No war in the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 28 Paper Mill Completed

It was not until after three o'clock in the morning that Su Ze took a carriage back to his cabin.

Captain Li promised to give a generous gift after the case was solved, and then he hurriedly left with the thin military leader.

Nothing happened that night. Early the next morning, Ouyang Xiu's servant brought a collection of essays, which was the "Collected Works of Mr. Changli" that he had copied in his childhood.

[The spiritual energy has been detected. Do you want to absorb it? ]

Does this book also have a sense of context?
From the mottled cover and yellowed paper, it can be seen that this is a very old collection of essays.

From the wrinkled corners of the book and the loose binding, it can also be seen that the owner of the collection, Ouyang Xiu, must have read it frequently.

Su Ze opened the collection and finally understood why the system judged that this collection contained the spirit of literary context.

This collection of essays was copied by Ouyang Xiu himself!
Mr. Changli is Han Yu, the leader of the Eight Great Masters of Tang and Song Dynasties and the pioneer of the ancient prose reform movement.

Ouyang Xiu advocated classical Chinese and was also influenced by Han Yu's collection of essays when he was young.

This collection of essays, which he copied by hand, also contains his dense annotations and his insights after reading Han Yu's articles.

This is so precious!
Su Ze couldn't help but sigh that Ouyang Xiu was so fond of talents as the rumors said, as he gave away such a precious collection of essays without hesitation.

Su Ze was a little moved again. Ouyang Xiu might not be mature in politics, but from a human perspective, he was definitely a good teacher and friend.

He has recommended many talented people, and he has never been stingy with his praise for talented people, nor has he been stingy with his help to young scholars.

He was loyal to his friends and followed Fan Zhongyan wholeheartedly and sincerely.

This is the unique feature of the Qingli gentlemen. Politically, they are far inferior to the New Party during the Xining Reform, but in terms of personal charm and integrity, they are worthy of the word "gentleman".

But then again, it was precisely because of the failure of the Qingli New Deal that Wang Anshi and other Xining reformists understood the cruelty of political struggle, and that the reform became a life-and-death political struggle. The party struggles in the late Northern Song Dynasty were the final result of this political polarization.

Su Ze thought about the reasons for his failure in reading the New Policies of the Qingli Period, which can be said to be "the success is due to the gentleman, and the failure is also due to the gentleman."

Fan Zhongyan and others had ideals and noble moral principles, but they were very immature in political struggles and were easily defeated by conservative professional politicians such as Lu Jianyi, Wang Gongchen, and Xia Song.

Su Ze sighed and entered the Peach Blossom Spring holding the "Collected Works of Mr. Changli" annotated by Ouyang Xiu himself.

Taoyuan still has the scene of a paradise on earth. Next to the paper mill, there is an ink-making workshop, and the black smoke is like a pillar piercing the sky.

The guiding boy came in quickly and said to Su Ze:

[One hundred points of cultural energy detected. Do you want to absorb it?]

One hundred points?

That’s right, annotations are not complete articles after all, they are often just fragmentary explanations.

The fact that it can be converted into one hundred points already shows that Ouyang Xiu has profound literary skills.

These one hundred points of cultural energy were an unexpected surprise in themselves. Su Ze immediately asked the guiding boy to absorb the cultural energy in the collection.

There was no change in the collection after absorbing it. Su Ze looked at the remaining 100 points on the volume and thought about what new building to build.

Su Ze asked the guiding boy:
"I've collected some tools for a printing house. Can I build one in Peach Blossom Spring?"

[Does the Taoyuan owner want to design the blueprint himself? ]

Su Ze nodded, and the guiding boy immediately said:

[Of course you can! However, designing your own blueprint will cost you five points of Wenyu Qi. Furthermore, the completed blueprint needs to be approved by Peach Blossom Spring before it can be built. There is a possibility of failure, and the Wenyu Qi will not be refunded if it fails. Are you sure you want to design the blueprint?]

“What does it take to be successful?”

[A blueprinted building must be able to produce the desired product to be considered successful. For example, if the owner of Taoyuan wants to build a printing house, the building he designs must be able to print books.]

So that's how it was. Thinking about how valuable the cultural energy was, Su Ze temporarily backed off. He planned to go back and practice it in the real world first, and then actually print the book. "How much does it cost to upgrade Peach Blossom Spring?"

[Upgrading Peach Blossom Spring requires fifty points of Wenmai Qi.]

Su Ze thought about it and decided to give up. One hundred points of cultural energy were not a lot, so he still had to be thrifty.

At this moment, Ah Zhi came over with a stack of papers on his head and said to Su Ze:

"Master Taoyuan, this is the paper produced by the paper mill yesterday."

Su Ze took the stack of papers. The papers were rough and uneven, with a brownish-yellow tint. They were the same papers he had seen at the Black Printing House last night, used to print pirated books and tabloids.

Azhi explained:

"Master Taoyuan, due to the raw material problem, the paper mill can only produce the lowest quality hemp paper. If you want to make better paper, you need other raw materials."

Su Ze asked:

"What ingredients do you need?"

Ah Zhi bent his little finger and said:

"The most convenient is bamboo paper. All the owner of Taoyuan needs to do is build a bamboo forest. Bamboo paper made from young bamboo is whiter and smoother than hemp paper, and the writing is less likely to dissolve. It is an excellent material for papermaking."

Su Zecai remembered that when he first entered Peach Blossom Spring, there was a building called "Bamboo Forest Halfway Up the Mountain", which turned out to be used for papermaking.

Su Ze nodded and prepared to build a bamboo forest immediately.

Azhi said again:
"In addition, mulberry bark can be used to make mulberry paper, cinnamon bark can be used to make scented paper, and hibiscus bark can be added with hibiscus flower juice to make colored paper. As long as there are enough raw materials, these can all be made."

Su Ze asked in surprise:
"Can you make colored paper?"

Azhi raised his head and said:
"Of course, the papermaking process is similar, but this type of paper requires more effort, and the monthly output will be much lower."

Colored paper is the Shu paper mentioned earlier. It is said that it was invented by Xue Tao, a famous female poet in the Tang Dynasty in Bashu, so it is also called Xue Tao paper.

Nowadays, the most valuable paper used by scholars as business cards is this Shu paper. If it is dotted with gold foil, it can be called Jinhua paper, and a piece of paper can be sold for half a string of coins.

Su Ze asked:

"Can you add gold foil to make gold flower paper?"

Azhi said:

“This isn’t difficult either.”

“How much can you produce in a month?”

"About a hundred."

One hundred?

One hundred pieces equal fifty strings of cash, a huge sum of money that Su Ze had never dared to imagine before!

It just requires gold foil as raw material, so large-scale shipments will probably come at a discount, but it's still a considerable profit.

It turns out that products with high added value make money. No wonder there are so many shops in Bianjing City.

Su Ze thought about it and decided to make colored paper first. He opened the scroll and quickly found the building "Open-air Flower Field".

After spending five points of cultural energy to build an [open-air flower field], Su Ze spent another five points of cultural energy to recruit an ordinary green-quality agricultural boy.

Just as he finished, the guiding boy beside him said:
[Master Taoyuan, you have a guest.]

(End of this chapter)