"This is our newly made sizing paper, my dear nephew, let's see if it is right." In early April, Wan Lei came to Zhao Hongru's private paper workshop to inspect the paper production. Zhao Hongru took out a piece of newly made white paper and handed it to him.
Show it to him.
Wan Lei touched it a few times and folded several folds in his hand. He found that the paper quality was good and the surface was smooth, which should be suitable for printing. In fact, the reason why he was so interested in the paper industry was because it would soon be needed.
Printing periodicals requires a large amount of printing paper.
China's papermaking industry has developed for thousands of years, but papermaking technology is still in the manual production stage. Not only is the output small, but the varieties are also few, the price is also very high, and ordinary people cannot afford it.
In fact, although China's papermaking industry has a long history, in the Yuan Dynasty, due to the rulers, the papermaking industry withered, and production was still barely maintained in Jiangnan. Many papermaking techniques were lost. It was not until the Ming Dynasty that the papermaking industry recovered.
However, the main paper products are rice paper, bamboo paper, Xuande paper, Songjiangtan paper, etc. These papers are not suitable for printing and must be produced separately.
Generally, the production of printing paper is divided into two basic processes: pulping and papermaking. Pulping is to dissociate plant fiber raw materials into natural pulp or bleached pulp. Papermaking is to combine the pulp fibers suspended in water through various processes into a suitable form.
Paper sheets with various requirements. Due to the long production cycle, paper mills generally need to store enough raw materials for 4 to 6 months, so that the raw materials can undergo natural fermentation during storage to facilitate pulping and ensure the continuous production of the paper mill.
The raw materials for paper making are reeds, wheat straw and wood, but the process is very complicated and requires a lot of equipment. It also uses various bleaching agents and sizing agents. Without Wan Lei's technical support, Zhao Hongru's paper workshop
It is definitely impossible to produce this kind of printing paper, let alone embark on the road of large-scale production.
"How much can be produced every day?" Wan Lei is concerned about the output. If the output is insufficient, he will not be able to print a large number of various publications.
Zhao Hongru stretched out his palm, shook it, and said with some pride: "Five orders a day."
"Yes, in the future, when the craftsmanship becomes more proficient and the technology improves, we should be able to produce more." One ream is 500 sheets, and five reams is 2,500 sheets of paper. These papers all have specifications and are four feet long.
It is three feet wide and can be cut to make printing paper of uniform size.
Of course, printed publications not only require paper, but also cost-effective printing. Printing is one of the four great inventions of ancient China. It began with the engraving printing of the Sui Dynasty and was developed and perfected by Bi Sheng in the Renzong era of the Song Dynasty.
Movable type printing was produced.
Compared with engraving printing, movable type printing is also very efficient. However, Wan Lei is not satisfied with this. He prefers to use ink printing technology. And this technology is also very simple, using waxed fiber paper as a template.
Use a stylus to engrave the information to be printed on it
On the screen, where the stylus is written, micropores will appear in the fiber. Then the ink is brushed on the plate, and a roller is used to press and push it so that the ink penetrates the wax plate and adheres to the paper below, so that printing can be carried out continuously and at high speed.
Assignments, printing tens of thousands of copies a day is not a problem.
Waxed paper is not difficult to produce. Paper soaked in wax can be used to write on and make mimeograph masters. What is difficult is the ink. The ink used by the Ming Dynasty was mostly diluted with water. The viscosity of this ink is not enough, so it is necessary to use
Ink is used as the raw material for printing. And ink is not just as simple as adding oil to the ink. It has very high process requirements. If the ratio of oil and ink is improper, or the added components are improper, the resulting ink cannot be used.
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Because of the viscous nature of the ink, there are special requirements for paper. Rice paper that absorbs a lot of water cannot be used because it will cause blurred writing. Therefore, paper with relatively small water absorption and a bright surface should be used.
Paper is printing paper suitable for ink printing.
