Chapter 47: Paper-making Technique

The Emperor's carriage arrived before the gate of the Jianling Marquis Mansion. Before they had even drawn near, they could already hear the sound of weeping coming from within the estate. Liu Che's expression tightened slightly, and a foreboding premonition began to consume his entire heart.

As it happened, the current Prime Minister, Han Anguo, had also arrived at the gate of the Jianling Marquis Mansion. Seeing the Imperial carriage, he scrambled to disembark to pay his respects to the Emperor, but he missed his footing and tumbled straight off the carriage—a truly spectacular sight.

Liu Li, who was beside A Jiao and preparing to disembark, witnessed this scene. Out of politeness, she closed her eyes, unable to bear the sight of the current Prime Minister in such a wretched state.

The guards at the side hurriedly helped the fallen Han Anguo up. A Jiao also stepped forward with concern: "Prime Minister, are you alright?"

Han Anguo's face was ashen; clearly, that fall had been no minor matter. It was likely he had injured his leg.

"Quickly, send the Prime Minister back to his mansion for treatment; do not delay." A Jiao directed the guards to take the injured Han Anguo away and urged him: "Prime Minister, you should rest at home and recover during this time."

Han Anguo was in too much pain to speak and could only allow the guards to lift him back onto his carriage.

Liu Li watched Han Anguo's carriage pull away and couldn't help but sigh inwardly. She still remembered that, in history, after Tian Fen died, Han Anguo had served as the acting Prime Minister. Later, while guiding the Emperor's carriage, Han Anguo had accidentally fallen from his own and injured his leg. Afterwards, seeing that Han Anguo's leg never fully healed, Emperor Wu of Han replaced him with someone else as Prime Minister.

Could this be fate? Even though this space-time had already changed, Han Anguo had still managed to injure his leg.

The gatekeeper of the Jianling Marquis Mansion had already gone inside to announce them. At this moment, Wei Wan's son, Wei Xin, came out in mourning clothes to welcome the Emperor. Seeing the Emperor standing before the gate, he fell to his knees with a thud: "Your Majesty, my father has passed!"

Wei Xin's expression was sorrowful; he might as well have had the word "heartbroken" written on his face.

A Jiao reached out to help Wei Xin up: "Rise. Take Us to see the Grand Tutor."

Wei Xin: "As you command."

A Jiao and Wei Xin walked in front, while Liu Li held Liu Che's hand and followed behind. They passed through winding corridors and finally reached the main courtyard, where the maids standing in the yard were all bowing their heads and weeping.

Upon reaching the doorway, A Jiao's footsteps paused slightly. She turned and said: "Empress, follow Us inside."

Wei Xin looked at the "Empress" beside them with some surprise. A Jiao said calmly: "The Empress also received the Grand Tutor's instruction in her youth, so We specifically brought the Empress along this time."

Given the Empress's former status, this was indeed possible. Wei Xin did not doubt it and hurriedly lowered his head to invite Liu Che inside.

Liu Che lowered his eyes and said to his daughter: "A Li, wait outside."

Liu Li nodded: "Alright."

Liu Che stepped through the door. Looking at Wei Wan, who had not yet been placed in his coffin, his expression was tinged with sorrow. Images of his youth, following the Grand Tutor to learn the theories of governance, surfaced in his mind; it was also the Grand Tutor who had initiated him into Confucian thought.

Looking again at the Grand Tutor, now aged with white hair, his heart felt even more constricted.

A Jiao had also met Wei Wan before. Although she did not know him deeply, facing such a scene, her heart was also heavy.

Liu Li stood outside waiting for A Jiao and Liu Che. After about five minutes, the sky outside gradually turned overcast; it looked as if it were about to rain.

Just as she was thinking this, a raindrop landed on her face. Liu Li reached up to wipe the rainwater away, and before long, a light rain began to fall.

By the time they left, the rain had become quite heavy, as if the heavens themselves were seeing Wei Wan off.

Seeing the intensity of the rain, Wei Xin wanted to ask the Emperor to stay, but the Emperor and Empress insisted on leaving. In the end, he could only see the Emperor off to the carriage through the rain.

The spring rain fell upon them, soaking their clothes and bringing a chill. By the time they returned to the Jiaofang Hall, they were already soaked through.

