Chapter 12: Ying Zheng: Today, Haodaer's performance is acceptable
Outside Xianyang City, the imperial farm.
The black-armored guards directly under the emperor surrounded the small manor, and no one within a radius of twenty miles was allowed to enter.
A carriage came galloping and stopped at the checkpoint. The curtain was lifted, revealing a gentle young face.
"Greetings, Master. Please show me your pass."
The leading black-armored guard captain saluted respectfully, but did not move an inch from the position blocking the carriage.
The person in the carriage was the eldest son Fusu, who had recently received a secret order from the emperor to be in charge of papermaking.
After Fusu handed the pass to the captain for inspection, the pass behind him was opened and the carriage officially entered the imperial farm.
Now this imperial farm has another name - Daqin Paper Mill.
"Young Master." The supervisor came out hurriedly to greet him, without even having time to wipe the water stains off his hands.
Fusu interrupted him and asked directly, "How did things go today?"
The supervisor is a disciple of the Mohist school named Mo Fa. He has made great achievements in the research of new creations and is loyal to the Qin Dynasty. This time he was appointed as the supervisor of the paper mill.
Mo Fa wiped the water stains on his clothes with both hands and talked about papermaking.
He led Fusu into a room and said, "Sir, please take a look."
There were small stacks of beige silk-like objects on the table, and their shape was very similar to the "paper" described in the secret order.
Fusu's eyes lit up: "It's done?!"
There was not much joy on Mo Fa's face. He picked up the pen, dipped it in ink and drew a horizontal line on the paper. The ink was clearly visible on the paper, but it spread out in the blink of an eye. It was originally just a thin line half a finger wide, but in the end it spread out to an ink mark nearly half the width of a palm.
"This..." Fusu frowned slightly. This obviously cannot be written.
Mo Fa took another piece of paper from the pile. It still had horizontal lines half a finger wide, but the blending range was a little smaller than half.
The range of smudging varies with each stack of paper, but overall it is getting smaller and smaller.
Fusu's face was slightly warm, which was showing the improvement process.
"Sir, this paper is made using a different technique, and the finished product is lighter and thinner."
Fusu picked up a piece of paper and noticed the difference as soon as he touched it. It was obviously thinner and smoother.
He tried to write a word on the paper. The winding strokes of the word "Qin" appeared on the paper, with only a burr-like halo at the edge.
"Done?!"
Mo Fa shook his head and led him out, saying as they walked, "The method you described is probably incomplete. Paper can only be spread out to dry one sheet at a time. If you overlap them before they're dry, they'll stick together. Furthermore, the finished product will have bumps and grooves, not be as smooth as cloth."
After going around the wall, you will see the paper drying yard. Everywhere you look, it is a sea of white, stretching endlessly to the end of your sight.
"We use very finely woven bamboo strips to dry them in the sun, but the paper still has the marks of the crisscrossing strips."
Mo Fa's face was weathered, but his eyes were filled with wisdom. His intuition told him that this method of drying clothes was not right.
"Boss! Boss! It's done!"
A man in a short brown shirt with his arms exposed ran over hurriedly, his face flushed with excitement.
"Ah! Young Master! I greet you, Young Master!"
Fusu smiled and nodded: "No need to be polite, what did you just say is it done?"
"Oh, oh, it's the method I've been using these past few days that works! I can overlap the paper while it's still wet without it sticking!"
"Boss, that kid's method really works!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Mo Fa also became excited. He raised his foot and was about to rush to the factory. But after taking half a step, he remembered and hurriedly turned back to call Fusu.
In the factory, several shirtless men were holding a thin bamboo strip that was bigger than a man, shouting slogans as they passed through the muddy trough, and the flocs floating in the water were evenly spread on the bamboo strip.
Mo Fa introduced beside Fu Su: "I named this step 'paper copying'."
With a gentle peel, the wet paper lay flat on the pad. Fusu saw that there were several layers of paper laid there, like tofu blocks, accompanied by the sound of dripping water.
"Then we'll try to press down on the paper with rocks to squeeze out the water faster. If that doesn't cause it to stick, then we'll be done."
