The Counterattack of the Villains

Papermaking does not happen overnight. It takes four to five months to make a batch of paper.

There are eight steps in hand-made paper, the most time-consuming of which is the "sun-whitening" step.

This step alone takes two to three months, because depending on the material, the pulp is its original color, either off-white, light yellow, or brown.

In this era without bleaching powder, we can only rely on sunlight until we are tanned white.

Of course, off-white and light yellow paper can also be used directly without any problem.

But brown is definitely not good. The color itself is darker and it is difficult to see the writing clearly.

For the first batch of paper, Li Mu still wanted to make white paper, because white paper is the most perfect paper. It is even more beautiful than silk and looks more precious.

In the future, paper can be divided into grades. White paper will only be used by the royal family and the noble class. It doesn't matter if the output is smaller.

The literati class and the common people used natural paper. In this era of distinct classes, this approach was more in line with the wishes of the powerful and allowed them to express their sense of superiority.

Li Mu ordered the establishment of a papermaking workshop in a relatively remote area of ​​the Gongzi Mansion, and mobilized a group of official slaves to collect materials.

When the infrastructure of the workshop was all ready and the materials were in place, Li Mu selected one of his concubines to study papermaking techniques with him.

It is impossible for him to be specifically responsible for this matter in the future, so he must train a person who is specifically responsible for this matter.

As Fusu's personal attendant, the concubine was naturally Fusu's most trusted person.

Regardless of whether it is necessary to work under Fusu, his attitude alone will make any master feel very comfortable.

The craftsmen are all carpenters and bamboo craftsmen from the Gongzi Mansion. Papermaking also requires a lot of effort, and those with skills can learn it quickly.

The first step in papermaking is "soaking", which means soaking the material in water. This process requires soaking for seven days to half a month depending on the material.

Bamboo takes the longest time to soak for half a month, straw only takes seven days, and branches and hemp stalks need to soak for ten days.

The most efficient paper making method is straw. The natural paper made from straw is light yellow and can be used directly.

But in this era, unlike later generations, there was not much straw, so Li Mude had to use all available materials.

The day after Meng Tian left, the person he sent came to the Young Master's Mansion. He was a deputy general named Xu Yan.

After Li Mu soaked the ingredients, he followed Xu Yan to the Meng family army camp outside the city.

Most of the 300,000 Meng troops were stationed at the border to supervise the construction of the Great Wall. Only 50,000 troops were permanently stationed in Xianyang City, dedicated to guarding Xianyang.

Xu Yan also knew that the harness and the rifled crossbow were made by Li Mu, so he respected him very much.

Now he wanted to help the Qin army improve their weapons, which was a great joy for them soldiers, so he followed Li Muyan's advice.

The Meng family army camp was located not far from the Wei River, which was very convenient for Li Mu.

"General Xu, are there any strong currents near here?"

When Xu Yan heard this, he immediately replied: "The Wei River has always been gentle, but there is only one tributary. The river beach is very shallow, but the current is fast."

Li Mu said happily: "Very good. General Xu will call the craftsmen in the army to come over. Let's go to the tributary."

"promise."

To improve weapons, we must first improve the method of smelting iron and improve the quality of iron.

The iron smelting method of this era was still "block iron smelting", that is, at a lower smelting temperature, the iron ore was solid-state reduced to obtain sponge iron, which was then forged into iron blocks.

This method of smelting iron is not only inefficient, but also the quality of the iron is not high.

Li Mu didn't intend to create anything that was too advanced. The productivity and craftsmanship level of this era would not be able to keep up, and would significantly change history.

But even if it is only a few hundred years ahead and reaches the level of the Eastern Han Dynasty, it is still quite advanced in this era.

The blast furnace is the foundation among foundations. It is not difficult to build. It can be built with clay and stones.

The reason why he wanted to find a place with fast water flow was to build a "hydraulic blast furnace", or "water drainage" for short. This was something that only appeared during the reign of Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

With this thing, any "steel frying method" or "steel filling method" can be easily realized.

As a result, the progress of the Qin Dynasty's transition from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age will be greatly accelerated.

After the water drainage and blast furnace are built, all we have to do is wait for the ore and fuel to arrive, which needs to be connected with the Shaofu.

