Chapter 22 Chang'an paper is expensive, so make paper
Let the world gossip, he seizes the day and night.
After King Pengcheng left, Xie Yuan hired new tenant farmers and explained to them how to take care of sweet potatoes and rice.
The tenant farmers were surprised when they heard this, and they agreed directly until Xie Yuan provided food and accommodation.
Under the care of the tenant farmers and the witness of everyone, the sweet potatoes bore fruit in July.
When Xie Yuan dug out the first sweet potato fruit from the soil and placed it in the palm of his hand for everyone to look at, their eyes were full of excitement and yearning.
It is unimaginable that such a small, ugly-looking agricultural root can withstand hunger and barrenness, and can relieve severe droughts.
"Lord, are these sweet potatoes edible?" The customer, who had never eaten sweet potatoes before, stared at the sweet potatoes and swallowed.
I heard from my lord that this thing seems to be delicious even when steamed or fried.
Suddenly I really want to try it.
"It's not fully mature yet. Looking at it this way, it will probably be harvested in mid-August." Xie Yuan smiled slightly and buried the young fruit in the soil.
Everyone went to see the rice again.
At that time, the rice fields had become golden, and the sounds of frogs could be heard in the fields.
Xie Yuan looked at these rice plants that were about to mature, with deep meaning in his eyes.
Jiangnan is humid and humid, and her husband died young.
In such a place, which was called a barbarian by northerners, agriculture such as rice appeared, and generations of Chinese people were raised.
Later in the 21st century, through hybrid cultivation by an old man, the Chinese people even relied on rice as their staple food.
After rice was widely cultivated, droughts rarely occurred in China and people starved to death.
However, that was later. Today, the yield of rice is extremely low and it is not widely cultivated. Most people rely on other grains for food.
If we had the opportunity to go to the south of the Yangtze River, develop the fertile land there, and cultivate a large amount of rice, the people of this era... should also be able to have enough to eat.
This idea quietly took root in Comrade Xiao Xie's heart.
"Lord, these rice grains are already full. Do you think it will be harvested in a while?" Looking across the rice fields, the eyes of the diners were overflowing with the excitement and excitement of their own crops.
"That's okay. The fish in the field will also be plump by then, so we can eat them together." Xie Yuan came back to his senses and smiled.
"Others say that a gentleman is far away from the kitchen, but my lord goes to the kitchen every day and studies all kinds of delicacies." Back in the house, Huo Qubing looked at Xie Yuan with his chin propped up.
"Food is the most important thing for the people." Xie Yuan began to look through ancient books, looking for descriptions of Jiangnan at that time.
"My lord, are you thinking that these sweet potatoes and rice will be widely cultivated in the future so that the people can have a full meal in times of disaster?"
"The one who knows me is the young man from the Huo family." Xie Yuan smiled.
Huo Qubing touched his head.
Because he thinks so too.
After Huo Qubing went out to practice martial arts, Xie Yuan finally found a description of the Jiangnan area.
Wild, rainy, and uninhabitable.
really.
"Is Mr. Xie here?" While Xie Yuan was deep in thought, there was a gentle knock on the door next to him.
"Come in."
The wooden door opened, and a young man took off his shoes and entered, bowing to Xie Yuan: "Mr."
It's Lu Zhong.
"You don't have to be polite, Shaohan." Xie Yuan smiled slightly, "I wonder why you came here today?"
When he was in the academy, Lu Zhong often spent time in the library copying ancient books. His love for ancient books almost reached the point of obsession, and he was rarely called out for anything.
Lu Zhong touched the back of his head, his ears were a little red.
After hesitating for a moment, he said: "When I was copying ancient books today, I found that all the paper I brought from home was used up. I remembered that paper in Chang'an was expensive, but I was embarrassed to ask my father for more paper. I heard that Mr. Xiao had bamboo slips in his courtyard.
I want to borrow some, no, I want to buy some..."
"It's just that I've been short of money recently. I'm just waiting for my father to send me some silver in the middle of the month before talking to the little gentleman."
After Lu Zhong said something, he could already feel that his face was very hot.
Xie Yuan understood what Lu Zhong meant.
I want to copy a book, but I have no paper.
Paper is too expensive and I can't afford it. I want to buy bamboo slips but I don't have enough money.
What to do, take it on credit.
Xie Yuan lowered his head and glanced at the bamboo slips on the table.
Actually, originally, paper was not that expensive.
Thirteen years ago, Emperor Tianwu destroyed the Three Kingdoms and established Chang'an as the imperial capital when he established the Jin Dynasty.
A young master named Zuo came out of Chang'an. His poem "San Du Fu" became famous in the Central Plains, attracting many young masters from aristocratic families to copy it.
Because of this, the paper in Chang'an was once sold out, and the price of paper was raised several times, making it a wealthy item that only the children of aristocratic families could afford.
"Although bamboo slips are good, they are not paper after all, and it is easy to make mistakes when copying." Xie Yuan thought for a moment.
"Paper is expensive in Chang'an, so make paper."
Lu Zhong: “??”
papermaking?
Can the little gentleman also make paper?
Xie Yuan returned to the courtyard and took out a few vines from the space.
At the beginning of this month, the system rewarded him with the Xiteng Papermaking Technique.
In this era, people mostly used hemp to make paper, and it was not until many years later that someone used vines to make paper.
Now he wants to advance this technology a little bit.
…
When Huo Qubing came back, he saw Xie Yuan beating blood in the hospital.
Next to him, there is a pile of woven bamboo frames.
"Lord, what are you doing?" The young boy ran over and grabbed a frame and looked around.
"papermaking."
Huo Qubing: “??!”
Did he hear it correctly? The master wants to make paper?
Xie Yuan followed the production method given in ancient books, mixed some white mineral paint into the slurry, and carefully laid it into the bamboo frame.
To be honest, this was his first time making paper by himself, and he was not sure.
"There is paper for sale in the market, why does my lord still make paper?" Huo Qubing asked.
"Since the advent of Sandu Fu, paper has been expensive in Chang'an, and paper has become a special writing material for aristocratic families. I just heard what Shaohan said, and I thought about trying to make paper from other materials for my own use."
Huo Qubing nodded.
After several days of exposure, the paper took shape and Xie Yuan successfully made the first batch of Xiteng paper.
Due to the addition of white paint and other things, Xiteng paper looks smoother and smoother than hemp paper, and the entire paper body is incredibly white.
When Huo Qubing, Lu Zhong and all the diners saw the finished product, they were all shocked.
The writing on such paper must be very beautiful.
Qi Yan was also shocked.
Unexpectedly, Xiaoyuan actually has this skill.
Xie Yuan carefully took off a piece of paper, took out the paper, ink, pen and inkstone, picked up the pen and wrote down a line of large characters.
"If you hear the truth in the morning, you will die in the evening...Young gentleman has such good words!" Lu Zhong couldn't help but praise him after reading it.
This was the first time he saw Xie Yuan writing seriously.
Hearing that Longgang Academy was written by Xie Yuan, he always wanted to see with his own eyes the handwriting produced by Xie Yuan's pen.
When I saw it today, it turned out to be as vigorous and powerful as the academy’s sign!
"Look at these papers, they are quite different from hemp paper." Qi Yan took off a piece of paper, put it in the palm of his hand and rubbed it repeatedly.
"From now on, these papers will be our academy's special papers. Brother Wang Shu can just use them." Xie Yuan grinned. This chapter has been completed!