After I traveled through the book, I was spoiled by five little villains

The craftsman was an honest man, with black stains between his fingers that could not be washed off. He knelt in panic in the corridor, not daring to look up.

He was led into the Princess's Mansion. Along the way he felt that the pavilions and towers were like a fairyland. The maid who led the way had the same demeanor as a fairy from heaven. He was so nervous that he was at a loss for words, fearing that he would tarnish this splendor.

Hearing that the eldest princess had arrived, he didn't even dare to breathe.

"Your Highness, this man was found by Manager Zeng in the East Market. He was said to be best at creating mechanical devices. His name is Liu Ming." Chunfen reported.

Qin Yaoguang hummed and said, "Raise your head."

Liu Ming had never seen such a scene before. He was conflicted for a moment, then he propped himself up with his arms and raised his head. He was dazzled by Qin Yaoguang's beauty and was stunned without knowing how to avoid it.

The servant who followed him kicked him and said, "Why don't you go to see His Highness?"

Liu Ming finally came to his senses. He was so frightened that he knelt on the ground and said, "Greetings...Greetings to His Highness..."

Qin Yaoguang waved her hand and didn't bother with him. She just asked, "I want to make a pen that can write with graphite. Can you do it?"

"Graphite pen?"

Liu Ming was stunned for a moment, then said, "Little one, I will use a graphite pen to draw the picture..."

Graphite is easy to obtain, and carpenters first used it, which can easily draw straight lines on wood. He often received some special orders, and there were no ready-made wood patterns, so he had to draw them on straw paper by himself.

As time went by, he felt that pure graphite was too soft and difficult to use, and it would dirty his hands and drawings, so he found a way to add some other raw materials to the graphite to make it harden, and then used tree branches to fix the graphite in the middle, making it a pen that could be easily used.

But he couldn't understand, with such a noble status as the eldest princess, what did she need such lowly tools like them for?

Qin Yaoguang was overjoyed.

She was just asking, wanting to find someone to make a pencil, but she didn't expect there was already one?

Sure enough, the master is in the folk.

If you have a pencil, you can do so much.

In ancient times, due to the limited environment, the four treasures of the study, namely pen, ink, paper and inkstone, as well as books, were extremely precious items that ordinary people could not get at all.

Otherwise, why would it be said that it is difficult for a poor family to produce a noble son? It is because resources are hard to come by.

Many of the books are rare or unique copies. These ancient books are hidden in aristocratic families and are rarely seen by ordinary people.

For the most important imperial examination, it was very difficult for poor students to read the classics, history, and literature. There was no such thing as modern times where one can buy a set of question banks from famous schools with "Five Years of Simulation and Three Years of College Entrance Examination" on the Internet.

The only books that could be circulated among scholars were handwritten copies, which were time-consuming and laborious to copy, and were also scarce due to the high cost.

But if pencils were available, at least in the early stages of learning, children in rural schools would not have to learn to write on the sand with dead branches because of the lack of pens and ink.

Pencils are made of cheap materials, are easy to store, and can be erased. Once they become popular, they will benefit all poor students.

As for painting, it is a supplementary function.

After Qin Yaoguang heard Liu Ming's story about making graphite pens, his eyes lit up and he asked someone to rush to his workshop in the East Market to get them.

Qin Yaoguang held a smoothly polished wooden graphite pen in her hand. She tried to draw a few strokes on the paper, unable to hide her excitement.

Correct!

That's what it feels like!

It's really great!

The lead of this graphite pen is relatively soft, and the ink line drawn is obvious. Based on her feel, this should be a pencil with a hardness of B14.

"Your Highness," Liu Ming said, seeing that the princess liked it so much, he was no longer nervous. "There is a cap at the end. You can replace the graphite refill after unscrewing it."

Qin Yaoguang did as she was told. The pen core and the cap were connected as one, so it was easy to pull them out.

This!

It's actually a mechanical pencil with a refill?

After the excitement, she thought of a key question and slowly calmed down.

Although the refill can be replaced, it will gradually become shorter as the graphite wears out. If the length of the entire wooden pen remains unchanged, the refill will be shorter than the wooden pen and cannot be used.

When she asked this question, Liu Ming scratched his head shyly and said, "I am just being lazy and don't want to make wooden pens anymore. If the pen core is too short, take it out and melt the material again to make a graphite core of sufficient length."

As he spoke, he became a little distressed and said, "It's just that the graphite cores I make are not quite the same every time. Sometimes the color is too light and not very usable."

Qin Yaoguang laughed.

He made the refills from scratch every time, and there was no uniform material ratio, so the results were naturally soft or hard, and the colors varied in depth.

Moreover, he can certainly use this method himself, but it is not possible to promote it on a large scale.

There is a reason why, despite the development of modern industry, pencils, except for the more convenient mechanical pencils, remain just the same as they were in the past.

However, she seemed to have seen pencils whose refills could be replaced without the use of plastic parts.

Qin Yaoguang pondered for a while and finally remembered that more than ten years ago, a male classmate gave her a special pen for the exam in the examination room.

She thought for a moment, pointed at the wooden pen and said, "You can block the front end, and make the hollow part at the back into short graphite cores. When the used pen core is worn out, you can take out a new one from the storage at the back to replace it. Isn't it more convenient?"

Liu Ming listened to her carefully and suddenly understood.

He slapped his forehead and shouted, "Why didn't I think of that!"

After he finished shouting, he realized that he had said the wrong thing again. He quickly knelt on the ground and kowtowed, stammering, "Your humble servant, humble servant..."

"It doesn't matter."

Qin Yaoguang waved her hand and said, "Make a usable wooden pen according to this idea. Also, write down the materials from the darkest color to the lightest. I want every kind."

Liu Ming then stood up and looked at her with awe in his eyes.

As expected of the eldest princess, she is more proficient in the art of mechanisms than someone like him who deals with tools every day.

Qin Yaoguang knew what he was thinking.

It's not that she is so powerful, she is just relying on her vision that transcends thousands of years.

After giving the order, Qin Yaoguang asked, "How many days will it take?"

Liu Ming replied respectfully: "If we want to test all the materials from deep to shallow, it will take some time. If it is the wooden pen with replaceable graphite core that Your Highness mentioned, we can get it tomorrow."

"Okay, make the first batch of ten and send them over."

Qin Yaoguang ordered Guyu to take out fifty taels of silver and gave it to him, saying, "If the cost of materials and your wages are not enough, tell me again."

"Enough is enough!"

Liu Ming was overjoyed and immediately decided to put aside other tasks and concentrate on making the princess's graphite pen.

After he left, Qin Yaoguang ordered a reward for Zeng Xiangjin.

He played an indispensable role in finding such a capable person, which saved her a lot of effort.

Unexpectedly, Zeng Xiangjin came to ask for a meeting before dinner time.

"He said he came to thank the master for the reward, but it seems to me that he came to ask for help." Chunfen smiled and told Qin Yaoguang what she had heard today.