Fearing that Liu Li might catch a cold due to her young age, A Jiao hurriedly had the palace attendants prepare hot water for Liu Li to bathe.

As it turned out, the next day, both Liu Li and Liu Che were fine, but A Jiao had caught a cold and even had a slight fever.

Seeing this, Liu Che remarked: "I was wondering why it felt like there was a brazier beside me while sleeping yesterday."

A Jiao closed her eyes in discomfort,

not wanting to engage with Liu Che, who was feeling a bit gleeful at her misfortune. A maid brought in medicine: "Your Majesty, the medicine has been decocted."

Liu Che stood up and took the medicine from the maid: "You may withdraw. I will personally care for the Emperor while she drinks the medicine."

Maid: "As you command."

Liu Che carried the medicine to A Jiao's side and sat down: "Sit up and drink the medicine. My body hasn't caught a cold in a long time; how is it that when it comes to you, you catch one after just one rain shower?"

A Jiao opened her eyes and glared at him: "If it weren't for you insisting on returning to the palace, I wouldn't have been caught in the rain."

Liu Che set down the medicine bowl, reached out to support A Jiao, and helped her sit up: "In our situation, it is not appropriate to linger in other people's homes. Drink the medicine first."

As he spoke, he brought the bowl to A Jiao.

A Jiao looked down at the black, foul-smelling medicine, her brows furrowed. Her handsome face carried a hint of disgust: "It smells so bad, I don't want to drink it."

"If you don't drink it, how will your cold get better?" Liu Che used a spoon to scoop up some and brought it to her lips: "There are still many things to handle recently; you must get well quickly."

"What else is there?" A Jiao asked subconsciously.

"The Imperial Academy has been built; it is time to recruit a group of talented people to serve as teachers there," Liu Che said. "This matter is of great importance."

A Jiao fell silent.

She took a deep breath, thinking of how, in order to conceive and bear children, her mother had found so many folk remedies that she had endured; what was this minor cold compared to that?

She reached out and took the bowl from Liu Che's hand, held her breath, and downed the medicine in one go. The bitter taste spread through her mouth and throat, and she nearly vomited it back up.

Liu Che suddenly reached out and stuffed a piece of candied fruit into her mouth. The sweet and sour taste masked the bitterness, and she turned her eyes to look at him.

"It's not bitter now, is it?" Liu Che raised an eyebrow and smiled: "Get some more sleep, and your cold should be better by tomorrow."

Perhaps because she was ill, A Jiao stared at Liu Che before her and inexplicably found him much more pleasing to the eye.

At the door, Liu Li knocked gently. Seeing it was her, Liu Che let her in. Liu Li stepped over the threshold and trotted to A Jiao's side: "Mother, are you feeling better?"

A Jiao nodded: "Mm."

Liu Li took a box of Cefotaxime from her sleeve and said: "Mother, take some of this; it's specifically for colds."

Seeing this, Liu Che asked: "What is this?"

This was something Liu Li had just redeemed from the third level of the System Mall; this one box of medicine had cost 1,000 points. She discovered that the third level had a richer variety of goods, but the points were also more expensive.

The third level unlocked all types of medicine, clothing, jewelry, and cosmetics; none of these things were cheap, costing at least 1,000 points.

Liu Li had realized that, aside from the first level which contained basic items requiring fewer points, the higher the level, the more points were needed.

Medicines were truly precious in this era. As for clothing, the styles were modern, and Liu Li felt she didn't need them for now and didn't intend to waste points redeeming clothes to wear.

As for jewelry and cosmetics, there was even less need, as she was still just a child.

Liu Li had realized the value of points; after all, the further she went, the more points would be required. Upgrading the system this time had cost her the 10,000 points she had worked so hard to save, and now that she had redeemed a box of Cefotaxime, she only had a little over 2,000 points left.

Before the system upgrade was successful, she decided not to use any more points.

Liu Li handed the Cefotaxime to A Jiao and said: "Just take two pills of this medicine morning and night."

"This actually doesn't need to be decocted, and can be eaten?"

"Yes, this is considered a medicinal pill; just swallow it with water," Liu Li nodded. "It's specifically for treating colds."

