General Qin

In the second ten days of April, the Great Court Meeting of the State of Qin was held in Xianyang Palace.

At this time, it has entered summer, and there has been no rain for several days. The air in the hall is very dull. Standing inside, it feels very oppressive.

Zhao Tuo is now one of the nine ministers of the Shaofu, and has broken away from the ranks of simple military officers. He no longer ranks next to Wang Ben, but stands on the east side, facing west, next to Ting Wei Li Si.

After the first emperor ascended the throne, the rules of etiquette became stricter.

Although there is no explicit order to prohibit the ministers from talking with each other in the hall, there is a censor on the side of the hall who is patrolling, supervising the etiquette posture of the courtiers and ministers.

Under such circumstances, no one would talk before the emperor's arrival. It would be bad if he was written down by the censor and left a bad impression on the emperor.

But eye contact is essential.

Now Zhao Tuo and Li Si are quite close, and they met each other's eyes, revealing a tacit smile.

Sitting at the front, the right prime minister, Kai Xiang, is becoming more and more careless. Every time he comes to the hall for a meeting, he just watches his nose and heart at the head of the hall. He doesn't express his opinions on general political affairs, and basically becomes a respondent.

Zhao Tuo reckoned that the old prime minister wanted to make a good exit, after all, the few prime ministers of Qin before him had no good endings.

Xiong Qi died on the ground.

Lu Buwei committed suicide by drinking poison.

Compared with the two predecessors, being a respondent prime minister who only listened to the emperor's opinion would naturally lead to a good death.

Kui Zhuang doesn't care about things, and now the most popular figure in the court of Qin State is naturally Zuo Prime Minister Wang Wan.

He is in the prime of life, and has a strong enterprising spirit. Coupled with the decentralization of power by the right prime minister, it can be said that Wang Wan alone controls all the power in the prime minister's mansion, just like the former prime minister.

Even though Zhao Tuo and Li Si had teamed up to slap him in the prefectural enfeoffment dispute, Emperor Shi Huang did not hold him accountable afterwards and still reused him.

Therefore, Wang Wan is in good spirits and her back is straight.

After a while, the walking chariot on which the first emperor was riding entered the hall, and the court meeting officially began.

"Your Majesty, General Tu Sui has arrived in Wei, and is gathering the clan of Wei. According to the time, in July, he will escort the nobles of the clans of Qi, Wei, and Han into Guanzhong."

"Your Majesty, more than half of the cities of the Six Kingdoms around Lishan Mountain have been built, which is enough to accommodate the princes and nobles who have migrated this time."

"Your Majesty, the food and fodder for the princes and nobles has been prepared, and this relocation will never cause riots in Guanzhong."

At the beginning of the court meeting, Taiwei, Jiang Zuo Shaofu, Nei Shi and others reported the progress of the work of relocating nobles from the six countries.

This should be a major event in the second half of Guanzhong. It was the first time in history that so many princes and nobles migrated into Guanzhong, and Emperor Shi Huang attached great importance to it.

"The spectacle of the Twelve Golden Men was ruined by me. I didn't expect to create another Six Kingdoms City. This can be regarded as a cultural symbol in later generations. Migrate the clan and nobles of the Six Kingdoms to surround Lishan Mountain, and let the descendants of the Six Kingdoms family Guarding the mausoleum by yourself is quite high." Zhao Tuo thought to himself.

The Six Kingdoms City is for the settlement of the princes and nobles who will come later, and it is also for nearby surveillance. It is a necessary project, but it is not a useless project.

After reporting on the progress of the Six Kingdoms City project, the First Emperor continued to deal with some political affairs.

Seeing that she was about to retreat soon, Wang Wan's eyes flickered.

He knew very well that what he said later might offend the Shaofu further.

But Wang Wan also has her own reasons.

He is for Qin.

Before speaking, Wang Wan glanced sideways at Shaofu Zhao Tuo.

He found that Zhao Tuo was also staring at him, and the two looked at each other.

Wang Wan nodded slightly, and nodded to Zhao Tuo.

Zhao Tuo smiled back.

Then, Wang Wan stood up and officially kicked off the scene.

"The minister Wang Wanmei died to report to His Majesty. Recently, the Shaofu made paper from hemp and promoted it in the residences of all the ministers. It intends to replace the bamboo slips and benefit our country of Qin."

"I think the Shaofu's heart is very good. However, after using it recently, I found that although hemp paper is convenient, it also has many defects. If it can't be solved, it will affect the government of our state of Qin. Please also pay attention to it."

As soon as these words came out, there was a complete silence in the hall.

All the ministers looked at the Prime Minister Wang Wan with surprise on their faces, and even the Prime Minister You Xiang opened his slightly closed eyes and stared at his deputy.

Li Si's face was solemn, and the corner of his mouth curled up slightly.

Zhao Tuo, on the other hand, looked flat and seemed not to be affected in any way.

No one spoke.

