In late April, the Qin Dynasty's great dynasty meeting was held in Xianyang Palace. Summer had already entered, and it had not rained for several days. The air in the palace seemed very dull, and even standing inside felt very depressing.
Now Zhao Tuo, as one of the Nine Ministers of the Shaofu, has broken away from the simple ranks of military attachés. He is no longer listed beside Wang Ben. Instead, he stands on the east side, facing the west, next to Tingwei Li Si.
After the First Emperor ascended the throne, the etiquette rules became more stringent. Although there was no explicit order prohibiting the ministers in the hall from talking to each other, there were censors patrolling the side of the hall, supervising the etiquette postures of the courtiers and ministers.
Under such circumstances, no one would talk to the emperor before his arrival. It would be terrible if he was written down by the imperial censor and left a bad impression on the emperor.
However, eye contact is essential. Nowadays, Zhao Tuo and Li Si have a very close relationship. They looked at each other and showed a tacit smile.
The Right Prime Minister Wei Xiang, who is sitting at the front, is becoming more and more indifferent. Every time he comes to the palace for a meeting, he just looks at his nose and his heart at the head of the palace, and does not express his opinions on general political affairs. He has basically become a yes man.
Zhao Tuo guessed that the old prime minister wanted to make a good exit. After all, the previous prime ministers of Qin before him did not end well.
Xiong Qishen died on the ground. Lu Buwei drank poison and committed suicide. Compared with his two predecessors, being a yes-man prime minister who only listened to the emperor's opinions would naturally lead to a good death.
Wei Zhuang ignored the affairs, and now the most popular figure in the Qin court was naturally the left prime minister Wang Wan.
He is in the prime of life and has a strong enterprising spirit. Coupled with the delegation of power by the Right Prime Minister, it can be said that Wang Wan alone controls all the power in the Prime Minister's Office, just like the Prime Minister in the past.
Even though he was defeated by Zhao Tuo and Li Si during the previous feudal war between counties and counties, the First Emperor did not hold him accountable afterwards and still reused him.
Therefore, Wang Wan was in good spirits and his back was straight. After a while, the First Emperor's chariot entered the palace, and the court meeting officially began.
"Your Majesty, General Tu Sui has arrived in Wei and is gathering the Wei clan. According to the time, in July, he will escort the clan nobles of Qi, Wei and Han into Guanzhong."
"Your Majesty, most of the Six Kingdoms City around Lishan Mountain has been built, which is enough to accommodate the relocating princes and nobles."
"Your Majesty, the food and fodder for the princes and nobles have been prepared. This relocation will definitely not cause riots in Guanzhong." At the beginning of the court meeting, the Taiwei, who will be the Shaofu, the internal history and others reported on the work of relocating the nobles from the six countries.
progress.
This should be a major event in the second half of Guanzhong. It was the first time in history that so many princes and nobles moved into Guanzhong. The First Emperor attached great importance to it.
"I destroyed the wonder of the Twelve Golden People. Unexpectedly, I built a Six Kingdoms City. This can be regarded as a cultural symbol in later generations. The clans and nobles of the Six Kingdoms migrated around Lishan, allowing the descendants of the Six Kingdoms to build a
Guarding the mausoleum by yourself is quite a high standard." Zhao Tuo thought to himself.
The Six Kingdoms City was built to accommodate the princes and nobles who would come later, and also for nearby surveillance. It was a necessary project, but it was not a useless project.
After reporting on the progress of the Six Kingdoms City project, the First Emperor continued to deal with some political affairs. Seeing that he would be retiring from the court soon, Wang Wan's eyes flickered.
He knew very well that what he said later might further offend the young master. But Wang Wan also had his own reasons.
He was doing it for Qin. Before speaking, Wang Wan turned his head and glanced at Zhao Tuo, the young master. He found that Zhao Tuo was also staring at him, and the two looked at each other.
Wang Wan nodded slightly and nodded to Zhao Tuo. Zhao Tuo smiled back. Then, Wang Wan stood up and officially kicked off the scene.
"I, King Wanmei, have died to report to Your Majesty. Recently, the Shaofu has made paper from hemp and promoted it in the mansions of all ministers. It is intended to replace bamboo slips and benefit our Qin country."
"I think the young man's intentions are very good. However, after using it recently, I found that although hemp paper is convenient, it also has many defects. If it cannot be solved, it will affect the government of Qin. I would like to ask your Majesty to take a closer look." When I came out, there was silence in the hall.
All the ministers looked at Prime Minister Wang Wan with surprise. Even the right Prime Minister Wei Xiang opened his slightly closed eyes and stared at his deputy.
Li Si's face was solemn, with a slight curve at the corner of his mouth. Zhao Tuo's face was dull and did not seem to be affected in any way.
No one spoke. The emperor on the imperial couch looked calm, and no one could tell how he felt about Wang Wan's suggestion. They could only hear the emperor say indifferently, "Prime Minister Zuo said that the paper made by the Shaofu has defects. I don’t know what it is?” Wang Wan cupped her hands and said, “The Prime Minister’s Office has been using paper for administration during this period. I have discovered two problems. The first is that some officials have written wrong words on the paper, which is difficult to modify, unlike bamboo slips that can be written on paper. Scrape it off with a knife and write again.”