Liu Che raised an eyebrow: "You should have sent this sooner, so the Empress wouldn't have had to drink such bitter medicine."

Liu Li: "..."

A Jiao accepted her daughter's medicine and said gently: "I can take this tomorrow." She didn't want to dampen her daughter's good intentions.

A Jiao drank the medicine prescribed by the Imperial Physician.

Afterwards, her fever broke, and then she took the Cefotaxime for two days, and this cold was completely cured.

The Imperial Physician who came for A Jiao's follow-up visit clicked his tongue in wonder, marveling that the Emperor's body was truly robust, as the cold had been cured in just three days.

"This is truly a miracle medicine." Liu Che asked A Jiao for the remaining Cefotaxime, his expression pleasantly surprised: "Usually, when people catch a cold, it takes ten days or half a month to recover, but after A Jiao took this medicine, she was cured in just three days."

Liu Che thought for a moment and said: "If we give this medicine to the Imperial Hospital to study, I wonder if they could replicate the same medicine like last time?"

The "last time" Liu Che referred to was the Wuji Baifeng Pill. He had given the Imperial Physician one pill, and the physician had actually managed to concoct a medicine with a similar formula. Of course, the physician's medicine still needed to be decocted into a soup to be consumed.

Liu Li rolled her eyes at his thought, then took the remaining Cefotaxime from his hand: "Father, this medicine is different from the last one." The previous Wuji Baifeng Pill was mostly made of traditional Chinese medicine ingredients, so it was easy to replicate. But this Cefotaxime was Western medicine; if it were so easy to replicate, wouldn't the medical technology of this era be heaven-defying?

"How is it different? Aren't they both medicinal pills?"

Liu Li puffed out her cheeks, feeling that it was impossible to explain to Liu Che. Fortunately, at this moment, Su Wen suddenly came to report: "Your Majesty, the matter you ordered regarding the search for paper-making has made some progress."

A Jiao glanced at Liu Che and Liu Li, and told Su Wen to come in and speak.

Su Wen said: "The servant arranged for people to inquire repeatedly, and finally learned that it was first created by a silkworm-rearing family near Baqiao."

Hearing this, Liu Che became even more interested and told Su Wen to explain in detail.

This silkworm-rearing merchant family had many unused silkworm cocoons every year. One day, a servant of this merchant family boiled all these cocoons in a pot, mashed them into a paste, and somehow, it was made into a sheet of paper.

This servant presented the item to his master, who wrote on it and found it very strange, so he ordered the servant to make a few more. The merchant presented this paper to the local government, the government presented it to the next level up, and finally, it reached Liu Che's Xuanshi Hall.

Liu Che asked: "Then, has the servant from that merchant's family been brought here?"

Su Wen nodded: "He has already been brought."

Liu Che called for Liu Li: "A Li, come with Me."

Liu Li was surprised; she hadn't expected that they would actually find the origin of paper. Her heart was also excited. One had to know that paper was one of the Four Great Inventions of ancient China. If she improved the paper-making technique at this time, wouldn't that mean she had invented paper?

This could be considered a milestone advancement.

The merchant's servant had no surname, only the name Qiu. His master's surname was Sun, so he was also called Sun Qiu. Sun Qiu was a little old man. After being brought into the Weiyang Palace, he had been trembling with fear, terrified that he might lose his head the next second.

When Liu Che saw Sun Qiu's appearance, he was immediately somewhat disappointed. He had thought that the person who invented paper would at least be a tall, clever man, but this little old man looked like he wasn't even as tall as himself.

The little old man saw Liu Che walk into the room and stared wide-eyed. Fuqu scolded: "Bold! How dare you not pay respects when seeing the Emperor and Empress?"

Sun Qiu was so scared he knelt on the ground: "This lowly one... this lowly one pays respects to the Emperor, pays..." He couldn't even finish his sentence.

A Jiao, who was walking behind, signaled for Liu Che to go to the back, and let her handle the questioning.

Liu Che nodded, having no objections.

A Jiao told Sun Qiu to stand up and answer, then pondered for a moment and asked: "Whatever We ask you, answer truthfully; there is no need to be afraid."

"Yes."

