"Could it be someone from the Sili Mansion?"

"Not like! Last time Dade Temple was built, Meng Xingchun came to Qiantang to watch the ceremony, and there were a few more yellow-eared dogs cruising around Jingyuan in those days, and as soon as Meng Xingchun left, he immediately dispersed. The two men who were stationed here were very careful, and generally did not follow us, and besides, they were not as strange and light as this man, and the stealth route they chose was completely different, and I would have barely noticed him if it had not been for the reflection of the snow at night. ”

What Zuo Yan said was very reasonable, Xu You nodded, took the hot ginger soup handed by the autumn equinox, took a sip to remove the cold in his body, and said: "The Crouching Tiger Division has just gained a foothold in Yangzhou, and the manpower is not more than 100, so it is impossible to spend too much effort on us, especially Meng Xingchun is just suspicious of me, and he does not regard him as an enemy, and it is already very face-saving to arrange two people to wait at any time." He blew the ginger foam on the side of the bowl, took a few more sips, and felt the warmth rising from his abdomen, the low-key satisfaction, beyond words, said: "Well, could that be Liu Yan's eyeliner?" Today's good deeds of Tang Zhiyi are ruined, and someone is sent to test our details? ”

"This ...... This person's martial arts should be more than a step higher than the yellow-eared dog of Sili Mansion, and Liu Yan may not be able to move such a character......"

"That's right! In this way, no matter who sent him, he always wants to find out something, and we act above board, not afraid of what people say, and let him follow if we want to. Don't startle the snake first, wait until the time is right, and then touch the melon along the vine......" Xu You shook his fingers and said with a smile: "Mess him up!" ”

Early in the morning of the second day, Xu You took He Weizuo Yan and others with Yan Shujian and Yan Cheng at the gate of the city, and walked for about an hour in an ox cart to a place surrounded by mountains and rivers. Quiet and lonely, the river field is longitudinally clothed, a stream pours down from the mountain, gurgling eastward, the paper mill of Sibaofang is located on the bank of the river, covering an area of about ten acres, the main body is the green tile wooden structure building of one floor and one bottom plus one corridor, plus the bungalows on the left and right sides of the total seventeen, the design is ingenious, the style is unique, the scale is grand.

When I got closer, there were two vivid little figures carved at the two corners of the front eaves, with short trousers and bent over, as if to welcome visitors from all over the world. Yan Shujian explained to Xu You the various utensils in the workshop: "This is a pond, soak hemp, rattan or mulberry bark in it, then chop it up and dry it, apply it with plant ash and put it in a bucket ......"

In fact, plant ash is to use weak alkalinity to remove the lignin, pectin, pigment and oil and other impurities in the raw materials, which is consistent with the principle of alkaline chemical pulping in later generations. In the early days, lime water was used, and later it was found that the effect of plant ash was better, so it began to be passed down from the Eastern Han Dynasty to the present.

Xu You is very familiar with the evolution process of papermaking, but many ancient things have been lost in later generations, and he has not seen the real thing with his own eyes, so he said with interest: "Bucket? ”

"Lang Jun, please come with the old man...... This is the bucket, put the paper in the bucket and cook it for several days, and then mash it with a mortar. There are stone vertebrae and wooden vertebrae on the mortar, depending on the specific situation of the paper material, it is used as appropriate. ”

The so-called bucket is similar to a retort for steaming rice, but it is several times larger, and the bottom is made of bamboo strips to create an upward arched cone, leaving many small holes for water vapor to pass through.

"After that, it is put into the sink and used a paper maker to scoop up the pulp, and after drying, it is uncovered and stored for sale. The whole process of chopping, breaking, marinade, washing, stepping on materials, slotting, papermaking, each process is very particular, so in order to make the best paper ......"

Xu You looked at the papermaker, and there was no movable paper curtain, and it had to be replaced in time after each papermaking, which was not only extremely inefficient but also increased the production cost, no wonder a piece of paper was more expensive than rice and grain. And this kind of papermaker has a fixed specification, and can only produce paper of the same size, which is conducive to writing articles, but not conducive to painting, so Xu You sometimes uses silk when he sees Gu Yun making large-scale landscape paintings. Of course, there is a reason why the silk is light and soft, but it is more that the silk is wide in size, which is far better than hemp rattan paper.

"What are the regulations of these papermaking? How much is the length and width? ”

"The large paper is about one foot eight minutes long and one foot three minutes wide, and the small paper is one foot four inches long and nine inches and five minutes wide!" Although Yan Shujian is old, he has been immersed in the paper industry all his life, and he remembers all the data clearly, and said: "Lang Jun thinks something is wrong? This is the regulation ruled by the Ministry of Industry, and the paper mills of the entire Chu State make paper according to this regulation, and the size is the same. ”

"Nothing!"

For a whole day, Xu You spent all his time in the paper mill, looking east and west, as if Grandma Liu had entered the Grand View Garden, and asked if she didn't understand, and soon felt the current situation of papermaking technology in the north and south dynasties, and her heart was more bottom-up.

Seeing that it was getting late, in order not to be locked out of the city, everyone set off for the return journey and trekked back to Jingyuan, feeling exhausted.

Xu You lay on the couch, stretched his waist for a long time, looked at Zuo Yan who was standing in front of the couch, and said, "How is it?" ”

"The man is still following...... But this time it was farther away, and I didn't dare to get close. I felt it, but I couldn't find his exact location......"

"Interesting!"

Xu You's eyes flashed with a faint light, and he smiled: "Maybe it's not an enemy, but a heroic appearance that likes the wind tiger......"

"Poof!"

Frost was drinking water in small sips, and it squirted out directly, and He Wei, who was sitting opposite her, immediately suffered.

