Spring comes to the desperate place

Chapter 165 Paper Making

After the fifth day of the New Year, people from the village started to come and visit. In the cold winter, everyone had nothing to do, so they brought their children to visit each other. As long as they were familiar with the family, the Song family would welcome them, and Aunt Song would even take out candies and snacks to treat them.

That day, the women in the village talked about the children's studies. Very few farmers sent their children to school. In recent years, because the harvest has been good and there is a good harvest, some people have started to think about sending their younger generations to school to learn a few words.

"We don't ask him to be able to write articles, as long as he can recognize a few words and not get cheated when he goes out."

"Song family's grandmother, how is the old scholar your eldest grandson went to? How much is his tuition per year?"

Song A-mo thought about it and compared a number. The high tuition fee was shocking. When people learned that they had to buy pens, ink, paper and inkstone themselves, most of them had already backed out.

One of the old mamas touched her chest and said repeatedly, "Oh my, it's so expensive! This salary alone is enough to cover half a year's living expenses, not to mention the pens, ink, paper and inkstone. Everyone knows that pens, ink, paper and inkstone are the most expensive. A piece of the cheapest rice paper costs eight copper coins. It's not worth it just to learn to read."

Everyone also lamented that it was not easy to go to school, and in their hearts they inexplicably felt that the Song family's move was unusual.

On the way back, they still did not forget to discuss how much wealth the Song family had to be able to support Song Dalang to go to school for three years.

"When the Song family moved here, I knew they were special. How many families could afford such a big house after moving all the way from the northwest to the capital? Even in our village, few people could afford their original house."

"Whether they can afford it or not is their business. Why should we care so much? When potatoes and sweet potatoes first came out a few years ago, the court rewarded their family a lot. I think the Song family will be very successful sooner or later."

"Don't worry about whether he will become successful or not. I have to go back and discuss with my old man whether to send my grandson to school. It's not that our family can't afford it, but it hurts to pay so much money at once."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately scattered like birds and beasts, and went back to their homes to discuss with their families whether they should send their children to school.

Some families wanted to send their children to school, but they became hesitant after hearing about the tuition fee. After all, for a farming family, half a year's expenses for the whole family are not a small amount. It is hard to bear to spend money just to learn a few characters.

As for the Song family, all the children in the Song family can recognize some basic characters. Grandpa Song meant that they would not be sent to school. Song Chunlin thought so too. There was no imperial examination system in the Dajing Dynasty. He only heard that Gu Fengyun intended to set up one, but this move touched the interests of too many aristocratic families. It would not be achieved overnight. Moreover, in terms of the amount of knowledge reserves in his family, it was much more than those of old scholars. And he did not agree that learning could only be done through imperial examinations. In his opinion, knowledge was diversified, and no matter how unpopular and remote the knowledge was, it would be useful sooner or later.

However, the fact that the villagers wanted to send their children to school gave Song Chunlin an inspiration. He had previously thought that paper was too expensive in ancient times. Because paper and ink were expensive, it was a luxury for ordinary people to read and write.

There are books about papermaking technology in Song Chunlin's space. Song Chunlin has long wanted to promote this technology, but he never had the opportunity.

"You want to open a paper mill?" Gu Fengyue was a little surprised. No, why did he suddenly think of opening a paper mill?

"Why do you suddenly want to open a paper mill? Don't you have enough money?"

Song Chunlin shook his head. "Of course I have enough money to spend. Even if I don't, I won't starve. It's just that, I think the papermaking technology of this era is still too low. The production capacity can't keep up, and the price can't go down. Do you remember what I said about my world? Over there, every child can go to school from the age of three, starting with kindergarten. Three years of kindergarten is followed by six years of elementary school and six years of middle school. Basically everyone can go to school and everyone can read."

Gu Fengyue slowly sat up straight and listened carefully.

"You said that everyone can go to school, so where does their tuition come from? Are these books the products of the modern papermaking technology you mentioned?"

Song Chunlin nodded repeatedly: "Yes, we have nine years of compulsory education, and the tuition fees from elementary school to junior high school are reduced, so it is very cheap. Books are naturally cheap as well. Although I don’t know how much the annual output is, the books we had at that time were very cheap, such as this one." Song Chunlin took out a few books as he spoke.

