Shen Tang noticed his movements and chuckled.

She said: "I'm rude. I didn't know Wen Zhu would be back today. If I had known you would come, I wouldn't have come to the workshop."

Xu Jie: "...No, it's Jie who is disturbing Mr. Shen..."

No matter how many times he heard it, Xu Jie still felt that Shen Jun's words were very strange. This was not something that his lord Wu Xian could say? But when he thought about the "deep love" between his lord Wu Xian and Shen Jun Shen Tang, Xu Jie could only force himself Ignore the uncontrollable complaints.

And quickly changed the topic.

"What did Mr. Shen do just now?"

"Ah? Didn't you see the annotation? I'm beating the bamboo... It's not easy to make this thing soft. Fortunately, it is young bamboo instead of mature bamboo, otherwise it will be even harder..." Shen Tang endured Keep complaining, walking three hundred and sixty is not easy.

The bamboo that has been soaked and degreened in lime water is beaten over and over again. Depending on the heat, it needs to be washed carefully. These are only the first few steps. Even the pulping process has not been completed. After the completion, it needs to be soaked again. Washed again, washed again, soaked again... Oh, why is it so difficult to start a side job?

The difficulty is equivalent to making bread by growing wheat, and knitting sweaters by growing cotton and raising sheep...

Xu Jie: "..."

He naturally knew that Shen Jun was beating the bamboo.

But he was curious as to why Shen Jun was beating this.

Shen Tang did not hide anything and said cheerfully: "Of course it is for making paper. Not just bamboo, I also prepared different woods, reeds and even wheat straw... I want to see which material makes paper more suitable for painting... "

There was papermaking in this era.

However, due to some objective reasons, this technology has not received much attention. In other words, the cost is too high and the quality is too low, making it difficult to preserve. The mainstream is still to use bamboo slips to record documents. Xu Jie is not surprised that Shen Tang wants to make paper. .

In fact, the Xu family also has a papermaking mill under its name.

Specialize in taking the high-end route.

The output is low and the efficiency is meager.

Listening to Shen Tang soaking in the workshop, working hard like a laborer, just to make paper that can be used for drawing, he smiled and said: "Shen Jun wants paper, why go to so much trouble? There is a papermaking workshop in Jie's family, if Shen Jun needs it , you can even out some."

Shen Tang said: "I need too much weight. After thinking about it, I decided to be a self-reliant 'craftsman'."

Xu Jie was extremely disapproving when he heard this.

As the lord of the land, how could Mr. Shen do such menial work?

Jun Shen did what he did, and Qi Yuanliang and the others also did what others did?

Xu Jie said very proudly: "How much does Mr. Shen want?"

He is very confident in his family's financial strength.

Shen Tang calculated silently in his mind. Based on the calculation of 50 copies per album, her minimum circulation of 10,000 copies would be 500,000 copies? Xu Jie was a little dumbfounded when he heard this number. At first he thought he had heard it wrong. , asked again.

"How many?"

"Fifty thousand! That's half a year!"

She wants to release two copies a year! A total of one million copies!

Shen Tang looked at him expectantly: "Are there any annotations?"

Xu Jie said simply: "No!"

If the paper mill has such a high output, will it still be "nearly profitable"? However, Shen Jun wants to use bamboo, reeds, and wheat straw as raw materials, which is very novel. The growth cycle of bamboo is very short, and reeds and wheat straw are not valuable. thing.

If it works, even if the quality of the paper is very low and paper scraps are scattered around, it is still paper, and it is a sure-profit business.

But this must be built on a foundation that can be created.

As for paper that can be used for drawing...

Haha, Xu Jie has no hope at all.

Shen Tang dispersed the stench outside the workshop, took off his "work clothes" to prevent his clothes from getting dirty, and put on decent and neat outer clothes. He followed Xu Jie to the government office, not forgetting business on the way, and completely distracted him. Use it as your own.

"Wen Zhu, is there any news about the high-quality wheat seeds that I troubled you to find earlier?" This is something Shen Tang has been thinking about these past few days, and he was so worried that he couldn't sleep well.

Although this year's corn harvest can be regarded as a small bumper harvest, the common people will not go hungry next year, and the government granaries finally have grain stores. However, once the common people encounter a headache or fever, it is easy for the common people to "return to poverty due to illness" and sell precious grains in order to cure their illnesses.

if--

It would be great if there were more food.

When Shen Tang was working on her side job, she still pinched her fingers, thinking about when Xu Jie would come over. Xu Jie did not live up to her expectations. He smiled easily and said: "Fortunately, I lived up to Shen Jun's trust and barely received a batch of quality products." It’s a good wheat seed. However, there’s one problem: the wheat kernels are not easy to shell and taste bad when eaten, and they require a lot of water to sprout in spring…”

Watering is very difficult.

