Fu Tinghan wasn’t familiar with papermaking. Everything was still in the exploration stage, but memory was a peculiar thing. At first, he felt he wasn’t familiar with it and wouldn’t know much, but once he actually started doing it, memories began churning up related knowledge points.
The further he researched, the more related points emerged, and the more he knew.
For instance, right now, seeing the fibers that had been deglued by soaking and had become a soft, rotted mass, he automatically knew they could be steamed or pounded to speed up the process.
Upon hearing they could steam it, the craftsmen immediately set up a large cauldron. After adding water, they began heating it.
Then they scooped up the fiber mass from the water pit and put it into the cauldron. When the water wasn’t so cold anymore, they used wooden stools to stand on and circled around the cauldron, using their hands to rub the fiber mass.
Fu Tinghan also reached out to feel a mass and rubbed it to sense the hardness of the fibers.
Feeling the impurities adhering to them, he became thoughtful.
By the time Zhao Hanzhang arrived, he was leading people in pounding the fibers. Because he wasn’t skilled at manual labor and his clothes were thick and heavy, the hem of his garment had gotten wet.
Zhao Hanzhang hurried forward to pull him up, “Your clothes are all wet. What if you catch a chill?”
Fu Tinghan was surprised, “Why did you come? Didn’t you say you needed to inspect the houses and snowfall situation?”
“Hearing you left the city, I had Changning go instead,” Zhao Hanzhang wrung out the water from his hem, frowning, “Fu’an, did you bring a change of clothes?”
Fu’an blankly shook his head.
Zhao Hanzhang felt he was too derelict in his duties, “What are you standing there for? Go back to the county office and get some.”
“Oh.” Fu’an immediately turned to return to the county office.
Fu Tinghan smiled, “It’s not soaked through, it’s fine.”
“We don’t have very capable physicians around us, so we must be extremely careful. In this era, cold damage can be fatal.”
Seeing her serious expression, Fu Tinghan nodded in agreement, “Alright.”
Only then did Zhao Hanzhang look at what they were pounding, asking in wonder, “Is this almost paper pulp?”
Fu Tinghan said, “More or less. The newly mixed lime water works very well. Combined with steaming, the impurities are removed much faster.”
Zhao Hanzhang rolled up her sleeves and tucked her hem into her belt, picking up a wooden mallet to pound as well.
With everyone’s efforts, by noon this batch of fibers had all been pounded into pulp. But this wasn’t finished yet. Fu Tinghan had them rinse it once more to remove the remaining impurities before continuing to beat the pulp.
This was arduous work, but Zhao Hanzhang did it with great enthusiasm, especially watching the tangled mass of fibers become fibrillated. The sense of accomplishment was immense.
By evening, the paper pulp was finally beaten. Fu Tinghan had a craftsman bring a bamboo screen to scoop the pulp.
Zhao Hanzhang saw this and eagerly volunteered, rolling her sleeves up even higher with excitement, “Let me, let me! This is the first sheet of paper—we must do it ourselves.”
The craftsman handed her the bamboo screen.
Zhao Hanzhang took it, spread her legs like a horse stance, squatted down, then put it into the paper pulp, gently shaking it, then slightly tilting it as she lifted it…
She slowly rotated the screen, allowing the paper pulp to spread evenly across it, with the excess flowing back into the pit from the edges.
Zhao Hanzhang asked Fu Tinghan uncertainly, “This counts as success, right?”
Fu Tinghan was also uncertain, pointing to the stove, “Put it beside there—it’ll dry faster.”
The two guarded this one bamboo screen without moving. The craftsmen hesitated, not daring to disperse.
Fu Tinghan thought for a moment and told them, “You all go about your business. We’ll watch here.”
The temperature near the stove was higher. The paper pulp on the bamboo screen slowly dried. Zhao Hanzhang sat nearby, terribly tempted. Several times she wanted to reach out and peel it off, but each time Fu Tinghan’s gaze stopped her.
