Chapter 64

Lü Bu entered Yanzhou in the tenth month of the fourth year of Chuping, nearly a year after Cao Cao had accepted the surrender of a million Yellow Turbans in the eleventh month of the third year of Chuping in Jibei. Initially, Cao Cao had adopted the suggestion of Shi Xun to organize the surrendered people for farming, but he could only start the following year, in the spring of the fourth year of Chuping. He also had to wait for seeds and oxen to be sent from Xuzhou. Thus, he left 5,000 troops to continue monitoring and guarding the surrendered people, while he led the rest of his forces back to Juancheng.

Even if they drank thin porridge every day, the cost of feeding a million surrendered people through the winter was enormous. Of course, they could not just eat for free. As soon as Cao Cao returned to Juancheng, he discussed with Chen Gong and Xun Yu, who had just arrived from Dongwuyang, and found many tasks for the people to do—such as selecting the strong for training, conscripting men to repair the city walls, digging irrigation channels before the ground froze, and organizing women to weave and sew clothes, among other things.

Shi Xun stayed in Sheqiu County for four whole days, waiting until Guan Si had largely recovered her health before taking her to Juancheng to meet Cao Cao. The soldiers he had brought from Xuzhou had already returned under the leadership of Zhang Kai. Now, the people around him were all Cao Cao's troops. He assigned a small detachment of Cao's troops to protect and monitor Guan Hai, sending him back to the Yellow Turban camp to help select people.

Guan Hai did not know what Shi Xun intended to do, so apart from the thousand-cheng merchant Yu Ta and a smelter named Xie Zheng, he only selected two carpenters, a stonemason, a leatherworker, all of whom were single, and two widows who could weave and sew clothes. When Shi Xun saw this, he was somewhat amused and asked, "No blacksmiths?" Guan Hai shook his head: "Anyone with even a little skill in blacksmithing has been taken away by Cao Cao's troops."

Shi Xun thought about it and realized this made sense. To wage war, one needed weapons, and to make weapons, one needed blacksmiths. It was natural for Cao Cao to take them first. He then asked Guan Hai, "Is there no one who can make paper?" Guan Hai shook his head, somewhat puzzled, saying, "I don't know why you need someone who can make paper, but I have asked and searched thoroughly. There really is no one like that among us."

Shi Xun sighed inwardly and had to give up for the time being.

Since he had traveled back to this era, he had hardly seen any paper. Official documents, daily use in scholar families, and various books were still mostly written on bamboo slips or wooden tablets, occasionally on plain silk. Bamboo slips and wooden tablets were heavy and inconvenient to use, while plain silk was too expensive for ordinary families, even the government rarely used it. As for paper, wasn't Cai Lun already credited with inventing it? Even if the technology was not perfect and not widely spread, why had he not seen much paper even in Guandong?

Shi Xun originally wanted to find a few papermakers, gather them, and develop a few high-quality, easy-to-write papers for mass production, but unfortunately, his plan was cut off at the root.

It was only later, when he casually asked Cao Cao, that he understood the reason.

When Cao Cao heard Shi Xun mention paper, he rummaged through his bookshelf for a long time before pulling out a thin stack of paper, probably no more than two dozen sheets, all densely written with characters. He showed it to Shi Xun and said, "Paper is good, cheaper than silk and lighter than bamboo slips. Unfortunately, the original paper mills were near the two capitals and in Yizhou, but due to Dong Zhuo's chaos, the east and west are cut off, so we rarely get it."

Shi Xun asked, "Is there no paper in Guandong?"

Cao Cao thought for a moment and replied, "During Emperor Xiaoling's reign, Donglai's Zuo Bo could make good paper, but the technique was lost... I've heard of Shanyin's Shanyi paper in Kuaiji, but I've never seen it."

Shi Xun suggested that Cao Cao send people to Henan, Guanzhong, or cross the river to Kuaiji to find papermakers and develop the paper industry. Cao Cao smiled and said, "Currently, the state affairs are complex, and there are external enemies to worry about. Papermaking is not urgent. If you want paper, I'll discuss it with Xun Ru. I hear he still has a dozen blank sheets."

Shi Xun thought to himself that a dozen sheets of paper were useless and had to leave reluctantly.

However, later, when he chatted casually with the smelter Xie Zheng, he had an unexpected gain. According to Xie Zheng, their sect often used paper to draw talismans, burn them to ashes, and drink them with water to treat various acute illnesses. Although the paper used for talismans was yellow and rough, of poor quality, and only about the size of a palm, it was still paper. Shi Xun asked where the paper came from and if Xie Zheng knew any papermakers. Xie Zheng thought for a moment and said, "I don't know the source, but I can ask my former companions..."

Shi Xun quickly stopped him, saying, "Wait! If you rashly contact your Yellow Turban companions and Cao Cao's people find out, what will they think? Don't get me into trouble. Let's put this aside for now and wait a year or two until things calm down."

