The portable magic tower of the Three Kingdoms

"Is it okay to purchase raw materials?" Liu Tao is more worried about this. He needs bamboos of different ages, at least three stages of bamboo.

"There is no problem with bamboo. We have talked with the workshop that makes the bamboo slips and its suppliers. Bamboo will also be provided to the paper workshop one after another." Qian Fu obviously has long been prepared.

Indeed, apart from the paper, the wooden trellis and bamboo slips are also made by specialized workshops.Since there are people who make bamboo slips, there are also merchants who sell bamboo.

Sometimes I really admire these ten regular attendants, they are so efficient in handling things, and it is really not easy to become a regular attendant.

"Then what are you waiting for?" Liu Tao looked at Lu Yan and Jian Yong, "Go and have a look and see if there is anything that needs improvement!"

"Brother, let's go together!" Guan Yu and Zhang Fei also came out, and they took turns off today, "After reading it, let's take a stroll nearby. I have been in Luoyang for a while, and I haven't been able to go anywhere."

"Alright, the five of us go out together!" Liu Tao nodded.

"The carriage is ready, five please follow me." Qian Fu didn't care about it, but just led the way ahead.

It took about half an hour for the carriage to leave the palace before arriving at its destination.The workshop is located at a tributary of the Luoshui River. Strictly speaking, it has already left Luoyang City and is in the downstream. It is estimated that the waste water will pollute Luoyang's daily water.

"Listen, this is Yubayashi Zhonglang Liu Tao, and even your boss, why don't you come to see him?" Qian Fu brought Liu Tao and others to the workshop. Liu Tao was introduced.

"Greetings to the proprietor!" Everyone stepped forward one after another, one or two were just craftsmen, without any official position, they looked very humble.

"Everyone do a good job, and I will not hesitate to reward those who are hardworking and loyal." Liu Tao replied.

After a little inspection, I found that the making method of Caihou paper is similar to that of bamboo paper.The place where the gap is relatively large is probably the difference between killing greens and paper medicines.

"At least I can avoid a lot of detours..." Liu Tao also sighed, time is money, and he doesn't have much time to waste.

Chapter 177 Find a way to make quick money

"Put it in the ash tank for retting?" When discussing the process officially, it is necessary to talk about the initial part.The craftsmen can understand the removal of the skin of the bamboo in advance, but they don't understand the practice of putting the bamboo in the pond for retting.

"Yes, add plant ash or lime into the pond, and then put the bamboo into it for retting. The shortest time is three to five days and half a month, and the longest time is two, three months or even half a year..." Liu Tao nodded, "The ultimate goal is to make the bamboo material Soften, easy to take bamboo hemp."

"That is, after finishing, go directly to the step of liming water, and remove the cutting and washing parts, right?" The craftsman probably understood.If so, it saves some time.

"Up to this step, the remaining steps are almost the same as your previous steps, nothing more than cooking, pounding, pulping, and papermaking..." Liu Tao nodded. Many of the papermaking techniques of later generations were improved on the basis of Caihou paper. of.

After a pause, he continued: "It's just that I hope that before steaming, take out some of the bamboo and hemp, and choose a part of it to dry and bleach, or to bleach it with sulfur, and see if the paper made in this way can be whiter."

In his memory, he has seen the production process of bamboo paper. If it is not bleached, the bamboo paper produced will be yellowish.It is said that writing is not a big problem, but he is used to blank paper, so he will be somewhat uncomfortable.

"That will take more time." The craftsman also expressed his concern.

"It doesn't matter, just select some of them. The first thing to do is definitely the paper that can be produced in large quantities and quickly. As for the white and high-quality paper, it's okay to have less, and the price will naturally be higher." Liu Tao replied.

"That's fine." The craftsman understood that the prices of wooden trellis and bamboo slips must be different, and it is only natural that the prices of different papers are different.

"The last is the paper medicine part..." Liu Tao took out two pieces of paper, on which several kinds of crops were drawn, "I know that the workshop originally had paper medicine, here are several kinds of crops that can be made into paper medicine, you can try to configure new ones Paper medicine."

"Do you want all of them?" The craftsman was a little surprised.

"Not necessarily. Try them all. This is a long-term problem. Let's see which one works better." Liu Tao explained.After all, paper medicine is the secret of papermaking in later generations, and the texture of paper is largely related to paper medicine.

So even if the craftsmanship of rice paper has been almost spread to the outside world, if the paper medicine is not leaked for a day, it is not so easy for others to want the craftsmanship of rice paper.

Not to mention, the raw materials needed for rice paper have regional restrictions, and it is very difficult for others to imitate.Even if it is Liu Tao, even if he already knows the craft, if he wants to restore rice paper in this era... I guess there is no way.

"It's just that the paper made according to this method needs at least three months, at least two to three months, before it can be made..." the craftsman said carefully, omitting the parts of cutting hemp and washing, This time is fast.