"Administration is based on paper. If one word is wrong, the paper will be useless. You need to start copying all over again, which is not only slow. Moreover, the Shaofu said before that the price of paper is cheaper than bamboo slips, but because of the waste of paper, the price of this item is not lower than bamboo slips. , it is not an object that can replace the bamboo slips.”
"The second point is that this paper is made of hemp. Hemp can be used to weave cloth, make clothes, make shoes, and tie ropes. It is an important material. Making paper from hemp consumes a lot of hemp. If it is true, If hemp paper is to be popularized all over the world, then there will be no hemp clothes or hemp ropes in the world. Will Guizhou leaders have to travel naked?" Wang Wan finished his words.
All the ministers frowned slightly. Among them, Li Si, the court official, Hu Mujing, the Taishi Ling, Wang Wu, the Zhisu Neishi, and others nodded slightly.
The government offices where they work are all qualified to use paper. After hearing what Wang Wan said, I naturally thought of the problems encountered in daily administration using paper.
The characters commonly used in the Qin State, whether small seal script or official script, were all evolved from Zongzhou Zhouwen. No matter how simplified it is, its structure and strokes are much more complicated than the fonts of later generations.
Masters of calligraphy like Li Si may still be able to maintain the accuracy of their writing. But what about the officials at the lower levels of various government agencies?
How many people can write hundreds of words without missing a single word? As the saying goes
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "Knife and Pen Official", as the name suggests, is writing with a pen and cutting the words with a knife. Traces of knife cutting are often seen on the slips excavated by later generations. It can be seen that typos are in It is an inevitable thing in daily administration.
If you have to copy the official document from scratch because of a single word mistake, it is indeed a waste of efficiency.
The First Emperor frowned slightly, thinking about how he used paper to write, and if he made a slight mistake, he would just change the paper.
This is indeed a problem. According to Zhao Tuo's idea, paper is to be spread throughout the world. There are countless officials in the world, how many of them can avoid making typos?
As for using hemp to make paper, as Wang Wan said, there will indeed be a problem that the leaders of Guizhou will no longer have hemp clothes to wear, which will have a great impact on the people's livelihood of the Qin State.
But the First Emperor still remembered that Zhao Tuo said that he could make paper from bark, grass and other things. Although he had not yet produced results, the emperor still believed that Zhao Tuo could do it.
However, the problem of typos still needs to be solved. If it cannot be solved, it will be difficult to promote paper throughout the world.
The First Emperor looked at Zhao Tuo and saw that his face was indifferent. He seemed not to be bothered by Wang Wan's words, and his heart calmed down again.
This boy has a solution! The First Emperor said calmly, "Prime Minister Zuo's words make sense. I wonder if the young master has a solution?" Wang Wan and all the ministers looked at Zhao Tuo.
Zhao Tuo smiled faintly, cupped his hands and said, "I have already studied the method of correcting typos on paper and am about to write a letter to Your Majesty. Now that Prime Minister Zuo proposed it in the palace, I just happened to say it. I want to correct typos on paper.
All it takes is one thing.”
"What?"
"Orpiment!" Zhao Tuo said calmly. This statement made some officials in the palace startled. What is orpiment?
Many people have never heard of it. Fortunately, the knowledgeable Li Si stood up and explained, "Orpiment is the opposite of realgar. Realgar is born in the yang of the mountain, and orpiment is produced in the yin of the mountain." When they heard the name of realgar, everyone was so excited.
Only then did I have the impression that realgar can be added to wine and can repel insects, and its reputation spread far and wide.
Orpiment has few uses, so many people don’t know about it, which is normal.
"May I ask, Master, how can orpiment correct a typo?" Wang Wan asked. He knew that orpiment existed, but had never seen it before. He could only think of a similar realgar appearance in his mind. It was hard to imagine that something like that could
Correct the typos on the paper.
Feeling the confused gazes of the ministers in the palace, Zhao Tuo secretly shook his head. Sure enough, he still lacked imagination. People who were born in the Bamboo Slips era could only think of scraping with a knife. Can't they let their minds go?
Zhao Tuo cleared his throat and said, "You will know how to use this thing as soon as you see it. I have asked the attendant to wait at the palace gate with the prepared paper and orpiment, and I also ask your Majesty's permission to get it." Following Zhao Tuo's words,
When he said it, the ministers in the palace suddenly showed playful expressions on their faces, and their interest even exceeded the usage of correcting the typo of orpiment.
Zhao Tuo was well prepared! He knew that Wang Wan was going to make a speech today, and he also knew the content of the speech, and responded accordingly.
Even the First Emperor, who was sitting on the imperial couch, was startled for a moment and then looked at Wang Wan with sharp eyes.
Zhao Tuo's advance preparation showed that someone else knew about Wang Wan's advice and also revealed it to Zhao Tuo behind Wang Wan's back.
