Cthulhu Gonfalon Chapter 61:
Sui Xiong spent some time demonstrating his invention in detail to the church leaders.
"This can greatly reduce the cost of learning knowledge and promote the popularization of knowledge." He said, "Knowledge changes life, knowledge changes fate, knowledge changes the world... These few inventions of mine will definitely promote the progress of the entire world. !"
However, his impassionedness did not get the support of the believers.
"Your Majesty, I think these things...the cost doesn't seem to be low." Rod, who is in charge of financial management, calculated and said, "Crush the wood, boil it, remove the color with magic, and finally spread it on the cloth. , Flattening and drying... After this whole set is done, I feel that it is no simpler than parchment paper."
"Yes, although animal skins are expensive, simple animal skin paper is not troublesome to process." Satan, who used to make parchment paper as a sideline in his childhood, also agreed with Rod's opinion, "The animal skins are soaked first, and then Use alkaline water to remove the oil, then cut off the hair and oil, and then finely polish it... I worked in a parchment workshop when I was a child. Although it is very hard, it is really not complicated. In contrast, you These things...too much trouble to make."
"Is it troublesome?" Sui Xiong was a little confused, "I think it's very simple."
"Don’t say anything else, just smashing the wood is very troublesome." Satan said, "We can ask the carpenter to break the wood into small pieces, then soak it in water, and smash it—regardless of the magic. This is probably the only way to soak the wood until it can be smashed. I don’t know how much time and energy it takes. Otherwise, how to remove the small pieces of wood from the wood pulp is a big problem."
"Not only that, it also requires the assistance of a wizard in the production process-I took a look at the spell you designed and estimated the effect. I need to purify the wood pulp in an ordinary cauldron to white, at least A middle-level mage is needed to cast the spell. If it is a low-level mage, it is estimated to cast three or four spells in succession. Have you considered the cost of inviting a mage to cast the spell?"
Sui Xiong was taken aback for a moment, and muttered in a low voice: "There is no wizard in our church."
"Yes, but when calculating the cost, it is calculated according to the hired mage." Satan did not give Sui Xiong a chance to quibble, and continued, "After the purification is completed, white wood pulp is obtained. Spread the linen cloth on the wooden boards, spread the wood pulp on the cloth, press tightly, and dry...This is very troublesome, because it is difficult for the heat to pass through the stacked wooden boards, and the master may also need to take care of it."
"If all this is done and you get smooth and soft paper that allows quill pens to write smoothly, then it’s actually worth it. But the paper is either too soft for quill writing, or it’s stiff Like a thin wooden board, what's the use?"
"Didn't I even invent the brush..."
"That kind of pen is too slow to write." Palin said, "It's too much slower than a quill pen! And every time it writes a word or two, it dips in ink, and consumes too much ink. Very inconvenient."
"I also improved the ink!"
"The portable ink stick you made is the only reliable invention." Satan finally smiled, "If you make a little improvement, it can become a very good product. At the very least, it is more General ink is much cheaper and more convenient to store and transport."
Sui Xiong was frustrated by what they said, and was about to go back to continue the experiment to improve the Four Treasures of Sui Xiong's version of the study, but Wo La, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
"These inventions are very good!" He said in a deep voice, "They do have the power to change the world and promote the progress of the entire world!"
Everyone looked at him suspiciously, not understanding why he asserted so.
Wo Lai did not explain in detail, but just stood up and saluted Sui Xiong: "Your Majesty, please leave things to me about these things. I will work hard to improve the production process and flow, and make an early concession. Everyone is satisfied with the writing tools!"
Sui Xiong looked into his eyes, and saw in his eyes a passion and longing that he had never had before.
Since I met Wo La, this once-famous master has lacked vitality. Even when it comes to the hatred with the Sun God Church, there is only a deep resentment on him, but there is no aura of wanton publicity. The whole person looks dark and dusky, really like an old man.
Because of this, Sui Xiong secretly nicknamed him the "Sweeper Monk" in his heart. This nickname certainly means that he has great martial arts and great magical powers, but also that he is too peaceful and lacks the spirit of a strong person, like an old monk who has nothing to do with the world.
But now, Wo La's eyes have completely changed, and his aura has also completely changed.
Although he still pretends to be an old man now, the exuberant aura on his body and the flame-like enthusiasm in his eyes all prove his identity.
"Very good!" Sui Xiong smiled, "Just look at your current eyes, I will entrust this to you!"
Walker smiled and lowered his head: "I won't let you down!"
After the meeting, he took the samples and technical materials provided by Sui Xiong and returned to Geertengling through the teleportation array. He built a workshop in a remote mountainous area, recruited some experienced carpenters and workers, and asked Satan for two low-level mages with a good level, and then began research.
