The Great Qin Empire---Qin Li

"What have you been doing recently, the fake Shaofu Cheng Heifu?"

In the Linguang Palace of Ganquan Mountain, Li Si looked up and looked at his middle son Li Tong who had just come from Xianyang. He did not ask him how his family was doing in the past half month, nor did he ask what his eldest son Li You said in the letter sent from Changsha County, but he was inexplicably concerned about Heifu, who had rarely been mentioned in the past.

Although Li Tong felt strange, he still bowed and said, "Father, after Heifu became the Minister of the Imperial Household, he first traveled with Zhang Shaorong in the water area around Xianyang and set up a workshop near the Haochi. Then he asked the Minister of the Imperial Household for the wood of the Five Gardens."

Li Si nodded: "So, the things he threatened to make in front of Your Majesty were made of trees, just like the bamboo slips?"

Li Tong said: "I also heard that those trees were all soaked in the Haochi, but then Heifu sent thousands of craftsmen and servants back home, saying that they would come back after planting wheat, and there were only a hundred people left."

He couldn't help but say: "Your Majesty only gave Heifu three months, and this boy is not in a hurry at all? I think he has been too smooth in the palace in the past few months, and he is a little arrogant! Otherwise, why did he go to Neishiteng's mansion again and again, but never visit my house once? This man must have forgotten who helped him to get to where he is today?"

"Confused."

Li Si reprimanded Zhongzi. He saw that although Li Tong was taught by Li Si after he came to Xianyang, his political wisdom was much worse than that of his eldest son Li You. Heifu deliberately did not visit Li Si's house, which was clearly Li You's instruction.

Not only Heifu, but also Zhang Han, Zhang Cang and other people who were protected and promoted by Li Si did not go to Li's house privately.

Having many friends and forming cliques both inside and outside, although there are major faults, there are many hidden dangers!

Li Si needs to maintain his image of "non-partisan", rather than being a "honorary minister" with many guests and friends and widespread cliques.

Unlike the confused Zhongzi, he saw that although Heifu did not give him a gift, he was deliberately pulling Zhang Cang, Zhang Han and other people who were deeply influenced by Li Si to do things.

This was exactly what Li Si wanted. Zhang Cang was indifferent to fame and fortune, but although Li Si admired Zhang Han, he had no reason to promote him beyond his authority. If Zhang Han could take advantage of Heifu's achievements, it would not be a bad thing.

"But Heifu is so leisurely, can he really accomplish anything?" Li Tong was a little unconvinced.

"Brother Ru Bo once said that although this person was born in a humble family, he was very knowledgeable, very reliable in doing things, and never missed a target."

Li Si felt vaguely that Heifu was the same kind of person as him, unwilling to be in a humble position, unwilling to live like a rat in the toilet all day long! He was eager to break away from his original class and climb to the mountain of power.

Now that the toilet rat has been placed in the warehouse, whether he can shine depends on whether he can seize the opportunity.

"If it is true as he said, and paper as thin as silk and as cheap as wooden slips is successfully produced, it will be a great achievement for Qin!"

As a court judge, Li Si knew very well that one of the major differences between the Qin system and the six countries was the insistence on "documentary administration".

The Internal History Miscellaneous Laws supplemented by Li Si himself pointed out: "If you have something to ask for, you must write it down, not verbally, and do not ask for it by force." No matter how small the matter is, subordinates must report their work to their superiors in the form of written documents, and they must not report it verbally.

In addition, there is a provision in the Jinbu Law that "officials who deliver goods to each other shall inform the year of payment in writing, and the recipient shall account for it according to the time of receipt." When the government transports goods, it should notify the year of payment in writing, and the recipient shall record it according to the time of receipt. This not only allows accurate accounting, but also allows accountability.

This kind of "documentary administration" is widely implemented in various counties, so a large number of bamboo and wooden slips are needed every year. However, the slips are heavy, not to mention the people who carry them, even Li Si is exhausted from reviewing the legal books and begging sent by the counties every day. It is also inconvenient to store and transport, and the rolls of bamboo books take up too much space. The so-called rich learning is just hundreds of thousands of words.

As the country was unified, the number of government affairs handled by the central government and counties increased day by day, and the inconvenience of bamboo slips became more obvious. From the emperor to the officials, the Qin Dynasty urgently needed a new writing medium to improve administrative efficiency...

"This is why your majesty attaches so much importance to this matter. Heifu, it's a good bet!"

Li Si admired smart people and was not worried that Heifu would be out of his control after he made contributions and gained favor.

Unlike Han Fei, who must be a prime minister if he is used by Qin, Heifu was born in a low family and was too young. In the next ten years, he could only be a county governor at most. He was not enough to pose a threat to Li Si, but could become an ally of his descendants...

"After you return to Xianyang, pay attention to Heifu's every move and report to me frequently."

Li Si instructed Li Tong in this way, and then he opened the letter sent by Li You from thousands of miles away...

His brows immediately frowned, because the letter was written during the march and revealed some details that were not described in the official documents of Dongting County.

"The Yue people in Dongting County were instigated by the remnants of the Western Yue and Chu to rebel against Qin with their cities!"

After reading it, Li Si sneered: "The Dongting and Changsha counties were on alert, but the governor of Dongting County only said it was a small tribal disturbance? It seems that the south is not at peace!"

...

Haochi is located near the site of Haojing, the old capital of the Zhou Dynasty. Now, the glorious city-state of the Zhou Dynasty can no longer be seen. Only foxes wandering in the ruins and a golden field of millet can be seen.

Heifu also set up the base camp for papermaking here, because this place not only has the benefit of running water, but also can build several water mills, and there are ponds to soak the transported trees.

