Tiantang Splendid

Chapter 801 Papermaking 【Seeking Monthly Ticket】

Books are the carrier of human cognition...

People with knowledge record what they see, hear or think, and make it into a book, which is the crystallization of wisdom.The spiritual civilization of a nation is manifested in the spiritual life of this ethnic group, and is also stored in the classics and books of this nation that have been handed down for a long time.

Strictly speaking, the books at this time are the accumulated results of thousands of years of life and struggle of the entire ethnic group, not the great achievements of a certain sage...

Ancient books were originally written by hand. In the Shang Dynasty, there were oracle bone inscriptions carved on tortoise shells and animal bones, although they could not be regarded as books at that time.Oracle bone inscriptions, inscriptions, and seal script, until the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han Dynasty, were mostly written in bamboo slips and silk.Inscribed on bamboo, and then run through into a book called Jiance, written on silk, can be called a silk book on a scroll.

Therefore, in ancient times, a book was called a volume of books or a volume of books.

Papermaking was invented in the Western Han Dynasty, and Cai Lun improved it in the Eastern Han Dynasty. So far, the materials used for writing books have gradually been replaced by paper.Block printing appeared in the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Due to the rise of printing, books gradually changed from hand-written bamboo carvings to block printing, and changed from scrolls to leaflets.

Before the technology of papermaking became more popular and convenient, whether it was oracle bones, bronze ware, bamboo slips, wooden tablets, or Cai Lun's improved paper, they were all extremely rare and precious things, and they were of great value.

Therefore, whenever a bibliophile gets a favorite book, he is always used to holding it in his hand, rubbing it for a while, carefully reviewing it by famous masters, rare books and cheats, and copying yellow postscripts.So seeing it makes my heart warm, reading it makes me dance, I regard it as a treasure, and I can't put it down.In addition to the joy, a seal seal was solemnly sealed, which was a certain family's collection of books...

Since then, the books that should have been the carrier of civilization have become the private property of the book collectors, who are either cherished or put on the shelf, and outsiders can never get a glimpse of it except for the children of the family.

Knowledge has become a luxury, which is out of reach of the vast majority of people...

Why is scientific knowledge able to achieve explosive development and progress after it is time to enter the 21st century?The main reason is that various carriers for disseminating knowledge are becoming more and more popular, and all kinds of knowledge can be more easily known by the vast majority of people, so that quantitative changes lead to qualitative changes, and explosive breakthroughs are obtained.

But in the Tang Dynasty, the scarcity and cost of paper became the biggest obstacle restricting the circulation of books and the dissemination of knowledge...

In such a situation, Fang Jun dared to say something like "let everyone in the world afford to read books" without shame, which is nothing more than a fool's dream.

Lu Xiaoyu slandered in his heart, but kept his mouth shut and did not argue with him.

The ups and downs of his official career made him suffer a lot, and he also learned to endure. The former unparalleled arrogance has now been honed to the last bit, and then transformed into a deeper sophistication and low-key.

A war of words won't help.

In the end, the facts must speak for themselves.Lu Xiaoyu pursed his lips, and followed Fang Jun, thinking in his heart that he wanted to see what kind of amazing skill your Fang family has, which can turn precious paper into vulgar things that everyone can afford...

The servant of the Fang family led the two of them along the way, and happened to pass by two tall houses without doors and windows outside the workshop.A fast-flowing stream pours down from the mountain, rushing all the way, and pours into a wide and gentle stream at the foot of the mountain.A row of huge waterwheels was built next to the house by the stream, the stream was rushing, the waterwheels were rolling, and the rumble was clearly audible.

Not far away, there are several open-air pots and stoves. The fire is burning under the stoves, and the hot water in the pots is tumbling and steaming.

Lu Xiaoyu stopped, stopped to watch, and asked in surprise, "When did these waterwheels stand here?"

He was not surprised by the steaming pot and stove. The raw materials for papermaking can only be used after being boiled and mashed, and after steaming, the raw materials are easier to mash.

Just what is this waterwheel used for?
The servant said: "It's just a water reel."

Lu Xiaoyu suddenly shook his head and said, "The water pestle does save time and effort, but it is okay to use it to pound rice, but it is not appropriate to use it to smash bamboo pulp. Once the water pestle continues to run for too long, its axis will be very easy. It wears out and has to be replaced frequently. It only takes a while to pound rice, but it takes days and years and years to pound bamboo strip pulp. If it stops, it will not be able to keep up with the speed of papermaking, and it will be a waste of effort."

