Papermaking is one of the four great inventions of ancient China. Who invented papermaking? The most common assertion is that it was the Eastern Han eunuch Cai Lun. The main basis is the record of the Book of the Later Han.

The book says: Since ancient times, the book deed is mostly made of bamboo slips, and those who use silk silk are called paper. Silk is expensive and simple, and it is not convenient for people. Lunnai intended to use tree skin, hemp and cloth, and fishing nets as paper. In the first year of Yuanxing, it was played. The emperor is good at his ability, and he is indispensable to use, so the world is called "Cai Hou paper". Therefore, according to Cai Lun of the Eastern Han Dynasty as the inventor of paper, the time when he presented paper to Emperor Liu Zhao of the Han Dynasty was the year of the birth of paper.

According to Xu Shen's explanation of paper in "Shuowen Jie Zi", the paper mentioned in the ancient documents before Cai Lun is made of silk fibers, which is actually not paper, but a by-product of bleaching.

The paper used in the Western Han Dynasty is not paper in the true sense. From the outside, its paper belly is loose, the paper surface is rough, and the thickness varies greatly. This is because the vast majority of fibers and fiber bundles are long, indicating that it has a poor degree of cutting, which is formed by the natural accumulation of fibers, and has not gone through the basic operation process of papermaking such as shearing and pulping, so it cannot be regarded as real paper, at best it is just the prototype of paper.

Cai Lun and his craftsmen summarized and improved on the basis of their predecessors' bleaching and manufacturing prototype paper, and transferred the production of paper to the stage of an independent industry in terms of raw materials and processes for writing. Although "Cai Lun paper" will not be made by Cai Lun, without his "creative intention", the craftsman alone will not be able to make plant fiber paper. Therefore, there is a good historical basis for Cai Lun to be the inventor of papermaking.

It's a pity that Su Ren, the guy who came out halfway, completely broke Eunuch Cai's dream, and another famous eunuch fell like this.

watched Su Ren take out the paper from his arms and spread it on the table. The master father touched it curiously, his hand was smooth, the color was snow-white, and the toughness looked good, he didn't dare to bend it and didn't know whether it was strong or not.

"This is the paper that the gentleman made?"

Su Ren nodded: "Exactly, I have already sent someone to study it the year before last, and it is also a coincidence, it was just made some time ago, and it was delivered to me after I came back yesterday, I didn't expect it to be very good, although there is a big gap with my expectations, but it is enough to be used as a paper for the Han newspaper." ”

Han Qing also touched it: "This thing is smooth, I don't know what Mr. used to make it?" ”

"Guess what!"

Han Qing shook his head: "Looking at it, it shouldn't be silk, the thickness of the silk is different, this paper is smooth and whiter, and my subordinates really can't guess." ”

Su Ren turned his head to look at Sima Xiangru and Master Father Yan, and both of them shook their heads, indicating that they didn't know.

Su Ren lifted the paper, pulled it with both hands, and made a snapping sound: "It's different from what you usually see, this paper is made of Shuzhong bamboo!" ”

"Bamboo? Can this thing also make paper? ”

"Not only this, linen, bark, fishing nets, and weeds are all good materials for papermaking, and the best paper is the most suitable for green sandalwood and straw, which is easy to preserve, durable and not brittle, and not easy to fade, and has many advantages, but our big Han newspaper is issued on a ten-month basis, and we don't need such good paper, as long as the paper is preserved well, there is no problem for three or five years."

"How much does it cost?" The master asked for the price again.

Su Ren said with a smile: "An arm-thick bamboo can make a hundred, counting the artificial, three dollars is enough, the price is only one aspect, the main thing is light, if you use paper to write a book, 100,000 words are only afraid of two fingers thick, much lighter than bamboo slips." ”

The master father was overjoyed: "In this way, the original use of the car bamboo slips, now can be carried in the hand, Mr. This improvement should be written into the history books, the name of the history." ”

Su Ren scratched his head, he knew what kind of virtue Cai Lun paper was, it was not only fragile but also yellow, even inferior to the yellow paper on the tomb on the Qingming Festival, and it had poor water absorption. It took dozens of people to adjust the proportions, add various bleaching and refining materials, and experiment over and over again to have today's style. Although it cannot be compared with the paper of later generations, there is no problem in writing thumb-sized characters.

"Paper is solved, copying is not an easy job! There are only a few hundred copies of the newspaper, just send some scribes, if our Dahan newspaper is really as Mr. said, to be sent to the entire Han where there are people, there are tens of thousands of people afraid that it will not work, and it will be published once every ten days, wouldn't it take thousands of scribes to complete? Sima Xiangru didn't speak, and he only learned about Su Ren's decision today.

"Stupid! I've thought about this too. Su Ren grabbed a wine bottle, lifted the wine jug, poured some water on the table, and said, "For example, this table is paper, we just need to do this to complete it." ”

Several people watched with wide eyes as Su Ren soaked the bottom of the wine bottle and the wine jug in water, and put them on the dry place to rub out two rings of different sizes.

"Understood?"