Fusu nodded. "If there is a finished product, send it to the palace. Whoever proposes a solution will be rewarded."
Unexpectedly, Mo Fa hesitated.
Fusu tilted his head slightly and said softly, "Director Mo, could it be that person is nameless?"
Mo Fa hurriedly bowed and apologized, but hesitated for a moment before answering, "This man's name is 'Zhang Han'."
Zhang Han.
He has a name and is not a commoner.
Fusu understood his dilemma after just a moment's thought.
"Descendant of the nobles of the six kingdoms."
"yes."
Fusu said: "Our Great Qin is founded on the rule of law, with clear rewards and punishments. Regardless of his previous status, he is now a citizen of the Great Qin, and his meritorious service should be rewarded."
After saying this, he called Zhang Han forward.
----
The eldest prince's carriage left, and Mo Fa led Zhang Han to watch it go.
Zhang Han, a young man with a childish face, held a piece of brocade that he hadn't seen in years in his hands. He took out most of it and offered it to Mo Fa: "Thank you, Boss, for asking for a reward for me."
Mo Fa had never lacked wealth since childhood, so he looked down upon this little thing. He waved his hand to refuse and told him to keep it himself.
Zhang Han complimented him a few more times, then casually added, "If it weren't for the eldest son's desire to make paper, I wouldn't have made it this far. I will definitely serve you faithfully in the future and repay your kindness today."
Mo Fa, as expected, showed no suspicion and casually said, "If you want to express your gratitude, you should do it to His Majesty. Your Majesty's newfound talent is truly remarkable. You won't need to carve large pieces of wood when drawing in the future. Hehe, this paper is truly convenient."
Your Majesty’s new talent is full of ingenuity.
Zhang Han silently kept this news in mind and followed his supervisor's words to talk about what had happened earlier.
"I tried a new recipe last night..."
----
Taishan Palace, in a small courtyard.
Wei Shengxue sat cross-legged under a big tree, with dots of green light swirling around her body, like strands of lingering green gauze being bound by hooks, slowly revealing her true appearance that was wrapped and hidden.
Her eyelashes trembled slightly, revealing a pair of sparkling eyes with some green light dancing in them.
"call."
"The injury is one third healed. Merit is really useful." Wei Shengxue happily shared his discovery with the system.
With three more batches of merit, her injuries will be healed.
This is much faster than the originally planned 30 years of self-healing.
【You are dreaming! 】
The system, upon hearing her inner thoughts, responded directly.
Merit! That's merit! It's good enough to pick it up twice, I want a third time.
As soon as he finished speaking, another wave of merits came pouring in.
system:? ? ?
This is unscientific!
Is this reasonable?
The system's defense was severely compromised.
Then, the system chattered non-stop for more than half an hour inexplicably excited manner, focusing on "how important merit is" and "how rare merit is".
Wei Shengxue, whose head was filled with "merits", only remembered one sentence:
Merit, an omnipotent treasure.
The more good things like this, the better.
Wei Shengxue supported his chin and quickly recalled the novels he had read. He quickly pulled out the methods of obtaining merit one, two, three, four, and five, and then compared them with the time it took to obtain merit three times.
After an unknown amount of time, she jumped up excitedly.
"I see!"
【Understand what? 】
"I know how merit comes!" Weishengxue happily slapped the system light ball in his sea of consciousness.
"Is your environment recording function still on? Quickly pull up the records!"
Although the system does not know what is going on, it still cooperates with its host to the greatest extent possible.
The system's records were very complicated. Even the number of baby ants born in an ant nest within a certain range would be recorded, which undoubtedly made her search much more difficult.
“Found it!”
Wei Shengxue picked out a few messages and read them over and over again, his eyes becoming brighter and brighter.
"Tong'er, let's go."
Let’s go and earn merit!
----
The news that the immortal had come out of seclusion spread throughout the palace as fast as wings.
It also reached the ears of the alchemists in a courtyard.
"Everyone, please follow me for a moment."
The leading Taoist priest had white eyebrows and a long beard. He shook off the dust and looked like an immortal.
Everyone in the courtyard responded.
They want to see how capable this colleague is.
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