Chronicles of the Qin Dynasty

Chapter 125, Section 124: Paper Making
The hardships and suffering of ordinary people are often not perceived by those in power.

In Xianyang Palace, everything that Qin Shi wanted to improve step by step has truly taken its first step today.

"Lord Qin, the paper made from bark is almost finished."

When someone from the Imperial Household Department came to report, Qin Shi was overjoyed.

"I gonna go see!"

But why would such a matter require a distinguished person to travel here?
At the command of the Red Maiden, the craftsmen and the Minister of the Imperial Household, who were waiting outside the palace, along with the two boxes of paper they were carrying, were sent into the Southern Palace.

This wasn't the first time the artisans had seen her.

When this Lady Qin was in charge of compiling the registers, she was generous, appreciative, and gentle in temperament, clearly a good ruler. As a result, all the craftsmen, from top to bottom, were very happy.

But today, the other party was dressed in a black robe, with no other decorations except for a bright green pine crown on his head.

For some reason, the way she simply sat there, emanating a cool, expensive, and unattainable icy aura from the hall, made her appear incredibly dignified.

They knelt silently on the ground, then listened quietly to the words of the Junior Minister of the Imperial Household, which were spoken with a mixture of joy and trepidation:

"As instructed by Your Excellency, this paper has been produced. However, I do not know its use or whether Your Excellency is satisfied, so I dare not present it to Your Majesty without authorization."

The Red Maiden had already presented the lacquered table to Qin Shi.

She reached out and took a large, neatly cut piece of parchment paper, examining it closely against the light.

The paper was neither bright white nor fine enough; in fact, some fine fibers were visible on its surface.

It's easy to imagine that if ink were to touch it, it would surely leave a large, wet stain, which would be both unseemly and quite embarrassing.

But this is the first piece of paper ever produced in the Qin state!

It has thickness and toughness, and some parts are already very smooth. She was very surprised to see such results in just seven or eight days!
Seeing that she was only staring at the paper and did not speak, the craftsmen couldn't help but feel uneasy again.

Then someone boldly spoke up: "Your Excellency, the bamboo paper and hemp paper you mentioned are still being soaked in the bamboo and hemp, and it will probably take two or three months to be ready... Therefore, we have only been able to make this paper from bark..."

Qin Shi put the papers back, then examined the thick stack below one by one. He found that although none of them were perfectly uniform and without any impurities, the quality of each one was almost identical...

If you only use charcoal pencils instead of a brush, this paper is sufficient!

She smiled broadly: "Get up and answer."

Then, decisively: "Everyone involved in the papermaking project will be awarded 50 pieces of Qin Banliang."

"Those who have made contributions to papermaking will be rewarded with an additional fifty."

It's harvest season now, and these 50 Qin Banliang coins would be more than enough to buy a bushel of millet!

Nowadays, even with the wealth of artisans, a strong man like them can only afford to eat a little over five or six ounces a day... These fifty Qin half-ounces are enough for a month's worth of food!

The craftsmen were overjoyed, and then couldn't help but bang their heads on the ground before they stood up tremblingly.

This is only the first time, and it has already received such a generous reward. What if it were made even better, even whiter, even more delicate and smooth?

Everyone's hearts were pounding, and although they stood there awkwardly, they could hardly contain their joy.

The Minister of the Imperial Household was also overjoyed.

Given Qin Shi's current status, rewarding him is clearly inappropriate.

But if one's own craftsmen are rewarded, wouldn't that be a great affirmation of his work? And I've heard that this nobleman enjoys the exclusive trust of the King of Qin…

Damn!

The Minister of the Imperial Household immediately beamed with joy.

Qin Shi had already inquired about the craftsmen's process in detail, and the craftsmen quickly replied:

"First, we selected the best mulberry bark, but because we were in a hurry, some young and some old bark were mixed in..."

He said this with a hint of annoyance. Although he didn't know what effect this would have on the paper, it was clear they should have been more careful in selecting the paper. Making one batch of old paper, one batch of young paper, and then a combination of both—that would have shown them to be more meticulous!

Traditional papermaking involves only a few steps: soaking, steaming, pounding, pulping, papermaking, pressing, and drying...

Step by step, the craftsmen carefully verified and boldly experimented according to her instructions.

Some parts were scrapped, but because of sufficient preparation in the early stages, they did not delay the construction period.

"only……"

The craftsman, having finished his report, lowered his head even further with caution:

"But after the paper was peeled off and dried, it wasn't as smooth as it is now. Instead, it felt rough and brittle, with a lot of impurities."

"Therefore, therefore, we, the lowly ones, carefully polished it again with Bian stone..."

Qin Shi was stunned for a moment before he remembered that because ancient papermaking methods could not achieve the fineness of industrial papermaking, burnishing and polishing were also an essential process.

She forgot to mention in her description that the other person had already honed their skills without any formal instruction in order to be in the best possible condition in front of important people.

She nodded: "The craftsman who came up with this method will be rewarded with another thirty."

The craftsman below immediately blushed, and then stammered in a low voice, "If we were to go together... together..."

Qin Shi smiled broadly: "Then we shall share the reward."

Upon hearing this, the waiting craftsmen all smiled.

Qin Shi shook the paper again, and some flying fragments could be seen in the air—even with a stone mortar, the work of pounding and stirring still required human power.

Therefore, it is inevitable that the work will not be done thoroughly.

Therefore, it is best for Xin to quickly get along with Mo and then do his best to make the waterwheel.

Once a finished product is available, the artisans in the Imperial Workshop can quickly replicate it. This will free up their productivity from the arduous physical labor, allowing them to focus on other important tasks.

But all in all, this paper is good enough!

She instructed her maid to retrieve the box, intending to present it to the Zhangtai Palace later, while simultaneously continuing to make grand promises:
"Regarding the paper, everyone still needs to do their best and try again."

"If there is any further gain, there will still be a reward."

The only difference between this pie and the pie made by capitalists is that this one is actually edible!

At this moment, the craftsmen are already full of energy!

After they left, Qin Shi summoned another carpenter:

"Have all the new pencils been made?"

Nowadays, there are no fast-growing forests, and it's impossible to break down wood and glue it together to make a pencil barrel, so pencils are still made using cheap and readily available thin bamboo tubes.

Following Qin Shi's description, the craftsmen, though unable to create a pen casing that could be sharpened at any time, devised a clever method: using clay to form a thin strip to wrap around the pen core.

Each time a section of the lead broke, you would use clips to pull out another section—the tip of the clay even had a rounded, conical curve, just like when sharpening pencils in later times.

Then carefully polish the tip of the pen lead a couple of times, and it will be usable again.

Although this work is troublesome, it's clear that King Qin Heng and the noblemen using these brushes don't need to sharpen them themselves, especially with this paper made from bark...

Qin Shi took a row of pencils of different hardness that the craftsman had brought over, and wrote and tested them on the paper to his heart's content, and then became satisfied:
"reward!"

No matter how rough the paper is, it's still much easier to write on with a pencil than on smooth, difficult-to-color silk.

One dou (斗) of millet weighs approximately 12.5 jin (斤), and after hulling, it's far from enough to feed an adult male for a month. However, in the Qin Dynasty, simply having enough to eat was a luxury.

[Paper of paper has appeared! Education progress +1]