Chapter 39 Papermaking! Life is impossible without paper...

[Since this special event has not yet concluded, this reward is incomplete.]

"Tongzi, you're wrong. Special cases are settled every three months. That's the rule. If you think it can't be concluded, then why don't you change the rule and not settle every three months? Besides, if the matter isn't completely concluded within three months, it's none of my business. It's not me who stopped it, so why are you deducting my money?"

You can do anything, but you absolutely cannot deduct money!

Shen Zhiwei acted as if she would drag the system to labor arbitration today if she didn't explain it clearly.

She can give up anything, air conditioning, heating, novels, videos, games and all kinds of delicious food, but she absolutely cannot give up money!

She never forgot that she was suffering now in order to have money to enjoy a good life in the future. Without money, what was the point of her living in ancient times? It would be better to send her to reincarnate directly!

Having never enjoyed modern conveniences, she would accept any hardships she had to endure even if she was reborn in the Great Zhou Dynasty!

Shen Zhiwei had already started to think about breaking the jar and throwing it all away. She had to get her money out of the system anyway!

The system asked her to wait. The ellipsis on the panel flashed for about thirty seconds, and then the system gave her the reward.

That’s right, I gave it to her directly.

No, is the system so easy to talk to?

The courage that Shen Zhiwei had finally mustered was like a balloon punctured by a needle, and the courage left along with the air in the balloon.

[Host, please verify that the SSR ending settlement compensation has been issued.

It has been detected that this special event has not yet completely ended. No new special event can be triggered before this event is completely ended.

Two special events cannot happen in parallel. Shen Zhiwei knew this from the beginning, so when she saw this news now, she didn't think there was anything wrong.

Shen Zhiwei took a closer look and saw that the compensation was 100,000 achievement points, and the previous 10,000 achievement points were still there, which meant that she got those 10,000 achievement points for free.

With just one sentence, she earned an extra 10 million. Shen Zhiwei decided not to be a silent girl in the future.

Haha, it's just a thought in my mind. Unless it involves 100 million, Shen Zhiwei won't be able to speak up at all.

"Okay, you're a moral person, a conscientious entrepreneur. How did you suddenly become so intelligent? Did you become artificially intelligent?"

Shen Zhiwei seriously suspected that the person on the other side was operating it, but when she thought about the system's sincerity in making compensation, she felt that the person on the other side could not be a person.

[The system has been upgraded to a special event recording system. Please actively trigger more special events to earn achievement points.]

"Ah? Then what about my reward for becoming the King of a Lost Nation in the main storyline?"

Although the extra money is good, the 100 million from the main line is also very good!

No matter how many hundreds of millions Shen Zhiwei has, she still maintains her original love for the one hundred million.

She is not the kind of person who gets bored easily. As long as it is 100 million, she is willing to risk her life for it. Alas, she is such a love-brained person, which is really distressing.

[The main quest remains unchanged. Please continue your efforts and trigger and complete more special events!]

Shen Zhiwei frowned, not quite understanding. If the main quest remained unchanged, it meant that the system was still the same. But if it was the same system, why was there such a big difference between the two?

Shen Zhiwei then tried small questions like today's weather and fortune, and the system gave answers very smoothly, just like before.

The weather is accurate to within 24 hours, and this little plug-in has even been upgraded.

Shen Zhiwei couldn't figure it out so she simply stopped thinking about it. She just waited for the great war among hundreds of countries to end next year.

Shen Zhiwei had a difficult winter, but overall it was not bad. Perhaps because the weather was too cold, most countries were very honest, and only some small countries had internal problems.

The rulers of small countries sent letters asking for help to Jingchang.

It was not because of war, but because of natural disasters. Some small countries in the north suffered from heavy snowstorms.

When Shen Zhiwei received the letter for help, she expressed great regret, because those small countries had encountered heavy snow and their mountains were blocked. By the time the letter for help came out, the snow disaster had passed for a long time. Even if she went to help at this time, it would be of no avail.

Those who were buried in the snow were already dead, and those who survived were probably not going to die either, so she decided not to join in the fun.

She was lucky enough to be able to protect the people on her own land.

