62: Chapter 62 The First Paper of the Qin Dynasty!

On the way to the paper mill, Zhao Fusu, who was in the carriage with nothing else to do, simply began thinking about the issue of grain prices again.

He estimated that it was only a matter of time before grain prices fell to within five hundred coins per dan.

It was already the end of June; whether it was the millet or spring wheat planted in the spring, it would be time for harvest in another half a month.

The reason grain prices in Guanzhong would peak during this period was that the grain from last year's autumn harvest was nearly exhausted.

Once paper production was sorted and the bank was established, the summer harvest would be the next major task before him.

Since he had deregulated grain control, a large number of people would surely stop engaging in agricultural production and start on the path of commerce.

The loss of these people would lead to a decline in agricultural productivity.

After the farmers in Guanzhong finished harvesting wheat, millet, and rice, they would practice crop rotation, mainly planting soybeans.

By September, the soybeans would be ripe.

The farmers would rotate crops again, planting winter wheat seeds in the soil to wait for them to sprout in the spring.

The focus of his next stage of work should be on how to ensure that the summer harvest and soybean rotation in Guanzhong were not affected after losing these people as a labor force.

Zhao Fusu had previously obtained the "Detailed Explanation of Steamboat Construction" through a check-in.

His idea was to raise funds through national bonds to build steamboats, open up shipping routes, and transport grain from the south to the north via sea.

He thought that sea transport costs were the lowest and could significantly drive down grain prices!

However, he discovered that the lack of grain in Guanzhong was not a natural disaster, but a man-made one.

When grain trading was restricted, the nobles who controlled vast amounts of land constantly claimed there was no grain, citing endless natural disasters and poor harvests.

As soon as grain trading was deregulated, these nobles, as if by magic, produced massive amounts of grain for sale from unknown sources.

Zhao Fusu felt that making a huge investment to build steamboats and transport grain from the south to shock the grain prices seemed unnecessary now.

In the future, when conditions improved, he could still build steamboats for north-south trade via sea.

Zhao Fusu's thinking had also shifted.

The steamboats would be put on hold for now; the funds raised from national bonds could be used to research agricultural machinery to improve the efficiency of grain production.

He didn't have the design blueprints for a rotary tiller or a combine harvester.

However, a rotary tiller was easy to make; simply attaching rotary blades to a drive shaft would create a basic one.

With a rotary tiller, reclaiming land would become easy.

Where a farmer would spend a whole day hoeing a field, a steam rotary tiller could probably turn over the soil in just an hour.

A combine harvester was more complex; manufacturing one might be a bit difficult.

Even with design blueprints, Zhao Fusu wasn't confident he could make one in a short amount of time.

Even if he did make it, Zhao Fusu felt the failure rate would be incredibly high.

Zhao Fusu felt it wasn't realistic at this stage.

But building a steam tractor was relatively simple.

He had successfully had Old Mo create a Steam Locomotive; with a slight modification, it could be turned into a steam tractor to transport grain.

Getting a steam tractor working would also save a lot of manpower.

Even if he couldn't make a combine harvester, Zhao Fusu had other agricultural machinery to speed up the grain harvest.

For example, a thresher.

Zhao Fusu had worked in the fields before.

He had used threshers since he was a child.

This thing was also simple to build.

Connect it to a Steam Engine and use gears for transmission, and the thresher's drum would spin rapidly.

On the surface of the drum, there were triangular-shaped peg teeth.

While the drum was spinning, placing the wheat ears on it would allow the peg teeth to knock the grain off.

This work efficiency was much faster than manually threshing wheat and millet ears.

He could also find a way to develop a steam ejector pump.

The principle was also very simple: after steam was throttled through a nozzle, its velocity increased and pressure decreased, forming a low-pressure zone at the nozzle that created suction to drive the medium's flow.

This kind of pump has no mechanical moving parts and is not limited by conditions such as friction, lubrication, or vibration.

When Zhao Fusu was scrolling through TikTok, he had seen some talented people make this kind of pump.

Therefore, he knew how to make it.

With the steam ejector pump, irrigation problems for farmland far from water sources could be solved.

While Zhao Fusu was thinking about agricultural machinery, time passed very quickly. After more than half a day's journey, he finally arrived at the chosen location for the paper mill.

Once they arrived, Zhao Fusu began directing everyone to start working.

He had brought so many soldiers not just for protection, but to work.

They had brought a large amount of supplies with them.

Under Zhang Han's command, those assigned to build the camp began doing so.

The cooks began preparing meals.

A large group of people was assigned to construct the factory buildings.

Others went to fell trees in preparation for papermaking.

Zhao Fusu had long ago overcome the difficult points of modern industrial papermaking.

Thus, he knew the papermaking process by heart.

After he had the soldiers turn the logs into small wood chips, it was time for the process of separating the lignin and boiling the pulp.

He prepared the alkaline solution according to the ratios recorded for modern industrial papermaking.

This step was the most difficult part of the entire process.

The concentration of the alkaline solution directly affected the quality of the paper produced.

Zhao Fusu soaked a large number of wood chips in bronze containers filled with the alkaline solution and used coal to heat them from below.

The boiling continued from evening until three in the morning.

Except for meal times, Zhao Fusu kept watch by the side.

This was his first time making paper, and he was too excited to sleep.

He wanted to see the pulp being created with his own eyes.

From learning about papermaking to making it himself, Zhao Fusu had invested a great deal of effort.

Therefore, he wanted to witness the birth of the first piece of paper.

This held significant meaning for him.

After the pulp was successfully made, clay and calcium carbonate were added for whitening.

Zhao Fusu followed suit.

Next was turning the pulp into sheets, then pressing them to remove moisture, and finally drying and stretching them smooth to form a continuous strip of paper.

Zhao Fusu couldn't wait for machines to do it.

He did it by hand.

Then he took the resulting paper strips and stuck them to the side of a furnace to dry.

Before he knew it, dawn had broken; Zhao Fusu had not slept all night.

Looking at the white paper that somewhat resembled A4 paper, Zhao Fusu smiled.

Damn!

Zhao Fusu's mood was incredibly excited.

From understanding papermaking, to overcoming the difficulties encountered in the process, and then to actually getting his hands dirty and overcoming various practical problems.

He had finally produced Great Qin's first piece of paper!

"Hahaha, hahaha!"

Zhao Fusu could no longer restrain his joy and laughed toward the heavens.

"Paper!"

"So this is paper!"

"So white!"

"So smooth!"

Zhang Han wasn't just watching; he even reached out to touch it.

Zhao Fusu looked at Zhang Han with a slightly odd expression; he was making perfectly normal paper.

Why did it sound so strange coming from Zhang Han?

"Make some large sheets of paper for me, I have a great use for them."

Zhao Fusu instructed Zhang Han.

"Yes."

Zhang Han nodded.