“Boom boom boom…”

A series of thudding sounds were heard in the Qingque tribe. Han Cheng picked up a big tree stick and pounded hard on the stone mortar that had not been used for a long time since the water mill was built.

What was in the mortar was not millet but fermented tree bark cut into pieces.

Papermaking requires pulp. This was another piece of information about papermaking that he obtained from his vague memory after thinking hard.

Since it is pulp, it's no big deal. If you think about the one or two unrotted straw fibers that sometimes appear in exercise books of later generations, you will roughly understand what it needs to be made into.

Using a stone mill makes it easier to turn things into pulp, but it is not suitable for grinding tree bark because the bark can easily get stuck in it.

Or in the future, when the Qingque tribe's papermaking technology becomes more mature, they can consider improving the stone mill and making a stone mill specifically for grinding paper pulp.

Compared with grain, bark is not easy to pound at all.

After sweating all over, Han Chengcai finally spent nearly an hour pounding it into something that could barely be called pulp.

Due to unfamiliarity, things did not go smoothly. After pounding the bark, Han Cheng scratched his head and thought for a while. He thought about the big pool of water in the ancient illustration and compared and associated it with the previous time when he was grinding tofu. Finally, he came up with the idea of ​​putting the pounded bark into an unused large vat and soaking it in water.

Then he imitated the people in the illustration and pretended to mess around for a while.

The crushed barks scattered into the water, but a lot of things were floating on the surface of the water.

This is old bark.

The bark is the harder outer layer.

When pounding the bark, Han Cheng put all the bark together. Compared with the inner bark, the outer bark was much more difficult to pound.

So much so that there are still many lumps that have not been smashed.

Recalling the awkward situation when he wrote in the past and came across places where there were uncrushed fibers, Han Cheng consciously found a piece of linen, tied it to a branch that was curled into a circle, and made a simple net bag.

It is called a net bag, but in fact it looks no different from a fly swatter that is not stretched out very smoothly.

Firstly, Han Cheng's skills were limited, and secondly, the Mabu tribe was not very wealthy.

The piece of material Han Cheng found was leftover scraps from making clothes. He used the material too sparingly, so it was naturally extremely difficult to make a pocket out of it.

However, whether it is a net bag or a fly swatter, it is not a problem to scoop out the debris floating on the surface of the water tank.

After scooping the fish out, when I looked into the water tank again, it suddenly looked much better.

The bark has been made into pulp, and the next thing to do is to make the pulp into paper.

Han Cheng, holding a fly swatter in his hand, was in a dilemma standing here.

What exactly is that rectangular object that the ancient man is holding in the picture?

How can that thing turn pulp into paper?

This is what Han Cheng has been thinking about recently, but he has not figured it out clearly.

The state of my head was not much different from the big vat of pulp now, it was all a mess of paste.

Many things are like this, it is not difficult for those who know how to do it, but it is difficult for those who don't know how to do it. This is what is meant by "different trades are like different mountains".

Turning pulp into paper may seem like a trivial matter to insiders, but to an outsider like Han Cheng, it is enough to make one's hair fall out.

Got it!

Han Cheng, who had been melancholy for a long time, suddenly became happy, and looked at the "fly swatter" placed beside the water tank with sharp eyes.

It's not that the 'fly swatter' has become so good-looking, but that some paper pulp has stuck to it at some point.

Han Cheng wanted to put it back into the water tank after seeing it, but when he touched it, he was surprised to find that it felt very much like paper...

"Hahaha……"

There was a burst of wild laughter in the Qingque tribe, and Han Dashenzi, who was holding a fly swatter, was extremely happy.

After laughing, he threw the fly swatter in his hand to the ground and ran quickly to the place where the linen was stored.

The carpenter Lame and someone in the tribe who was good at sewing were called in, and after a while of cutting, hammering and slicing, a rectangular object about 1.5 meters long and 80 centimeters wide appeared.

The four sides are made of wood frames, and in the middle is a piece of linen. The style is a bit like the iron sieve used to sift sand when building houses in later generations.

