Chapter 142: Dare to Ask Which Genius >

g still intends to levy grain from the people.""Jianghe County has eight townships and sixty-nine villages, with each village required to contribute over a hundred shi of grain!"Hearing this, Yang Lin...Yu Zhong laughed and said, "Yang brother, we already discussed this last night. In three days, we'll set off for Suizhou. On this trip to Suizhou, if you're willing to go, we'll go together; if you don't want to go, since we promised you, we will definitely help you arrange it. It's also for the sake of the common people!"

Our only condition is that we want to see where paper is made!

"Oh, if there are any secrets involved that we shouldn't know about, we won't force ourselves to look. We just want to satisfy our curiosity and see how this kind of paper is made."

After Yu Zhong finished speaking, Yang Lin was stunned.

Is that all there is to it

This favor the other party did me was a huge one!

Therefore, even if the other party proposes some conditions, as long as they are not particularly excessive, he can accept them.

And now, are we just going to visit a paper mill

That's no problem at all!

As for the risk of technical leakage

Yang Lin wasn't worried at all!

Even the workers who spend their whole day in the paper mill, let alone those who are just here to take a look, couldn't possibly learn this new papermaking technique completely!

Because the entire papermaking process is divided into five major parts, each part is relatively independent. Each part is further divided into many smaller parts, all of which are in a line operation. Different stages cannot master the technology of other stages.

Most importantly, every step in the papermaking process, from pulping and cooking to pressing and drying, has very precise standards! These were achieved through his theories and the repeated experiments and adjustments made by the design institute.

"Okay, no problem!"

Yang Lin readily agreed.

Kong Qiu seemed to be very interested in papermaking. As soon as Yang Lin agreed, he couldn't wait and asked Yang Lin to take him to visit.

Yang Lin didn't mind, so he brought his four disciples to the workshop area by the river.

Even from a distance, the master and his four disciples were awestruck by the scene before them at the riverbank.

"This... this is where you make paper"

Ma Ruoyun widened her eyes in disbelief, staring at the scene before her. On that vast expanse of land, house after house stood completed or was still under construction. People bustled about, and wisps of smoke rose from their chimneys, creating a picture of both bustling activity and orderly progress.

"Oh, the paper mill is just one of them. There are some other workshops here too," Yang Lin said with emotion.

Not to mention that outsiders would be shocked, even Yang Lin himself, seeing the scene on this piece of land, couldn't help but feel emotional. The changes here are amazing!

Originally, when designing the layout, he concentrated all these "high-pollution" industrial areas along the riverbank.

Although the terms "pollution" and "environmental protection" haven't emerged yet in this era, industrial production is bound to affect residents' lives.

...and the workshop area was placed by the river. This was done for two reasons: firstly, it kept it away from residential areas, and secondly, it provided easy access to water for both drinking and use in the workshops.

Most importantly, transportation!

Utilizing waterways to transport raw materials in and finished goods out significantly reduces both time and cost.

Of course, there is currently no trade with foreign lands, so this advantage has not yet been apparent.

But who is Danma Ruyun He's the man who built his empire from scratch and became the richest person in Jiangnan. It's obvious that he chose to build his workshops by the river for a reason, isn't it

Now, seeing this workshop area with his own eyes, he was even more certain that Yang Lin's ambitions were enormous! Anyone with discernment could see at a glance that the vast open space was currently under heavy construction, with houses and new workshops being built. All of this indicated that this place was still in a period of rapid development!

Ma Ruoyun had already made up his mind. Since the other party was expanding at a high speed, they must need silver. He would first take a look at their production situation here. If the scale, technology, and management were all acceptable, he planned to invest in them! This way, he could get a share of the pie!

"This is the paper mill."

Yang Lin pointed at a makeshift shelter, but also said somewhat embarrassedly.

This shack is simply too crude!

It has no walls on all four sides, only a few wooden posts, several beams on top, and straw mats laid upon them...

"But the new workshops are already under construction, as I mentioned to Brother Ma before. We're aiming to double production every month. I'm not just saying this offhand, these are all part of the plan."

Yang Lin pointed to the nearly finished building in the distance and introduced, “That’s the new paper mill. In a few days, it will be completed, and then the output can be increased by at least three times!”

"And over there, there's a new paper mill too, but it only just started construction the day before yesterday and won't be operational until next month."

As she spoke, she led them into the paper mill.

As soon as he entered, this renowned first richest man of the Jiangnan region looked around in astonishment, like he'd never seen anything beyond his own village. He pointed at a watermill by the riverbank and exclaimed in disbelief, "What is that"

They were currently in the cooking workshop, but Ma Ruyun first noticed the buckets of wood pulp that workers carried over from the nearby water mill.

“Oh, that's the mill. It's used to grind wood pulp.”

With blueprints and materials, a watermill is not difficult to build.

Now there are four water mills by the river: one for making tofu, one for grinding pulp, and the remaining two for grinding stones.

And this is just the present, because he demands expansion of cement kilns, so even more watermills are under construction!

Ma Ruoyun didn't understand papermaking, but he could clearly see that no one was operating the mill over there! Yet, bucket after bucket of pulp was being brought over continuously!

"Shall we go and have a look"

Ma Ruoyun's eyes glistened with excitement.

Although he didn't understand engineering machinery, seeing such a water mill built by the river, he already realized what it meant.

Of course.

Yang Lin gestured with his hand and led a few people to the water mill.

Until they saw that with no manpower needed, the water flow could drive the massive grinding wheel to rotate constantly, Kong Qiu, Chu Jie and Yu Zhong and the others all had changed their faces!

"This, this is using the power of the river to grind Genius, genius!"

Kong Qiu widened her eyes, incredulously touching the massive machine. She turned to Yang Lin in astonishment and asked, "I wonder which great talent created such a wondrous object"

Kōng Qiū's eyes sparkled with excitement.

He traveled all over the world, saw too many hardships of the common people, and knew very well that if this thing could be popularized, it would save people so much effort!

Yu Zhong and Chu Jie also looked at Yang Lin in surprise.

Yang Lin felt embarrassed being stared at by these people.

"It was me."

Although I hate to admit it, in order not to expose the existence of the design institute, I had to take all the credit for myself...ng!"This actually took Yang Lin aback.He thought no one would go and had already prepared to offer high interest.Qin Shuang said: "Master, you've already said it, we're not real bandits. We're robbing...