The emperor on the emperor's couch looked calm, and no one could tell what his mood was towards Wang Wan's suggestion, but the emperor said indifferently: "The paper made by the Shaofu said by Prime Minister Zuo is defective, I don't know what it is? "

Wang Wan cupped his hands and said, "The Prime Minister's Mansion has been using paper for administration during this period, and I found two problems. The first is that some officials wrote wrong words on the paper, which is difficult to modify, unlike the bamboo slips that can be scraped with a knife. Go, rewrite."

"Using paper administration, if a word is wrong, it will be a waste of paper, and you need to start copying from the beginning, not only the speed is slow. Moreover, Shaofu said before that the price of paper is cheaper than bamboo slips, but because of the waste of paper, the price of this item is not lower than bamboo slips , not something that can replace the bamboo slips."

"The second point is that this paper is made of hemp. Hemp can be used to weave cloth, make clothes, make shoes, and tie ropes. It is an important material. Making paper with hemp consumes a lot of hemp. If it is true If we want to spread hemp paper to the world, there will be no more hemp clothes and ropes in the world, so the head of Guizhou must travel naked?"

Wang Wan's words fell.

All the ministers frowned slightly.

Among them, Ting Wei Li Si, Tai Shi Ling Hu Wujing, Zhi Su Nei Shi Wang Wu and others nodded slightly.

The government offices they work in are all qualified to use paper. Hearing what Wang Wan said, he naturally thought of the problems encountered in daily administration with paper.

The scripts prevailing in the Qin State, whether it is Xiaozhuan or Lishu, are all evolved from Zongzhou Cangwen. No matter how simplified it is, its structure and strokes are much more complicated than those of later generations.

Calligraphers like Li Si may still be able to maintain the correct rate of writing.

But what about the officials at the lower levels of the various government offices?

How many people can write hundreds of words and not miss a word?

People in the world often say "knife and pen officials", as the name implies, write with a pen and cut characters with a knife. The traces of knife cutting are often seen on those bamboo slips dug out in later generations. It can be seen that typos are an unavoidable thing in daily administration.

It would indeed be a waste of efficiency to copy official documents from scratch because of a word error.

The first emperor frowned slightly, thinking of the situation when he wrote with paper and if he made a slight clerical error, he would directly change the paper.

This is indeed a problem. According to Zhao Tuo's vision, paper is to be popularized all over the world. How many officials in the world can avoid typos?

As for using hemp to make paper, there will indeed be a problem that Wang Wan said that the leaders of Guizhou no longer have hemp clothes to wear, which will have a great impact on the people's livelihood in Qin.

But the first emperor still remembered that Zhao Tuo said that he could make paper with bark, grass and other things. Although he had not yet produced the results, the emperor still believed that Zhao Tuo could do it.

However, the problem of typos still needs to be solved. If it cannot be solved, it will be difficult to promote the use of paper all over the world.

The First Emperor looked at Zhao Tuo and saw that his face was calm, as if he was not bothered by Wang Wan's words, and his heart calmed down again.

This kid has a solution!

The First Emperor said indifferently: "Prime Minister Zuo's words are reasonable, I wonder if the Shaofu has a solution?"

Wang Wan and all the ministers looked at Zhao Tuo.

Zhao Tuo smiled lightly, cupped his hands and said, "I have already studied the method of correcting typos on paper, and I am about to write a letter to His Majesty. Now that Prime Minister Zuo proposed it in the palace, I just said it. If you want to correct typos on paper, All it takes is one thing.”

"What?"

"Orpiment!"

Zhao Tuo spoke calmly.

This remark made some ministers in the palace startled.

What is orpiment?

Many people have never heard of it.

Fortunately, the knowledgeable Li Si stood up and explained: "The orpiment is the opposite of the realgar. The realgar is born in the yang of the mountain, and the orpiment is produced in the yin of the mountain."

After hearing the name of realgar, everyone had the impression that realgar can be used in wine and can repel insects, and its reputation spread far and wide.

Orpiment doesn't have many uses, so many people don't know about it, which is normal.

"Dare to ask the Shaofu, how can Orpiment correct the typo?"

Wang Wan asked. He knew the existence of orpiment, but he had never seen it before. He could only imagine a similar realgar in his mind. It was hard to imagine that such a thing could correct typos on the paper.

Feeling the bewildered eyes of the ministers in the palace, Zhao Tuo shook his head secretly.

Sure enough, the imagination is still not enough. People born in the era of bamboo slips only think of scraping with a knife, so can't they let go of their thinking?

Zhao Tuo cleared his throat and said, "You can tell the usage of this thing as soon as you see it. I have asked the servants to wait at the gate of the palace with the prepared paper and orpiment. Please allow your majesty to fetch it."

As soon as Zhao Tuo said these words, the ministers in the hall suddenly showed playfulness, and their interest even surpassed the usage of orpiment to correct typo.

Zhao Tuo was already prepared!

He knew that Wang Wan was going to make a suggestion today, and he also knew the content of the suggestion, and responded accordingly.

Even Shi Huangdi, who was on the emperor's couch, looked at Wang Wan sharply after being slightly startled.

Zhao Tuo's preparation in advance showed that Wang Wan's suggestion was known to others, and they also revealed it to Zhao Tuo behind Wang Wan's back.

