Chapter 46 Conquer Meng Yi!

Witnessing this scene, Li Si, Feng Quji and Meng Yi were all amazed.

Li Si further inquired: "The raw material for papermaking that you mentioned, could it be these bamboos?"

Ying Heng nodded to confirm this, and responded: "We all know that bamboo can be made into bamboo slips, but what form will the paper made from it take?"

The three of them were equally confused, and Ying Heng led them to the drying place.

On the huge wooden table, there was a piece of "white silk" about two meters long and wide, which was slowly drying.

At this moment, Meng Yi seemed to have captured some key information and rushed forward quickly.

As a well-educated man, he has a deep sensitivity to writing materials such as bamboo slips and silk.

When he saw the huge piece of white silk, his heart was shocked.

He speculated: Could this be the "paper" that the Thirteenth Young Master mentioned?

Meng Yi walked closer to the table and examined the piece of "paper" attentively.

The main body is pure white, with bamboo fiber textures visible occasionally, and it is obviously made of carefully crafted bamboo.

Although the edges are a little rough, the whole piece of paper is as thin as a cicada's wing. Compared with the thick bamboo slips, its lightness is incomparable. Its thickness is only slightly more than silk, but it is limited.

When his fingers gently touched the paper, he felt the soft and foldable texture.

After pulling it with a little more force, it was found that it had excellent toughness and could not be torn apart by ordinary force, which meant that this material was easy to preserve and not easily damaged.

Meng Yi was so excited that he didn't care about etiquette and took out a brush from his sleeve. Because he didn't have time to find ink, he wet the tip of the brush directly with his mouth. Although his lips and tongue were filled with the pungent smell of ink, he didn't care.

He picked up the pen tremblingly and carefully made a stroke on a corner of the paper. The ink was clearly attached to the paper, which was more vivid than bamboo slips and almost the same as silk. He could actually write smoothly on it!

This scene completely shocked Meng Yi.

He turned his head to look at Ying Heng and asked word by word, "Sir, may I ask how much this paper costs?"

This question was so important to Meng Yi that his voice revealed uncontrollable excitement.

Ying Heng did not respond directly, but asked Meng Yi: "Mr. Meng, what do you think of the quality of this paper?"

Meng Yi responded emotionally:

"Excellent, wonderful, incomparable!"

"Its thinness is comparable to silk, and it is light and easy to carry."

"Its texture is tough. Although it is not as durable as bamboo slips, it cannot be damaged by ordinary forces."

"Its color is as white as snow. Even though I have only tried it for a short time, I have foreseen that the writing will be clearly visible after writing."

"All these advantages are enough to prove that this paper can completely replace bamboo slips and silk and become a new material for writing records!"

Ying Heng smiled and asked again: "If this paper can be popularized in the hands of all scholars in the world, what kind of impact will it bring?"

Meng Yi thought for a moment, his eyes flashing with excitement, and stared at Ying Heng for an answer.

"If all the scholars in the world can use this paper to read books, the amount of text information they receive every day will increase exponentially, and the speed of their knowledge growth will also be greatly improved."

“As a result, the spread of knowledge will be faster and easier!”

Ying Heng guided him step by step and continued to ask: "If this kind of paper is compiled into a book and promoted throughout the country, what do you think of the concept of governing the country that I proposed yesterday?"

Meng Yi hesitated for a moment and replied again: "If this kind of paper is really folded into a book, it will be widely circulated in the world."

"Then the idea you mentioned yesterday about drawing on the wisdom of hundreds of schools of thought, letting the people learn our Great Qin language, and studying various academic skills, is very likely to be realized!"

"Besides that, what will happen when all this becomes a reality?" At this moment, Ying Heng was like a patient and instructive teacher, leading Meng Yi to think deeply.

"If all this can become a reality, then within the territory of the Great Qin, all children will learn to write Qin characters and speak the official language of the Qin Dynasty."

"They will study the texts in any book promulgated by our Great Qin."

"It doesn't take a hundred years. It only takes thirty years. Then people all over the world will only know the Qin Dynasty, and the names of the six kingdoms may be forgotten."

"Furthermore, if the numerology and Mohist skills are really as magical as you describe."

"In time, countless geniuses will emerge in Daqin. When the food supply is sufficient and the people no longer worry about hunger, Daqin will surely usher in an astonishing leap in development!"

Meng Yi himself was also shocked by this idea. Including many civil officials around him, they all thought that the strategic concept mentioned by Ying Heng yesterday was to abolish all schools of thought, respect Confucianism alone, and absorb the wisdom of all schools of thought to educate the people, so as to promote the progress of the Qin Dynasty.

It will take at least several or even dozens of generations of hard work to achieve it.

However, it now seems that the key solutions to these problems have been presented to them personally by the Thirteenth Young Master.

With his heart surging, Meng Yi asked eagerly: "Sir, please tell me, what is the cost of this kind of paper, and can it be mass-produced?"

"Haha, how much does it cost?"

Ying Heng laughed out loud, "There is no cost to make this paper. The only raw material is bamboo. Its output depends on how much bamboo can grow in our Great Qin!"

"Meng Yi, let me ask you, how many bamboo resources does my Great Qin have?"

"Even if bamboo is insufficient, other fiber-rich plants can also serve as substitutes."

These words were like thunder, which instantly shocked Meng Yi deeply.

"Aren't the bamboo resources in my Great Qin infinite?"

"This paper... is so cheap!"

All that is consumed is manpower, but since the Qin State has enough food to eat, the most abundant resource is manpower!
Suddenly, it seemed as if some kind of restraint in Meng Yi's mind was broken.

He instantly connected together the questions that Ying Heng had just asked and the long-standing confusion in his heart.

All doubts are dispelled and everything becomes clear.

It turned out that the Thirteenth Young Master had already thought this through carefully.

At this moment, Meng Yi suddenly laughed wildly towards the sky, and then tears burst out.

"Hahahaha, God bless our Great Qin, God bless our Great Qin! Haha!"

"God has gifted the Thirteenth Prince to feed the people of Great Qin with food and to spread the light of Great Qin civilization with the art of papermaking."

"Such a miraculous method of the immortal, such a miraculous creation!"

"This is the blessing of our great Qin scholar community, the blessing of our great Qin people, and the blessing of our great Qin Empire!"

"Woohoo, woohoo, sir!"

With a plop.

With tears in his eyes, Meng Yi suddenly knelt down in front of Ying Heng!

Then prostrate yourself on the ground and bow deeply!
"From today on, I am willing to write for you, sir. I will do whatever you ask me to do, even if it means going through fire and water!"

[Ding, congratulations to the host for subduing Meng Yi and gaining the loyalty of the court officials. The host is rewarded with special healing medicine and medical book: Shennong's Herbal Classic, by the Medicine Saint Li Shizhen.]

(End of this chapter)