Chapter 801 Paper Making [Please vote]
Books are the carrier of human knowledge...
Knowledgeable people record what they see, hear or think and turn it into a book, which is the crystallization of wisdom. The spiritual civilization of a nation is reflected in the spiritual life of this ethnic group and is also stored in the long-term classics of this nation.
Strictly speaking, the books at this time are the accumulated results of thousands of years of life and struggle of the entire ethnic group, and are not the great achievements of a certain sage...
Ancient books were originally written manually. In the Shang Dynasty, there were oracle bone inscriptions engraved on tortoise shells and animal bones, although they could not be regarded as books at that time. From the Spring and Autumn Period to the Han Dynasty, oracle bone inscriptions, inscriptions, and seal scripts were mostly written in bamboo slips and silk. The simple policy of naming can be written on a piece of bamboo and then run through it into a book. It can be written on silk fabrics and can be used as a scroll of the title of silk book.
Therefore, in ancient times, a book was called a book or a volume.
Papermaking was invented in the Western Han Dynasty, and Cai Lun in the Eastern Han Dynasty improved it. At this point, the material for writing books was gradually replaced by paper. In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, woodblock printing appeared. Due to the rise of printing, books gradually changed from bamboo carving to block printing, and from scroll to leaf form.
Before the technology of papermaking became more popular and simple, whether it was oracle bones, bronzes, bamboo slips, wooden slips, or paper improved by Cai Lun, they were all extremely rare and valuable things, worth a lot of money.
Therefore, whenever a bibliophile gets his favorite book, he is always used to holding it in his hands, rubbing it and admiring it, carefully correcting the famous book, copying the unique secret book, and copying the yellow postscript. As a result, my heart warms when I read it, I look at it like a treasure, and I can't put it down. When I was delighted, I stamped a seal and stamped it carefully. It was a collection of books of a certain family...
Since then, books that were supposed to be the carrier of civilization have become the private property of book collectors, who either cherish them or put them away in a high cabinet, and outsiders can never get a glimpse of them except the family members.
Knowledge has become a luxury product and is out of reach for most people...
Why has scientific knowledge been able to achieve explosive development and progress after the time has entered 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 accessed by the vast majority of people, thus causing quantitative changes to lead to qualitative changes and explosive breakthroughs.
But in the Tang Dynasty, the scarcity and expensiveness of paper became the biggest obstacle restricting the circulation of books and the spread of knowledge...
Under such a situation, Fang Jun dared to say something like "let everyone in the world afford to read", which is nothing more than a dream.
Lu Xiaoyu cursed in his heart, but kept his mouth shut and did not argue.
The ups and downs of his official career made him suffer a lot, but he also learned to be patient. The unparalleled arrogance of the past has now been tempered to the last bit, and then transformed into a deeper sophistication and low-key.
War of words will not help matters.
In the fight to the end, facts must speak for themselves. Lu Xiaoyu pursed his lips and followed Fang Jun, thinking in his mind that someone wanted to see what amazing skills your Fang family had, which could turn precious paper into commonplace items that everyone could 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 or windows outside the workshop. A fast-flowing stream poured down from the mountain, rushing all the way into the wide and gentle stream at the foot of the mountain. A row of huge waterwheels was built next to the house on the bank of the stream. The stream was rushing, the waterwheels were rolling, and the rumbling sound was clearly audible.
Not far away there were several open-air pots and stoves, with fires burning under them. The hot water in the pots was rolling and steaming.
Lu Xiaoyu stopped, looked at it, and said in surprise: "When did these waterwheels stand here?"
He was not surprised by the steaming stove. The raw materials for papermaking must be steamed and pounded before they can be used. After steaming, the raw materials are easier to pound.
But what is this waterwheel used for?
The servant said: "It's just a water barrier."
Lu Xiaoyu suddenly understood, shook his head repeatedly and said: "The water hammer does save time and effort, but it is acceptable for pounding rice, but it is inappropriate if it is used to pound broken bamboo strips and paper pulp. Once the water hammer is operated continuously for too long, its axis will easily become It wears out and has to be replaced frequently. It only takes a while to pound rice, but it takes many days to pound bamboo strips and paper pulp. If it stops, it will not be able to keep up with the speed of paper making, and it will be a waste of effort."
