Ming Zuo

Chapter 735 Industrial System
Fei Yinghuan has only two sons and no daughter.

Naturally, there is no son-in-law surnamed Zhao.

It was all made up by Lao Wang, which made Zuo Menggeng quite nervous.

"In the future, printed products will definitely be popular in the world, and the demand for paper in Songjiang Prefecture will be huge. I wonder if Mr. Fei can take on this business?"

Hearing that Chen Hongshou planned to print millions of manuscripts, Fei Yinghuan expressed great pressure.

"If the delivery is to be made in installments, I can contact other merchants to support it, but it will take half a year."

Hearing that it would take half a year, Zuo Menggeng was a little disappointed.

He inquired with Fei Yinghuan before he found out that the current paper industry is this efficient.

The paper industry in Qianshan has flourished since the Song Dynasty.

The area is rich in bamboo, and the young bamboo in spring every year is the best raw material for making paper.Coupled with the abundant local water system, it also provides a basis for papermaking.

It can be said that the output of tender bamboo is very limited after all.Paper is also handmade, which limits the scale.

"Actually, bamboo is not the only way to make paper. Plant ash, trees, straw, etc. can also be used to make paper."

Hearing Zuo Menggeng's words, Fei Yinghuan was very reserved.

"The commander-in-chief does not know that the paper produced by my Qianshan Mountain is beautiful and unparalleled in the world. It relies on local bamboo. It cannot be so exquisite if replaced with other raw materials."

Zuo Menggeng casually picked up the lead mountain paper to check, but gave a different opinion.

"Writing and painting with lead mountain paper is of course handy. Even if compared with Xuan paper, it is not inferior. But the use of paper is not only as simple as reading and writing, other uses of lead mountain paper are not suitable."

Fei Yinghuan didn't believe it at all when he heard that there were still places where the Qianshan paper could not be applied.

"Also ask the commander-in-chief for advice."

Zuo Menggeng is not modest either.

Although he didn't know how to make paper, the uses of paper in later generations abound.

"Nowadays, most of the tools for storing things are cloth bags and gunny bags. Although there are a lot of them, such bags are not in order and are not conducive to transportation. If thick paper can be made, then square boxes can be made of thick paper , and then stacked into blocks, whether it is handling or transportation, isn’t it very convenient?”

Fei Yinghuan was taken aback.

Using paper to package things was something he had never thought of.

Zuo Menggeng said again: "For another example, when cleaning up the filth while bathing and changing clothes, wouldn't it be better if there is suitable paper? It is said that the palace officials use paper to clean up the filth, but the quality is very low. If you can use Wouldn't it be better to use wood pulp or grass pulp to make soft and comfortable toilet paper?"

He paused...

"Although this kind of toilet paper is inconspicuous and the cost is very cheap, people can't live without it in their daily life. With a large amount of consumption, there are naturally huge profits hidden in it."

Fei Yinghuan no longer had the pride she had at the beginning.

Zuo Menggeng mentioned two points, which had a great impact on him.

In his previous cognition, paper is used for writing, and it is a relatively sacred cultural item.

But when Zuo Menggeng pushed the use of paper to daily life, a wider world opened up to him.

After all, he is not a layman, so he suddenly thought of the difficulties.

"What the commander-in-chief said is quite interesting. However, based on my experience, I'm afraid it won't work with bamboo alone."

Qianshan papermaking has been using bamboo as raw material for hundreds of years.The quality of the paper produced by this method has long been clear to the locals.

Such ones can only be used for writing, and it is definitely not possible to do other purposes.

In the process of papermaking, many waste products were produced, and Fei Yinghuan did not use these useless things when she went to the toilet.

From his personal experience, the taste is very sour.

In order to achieve the comfortable and soft experience mentioned by Zuo Menggeng, it seems that more subtle improvements are needed in terms of craftsmanship.

As for how to improve the craftsmanship, Zuo Menggeng is not clear.

He just thought of something else.

"Mr. Fei, if you need other raw materials for papermaking, such as wood, we can provide them here."

Fei Yinghuan was stunned.

"I've never heard that Songjiang Prefecture is a land of wood."

Zuo Menggeng waved his hands and laughed.

"The source of timber is not from here, but from Shandong and further places. There are countless trees in those places, and there are endless cuts. You can have as many as you want, and they are all rare good wood. Shandong uses these timbers to build ships, but There are also a lot of scraps left. These scraps are treated as waste, and if Mr. Wei needs paper, Shandong can provide it.”

Hearing that this was the case, Fei Yinghuan was overjoyed and immediately thought of more.

"If this is the case, I would like to set up a factory in Songjiang Prefecture to produce paper locally. Is it possible?"

Zuo Menggeng couldn't help admiring that he started his business as a merchant.

"This couldn't be better. Our Songjiang Prefecture has always encouraged business. If Mr. Fei wants to build a factory here, the government will provide you with many preferential policies."

The two sides hit it off immediately, and Fei Yinghuan didn't delay, and rushed back to Qianshan Mountain overnight to find a partner.

For businessmen like them, it is definitely better to do business in the jurisdiction of Shandong.

Among other things, the fact that Shandong treats merchants well is far superior to that of other places in Ming Dynasty.

Although he is separated from the familiar environment of Qianshan, the acquisition of raw materials is guaranteed, and he can also develop new product types. Fei Yinghuan is still very active.

Seeing with his own eyes that Zuo Menggeng brought new business opportunities to Songjiang Mansion with just a few words, the local officials were all eye-opened.

They have thought about it one after another, and they all have a certain understanding of how to prosper the local economy.

In March in Yangchun, the weather is still warm.

The situation in Songjiang Mansion is also completely stable.

The imperial court was unable to regain the Songjiang Mansion, barely able to ensure the stability of the south of the Yangtze River, and did not dare to disrupt the current situation at all.

The Shandong side occupied Songjiang Mansion to ensure the safety of this second center, and did not want to over-irritate the Ming Dynasty.

Seeing this, Zuo Menggeng decided to set off and return.

It has been more than three months since she came out, and Xu Ruolin is still pregnant, so he misses him so much that he is not around for a moment.

In addition, whether Liaodong will make a comeback also needs to be paid special attention to. Zuo Menggeng must take the lead in person.

But this time on the return journey, there were two more people traveling together.

One is Zuo Menggeng's mother-in-law Gu.

Xu Ruolin was pregnant, which made the Xu family very nervous.

Everyone knows what that means.

The Gu family loves her daughter very much, and she is afraid that others will not take good care of her, so she personally invites Ying to go to Shandong.

For this, Zuo Menggeng was too late to be happy.

When a woman is pregnant, she will be accompanied by her mother and take good care of her, which will definitely make her feel happy and conducive to childbirth.

The other person was Xu Guangqi's nephew, Chen Yujie.

Chen Yujie was originally an official of the imperial court. After helping Xu Guangqi to revise the legislation in the second year of Chongzhen, he went home to farm and stayed behind closed doors.

Now that Zuo Menggeng's foundation has been established, it's time to show off his grand plans. Chen Yujie didn't want to live up to what he had learned all his life, so he came out again.

This person has profound attainments in the fields of astronomy, legislation, guns and artillery, and is a rare multidisciplinary talent.

After discussing with him, Zuo Menggeng arranged him to be beside Sun Yuanhua to preside over the research and production of artillery together.

(End of this chapter)