Immediately afterwards, he chopped the cleaned bamboo into small pieces and peeled it.
Put the fiber part into a stone mortar and grind it into pieces.
Then filter the bamboo foam, leaving a bucket of turbid water.
In the water, there are floating bamboo fibers.
Then he used gauze to make a square filter mold, fished the fibers out of the water over and over again, and placed them on the prepared wooden board aside. (In order to simplify, some of the process has been deleted, purely
imaginary.)
After doing all this, it was already evening.
Looking at the thick pile of paper in front of him, Zhou Peirong let out a long breath.
"Whether it can be done depends on tomorrow."
In the evening, after a busy day, Zhou Peirong was exhausted physically and mentally and fell asleep directly.
When he woke up early the next morning and saw the dried paper in the yard, Zhou Peirong finally had a smile on his face.
Cut out a part and make it into a booklet with thread, and Zhou Peirong copied a biography on it.
He said to Li Ergou who was preparing to grind tofu: "Ergou, you don't have to grind tofu anymore. I'm going to the county with me today."
"Ah?" Li Ergou was stunned.
Li Baotian and his wife were also shocked and worried.
Now grinding tofu for Zhou Peirong is their entire source of income.
If they no longer grind tofu, doesn’t it mean that they will have to help the landlords farm again?
Seeing the family's expressions, Zhou Peirong naturally knew what they were worried about.
He smiled and said: "Uncle Baotian, from now on you and Auntie can grind. It's enough to grind one or two hundred pounds a day. Ergou has more important things to do."
Hearing this, the family of three breathed a sigh of relief.
After loading the tofu to be sold today, Zhou Peirong asked Li Ergou to load the formed paper into the truck.
After doing all this, the three of them slowly drove towards Liming County.
Since not many were sold during this period, the space behind the car was quite sufficient.
Li Ergou was driving the car in front and suddenly asked: "Brother Peirong, what are you using those bamboo sticks for?"
Zhou Peirong said: "This is not bamboo paste, this is paper."
He smiled, touched the rough paper, his eyes were full of light, and said: "This is a good treasure, a good treasure that can be sold for a big price in the future."
"Is it more profitable than selling tofu?" Li Yulian was immediately interested when she heard that it could be sold at a high price.
He stared straight at the pile of paper.
"Hahaha, tofu is just a small profit." Zhou Peirong laughed.
Some people think this thing is rough when used to wipe buttocks in modern times.
But now.
It is no exaggeration to say it is a treasure!
After arriving in Liming County, Zhou Peirong asked Li Ergou to accompany Li Yulian to sell tofu, while he drove his mule to a house.
The plaque above is engraved with the characters "Li Family".
This is Li Shaoqi's family.
In Dayan, ordinary people can only call themselves families, no matter how rich they are.
Only those with official titles can claim the title of government.
After driving the carriage, he said to the two concierges at the door: "Can you please tell me that Zhou Peirong of Xifeng Town is here to visit Young Master Li Shaoqi."
The two concierges looked at each other, and one of them looked Zhou Airong up and down.
Seeing that his clothes were simple but his temperament was extraordinary, he did not make things difficult for him. He nodded and said, "Master, wait a moment."
After saying that, he hurriedly ran into the gate.
After a while, someone heard someone say before they arrived: "Hahaha, Brother Zhou came early."
I saw Li Shaoqi slowly walking out, clasping his fists and bowing: "Brother Zhou, it is an honor for Li to come, please!"
As he spoke, he made a gesture of invitation.
Zhou Peirong smiled and said, "Sorry to bother Brother Li."
The two walked into the door side by side.
After arriving in the living room, he ordered someone to pour tea. Li Shaoqi smiled and said, "I don't know, Brother Zhou is here today, but is there something urgent that I need my help with?"
Picking up the tea cup and taking a sip, Zhou Peirong said nothing, but looked at the maid aside.
Li Shaoqi's eyes narrowed slightly and he waved his hand: "You guys go down first."
After a few serving maids retreated, he looked at Zhou Peirong.
Zhou Peirong smiled and said: "Brother Li, do you know what materials are used to write articles in Yan today?"
"If it is a common document, it will be carved on bamboo slips. If it is an official document, it will be made of high-quality cloth." Li Shaoqi said.
He glanced at Zhou Peirong in confusion: "I wonder what this has to do with Brother Zhou coming here today?"
They are all businessmen, and they will not come to the Three Treasures Hall for nothing.
Zhou Peirong asked again: "Brother Li, do you know how many characters in "The Legend of Confucius" are? How much do they weigh?"
Li Shaoqi pondered for a moment and said: "The Biography of Master contains more than 800 words. If it were engraved on a slip, it would weigh more than two kilograms."
He was becoming more and more confused.
Could it be that Zhou Peirong came to him just to ask him these questions?
Zhou Peirong smiled slightly, took out the biography he copied in the morning from his sleeve, and placed it on the desk in front of Li Shaoqi.
"What is this?"
Li Shaoqi was stunned.
Even though he has seen a lot, he still doesn't know what the thing in front of him is.
"Open it and you will know."
Pick up something on the table and open it to take a look.
When Li Shaoqi saw the contents inside, his whole body trembled.
Zhou Peirong took another sip of tea, put down the cup, and said slowly: "This thing is called paper!"
"As Brother Li has seen, what you just saw is none other than the Biography of the Master."
"It's just that this "Confucius' Biography" is engraved on a bamboo slip and weighs more than two kilograms, but it is less than two kilograms when recorded on paper, so there is very little free time."
"What if all my articles, Dayan's, were published on paper?"
Li Shaoqi's pupils suddenly shrank.
He was not a fool, and he quickly understood the meaning of Zhou Peirong's words.
Bamboo slips are bulky, can record too few words, are not easy to carry, and are extremely easy to rot even if they are specially treated.
The price of fine cloth is 2 taels of silver per foot, which is beyond the reach of ordinary people.
But the "paper" in front of me is not only light, but the more than 800-word "Fuzi Biography" is recorded on it, and not even one-tenth of it is used!
If this thing appeared in the eyes of those literati, it would definitely arouse the literati's enthusiastic pursuit!
Li Shaoqi understood that this thing did not appear for no reason, and it was probably the work of the young man in front of him.
He took a deep breath and said, "Then why did Brother Zhou come to see me today?"
"cooperate."
Zhou Peirong smiled and said: "I can give the paper to you. No matter how much you sell it, I just want to share the profits. I want 40%!"
"How much does this cost?" Li Shaoqi frowned.
Such a magical and useful thing may cost a lot of money.
"Take the booklet in Brother Li's hand as an example. It contains five hundred words." Zhou Peirong pretended to sigh helplessly.
Only by raising the price as much as possible can he earn more.
He didn't tell the truth.
Judging from previous contacts, Li Shaoqi is still a decent person.
But if he knew that the real cost of this paper was only the labor cost, I'm afraid he would be tempted.
"What?"
However, Li Shaoqi suddenly stood up and his eyes widened.
He stared at the book in his hand, full of disbelief: "Such a treasure, one book contains only 500 words?"