The last time, when she felt it was about right, she finally couldn’t resist reaching out. But just as she touched it, Fu Tinghan grabbed her hand and held it tightly without letting go, “It’s not ready yet. Don’t fiddle with it.”
Zhao Hanzhang tried to pull her hand back but couldn’t, so she said, “I know, I won’t touch it anymore.”
But Fu Tinghan seemed not to hear. He continued holding her hand without releasing it, talking to her about meeting Zhu Chuan when leaving the city today, “…He said he was attending a banquet at Uncle Ming’s invitation. It should be to help you promote iron woks and soy products.”
He said, “Although Uncle Ming is always harsh with words, he’s actually a very good person.”
Zhao Hanzhang lowered her head to look at her hand held in his palm, then raised her head to look at him.
Fu Tinghan, seeing she wasn’t responding, also looked up at her, his face innocent, “What’s wrong?”
Zhao Hanzhang pursed her lips in a smile. She no longer tried to withdraw her hand, but instead nodded, “You’re right. Uncle Ming has a sharp tongue but a soft heart.”
Fu Tinghan quietly breathed a sigh of relief, feeling his other palm beginning to sweat.
The two sat by the stove until the paper had completely dried, then carefully peeled the paper from the bamboo screen.
A very large, yellowish sheet of paper was peeled off by the two of them. The craftsmen all crowded forward to look. Seeing the formed sheet of paper, they were overjoyed, “It worked!”
Zhao Hanzhang also smiled with her eyes curved, “Yes, it worked! This proves our method is correct.”
Fu Tinghan reached out to feel the paper, then said, “It’s just too coarse. We can still improve the process.”
But this would be much easier now. All beginnings are difficult—they had already made the first sheet of paper. From now on, it would be a matter of refining various steps. With a direction set, the probability of errors would be much smaller.
Zhao Hanzhang immediately ordered, “Everyone in the workshop gets a reward. Starting tomorrow, mass produce paper.”
Everyone responded in unison.
Zhao Hanzhang called the foreman over and instructed, “Buy more raw materials as needed, continue research as needed. As long as better paper can be produced, the first contributor will receive generous rewards, and everyone who participates will also be rewarded.”
The foreman happily agreed.
Zhao Hanzhang then asked about his plans and arrangements.
The foreman laid them out. Zhao Hanzhang frowned slightly. Although there seemed to be no problems, these plans were too conservative.
Zhao Hanzhang wanted to establish a paper mill not just to make paper for the county office—she also wanted to sell it and establish a printing house! With the foreman planning so few materials and pit positions, how much could they produce?
If paper production couldn’t increase, why would she raise so many people here?
She might as well just go buy paper directly.
Zhao Hanzhang said directly, “Prepare more materials and process them in batches. Didn’t I tell you to prepare large paper pulp pools? My requirements aren’t high—just reach a daily paper production of one thousand sheets.”
The foreman’s mouth fell open. These one thousand sheets were large sheets that needed cutting—they could become several thousand sheets!
But Zhao Hanzhang still thought it was too little. She said, “Once you’re proficient, we need to improve the tools. I recall we can add bamboo curtains to the screens to make curtain beds, and use tools for scooping—one operation could produce tens of thousands of sheets of paper.”
She said, “I’m giving you three months for the adjustment period. Is that enough?”
The foreman’s mood was anxious, not very confident as he responded.
Fu Tinghan watched from the side. Only after she finished giving instructions did he say, “Go down first. Take everyone through today’s procedures once more. Starting tomorrow, divide the work. Once hands are practiced, these won’t be problems.”
The foreman felt reprieved, responding repeatedly.
After the foreman left, Fu Tinghan said, “I’ll try making the curtain bed first. Don’t be anxious.”
“I’m not anxious. It’s just that I don’t have many people I can use. This foreman is clearly not suitable for the paper mill.”
Fu Tinghan also nodded, “We need someone bold, careful, and with thorough planning to take over.”
The question was, who would be suitable?
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