But with Fusu personally asking, the problem is not big. He has naturally obtained permission from the First Emperor, and it should be solved in a few days.

Li Mu took the opportunity to return to the papermaking workshop and began to preside over the second step of papermaking, "cooking ingredients."

At this point, Li Mu began to run in both directions, becoming completely busy and unable to care about Xiaoyue.

Xiaoyue practiced martial arts alone most of the time, and occasionally found a few familiar guards to practice swordsmanship.

Or go to the barracks to meet with the generals to learn about long weapons and martial arts. At the same time, you can train in riding skills and master the skills of cavalry warfare.

Although she has only been practicing martial arts for more than a year, how could a martial artist of this era be her opponent?

Xiaoyue soon became famous in the Young Master's mansion. Everyone knew that Zhan Shijun's sister in the mansion was not only beautiful and kind-hearted, but also had first-class martial arts skills.

And because she often hung out with a group of guards and sergeants, her personality became more cheerful and cheerful, and she became more popular among the people in the mansion.

Fusu regarded her as his own sister, and he also introduced his biological sister, Princess Ying Yinman of Da Qin, to Xiaoyue.

This princess of Da Qin, who was favored by thousands of people, was eventually brutally killed and dismembered by Hu Hai. After coming into contact with Xiaoyue, the two quickly became close friends and became close friends.

Ying Yinman wanted to practice martial arts with Xiao Yue. After Xiao Yue asked Li Mu in private, Li Mu asked her to pass on the Kung Fu from the Yi Jin Bone Forging Chapter, the Demon Subduing Boxing Technique, the Long Sky Sword Technique, and the Zhong Family Spear Technique.

The other skills must not be revealed at all, not even to the princess.

Naturally, Xiaoyue completely listened to Li Mu's words. If practiced for a long time, the exercises in the "Yi Jin Tong Gu" chapter can greatly strengthen the muscles and bones and increase the strength, which is enough for this era.

Those kinds of martial arts, even if they don't have internal strength, their moves alone are among the top martial arts in this world.

At least so far, I can't find any martial arts with more sophisticated moves than his.

Besides, when Ying Yinman learned martial arts, she didn't really want to become a female general who could go on the battlefield. She knew that was unrealistic.

The biggest reason is just to present the treasure in front of the father and gain his praise.

The days passed day by day, and it took Meng Tian nearly five months to return.

Tu'an State is located to the north of Guangyang County, outside the Badaling Great Wall in later generations, 2400 to 500 miles away from Xianyang, and nearly 5000 miles away.

With the traffic conditions of this era, it would take more than three months to go back and forth.

However, Meng Tian was seriously injured when he was attacked by Tu'an rebels on the road. He, Yi Xiaochuan and Yu Shu spent some time recovering from their injuries.

On the way, I was reluctant to leave, so I deliberately slowed down my pace back to Xianyang, which is why it took so much time.

And in the fourth month after Meng Tian left Xianyang, the first batch of white paper and high-quality steel made by the steel-filling method had been released.

The so-called steel filling is to pour the smelted pig iron liquid onto the wrought iron fried by the steel frying method.

The steel formed in this way has the hardness of pig iron and the toughness of wrought iron, and its performance has surpassed bronze in all aspects.

Li Mu asked the blacksmith to create a six-sided iron sword according to the drawings he gave. After testing, the performance surpassed that of a bronze sword.

The hardness is higher than bronze, the toughness is better than bronze, but the weight is much lighter than bronze.

A bronze sword weighs seven or eight kilograms, while a six-sided iron sword weighs only three or four kilograms. It is more than half lighter, but its lethality has not decreased but increased.

The first batch of white paper and the six-sided iron sword were presented to the First Emperor.

The First Emperor, Longyan Dayue, after testing the performance of the six-sided iron sword, immediately raised Li Mu's title by two levels with Fusu's request.

Nowadays, Li Mu's title is Shaoshangzao, also known as Shaoliangzao. It is the fifteenth-level title in the Qin Dynasty and belongs to the senior minister class.

Meng Tian is now only an eighteenth-level concubine. He belongs to the top class of ministers, but he has not yet been granted the title of marquis. The title of marquis in Da Qin is not so easy to obtain.