At first, Xie Zheng thought Shi Xun wanted him to make elixirs and apologized, saying he was still in the early stages of his practice and could not make health-improving elixirs within three to five years, let alone elixirs for immortality. Shi Xun patted his shoulder and said, "I didn't ask you to make elixirs; I want you to research gunpowder."

Xie Zheng looked puzzled. Shi Xun thought it would not be easy to explain something that had not been invented in this era. So he started with the purpose: "You know that fire attacks are often used in battle. If there were a mineral that could burn intensely, even explode..."

Xie Zheng asked what "explode" meant. Shi Xun gestured and imitated the sound: "Boom! Accompanied by intense flames, thick smoke, and a thunderous roar..."

Xie Zheng suddenly understood and said, "Turtles fly, snakes dance, becoming more and more bizarre!" But this time, it was Shi Xun who was confused: "What are you talking about?"

Xie Zheng explained that this was from Wei Boyang's "Zhouyi Cantongqi," which said, "If the medicine is not of the right kind, and the proportions are uneven, the rules are lost," meaning that using the wrong medicine in alchemy, with the wrong proportions, would result in "turtles flying, snakes dancing, becoming more and more bizarre"—"turtles" referring to thick smoke, "snakes" to flames, thick smoke and dancing flames being what Shi Xun described as "explosion."

Shi Xun nodded and asked how to cause an explosion. Xie Zheng thought for a moment and replied, "I vaguely remember that the records of our ancestors say that mixing realgar with saltpeter in water can prevent explosions. I suppose using fire instead of water would cause an explosion."

Shi Xun shook his head: "Not realgar, but sulfur. I remember that mixing sulfur, saltpeter, and charcoal in certain proportions and grinding them into powder can make gunpowder."

He wanted to make black powder and asked Xie Zheng to conduct experiments. Xie Zheng looked hesitant, saying it was too dangerous and could injure or even kill people. Shi Xun sneered and bared his teeth: "If I report to Cao Cao that you are still spreading heresy, what do you think he will do? Is it more dangerous to help me with the experiment or to defy me?"

Xie Zheng shuddered and had to agree, but said he lacked materials—charcoal was easy to make, but saltpeter and sulfur needed to be dug up. Shi Xun thought for a moment and said, "It's not that complicated. These minerals are not rare. We should be able to find them in Juancheng. We just need a small amount for the experiment."

A few days later, he took the opportunity to ask Xun Yu, who said, "Yes." It turned out that in this era, sulfur and saltpeter were Chinese medicines, often used by doctors. So they each got a few pounds and built a small courtyard about half a mile from the manor for Xie Zheng to live and conduct experiments.

Indeed, Shi Xun now had his own manor. After arriving in Juancheng and officially joining Cao Cao's camp, Cao Cao, as promised, rewarded him with 200 acres of land, a small manor, 80 hu of millet, and 100 bolts of silk. Although Cao Cao himself lived frugally, he was not stingy with rewards, especially to those who were useful, and even more so to Shi Xun, who had saved his father and brother.

Shi Xun quickly moved into the manor with Guan Hai and others. He also had a small residence in Juancheng. The thousand-cheng merchant Yu Ta temporarily served as the steward and accountant; the carpenter started making furniture; the leatherworker began tanning leather to make two pairs of leather boots and a leather pants for Shi Xun; the two widows started weaving and sewing clothes. Shi Xun had no special requirements for the widows, just drew some patterns and asked them to sew a few pairs of silk underpants. Finally, he could wear underpants, and he was delighted—wow, these silk underpants are indeed smooth and comfortable!

The stonemason had no immediate use, so Shi Xun asked him to collect stones and chisel them into slabs one foot long and half a foot wide, as many as possible. As for the purpose, he was still a bit uncertain...

The land was given to Guan Hai and Bai Laowu. They also, with Shi Xun's permission and help, brought a dozen young boys from the Yellow Turban "concentration camp" to learn farming. Guan Si wanted to help, but Guan Hai glared at her and said, "You should take this time to learn needlework and cooking! In the future, you will have to serve... that person. Do you think the rough work will be done by the main wife?"

Guan Si pouted and left unwillingly. She returned to the manor and learned needlework from the two widows. By the end of the day, all ten of her fingers were bandaged. She was so frustrated that she went to challenge Bai Laowu to a fight, not using her hands, but kicking him until his head was full of bumps.

Of course, a manor and a house were not enough to support a household. The rest of the staff, such as the cook, gatekeeper, and servants, were hired from Juancheng. Shi Xun also wrote to Shi Zhu, asking him to send the young maid Yue'er and the old servant who had once served him.

Shi Xun also wrote to Taishi Ci, saying that the Yuan and Gongsun families were fighting over Qingzhou, and it was too dangerous for his mother and son to stay there. He asked them to come to Yanzhou to find him, and he would take care of them. In the third letter to Shi Yi, he similarly advised Shi Yi to resign and move south, bringing Shi Jun to join him... but he suddenly realized and quickly used a knife to scrape off the last few words, changing it to advise Shi Yi to go to Tancheng to reunite with his children.

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