Dragon map of the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 166

In December, in the cold winter, the sky is full of wind and snow, and Luoyang City has turned into a piece of white snow.

Miyagi.

"Father Shang, how is the battle going on in Xiliang?" The Son of Heaven was wearing a tiger jacket, standing on the corridor, watching the white snow fall with his eyes.

"Reporting to Your Majesty, in November, the Xiliang rebels had already begun to besiege Chencang. Among Chencang, Huangfusong and Dong Zhuo led troops to defend the city. Dong Zhuo thought that he would attack and defeat the Liangzhou rebels head-on, but Huangfusong insisted on holding on. No more, Huangfusong is the chief general, and now the imperial army can't hold on!"

Zhang Rang bowed and stood on the back of the emperor, and reported.

"Then who do you think is right?"

"Slaves dare not talk about military affairs!" Zhang Rang is always humble and well-behaved in front of the emperor.

"It's okay, I told you to say it, just say it, if you can't even trust yourself, who else can you trust?" the emperor said in a deep voice.

"Your Majesty, this servant thinks that General Huangfu is not a timid person!" Zhang Rang said.

"Haven't you always been at odds with Huangfusong?" the emperor said with a smile.

"It's about the great Han country, how can a slave and maidservant be the fault of one person, and ignore the safety of the country!"

Zhang Rang said righteously.

"Ha ha!"

The emperor laughed loudly: "Father Shang is indeed my loyal subject!"

"His Majesty……"

"Since this matter has been handed over to Huangfusong to fight, let him decide. If he wins, he will be meritorious. If he loses, I will cut off his head!" The emperor said coldly: "As for Dong Zhuo, this big The general's favorite general, you can take advantage of it!"

"Your Majesty, please clarify!"

"Huangfusong won the battle and ordered Dong Zhuo to hand over his military power to lead Bingzhou Shepherd. Bingzhou just needs a state shepherd!"

The emperor came quietly: "If Huangfu Song loses, let Dong Zhuo take over his military power!"

These two, one is the pillar of the aristocratic family, and the other is the favorite general of the great general He Jin. It is a good thing for the emperor to let them fight ghosts.

"The servant understands!"

Zhang Rang trembled all over, and nodded quickly: "Your maidservant will arrange it now!"

"Don't worry, we can't let them get ready!"

"Yes!"

Zhang Rang's face became serious.

"By the way, is there any news from the Printing Supervisor?" A gleam of light burst out from the eyes of the emperor, and it shone beautifully.

"I heard from Xin Zhao that Mu Jing has been squatting in the workshop recently, making good progress!"

Zhang Rang said: "But it will take time to achieve results!"

"If I still have time, I can afford to wait, but I may not have much time, you still have to urge the dragon-herding picture. I hope that I can see this craft come out someday!"

"promise!"

"I'm looking forward to it!"

The corner of the emperor's mouth raised a slight smile, and said: "I hope that he, Mulongtu, can turn this scholar community upside down!"

……

……

Printing supervisor.

Paper workshop.

"Jianling, how about this piece of paper?" Workshop supervisor Zuo Yong held a new piece of paper and handed it to Mujing with some excitement.

"no!"

Mu Jing rubbed the paper, shook his head, and said, "It's not up to standard, it's still too rough!"

"Jian Ling, this paper is already much better than the usual ones!"

"How is it compared to Zuo Bozhi?"

Mu Jing asked.

In today's world, the best paper should be Zuobo paper. Zuobo paper was made by a man named Zuobo in Donglai, Qingzhou. This person is famous for his calligraphy and papermaking skills.

"It should be a little bit worse!" Zuo Yong said.

He is the younger brother of Uncle Zuo and an expert in papermaking. He has always served the court, but this time he was conscripted and became the supervisor of the papermaking workshop under the supervision of the Printing Supervisor.

"That's no way!

Mu Jing said: "Our paper must be the best paper in the world!"

In the early days of papermaking, the raw materials were basically rags and bark. The paper produced was rough due to imperfect craftsmanship. Compared with some literati, it was difficult to be elegant, so it has not become the mainstream.

Later, Cai Lun reformed papermaking. He used raw materials such as bark, hemp, cloth, and fishnets to make paper through processes such as crushing, pounding, copying, and baking. This kind of paper is easy to find, cheap, and of good quality. It has been raised a lot.