Even Wang Jian was granted the title of Marquis of Che after he retired, and his title reached its peak.

Fusu himself was greatly praised by the First Emperor, who said that he had a sharp eye and knew people well.

Li Mu was also summoned by the First Emperor. After a face-to-face confrontation, the First Emperor discovered that he really had a problem, so he was specially given the opportunity to follow Fusu and participate in political affairs.

After Li Mu succeeded in making paper and steel, the First Emperor ordered the Shaofu to start large-scale paper making and steel making according to the methods taught by Li Mu, and Qin society began to "upgrade" in an all-round way.

From the era of bamboo slips recording events to the era of paper books, from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.

Based on the improvement of steel quality, Li Mu also invented tools such as iron picks, shovels, and steel drills, which greatly improved mining efficiency, and invented the curved shaft plow to improve farming efficiency.

Almost every once in a while, the Young Master's Mansion will report a new invention that benefits the country and the people and has a profound impact on the entire society.

Based on Li Mu's accumulated achievements, I'm afraid it won't be long before he will be promoted to nobility again.

The First Emperor originally wanted to promote him and let him take full charge of Qin's craftsmanship, but Li Muwan refused.

His reasons are also very good. In the position of Zhan Shi in the Young Master's Mansion, because he has more leisure time, he has more time to think, so he can create so many things that are useful to Da Qin.

If he was entangled in government affairs, I'm afraid he wouldn't have time to think about it so much.

When the First Emperor heard that it made sense, he gave up and only rewarded him with more property and treasures.

He expressed high appreciation for Li Mu who was not greedy for power and only had the heart to serve the country with fists. At the court meeting, in front of all the civil and military officials, he called him a model for all officials.

All civil and military officials were convinced by this. After all, they all benefited from Li Mu. At least they no longer had to deal with dozens of kilograms of government affairs every day. The paper smelled really good.

…

On this day, Li Mu followed Fu Su to the court as usual.

In this era, when going to court, you did not have to stand up as in later generations, let alone kneel down. After the civil and military officials called to see Your Majesty, they knelt on the soft cushions on the left and right.

Fusu's position was on the right side of the steps. Li Mu knelt down behind him. Three feet away from them, there was a queue of civil servants.

The most important thing in today's court meeting is the audience with Princess Tu'an Yushu.

I saw Meng Tian wearing his helmet and armor, striding along the carpet in the middle to the steps of the throne, kneeling on one knee with his fists clasped and saying: "Your Majesty, Meng Tian, ​​would like to pay homage to you."

"I love you for your life."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

After Meng Tian got up, he played: "I was ordered to go to Tu'an to meet Princess Yushu. On the way, I was attacked by bandits. After several twists and turns, I finally sent Princess Yushu to Xianyang safely. There was a long delay in the process. Please punish me."

The First Emperor said: "My dear, thank you for your hard work. You almost killed one of our Qin generals for a woman. I am very relieved that my dear can return safely."

Meng Tian clasped his fists and said, "I would rather die than disgrace my mission. Princess Yushu is already awaiting your orders."

The First Emperor nodded happily, and then said in a deep voice: "I want to see what kind of woman can actually cause such a big stir."

A chamberlain stood up and sang loudly: "Xuan...Princess Yushu has an audience."

All the civil and military officials looked towards the entrance of the palace, and Li Mu did the same.

The two actresses who played this role are naturally rare beauties, but after all they are not the real Princess Yushu.

Li Mu is also really curious about the appearance of Princess Yushu in this world.

He also wanted to see what kind of peerless beauty this woman who had fascinated Yi Xiaochuan, Meng Tian, ​​General Tu Anguo and others, and who was so beloved by the First Emperor that he was buried with her even after his death, was.

Princess Yushu, who had already changed into Da Qin costumes, walked into the main hall.

Li Mu, who has a keen ear and eyesight, noticed that when the officials in the palace saw Yu Shu, their breathing froze.

Yu Shu is really beautiful, breathtakingly beautiful. She certainly doesn't look like the actress Bai Bing, she has a completely different face.

Princess Yushu, played by Kim Hee-sun, didn't even reflect 20/30 of her beauty.