This year, the casualties among common people near Jingchang were not serious, and the casualties within Jingchang City were not serious either.

The situation is much better than last year during the reign of the previous king.

It was because before winter, Shen Zhiwei sent people to repair dilapidated houses and mobilized families with the conditions to build kangs. Shen Zhiwei checked the weather forecast and found that the average temperature in Jingchang during the coldest period of the entire winter was around minus five degrees Celsius.

This temperature can freeze people to death, but as long as people take some measures to keep warm, it is not easy to actually die.

Throughout the winter, few people died of freezing, but many died of disease.

The weather is too cold, and the elderly and weak are in poor health. There is nothing that can be done about it. They will die of frostbite. In modern times, the elderly are prone to accidents in winter, not to mention the lack of medical care and medicine at this time.

When winter and spring change, the temperature changes so much that people with weaker health cannot bear it.

Fortunately, the long winter is over, spring is coming, and everything will be fine.

When Shen Zhiwei woke up one morning and heard birds singing outside the window, she felt as if she had been in this world for almost a year.

A year passed in the blink of an eye, and it felt like she just came here yesterday.

Shen Zhiwei suddenly had the urge to review what she had done last year, so she got up from the bed, ran to the desk excitedly, took out the brocade cloth, and prepared to write.

Pick up the pen and remain silent.

First, she came to this world, successfully survived a year, and unlocked the iron pan and cooking!

Well, it is a very memorable thing, but when I write it down seriously, I always feel weird. What’s going on?

Perhaps for countless foodies in later generations, what Shen Zhiwei did was a great thing that would benefit future generations. It would not be an exaggeration to call him a living god of cooking.

But for people today, this incident does not have much impact.

In an era where etiquette was paramount, the role of the tripod remained strong, and cooking with the tripod was still an indispensable step in sacrifices and various banquets.

An iron pot? That thing is nowhere near as stable and decent as a tripod.

Anyway, no one recognizes her now, so even if Shen Zhiwei doesn't like boiled vegetables and boiled meat, she still has to eat things she doesn't like with the ministers at sacrifices and various banquets.

If you don't eat this, you will eat barbecue. If you eat too much, you will really get constipated.

Shen Zhiwei shook her head frantically, throwing aside the matters of the cycle of reincarnation of grains. She suddenly put down the pen and decided what to do today.

She wants to make paper!

That's right, she suddenly remembered to make paper.

She had thought about making paper before, but she had no suitable craftsmen on hand. In addition, at that time, she was devoted to studying cooking, so she put the matter aside for the time being.

Now that spring has arrived and everything is reviving, it is time for her to step into new areas and improve the quality of her life.

She wants paper!

Although brocade books are good, they are expensive. Bamboo slips are cheap but heavy. Nowadays, paper is either sprinkled with gold or mixed with cinnabar, and its cost is even more expensive than brocade books!

She wants cheap, durable paper, the kind that can be used and discarded!

Just do it when you think of it. Shen Zhiwei called Yanxia and asked her to find a craftsman, preferably one who could make paper.

Yanxia was confused for a moment. A paper-making craftsman?

Where could she find a craftsman who could make paper?

After thinking for a long time without any result, Yanxia finally found the reason on Guiyang. As the Prime Minister, Guiyang was dedicated to solving any troubles of the king every day. He firmly believed that as long as he could satisfy the king, he would become the Prime Minister sooner or later!

That’s right, Gui Yang is still thinking about the position that the king personally set up for him. Unfortunately, it was taken by the previous prime minister, that old immortal. Otherwise, he would definitely be the most important minister in the king’s heart, and Wen Tao and Hu Youan could not compare to him!

Paper was a luxury that only nobles could afford. Craftsmen who could make paper were even rarer, and Gui Yang did not have such a craftsman.

He thought about it for a long time, and finally used the refined salt from the East China Sea to exchange for a craftsman who was proficient in this technique from the Bian State.

The culture of Bian State was very developed, so there were not only many famous people of the time with profound knowledge, but also many craftsmen with superb skills.

