Straight man of steel

Chapter 234
After doing the things Zhang Yuan explained well, this time Wei Qing can also stay in Zhang's mansion peacefully for a few days.

In order to treat Wei Qing well, Chef Wang cooks different dishes every day. Although it is not as good as Zhang Yuan's skills, it can still be said to be delicious.

The process of papermaking has almost completed one-third of the process from bamboo cutting, green cutting, whitening, falling into the pond, cutting off materials, and then soaking the blank.

The Han Dynasty had a cooking utensil similar to a tripod, but without a tripod. It was called a wok, which was closer to the large basin of later generations.

In order to make paper, Zhang Yuan sent people directly to Lantian County to buy [-] large woks, all of which were made of iron. Not only did the copper ones conduct heat poorly, but they were also expensive.

After soaking in the lime solution, the white blanks can be placed in a large wok after being left empty for a day or two to dry.

Originally, the system required a wok that could hold hundreds of bundles, but Zhang Yuan couldn't find such a big one for a while, and it was too late to ask the craftsman at home to make it. In the end, he had to buy the largest wok on the market.

Seven or eight bundles of white billets can be placed in a wok.

After putting all the white blanks into the wok, add water to completely cover the white blanks and seal the top.

Then set the fire directly at the bottom of the wok to cook the white blank in the wok.

Because the fire underneath could not be extinguished, Zhang Yuan sent more than ten people to guard the firewood day and night, rotating every four hours.

These eighty piles of firewood formed eighty bundles of smoke, which could be seen from more than ten miles away when gathered together.

The palace guards at the Dinghu Yanshou Palace on the other side of Lantian Mountain thought that Lantian Mountain was on fire, and sent someone to look at it, but they were sent back by their old boss Wei Qing.

After all the white ingredients in the wok were cooked and taken out, Wei Qing also left Zhang's mansion because he had to go back to Chang'an.

After Wei Qing left, Zhang Yuan began to study papermaking more calmly, and then started working as a supervisor.

After the cooked bamboo material was taken out of the wok, it was immediately put into the clear water pond to keep it moist. The bamboo material that was originally placed in the clear water pond needed to be washed continuously to remove the decay, but because of the wealth and honor they repaired the water The pond itself is connected to the stream, and it is only necessary to place batches of bamboo materials at the water inlet in turn.

This process lasted for half a month. Zhang Yuan saw that the bamboo material had no decay, so he asked people to take out the rinsed bamboo material and bind it together again.

After binding, put the bamboo materials into the stone mortar, and pound the bamboo materials to make them into fine powder.

Then take out the fine powder and break it evenly, and finally put it into the paper slot.

The paper trough is actually a pool, but it is built with loess instead of dug out of the ground.

While washing the bamboo materials, Lao Zhao took the men, women and children in the house together to make paper curtains. He raised silkworms at home to weave gauze, and then nailed the gauze with wood to make a paper curtain.

Many servant girls still didn't know what Zhang Yuan was going to do, and they all talked privately, saying that it was a waste to use the gauze to make paper curtains.

Zhang Yuan just smiled and didn't say anything after hearing this. As long as the people below did what he said, they would break their mouths as much as they wanted.

Originally, the purpose of papermaking was to remove the rough tendons to make the final bamboo paper smoother and more beautiful, but Zhang Yuan did not let the people below do this in order to make the paper smoothly.

There are thick ribs that allow the fine materials that turn into slurry to adhere to the surroundings. In fact, it is easier to produce paper, but the quality is not good.

But now is not the time to care about quality at all. As long as paper is made in this era, it is considered awesome.

At this time, Zhang Yuan didn't let the people below intervene, but let them all watch from the sidelines.

Zhang Yuan took the paper curtain by himself, put it into the paper slot, made the slurry rippling and attached to the paper curtain, and then shook it slowly to make the slurry on the paper curtain even.

Then tilt the paper curtain forward to let the excess slurry and residual fibers flow out. Finally, a layer of pulp mold is deposited on the paper curtain. Finally, the paper curtain is taken out from the paper groove and the pulp mold attached to it is removed. Turn it upside down on a paper rack to dry.

After the complete demonstration of the movements, Zhang Yuan started to let them do it one by one.

Then I will provide guidance on the side and point out any irregularities on the spot and ask them to improve.

In the end, everyone in the dozens of people present learned how to use paper curtains to make paper pulp molds.

When it was getting dark, the paper racks were already covered with pulp molds, and the next step was to quietly wait for these pulp molds to dry and form paper.

Because Zhang Yuan thought about making bamboo paper from the beginning instead of making hemp paper such as hemp, bark, and coarse cloth, he saved a lot of manpower.

Three days later, the pulp molds on the paper racks had dried to become bamboo paper.

Zhang Yuan went to Houyuan alone, took off a piece of bamboo paper, touched it and found that there was plush on the back of the paper, and the surface of the paper could also be seen with veins, which was rough to the touch.

But after shaking a few times, it didn't break, and Zhang Yuan smiled.

Roughness is fine, thick is fine, as long as it is tough and not brittle, and can be written and stored easily, it has achieved the desired purpose.

"Zong Xing."

Zhang Yuan shouted loudly, and Zong Xing ran to the backyard after hearing it.

"Homeowner."

"Have someone remove all these papers, cut them into half-foot squares, find a box, put them in a sealed box, and let no one touch them."

Zong Xing heard the seriousness of the matter from Zhang Yuan's words, and immediately complied with his promise to find someone he could trust to handle the matter.

Zhang Yuan himself peeled off ten sheets of paper that seemed to be of the best quality, cut them by himself, polished all the rough edges, rolled them into a roll, put them in a wooden box, and then filled them with wool.

"Old Zhao, I'm going to Chang'an City to prepare my horse.

Before I came back, the gate was closed and no one was allowed to enter or exit. "

Zhang Yuan has never faced a matter so seriously, because he knows that as long as the news is revealed, before Liu Che speaks, those hungry wolves hiding in the dark will jump out one by one, hoping to bite off a piece of meat on Zhang Yuan. .

In fact, paper has already appeared at this time, but it will break if you pinch it. If you write on it vigorously, it will break, let alone revising it into a book.

Cai Lun's ability to make paper is based on the countless failures of his predecessors, and he can only succeed by summing up various methods.

As soon as Lao Zhao heard this, he immediately became serious, and assured Zhang Yuan.

"Patriarch, you can rest assured that you can go to Chang'an City. During this period of time, no one will be sympathetic until you return safely from Chang'an City."

At the critical moment, Lao Zhao is still very useful, and he will not lose the chain. This is the main reason why Zhang Yuan asked him to be the housekeeper.

After explaining, Zhang Yuan rode a wooden box on horseback and galloped towards Chang'an in the north.

(End of this chapter)