Doesn't this mean that what Wang Wan said just now was actually premeditated.

It is not simply advocating for the country, but a political struggle to attack Zhao Tuo through paper.

The First Emperor said coldly, "Yes."

As the emperor's attendants went to the palace gate to fetch the paper and orpiment prepared by Zhao Tuo, the atmosphere in the palace became more and more oppressive.

Wang Wan lowered his head, his face turned blue and white, at this time, he didn't know that he was betrayed.

Damn Confucian scholars!

Zhao Tuo looked at all this with a smile on his face.

In a word, the victory is decided in an instant.

After today's court meeting, I think the alliance between Wang Wan and those Confucian scholars will completely fall apart.

Wang Wan, it is impossible to believe the words of those Confucian scholars anymore.

Moreover, Zhao Tuo revealed this matter directly in front of the first emperor's eyes, and Wang Wan's future was probably ruined.

With the character of the first emperor, even if he is used again, Wang Wan will never have the chance to be promoted to the right prime minister.

For Zhao Tuo, he has completed a successful counterattack!

After a while, a servant brought the orpiment and paper prepared by Zhao Tuo.

With the arrival of these two things, the atmosphere in the hall relaxed slightly, and everyone's eyes fell on Zhao Tuo again, wanting to see how he corrected the typo on the paper.

Zhao Tuo looked as usual, he first raised the yellowed paper in front of the first emperor, and said: "Your Majesty, just now Prime Minister Zuo said that using hemp to make paper will consume a lot of hemp and affect the livelihood of the head of Guizhou. I think what Prime Minister Zuo said is very true. , so after a month of study, I have already figured out the method of making paper from bark!"

"The paper in my hand is made from the bark of the mulberry tree. In the future, no hemp will be needed to make paper with this method. Only the bark can be used to make high-quality and cheap paper. This will not only not affect the , can further reduce the price of paper, much lower than using bamboo slips!"

Make paper from tree bark!

Except for the first emperor, all the officials in the palace were shocked.

It doesn't matter if hemp is used to make paper. After all, hemp can be used to weave cloth and make paper similar to silk, which is understandable.

But that rough and bare bark can also make paper?

"Using tree bark to make paper, the public transporter is so terrifying!"

Li Si's eyelids twitched slightly, witnessing Zhao Tuo's ability once again.

Only Wang Wan was pale. Even though Zhao Tuo hadn't demonstrated how to use orpiment to correct typos, he already knew that he had lost.

"Your Majesty, Prime Minister Zuo, please take a look."

Zhao Tuo ignored everyone's different looks, and officially started the demonstration.

He first wrote the character "six" on the yellowed bark paper, and held it up for everyone in the hall to watch.

After the first emperor and the ministers confirmed that Zhao Tuo had written six.

Only then did he pick up the polished orpiment and daub it on the character "six".

With the friction between the orpiment and the paper, the "six" on the paper gradually disappeared.

When Zhao Tuo lifted the paper again, the ministers could no longer see the "six" just now, only a piece of yellow remained.

"What an orpiment! What a typo correction!"

Ting Wei Li Si was the first to applaud, his eyes sparkling.

Zhao Tuo was able to use orpiment to correct typos. With this method, it doesn't matter if you write wrong words on the paper in the future. The disadvantages Wang Wan said are all nonsense.

In addition, Zhao Tuo used bark to make paper, which greatly reduced the cost. Li Si could already foresee that such paper would definitely replace bamboo slips and be popular in the world.

"Young Master Zhao's mansion is really capable. We have never heard of the orpiment without characters."

"Of course, I've only heard that orpiment can be used as medicine. I didn't expect this thing to have such a use. It's really enlightening."

All the ministers took the opportunity to praise Zhao Tuo.

As Zhao Tuo took out the bark paper and orpiment, what Wang Wan said just now became very ridiculous.

On the emperor's couch, Shi Huang's eyes were also brilliant.

This son, really did not disappoint him, it really brought surprises everywhere.

Zhao Tuo's face was indifferent, and there was nothing to be proud of.

Orpiment is equivalent to the correction fluid of later generations, such as correction tape, which can remove typos on yellow paper by smearing.

The reason why he knows this is precisely because of the idiom "spoofing falsehoods".

During the Wei and Jin Dynasties, the ancients discovered the usefulness of orpiment to smear typos and used it in practice. This is probably one of the reasons why paper could be popularized and promoted rapidly in the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

Now that Zhao Tuo knew this, he would not be overwhelmed by Wang Wan and those Confucian scholars, and easily solved their difficulties.

However, what happened just now was just an appetizer to Zhao Tuo.

Zhao Tuo didn't pay attention to Wang Wan's questioning. Instead, he planned to use this matter to introduce something more important.

Zhao Tuo glanced at Wang Wan, who had a livid face and bowed his head in silence.

He turned his head, and saluted Shi Huangdi who was on the emperor's couch.

"Your Majesty, besides making paper from bark and orpiment, I have one more thing to present to Your Majesty today."

"With this thing, the efficiency of transcribing laws and government orders can be increased by more than ten times!"