To build a paper mill, there are a lot of things that need to be done.
Bai Shan and Zhou Man were both busy and couldn't get away, but Yin You couldn't be too distracted, so the matter was finally handed over to Bai Erlang, and the others helped him come up with ideas and go through the details.
Zhou Man told him, "First of all, you have to find some craftsmen, preferably those with experience in papermaking. If not, it's okay. They can also be clever and handy, and then let them study and study according to the recipe."
Bai Shan nodded: "Think about craftsmanship here, and we can find a suitable place to build a workshop over there."
Bai Erlang: "Where can I find such a person?"
Yin You thought for a while and said, "You have to find someone you can trust, so if you are not a domestic servant, you will have to sign a deed of betrayal after you find someone."
Otherwise, it would be bad if the front foot digs out things and the back foot leaks the secret.
Bai Shan: "You can look for it from your servants. Or you can have people go out to find out if there is such a craftsman. If there is one, buy it."
Zhou Man: "It's not easy. As far as I know, craftsmen with such skills will leave their original owners' homes for various reasons, and the court will confiscate them and will not sell them out again."
In other words, even if you order takeout, it’s not their turn to buy it.
Mingda, who had been silent all this time, said: "I'll find a way."
Everyone looked at her together.
Mingda said: "My father and I can ask for some slaves and craftsmen from the bookstore." There are ready-made manpower, and even the recipes are ready-made, so there is no need to think about it anymore.
So she said: "We can build a paper mill after we decide on a place."
Bai Shan and Zhou Man thought of their previous plan and praised: "Then we'll have to trouble Princess Mingda, but we'd better wait until the recipe is researched before building a workshop."
Mingda heard something and asked curiously: "Do you have a prescription in your hand? How does it compare with the existing paper?"
Bai Shandao: "There are two prescriptions, one of which is said to be slightly worse than the current coarse paper, and the other is similar to the current fine paper, maybe a little better."
Mingda hesitated for a moment and then said: "I can ask my father for a few more craftsmen who are good at making paper, so that we can make paper of the same quality as the bookstore."
Bai Shan shook his head and said: "Princess, our purpose is to make paper cheaper, so we don't use the original prescriptions from the bookstore. The prescriptions that Manbao and I have are cheaper."
Mingda finally understood, and after pondering for a while, he said: "Then it will be inconvenient to ask for someone from my father."
Bai Shan smiled and said: "Your Majesty is willing to give people to others. This is His Majesty's kindness to the princess. As for the recipes in the paper mill, it will be nothing if they are passed on to Your Majesty."
At this stage, they only plan to make these two kinds of paper, which are cheap and easy to promote. He and Man Bao originally planned to give this recipe to His Majesty and the Prince.
Of course, this is a matter for the future.
After this recipe is given away in the future, the paper mill will be able to train their own craftsmen. Then they will choose a few better and more valuable paper recipes and start over.
For them, the difficulty in building a paper mill has never been money and raw materials, but always craftsmen and recipes.
But now they don't lack prescriptions, they just lack people.
Mingda immediately wrote to the emperor to request someone.
When the emperor received the letter, he ordered Gu Zhong without thinking, "Select some craftsmen and servants who can make paper from the palace bookstore and send them to Qingzhou."
He thought for a while and felt that this was not enough, so he simply said: "I remember that there is a East-West Bookstore in the capital? Let's put the West Bookstore under Mingda's name."
The former is fine, but the latter...
Gu Zhong couldn't help but said: "Does Your Majesty want to discuss this matter with the Empress?"
In fact, what Gu Zhong wanted to say was whether he should discuss it with the courtiers, but he temporarily changed his name to the queen.
The emperor thought for a while and went into the harem to find the queen during his lunch break.
Upon hearing this, the queen asked for Mingda's letter. After reading it, she refused for Mingda and said: "If your majesty feels sorry for Mingda, just give her some people and let her make paper by herself. Although the bookstore is the property of the royal family, it has always been for the world.
How can students print books and hand them over to a princess?"
"What's the point of just making paper? The most precious thing in a bookstore is engraving. If a new store wants to accumulate such accumulation, it won't be possible in a few decades." The emperor said: "I have a ready-made bookstore, what's wrong with giving her one? Prince
I won’t mind either.”
Queen: "...But Mingda didn't want to open a bookstore. What she wanted to do was a papermaking workshop."
"How much money can you make from a piece of paper?" The emperor said, "The most profitable thing is printing books."
The queen read Mingda's letter again and said to the emperor: "Although I don't know why Mingda built the paper mill, I know that this move must not be to make money."
A wise daughter, Mo Ruomu, Mingda has lived a wealthy life since she was a child, but she is not extravagant. She is broad-minded and not a money-lover, so she will never build a paper mill just for money.
And what she wants is a lot of money, so why bother building a paper mill?
After receiving the letter, the Queen said: "Your Majesty, why don't you write to her first and ask her why she wants to build a paper mill? If she is not interested in a bookstore, your Majesty will only be putting a burden on her by sending it to her."
She knew where the emperor's seven inches were, and said directly: "If it's for money, what if we give her money directly? Will our daughter still be short of money?"
The emperor felt that what the queen said was reasonable, so he said: "Okay, I will write to her and ask her. But since she has asked for people, let's send her some people first."
The Queen had no objection to this.
Bookstore...
It is said to be the property of the royal family, but in fact it is not.
Because the books printed by the bookstore are sent to the Imperial College, Hanlin Academy, Chongwen Hall, and even local bookstores and prefectural and county schools, it is of great importance;
The reason why the emperor so boldly said that the bookstore was the property of the royal family was because the money earned by the bookstore went to the emperor's private treasury.
The queen can be sure that if the emperor wants to put the Western Bookstore under Mingda's name, the ministers will definitely transfer the bookstore to the imperial court.
This must not be a good thing for the royal family, and the queen does not want to cause such a dispute.
But she also loves her daughter. Bookstores can't give it away, but people can give it away. At worst, she can just build one herself.
Even if she not only wants to build a paper mill, but also wants to print and sell books, it's not impossible. It's okay to send some engraving craftsmen there later, or even give her some engravings.
This kind of thing can be done privately, but it would be too intrusive if it were sent to an entire bookstore in one go.
The queen convinced the emperor, and the emperor temporarily ignored the matter, but he couldn't help but wonder, "Strange, isn't Mingda raising a baby at this time? Why did he think of building a paper mill?"
He frowned again, "Have the people I sent not arrived in Qingzhou yet?"
Gu Zhong said hurriedly: "Your Majesty, they have many people and luggage, so their journey is naturally slow. It is not like delivering a message. They can reach the capital in a few days by hurrying up."