This is what Han Cheng figured out through the 'fly swatter'.

Holding the newly made equipment in both hands, Han Cheng walked back to the side of the tank where the paper pulp was soaked. He put the sieve-like thing aside and propped it up with something. Then he started to use a "fly swatter" to scoop out the paper pulp from the tank. After rinsing it slightly, he pasted it onto the simple sieve.

One piece after another.

After being confused for a while, Han Cheng stopped what he was doing and frowned slightly again.

Because the pulp scooped from the water tank with a "fly swatter" is relatively flat, but when it is put down and placed on a simple sieve, it will easily become wrinkled.

Moreover, these fly swatter-sized pieces of paper pulp are difficult to connect together and can easily break.

After thinking for a while, Han Cheng suddenly had an idea in his mind.

He threw the paper pulp on the simple sieve back into the water tank, stirred it with a stick to make it loose, and then picked up the simple sieve and filled it into the water tank.

Don't go through the 'fly swatter' process, just put it directly on the simple sieve.

After trying it this way, I immediately felt that the effect was good. The fibers in the water were loose, the thickness was easy to control, and after coming out of the water, it was relatively flat.

Moreover, the pulp attached to the sieve cloth has become a whole, and the problem of being unable to form pieces will no longer happen.

The only regret is that the simple sieve is too big and the water tank is too small, so only one end can be put in at a time, but it can be done with a makeshift approach.

Han Cheng placed a simple sieve covered with a layer of paper pulp flat on the mouth of the water tank. A little water slowly seeped out and fell into the water tank.

The late summer sun was still hot, quickly evaporating the moisture from the pulp.

Han Cheng, who was looking forward to the appearance of the paper, ran here several times in half a day and came to check it every now and then.

As the water evaporates, the fibers stick together and become the more familiar paper.

The reason why I say it is more familiar is because this thing is really too rough.

Not only is one piece of paper thicker than twenty sheets of exercise book paper in later generations, it is also full of holes and contains many uncrushed fibers.

These are not the most serious things. The most serious thing is that there are many small black particles inside.

This is the pounded outer layer of the bark.

Han Cheng fished out the big pieces floating on the surface, but there was no way to get the small ones that sank to the bottom.

Moreover, such thick paper is quite brittle. When Han Cheng took it out from the simple sieve, he didn't do it properly and broke a corner.

But even so, Han Cheng couldn't stop smiling as he held this paper that was so rough that no one would want it even if it was sold as scrap in the future.

It is a bit rough, but after all, it appeared in the tribe and is very likely the first piece of paper in the world.

What it brings is a dawn, a dawn that can save people from unspeakable pain.

The second most powerful charlatan in the tribe came over again, watched for a while, reached out and touched the paper, and after thinking for a long time, he finally started to ask.

Wu has very sharp eyes, and he has seen everything the Son of God has done in the past few days.

Based on past experience, something that the Son of God takes so seriously is obviously extremely important and has a huge impact on the tribe.

But this time, the Son of God did not say what he was going to do, and the witch did not ask.

Rather than asking for the results directly, Wu prefers to use his own observations and wisdom to guess about the new things the Son of God has come up with.

This is the characteristic of a wise person.

Wu never gets tired of corroborating the results of his own conjectures with what the Son of God said, and he always finds this kind of thing very interesting.

Especially when the result of his guess is the same as what the Son of God said, the witch can be happy for several days.

Before asking, Wu actually already had his own answer in his mind, and his answer was cloth.

A new type of cloth that can be used to make clothes or other things.

The reason for this conjecture is that as linen is used more and more widely in the tribe, people in the tribe have deeply realized the benefits and importance of this thing that is similar to leather but different.

Moreover, the new thing that the Son of God made does look more like cloth in terms of size and shape, and can also be folded together like cloth.

“It’s paper.”

As Wu waited expectantly, Han Cheng cheerfully mentioned the name "paper", a name Wu had never heard of before.

Paper? Wu was a little confused. Why not cloth?

