Eat, eat, eat in the primordial world

Where there is writing, there must be a pen; where there is a pen, there must be paper. Making a pen is not difficult; Jiang Yuan could make one himself.

But papermaking is a technical skill, and he had only heard about the specific steps from others, without having tried it himself. Replicating it would be quite difficult and would require continuous experimentation.

Fortunately, time was plentiful in the primordial world, papermaking materials were cheap, and labor was readily available. Therefore, the cost of trial and error was low, allowing him to keep trying until he succeeded.

"Paper needs to be made, and cloth needs to be woven; wearing animal skins is too uncomfortable."

While making paper, Jiang Yuan also sought out Ziyi Shi and proposed to her the idea of ​​finding silkworm silk, spider silk, and other materials to weave cloth.

Everyone has their own area of ​​expertise. When it comes to matters related to clothing, it's always best to leave it to Ziyi Shi and let her come up with a solution.

Ziyi, along with Suiren and Youchao, are known as the three ancestors of the human race. They were the three people originally created by the goddess Nuwa.

In the early days of humankind, the Ziyi clan taught their people to use animal skins and leaves to cover their bodies, instilling shame and preventing them from going naked.

At the same time, it was also through observing the characteristics of tree branches that the Ziyi clan invented rope-making technology, which was used to bind prey, secure dwellings, and tie clothing, greatly promoting the development of human civilization.

Human clothing originated with the Ziyi clan, and she possessed an unparalleled advantage in this area. The reason she didn't think of using silk to weave cloth wasn't due to a lack of ability, but rather because the era limited her.

During this period, human civilization was too backward. There was no experience from ancestors to inherit, and everything had to be figured out on their own, so every step was extremely difficult.

But Jiang Yuan was different. He came from a later era, and his vision far surpassed that of his time. He clearly understood how the human race should develop in the best way possible.

Therefore, seeing that Ziyi was still confused, Jiang Yuan took the initiative to visit her and used advanced knowledge from later generations to guide her to discover the uses of silkworm silk and spider silk, thus developing the weaving industry.

Jiang Yuan is only human, and his energy is limited; he can't possibly know everything. But the human race is not lacking in capable people. As long as he expresses his ideas in detail, there will always be someone capable enough to turn them into reality.

The same principle applies to the creation of characters, the weaving of cloth, and even the paper that Jiang Yuan is now trying to create.

Of these three tasks, his main role was to provide ideas and explain the benefits of doing so. As for the rest, it was basically none of his business; professionals would handle the refinement and implementation.

For example, when it came to papermaking, after directing the students to try several times and all of them failed, Jiang Yuan let them study it on their own, while he went back to cultivate.

This is the primordial wilderness; even if the simplest materials are used, the paper produced here will not be ordinary paper, but spiritual paper imbued with spiritual energy.

Since it is related to spiritual energy, the result is predictable. It cannot be achieved in a short period of time; it will take at least a decade or two to try.

With so much time on his hands, Jiang Yuan had no time to waste; he might as well go cultivate. Anyway, he had already passed on the specific ideas and procedures, so the subsequent trial and error would be the same whether he was there or not.

……

In the vast wilderness, time seemed to stand still, and in the blink of an eye, another ten years had passed.

That evening, Jiang Yuan had just finished a day of cultivation when he saw one of his students running towards him excitedly, holding a piece of white paper that shimmered with spiritual light.

"Master Yuan, it's done!"

"Following the method you passed down, we have indeed created white paper, as white as snow and as clear as jade."

As they were talking, the student had already come up to Jiang Yuan and handed him the first piece of paper that had appeared in the primordial world.

"good!"

"You've worked hard!"

Jiang Yuan took the white paper, gently stroked the patterns on it, and couldn't help but say "good".

Literature carries the Way, and paper carries words. With the advent of paper, knowledge became easier to spread, and human civilization experienced a leap forward.

At the same time, the idea that had been accumulating in his mind for a long time could finally become a reality.

"Master Yuan, we are not suffering. With paper and pen, more people in our tribe will be able to learn to write in the future."

"We are contributing to our people, so how could we feel tired? We are happy about it."

The student said excitedly, not feeling any hardship or fatigue at all.

"very good!"

Jiang Yuan nodded, took out his character-creating pen, and wrote a large character for "paper" on this first piece of paper from the primordial era. Then he asked the student, "Do you have a surname?"

"No!"

The student shook his head.

Human civilization is still in its nascent stage. Therefore, most people in the race have names but no surnames, and their names are quite arbitrary, often based on things or objects.

For example, the name Jiang Yuan means "deep water." Also, Jiang Yuan's surname is not actually Jiang; it is Feng. Jiang was his surname in a previous life.

Suirenshi took Feng as his surname, which was the ancestral surname of the human race. Jiang Yuan, as a descendant of him, naturally also took Feng as his surname.

"Now you have it. From this day forward, all of you who participated in papermaking will take paper as your surname, in order to highlight your achievements."

Upon hearing that he had no surname, Jiang Yuan handed him a piece of paper and told him to remember the character, as it would be his surname from now on.

"Thank you, Master Yuan!"

The student, who was also called Paper, exclaimed excitedly.

In the modern human race, being granted a surname is a great honor, equivalent to becoming an official and receiving support from the entire human race, no longer needing to work.

Therefore, the human race is extremely cautious about bestowing surnames, and only those who have made sufficient contributions can do so. The achievement of papermaking clearly meets this condition.

In the ancient times, those with better resources used jade tablets to record text, while those with less resources used stone tablets, which was very inconvenient. The advent of paper, however, undoubtedly surpassed these methods in terms of convenience and practicality.

Therefore, the emergence of paper was of great significance to humankind. It not only facilitated the dissemination of knowledge but also enabled the use of paper to trade with other races and obtain various much-needed resources.

This alone is enough to warrant bestowing a surname upon those who invented the art of papermaking.

Boom!

Just as the two were talking, a strange phenomenon suddenly appeared in the sky. A large number of auspicious clouds gathered and transformed into golden lotus flowers that fell down.

Golden Lotus of Merit!

More merit has been bestowed!

Then, the golden lotus of merit that fell from the sky suddenly split into three above the human race. One part fell into Jiang Yuan's body, one part merged into the paper in his hand, and the last part turned into specks of golden light, which fell into the bodies of the paper makers.

"Is papermaking a meritorious deed?"

Jiang Yuan's mind raced, and he roughly understood what was going on. The invention of paper facilitated the dissemination of knowledge, which was a meritorious act of education. Therefore, when paper was created, merit was bestowed.

"Continue your research on papermaking techniques and see if you can create better quality spiritual paper; I will have a great use for it."

Coming to his senses, Jiang Yuan hurriedly gave the paper a few instructions, then took the merit paper in his hand and went to see the Ancestor Sui.

Paper has immense value; if used properly, it can undoubtedly bring enormous benefits to humankind. However, how to use it specifically is not something Jiang Yuan can decide alone; he needs to discuss it with the Ancestor Sui.