63: Chapter 63: A Great Harvest – Toilet Paper and Napkins Emerge One After Another!

After Zhao Fusu finished giving instructions to Zhang Han, he went to rest.

Once the excitement faded, he felt an endless wave of exhaustion.

Zhao Fusu slept until noon before finally waking up.

"Head of State, look."

Zhang Han held a large stack of finished paper and said to Zhao Fusu, as if seeking credit, "This is the paper I made with my own hands!"

"Good!"

Zhao Fusu nodded.

He walked out of the tent and looked at the sky. Seeing that the sun was already high, he thought it was time for another check-in.

Thus, Zhao Fusu opened the system panel.

"Congratulations, Host. You have received a reward for checking in—Toilet Paper Production Method."

The system's pleasant voice rang in Zhao Fusu's mind.

"Oh!"

Zhao Fusu's eyes lit up.

Even though he knew how to make paper before, the paper produced was still quite stiff. If used to wipe one's bottom, it could easily scratch the skin.

Toilet paper was different.

Toilet paper was very soft.

It could give one's bottom an extraordinary sensation.

Zhao Fusu looked over the production method for toilet paper.

Besides having a certain level of moisture to keep the paper soft, toilet paper also had significant differences in its composition.

There were also major differences in the pulp composition.

A proper ratio of long and short fibers is the prerequisite for making soft toilet paper.

Long-fiber pulp gives toilet paper sufficient strength.

Short-fiber pulp has a greater impact on the feel, especially the softness. To produce high-grade toilet paper with both good strength and softness, the ratio of long to short fibers must be reasonable.

Long fibers generally use bleached softwood pulp, while short fibers use bleached hardwood pulp. A ratio of 3:7 or 4:6 is more reasonable; toilet paper made with this ratio is flexible and comfortable.

A smile appeared on Zhao Fusu's face.

With white paper similar to A4 and toilet paper, he could use these two commodities to harvest the nobles who had made a lot of money from selling grain.

He might not even need to raise funds to build a batch of agricultural machinery. When the time came, he could use this machinery to help farmers with the summer harvest.

"Let's start making toilet paper."

Zhao Fusu conducted research and development once again.

After a full day of research, with the help of a scraper and by changing the pulp combination, Zhao Fusu finally managed to add patterns to the toilet paper, making it thicker, fluffier, and softer.

"I finally made it!"

Zhao Fusu's face was full of smiles.

This truly was a bumper harvest!

Not only had he produced regular paper, but now he had also created toilet paper.

He might as well make napkins too!

Napkins need to be tougher than toilet paper, so in the pulp ratio, the proportion of long fibers should be higher than that of short fibers.

Zhao Fusu used a piece of his own napkin to wipe his hands.

It certainly couldn't compare to high-quality napkins.

But it was okay and usable!

Zhao Fusu was already very satisfied with being able to produce paper, toilet paper, and napkins in their initial forms.

The soldiers who worked with him on the paper, toilet paper, and napkins also gained a certain level of technical expertise, essentially becoming papermaking craftsmen.

As they made paper more often, their experience would grow.

Zhao Fusu could let these craftsmen experiment to upgrade the processes for processing paper, toilet paper, and napkins.

Zhao Fusu also had a group of soldiers follow ancient papermaking methods, putting bamboo strips into the pulp tank, intending to create Xishan Jade Paper.

This Xishan Jade Paper required 108 steps and took four months—one hundred and twenty days!

Well then!

Zhao Fusu shook his head helplessly.

That was too long!

He had only been transmigrated for half a month; four months was a bit too much.

He couldn't help but sigh that industrial papermaking was much faster.

However, Zhao Fusu also understood that in terms of calligraphy, this A4-like paper couldn't compare to Xishan Jade Paper.

Xishan Jade Paper wouldn't degrade or turn yellow even after a hundred years.

Ordinary paper would start to yellow or even rot after just a few years.

Looking at the paper, toilet paper, and napkins, Zhao Fusu began to think about pricing.

He wouldn't sell these three items too cheaply.

He knew very well that paper, toilet paper, and napkins were all meant to harvest the wealth of the nobles.

Farmers had no use for paper, nor for toilet paper.

They didn't even use Toilet Spatulas!

They used Tu Ke La.

What were Tu Ke La?

They were just clods of earth from the fields.

Using those clods to wipe one's bottom could also collect organic fertilizer to enrich the fields!

Zhao Fusu only knew this because he had sent a large number of laborers to scoop manure.

He was from the countryside himself, but this was the first time he had seen people use dirt clods to wipe their bottoms.

He couldn't help but admire the ingenuity of the working people.

As Zhao Fusu looked at the paper, toilet paper, and napkins, his thoughts continued to wander.

Besides selling them to the nobles in the Qin Region, they could also be sold to the former royal families of the Six States and the Nobles of the Six Lands.

By transferring the money from their hands, their wealth would decrease, and wouldn't that mean their capital for rebellion would also dwindle?

"Brilliant!"

Thinking of this, Zhao Fusu couldn't help but snap his fingers.

Right!

Zhao Fusu thought of another way to harvest the wealth of the Nobles of the Six Lands: web novels!

Cough, cough, cough...

He had actually written novels on Tomato Fiction, albeit as a failed author.

But he still understood the tropes of Power Fantasy stories: face-slapping; the Three-Year Agreement; the return of the Dragon King; the War God returning to find his daughter in a dog cage eating dog food; the Dihua Genre...

Although these tropes were outdated, that was only because modern people had such high thresholds.

For the people of the Qin Dynasty who had never read a novel, Zhao Fusu felt he could drive them wild, making the Nobles of the Six Lands shell out massive amounts of money for his paper novels, draining their rebellion funds!

Besides novels, there were also—newspapers!

Newspapers were something Zhao Fusu had always been eager to create.

They were perfect for manipulating public opinion.

Through newspapers, Zhao Fusu could show the people of the Great Qin Empire exactly what he wanted them to see, thereby guiding public opinion.

At the same time, it could better propagate the policies of their National Assembly, letting the commoners understand the thoughts of the upper class; this could eliminate the gap and prevent the Remnants of the Six States from exploiting it.

Before Movable Type Printing was developed, after formatting the newspaper, Zhao Fusu could only use manual labor for transcription.

Those thousand Confucian Disciples who dared to gather illegally in front of Xianyang Palace could be brought in for labor reform to transcribe the newspapers.

"Not bad, not bad!"

Zhao Fusu chuckled.

These people were undergoing labor reform and wouldn't be paid; at most, he'd provide meals, which would save him a lot of money!

Zhao Fusu didn't plan to set up a separate newspaper office.

He planned to set up the newspaper stand right in front of the Great Qin Empire Bank.

Firstly, to save costs.

Secondly, it might drive traffic to the Great Qin Empire Bank.

The Great Qin Empire Bank might be a bit quiet at first.

Once both the bank and the newspaper were on the right track, it wouldn't be too late to separate them.