In the last scene of the last episode of this drama, the aging Yi Xiaochuan looked at the movie poster of Kim Hee Sun and said: "You are not as beautiful as her."

Beauty is not in the eye of the beholder, it is a fact.

Even Li Mu, a reincarnationist who is used to seeing beauties, has to admit that Yu Shu is indeed the most beautiful person in the world.

"Princess Tu'an Yushu, please see Your Majesty."

Her voice is also like a jade bead on a rolling disk, clear, sweet, and extremely beautiful.

"Princess's body."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Because the First Emperor was sitting high, and Yu Shu had her head lowered slightly, Bai Guan, who was kneeling below, could see her face, but he could not.

So he ordered: "You raise your head."

Yushu raised her head, and the First Emperor saw her beautiful face that was both happy and angry, and praised her: "You are indeed otherworldly. I...canonize you as a Jade Beauty."

After hearing what the First Emperor said, the military attachés in the palace had no reaction, but the civil servants all whispered to each other and started discussing in low voices.

Seeing this, the First Emperor's eyes darkened slightly, and he looked at Li Si, who was kneeling in the first row among the civil servants, and asked: "Prime Minister, what are you talking about?"

Li Si quickly stood up, walked out of the queue, clasped his fists and bowed, saying: "Your Majesty, when I saw your Majesty, all the ministers were astonished and couldn't stop praising her."

"However, I want to ask your Majesty for some advice, but I am afraid of offending your Majesty, so I dare not speak in front of Your Majesty."

The First Emperor smiled and said, "The Prime Minister just said it doesn't matter."

"promise."

Li Si accepted the promise and then said: "Your Majesty, everyone knows that Tu'an is a small border country, far away from the Central Plains, and has not been enlightened by the rituals and music of the Central Plains."

"Therefore, I would like to take this opportunity to ask the queen for some advice on village songs and wild dances, so as to compare whether the rituals and music of Da Qin are better or those of Tu'an Xiaobang."

As soon as he said these words, Meng Tian, ​​who had already stood sideways to the military attache's side, had a flash of anger in his eyes.

Although Li Si stood in Da Qin's position and there seemed to be nothing wrong with what he said, Li Mu still felt a little uncomfortable listening to it.

So insulting.

In Li Mu's view, looking down upon a small border country and insulting it does not reflect the Qin's demeanor and sense of superiority.

On the contrary, if the "village singing and dancing" performed by others is indeed no worse than Da Qin's ritual music, wouldn't that be a slap in Da Qin's face?

Or just go in and let others beat you.

This Li Si is indeed a good hand in handling government affairs, but unfortunately his emotional intelligence and character are too low, and you deserve to be cut in half.

After hearing his words, even the First Emperor looked calm and said solemnly: "Jade Beauty is tired from the journey and frightened. Let her rest before we talk!"

Li Si felt the First Emperor's uneasiness, and was secretly shocked, knowing that His Majesty really fell in love with this princess of a small country, and he flattered her so much that he fell in love with her.

At that moment, he quickly bowed and said: "What your Majesty said is absolutely true, but I failed to consider it."

Yu Shu's counterattack came immediately, and she said softly and gracefully: "Your Majesty, I am not very tired."

"Prime Minister, Tu'an is indeed a small border country. I am also one of the stupid ones in Tu'an. I only know a little about the etiquette of the Central Plains."

"If you don't mind it, Yu Shu will show it to you."

Li Si did not dare to make his own decisions anymore, but respectfully asked the First Emperor: "Your Majesty, what do you think of your Majesty's wishes for your empress?"

Seeing this, the First Emperor also became interested and said: "Then I will follow the beauty of Yu."

"Thank you, Your Majesty."

Yu Shu bowed and temporarily stepped back to make preparations.

Not long after, Yu Shu changed into her dance clothes, made some preparations, and then went back to the palace.

He didn't think much of it when he watched the show before, but now that he's watching it in person, Li Mucai has a deep understanding of how superb Yu Shu's dancing skills are.

After all, she is not a weak lady raised in a boudoir, but a foreign princess who is proficient in riding and shooting and has a stronger physique than ordinary people.

In terms of dancing alone, Xiaoyue is even weaker.