"I ...... I'm not careful, it's not strange! Frost blushed and hurriedly went to find a towel to wipe him.

He Wei didn't care when his clothes were wet, and said seriously: "I think Qilang's inference is very reasonable, the wind and tiger are high-minded, and his bearing is extraordinary, and it is reasonable to be admired." ”

Zuo Yan was joked by the two, where to parry, ran away, and said: "I'll go and see if the autumn equinox is ready for dinner!" ”

Xu You and He Wei glanced at each other and laughed at the same time.

"Whoever sent it was a nuisance. Why don't you set up a trap tomorrow to lure this guy who steals chickens and dogs to show his face? ”

Xu You shook his head and said, "Don't worry, wait!" ”

Seeing that he was paying attention, He Wei no longer persuaded him, muttered for a moment, and said, "Qilang, do you really plan to run a paper business?" ”

"There is a huge profit hidden in the paper, and its wings are not ignorant. We are trapped in Qiantang, and a lot of more than one million dollars have been used up from the Yuan family of Jinling, if we don't hurry up to find a door to make a living, at this time next year, it is estimated that we will have to retort the dust and kettlefish, and there is no way to continue. ”

"Fan Shiyun is dusty in the retort, and Fan Laiwu is raw fish in the kettle!" Lu Shuang walked in with a towel handkerchief, just in time to hear Xu You's last sentence, smiled and responded to two lines of poetry, and said, "Xiaolang, do you want to learn from that Fan Shiyun?" ”

"Book of the Later Han Dynasty" records that Fan Ran, a native of the Eastern Han Dynasty, whose name is Shiyun, once served as the commander of Laiwu County, also known as Fan Laiwu, was poor when he returned to seclusion, and often cut off cooking, so the neighborhood children sang songs and ridiculed him for being dusty and fishy, and his life was poor.

Xu You sighed: "You see, even the frost knows that it is impossible to have no money. During this period of time, I seem to be leisurely, in fact, I have been thinking about doing something with the existing capital in my hands, and the ocean-going goods can be made every day, but the required capital is not less than five million, and the sea is turbulent, once in distress, the cost is too great, not what we can afford now. That day, I went to Sibaofang to buy paper, but I was inspired, with the fame of Sibaofang in Qiantang, the paper sold is still of such a low grade, but the price remains high, isn't it an excellent money-making business? ”

"So in Youhe Village Qilang let Fenghu teach Tang Zhiyi and his gang a small lesson, expelled the matter, and did not punish them much, in order to give them the courage to continue to coerce Yan Shujian, so that this little old man finally had no way out, so he had to find another way out of Sibaofang. Otherwise, with his stubbornness and feelings for Sibaofang, Xiao Lang wants to get it in his pocket, and I'm afraid that no matter how much money he makes, it will be difficult to achieve his goal. ”

Lushuang smiled, knelt in front of He Wei, and carefully wiped off the water stains for him with a towel, but the corner of his eye passed on Xu You's face, I don't know if he was thinking: Is Xiaolang's city really to such a strict state?

"You, you always like to think badly of people!"

Xu You knew He Wei's temperament, so he was not angry, and said with a smile: "The grievances between Yan Shujian and Liu Yan, who is right and who is wrong, cannot be determined at the moment. I just want to help Yan Shujian, but the teacher is unknown, and he can't do it if he wants to interfere, not to mention that he may not be willing to let outsiders intervene in this matter. As for yesterday's visit, it was to discuss business with him, but who would have expected to meet Tang Zhiyi by chance? Therefore, luck is on your side, and he can't help but disagree......"

He Wei laughed and said, "Okay! What Shichiro said is that luck is on your side and mine! God has made us unlucky for so long, it's time to pull it up! ”

After dinner, the day's travel fatigue spread to all parts of his body, and Xu You soon fell into a deep sleep. I don't know how long later, I vaguely heard movement outside, and opened my eyes in a daze, through the window lattice, I could see the crescent moon dim, the starlight dim, and the darkness without a finger.

"Autumnal equinox?"

Xu You called, but didn't hear a response, and followed the call, still silent as stagnant water, he woke up suddenly, turned over and sat up.

Something went wrong?

"It's you!"

Zuo Yan's deep voice sounded in the courtyard: "So bold...... Let you go, dare to ......" Across the layers of houses and rocks, Xu You didn't really hear it, got out of bed in his clothes, didn't light the lamps and candles, and slowly walked to the door.

Autumn Equinox was standing outside the door, staring at the two people fighting in the courtyard, leaning forward slightly, his hands clenched into fists, his whole body was like a tense bowstring, and the slightest touch would burst out with endless power.

This is the state of the White Tiger Gold when it is ready to attack, all the perceptions are focused on the enemy in front of him, Xu You knows it very well, no wonder the autumn equinox did not hear his call.

"What's wrong?"

The autumn equinox suddenly turned around, looking extremely nervous, and saw that it was Xu Youcai who breathed a sigh of relief, and said, "That person is here!" ”

"Who?"

Xu You's martial arts were lost, his eyesight was out of reach, and he only saw the two people who were moving in a flash, but the night was like ink, and he couldn't tell which one it was.

"It's the mountain sect that kidnapped Ah Ku...... I recognized him at a glance! ”

Xu You's face was surprised, Shanzong? Didn't he go back to Minghai, and swore in the name of his great-ancestor not to set foot in Wu County for three years, and now he is backtracking, could it be that he really misjudged his character?

What's more, how did he know that he was living in Jingyuan, and what was his intention when he broke in late at night?

Could it be that the mountain sect could not bear the humiliation of being captured on the ship that day, and gathered the pirates to take revenge?