Papermaking, one of the four great inventions of Chinese civilization. As the carrier of words, paper has an immeasurable role in the inheritance and dissemination of civilization.

It is generally believed that papermaking was invented by Cai Lun of the Eastern Han Dynasty, which is actually wrong. Because in several archaeological excavations in later generations, paper maps of the Western Han Dynasty have been discovered, which shows that the invention of papermaking can be pushed forward at least to the Western Han Dynasty, but the quality of that paper is really a little flattering.

In contrast, Cai Lun actually made considerable improvements and improvements to the papermaking technology at that time, which not only further reduced the cost of papermaking, but also further improved the quality of paper, and even until modern society, many papermaking processes are still using Cai Lun's improved process. Therefore, although Cai Lun is not the inventor of papermaking, his contribution to papermaking is still indispensable.

Of course, these have nothing to do with Cao Cao and Kong Rong. But there is one thing, these two are not ordinary people, whether from a literary or political point of view, these two people know very well how useful the paper thing is.

Admittedly, paper was already available at that time. But what was the situation like? Not long after the paper thing was basically formed, it encountered a great chaos in the world, and a large number of craftsmen could not even eat and their personal safety could not be guaranteed, so who would have the heart to make paper and come out to dance ink for the literati?

Although papermaking technology is not lost, many excellent crafts have been lost, and of course, the most important thing is that there is no suitable production environment. In fact, the era of great development of papermaking was in the Jin Dynasty, that is, the brief period of peace after the reunification of the Three Kingdoms.

And now? The battle of Guandu has not yet been fought, and the current situation in the world is in a stage of competition between the heroes, and even if those papermakers have the intention to make a living from papermaking, there is no environment for them to produce paper with peace of mind. And for people like Cao Cao and Kong Rong who have the status of literati, even if they have a heart for this, they are helpless.

But for Lu Ren, it was different, in contrast, he knew very well that the boundaries around Xuchang were relatively stable and peaceful in the next few decades, which means that he could make paper with peace of mind, but he didn't have to worry about whether the war would affect him from time to time like those craftsmen. Moreover, after Lu Ren put the autumn grain into the warehouse and the chickens and ducks came out of the cage, he got a large amount of repatriation funds, and he had enough financial resources to support him to invest.

However, Lu Ren will want to get the paper out, but he doesn't want to achieve any fame, or make money for himself, let alone act recklessly under the heat of his brain. His real purpose...... In fact, I want to leave some suitable industry for Cai Yan before I wear it back!

Why do you have such an idea? In fact, to put it bluntly, it is very simple. The matter between Lu Ren and Cai Yan is already a nail in the coffin, and Lu Ren asked himself what is the relationship between him and Cai Yan...... I don't want to say this, but it's a little unclear anyway. And what kind of character is Lu Ren? said that he didn't have any evil thoughts about a big beauty like Cai Yan, and Lu Ren himself wouldn't believe it.

Even if these messy things are put aside, Cai Yan will always be Lu Ren's wife at that time, at least in name, with Lu Ren's temper, if he doesn't take care of Cai Yan, Lu Ren's own heart is a little unreasonable. Besides, Lu Ren already had some thoughts about Cai Yan, if he really gave Cai Yan that, then he would leave Cai Yan without leaving anything, and just care about wearing it back by himself...... Lu Ren is really not such a conscienceless person.

Further, Lu Ren has always restrained himself and did not dare to make Wan'er's belly bigger, that is because Lu Ren has his own concerns. But for Cai Yan, the situation is a little different. It's hard to say, Cai Yan is not Wan'er, Wan'er is absolutely obedient to Lu Ren, and she won't hide anything from Lu Ren, but Cai Yan is not easy to say...... In short, to put it simply, Lu Ren is afraid that he will accidentally make Cai Yan's belly bigger, but he can't take Cai Yan and the child with him, so he has to leave some property for Cai Yan and the child to eat anyway, and Cai Yan can't be allowed to live the kind of poor life of orphans and widows with a child, at least he can't let Cai Yan take the child to live a life under the fence, right? It's true that Lu Ren has no heart and no lungs, but he is not so unconscientious.

It's just that Lu Ren's current industries are mostly associated with Mi Zhen, and the Lu clan brought by Lu Fang are also counting on Lu Ren's industries to live, and with Cai Yan's literati character, it is inevitably a little inappropriate to take care of those things, Cai Yan himself may have resistance, and in this case, he may cause some unnecessary trouble, which is not something Lu Ren wants to see.

And after thinking about it, Lu Ren moved his idea to papermaking, this kind of thing that is linked to literature, Cai Yan will not have any resistance. And the most important thing is that this time it is completely Lu Ren's own business, and not associating with Mi Zhen is tantamount to giving Cai Yan an independent/independent industry, in a sense, Cai Yan's future life can be guaranteed. As for networking or something...... Isn't there still Cao Cao's group of literati who will help Cai Yan?

So, Lu Ren made up his mind and began to make paper behind closed doors......