The most amazing thing is that while dancing, she was able to use her feet and sleeves to draw an extremely high-level ink painting on a huge piece of silk.

The most amazing thing is the last drop of blood, which forms a red sun on the silk.

When Yu Shu finished dancing, there was no sound in the hall, and everyone was lost in thought looking at the landscape painting.

Li Si even felt his face getting hot. He felt very embarrassed today.

Even the First Emperor was stunned for a moment before he came to his senses. He shouted "Okay" three times in a row. He stood up and walked down from the throne. He personally stepped forward to help Yu Shu up and praised: "Jade beauty is really one of the three unique things."

"The elegance is unparalleled, the dance is unparalleled, and the painting is unparalleled."

As he spoke, he looked at Li Mu behind Fusu and called, "Gao Qing."

Li Mu stood up and walked out from behind Fusu, stood two feet away from the First Emperor, clasped his fists and bowed, saying, "I'm here."

The First Emperor smiled and said: "I have always heard that you have great literary talents. Your "Ode to Concubine Yu" has made many literati admire it and regard it as a classic. I want you to write a poem for Jade Beauty. How about it?"

Yu Shu looked at Li Mu in surprise, not expecting that this man, with his humble appearance, was actually a great talent.

Li Mu smiled and bowed and said: "No, your Majesty's dance is really an eye-opener for me. It's like seeing the Nine Heavens Goddess. Your Majesty, getting your Majesty is like getting a treasure. I'm so happy and congratulations."

"When the empress danced just now, I was already filled with thoughts and thoughts. Now I have a piece of "Ode to the Goddess" that I would like to give to the empress."

"Hahahaha..." The First Emperor laughed brightly and said, "What I love you to say is very popular with me. Come and bring me pen, ink, paper and inkstone."

Immediately, a waiter brought the eucalyptus table, covered it with white paper that Li Mugang had just made, and ground the ink.

Li Mu stepped forward and knelt down in front of the eucalyptus. With a stroke of his pen, a piece of "Ode to the Goddess" was written in one fell swoop.

When Li Mu stood up, Fusu took the initiative to step forward and asked for orders to recite this poem. The First Emperor naturally agreed happily.

Fusu picked up the white paper and recited in a melody: "With the universalization of heaven and earth, how can we produce the true nature of Qi? Tao Yin and Yang's resting fluids can cultivate the beautiful gods and men. The nature is endowed with desire, which is beyond the rare world.

group……"

"The hair is like a mysterious mirror, and the temples are shaved. The quality is pure and bright, and no pink or white is added. The beautiful face is as bright as a spring flower. The mouth contains pills, and the eyes are like waves. The beauty is a clever smile, and the dimples are wonderful..."

"Yang'e is slightly slender, suspended and wandering. Graceful and charming, her actions are many and appropriate..."

The military attachés were confused when they heard this, but the civil servants were shaking their heads, mesmerized.

After hearing this, even Yushu himself felt very embarrassed.

The main reason is that this poem praises her too much, describing her as a peerless goddess who is rare in heaven and unique on earth.

The First Emperor and all the civil servants did not feel exaggerated at all. Yushu's dance just now deserved such praise.

After Fusu finished reciting, the First Emperor once again said "good" three times in a row and praised: "What a great piece of "Ode to the Goddess". Gao Qing is really talented and capable in both civil and military affairs. He is really the pillar of our great Qin Dynasty."

After saying that, he turned around and said to Yu Shu: "Jade Beauty, please accept the title. I will grant you the title of Great Concubine of Qin Dynasty."

Hearing the First Emperor's words, all the officials in the palace shouted in unison: "I congratulate Concubine Li."

…

After the court meeting, Li Mu was given a hundred yi of gold and a bucket of pearls by the First Emperor.

Li Mu had been an official for less than two years, and the value of his assets had exceeded ten thousand yuan, making him truly a millionaire.

With the purchasing power of coins in this era, Wan Guanna was a huge sum of money.

The most irritating thing is that all his assets were rewarded by His Majesty for his meritorious service. Every transaction was pure and clean, and not a penny or a baht came from an unknown source.

After Fusu and Meng Tian, ​​who was a little distracted, left Xianyang Palace, Li Mu wondered if it was time for him to meet Yi Xiaochuan.