But it is still impossible to change the habit of using cloth and bamboo slips. On the one hand, it takes time to change the habit. On the other hand, the craftsmanship of the paper is insufficient, and the cost is relatively expensive.

Mujing now uses bamboo to make paper.

Bamboo fibers are hard, brittle, and easy to break, and technical processing is relatively difficult, but if this process is overcome, the quality of paper made from bamboo will become higher and higher, which represents the pinnacle of papermaking.

"Master Supervisor, we have tried our best!"

"It's not enough to do your best, you have to do your best!"

Mu Jing took a deep breath, walked up, and looked at the raw pulp in the big tank: "Beating is not good, the paper produced by such a paddle is uneven, and the quality of the paper is too damaged!"

There are four steps in papermaking.

The first is the separation of raw materials, that is, the raw materials are degummed in lye and dispersed into fibers by retting or steaming.

The second is beating, which is to cut off the fibers by cutting and pounding, and make the fibers broom and become pulp.

The third is papermaking, that is, the pulp is infiltrated with water to make a slurry, and then the pulp is scooped out with a paper scoop (bamboo mat), so that the pulp is interwoven into a thin sheet of wet paper on the scoop.

The fourth is drying, that is, drying or air-drying the wet paper, and peeling it off becomes paper.

Any problem in any step will affect the quality of the paper.

"Give you three days to re-beat!"

Mujing said harshly: "I don't care about the process, I only care about the result!"

"promise!"

Zuo Yong could only grit his teeth and nod his head as the official rank crushed someone to death.

After leaving the papermaking workshop, Mu Jing entered the printing workshop, and the inside was even more chaotic. After all, papermaking already had a foundation, and it was easier to conquer technically, but your movable type printing technique lacks a foundation.

Mu Jing has been busy for more than ten days, but still can only make a prototype.

The development of printing is actually a history.

First of all, block printing appeared in the Tang Dynasty. This kind of printing is backward, the printing plate is not easy to save, and it is difficult to change the wrong words. These are all problems, but even this kind of printing can hold up. The cultural inheritance of the entire Tang Dynasty.

It was not until the Song Dynasty that movable type printing appeared.

Now Mujing has developed movable type printing 1000 years ahead of schedule, which is already cheating. The most important thing is that Mujing is only half a bucket of water in this respect, which makes it even more difficult .

"Greetings, Master Supervisor!"

The supervisor of the printing workshop is a Confucian in his fifties. He is a bit old-fashioned, with bushy white hair. His name is Zhai Kuang. He claims to be the heir of Mohist crafts. , he was a well-known craftsman above the court.

"Supervisor Zhai, how is today's printing plate going?"

"It's still too brittle!" Zhai Kuang cupped his hands and said, "It will break when carving!"

He has witnessed the birth of this craft, and he has already admired Mujing from his heart.

"So the fired ceramics can't be used?"

"I'm afraid not!"

"Change!"

Mujing paced back and forth, and after a while, he said, "Try it with clay!"

He can't remember what material is the best for the printing plate. In the printing workshop, he has tried to use more than a dozen materials to engrave the printing plate, but the effect is not good.

"Clay?"

Zhai Kuang said: "You can try it, the clay is hardened, so we don't know how it will work!"

"In addition, don't give up on wood printing plates, keep trying, try to find the right wood, you can use wood to make different printing plates, try in many ways, and be careful to verify!"

"Yes!" Zhai Kuang nodded.

Mu Jing stayed in the printing workshop for a full afternoon. He followed the dozens of craftsmen who continued to try and went to battle himself, and also won the hearts of many low-level craftsmen.

In the evening, Mu Jing returned to the Hou Mansion of Xi'e Township.

Huo Yu greeted him: "My lord, we have a visitor!"

"guest?"

Mujing's expression moved slightly, but he was a little surprised, his Xi'e Township Marquis Mansion had already been included in the eunuch party, and few people in Luoyang City were willing to visit, so these days are very cold.

Now that there is a visitor, he wants to see who it is.

He stepped in and went straight to the lobby. At this time, a young man in white knelt in front of the lobby and had been waiting for a long time.

"Brother Zhicai?" Mu Jing was taken aback when he saw it, and there was some surprise on his face.

"Brother Longtu!"

