Chu Tianxiu listened to Old Craftsman Sun's hard persuasion, and couldn't help but look at him in surprise.

It seems that the ancients still knew that tree bark was far cheaper than hemp bark. If they could use bark fibers to make paper, they would naturally not have to use expensive hemp skin to make paper and compete with ordinary people for raw materials for cloth and clothing.

But knowing is knowing, and it can't solve the technical problem.

The bark contains a lot of lignin, pectin, and protein, and the amount is much higher than that of hemp bark. This directly leads to the difficulty of degumming and pulping the bark, which is much higher than that of hemp bark.

The bark of the tree cannot be cleaned of the grease, and it is made of "oil paper". The water doesn't stick, let alone the ink. What did the ancients do with paper that can't be written?

Papermaking needs good alkali.

With high-quality alkali, high-quality paper can be made.

Caihou paper has solved this key difficulty, so that papermaking can be truly popularized.

"There is only one reason why the bark is difficult to get rid of gum, and that is that quicklime is not alkaline enough. Directly switch to more alkaline plant ash for desizing, the effect is much better. ”

Chu Tianxiu smiled.

The old craftsman Sun used quicklime.

Cai Lun switched to plant ash.

The alkaline strength of the naturally occurring alkali, lime and plant ash changes so that the bark can be used for papermaking, bringing earth-shaking changes to papermaking.

Since Cai Lun, the next one or two thousand years of papermaking, almost all of them are made of plant ash.

But until then, the hemp paper craftsmen apparently did not notice the use of plant ash.

"Grass and wood ash... Does this work? ”

When the old craftsman Sun heard this, he muttered in his heart.

This plant ash is easier to source than quicklime, and the bottom of the stove is full of plant ash, and it doesn't cost anything.

However, he had not heard that plant ash could be used as a substitute for lime.

I don't know where this little marquis, who has never done rough work, got his confidence?

"Try it and you'll know!"

Chu Tianxiu said.

The hemp paper workshop stocked up on raw materials, and paper-making tools were readily available.

They experimented with the effects of plant ash in a humble hemp paper workshop.

Chu Tianxiu asked Sun Laojiang to boil the hemp skin directly in two large pots, boiling water, and add plant ash and lime respectively to see the effect of degumming grease.

An hour later, two pots of hemp skin are out of the pot.

Old craftsman Sun's rough hands kept rubbing the two kinds of hemp skins, and looked at them carefully.

One pot has been completely degummed, while the other has only taken off a small amount. The degumming effect of boiling hemp skin with plant ash is obviously higher than that of quicklime boiling hemp skin.

He saw the degreasing effect of the two hemp skins, and finally showed a shock.

Changed to plant ash, the degumming effect is really greatly improved. The glue used to remove the bark of the tree must be much more effective than quicklime.

This is the most exciting and coveted technology of craftsmen!

"Well... It's so easy to use! ”

Sun Laojiang was speechless with excitement, once the cheap bark can be used to make paper, then the cost of paper making will be greatly reduced.

There are many scholars and literati who buy paper in the whole Da Chu, such as carp crossing the river.

How much paper can he sell in this small paper workshop!

Chu Tianxiu said with a smile, "Master Benhou has dozens of acres of wasteland outside the city, and he is going to build a large-scale papermaking workshop. Someone has been sent to level the land, build a workshop, and invite a group of workers to come.

Old craftsman Sun, you are in charge of this new papermaking workshop, responsible for making paper for this marquis.

Remember, the most critical technology of papermaking is the secret of this little marquis, and it must not be leaked, lest anyone compete with us for the papermaking industry. ”

He thought that after a long time, the papermaking technique would eventually leak out.

But at least for the first few years, it was necessary to guard against it.

Earn back the cost of the paper workshop... It's best to earn a sum of money for Li Yu, she thinks that she is a little faint marquis, and she will only spend money indiscriminately.

"Yes, the villain will keep it a secret! The villain makes degreasing water by himself. The others only helped with some irrelevant clumsy work, and did not allow them to participate in the occult arts. ”

Old Craftsman Sun hurried.

Chu Tianxiu then visited the simple hemp paper workshop of the old craftsman Sun to see the hemp paper-making techniques used by the craftsmen Sun.

The Sun family's hemp papermaking technique is simply rough and miserable.

Mr. Sun's wife was in charge of cutting the hemp skin. The peeled hemp skin is soaked in a small pool for a month, which takes a long time.

"Don't soak it in the future, just boil it!"

Chu Tianxiu said.

Then soak the soft hemp skin and mash it into pulp.

This work was done by the three sons of Sun Laojiang, who used handmade stone hammers and constantly beaten.

Exhausting people, the efficiency is extremely low.

"This hand-hammered will be changed to water mill hammering and cattle grinding hammering in the future! Water power in the wet season, ox power in the dry season. ”

Chu Tianxiu said.

Finally, there is the drying of paper.

Sun Laojiang couldn't afford to buy a charcoal fire to dry the paper, and put it on the roof to dry naturally in the sun. The three stupid sons of the Sun family took turns to guard so as not to be stolen.

If you don't get out of the sun, you can't dry paper.

It's just a bite of food... If it's a rainy day for ten days or half a month, then eat bran!

