Chapter 300 - Rice Paper and Printing

Chapter 300: Rice Paper and Printing

“Sandalwood?”

Xu Ke was confused for a moment. He did not understand the connection between Chongzhou’s rich production of sandalwood and her favoritism towards Chongzhou.

“Well, don’t underestimate the sandalwood.” Jiang Pengji smiled and revealed a hint of gentleness. “At first, Chongzhou wasn’t my aim. However, I changed my mind because of the sandalwood. If Father is appointed as the magistrate of Chongzhou, many plans can be started.”

Jiang Pengji wanted to demolish the current knowledge inheritance system. The primary problem was not the criticism that she would receive from the aristocratic families, but the material used to produce books.

Bamboo was cumbersome and costly, so even if the commoners farmed for their entire lives, they would not be able to raise a scholar.

Although bamboo paper was good, it had some disadvantages. Paper mills had limited annual production. Apart from the fact that a thing was priced as though it was rare and they had to control the production output, there were also limited raw materials.

Hejian County had dense forests, but there were very few bamboo forests. The quality of bamboo would affect the quality of bamboo paper.

In terms of the transportation in the ancient times, raw materials would have to be obtained locally in order to save as much costs as possible. Therefore, the bamboo papers produced by the paper mills were mostly sold to the aristocrats. The rest of them were for their own use. The scale of production had never been expanded.

Jiang Pengji’s ambition was not limited to that. The output of bamboo paper could not satisfy her needs, so she naturally had to find another way.

After searching all kinds of wood, sandalwood was the type of wood that Jiang Pengji found to be the closest to the blue sandalwood tree.

The audience in the streaming room said that rice paper was the type of paper used in the ancient times. One of the raw materials used to produce rice paper was blue sandalwood.

“The nature of sandalwood is hard and dense. It’s tough and wear-resistant. It can be used to produce solid and durable farming tools, furniture, and axles. Its bark and branches are even more useful…” Jiang Pengji explained in a low voice. She used her finger to write something on the table.

Paper!

Xu Ke understood her tacitly and his eyes seemed to brighten. “Really?” Jiang Pengji nodded.

The technology for producing bamboo papers in the paper mills was developed. Even if a type of raw material was changed, a new type of paper could be produced after a few experiments.

With the cheap raw material and the support of a developed technology, that meant that the cost of the new type of paper would be much lower––at least it would be cheaper than it was now.

Xu Ke rubbed his hands excitedly. Once he thought of the fact that a lot of bamboo papers could be purchased at a lower price, he was so thrilled that his heart was beating fast. “… However, if Chongzhou accidentally falls into the hands of others… By then, all the plans will…”

Jiang Pengji replied, “That’s why I need to let Father know of this matter and try to find a way to make it work so we can conquer Chongzhou righteously.”

According to the current situation, it was not difficult to conquer Chongzhou. The only fear was that there would be an accident midway.

“You really need to discuss this matter with Master.” Xu Ke secretly took a few deep breaths to suppress the excitement in his heart.

Since he was born into a common family, he knew very well about how difficult it was to be literate. According to his family situation, it would have been impossible for him to study if his master was not a kind person that took pity on him.

If the Langjun in front of him could really accomplish such a heroic undertaking, he would be willing to be her slave for the rest of his life.

“Besides, there’s one more thing.” Jiang Pengji lowered her eyelids, got up, and grabbed a greenish black box. There were a few stacks of paper in the box that were all painted by Jiang Pengji. She unfolded them in front of Xu Ke. “Look at this. What do you think?”

Xu Ke did not understand her, so he carefully unfolded it and looked at it. He was a bit confused and could not understand its meaning.

However, the audience in the streaming room understood it. It was not enough to have paper. Manual copying would use up a lot of energy, so printing was essential.

Tushuguan Guanzhang: “Is the streamer going to print in secret? Is it movable type printing or woodblock printing?”

Laosiji Lianmeng: “It must be movable type printing… However, in some cases, woodblock printing is better than movable type printing.”

Dianji Mowang: “I’m disappointed. I was hoping that the streamer would use something like a printing machine, but it turns out to be printing.”

Shitang Dafan Ayi: “Tsk. Great oaks grow from little acorns. No matter how skilled the streamer is, she’s just a human. The technology in that era is just like that. According to Dianji Mowang, you should be complaining about why the streamer isn’t building a spacecraft.”

Jiang Pengji had thought about paper and printing a long time ago.

There was a paper mill that produced bamboo papers with ready-made technology in hand, so she only had to think about ways to save costs and choose the suitable raw materials.

As for printing? Ha! She only knew about printing machines.

That stuff was a super old antique in her world and it was something that lived in history books. How would Jiang Pengji know about the mechanics and the structure of the parts inside? Besides, even if she knew, the materials and technology in the current world would not be able to support her in creating a printing machine.

If a printing machine could not be created, one could only be content with the second best and choose a sillier way. The words in the book were carved out in advance, then the typeface was printed.

One or two books was nothing. However, if tens of thousands of copies were printed, the efficiency would definitely be different.

Xu Ke put down the drawing paper in a somewhat puzzled manner. He said, bewildered, “Langjun, this…”

Jiang Pengji took out her own private seal and stamped it on the paper, then she raised her eyebrows at Xu Ke. “Do you still not get it?”

A miraculous brightness flashed across Xu Ke’s face. He hurriedly picked up the paper; he was so excited that he did not know how to react.

“It’s not that easy. It’s too early to be excited.” Jiang Pengji shook her head and said, “I originally wanted to use clay as a matrix, but firing the clay is time consuming. The ingredients of the clay have to be looked into as well to prevent the font from being misshapen… If the clay is burned, a kiln has to be made…”

Xu Ke thought for a while and replied, “Then let’s look for other materials like copper, iron, wood…”

The use of copper and iron as raw materials to make the matrix required a huge amount of material cost. Wood was quite a good choice, but it could potentially become deformed or damp, or it could be eaten by woodworms.

Jiang Pengji lowered her eyelids and said, “Sandalwood is actually quite good, and woodworms don’t easily consume it. It has a fine texture and it won’t become too deformed. It should be able to last longer if it’s kept in a dry place… However, we need to run an experiment in order to know the specifics.”

The key thing was that wood was cheaper and it would be easier to carve as well.

Xu Ke nodded solemnly.

If those two things were successful, it would benefit countless students who were eager to learn––not to mention that it would go down in history.

Pains for the moment, gains for the millennia.

“Keep it. Wait until we really stand firm. Take it slow.” Jiang Pengji got up and patted Xu Wei’s shoulders.

******

Liu She and the other deputy examiners had to review the exam papers in a heavily-guarded place. He was the head and the other examiners were official assistants. They gave a score to all the exam papers, which were all anonymous. The scores were namely listed as “excellent,””moderate,” and “poor.” Then, they comprehensively calculated the scores of the other sections.

There were only a little more than 100 scholars, so the work was not all that tedious.