Seeing the Wei army retreating further and further away, the top of Tuolongguan City burst into cheers, and everyone was filled with the joy of victory.
In this battle, Tuolongguan suffered a total of 871 casualties, including 302 dead and 96 seriously injured. The rest were basically lightly wounded. The Wei army paid several times the price. The important thing is that they
Didn't get any benefit from it.
The next step is to provide pensions to the wounded officers and soldiers and their families. For those who died bravely in battle, their families will be exempted from taxes for five years, and another one-time payment of ten taels of gold will be given. Their descendants can choose to join the army or work in farming when they grow up.
Not subject to compulsory conscription.
Seriously injured persons will be exempted from taxes for three years, and those with minor injuries will be exempted from taxes for one year, plus varying amounts of gold pensions.
After doing this, the warehouse at Tuolongguan was almost empty. Ji Jie finally understood that war is actually about making money. A small battle actually cost tens of thousands of dollars. If you want to use troops, you must rely on strong income.
Backstage.
It's time to develop the economy. Just relying on thousands of hectares of land in the pass to grow food is not a long-term solution. There must be a stable financial income. Papermaking has been put on the agenda.
Paper is the most common thing in modern society, but it has not been invented yet during the Warring States Period. According to normal historical development, it will not appear until at least the Eastern Han Dynasty hundreds of years later.
Even if we have never been exposed to this industry and cannot achieve large-scale industrial production, manual production can always satisfy us. The first step Ji Jie needs to solve is the problem of raw materials.
In his memory, there are many raw materials that can be used to make paper, such as trees, bamboo, crop straw, etc., and these are extremely cheap raw materials that can be described as inexhaustible. Since we want to make paper
To produce paper that is cheaper than silk, the price of raw materials must be kept to a minimum.
To start the experiment, Ji Jie first used bark with a relatively high fiber content as raw material. After steaming and boiling, the fibers were cut and made into pulp. He then used a papermaking curtain to make paper and exposed it to the sun.
The first piece of paper was invented in this way. Although it was still somewhat different from what was imagined and not very strong, it could barely be used as a writing material.
Ji Jie found a group of skilled craftsmen, taught them simple papermaking methods, and at the same time inspired them to a certain extent, allowing them to explore other manufacturing methods in depth.
Soon, bark paper became the first finished paper to appear in front of the public. The price of a piece of paper was only one percent of that of brocade silk, and the writing was smoother and the strength was good.
Ji Jie immediately proposed an improvement plan. The current bark paper lacked appearance and appearance. In order to find a way to turn it white, the craftsmen put forward their opinions one after another, and soon entered the stage of substantial improvement.
The problem of bleaching was solved, and pure white paper was produced. New varieties such as wood pulp paper and bamboo paper continued to emerge, and the technology of papermaking using crop straws was also mastered. A large area of the Tuolong Pass was specially opened up to build a paper mill.
Sima Xueran was responsible for everything in the paper factory. She was not interested in this plan at first. After all, paper was something that had never appeared before. Later, bundles of white paper were delivered to her, and she realized that Ji
Jie's idea is so practical. As soon as these things are put on the market, they will definitely cause a shocking change. Heavy slippers and expensive silks will be replaced overnight.
Just when everyone was becoming more confident, Ji Jie came up with a new idea - to speed up production. Although each papermaker could produce thousands of sheets of paper every day, this speed still could not meet his requirements.
Using all available resources, water power, wind power, etc., he hired a group of skilled craftsmen through Qinqing to build a number of waterwheels and windmills, which reduced the labor intensity of workers and also improved efficiency. In just a few months,
At that time, the process of making pulp was completely replaced by simple machinery instead of manual operation, and the methods of papermaking were also constantly improved.
The first batch of 200,000 pieces of paper was divided into twelve carriages and transported out of Tuolongguan, and then went to surrounding cities for sale.
Prior to this, Ji Jie ordered people to cut the paper and make it into notebooks, demonstrate writing skills in the city, and strongly recommended it to the government. Qinqing's Qin's Trading Company spared no effort in publicity, and a lot of publicity was formed at the beginning of the listing.
Big influence.
Less than half a day after it went on the market, ten carts of paper were sold out.
When I went out, I had ten carts of blank paper, and when I came back, I had ten boxes of copper coins. After excluding the cost of labor and materials, I made a lot of money.
Qin Qing personally came to Tuolongguan to discuss joining hands with Ji Jie to make paper. The two parties quickly reached a consensus that Ji Jie would provide the technology, Qin Qing would be responsible for the sales channels, and the profits would be equally divided.
First, the Wei army was defeated, and then the extremely depressed Tuolongguan business was in full swing. Farmers from the surrounding areas migrated here one after another. The number of residents in Tuolongguan exceeded 50,000, making it look like a large city.
Looking at the lively scene, Qin Qing said with a smile: "Xiaojie, Sister Qing, I really didn't expect that you are so good at everything you do!"
"Haha, I'm a little embarrassed to say that!" Ji Jie thought to himself. What's outstanding about me is just because I have more in my mind than you.
The paper mill run by Sima Xueran continues to expand in scale. The daily output has increased from 30,000 to 300,000 pieces. The daily income is more than a thousand gold. From this alone, tens of thousands of taels of gold are earned every month.
.
Paper, as a new writing material, has spread over hundreds of miles around, and is continuously transported to other countries through the Qin Trading Company's horse teams. The powerful and powerful people in various countries rush to buy it and give it to each other's relatives and friends. Paper has become a market for a while.
Inoue's most talked about topic.
The formula and manufacturing process are kept strictly confidential. This is Ji Jie’s death order!
Just kidding, for the results that I finally worked out, I will make a lot of money first and then talk about promotion. This is my patent!
Tuolongguan's army also developed rapidly during this period, reaching 5,000 in number, and they still used Ji Jie's training methods to train their troops.
Ji Jian proposed to buy some tanks to improve the army's combat capabilities, but Ji Jie directly rejected it. History has proved that tanks are flashy and can still show a certain degree of lethality in plains. Once they reach hills and mountains, they will immediately become a burden.
.
His leading idea is to develop cavalry. A brave and capable cavalry is the foundation for an invincible position.
The papermaking matter has come to an end. As long as the development proceeds step by step, there should be no major problems. Ji Jie's attention began to shift. His next goal was ordnance production.
Up to now, the weapons in the hands of the defenders at Tuolong Pass are still diverse, most of which are purchased. Of course, the weapons cannot be unified. The swords and guns are of different lengths, the shields are of different sizes, the arrow clusters are three-sided, four-sided, rhombus-shaped, etc.
.
"Sister Qing, help me find some blacksmiths!" Ji Jie put forward his request. Bronze weapons have begun to decline, and advanced iron tools are the only things that follow the trend of history.
Qin Qing readily agreed and immediately sent people to Wudi to recruit, as the blacksmiths there were the best.