It is not suitable for planting from any angle.

It is true that the yield of wheat is much higher than that of millet - Xu Jie also guessed that Shen Tang went there for the yield - but weighing the pros and cons of wheat and millet, Xu Jie thinks that millet is better because it is easier to shell. It tastes soft and glutinous. He earnestly advised: "If Lord Shen cannot solve these problems, he will order the people under his rule to stop planting millet and switch to wheat. I am afraid that the harvest next year will be worrying..."

He also saw Shen Tang's hard work over the past year.

I don’t want to fall short because of this.

There isn't much rain in spring here.

Shen Tang said: "As for the issue mentioned in the text, Wuhui and I have discussed it carefully. We plan to choose a site to build a small reservoir, divert water from the Miao River, dredge the river, and build irrigation and drainage facilities to prevent troubles such as drought and floods. …”

From the moment Shen Tang said "build a small reservoir", Xu Jie's expression was numb and dull. He couldn't understand how Shen Jun did it - he downplayed it and said he wanted to do such a big project? Where are the people? Where's the money?

This kind of project cannot be completed in one or two years.

How many people does it take to have a full population in Ha Yin County?

It will take so many people to build reservoirs, dig rivers, and divert water from the Miao River... It will take more than ten years. Who will farm the land in these ten years? Don't the common people have to eat, drink, and defecate???

Xu Jie reluctantly controlled his expression and asked: "Mr. Shen, this matter is of great importance. It cannot be done in a day and it will cost a lot of money... Have you discussed it with several of your staff?"

Haha, I probably haven't told Kang Shi.

If you say it, they will object if they don't have any brains.

In this world, working hard to recruit troops and strengthen yourself is the foundation for establishing yourself. Carrying out such a large project that often involves tens of thousands of people is not only thankless, but also weakens your own strength.

Who knows——

"As I said, we all sat down together and discussed it in a meeting." Shen Tang said that she was not the kind of arbitrary person, and she fully understood and respected the different opinions of her colleagues.

If you have any opinions, speak up and listen to whoever has the right to speak.

Obviously, Shen Tang is more reasonable.

So Gu Chi and others listened to her.

Xu Jie: "..."

He couldn't understand it at all and was greatly shocked.

A rough estimate of the manpower and material resources required for this project was beyond what Heyin County, who had just had a full meal, could bear. He swallowed: "But this expenditure..."

Shen Tang: "You are talking about this. In fact, I was just about to write a letter to Brother Zhaode. Your two families are so close to each other. The repair of the small reservoir will not only benefit the people of Heyin, but also the people of Tianhai and other places. What better way to do it together? Get this done!"

Xu Jie: "..."

No, this proposal will not be accepted by Tianhai.

My lord and Qin Li are not stupid. If they have such money, why don't they recruit soldiers and horses to carry out water conservancy projects?

It’s not that these projects that benefit the people are not good, they are good, but they are really expensive. No one can guarantee that their influence can survive for a long time. Maybe the water conservancy project will not be completed even if the influence is destroyed. This is completely thankless. .

Xu Jie didn't even need to ask his lord.

He knows the final result.

"This, this...I'm afraid it's very difficult..."

Shen Tang blinked: "It's difficult?"

Xu Jie said categorically: "Yes, it's difficult!"

Now the pressure was on Shen Jun. Shen Tang was silent for a long time. Just when Xu Jie thought that he would give up and give up, he heard the following worries, which made Xu Jie confused.

Jun Shen sighed heavily: "Oh - it seems that Brother Zhaode still hid the epidemic from me. He said that Tianhai had little impact and did not damage the foundation, but now he can't even get this little money and food. It can be seen that Are you really encountering difficulties...or is it that the harvest in Tianhai this year is very bad, you and I are as close as brothers, if there is any difficulty, I will definitely help!"

Xu Jie: "???"

Xu Jie asked: "How much money and food is this?"

Shen Tang said a number——

Xu Jie could not have imagined in his wildest dreams that the amount did not match the two projects of building reservoirs and digging river channels.

"About ten thousand shi of corn."

This is still a relatively generous budget.

Xu Jie asked in surprise: "Ten thousand stones? Not hundreds of thousands of stones?"

Shen Tang: “Why so many?”

The two looked at each other for a moment, then realized that they were talking to each other and had misunderstood each other.

Xu Jie seemed to have thought of something.

Question: "How much labor did Mr. Shen need to build these?"
To be continued...