Qin Official

Today, Qin Shihuang rarely put down his busy work. The two to three hundred kilograms of bamboo slips piled up in the palace were also removed from the desks and moved to one side. Neatly cut light yellow linen paper replaced them and were neatly placed on Qin Shihuang's imperial desk. superior.

The emperor picked up a piece of hemp paper that was two feet wide and one foot long. As Heifu said, it was as light as silk, but denser and tougher than silk. Because it was carefully selected, it looked papery. It's uniform, smooth to the touch, and the edges are cut very neatly.

Looking at another piece of paper filled with dense seal characters, the First Emperor looked familiar and asked:

"Is it Mengtian's name?"

Meng Tian, ​​the young eunuch of the Shaofu, bowed his head and said: "The paper has just been made. I don't know if it can be written on. I don't dare to offer it rashly, so I will test the writing..."

The writing brush was definitely not invented by Meng Tian. A few years ago, Heifu knew it when he saw the clerks each holding a brush in the Anlu County Hall. ", cut it off, cut it off", which became more popular during the Warring States Period. The names are different in different places. In Qin, it is called Zhibi, in Chu, it is called Yu, in Jiangdong, it is called Bulu, and in Yanzhao, it is called Fu...

However, these "writing brushes" are still very different from later generations. The hair on the brush head is wrapped around the outside of the pen barrel and then fixed with paint, which is exactly the opposite of later brushes.

In his past and present life, Hei Fu was poor at calligraphy, and his handwriting could barely be read. In addition to years of fighting, he never thought of improving it.

When he came to Xianyang, he was surprised to find that a new style of writing brush, which was similar to that of later generations, had become popular in the palace offices. It used dead wood as the tube, deer hair as the pillar, and wool as the quilt. It was called "Cang Hao"!

After asking, I found out that this pen, also known as "Mengtian's pen", was made during the years when Mengtian was demoted to Shangjun and guarded the border at Yanmen due to his defeat in the Chu campaign...

Therefore, Meng Tian only modified the brush, and later generations passed it down and it became an invention.

It can be seen that although Meng Tian was famous for his martial arts, privately, he also liked to write and write. He did not refuse and wrote a memorial on the spot. "

In this way, it can be proved that paper can indeed be written with ink.

The emperor's heart was full of kindness, which was a thin piece of paper that was as light as a feather and weighed no more than ten baht. The writing on it was already as big as a bamboo slip weighing two kilograms...

Qin always paid attention to "clerical administration". Replacing bamboo slips with paper can greatly improve the efficiency of Qin officials. Even Qin Shihuang himself, leaning on the couch to read lightweight paper documents every day, was much easier than lifting heavy bamboo slips. . With the unification of the world, the number of government affairs he had to deal with every day also increased rapidly. Even though the emperor was diligent in his duties, he was really not happy looking at the piles of simple letters and documents every day.

As a writing medium, hemp paper is undoubtedly qualified. The only problem is the cost.

"How much money does it cost to make hemp paper?" the emperor asked, and Hei Fu presented Zhang Cang's account book recorded on the paper.

"Your Majesty, we collected rags and hemp heads from Shaofu and Xianyang shops. One stone is worth 120 yuan. Taking into account the cost of transportation, firewood, process, and manpower, the cost is only 500 yuan."

"One stone covering the hemp head can make thousands of sheets of hemp paper with a width of two feet and two inches and a length of one foot! This is also the daily output of the workshop."

In other words, the cost of a piece of hemp paper is only half a penny!

"The general will be the prime minister." The emperor called the young man at the end of the palace, who had a gloomy look on his face.

"How much is the price of a bamboo slip that can hold three to four hundred words?"

Jiang Zuocheng wanted to see Heifu's joke, but he actually turned decay into magic and made paper that could be written on using the rotten edges of rags.

If Meng Tian had not personally inspected every process and could testify for Heifu, Jiang Zuocheng would even suspect that Heifu only presented some relatively fine cloth...

In the face of the hard facts, he could only answer the emperor's question honestly: "Due to the different materials used, the bamboo album is worth two to three yuan, while the willow slips are worth one yuan."

Bamboo itself is not expensive, but the process is time-consuming, and coupled with the price of cowhide webbing, it is not as cheap as expected.

If it is replaced by silk, a piece of silk with a width of two feet and two inches and a length of four feet is worth 500 qian. If it is cut to a length of one foot, it is also worth about 10 qian.

Everything is clear, the same width, the same number of words written, the price of a piece of linen paper is actually one-half of the wooden slip, one-fifth of the bamboo album, one-twentieth of the plain silk... It is not unreasonable that paper can replace bamboo slips and silk books.

Heifu could finally breathe a sigh of relief. The idea of ​​making paper was true, but they encountered some troubles every day during the paper making process. Fortunately, this technology is not beyond the times, and all processes can be solved with ready-made methods. Besides, with the help of Cheng Shang and other Qin Mo, all problems can be easily solved.

At this time, Meng Tian raised a sharp question: "Today, the Shaofu collects hundreds of stones of cloth and hemp heads from Xianyang, and produces more than a thousand pieces of hemp paper every day. It can be made for one year, but after one year, the cloth and hemp heads will be gone." It’s all over, and what can we do about it?”

"The concerns of the young master and the young prisoner are justified." Hei Fu did not shy away and took the question.

