Qin Shihuang wanted to abolish the scripts of the Six Kingdoms and promote the Qin script throughout the world to unify writing.
This incident may cause an uproar in the hometown of the princes who originally belonged to the Six Kingdoms, shocking countless people in the Six Kingdoms.
But in Xianyang, the capital of Qin, not even a small splash was made. Because the local Qin people originally used Qin characters, and whether they unified the world's characters would have no impact at all on them, the Qin people.
Things like the previous unification of weights and measures may have caused a commotion in the land of Shandong, but not many people paid attention to it in the original land of Qin.
In Xianyang City today, most people’s eyes have fallen on the newly emerged
Regarding "paper", it is said that the emperor used this new thing to replace the administration of slips. The emperor's thoughts were the biggest thing in the world, and this matter naturally attracted the attention of countless people.
Especially as the Shaofu successively produced several batches of hemp paper, in addition to meeting the emperor's personal needs, it also began to be officially put into official use in several important departments, allowing more people to see this novel thing, and at the same time, it also brought Comes greater attention.
On this day, Sima Xin, an official in the Tingwei Mansion, got together with his friend Dong Zhong while taking a rest. Dong Zhongnai is a minor official in Taipu Mansion. He is about thirty years old. He has a long beard and a dark face. He has been friends with Sima Xinnai for many years.
After the two of them got together and drank the syrup made from flour, the topic couldn't help but turn to the latest hot spot.
"Brother Sima, your Tingwei Mansion is one of the first official offices to use paper? I wonder what it feels like to write on that thing?" Sima Xin said with a smile: "What kind of feeling can it have? It's just like writing on silk. It’s about the same as writing, but sometimes it’s troublesome if you write the wrong word. Its main advantage is that it’s light.”
"In the past, we issued decrees to counties or responded to letters from beggars in counties. Sometimes we needed hundreds of kilograms of bamboo slips at a time, and we had to use a horse-drawn carriage to slowly pull them to the place. But now that we have paper, we need a horse-drawn carriage to pull it. Hundreds of kilograms of bamboo slips and a stack of paper are enough. You don’t even need to use a horse-drawn carriage to transport the letter. You only need one ride to carry the letter to the local counties. The efficiency is really much higher. In my opinion , just for this reason, the use of paper far exceeds that of slips." Dong Zhongmu said: "I really envy Brother Sima, we servants don't know when we will be able to use paper." Sima Xin smiled slightly, Although Shaofu made paper, the quantity was limited and it is still a rare item.
In addition to the emperor's side, several important departments in the court such as Tingwei and Zhisu Neishi were used to a certain extent.
Even if a department like Taipu, which manages vehicles and trains, needs to be issued for use, it should be left to the end.
Faced with the envy of his long-time friend, Sima Xin comforted him and said, "Brother Dong, don't worry. I heard that the emperor has ordered the construction of a large number of paper-making workshops in Guanzhong to produce a large amount of paper. It will be put into use in various government offices in the future. Sooner or later you will be able to use it too." It's on." Dong Zhong sighed: "Yes, Shaofu is already expanding the papermaking workshop. I heard that this paper was made by Shaofu Zhao. Shaofu Zhao is really awesome. He made it during the war before. The giant cannon, then the curved-column plow, and now paper.”
"Hey, otherwise why would everyone privately call this paper 'Shaofu Paper'? Our Shaofu Zhao is really a capable person!" Sima Xin followed up with a compliment, but as soon as he thought about it, he thought of something An interesting thing happened, and he added: "Actually, besides writing documents, this paper also has other wonderful uses."
"Oh? What's the magic use?" Dong Zhong, as a servant, has never even seen the appearance of paper. He only heard that this thing is useful everywhere, and he is envious in his heart. Now he heard Sima Xin say that this thing is not only useful for writing, but also for writing. In addition, it also has another wonderful effect, and it immediately pricks up its ears.
Si Ma If there is a wrong word on something, the whole piece of paper will be discarded. It is far inferior to the fact that after a wrong word is written on a slip, you can use a sharpener to scrape it off and rewrite it. You can only replace the copy, which is a bit time-consuming." Dong Zhong nodded, the official said The document requirements are very strict, and there must be no typos in the documents.
Thinking of this, Dong Zhong wondered again: "Brother Sima, that should be the flaw of this thing. How can it be called a wonderful function?"
"It was precisely because the paper with the wrong words on it could not be reused and was discarded directly that someone discovered its wonderful use." When Sima Xin said this, he winked and said with a smile: "To be honest, Brother Dong, I have a friend who saw There were some Shaofu papers with wrong words written on them piled up in the official office. I thought, don’t some nobles use silk to go to the toilet? Since the silk is useful, why can’t it be used if this paper is similar to silk? So I took some. Putting waste paper in the toilet, hey, that feeling is much better than toilet chips, so comfortable!" Dong Zhong's eyes widened, and his face turned red.
Zhao Shaofu worked hard to make paper for the purpose of writing words and benefiting the world. Because of the limited production, even the officials in our Imperial Servant’s Office have no chance to use it.