"There is an easier way..." Liu Tao thought for a while, "Remove the cooking part directly, pound it directly to make paper pulp, add paper medicine and make paper, press dry to remove water, make a baking cage, and heat it up Afterwards, put the paper on it to dry..."

The drawing of the baking cage was also taken out, which is a bit like a building with a wall. It should be based on the principle of a kang. A fire is lit inside, and the heat from the walls on both sides is used to dry the paper.

"That is to shorten the time for drying paper. This technique can further shorten the time for paper making. It takes more than a month, no, a batch of paper can be produced in one month!" The craftsman looked at the baking cage and was greatly impressed.

"We also need paper, let's see which one is better. We also want low-end paper, and we also want high-end paper. Our goal is to make paper a daily necessities of life, rather than a special existence for literati. "Liu Tao reminded.

There are only so many literati in the age of the Han Dynasty, and how many of them can afford paper?Perhaps there are still some gentry and local tyrants who can use it, but the demand is not high, and the price is not as cheap as bamboo slips, which is also the key to restricting the development of paper.

Just like distilled wine, that is, the Zhang family, the largest business in Zhuo County, is allowed to distill.If it were an ordinary wine merchant, the price of raw materials would be prohibitive for them.

Especially in the past two years due to natural and man-made disasters, it is estimated that the price of grain will further increase, and the cost of brewing grain wine will also have to further increase.Fortunately, the Zhang family has accepted his suggestion to try to buy sorghum and try to make wine.

As far as distilled alcohol is concerned, sorghum should be the best choice as the alcohol-based liquor.Corn is also considered, but that thing is still in the Americas, and its output is not as high as that of later generations...

"In the workshop, set up an area dedicated to research and development of new paper, and try to improve the quality of the paper. If there is a new result, and the review confirms that there is no problem, then I will give different rewards according to different values." Liu Tao Not forgetting the research department.

Fortunately, there is no need for much technical content, what is needed is continuous trial and exploration, which is a bit of a mechanized attempt.

"The proprietor means that as long as we have a better way to improve the quality of the paper, we will be rewarded?" This is the first time the artisans have heard of this system.

"It's not just a profession, how to keep the quality of paper unchanged, but the speed of papermaking is shortened, even for one or two days, there are rewards, the premise is that it can be popularized, only a few people can do this, it doesn't count .” Liu Tao reminded.

After a pause, he continued: "In order to let you believe that I am not fooling you, I will deposit two thousand guan in the workshop later, and deduct [-] guan as the purchase cost and research cost, and the [-] guan will be used as a reward. Save it in."

Money can turn ghosts and ghosts, and money can turn mills and ghosts. Liu Tao made such a promise, and the minds of the craftsmen suddenly became active.

Once the workshop is established and the raw materials are purchased, then the remaining system will naturally be determined, and at the same time, the finances will be in hand.According to the agreement, in terms of finances, Liu Tao will be responsible, and Zhen Shi and Bi Lan will send people to supervise.

Here, there is nothing to do in the workshop.Liu Tao didn't intend to go back in a carriage, but ordered Jian Yong to go back, and arranged for people to come over to take over the finances, and at the same time bring two thousand guan.

He himself took his three righteous brothers and walked back.I have been in Luoyang for so long, and I really didn’t take a good look around.

"Brother, the two thousand pennies are already our last funds..." On the way, Lu Yan had to remind me.Although His Majesty also rewarded some property, but after distributing those, there is not much left.

As far as the so-called ten thousand gold is concerned, of course it is not ten thousand taels of gold, but fifteen thousand baht, which is just ten guan.

"Without investment, how could there be output... I didn't see it. Compared with the time when we first came to the workshop, the craftsmen and helpers in the workshop now seem to be different people." Liu Tao replied.

In the past, it was estimated that the royal overseers used these craftsmen as slaves and tool workers...

"But the problem is that we don't have enough funds..." Lu Yan reminded, after all, the wooden box to buy after copying the book also costs money, and the price in Luoyang itself is relatively expensive.

"That's why I want to walk!" Liu Tao replied, "I have a way to make money quickly..."

Chapter 178

"Brother, this is what you call a way to get money quickly?" Lu Yan looked at the shop in front of him, and the corners of his eyes twitched.

Fighting games existed a long time ago.In the Eastern Han Dynasty, there were actually many styles of fighting dramas.The most common ones are cockfighting or dogfighting.For indoor games, Liubo, Chu (chu) Pu and Touhu are the main ones.

Of course there are dice, but not six-sided dice.Liu Tao vaguely remembers that Cao Zhi invented the six-sided dice.

If there are gambling games, there will naturally be places that rely exclusively on fighting games to make money. The problem is that it is not called a gambling house at this time.However, making money by fighting games actually has the nature of a gambling house.

The place where Liu Tao brought the other three people to at this moment is the gambling house in Luoyang, and it is a relatively low-grade fighting theater in an ordinary residential area.

"Isn't it fast?" Liu Tao pointed to the fighting theater, "In less than half an hour, the principal can be doubled."