Since the improvement of papermaking technology may take time, he first tried to improve the ink sticks.
The work in this area went very smoothly. In only two or three days, he made a strip of ink with a scent of grass. Because it is fully blended with glue and oil, the hardness of this ink block is much stronger than that of Sui Xiong's invention. When using it, you need to file out the debris gently with a file and then mix it with water.
Sui Xiong, who has been following his experiments, saw the new ink block he had completed, and was taken aback for a moment, and asked: "This...is it possible to produce ink by grinding on the inkstone?"
"Inkstone? Ink? What is that?"
Sui Xiong briefly explained the concepts of "ink", "inkstone", "inkstone" and so on. Wo Lai was immediately inspired and built an inkstone in just one day.
Sure enough, just as Sui Xiong's ancestors did, the combination of ink and inkstone can completely replace ink. Although it has the disadvantages of being slow to use and not fast and convenient enough, its advantages in storage and transportation are enough to kill the ink in seconds.
This kind of ink can be used not only with brushes, but also with quill pens. And its price is much cheaper than ink, calculated according to the same amount of writing, only about one-fifth of ink.
After completing the research on ink and inkstone, Wo Lai began to simplify the process and improve the quality-the key is to reduce the use of mages, and improve the entire process as much as possible to be completed by ordinary people.
About half a month later, in the private estate of Lord Ollion of Gelten, a workshop for making ink and inkstones was set up.
In this workshop, wood is placed in a specially-made kiln and burned slowly to obtain soot. The specially-made magic props collect a large amount of pure soot. The workers mix it with carefully boiled glue oil and knead it. , Beat, and make a soft ink block. These ink blocks are then molded into strips and slowly dried in the magic drying room that has been built with a lot of money. About ten days later, the basically solidified ink block was taken out, polished neatly, engraved with the Gerten family crest, indicating the origin and weight, and painted a little color with brass powder, and then dried until it is completely dry. Through it, wrap it in cloth and it will be the finished product.
From burning wood to the finished product, it takes about 30 days before and after the entire production process. When calculating the cost, if hardware investment, materials and labor are not considered, even if it is sold according to the method of buying ink and sending inkstones, the price of the same amount of writing is only one-tenth of the ink.
This interesting product has been widely welcomed as soon as it was put on the market, and Geertenling, who has always been unknown, gained fame and received a lot of attention. Ollion had to spend his thoughts and fights with those who wanted to reach out to get a share of this exclusive deal, and had to overturn a few greedy guys before he was able to hold this interest.
"I do the calculations. Relying on the business of ink and inkstone, Geertengling can earn a surplus of close to 20,000 gold coins every year." At the year-end meeting, Olean said happily, "This is still my Majesty’s request. , The result of strictly controlling the output. If the output is further increased, it is expected that this number will eventually double!"
This huge number surprised everyone. It was unexpected that a small piece of ink and stone inkstone could generate such a huge profit.
"It's a pity that the cost of the magic drying room is too high." Olianne sighed and said, "It cost tens of thousands of gold coins! I won't be able to pay back until next spring. Although this business is very profitable, The cost is not small!"
Sui Xiong laughed twice: "What is there to care about about money? Just make a profit. It's a pity that your teacher has not completed the improvement of papermaking. Otherwise, paper and ink will be sold together~ IndoMTL. com~ will be able to greatly promote the spread of knowledge!"
After using the ink produced by Geertengling, everyone has greatly admired Sui Xiong's vision, and they are even more convinced of his judgment. Satan couldn't help but smiled and said: "With these two inventions, papermaking and ink alone, your Majesty, you have made a great contribution to culture! Maybe you just seek cultural priesthood directly?"
"Cultural clergy is occupied by the **** of literature and art." Sui Xiong said with a smile, "I don't plan to fight with him for this."
"By the way, a few days ago, the Church of Bibliophiles (God of Classics) sent someone to contact us, expressing their desire to purchase ink blocks and inkstones in bulk, hoping to be cheaper." Ollion thought of it. Something, said, "And your majesty the book collector personally handed down the oracle to grant me and my teacher a divine grace, do you think we should accept it, your majesty?"
Everyone was not surprised. Mo's invention was of great benefit to the Church of the God of Books. The God of Books did not reward Orion and Woer for this, but it was a strange thing!
"People are also kind, why refuse?" Sui Xiong didn't have a strict opinion, and smiled and agreed.
A few days later, the Church of the Gods of Classics held a small but grand ceremony in Gerten. At the ceremony, the **** who was called the "book collector" by mortals gave his spiritual light to Gerten. The blessing of the lord Miss Olion and her teacher, Mr. Frye (worship's pseudonym), was a good talk for a while.