You people from the Tingwei Mansion, even if you use it first, you actually use it for pickling. If Mr. Zhao knew about it, he would be so angry that he would vomit blood.
Look at Sima Xin showing off proudly. Dong Zhong said angrily: "Brother Sima, that friend who uses Shaofu paper to go to the toilet, isn't it you?"... In the Doctor's Academy.
"Pushe, our doctor's job is to manage books and texts, compile narratives, understand ancient and modern times, and teach knowledge. Now that Shaofu paper has been made, why don't you use it with us!"
"Yes, I heard that this Shaofu paper is good at writing. One piece of paper can be worth several slips. But compared with silk books, it is such a good thing. As doctors in charge of books, we should use it. Pu She should do it. Please ask your superior!" Many doctors blushed and expressed their demands to Dr. Zhou Qingchen.
Most of these doctors are disciples of famous masters, Yin-Yang masters, Huang Lao, etc. As the reputation of paper spread, they were naturally curious about this novel writing material.
Faced with the requests of these scholars and doctors, Zhou Qingchen looked helpless and said: "I have written to the emperor about this matter. Because the Shaofu paper was newly made and the quantity is limited, it is currently used for the offices of Tingwei Mansion and Zhisu Neishi Mansion. There are not even other official offices such as servants and Dianke. If you want to use it, you have to wait until mass production in the future. Just wait patiently. Sooner or later there will be." After hearing this, the doctors calmed down. This reason really makes people speechless. It doesn't even use the official offices such as Taipu and Dianke, one of the nine ministers. What can they, doctors, fight for?
Just when the matter was about to subside, Dr. Confucianism, who was watching with cold eyes, started to speak mockingly.
"Haha, why bother asking for something like this that has serious flaws, is expensive and difficult to use? In my opinion, this so-called Shaofu paper will be abandoned soon. By then, we won't be using slips to record events. ." Dr. Zhuzi looked angrily, and when they saw the one who spoke was the notoriously prickly Chun Yuyue, they all became even more angry.
This guy, with no sense of good or evil, instigated a group of Confucian scholars to stop Princess Shang of Zhao Shaofu, and even talked back to Tingwei Li Si in public in the court. In the end, this group of doctors were collectively deprived of the power to participate in political discussions in the previous court.
Immediately, a famous doctor reprimanded: "You Chunyu have started talking nonsense again. That Shaofu paper is made of hemp, leather and other materials. It is cheaper than bamboo slips, is thinner and better than silk. How can it have major flaws? How can it happen again?" Expensive and difficult to use? In my opinion, you probably saw that this thing was made by Zhao Shaofu, so you held a grudge and deliberately slandered it."
"Yes, apart from being more fragile than bamboo slips, does this Shaofu paper have any flaws? It is obviously made of low-grade materials and is cheap, but you, Chunyu Yue, say it is expensive and difficult to use. What nonsense!" Others Several doctors also started shouting. They already disliked Chunyu more and more.
"Slander? Slander?" Chunyu Yue said disdainfully: "Why slander this thing? You said that the Shaofu paper is cheaper than the bamboo slips. But I want to say that the price of this thing is much more expensive than the bamboo slips, and it cannot be stored. And Used for administration, it seems to be very efficient, but in fact it is the most time-consuming.”
"If you promote this thing, it seems convenient and simple, but in fact it is just a luxury thing. It is far less cheap and easy to use than bamboo slips. In my opinion, this thing will be abolished by the emperor before it is your turn to use it." Without waiting for a few doctors to refute.
Chunyu Yue immediately said: "I heard that Tingwei and Zhisu Neishi used Shaofu paper for administration during this period, and the losses were very large. The papermaking workshop of Shaofu could only barely supply them. The emperor then worked hard to build paper in Guanzhong. The reason for this is that if you write on paper, once you write a wrong word, the paper will no longer be of use."
"We use bamboo slips to write. If we only make a mistake in one word, we can cut it off with a knife. You can continue to use the bamboo slips to write. If you make a wrong word, you will cut it once. If you make a wrong cross, you will cut it ten times. One bamboo slip is enough to write from scratch. To the end without changing.”
"But the Shaofu paper is different. If you accidentally write a wrong word on a piece of paper, then the paper is considered discarded and cannot be used again, and new paper needs to be replaced." The doctors frowned. .
What Chunyu Yue was talking about was indeed a practical issue. When writing, especially when transcribing a large number of official documents or copying books, typos are common and no one can avoid them.
When using bamboo slips to write, if they make a mistake, they can use a sharpener to scrape off the typo and rewrite it. This is also one of the benefits of bamboo slips, which has a great error tolerance rate.
But compared to the bamboo slips, this Shaofu paper is said to be extremely thin, so it is naturally impossible to scrape it with a knife. If a word is written wrong, the whole piece of paper will really be ruined.
Seeing that the doctors who doubted him fell silent, Chun Yuyue showed a smile on his face and continued to speak.
