was no ink seepage, Prince Fusu's brows slowly relaxed again.】

【Finally, Prince Fusu raised his head, and looked at his father, Xiang Liji, Zhang Cang, Zhang Han and others present one by one, and announced solemnly:"We succeeded!"】

【"Our experimental research direction is correct. By making tofu in the same way, we can indeed make a new writing tool that is similar to silk cloth!"】

【"However, our experiment failed this time because the words written on the dry bamboo slips gradually blurred, turning the original ink words into an unclear pool of ink."】

【"Therefore, if we want to make it truly usable like bamboo slips or wooden tablets, we need to further improve this problem!"】

【At this point, Prince Fusu looked at his father and said,"Father, can I have a title of the Fifth Great Officer?"】

【���Wang Yingzheng seemed to see what Prince Fusu was thinking and asked,"Use it to improve this technique?"】

【Prince Fusu nodded solemnly and said,"Well, if someone can really improve this book and make it as easy to write as silk,"】

【"Then all the bamboo slips and wooden tablets in the world today will be eliminated, and a dry bamboo slip as light as a feather will be able to record all the contents that could be recorded in a heavy bamboo slip or wooden tablet in the past."】

【"In the future, dry bamboo slips like this will become the main writing tool used by everyone in daily life!"】

【"The most important thing is that its cost is much lower than bamboo slips and wooden tablets, while its output and the number of words that can be written are far beyond bamboo slips and wooden tablets!"】

【"If I really want to talk about how huge its significance and influence are, the only thing I can think of that can be compared to it is the fact that my father conquered the six kingdoms and unified the world."】

【"So I would like to ask my father to grant me the title of Fifth Great Officer, and use it to offer a reward to the person who can ultimately improve this technique!"】

【King Qin Ying Zheng thought for a moment, then nodded and said:"Okay, as long as someone can improve this technique, I will reward him with the title of a fifth-rank official!"】

【Although the Five Great Officers were the ninth highest rank among the twenty ranks of military honors in the Qin State,】

【But after thinking about the role and significance of improving this technique, King Qin Ying Zheng felt it was worth it.】

【With his father's permission, Crown Prince Fusu smiled, and then turned to look at the Mohist disciples of the Ministry of Industry and some of the disciples of the Herbology Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, and said loudly,"My lords, did you hear that?"】

【"Whether you are an official in the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Agriculture, or anyone else"】

【"Anyone who can improve this thing to the point where it can be written on like silk will be rewarded with a title of Fifth Officer!"】

【"Do you want this title?"】

【All the Mohist disciples of the Ministry of Industry and the disciples of the Herb Department of the Ministry of Agriculture shouted in response:"Think!"】

【Prince Fusu smiled even more:"Then you will have to work hard. I will wait for the day when you come to me to ask for the title of the Fifth Grand Officer."】

【"I hope this day comes as soon as possible!"】

【At this moment, all the disciples of the Ministry of Industry, the Ministry of Herbs and the Ministry of Agriculture were filled with burning fighting spirit.】

【If Prince Fusu and King Ying Zheng of Qin were not still here, they would probably immediately start to study how to improve it.】

【After Prince Fusu had encouraged the Mohist disciples of the Ministry of Works and the disciples of the Herbology Department of the Ministry of Agriculture, King Ying Zheng of Qin looked at Prince Fusu and said,"This thing is completely different from bamboo slips and wooden tablets."】

【"If we name it after the dried bamboo slips, it would be inappropriate. You invented this thing, so you should give it a new name.】

【Prince Fusu thought about it and it was indeed true. So after thinking for a while, he said solemnly:"Let's call this thing paper.""】

【King Qin Ying Zheng silently repeated it twice, and then nodded, as if announcing its identity and allowing its existence, and said:"From today on, writing materials made of bamboo or other materials similar to silk will be called paper!"】

【From this day on, there is a new thing in the world, called"paper", made of bamboo, shaped like silk, light and foldable, and can be used for writing and recording.

PS1: To be honest, there is not much difference between the process of making tofu and papermaking. At least the general principle is the same, both are broken into pulp and then solidified into a fixed shape..