"To dry paper, change it to a baking wall, and dry the paper with charcoal fire. Non-stop production of paper every day. ”

Chu Tianxiu shook his head.

It is no wonder that the monthly output of this hemp paper workshop is only 100 pieces of hemp paper, which is pitifully low.

"Yes, yes, little marquis!"

Old craftsman Sun humbly followed behind Chu Tianxiu's buttocks, nodded desperately, and pricked up his ears to listen, for fear of missing half a word.

This is an exclusive skill taught to him by the little marquis, of course, it must be carefully written down and kept secret.

His faith had increased dramatically. As long as he works hard with the little marquis, his three sons may be able to marry wives.

Chu Tianxiu was about to leave the hemp paper workshop of Craftsman Sun's family, when he suddenly thought of an extremely critical question.

"By the way, the last procedure, when washing the paper on the bamboo mat, add some spice powder to the water. The paper made must have a fragrance!

I'll send you some spice when you get back. This is the most important thing, more important than anything else I said above! ”

He admonished.

"Little Hou Ye, why do you add spices to the water?"

Old Craftsman Sun was dumbfounded.

He already fully understood the magical effect of plant ash. The improvement of other processes, he, the old craftsman, understood and was convinced as soon as he heard it.

But what is the magical effect of this spice, which is more useful than plant ash?

Besides, this spice is ridiculously expensive!

Many of the spices in Jinling City were transported by merchants from the Western Regions at the risk of death, and only high-ranking officials could afford to use one or two spices and one or two gold.

Adding spices to the paper, the cost is not flying into the sky, and the cost is much higher than that of hemp paper.

"The paper made by Benhou, of course, should smell refreshing and fragrant! in order to suppress ... Luck! ”

Chu Tianxiu said with a smile.

Old Master Sun still didn't understand what the little marquis wanted to do, he thought for a while, and suggested in a low voice, "Little marquis, if it's incense on paper... Its practical floral fragrance is also fine! There are many wild flowers outside the city, and it doesn't cost money. ”

"Floral? This method is also not bad, saving spice money! ”

Chu Tianxiu was surprised, pondered for a moment, and immediately said, "Old Craftsman Sun, can you estimate how much the cost of bark paper will be?" ”

"The bark is too cheap and inexhaustible in the countryside outside the city. The paper that the little marquis asked for was fragrant, and the use of petals did not add any cost.

The cost of making this paper ... The villain estimates that the highest is one percent of the cost of hemp paper, and the rest is the cost of craftsmen and workers.

If it is a large workshop to make a large amount of paper, the price of paper is surprisingly cheap. ”

Old Craftsman Sun quickly thought about it, and his face was full of joy.

"Okay, we'll start tomorrow!"

Chu Tianxiu nodded slightly.

Sun Lao Craftsman is an expert in making hemp paper, and he has been doing this work for generations, so he naturally understands the cost of papermaking.

As long as the trick is broken, Chu Tianxiu doesn't need to mention more about the rest.

He had already instructed Di'er to go to the outskirts of Jinling City and immediately start building a huge new workshop.

According to his design, it is necessary to use the water conservancy of the river to make water hammer and pound the slurry to save labor costs. From all aspects, the process is greatly improved to improve the efficiency of papermaking.

Once the new workshop is built, the output can be very large, making paper day and night.

"Hmmm! Before the workshop outside the city is built, you first use the new process to make paper as soon as possible in this hemp paper workshop, and hurry up to make the first batch of paper, Ben Hou is in a hurry to use it! ”

Chu Tianxiu commanded.

"Yes!"

Old Master Sun nodded again and again.

...

In the following days, Chu Tianxiu took Sun Laojiang every day to the new papermaking workshop on the outskirts of Jinling City to personally guide the whole process of papermaking.

Because Chu Tianxiu asked to build a good workshop as soon as possible.

Di'er invited hundreds of stonemasons and carpenters from Jinling City to build a workshop.

All kinds of knives, cooking and baking tools required for papermaking, such as peeling, washing, soaking grass and wood ash, cooking, mashing, pulping, papermaking, drying paper, and unwrapping, are started at the same time.

In fact, the tool of Cai Hou paper is very simple.

The largest tools, namely water grinding hammers and cattle grinding hammers. In the wet season, the bark is crushed with a stone hammer to make pulp, and in the dry season, the raw materials are crushed with ox power for pulping.

The houses are all huts made of wood.

The construction of the new paper mill was very fast, and it took two days to see the prototype.

It cost less than two thousand taels of silver to complete the tools needed for the new paper workshop.

Old Master Sun followed behind the little marquis, listening to the little marquis's instructions on every detail of papermaking, and was extremely excited. The little marquis is too powerful, he is simply a god.

In the past two days, he has learned more new technologies than he has accumulated in half a lifetime.

The newly made water conservancy stone hammer only needs one person to operate, and it is worth the tired and tiring manual grinding of ten big men.

His three sons pounded the pulp together, which was equivalent to the original manpower of more than 30 laborers.

Boil the bark to greatly speed up the rate of degumming grease. Several charcoal fire walls dozens of zhang long were built to dry paper, regardless of weather or shine, day and night.

Once the new paper mill is built, the speed of paper production is unimaginable.