Or maybe paper is also a kind of cloth, just with a different name.

Just like the child of the Son of God, who is named Han Tong and Han Wandou.

Thinking of this, Wu nodded secretly, feeling that his idea should not be wrong.

Then he asked Han Cheng what the paper was used for.

"Wipe your ass!"

Han Cheng said excitedly.

This function of paper is what he has been thinking about day and night since he entered primitive society, and it has long become his obsession.

When he heard the witch's question, he answered it without thinking.

Han Cheng was in an excited state and had no idea how much impact his words had on Wu who was looking expectant.

Wu stood there with a dazed look on his face, as if he had been cast under a spell of immobilization. He didn't even notice that the rabbit in his arms had jumped to the ground.

It took so much effort and time, and a lot of materials were used during this period, and I often made myself frown.

After it was done, he laughed out loud, his mouth stretching to his ears, and he was happier than if he had eaten magpie shit.

In this case, you actually say that you made this thing just to wipe your ass?

This... isn't this turn too fast?

The witch inexplicably recalled the scene in which the wheel of the tricycle in the tribe broke down and was thrown out.

After being quiet for a while, Wu finally recovered a little and made his final struggle with disbelief.

He really hoped that he had heard it wrong, so he asked again what the paper was used for.

His hopes were immediately shattered, very cleanly, because Han Dashenzi, who was holding the paper and was as excited as a fool, told Wu with a very clear answer that he was absolutely right, this thing called paper was used to wipe your butt.

Wu was completely confused. After following the Son of God and gradually seeing a lot of new things over the years, he felt that he had become very knowledgeable. Influenced by the Son of God, he had become much wiser.

However, now, he felt that his wisdom was not enough and he could not keep up with the thinking of the Son of God.

How can something that takes so much trouble to create be used to wipe one's butt?

It's just wiping your butt, is it necessary to put so much effort into it?

Are stones and sticks no longer effective?

It was just a matter of pulling out a bunch of grass, but you had to make so many things out of it...

And this new thing you made feels thick and hard, and has many small black bumps on it. It is not as comfortable to use as grass...

The stunned witch said that he totally couldn't understand the Son of God's current behavior.

Han Cheng, who was immersed in the joy of getting the paper, finally discovered that something was wrong with Wu's expression.

He was also a little confused. When paper was invented at that time, wasn't this the first use?

After being stunned for a while, I came to my senses and realized that I was habitually looking at the problem from the perspective of future generations.

When I think back on what I have done and look at it from the perspective of people of this era, it is indeed a little hard to understand.

"That... besides wiping your butt, you can also use it for writing."

Han Cheng managed to reverse the errant trajectory.

Can you still write?

After hearing this, Wu, who had been in a daze, became somewhat lively again.

He walked forward, touched the paper with his hand, and looked at it carefully for a while. He felt that this thing was not very convenient for writing.

He thought about it, found his usual slate pencil, and tried to carve something on it. After carving for a while, he began to shake his head.

Writing on it not only looks awkward but also isn't noticeable and won't leave much of a mark.

And you can't use too much force with your hands. If you use a little too much force, the paper will tear immediately.

Can this thing be used to write?

This is not even as good as a stone slab, let alone a fired pottery slab...

The witch grabbed his head, which had lost a lot of hair, and was extremely confused.

How come the Son of God, who rarely fails in his work, spent so much effort this time and came up with such a useless thing?

It's not as good as stone slabs or pottery slabs for writing, and it's not as good as stone or grass for wiping butts. Why...

Looking at the witch squatting on the ground, scratching the only piece of paper with a slate pencil and shaking his head, Han Cheng couldn't help but sniff.

This is just the first piece of paper, and it will be greatly improved after some improvements.

What’s more, the pen you are using is wrong. The slate pen used for engraving on ceramic plates cannot withstand the use of any good paper!

Han Cheng was also full of grievances.

I just wanted to make paper, and once it was useful, I would immediately start looking for tin ore and make bronze. Why does it seem like there are more complications now?