Fang Jun on one side smiled and said nothing.
Lu Xiaoyu frowned and said: "Why is the chief manager so disdainful? Water dams have been recorded since the Han Dynasty. There are many rivers in the south of the Yangtze River, so water dams are everywhere. This thing can be seen everywhere in the countryside of Jiangnan, and it is not a rare thing."
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Not only in the south of the Yangtze River, but also in Guanzhong, Hebei and other places, water dams can be seen everywhere.
To put it bluntly, this thing is just a further use of the principles of hydraulics, levers and cams to process grains. This kind of machine that uses hydraulic power to remove the husks of grains has a low technical content and is widely circulated among the people. Since the invention of the water hammer in the Han Dynasty, it was still in use in the countryside of Jiangnan until the 20th century...
What Lu Xiaoyu said is exactly a serious limitation of ancient water dams - there is no bearing with excellent material.
Ancient bearings were simply made of cast iron and then lightly lubricated with animal grease, nothing more. Just imagine, how can such a simple bearing bear the rotation of a huge waterwheel all year round?
It would be strange not to scrap it...
Fang Jun chuckled: "The water wheel is different from the water wheel, and the water wheel is different from the water wheel. Just like people are different, you and I are different..."
What I said...
Lu Xiaoyu was so angry that he just wanted to grit his teeth!
You, a majestic Marquis of the Empire and General Manager, do you need to show your presence in front of a down-and-out person like me? This is simply a naked irony!
Lu Xiaoyu was furious, but there was nothing he could do.
Because Fang Jun was not wrong...
"Haha, you don't accept it? If you don't accept it, I'll let you know for a long time. See how the water harvesters produced by my Fang family are different from your water harvesters 'all over the south of the Yangtze River'." Fang Jun gave Lu Xiaoyu a blow, and he was in a good mood, so he accepted Follow him into the Shui Lei room.
Although Fang Jun has never been here before, the Fang family's bearings have made breakthrough progress under his "guidance". It was also his suggestion to use them on Shuidi House. Naturally, he was familiar with the road and found the Shuidi House. He pointed out the bearings at the center of every huge gear inside to Lu Xiaoyu.
In fact, Fang Jun's water-powered forging hammer evolved from the water hammer.
It’s just that bearings are installed on it now, so that the power loss is smaller and the effect is greater...
The servant has been following him, acting as a commentator at this time: "These gears and the waterwheel outside are equipped with bearings. This thing was made by Erlang himself, using the best stainless steel, and using A series of precise technical operations allow it to operate continuously under heavy load for more than two months without replacement, and there will be absolutely no breakage or breakage, ensuring the continuous operation of the water meter. ”
In the Shui Lei room, it was not the "wheel pounding" that Lu Xiaoyu had seen in the past, but the Shui Lei brought several wooden hammers and pounded it repeatedly. The sound was like oranges, and even the ground under his feet shook. Instead, groups of huge gears drive the four-disk stone mill. The gears bite the gears and are driven by the water wheel outside through the connecting rod, rotating at a dizzying speed.
As for the "bearings" the servants call them, they are actually invisible. However, when the gear rotates so fast without hearing the previous "clucking" friction sound, we know that this kind of "bearing" is indeed extraordinary.
Handymen kept coming in, bringing in the bamboo raw materials that had been cooked in the pot outside and slowly pouring them into the two grinding holes on the stone mill. The grinding teeth grind the pulp, and the pulp flows out from under the stone mill...
The whole process was relaxing and enjoyable.
However, the current pulp cannot be used to make paper directly.
The ground pulp flowed into a pool nearby, and a servant scooped it out, poured it into a stone trough, and added another pulp water to it. A small forging hammer kept beating it repeatedly. This is because the fibers in the bamboo pulp 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 a rough surface and low strength, which cannot meet the requirements of use. The last added slurry water can produce natural hemicellulose adhesive on the fiber surface to strengthen fiber bonding and physical strength.
Lu Xiaoyu naturally didn't know what this syrup was, so he asked: "What is this syrup made of?"
Fang Jun looked at him and smiled, showing his white teeth: "Haha..." (End of Chapter)