Fang Jun on the side smiled without saying a word.

Lu Xiaoyu frowned and said: "Why is the chief executive so disdainful? The water reel has been recorded since the Han Dynasty. There are many rivers in the south of the Yangtze River, so the water reel is everywhere. This thing can be seen everywhere in the Jiangnan countryside, and it is not a rare thing."

Not only in Jiangnan, but also in Guanzhong, Hebei and other places, water reels can be seen everywhere.

To put it bluntly, this thing is just a further use of the principles of water power, levers and cams to process grain. This kind of machinery that uses water power to remove the grain husk is not high in technology and is widely spread among the people.Since the invention of water reels in the Han Dynasty, until the [-]th century in the Jiangnan countryside, they are still in use...

What Lu Xiaoyu said is precisely a serious constraint of ancient water reels - there is no bearing with excellent material.

The ancient bearings were only cast in cast iron, then coated with animal grease and lubricated for a while, that's all.Just imagine, how can such a simple bearing bear the rotation of a huge waterwheel all year round?

It's weird not to scrap...

Fang Jun chuckled: "Water reels are different from water reels, and waterwheels are also different from waterwheels. Just like people are different, you are different from me..."

This is what it says...

Lu Xiaoyu was so angry that he just wanted to grit his teeth!
You, a majestic Marquis of the Empire and the head of the road, do you need to show your presence in front of me, a down-and-out person?This is simply blatant irony!
Lu Xiaoyu was so angry that he wanted to die, but there was nothing he could do.

Because Fang Jun was not wrong...

"Hehe, don't accept it? If you don't accept it, I will let you gain insight and see how the water reels produced by my Fang family are different from your water reels that are 'spread all over the south of the Yangtze River'." Fang Jun hit Lu Xiaoyu, and he was in a good mood, so he took the Follow him into the water mill room.

Although Fang Jun will come here in the future, the bearing of the Fang family has made a breakthrough under his "guidance". It is also his suggestion to use it on the water reel. The bearings in the center of each huge gear in the car, pointing to Lu Xiaoyu.

In fact, Fang Jun's hydraulic forging hammer evolved from a water hammer.

It's just that it is equipped with bearings now, so that the power loss is smaller and the effect is greater...

The servant followed along all the time, acting as a commentator at this time: "These gears and the water wheel outside are equipped with bearings. This thing was made by Erlang himself. It uses the best fine steel for the steel mouth. A series of precise technical operations can run continuously for more than two months without replacement under heavy load, and there will never be any failures such as damage and fragmentation, which can ensure the continuous operation of the water reel.”

In the water pestle room, it was not the "wheel pounding" that Lu Xiaoyu used to see, but the water pestle brought several wooden hammers to ram it repeatedly.Instead, a group of huge gears drive the four stone mills, the gears bite the gears, and are driven by the water wheel outside through the connecting rod, and they are spinning rapidly and dazzlingly.

As for the "bearing" that the servant said, it is actually invisible.But the gear rotates so fast without hearing the friction sound of "creaking" in the past, so we know that this "bearing" is indeed extraordinary.

There are handymen coming in and out, bringing in the bamboo raw materials that have been steamed and boiled in the pot outside, slowly pouring them into the two grinding eyes on the stone mill, and then being chiseled on the contact surface in the middle of the stone mill. The grinding teeth are ground, and the pulp flows out from the bottom of the stone mill...

The whole process was easy and pleasant.

However, the current pulp cannot be used to make paper directly.

The ground pulp flows into a pool next to it, and a servant scoops it out, pours it into a stone trough, and adds another pulp into it, and a small forging hammer repeatedly beats it non-stop.This is because the fibers in the pulp from bamboo lack the necessary flexibility, and the bonding force between fibers is not ideal enough. If it is used to make paper, the paper will be loose and porous, with rough surface and low strength, which cannot meet the requirements of use.The final slurry water can make the fiber surface produce natural hemicellulose adhesive to strengthen the fiber bonding and physical strength.

Naturally, Lu Xiaoyu didn't know what this slurry was, so he asked, "What is this slurry made of?"

Fang Jun looked at him and smiled, showing his white teeth: "Hehe..."

(End of this chapter)