――――――――――――――――――――

In a newly built courtyard somewhere in Meng Village, Lu Ren was busy with his bare shoulders.

Looking at the several drying racks in the courtyard at this moment, a lot of white paper is already hanging. Cai Yan and Wan'er also changed into short clothes for work, one grabbed one end of the long bamboo pole and put it into the pool water, while Lu Ren carefully put the base paper in the pool water like cloth on the bamboo pole, and then Cai Yan and Wan'er put it on the drying rack to dry.

"Alright, this pool is finally done! Wash your hands and rest your feet! ”

Make those beautiful papers for the rest of the world? Lu Ren knew that he didn't have that ability at all, but it was more suitable for raw and cooked rice paper in the Ming Dynasty, and the production process could also meet the requirements. By the way, the raw materials of modern paper are generally wood pulp, but in ancient times it was plant fibers used, such as Cai Lun's improvement of papermaking when the raw materials were broken hemp rope, fishing nets and the like, so most of the ancient paper was the primary color of plant fiber wood yellow.

This wood yellow color obviously does not meet Lu Ren's standards, so Lu Ren used the process of bleaching plant fiber paper with hydrated lime and gypsum. After a complete process and several tests, the paper has basically reached the standard expected by Lu Ren. All you have to do now is wait for the paper on the drying rack to dry and try to see if it's suitable for writing.

said that everyone should stop and rest, but Cai Yan couldn't sit still when he looked at the white snow paper on the drying rack, so he just sat for a while and walked to the drying rack with straw slippers to check. Lu Ren didn't want to stop this, because Lu Ren found that the two slender calves that were exposed after Cai Yan pulled up his trouser legs were white and delicate, and the lines were slender and graceful, as well as the pair of jade feet, just looking at it like this was quite imaginative. Since Cai Yan didn't care about anything to give Lu Ren appreciation, of course Lu Ren was so happy.

"Lord, drink water."

Wan'er handed a cup of tea to Lu Ren, who took it with a smile. Just after drinking it in her mouth, Wan'er whispered in Lu Ren's ear: "Wipe your saliva." ”

With a poof, Lu Ren squirted out all the tea that had just entered his mouth. However, in this way, it is impossible to tell whether the unknown liquid at the corner of Lu Ren's mouth is saliva or tea.

Hurriedly took the towel and wiped it, and then saw that Cai Yan over there didn't notice this, Lu Ren said to Wan'er in the same low voice: "You girl actually dare to make a joke about me?" ”

Wan'er pursed her lips and smiled, and her eyes also looked at Cai Yan: "Sister Cai is really beautiful, isn't she?" Lord, don't forget, when Sister Cai first arrived here two days ago, she was really stunned by a lot of people, and there were many drooling people like you, Lord. ”

Lu Ren was stunned, and his face also showed a little apology: "Wan'er, I feel sorry for you, because I'm just afraid that I will ...... soon."

Wan'er pressed Lu Ren's lips with her fingers, shook her head and smiled: "Wan'er understands, but Wan'er understands even more that neither the Lord nor Sister Cai can't help herself." This matter itself is Cao Gong's intention, if the lord goes against Cao Gong's will, I am afraid that disaster will not be far away. ”

"I've wronged you a little."

Wan'er then shook her head: "Why do you have to say that you are wronged?" If Wan'er hadn't met the Lord at the beginning, then maybe she would still be just an ordinary maid in Duke Cao's mansion, who would be beaten and scolded all day long, and even lose her life because of something. Now following the Lord's side, there is the Lord's favor for Wan'er, and Ah Cheng They regard Wan'er as a relative, what is Wan'er not satisfied with? ”

Saying that, Wan'er's eyes drifted to Cai Yan again: "Actually, Sister Cai is very good, not only has she never looked down on Wan'er, but she also regards Wan'er as a sister." I believe that at that time, Sister Cai will never bully Wan'er. And ......"

At this point, Wan'er lowered her head, and her voice was as light as a mosquito sound: "If the Lord marries Sister Cai as the main room, Wan'er will feel much more relieved when she follows the Lord's side." Wan'er is just a maid, but the lord has never married a wife, and Wan'er has always followed the lord's side like this, which is easy to criticize. The Lord certainly disdains it, but it ...... Wan'er is also afraid that others will say that Wan'er is too much, too ......."

Wan'er didn't say the next words, but Lu Ren already understood what Wan'er meant, and he couldn't help but sigh secretly in his heart. There is no way, after all, it is such an era, and it is normal for Wan'er to have such worries.

At this time, because the two of them didn't speak, the atmosphere was a little cold. Lu Ren didn't want to make such a fuss about this kind of thing, so he quickly shook his head, glanced at Cai Yan's slender and slender calves over there, and glanced at Wan'er's pair of white and greasy calves next to him, which were actually very attractive, and said with a wicked smile: "You both have beautiful legs!" If you put on high heels and put on black silk, hehehehe......"