Chapter 62 What a perfect match between a worker and a scapegoat!
"Alright."
Tang Yuanlin nodded and personally took Yun Shu to a small empty room in the backyard of the Ministry of Industry:
“Someone has tried this before, but unfortunately it didn’t work. However, all the necessary equipment is still there.
Your Highness, if there is anything you need, please let me know."
"Then please help me find a trustworthy helper!"
Yun Shu was not polite to him:
"Also, I will draw a blueprint later. It's a very simple thing, but I'll need your help to find a blacksmith to make it for me."
"Old minister, let's do it now."
The request she made was not very difficult, and Tang Yuanlin quickly found someone -
"Master Ye? Why is it you?"
"Lord Tang said that Your Highness needs someone he can trust, so I volunteered."
Ye Qingan's face rarely showed a hint of urgency:
"I heard that Your Highness already has a method for making low-cost paper?"
"Maybe. Whether it will be successful or not depends on the results of today's production."
He poured all the bark he brought into the wooden barrel, and while Ye Qingan was fetching water to soak the bark,
Yun Shu drew a simple blueprint with a feather pen and handed it to Tang Yuanlin:
"That's what I just said. Grandfather, please have someone make four of them today."
"This is simple."
Tang Yuanlin agreed immediately.
He had been wondering if she had done something incredible again that needed to be kept secret.
But now it is just a small curved piece of iron.
Something like this could be made for her easily by any blacksmith apprentice.
Tang Yuanlin didn't ask Yun Shu what he wanted the iron for. He just took the blueprint and left.
Ye Qingan came in from outside carrying a bucket of water, and only had time to see clearly that it seemed to be a drawing.
I couldn't see the specific content, and I couldn't help but feel itchy:
"Your Highness, besides the low-priced paper, have you made any other new things?"
"Nothing new, just four little shoes."
"Little shoes?"
Ye Qing'an was stunned, but didn't think much about it. He just thought that the little girl drew some beautiful patterns herself and wanted someone to help make two pairs of shoes.
He was not interested in these things and stopped asking further questions.
Instead, Yun Shu thought about what Tang Yuanlin had just said to her and took the initiative to ask:
"I heard from my grandfather that whenever the Master has free time recently, he would think about some strange things?"
"Yes."
Unexpectedly, Lord Tang had told Yun Shu about him before. Ye Qingan felt a little ashamed:
"Before I entered the government, my teacher once asked me why I wanted to become a government official.
My answer at that time was for the sake of the people of the world.
The teacher then went on to ask me what I thought I could do for the people of the world.
I am ashamed to say that I have been thinking about this question for a long time, but I have not found the answer yet. "
"Why?"
Yunshu was puzzled:
"Master, don't you know what you are good at?"
"Yes and no."
Ye Qingan sighed sadly:
"I just think that what I can think of and what I can do for the people of the world can also be done by others.
Judging wrongful convictions, rescuing disaster victims, or managing local government affairs are not things that must be done by me.”
Yun Shu: “…”
It was definitely a thought that a layman like her could not understand. "But when I first went to the study to teach the two princes, the words they said made me suddenly enlightened."
Ye Qing'an turned around, and the melancholy on his face disappeared. Instead, he showed a passion and yearning for the unknown that only a qualified scientific researcher could have:
"Just as your Highness invented the feather pen and printing technology, which benefited the world,
Perhaps what I should really do is to transform what I have learned throughout my life into something that can make people's lives better through 'innovation'."
"No wonder my father praised Master Ye before and thought you were different from other ministers in the court."
Yun Shu nodded approvingly——
What a good realization!
What a perfect match between a worker and a scapegoat!
The decision is yours! !
When she thought about the fact that she could find a way to have Ye Qing'an figure out anything in the future, she wouldn't have to suffer any hardship, nor would she have to worry about her father discovering the fact that she was too good and putting more burdens on her.
The approval and smile in Yun Shu's eyes became even more intense:
"Master Ye."
"Ok?"
"The bark has started to soften and we have to pick out some of the lower quality ones and throw them away."
Ye Qingan: "..."
The actual operation steps of making bark paper are not difficult, but there are many steps in the middle that require a lot of waiting.
It took the two of them more than four hours to finally get a few wet sheets of paper.
By then, the sun was about to set.
Yun Shu didn't have time to wait for the papers to dry completely, so he could only hand over this difficult task to Ye Qing'an:
"Whether these papers are suitable or not, we have to wait until they are completely dry and try them out to find out.
But the palace gates will be locked in less than an hour, so I have to go back to the palace first.
Please ask Master Ye to make an extra trip tomorrow and bring the dried paper to the palace for me to see."
"Don't worry, Your Highness. I will stay here today and there will be no mistakes in the last step!"
As a scholar from a poor family, Ye Qing'an knew too well the importance of the combination of cheap paper, printing technology, and feather pens.
If everything goes well, perhaps the cost of studying in the future will be reduced to a surprisingly low price!
By then, perhaps...
The more Ye Qing'an thought about it, the more excited he became.
He sent Yun Shu out the door and was about to turn back to continue staring at those precious wet papers. Before he could turn around, he saw Tang Yuanlin coming over with some strange-looking iron pieces.
"Your Highness."
Tang Yuanlin handed the four pieces of metal to Yun Shu:
"Do you think this is what you want?"
"Yes, that's it!"
Yun Shu took the horseshoe and weighed it twice, then nodded with satisfaction:
"Where's my horse? Have someone bring it here. I want to put these shoes on it now!"
"For the horses?"
"shoe?!"
Tang Yuanlin and Ye Qingan were both startled, but Ye Qingan was the first to react:
"Your Highness, are these the four little shoes you mentioned before?"
"Yes!"
Yunshu said as a matter of course:
“I just heard from someone today that once the horse’s hoofs are worn out too much, it will no longer be able to carry me.
So I specially made these shoes for my pony, so that when it runs in the future, the only wear and tear will be on the shoes.
When the shoes are worn out, just replace them with a few more!"
(End of this chapter)