"Did you make this paper?" A Jiao took out a sheet of paper stored in the Xuanshi Hall and asked Sun Qiu.

Sun Qiu glanced at it and nodded: "Yes."

"How did you make it?"

Sun Qiu's eyes darted around, but his mind was not confused at all. Ever since he presented the thing he had randomly tinkered with to his master, his master had also asked him how it was made, and he had kept a secret at that time and hadn't told his master.

Unexpectedly, afterwards, he didn't have to do any work at his master's house and was tasked solely with making paper for his master.

So many years

had passed, and his master had gained much wealth relying on the paper he invented, and he had also received many rewards. Now that the current Emperor was actually asking him about paper, Sun Qiu knew his opportunity to get rich had arrived.

He hurriedly said: "Returning to Your Majesty, this was passed down by my ancestors; it is truly inconvenient for this lowly one to disclose it."

This sentence actually made Liu Li laugh. She could also understand Sun Qiu's little scheme: "It doesn't matter if it's inconvenient for you to disclose it, but would you be willing to stay in the Weiyang Palace to work?"

Sun Qiu was dumbfounded: "Work in the Weiyang Palace?" He had thought the Emperor was interested in his paper, but he hadn't expected the Emperor to be interested in him as a person.

A Jiao continued: "We order you to continue researching the method of paper-making in the Weiyang Palace. If you succeed, you will be promoted and ennobled."

Hearing the words "promoted and ennobled," Sun Qiu was stunned. He had been a servant his whole life and had never imagined that one day, he could become an official.

Was there any need to hesitate for such a good thing? Sun Qiu nodded without a second thought: "This lowly one accepts the decree."

Sun Qiu was temporarily unwilling to disclose the paper-making process, and Liu Li did not force him to say it, but instead began to prepare the materials for paper-making according to his requirements.

A Jiao ordered the Shaofu Office to vacate a courtyard specifically for Sun Qiu to live in, where he would also conduct his paper-making in the future.

The Shaofu Office had caused such a stir these past few days that many officials working there were curious about what exactly the Princess of Jianling was going to do.

After several days of preparation, the stone mortar, large pot, and other items Sun Qiu needed were all in place. However, Liu Li did not have people prepare silk or silkworm cocoons; instead, she collected some old clothes, torn hemp cloth, and the like from all over the palace and sent them over.

Sun Qiu was puzzled: "Princess, what I need is silk; what use is this hemp cloth you sent?"

Liu Li said: "The cost of silk and silkworm cocoons is too high, and silk is only available in the spring, making it inconvenient to source."

"But the raw material for paper is these things; without silk, how do you expect me to make paper?"

"Use hemp cloth," Liu Li said. "You know how to make paper with silk; surely it's not impossible to switch to hemp cloth?"

Sun Qiu: "..."

"Look at what this is." As Liu Li spoke, she took a sheet of paper she had torn from her notebook out of her sleeve: "This was made from very cheap things like hemp cloth and tree bark."

Sun Qiu took the paper from Liu Li's hand with both hands, unable to believe his eyes: "This, this is too exquisite."

In fact, the paper he had made was not suitable for writing because the surface was extremely uneven. It wasn't that he hadn't thought about improving it, but doing so would require more silk, and his master might not be willing to let him experiment with it, so he hadn't brought it up again.

But looking at the paper before him, he suddenly felt that the paper he had made was so cheap.

"Sun Qiu, I need you to use hemp cloth, tree bark, and reed stalks to experiment repeatedly and improve, to create paper that is closest to the sheet in your hand. Then you will have succeeded." Liu Li stretched out her small hand and patted Sun Qiu's shoulder solemnly: "You must know that once this paper is successful, not only will your name be famous throughout the world, but future generations will also remember you."

During the Eastern Han Dynasty, the eunuch Cai Lun had gone through such repeated exploration and improvement to finally create thin, flexible paper. Everyone named the paper improved by Cai Lun "Cai Hou Paper."

What Cai Lun of the Eastern Han could accomplish, why couldn't it be accomplished in the Western Han? There wasn't much difference in years between them.

"But..." Sun Qiu hesitated: "Princess, haven't you already made such fine paper? Why do you still need me to experiment?"

