BXBX NOVEL Chapter 160: Papermaking
He exited the carriage to see the cart carrying the improved water wheel and something covered in cloth stopping at the entrance of the village.
The village and the paper mill owner were informed about the visit from the Harsha, as he wanted to inspect the process of papermaking in the mill.
The Villagers were pretty nervous at the huge number of guards that tagged along with Harsha. He made his way to the small paper mill in the village owned by a small merchant named Ishant.
Ishant greeted Harsha as he entered the mill.
"G-Greetings, Your Majesty." He gave a low bow in nervousness.
Ishant was a young man in his late 20s and managed the mill after his late father. He took charge and made paper. Although the profits weren\'t much, it was enough to keep the mill running for future generations.
"Stand up straight," commanded Harsha.
Ishant saw the face of the Emperor for the first time. He was younger than him but held an air of authority around him. His sharp eyes were inspecting every fiber of his body.
"How do you make paper?" He asked.
Ishant stuttered for a while but managed to calm down and answer properly.
Papermaking was mostly manual labour. The tree pulp was made from grinding the small wood particles.
Once the watery pulp was ready to get the fiber moving, they dragged it along a mesh screen and then turned it upside down. Later, press hard to remove the water and get all the fibers in place together.
It was then air dried on a rack to create paper. It was a labor-intensive activity.
"Very inefficient." Harsha commented as Ishant explained the method.
Ishant looked disappointed and hung his head in shame.
"Don\'t worry, I didn\'t mean to be rude. I have come to get you a better way to make your paper."
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He pointed at the Pelton waterwheel on the cart.
"What is this?" Ishant exclaimed, walking out to see the waterwheel.
It was unlike any waterwheel he had seen previously. It had a cup-shaped wedge.
"This is an improved waterwheel." Harsha claimed.
Ishant inspected the waterwheel filled with curiosity. He knew that it would help his mill a lot but he didn\'t have the money to move his mill close to the river.
Harsha clapped to get his attention back.
"Moving on, we need to improve the paper itself. You can use rags or cotton as fibers for a finer pulp and smoother paper."
"Cotton fibers for paper?" Ishant shifted his head in confusion.
"Yes! Try it and utilize starch to improve the texture of the paper in general. Rice starch works fine."
Ishant listened to Harsha\'s advice with curiosity. He didn\'t know that the Emperor, who was way younger than him, would know the intricacies of papermaking. He was astounded but at the same time he respected him for explaining it patiently to him.
Harsha further explained how using a silk mesh screen was better than a regular mesh because it made a smoother paper. The use of roller stones to flatten and smoothen the paper. The filtering of water used in making the paper.
Finally, the use of dry lofts or Kiln to dry the paper in a controlled environment.
"Interesting…" Ishant claimed but soon realized that he didn\'t have the money to implement all these things and looked dejected. "Your Majesty, I don\'t have the money to implement this."
"I will fund the printing mill out of my own pocket for the time being. We will move your mill to the riverside later. Once we show you the efficiency of the waterwheel."
Viswa instructed the soldiers to put it down and push the wheel manually to move the lever that pressed the paper down to smoothen it.
"Wow!" exclaimed Ishant.
At the side of his view, he noticed another thing covered with cloth in the cart.
"What is that?" He asked, turning to Harsha.
"Oh, that\'s another piece of machinery." He smirked as he waved at the soldiers to unveil it.
It was a wooden drum with metal blades with a pulley system to connect to the waterwheel.
"This piece of machinery can be connected to the water wheel and used for beating the fibers into a pulp."
Harsha explained that the blades cut the fibers uniformly and carefully, making even fewer imperfections in the papermaking process.
The soldiers connected the beater to the waterwheel and began manual moving the wheel to move the beater.
A mixture of fiber and water was kept in a huge wooden basket to show it\'s effect as the beater easily cut through the fibers, making it into a smooth pulp. Harsha made the beater using the help of the carpenters as they finished the waterwheel two days in advance.
He had yet to make a trough for the beat where the fiber and water mixture is usually filled. He thought it would be better to build it in the new mill.
"This is the new paper-making process."
"But, Your Majesty. This task is too big for such a small merchant like me."
"Don\'t worry. I will be bearing the expense for this." Harsha patted Ishant\'s shoulder. "Anyway, make two types of paper. One from wood pulp of lower quality, and the other from fiber pulp with higher quality."
Ishant tilted his head in confusion at the bizarre order. "Yes, I can do that."
He agreed, as it was not that hard and disobeying royal orders can cause problems as well.
Harsha smiled with a satisfied expression as he felt like he had worked his mind.
"We will be moving the mill near the Tungabhadra river by the next week."
"Yes, Your Majesty."