Doesn't this mean that what Wang Wan just said was actually premeditated. It was not simply a speech for the country, but a political struggle to attack Zhao Tuo through paper.
The First Emperor said coldly, "That's right." As the emperor's attendants went to the palace gate to get the paper and orpiment prepared by Zhao Tuo, the atmosphere in the palace became more and more depressing.
Wang Wan lowered his head, his face turning blue and white. At this time, he still didn't know that he had been sold.
Damn the Confucian scholars! Zhao Tuo looked at all this with a smile. One sentence decided the outcome in an instant. After today's court meeting, I think the alliance between Wang Wan and those Confucian scholars will completely fall apart.
It is impossible for Wang Wan to believe the words of those Confucian scholars anymore. Moreover, Zhao Tuo exposed this matter directly in front of the First Emperor, and Wang Wan's future was probably ruined.
With the character of the First Emperor, even if he were to be used again, Wang Wan would never have the chance to be promoted to Prime Minister. For Zhao Tuo, he had already completed a successful counterattack!
After a while, a servant brought the orpiment and paper prepared by Zhao Tuo. With the arrival of these two things, the atmosphere in the palace relaxed slightly, and everyone's eyes fell on Zhao Tuo again, wanting to see how he changed.
Typos on the paper.
Zhao Tuo's expression remained as usual. He first raised the yellowed paper in his hand in front of the First Emperor and said, "Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zuo just said that using hemp to make paper will consume a lot of hemp and affect the livelihood of Guizhou. I think what Prime Minister Zuo said is true.
Therefore, after a month of study, I have figured out how to make paper from tree bark!"
"The paper in my hand is made from the bark of the Cu tree. If you make paper using this method, you will no longer need to use hemp in the future. Only bark can be used to make high-quality and cheap paper. This will not affect the development of Guizhou Province."
, it can also further reduce the price of paper, which is much lower than using bamboo slips! "Making paper from bark!"
Except for the First Emperor, all the officials in the palace looked shocked. It was understandable to use hemp to make paper. After all, hemp can be used to weave cloth and make paper similar to silk.
But the rough and bare bark can also be used to make paper?
"Using tree bark to make paper, public transportation is so scary!" Li Si's eyelids twitched slightly, witnessing Zhao Tuo's ability once again.
Only Wang Wan looked pale. Even though Zhao Tuo hadn't started demonstrating how to use orpiment to correct typos, he already knew that he had lost.
"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zuo, please come and see me." Zhao Tuo ignored everyone's different expressions and formally began to demonstrate.
He first wrote something on the yellowed bark paper
The word "six" was raised for everyone in the palace to see. After the First Emperor and the ministers confirmed that Zhao Tuo had written "six".
Then he picked up the polished orpiment and placed it there
Apply on the word "six". As the orpiment rubs against the paper surface, the
"Six" gradually disappeared. When Zhao Tuo raised the paper again, the ministers could no longer see the words just now.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! It’s “six”, and there is only a piece of yellow left.
"What a great orpiment! What a great correction of typos!" Tingwei Li Si was the first to applaud, his eyes sparkling.
Zhao Tuo was actually able to use orpiment to correct typos. With this method, it would not matter if he wrote the wrong words on paper in the future, and all the shortcomings Wang Wan mentioned became nonsense.
In addition, Zhao Tuo used bark to make paper, which greatly reduced the cost. Li Si could already foresee that such paper would definitely replace bamboo slips and become popular all over the world.
"Shaofu Zhao is really a capable person. We have never heard of him removing the word "orphan".
"Of course, I've only heard that orpiment can be used as medicine. I didn't expect it to have such uses. It's really enlightening." The ministers took the opportunity to praise Zhao Tuo.
As Zhao Tuo took out the bark paper and orpiment, the words Wang Wan just said became very ridiculous.
On the imperial couch, the First Emperor's eyes were also filled with brilliance. This son really did not disappoint him, he really brought surprises everywhere.
Zhao Tuo looked indifferent, and there was nothing to be proud of. Orpiment was equivalent to the correction fluid of later generations, a correction tape that could remove typos on yellow paper by smearing it.
The reason why he knows this is precisely because of
The idiom "orpiment is spoken freely". During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the ancients discovered the use of orpiment to cover up typos and used it in practice.
This is probably one of the reasons why paper was so popular and promoted in the Wei and Jin Dynasties. Since Zhao Tuo knew this, he naturally would not be overthrown by Wang Wan and the group of Confucian scholars, and easily solved their difficulties.
However, what happened just now was just an appetizer for Zhao Tuo. Zhao Tuo did not pay attention to Wang Wan's questioning, but was more prepared to use this matter to launch something more important.
Zhao Tuo glanced at Wang Wan, who was already livid and bowed his head in silence. He turned his head, saluted the First Emperor on the imperial couch and spoke.
"Your Majesty, besides making paper from tree bark and orpiment, I have one more thing to offer to Your Majesty today."
"With this thing, the efficiency of transcribing laws and decrees can be increased by more than ten times!"