But what surprised them was that when they went to the village to collect the wolfberry bark, the villagers were so happy to hear that the wolfberry bark could be sold for money. They went out to collect it on the hillsides, beside the ditches and other places.
In addition, they were diligent. They went out before dawn every day and came back in the evening. In this way, they collected a lot in a short period of time, and there were several piles in the yard.
"Master, do you really want us to make paper?" Gongsun Cheng asked in a hoarse voice.
"Why, you don't want to?"
"No, no, no, I'm willing to do that, but papermaking is too precious."
“No matter how precious it is, it’s just a skill. It’s valuable only if it can produce paper. Otherwise, it’s useless.”
"That is to say, once the master allows us to participate in papermaking, then we will know how paper is made."
"You want to betray me?"
“Plop!”
Gongsun Cheng didn't expect his master to say this. He was so frightened that he fell to his knees.
Gongsun Jing, Gongsun Shi and Nini beside them also knelt down.
"I dare not. Since we have already acknowledged our master, we will not harbor any rebellious thoughts."
"That's it, what's wrong with me telling you about papermaking?"
When Gongsun Cheng heard this, he couldn't help but sigh at his master's generosity.
If they really get the papermaking technique and run away and hide in another place, the master will be unable to do anything to them.
After all, no matter how powerful the master is, if they really want to hide, they are sure that the master will not be able to find them.
But he also felt lucky that he met his master when he was desperate, and Nini was rescued.
"Okay, here are five hundred taels. Take it and use it first. Buy some quicklime and soak the bark for two months."
"ah!"
Gongsun Cheng’s eyebrows were furrowed.
"If you have any difficulties, just tell me."
"Master, this much bark will need to be soaked in water for two months. Not only will it require a lot of water, but it won't be enough to soak the whole yard. We'll also need to buy a lot of large vats."
After listening to Gongsun Cheng's words, Li Mengyue realized that she had overlooked a problem.
That is, papermaking does require a lot of water, the process is relatively complicated, and an open space is required to dry the paper.
From this perspective, making paper in the town’s house is indeed not a good choice.
Since that doesn't work, we can only move to the village.
It’s just that there’s no water in the village river. Although a lot of water has been brought in from the mountains, irrigation is the most important thing now, and six other villages also need water trucks.
But it is not impossible. After all, as long as the waterwheel is built, the fields of the seven villages will be irrigated in a few days.
By then, you can use as much water as you want in the pond.
Thinking of this, Li Mengyue said to Gongsun Cheng, "Go buy some lime first. Pack up your things for a few days and come live with me in the village. When the time comes, we'll build a workshop in the village specifically for making paper."
"What's more, papermaking is a complex process. If you want to produce paper in large quantities, it's not something that just a few people can do. If we move to the village, we can outsource some of the less important steps to the villagers."
The more Li Mengyue talked about it, the more feasible it seemed to her. As long as there was a papermaking workshop in the village, villagers would be given priority when recruiting people in the future.
This will not only solve the problem of labor shortage, but also allow villagers to make money at their doorstep.
After all, if you want Xinghua Village to develop, or even the entire Qingshan Town, you must first make the people rich.
Only when the people are truly prosperous and every household can live a good life can Xinghua Village become better and better.
"As for the bark we collected, we'll also bring it to the village. But we have to wait until I've arranged a site and accommodation for you."
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