The three of them frowned, looking at the two rings and looking down in thought. Soon, the master father stood up suddenly, a little too impatient, and almost overturned the table: "This and this, this ......, Mr. is really a good means!" ”

Although Master Father Yan was not right-minded, he was not inferior to Sima Xiangru and Han Qing, he instantly discovered the key, his two eyes staring at the two rings, his face full of excitement.

Han Qing thought about it and shook his head slightly: "The subordinates still don't understand!" ”

Su Ren smiled, picked up the wine glass, and gave the eager master father a look. Master Father Yan hurriedly said: "Rubbing! What Mr. means is to make the words into a mold, and then print them on paper, and save the need to copy them over and over again, as long as the mold is not broken, you can continue to use it. ”

"But there are many variations in sentences, how can you use one for all."

The master father grabbed the wine bottle with one hand and lifted the wine bottle with the other: "Separate all the words and combine them when needed, so isn't it?" ”

Sima Xiangru then understood, and slapped the table: "Wonderful, wonderful!" Commonly used words to do a few, can be replaced at any time, rare words to do less, and then make a box, all the words to the size of the provisions, arranged up, although there is no elegance of calligraphy, but does not affect the meaning, is very consistent with the popularization of the people's reason! ”

Su Ren is like this, he doesn't want to say everything by himself, it will show that he is too strange. Everyone is a smart person, as long as there is a little hint, the rest of the problems will be solved slowly. As with movable type printing, he suggested that several people immediately complete it, and as for how to find the words needed in a bunch of men, he didn't care if it belonged to taxonomy, and one day someone would discover this law and complete the real movable type printing.

With this discovery, several people could no longer sit still. Sima Xiangru wanted to find a carpenter, and he thought that it was most appropriate to use wood for writing, and he had to use hardwood. Han Qing was going to find a stonemason, and he felt that the stone characters were durable. And the master father Yan couldn't wait to experiment, saying that he wanted to carve a few by himself and print them out with ink. None of them waited for Su Ren to speak, they turned around and left one by one, and they couldn't stop them.

Su Ren sat elegantly in his seat, looking at the three hurried figures, smiling and drinking wine and eating. It's easy to say anything without having to do it yourself, and when a few people hit a wall, they will naturally come back to find themselves, and at this time he is a spectator.

As the meal ended, the Cuixiang Building gradually became deserted, and the remaining guests had nothing important to do, drinking and chatting leisurely. It was past noon, and there were more people on the street, Su Ren put down his chopsticks, burped with satisfaction, drank the last sip of wine, said hello to the shopkeeper, and left Cuixiang Building. It's June, the temperature outside is very high, and the bustling crowd is even more muggy.

Su Ren took off his robe, put it in the crook of his arm, threw off his arms and walked north. After the West Market, continue north. Huang Shisan hurriedly followed up and asked, "Sir, where are you going?" ”

After the assassination, the whole Su Mansion was vigilant, usually the female dependents were not allowed to go out, even Su Ren, who had no combat effectiveness, had to say where he was going before going out, when he would come back, and if the time passed, everyone would be anxious. Huang Shisan and Manniu were given a cold and strict order, and all Su Ren's temporary actions had to be sent home to report immediately.

Su Ren pointed to the front: "Go and see an old man." ”

"Who? In what place? Huang Shisan stretched out his arms and didn't let Su Ren pass.

Su Ren was a little helpless: "Ruyin Houfu, you also know the people you want to meet." ”

"Oh!" Only then did Huang 13 get out of the way, grabbed a guard, and told him to go back and report immediately.

Ruyin Hou Xiahou lived in the north of the city, next to Weiyang Palace. Usually no one dares to come here to walk around, there are guards on duty on the palace wall, there are 800 private soldiers in Ruyin Hou's mansion, and the whole street is all Ruyin Hou's mansion, ordinary people have nothing to do here, and Xiahou Po only occupies the title and does not serve in the court, so the street is deserted.

Looking left and right, there is a tall palace wall on one side and a long flower wall on the other. The plants and flowers in the Hou Mansion are growing well, and many of them grow out of the flower wall and occupy a wide street. In particular, the bamboo, which is more than a foot high and lush outside the wall, is blocked even by the sun.

As soon as a group of people with weapons walked into the street, the people of the Hou Mansion found out. Someone hurriedly reported to Xiahou Po, and Xiahou Po's hand trembled and the water bowl fell to the ground and fell into eight petals.

"Is it really him?"

The soldier who reported the news nodded and said: "The villain can see clearly, it is Su Zhonglang, and he is also carrying thirty or fifty people, each with weapons!" ”

"It's still here!" Xiahou was quite confused: "Didn't you say that the matter was over?" Come to take revenge, quickly, close the door, no one is allowed to enter! ”

Mo Cong shook his head and smiled bitterly: "Ru Yin wait for a while, don't be impatient, so that watching Su Ren come here may not be seeking revenge." ”

"What is he doing here instead of seeking revenge? Ben Hou has never crossed paths with him! ”

"Maybe he's coming to visit you, Ru Yin Hou rest assured, since Su Ren released you in Shangzhou, he won't go back on his word!"