However, the king of Bian State was a useless person. He increasingly favored treacherous ministers and did not use wise ministers. Ever since Princess Sheng Jiang of Bian State returned to the country, the king became even more foolish. Sheng Jiang gave him several beauties, and it was said that he sang and danced in the palace all day long and had no idea what was going on in the world.

The power of Bian State fell into the hands of Sheng Jiang and King Wencheng of Bian State. After one winter, the king of Bian State fell seriously ill three times and almost passed away, making him unable to manage the affairs of state.

Not to mention using refined salt to recruit craftsmen from Bian State, even if Gui Yang used refined salt to recruit generals from Bian State, no one would care about him.

Donghai refined salt has now become popular throughout the Great Zhou. Its excellent taste and snow-white refined salt are sought after by the nobles and are more valuable than gold. Now Taisheng will no longer be in the embarrassing situation of being broke. Thanks to refined salt, all the wealth in the world has poured into Jingchang City.

Into the hands of the king.

When Gui Yang led the craftsmen into the palace, he had a question in his mind, and when he saw Shen Zhiwei, he asked it out loud.

"Your Majesty, after the spring plowing, would you like Doctor Hu to lead the troops, pass through Bian State, and attack Yun State?"

Shen Zhiwei was thinking about how to arrange craftsmen to make cheap and easy-to-use paper. She actually didn't quite understand the steps of papermaking, but cheap paper raw materials must be cheap.

The raw material for paper nowadays seems to be hemp. As a common material for clothing among the people, hemp itself has a certain cost.

The principle of paper is actually plant fiber.

Hemp is fine, tree bark is fine too. Cai Hou paper seems to be made of tree bark, broken fishing nets and other useless materials that can be found everywhere.

Shen Zhiwei, whose mind was full of her paper, did not think about Gui Yang's question at all and just nodded subconsciously.

"Um."

"So that's how it is. Your Majesty sent Doctor Hu to the battlefield to train his troops for this very day, right? Yun State is extremely far away from Jingchang, and would be difficult to govern after conquering it. Bian State, on the other hand, is close at hand, powerful, and has a vast territory, making it a very suitable target."

Gui Yang was ecstatic after pondering for a moment, and her eyes were full of admiration when she looked at Shen Zhiwei.

Huh? What are you mumbling about?

Shen Zhiwei was puzzled, Shen Zhiwei was confused, and Shen Zhiwei nodded.

Yes, yes, you are right, so we can’t attack Yun Kingdom, we can just go hang out and show our faces.

"Bian State is an ally, and the alliance cannot be torn up at will. Moreover, Bian State is too powerful for Jingchang to swallow."

Shen Zhiwei reminded Gui Yang that Bian State was indeed very good, and not only Bian State was good, every vassal state had its advantages, but one could not attack others just because they had advantages.

Not only is he unjustified, but he may not even be able to win. If he takes the initiative to provoke someone and gets beaten up instead, it would be really embarrassing.

Gui Yang did not notice the rejection in Shen Zhiwei's words. He thought Shen Zhiwei was asking for advice.

After all, these are the two difficulties in attacking the Bian State. It is obvious that if the problems of alliance and strength gap cannot be properly resolved, it will be difficult to attack the Bian State.

So what is the key point?

Gui Yang remembered the letter that An Guo sent her at the beginning of winter.

"I see, Your Majesty, I now understand everything!"

At that time, the king refused to interfere in the dispute over the Prince of Anguo, and had no intention of helping Prince Rong. Gui Yang just thought that the king did not want to get out and cause trouble. Now it seems that the king is really wise!

"Your Majesty had already thought of this at the time, right? I am so stupid that I only realized your intentions today. Your Majesty, rest assured. I will leave this matter to Doctor Yang and Doctor Hu. They will definitely satisfy you!"

The more Gui Yang thought about it, the more excited she became.

The alliance could be torn up first with the help of others, and the person to be helped should naturally be An Guo.

An State and Bian State have been enemies for many years. Now they have temporarily formed an alliance to fight against Yun and Ning. The alliance does not mean that all the past hatreds are over.

Prince Zhuo of Anguo had been a hostage in Bian State for many years. How could he not hate the people of Bian State?

If Bian State dares to interfere in An State's affairs at this time and threaten the position of Crown Prince Zhuo, when Crown Prince Zhuo becomes the king of An State, he will definitely teach Bian State a lesson.