This is not unfounded worry. Heifu once heard an anecdote in his previous life, saying that after papermaking was introduced to Europe through the Middle East, the first thing Europeans learned was to use old linen to make paper.

The supply of old linen cloth alone as a raw material was somewhat in short supply. The Europeans sent almost all the old cloth, scraps and rags they could collect into paper mills, so that the shortage of cloth became so severe that the British government actually issued a decree banning it. Wrap the body in a shroud and bury it to save cloth.

Countries on the European continent also offered high prices to snatch rags from each other, and even rag smuggling occurred. At that time, many countries prohibited individuals from collecting "old clothes, old flags, rags and cloth, fur and parchment scraps, and other scraps used for papermaking." "Similar materials" are strictly prohibited from being exported abroad, and violators will be subject to heavy fines...

Hei Fu didn't know whether this was true or not, but it was definitely not possible to make paper from rags alone. No matter how large the population of Xianyang City was, it was really like "the clothes in the morning are poor but the clothes in the evening are bad", and the rags were limited. Moreover, those poor families recycle rags, and the children take turns wearing them. Even if they are broken, they can still pad the soles of shoes. As for the wealthy and luxurious people who wear clothes, they don't care about the small amount of money exchanged for rags, so they just throw them away.

There are two solutions. The first is to have Ridian forcefully collect rags like later generations did. The second is what he has been planning for a long time, to expand the source of raw materials...

So Heifu said: "Your Majesty, in addition to cloth and hemp heads, rattan, mulberry, mulberry bark, etc. can also be used to make paper. The process is the same as hemp paper. It can be made by the end of September, and the cost may be lower than hemp paper... "

Jiang Zuocheng suddenly realized, and he also understood the reason why Heifu had done nothing last month and first asked Shaofu Yuan Cheng for a lot of mulberry bark and soaked it in the pickaxe pond!

This statement also solved the doubts of the young eunuch Meng Tian. He secretly thought that Hei Fu could take one step and see three steps, which was really impressive. He nodded, indicating that he had no doubts.

"When Mr. Hei asked me to make paper, he promised me that the things he made would be of high quality and low price."

Qin Shihuang lit the hemp paper and said happily: "You are so sincere!"

He walked up to Hei Fu and encouraged him: "Since last month, many people in the government and the public have called you 'rag-cheng'. This is because people who come out of remote alleys are rare and strange, and people with little knowledge slander sages. Fools laugh, wise men mourn, crazy men rejoice, and wise men mourn! Don’t worry about those comments that are based on worldly prejudices!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty, for your trust." Hei Fuzu choked up and bowed down. The young general Zuocheng and others on the side looked ashamed. This nickname was given to Hei Fu and they didn't dare to say it out loud now.

Qin Shihuang immediately asked Meng Tian to come forward to help grind the ink, and asked Cheng Miao, who had been promoted to censor, to take the "canghao" made by Meng Tian and write the edict on a piece of hemp paper spread out.

The emperor also specially told Cheng Miao: "Use official characters, not seal scripts!"

Although this was not in compliance with the rule of "using seal script for imperial edicts" set a few days ago, the emperor was greater than the emperor, so Cheng Miao could only nod and obey.

Qin Shihuang did have his intentions.

The poem goes: Although Zhou was an old state, its destiny was restored, and so was Qin!

He did not follow the same rules in governing the world, followed the rules of the country, dared to forge ahead, and constantly introduced new things. This is the reason why Qin became stronger and stronger, and annexed the world and unified the country.

Qin Shihuang seemed to be able to see that letters written in official script written on hemp paper were constantly being passed among counties and counties. The leaders of Shandong and Guizhou also wanted to learn official seal script and official script from Qin officials and throw away their books filled with poems and books. Heavy bamboo slips were made, and Qin laws were copied on brand new paper...

This is the new policy and new atmosphere he brought to the world!

"Heifu paper, Mengtian pen, Cheng Miao Li, new pen, new paper and new characters, all working together for the New Deal, it's a good story. With these three things, the writing can be the same as the world's writing, and it can be a little faster!"

Hearing this, Heifu secretly thought that the name of the paper was not very pleasant, and he might be called "black paper" by rumors in the future, making up the strange idiom "black paper with black characters". However, the emperor's golden words meant that he could only shout: " Thank you, Your Majesty, for naming me!”

Qin Shihuang walked up to the palace again and dictated the edict: "The ancients said that all kinds of craftsmanship include shining gold as a blade, concrete as a tool, making a chariot to travel on land, and making a boat to travel on water. These are all done by wise men. The sky has its time, the earth has energy, the materials have beauty, and the workmanship has skill. If these four are combined, then it can be good."

"Since ancient times, most deeds have been compiled with bamboo slips, and those made of plain silk are called silk scripts. Silk is expensive and simple and heavy, which is not convenient for people. Now there is a fake Shaofu Cheng Heifu, who accepts my intention and supervises the work of hundreds of workers for the first time. However, I have the heart of a good craftsman, so I bought hemp heads, old cloth, and fishing nets to make paper. They are of high quality and low price, and can be used as substitutes for slips and silks to broadcast to the world. I appreciate his ability and praise his achievements, so I will give Hei Fu a mansion. Promoted to the title of Right Concubine!"