"Moreover, laws and decrees are usually around a dozen or so. If you use a piece of paper to write down a decree that is tens of tens, there will be most of the blank space on the paper. In fact, you only need one or two bamboo slips to record the words. But if you have to use paper that can record hundreds of words to copy it, wouldn’t it mean that the price of this piece of paper is more expensive than the bamboo slips that record the same words?”
"If a piece of paper is used to record hundreds of words of legal documents, then I would like to ask you, how many of you can guarantee that every word of the hundreds of words is good?"
"As long as one word is mistaken in the middle, the entire paper, and even the hundreds of words transcribed on it, will be discarded. It is necessary to replace the paper with new paper and copy the previous words from the beginning. If another typo occurs during this copying process , then we have to start over again.”
"Gentlemen, let's see. A document written on Shaofu paper seems to have been written on one piece of paper, but in fact it may have been ten pieces of paper. Isn't it expensive? Once it is written If you make a mistake in a word, all the words written before will have to be copied again, which will waste more time? You are also people who use swords and pens, do you know whether what I said is correct?" Chunyu Yue had obviously made preparations for the investigation, As soon as these words came out, no one from Dr. Zhuzi spoke out.
Instead, those Confucian doctors became excited and talked about the disadvantages of this Shaofu paper. Qi Bibi had always held a grudge against Zhao Tuo for his previous public opposition to feudalism, and now he was merciless.
He sneered and said: "Zhao Tuo made paper and thought he could please the emperor. In fact, this paper wasted money and wasted money, and it was far inferior to bamboo slips. We, the people of Xia, have used these bamboo slips for thousands of years, and there has never been any inconvenience. This is an ancient relic, and it cannot be replaced by something he can just fiddle with. This matter is just like fighting with us to entrust counties and counties. It is unheard of to live long without following the ancients." At this moment, not only It was those doctors who had a problem with Zhao Tuo who made sarcastic remarks. Even the usually cowardly doctor servant She Zhou Qingchen was moved by Chun Yuyue's words.
He shook his head and said: "We have been in Qin for a while. Qin people are the most practical. If they find that this Shaofu paper not only does not bring convenience, but will actually make administration more troublesome, it will not take long." This thing will be discarded. Alas, it’s a pity that Mr. Zhao made such a noise."
"This is our opportunity. An opportunity to make the emperor trust us again! Maybe this will restore our political power!" Chunyu Yue suddenly spoke, attracting everyone's attention.
After the paint was withered, he immediately cheered and said, "What opportunity did Dr. Chunyu say?" Seeing everyone's eyes turning to him, Chunyu Yue smiled and said, "As Pu She said, Qin people are still practical. Before, we thought that the emperor He valued etiquette, but was criticized by Li Si. Now that we know that the emperor values practicality, we should do what he wants."
"Since we have seen that this Shaofu paper is a waste of money and people, we should write to the emperor and point out the defects of this thing. The emperor values practicality, and when he sees us pointing out the shortcomings of Shaofu paper, he will definitely treat it We have a good impression of you, and you know that we are useful to the country. Maybe we can use this to restore our power to discuss affairs in the court. What do you think?" The famous doctor who had previously reprimanded sneered: "What a petition to the emperor. , pointed out the defects of the Shaofu paper. Could it be that Dr. Chunyu forgot, thanks to your gift, now except for the emperor's edict, we have no power to submit letters to discuss government affairs."
"Yes, after what happened last time, not only can we not go to court, we can't even write letters to discuss politics. How can we talk about admonishing the emperor!" The doctors shouted one after another, remembering the tragic incident of being banned, and faced Chun Yuyue glare.
Chunyu Yue did not panic at all, but said with a smile: "Why are you so anxious? Although we cannot write to the emperor to discuss politics, Prime Minister Zuo can!"
"We can advise Prime Minister Zuo to write to the emperor, but if he does not sign our name, it will not be considered a violation of the order. If the emperor listens to Prime Minister Zuo and abolishes the Shaofu paper, then Prime Minister Zuo can mention our contributions. , when the emperor is overjoyed, won't he forgive us?" Zhou Qingchen said hurriedly: "The last time we tried to dissuade Princess Shang, Prime Minister Zuo didn't go with us, so I'm afraid he won't help us this time."
"Yes, although Prime Minister Zuo likes Confucianism, he is not a Confucian person. After what happened last time, I'm afraid he won't help us." Others also shook their heads and said, not interested in trying to persuade Wang Wan. Have expectations.
Chunyu Yue shook his head and said, "You are wrong. Prime Minister Zuo is not helping us this time."
"Huh?" Everyone looked at him in shock. Chunyu Yue smiled toothily.
"Shaofu Zhao Tuo has come up with a useless thing, which wastes people and money and damages Qin's national power. Prime Minister Zuo is a man who serves the country. How can he just sit back and ignore it when he sees the disadvantages of this thing?"
"Prime Minister Zuo, he is not helping us, he is helping Da Qin!"