It was July, and the women nearby harvested the kudzu hemp planted in the fields and rehydrated the hemp and ramie in the pond to prepare for weaving winter clothes. While working, they pointed at the wood in the pond and talked endlessly.

"To build houses and ships, the wood must be dried. These officials are so strange that they soaked it in water!"

After soaking the trees, Heifu ignored them and even sent more than a thousand craftsmen and prisoners recruited from nearby areas back home, asking them to plant wheat before coming back, leaving only more than a hundred officials on standby.

Zhang Han was so anxious about this that he almost got angry, but Heifu was not in a hurry. Instead, he asked Zhang Han to send someone to the East and West Weaving Rooms under the jurisdiction of the Shaofu. These two weaving rooms were responsible for collecting silkworm cocoons and weaving them into clothes for the suburban temples. There, Heifu really found what he wanted...

What appeared in front of Zhang Han and Cheng Shang was a thin piece that felt like silk, but it was not a complete piece of cloth.

Zhang Han didn't know it, but Cheng Shang said, "This thing is called Heti in Guanzhong."

"Yes, in Nanjun it is called Fangxu."

Heifu laughed, "It seems that every summer, the sound of looms is heard everywhere in Brother Cheng's family!"

Cheng Shang sighed, "My mother raised me with sericulture and weaving, how could I not know it?"

Heifu nodded, "Me too, my father died early, my mother and my uncle and aunt worked day and night to raise silkworms and weave silk, but those soft silks were sold to the county, and they never wore them..."

The "Fangxu" that Heifu asked for from the weaving room was the product of sericulture. The best cocoons can be directly spun into silk, and those bad and diseased cocoons are reluctant to be thrown away. They are put into boiling water and the silk is extracted by the floating method.

After floating and fluffing, there are often some residual fluff left on the bamboo mat. After several times, it accumulates into a layer of fiber flakes, which are dried and peeled off in the sun, and then become the Hedi and Fangxu in front of us.

Zhang Han was born into a wealthy family. He had no worries about food and clothing since he was a child. He had ready-made silk and embroidery to wear. Of course, he had no chance to know this thing, and he didn't understand what it had to do with papermaking.

In order to answer his question, Heifu took out a pen and ink and wrote on the Fangxu in a serious manner.

Cheng Shang explained: "In the Weaver Girl's home, Heji is used as a sacrifice to Leizu. Before the sacrifice, people who can read often write some eulogies on it. In fact, they are reluctant to burn cloth, so they use this thing instead."

He also had some sudden realization: "Heifu said that he wanted to make paper that is lighter than bamboo slips and cheaper than cloth. Could it be Heji?"

Then Cheng Shang shook his head in self-denial: "I'm afraid it won't work. There are too few Heji. It takes dozens of times of floating to get one."

"It's just that the principle is similar. I got the inspiration from it."

Heifu picked up the Heji with the words written on it, exerted force in his hands, and slowly tore it apart.

The Heji cracked in the middle, and the silk fibers were torn loose. Heifu put it on the table and asked Cheng Shang to take a closer look.

"If you look closely, you will know that the so-called silk and Hedi are actually made up of countless fine fibers, which can also be called silk fibers."

He pointed to the women who were retting hemp in the pond outside the door: "After the peasant women collected the kudzu stems, they soaked the peeled hemp skin in water for half a month. Finally, the hemp skin loosened and you can pull out strands of fine fibers. These fine fibers are hemp fibers."

"To put it bluntly, whether it is silk, kudzu, or the common mulberry bark and paper mulberry bark, they are all made up of countless fibers."

"Therefore, since the fine fibers of silk can be flattened and dried to become Hedi, which can be used for writing, the bark, hemp heads, old cloth, and fish nets, which are also made up of fine fibers, can be chopped and mashed, placed on bamboo mats, flattened and dried, and perhaps they can also be used for writing! This is my plan!"

Zhang Han suddenly realized: "So you asked us to cut down trees and retting them, and you want bark, not wood!"

Although wood papermaking is the mainstream in later generations, Heifu feels that with the current level of ironware in Qin, pulping is still a bit difficult. Moreover, three months may not be enough to rot the wood, not to mention that there are many processes behind it. It is better to start with simpler bark paper and hemp paper...

Cheng Shang also understood, and he slapped his thigh: "Zi Mozi said in Mo Jing that the body is divided into two. Everything can be divided, but there are times when it cannot be divided, which is called the end. It seems that this fine fiber is the end of silk, mulberry, hemp, tree skin, etc.?"

Heifu was stunned when he heard it, thinking that Mozi was so powerful that he proposed that matter is composed of tiny particles two hundred years ago?

However, when Cheng Shang was surprised that Heifu also knew the profound knowledge that Zimozi had comprehended, Heifu shook his head and said, "This is not a profound knowledge, nor is it Heifu's work."

He pointed to the peasant women who were working and laughing by the pickaxe pond outside the house, and said with a smile, "It's just a simple idea from the Weaver Girl and the Floating Mother, a simple thing that the children of the weaving room and the peasants understand."

Regardless of ancient and future generations, many inventions have been attributed to saints and great sages, as if without Suiren, there would be no fire in the world, and people would live in darkness forever; without Houji, people in the world would not know how to grow crops and would have to eat raw meat and drink blood forever; without Meng Tian, the Chinese would not be able to use brushes; without Cai Lun, paper would not appear.

But Heifu thought that this was not the case. They just happened to be at the right time and stood on the shoulders of giants. To use a clichéd saying...

"All this comes from the wisdom of the working people!"