"Hanmen ......" Lin Qingwan remembered the history of Wu Zhou, the corners of her mouth curled slightly, and she turned around and said: "Select two craftsmen as soon as possible, I will take them back today." ”

Seeing the solemnity on the master's face, Steward Liu didn't know what she had in mind, but he was still happy to arrange it.

Lin Qingwan brought back two craftsmen from the papermaking workshop and handed them to Steward Lin, "Find a place to place them in the courtyard, I have something for them to do, and the people who serve must be loyal and careful, and this matter must not be exposed for the time being." ”

Steward Lin found a small courtyard in the northwest corner to house the two of them, except for a couple who carried water and food every day, almost no one could enter that courtyard.

Lin Qingwan asked people to cut a lot of young bamboo from the nearby mountains, changed into neat short clothes, rolled up her sleeves and worked with two craftsmen to cut the young bamboo into five or seven feet long and soak it in the pond water.

The two craftsmen were so frightened that they knelt on the ground, "Auntie forgive me." ”

Lin Qingwan frowned, and said helplessly: "Hurry up, isn't it just to cut a few pieces of bamboo?" ”

The two craftsmen knelt still, buried their heads deeply, and said, "What does my aunt want to tell me to wait, why do you have to do it yourself?" ”

"So what if I have to do it myself?"

The two carpenters looked at each other at a loss, both at a loss.

Lin Qingwan simply left them and turned around to cut the bamboo herself.

At first, she was a little struggling to find it, but after all, it was something she had done, even if she changed her body, and after getting used to it, she quickly found the trick.

Cao Jin and Meng Fu, who were kneeling on the ground, glanced at each other, and a row of sweat slipped down their foreheads, how dare they kneel and let their masters chop bamboo by themselves?

The two wiped their sweat and hurriedly got up, grabbed the sickle and ran to cut the bamboo.

Lin Qingwan taught them, "Make a section of five or seven feet and soak it in the pool." ”

Cao Jin and Meng Fu did so, although they didn't know what the master was going to do, but they were papermakers, and bamboo was one of the raw materials for papermaking, and soaking was the first step in papermaking, which was naturally papermaking.

Together with Lin Qingwan, the bamboo was cut into sections and sunk into the pool, and the two of them stood aside with their hands tied and waited for instructions.

Lin Qingwan looked at the green bamboo soaked in the pool and sighed: "If the bamboo paper is to be made, this bamboo must be soaked in water for more than 100 days, and the living water on the mountain is the most." The water in this pool must not dry up, and you must always remember this when you change places in the future. ”

Lin Qingwan pointed to the waterway that drained down from the mountain: "This water comes from the mountain, but I am not afraid of breaking the flow." From today onwards, you will have to cut a batch of bamboo every day to soak it, make a good mark, and after 100 days of making a batch of bamboo, you can continue to make the next batch without having to stop working. ”

Cao Jin and Meng Fu hurriedly wrote it down, the master was obviously teaching them the secret recipe, and the two of them were excited in their hearts, and they didn't think about how Lin Qingwan, a young lady, could make paper.

Of course, Sister Wan doesn't know how to make paper, but Lin Qingwan does.

In her junior year, she decided to go to graduate school, and her tutor happily arranged a bunch of homework for her, one of which involved bamboo paper, and she took the tutor's letter of introduction to Fuyang, Zhejiang.

At the lead of the local museum, she met with the heirs of bamboo paper, at that time, she just wanted to borrow some documents left by their ancestors, because she lived in the heir's house, so she also participated in the other party's papermaking, she lived there for two months, and made a total of 15 batches of paper.

She participated in a total of 72 processes, from the beginning of the bamboo cutting to the formation of paper, and she also took detailed notes, and the production method is still vivid in her mind.

She naturally doesn't have the ability to compare with those old craftsmen, but she knows all the processes, and even done it, and the steps are quite familiar.

In later generations, bamboo paper can be juxtaposed with rice paper, and its quality will naturally not be bad.

At that time, the master would add bamboo to the soaking pool every day, accumulating over the years, so there was a raw material to make paper every day.

But they don't have this condition now, the bamboo has just been soaked, and the second process will have to wait until 100 days later.

So Lin Qingwan quickly found other things to do for the two craftsmen, "Now that the wheat has been harvested, the rice is about to be harvested, and there is a lot of straw in the field. ”

The two craftsmen opened their mouths wide in surprise, "Making paper from straw? ”

Lin Qingwan nodded, "No one is allowed to enter this yard, and no one is allowed to know about making paper from bamboo, but there is no need to keep it secret when you make paper from straw. ”

Lin Qingwan has never learned to make paper with straw, but she thinks that the papermaking skills are similar, but there are only slight differences in processes and materials.

Straw is not cheaper than other raw materials, and they can try slowly.

Cao Jin and Meng Fu couldn't quite understand their master's thoughts, "Grandma, if you make paper in the river outside, won't someone steal it?"

Lin Qingwan said with a smile: "If someone has the ability to learn, it is also their ability, and they deserve to eat this bowl of rice." ”

The two of them were confused, hesitated for a long time and went to report to Steward Lin, and said, "How secret this papermaking technique is, how can it be done outside?" This is the livelihood of our bookstore. ”

Steward Lin is not as rigid as the two of them, and after listening to the retelling of the two, she understood the meaning of Lin Qingwan's words, she deliberately let people learn this papermaking technique.