It was Xi Long and Xi Zhicai who came here, he stood up, bowed his hands to Mu Jing, and said, "Please forgive me for taking the liberty to visit!"

"Hahaha!"

Mu Jing laughed loudly: "My Marquis Mansion has always been deserted and deserted, and even a scholar is unwilling to step in. It is already my honor, Mu Longtu, for Brother Zhicai to rush into this gate, but there is nothing presumptuous to say!"

"Zhongheng, the guests are here, serve the food and wine quickly!"

Mu Jing gave Huo Yu instructions, and then he did it, and said in a deep voice: "Brother Zhicai, I am dissatisfied with you, there are no scholars in Luoyang who are willing to associate with me, Mu Jing, how can you treat me like this?" , I am very grateful!"

His reputation is now incomparable.

"I can understand Brother Longtu's choice, but I still can't let go of it!" Xi Zhicai said calmly: "The eunuchs have misled the country. In today's world, there are already many hidden dangers. If we can't get rid of the internal troubles, how can we appease the foreign enemies!"

"Brother Zhicai thinks so, it's okay!"

Mu Jing smiled, and said: "It's just that brother Zhicai thinks that this big man's internal troubles are just eunuchs?"

"I'm not ignorant, the world's troubles are nothing more than eunuchs!" Xi Zhicai said with a wry smile: "It's just that the imperial court today has no way to do anything, and there are only eunuchs left! "

He is a smart person who can understand the court, but he is not willing to face this kind of ending.

"understand!"

Mu Jing nodded, and said: "If I am forced to come to this point, I will also follow the choice of the comrades and talents, and go to the side of scholars and become famous all over the world, instead of taking refuge in the ten permanent servants who make a bad statement!"

"Actually, I came here today to ask for something!" Xi Zhicai was silent for a while, but still spoke out.

"Brother Zhicai, you are welcome, please tell me, if I can help, I will do my best!"

Mu Jing was not polite, and agreed directly.

He is not qualified to recruit Xi Zhicai now. After all, he is young and untrustworthy, and has no prestige. How can he get talents to join him? As the so-called talented people are arrogant, the arrogance in their hearts needs to be recognized by them Know the Lord and surrender.

However, he can improve the relationship between the two of them, and there will be opportunities in the future.

"A few of my classmates were arrested by Jian Shuo's people!" Xi Zhicai said in a deep voice.

The students of Yingchuan Academy had no roots in the capital, and were arrested by the ten permanent servants. They could only wait for the corpses to be collected. Those who could help them were basically willing to see the corpses and make noises.

He had already begged if he could, so in desperation, he had no choice but to try Mujing's way.

"What's the reason?" Mu Jing asked.

"Talking about government affairs!"

"This paragraph is a dispensable charge. It seems that they commented on the merits and demerits of the ten permanent servants, and it was a little bit more intense, which aroused the anger of these eunuchs. Therefore, if they were arrested, they would suffer some torture! Mu Jing thought for a while: "I can try to communicate with Jian Shuo, but there are only a few sides between me and him. Jian Shuo holds military power and is a bit rough and rampant. How sure can I convince him? not sure!"

"No matter what the result is, I will definitely remember Brother Longtu's rescue today!"

Hearing this, Xi Long quickly stood up, cupped his hands in salute, and said sincerely.

"Brother Zhicai is too polite!"

Mu Jing quickly helped him up.

After nightfall, Xi Zhicai left.

Zhang Ning has always been elusive in this mansion, and she quickly appeared in the front hall: "Mu Longtu, you promised so readily, are you planning something?"

"Are you eavesdropping?"

"I'm listening openly!" Zhang Ning pouted, signaling her disdain: "Tell me, why did you agree to him!"

"I love to help!"

"You can lie to others, but you can lie to me, save yourself!" Zhang Ning sneered: "This obviously involves dealing with Shi Changshi. In the past, you couldn't avoid it. How could you send it to your door? You must have something to do!"

"Ha ha!"

Mujing smiled coyly, and then explained the reason, saying: "Now I am in the honeymoon period with Shi Changshi, the emperor thinks that I am still valuable, so Shi Changshi won't do anything to me, but for me , It’s just dealing with Shi Changshi, if you can get a favor from Xi Zhicai, this business will definitely be profitable!”

(End of this chapter)