Gui Yang had already started to lay out a scheme in her mind, preparing to trick the Bian Kingdom and create an opportunity for Hu Youan.

As for Shen Zhiwei, she listened to Gui Yang's praise and became more and more confused.

How come she doesn't know what she's thinking? She doesn't know she has any ulterior motives.

Looking at Gui Yang who was inexplicably aroused, Shen Zhiwei was speechless and turned around to go to Baigongfang.

Never mind, the ministers are working hard, let them do it, she is going to make paper.

The Hundred Craftsmen's Workshop is actually very large. An Jin, with a group of blacksmiths, only occupies less than one-tenth of the land. It is not a problem to accommodate a few papermaking craftsmen.

The craftsman sent by Gui Yang was named Tao. He said that he was named this way because he was very good at making pottery.

Later, he became a disciple and learned papermaking. He has been studying for five years and is now considered a master.

Shen Zhiwei asked him what materials he planned to use to make paper. The other party started talking about a bunch of precious metals and hemp. Shen Zhiwei quickly interrupted him and asked him if he knew that paper could also be made from tree bark.

Upon hearing this, Tao couldn't help but look confused.

Hemp papermaking is actually a technology that has only appeared recently.

Logically speaking, paper should have appeared in the later period, at least two or three hundred years ago. However, because this world is a fictional world based on a game, the technology tree is already messed up. In addition, the craftsmen employed by the nobles are all talented people. In order to please their masters, the craftsmen always have some strange ideas, so paper appeared early.

It’s a pity that the nobles like to enjoy exclusive treatment, and many things will not be promoted after they appear, resulting in a huge jump in the world’s technological level.

While the lower classes were still living in a feudal society of slavery, the nobles were already able to compete with the later Han Dynasty.

Shen Zhiwei ordered the craftsmen to make paper according to the raw materials and order she provided. Tao said nothing and just worked with an expression of doubt on his face.

If paper can be made from these simple materials, then what has he learned in the past five years?

Shen Zhiwei always felt that he saw a sentence on Tao's face - I'm going to fight with you guys, a bunch of wild people!

Does he understand what the happiness of evil cultivation is?

Shen Zhiwei wanted to laugh when she thought about how she could make expensive paper from tree bark that was readily available.

If her current technical level was not low enough, she would have wanted to make glass.

Actually, it’s not impossible to make it. Isn’t making glass a necessary skill for time travelers?

But there is no need, as glass cannot be eaten or drunk. It does make money, but Shen Zhiwei has salt and is not short of money at all.

When I want to get a microscope in the future, I can study glass burning.

Shen Zhiwei, who had no idea that his mess had already made an inordinate contribution to the development of civilization, naturally thought to himself: I will be the king of a fallen country in the future, so no matter what I do, my own enjoyment should be my first goal.

If she doesn't want to do something, then she won't do it.

In a place that Shen Zhiwei didn't notice, the system panel flickered, the main system made a sound of electricity being overwhelmed, and the intelligent system of the special event section flickered with a faint light.

Paper is an indispensable part of the development of civilization.

Paper is not only a carrier of text, but also a carrier of knowledge. With paper, knowledge can be preserved for a longer time, and it allows people to record and read better.

It was with paper that the foundation for universal education was laid. With paper, books could be compiled to completely eliminate the inconvenience of bamboo slips. A small book was enough to break the monopoly of knowledge held by aristocratic families for thousands of years.

Shen Zhiwei didn't think about all these. She just wanted to use paper, so she went to make paper. It was that simple.

While Shen Zhiwei was watching the papermaking, Gui Yang left the palace.

After leaving the palace, he first gave instructions to his retainers, then rode out of the city on horseback and headed directly to Taisheng.

Since he didn't have to attend court every day, it was no big deal for the Prime Minister to leave Jingchang for a few days. After all, the retainers in his house were enough to handle most things.

He went to Taisheng to discuss the attack on Bian State.

That’s right, he felt that Shen Zhiwei’s words were telling him that as long as he dealt with those two problems, he could attack the Bian State.