Although Steward Lin was also worried that it would ruin the bookstore's business, he still said, "Since my aunt and grandmother have ordered it so, you just do it." ”

Cao Jin and Meng Fu went to the wheat field and the grain field to select straw in a panic.

It was the time of harvest, and the straw was a headache for the farmers, and although a lot of manure was used, there was still a lot left, and there was still a lot left for each family to feed the livestock and make fires.

So the two of them came to pick it up, and everyone didn't even lift their eyelids.

But soon everyone was attracted by Cao Jin and Meng Fu, because they dug a pond by the river and threw the selected straw into it to soak.

Although everyone doesn't care about the straw, they can't help but be angry when they see them so bad, you must know that this straw is a good thing, not only can it burn fire, it can feed cattle and sheep, and it can also be crushed and ground into powder to fill the stomach in a famine year.

Although the taste is hard to describe, it is better than eating Guanyin soil.

If they couldn't fit it at home, they wouldn't be able to pile it on the sidelines.

So Cao Jin and Meng Fu were stopped when they went to choose straw again, and the two of them had no choice, so they said, "My aunt asked us to pick it up." ”

"Why do you have to soak the good straw in water? Isn't that a waste? ”

"We're making paper, and everything has to be soaked to make paper, not ruining things."

Everyone's eyes widened, "Papermaking? How can it be made here, not in the bookstore? ”

This involves the secret of bamboo paper, the two of them pursed their lips and did not speak, but everyone did not ask to the end, but were blinded by the matter of "papermaking".

Some workers had a glint in their eyes, either openly or secretly, and pricked up their ears to listen carefully.

And some dealers flashed worry in their eyes, and one of them with a broken arm was directly squeezed out to find Fang Datong.

Soon Fang Datong rushed over, waved his hand and said, "What are you still doing in a daze, you will work when the time comes." ”

He said to Cao Jin and the others: "You go and choose straw quickly, and I will help the two of you." ”

The two of them thanked and walked to Fang Datong's side, although everyone regretted that they didn't hear more secrets, but they still dispersed.

After Fang Da and the others left, he blamed the two of them: "You guys are too careless, why do you say everything?" And how can such a thing as papermaking be done outside? If there is no pond in the courtyard, I will take a few people to dig it for you. ”

Cao Jin was wronged in his heart, and said with a bitter face: "This is all what my aunt and grandmother meant, what can we do?" And my aunt and grandmother also said that as long as someone asks about this straw papermaking, they will tell the truth. ”

Fang Datong was surprised, "Auntie, aren't you afraid of people learning?" ”

Cao Jin and Meng Fu were even more helpless, "Even we don't know if we can make paper from straw." ”

At least they hadn't used it before.

The recipe had to be re-studied, although my aunt said that I could refer to the best paper in the bookstore, but to what extent the straw should be soaked, what liquid medicine to add and how much lime to add were completely up to their feelings, after all, straw was not the same as tree bark.

Papermaking is not an overnight thing, it takes a long time just to soak, Lin Qingwan is not doing nothing during this time, this year's Mid-Autumn Festival ceremony sent to the palace has a painting made by Lin Jiang in his early years.

As one of the only two county lords of the dynasty, Lin Qingwan's gift was sent directly to the queen's mother.

After all, she is a goddaughter in her own name, and the queen mother is also very curious about her, so she glanced at the gift list she sent.

At this time, the connections of the Lin family came in handy, and Lin Jiang's painting not only appeared on the gift list, but was also praised to the queen.

The queen could not say that she did not want to see the gift, but only wanted to glance at the gift list, and since the painting had been delivered, she opened it and looked at it.

At a glance, she liked it, and immediately let people hang it on the wall, and sighed: "Lin Jiang's generation of talents, how beautiful he was in Beijing back then, but he died young." Although the artistic conception of this painting is lofty, it is sharp, and it seems that it was made in his early years. ”

"Since the painting is not good, why is the mother still hanging up?"

The queen shook her head and said: "What do you know, Lin Haoyu later learned to be restrained, and his painting no longer has such a sharp edge, others say that it is good, but I think his early paintings are more spiritual." And the paintings of his early years never flowed out, so the Lin family could get them. ”

The queen paused and frowned, "Lord Lin is also a shrewd woman, she won't be ignorant of the shortcomings of this painting, how can she send this painting?" Your Majesty would not like such a painting. ”

It's too sharp.

The queen said a word and threw it away, but the people below were attentive and secretly inquired outside, so the people arranged by Steward Lin secretly revealed the news that they needed to be revealed.

Two days after the Mid-Autumn Festival, the Ruying county lord who guarded the border gate sent a person to send the Mid-Autumn Festival gift entered the palace, and the palace people who had been holding back immediately found an opportunity to shift the topic from the county lord of Ruying to the county lord of Qingwan, and told the queen the news they had discovered.

“…… I heard that the younger brother of Deputy Zhao Duhu took the lead and took several families to boycott the Lin Bookstore and Hanmo Zhai, and now the Lord of Lin County is all about the farm, but he is afraid that the farm will also be targeted, and finally there is no support. ”

The queen lowered her face and asked, "Who did you listen to all these things?"