Liu Li said righteously: "Because you are the first person to invent paper, and I don't want to steal your credit."

Sun Qiu was greatly moved: "This lowly one will definitely work hard to complete the experiment and make paper that is closest to this sheet!"

Liu Li nodded with satisfaction, raised her fist to him and said: "Good, you must work hard!" With current technology, it was certainly impossible to make, but she couldn't say that to discourage him.

Liu Li also specifically transferred a group of attendants for Sun Qiu to command; after all, paper-making was also physical labor.

Liu Li had thought that if she ran to the Shaofu

Office every day to observe the progress of the paper-making experiments, Liu Che would forget about sending her to the Imperial Academy. Unexpectedly, not only did he remember, but he had even found the teachers for the Imperial Academy.

Some of the teachers at the Imperial Academy were served by the Five Classics Doctors established previously, who would teach students the "Classic of Poetry," "Book of Documents," "Book of Rites," "Book of Changes," and "Spring and Autumn Annals," respectively. In addition, there were masters of the Six Arts for boys and masters of the Eight Elegances for girls.

There were also regulations for students entering the Imperial Academy: all children of marquises, the Three Excellencies, and the Nine Ministers who were in Chang'an and under fifteen years of age, regardless of gender, had to enter the Imperial Academy to study.

Students could choose any one of the Five Classics Doctors to study under. After completing their studies, they would be personally assessed by the Emperor. Those with excellent grades could enter the court as officials. Those who failed would not be able to inherit their family titles in the future.

Once this decree was issued, the court officials were in an uproar. Naturally, there were those who opposed it and those who supported it.

The Confucian academic faction led by Dong Zhongshu was very supportive of the Emperor's emphasis on education. After several rounds of debate, the opposition gradually lost their voice. After all, even the school had been built, which was enough to show the Emperor's determination to promote education.

Thus, the matter was settled.

The ideological culture of the early Han was actually quite backward; even the children of noble families didn't necessarily value reading, let alone the children of ordinary families. At this time, people's requirement was just to be full, so Liu Li did not mention the imperial examination system to Liu Che.

When the development of the Han Dynasty stabilized in the future and ordinary people could also read and write, it would not be too late to implement the imperial examination system. Liu Li believed that by then, the development of the Han Dynasty would certainly be comparable to the prosperous Tang Dynasty.

The first batch of students at the Imperial Academy would report to the Imperial Academy in three days. Liu Li was so worried that she couldn't even eat for these three days.

She hadn't expected that after going to school for more than ten years in the modern era, she would have to continue going to school after being reborn into the Western Han. Well... the concept of this school was something she had proposed herself, which was just absurd.

Could this be considered digging a hole for herself?

Liu Che still attached great importance to the education of his children. Except for his two newborn sons, Liu Ju and Liu Hong, who were still in swaddling clothes and couldn't speak, all three daughters had to go to the Imperial Academy to study.

Liu Li accepted her fate; she was even preparing to choose a pretty little schoolbag for herself in the System Mall.

However, upon seeing that a schoolbag with Doraemon on it actually cost 2,000 points, she silently closed the System Mall and then found Fuqu, intending to have Fuqu hand-sew a bag for her.

Fuqu was very happy to do things for the Princess. After Liu Li drew the design of the bag, she stayed up all night to start making the bag for the Princess. The next day, Fuqu had already finished the bag Liu Li had drawn.

Liu Li took the bag from Fuqu's hand and looked at the hand-embroidered LV logo on it. She inexplicably felt happy: "I love this so much, thank you, Auntie Fuqu!"

She carried the bag on her back, spun around, and then ran back to her room to take a close look in the full-length mirror she had specifically redeemed earlier.

Very good, very fashionable.

The bag was sewn from the finest black silk fabric, which felt very smooth to the touch. The thread used was gold, and every stitch looked as if it had been made by a modern machine. The outside of the bag was also decorated with pearls, and on the outermost part was a hot-stamped gold embroidered LV logo.

Such a black and gold color scheme was simply synonymous with high-end. The bag she couldn't bear to buy in the modern era, she had finally carried in the Western Han!

She thought that tomorrow, when she went to the Imperial Academy, she would definitely be the most dazzling kid in the crowd! ===== CHAPTER 48 =====