Gu Fengyue looked at the book in his hand. It read "Postpartum Care for Sows". Wow, he knew all these words, but he couldn't recognize them when they were put together.

Gu Fengyue hesitated: "What? Postpartum Care for Sows is not what I think it is, right?"

Song Chunlin chuckled and took out another stack of papers. These papers were taken out from a courier blind box. It was a thick stack. He himself didn't know what these papers could be used for, so he just took them out and showed them to Gu Fengyue.

"This is A4 paper, which we use for printing. This seems to be called watercolor paper, which is used for watercolor painting. This is called sketch paper, which is also used for painting. This is our modern rice paper. How about it? Isn't it super big?"

The two men unfolded the rice paper and found it was indeed very large, much larger than the rice paper used in ancient times.

Gu Fengyue touched the thin rice paper and couldn't help praising it: "This paper can be sold at a high price even in the capital. I wonder how much a piece of rice paper like this would sell for in your place?"

Song Chunlin spread his hands and said he didn't know: "I don't know, I haven't bought this kind of paper, and I can't draw, but this kind of paper shouldn't be expensive, at least it's much cheaper than those sold in bookstores in Beijing."

Song Chunlin was telling the truth. Compared with the rice paper sold in bookstores nowadays, the one he had in his hand was already very cheap. At least it didn't cost an ordinary family a month's food expenses.

Gu Fengyue stroked the pieces of paper with different uses, and a yearning for that world actually arose in his heart. However, he remembered what Song Chunlin said, that world had destroyed itself long ago. He didn't quite understand. How could a world that Song Chunlin said was so good, end up on the road to destruction?

The two of them stayed in the study room to discuss the whole afternoon. Song Chunlin took out lunch from the space. It was modern hamburgers, cola, fried chicken and French fries. There was no other way. This kind of junk food was too attractive to human cubs. As long as he ate it at home, those little cubs would be able to smell it, which scared him so much that he didn't dare to eat this kind of fat house Happy Meal at home.

Not long after the two finished lunch, Gu Fengyun came back. Hearing that Song Chunlin and Gu Fengyue had been staying in the study for the whole afternoon, Gu Fengyun couldn't help but raise his eyebrows and changed the direction of his feet. He had originally planned to go back to his room to wash up, change clothes and go out, but now he changed his mind. He wanted to see what the two little ones could do in the study.

Before entering the house, Gu Fengyun, who had a keen sense of smell, smelled a strange fragrance. Well, he knew that these two little ones were up to no good, and it turned out that they were hiding in the house to eat delicious food.

Gu Fengyun raised his hand expressionlessly and knocked on the door. The sounds of talking and laughing inside immediately stopped. After a while, Gu Fengyue opened the door. Seeing that it was Gu Fengyun, her eyes lit up and she pulled her brother in.

"Slow down, little brat." Gu Fengyun slapped his brother in annoyance.

Gu Fengyue handed a book to her brother. Gu Fengyun took it and glanced at it. His eyes were instantly glued to it and couldn't be taken off.

"This, this, is this a book?" Gu Fengyun opened the book in his hand. It was a book about papermaking technology. The words in it were small and neat, and there were pictures in the middle. Those pictures were in color. The more Gu Fengyun read, the more shocked he was. Could such exquisite and clear printing technology really exist?

Gu Fengyue said at the right time: "Brother, let's open a papermaking workshop."

"Hmm?" Gu Fengyun looked away from the book and looked at his brother in confusion: "Why do you suddenly want to open a papermaking workshop? Aren't you going to the military camp?"

Speaking of the military camp, Gu Fengyue was a little hesitant. He wanted to go to the military camp, but he also wanted to open a papermaking workshop.

As if he noticed his brother's dilemma, Gu Fengyun sat down leisurely and asked the two little ones with a slightly serious expression.

"Tell me, what made you two want to start a papermaking workshop? It can't be because of this book in my hand, right?"

Song Chunlin and Gu Fengyue shook their heads repeatedly. Song Chunlin pointed at the papers on the table and said, "Your Majesty, can you take a look at the papers on the table? What is the quality of those papers? If they are sold in a bookstore in the capital, can they be sold at a high price?"