The main force attacking Bian State must be Hu Youan, so Gui Yang went to find Hu Youan.

Hu Youan was training his troops seriously in Taisheng when he suddenly felt his heart skip a beat, as if something was about to happen.

She looked up into the distance. That direction was the direction of the tomb of Marquis Taisheng, and it was also the direction where the lightning rod was placed before.

During the time in Taisheng, Hu Youan gradually developed the habit of "revisiting old places". Whenever she had nothing to do, she would go to see the charred tomb of Taisheng Hou. Thinking that the tomb below had been emptied by her, she had an inexplicable sense of security.

The main reason was that she had never encountered anything wrong in such a long time, and Tai Shenghou had never come to her to ask for burial objects.

At first, Hu Youan said she was not afraid, but she was actually a little scared in her heart. Now she is really not afraid anymore.

This made Hu Youan more determined to work for the king. Everything she did was right!

"Doctor, someone has come from the prefect's residence to summon you to discuss matters."

A soldier came to deliver the message. Hu Youan calculated the date and understood that Wen Tao had come to discuss the spring plowing with her.

The military settlement system, like the military merit-conferring system, had been implemented in the army for nearly a year. Hu Youan not only trained the soldiers every day, but also took them to the fields.

Over the past year, Hu Youan has gone from struggling in farming at the beginning, not even as fast as an eight-year-old child, to becoming an expert now. The necessity of the military settlement system has been fully demonstrated in her.

How can a general have never been to the fields and never experienced the suffering of the common people?

If one knows nothing, how can one truly protect the people while leading the army? How can one control the soldiers with the utmost rigor? How can one prevent the soldiers from burning, killing, and looting at will, thus causing great harm to the people?

When Hu Youan arrived at the county magistrate's office, Wen Tao had just opened a map.

"Doctor Hu is here. Come and take a seat and take a look at this."

Wen Tao and Hu Youan had been in Taisheng for several months and had become quite familiar with each other. When he saw Hu Youan, Wen Tao was not polite and asked him to sit down, then handed him the map in his hand.

"This picture is very well drawn."

Hu Youan, who led troops in battle, had his eyes light up when he saw the picture.

A clear and concise map plays a very important role on the battlefield. Hu Youan immediately asked, "Who drew this map?"

Wen Tao pointed to the corner and asked Hu Youan to look carefully.

Hu Youan looked closely and saw a small word "Xiao" marked there.

"Is it the county magistrate?"

"Exactly. Senior Sister is the best at this. As long as she sees something, she can draw it. This is the Tai Sheng Map, which she created after traveling all winter. She previously lived in Bian State and visited many places there."

When Wen Tao saw Bian Xiao's paintings for the first time, she was amazed like Hu Youan. In fact, she would still be amazed when she saw Bian Xiao's paintings now.

Wen Tao admitted that her senior sister was actually a genius of the time.

It would be better if he was more reliable.

"Really..." Hu Youan didn't know how to praise the picture when facing it. He felt that all the praise was in vain.

"Don't act like this in front of her. If she knew you were impressed by her skills, she would probably tease you more often in the future."

Wen Tao hates Bian Xiao's bad temper because she is the biggest victim of Bian Xiao's character!

Hu Youan laughed in silence. She didn't want to get involved in the feud between the two sisters. She just wanted to do her job.

"This area is the wasteland that will be reclaimed for spring plowing this year. In the winter, the slaves would go there to reclaim it when they had nothing to do. Now it's overgrown with weeds, but there aren't many stones." Seeing Hu Youan smiling but not saying anything, Wen Tao stopped talking. She marked an area on the map with her finger and told her business. "In a few days, Jingchang will send iron farm tools. The common people of Taisheng can also rent farm tools like the common people of Jingchang. Farm tools are limited, so I'm afraid the military camp won't be able to use them for a while."

"Okay, which one is the military camp?"

Hu Youan didn't care about these things. The land of the military camp didn't require high productivity, as long as it wasn't left idle.

"This area previously belonged to Tai Shenghou's uncle, and was later presented to Princess Sheng Jiang of the Bian Kingdom. Although Sheng Jiang has returned to the Bian Kingdom, she still left people here."