"My dear nephew, this kind of paper is good, but it can't be used for writing. I'm afraid it won't sell well." Zhao Hongru said with some worry. As the boss of the paper industry, he naturally compared various paper products. Because
Printing paper is not very absorbent and cannot really be used as writing paper.
"You don't have to worry about this. Shuntian Prefecture will purchase all the paper produced in your workshop and give you a 30% profit based on the production cost to ensure that you will not lose money." Wan Lei certainly knows this.
Without government procurement, the paper produced by Zhao Hongru would be waste and cannot be sold.
"Oh, if you have a good nephew, I can rest assured." With Wan Lei's guarantee, Zhao Hongru naturally had nothing to say and immediately asked his subordinates to start mass production. Thirty percent of the profit will be returned.
Don't worry about sales.
"You can just rest assured and we will buy as much as you produce." Wan Lei is not just talking in vain. Once ink printing develops, it will not only print various publications, but also print best-selling books such as the Four Books and Five Classics, Tang poetry, Song lyrics, Three Kingdoms, and Water Margin.
Of course, the amount of books and paper used is huge.
In addition, Wan Lei had an ulterior motive for doing this. He wanted to turn Peking City into a printing industry center and produce a large number of high-quality and cheap books. While carrying out cultural expansion, he was also crowding out the cultural industry of the Ming Dynasty, especially book copying.
The industry will be hit hard. Many craftsmen who make paper and ink, especially those poor scholars who make a living by copying books, will face the crisis of unemployment, which will bring a heavy blow to the already crisis-ridden Ming Dynasty.
Wan Lei was still thinking about the bright future of monopolizing the cultural industry in the future. Zhao Xueer hurried in and said in his ear: "Brother, the people we sent out are back, and we have got them back."
"Oh, so fast." Wan Lei came back from his thoughts, cupped his hands to Zhao Hongru, and left quickly.
That person was Liu Jing. He was sent into the city and taken to the flower hall of the government office. Wan Lei had been sitting there early, sipping tea leisurely. When he saw Liu Jing coming, he did not greet him enthusiastically, but just stood up and cupped his hands.
If you salute, you are considered to have seen the courtesy, and you don't say anything about winning over the other person.
"Why do you want to kidnap me out? Why do you want to trap me in an unjust place?" Wan Lei said nothing, but Liu Jing got angry first.
"You ungrateful old guy, my brother was kind enough to send someone to rescue you. It doesn't matter if you don't say thank you, but you still treat me with this attitude..." Zhao Xueer was angry. In order to save Liu Jing, she put all her efforts into it.
A dozen of the good Jingzhong Guards were sent out, and they were personally responsible for making plans. It can be said that they worked hard, but now they only get a complaint in return. This is really a good intention that is not rewarded.
Wan Lei was still angry. He raised his hand to signal Zhao Xueer to shut up, and then said: "It is not the behavior of a benevolent person to refuse to save you in the face of death. Mr. Liu's imprisonment was all caused by our Shuntian Mansion. Of course we have the obligation to rescue you."
.Come here, take Mr. Liu to meet his family."
"Family? You kidnapped my family?" Liu Jing became even more anxious.
"What do you mean by kidnapping? Why do you say it in such an ugly way? If we hadn't come to rescue you, your family would have been in hell a long time ago. You are such a stubborn old man. A three-year-old child can repay your kindness better than you." Zhao Xueer got angry again.
However, Wan Lei still looked indifferent and said: "We have invited your family here to reunite you with your family. As for whether you want to leave or stay in the future, please feel free to do so. We will never force you to stay in Shuntian Mansion."
"You mean to let us go?" Liu Jing was a little dumbfounded. Not only him, but Tie Xuan and others were also stunned for a while, wondering what Wan Lei was up to.
Wan Lei waved his hand and signaled his men to take the person away. He turned his head towards the window and softly chanted: "There is nothing in my heart. I just watch the flowers blooming and falling in front of the court. I have no intention of leaving or leaving. I just follow the clouds rolling in the sky and relax."