Chapter 83

Since it had been confirmed that the papermaking technique was entirely feasible, Tang En immediately returned with Ilia.

"Fiona!"

Fiona looked up, her eyebrows instantly furrowing. "Lord? ... You're sticking to Ilia again, don't you feel ashamed being so attached to a child all day?"

"It's Ilia... Never mind, that's not important!"

Tang En smiled and held out the freshly made paper in front of Fiona. "Look at this!"

"This is... paper?"

"Exactly, just made."

"Made?"

Fiona looked at Tang En suspiciously. "Lord, are you feeling well?"

Tang En was speechless. "It's just a figure of speech! I just made it!"

"Made!?"

Fiona was stunned for a moment, then exclaimed in surprise. "You know how to make paper!?"

"Of course, it's very simple and low-cost."

Tang En smiled. "I've thought through the process, it's not difficult at all. We can start right away."

"But I just arranged the blast furnace..."

"That can wait."

Tang En waved his hand. "Let's get the paper mill set up first. By the way, the paper mill must be built next to the Emerald River, and it should be near the logging camp, but also maintain a certain distance from the charcoal factory."

"With your requirements, there aren't many suitable places left. That area isn't very large to begin with."

"Isn't that perfect? I'll list out everything needed for the paper mill. In fact, we don't even need a factory building. A large, spacious shed will be enough to start production. I'll prepare the necessary equipment later. You can inform the idle people in Ellington that there are new job opportunities."

Fiona was speechless. "Lord, in fact, there are almost no idle people in Ellington now. Even the elderly who stay at home are now contributing by helping to plant mint grass under your encouragement."

"Ah?"

Tang En was taken aback. He knew that Ellington was short of manpower, but he didn't expect it to be this severe.

"However..."

Fiona pinched her brow. "Paper is very necessary. If the cost is as low as you say, it will be a huge market."

"Fiona, you're underestimating the importance of paper."

Tang En's expression was very serious, making Fiona serious as well.

"Whether it's a carrier of culture or daily records, paper is indispensable. With paper, the children of Ellington can easily learn to read and write. When they grow up, they will become the main force in building Ellington! Most importantly—"

Fiona didn't think as deeply as Tang En, but hearing him, she also felt the importance of paper, her expression becoming more serious. "Most importantly?"

Tang En was very excited. "—Most importantly, with paper, we won't have to suffer in the bathroom anymore!"

Fiona was instantly petrified. "In the... bathroom!?"

"Exactly!"

Tang En said happily. "Think about it, why should such delicate skin be tortured with rough and hard hemp leaves or fur? Using cloth is also very wasteful—"

Tang En, in his excitement, didn't notice Fiona's face turning red, with a growing tendency towards anger.

Tang En picked up a few sheets of paper, feeling their softness, and said with a contented look. "—Without a doubt, cheap and soft paper will be the best substitute. It will replace hemp leaves, wooden boards, and fur, becoming the best companion for our buttocks!"

Fiona took a deep breath, suppressing her anger.

As a powerful mage and the lord of Ellington, relied upon by so many people...

He actually discussed such an embarrassing topic in front of a lady!

Is Lord intentionally doing this? He must be trying to embarrass me!

Although she knew he was a bad-tempered person, she didn't expect him to be so fond of pranks!

"Lord..."

"Hmm?"

Fiona, her face red, shouted, "You are a complete pervert!!!"

After shouting, Fiona fled, not giving Tang En a chance to speak.

Tang En was bewildered. "Ilia, what did I do wrong again?"

"Nothing, big brother is the best!"

"Indeed, still a... um, Ilia is the best... Once women grow up, they become so unpredictable... Ilia, when you grow up, don't be like them."

"Sure! Big brother, don't worry, Ilia will be good!"

"Huh? Tina?"

Tang En suddenly saw Tina and was very happy to share this important invention with her. However, as soon as Tina saw him, her eyes welled up, as if the souls of those clothes were crying to her, and she immediately ran away sobbing.

"Tch, none of them understand the importance of toilet paper, it's like talking to a cow!"

Tang En was full of complaints. This was such a great invention, yet it was met with such a cold reception in Plandar. Cai Lun would cry if he knew!

Whether Cai Lun would cry or not was uncertain, but if he knew that his world-changing invention was most important for wiping in Tang En's eyes, he would probably be truly angry...

"Strange, why can't anyone accept such a good thing?"

Tang En was very troubled. He just wanted to share something good with them, but why did they all react so strangely? What's so embarrassing about this? It's a very happy thing...

Because it was so common on Earth, he hadn't realized that in a conservative society still in a semi-slave, semi-feudal stage, discussing such private matters in front of girls was extremely embarrassing.

However, despite this, the paper mill project was launched after Fiona sent off the merchant convoy.

Since it didn't require too complex a building, the paper mill was completed in just a few days.

The paper mill was like a huge factory, cool and well-ventilated, with racks set up everywhere according to Tang En's requirements.

In the papermaking workshop, there was a true production line, from raw material entry, to pulp stirring, to boiling and settling, to filtration and pulp extraction, to wastewater discharge... It was all recreated according to Tang En's memory. Although it was different from real paper mills on Earth, it worked perfectly.

Since the number of workers Tang En initially trained was not large, he didn't design a second production line. With the assistance of various magical devices he created, this single production line, with five workers, could produce nearly a ton of finished paper every day!

To be honest, this could even rival some small paper mills on Earth, and it was completely pollution-free...

These papers were unbleached yellow papers, but due to the various magical techniques Tang En used to improve the process, the quality of the paper was very good, soft and durable. Whether for writing or wiping, it was excellent, far surpassing the expensive papers previously sold on the market.

However, Tang En still felt unsatisfied. If he could find some natural gels and add bleaching, the quality of the paper could be even better, making it more suitable for book production and cultural dissemination.

Unfortunately, natural gels were hard to find, and Tang En had no idea what industrial gels were or how to make them. For now, he could only make do.

"You must pay attention to the wastewater pool. No one should be around it. Once it's full, just press this switch, and don't do anything else. If it's not full, don't touch it."

Tang En used magic to dig a huge wastewater pool next to the paper mill. At the bottom of the pool, he placed an orichalcum plate, on which he drew a simplified version of a teleportation portal. The other side of the portal was the Fire Elemental Plane. The switch to control the portal's magic array was connected to an external switch using the principle of magical resonance, with a magic crystal built-in, allowing even ordinary people to open the portal.

To prevent the workers from forgetting to close the portal and allowing elemental creatures from the Fire Elemental Plane to cross, Tang En improved the magic array. The mini-portal would only remain open for one minute before automatically closing, which was enough time to drain the wastewater.

After witnessing the first batch of paper pulp being flattened and hung to dry, Tang En and Fiona left the paper mill, satisfied.

"I never thought papermaking would be so simple..."

Fiona sighed. "Once our paper hits the market, the merchants who used to sell paper will probably hate us."

"That's the progress of the times. Those who can't keep up will be eliminated."

Tang En shrugged. "By the way, how's the recruitment for the steel mill going?"

Fiona smiled bitterly. "I've sent people to contact people everywhere, but the problem is the lack of manpower, and the efficiency is a bit slow. Even if they see the notice boards, they might not look at them anytime soon."

"Is that so..."

Tang En pondered for a moment, then clapped his hands. "I'll take care of it. Now that the paper mill is in place, that thing can also be in place."

"Then it's up to you."

"Don't worry... By the way, how does the toilet paper feel?"

"Pretty comfortable—" Her voice cut off, and Fiona glared at Tang En, her face red with anger. "You, you, you—pervert!"

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