Gu Fengyun was a scholar and had some knowledge of paper, pens and ink. After obtaining Song Chunlin's consent, he wrote a few words on several different types of paper with a brush. After he finished writing, he had the answer in his mind.

Pointing to the largest piece of rice paper, he said, "This is worth the high price. The others are also very good, but compared to this, they are still not very useful."

What Gu Fengyun said about being difficult to use was generally referring to pens and ink. There is no doubt that Xuan paper is the most suitable for writing calligraphy and painting Chinese paintings. Other papers are naturally not as easy to use as Xuan paper, but they are not useless either. It’s just that in ancient times when people only used brushes to write, the advantages of other papers were not obvious, and A4 paper specifically used for printing was completely defeated in comparison.

"My Lord, if we can make this kind of rice paper, can we sell it like hot cakes in the capital?"

Gu Fengyun was slightly surprised: "You still want to sell it in big quantities? Papermaking is not easy, tell me, how do you sell it in big quantities?"

Song Chunlin patted his chest and said, "You don't need to worry about this. In short, following the papermaking method in the book in your hand can not only improve the quality, but also increase the output. You should be aware of the papermaking technology of the Dajing Dynasty. The output is too small and cannot be mass-produced. This is one of the reasons why scholars are so precious now."

Seeing that what he said made sense, Gu Fengyun motioned for him to continue.

Song Chunlin added: "If we can open a workshop and mass-produce cheap, high-quality Xuan paper, and bring down the price of paper, it will not only make reading affordable for everyone, but at least benefit many current readers."

Gu Fengyun looked at him with a smile: "You two have decided on this matter, right? Come on, you also talk about it, come up with a charter, how to build this workshop, where to build it, and whether the output can reach the expected level after it is built. You all need to think about it one by one. If it is really as you said, everyone will be able to afford this kind of rice paper in the future, which will be a benefit to the local people."

When Gu Fengyue heard his brother's words, which clearly showed his support for her, she immediately rubbed her hands in excitement, as if she was planning to write a plan right away. However, Gu Fengyun was not interested in listening any further. He had come back this time with the intention of changing clothes and then going out. Now he had been delayed in the study for a while, and it was already a little late.

Gu Fengyue was a little worried when she heard that he was going out again: "But what about the military? Is there any news about General Qi at the border?"

Gu Fengyun waved his hand, indicating that he didn't know either. "The border situation is still uncertain. I'm going out on official business this time. In the near future, you two should be extremely careful when you go out. Remember not to act rashly. As for the papermaking workshop, you should write a charter first and I'll take a look at it when you come back."

Hearing that Gu Fengyun was going out, Song Chunlin hurriedly took out the bottle of spiritual spring water and gave it to him. For some reason, he always felt that Gu Fengyun's trip out this time might not be so smooth.

Looking at the camouflage army green kettle, Gu Fengyun smiled: "Oh, Xiao Chunlin is really considerate. Come on, bring all the good stuff you have. I smelled it outside the door just now. Are you guys eating something behind my back?"

The two people who were caught eating secretly chuckled, and Song Chunlin also quickly took out a family bucket meal and handed it to Gu Fengyun.

"My Lord, why don't you put it in a basket? This packaging seems a bit eye-catching."

Gu Fengyun looked at the bright red and golden outer packaging and thought that this was not just eye-catching, it was dazzling.

Finally, Song Chunlin transferred all the food into the food box. After thinking for a while, he stuffed a small bottle into Gu Fengyun's pocket, which contained quick-acting heart-saving pills.

The bottle was the size of a thumb. Gu Fengyun looked at it curiously, and Song Chunlin told him how to use it.

"When you feel uncomfortable in your heart, take about ten to fifteen pills and press them under your tongue to relieve the discomfort."

Gu Fengyun took the small medicine bottle and stuffed it into the secret pocket of his clothes solemnly: "Thank you Xiaochun, I hope this medicine will not be used again."

There was inexplicable sadness in what Gu Fengyun said, and Gu Fengyue felt inexplicably flustered. He followed Gu Fengyun closely and watched his brother get on the carriage, but the worry in his heart did not diminish at all.