章 136: Printing Technology
Translator: Cinder Translations
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After discussing with the two female advisors, Paul presented his various new ideas at the routine meeting of the Administrative Council.
He emphasized two points in particular: healthcare and the printing industry.
The officials at the meeting took turns experiencing a microscope, exclaiming in amazement at the unseen world existing in the tiny details beyond human vision.
Someone said to Paul, "This will cause a major earthquake in the academic community. I suggest you send your new discoveries to the Headquarters of Clarity Society; they will surely erect a statue for you in the Central Square of the Holy City."
"Haha, really?" Paul scratched his head a bit embarrassedly, after all, the microscope was not something he had truly invented.
Apart from widely promoting health concepts and popularizing scientific nursing methods such as sterilization and germ prevention, Paul also requested material and financial support from the Administrative Council for the two female advisors. This was to train a batch of "professional" medical personnel and establish health clinics in each village and town, deploying medical personnel to station there. Of course, they would charge money at the current stage.
However, compared to technologies like microscopes and microbiology, the officials clearly showed more interest in the profitable printing industry.
Just think about it—printing words and pictures on pieces of paper that are otherwise worthless, then binding them into books immediately turns them into volumes that were previously painstakingly copied by hand. The difference in value between a book and a stack of paper is considerable.
Furthermore, printed books have two huge advantages over handwritten ones:
Firstly, quality—copyists often make mistakes like typos and smudges while transcribing books. With printing technology, as long as there are no errors in the printing plate, there will be no errors in the book's text. Moreover, with a skilled engraver, the printed letters can be neat and aesthetically pleasing, surpassing traditional handwritten books by far.
Secondly, cost—traditional copying requires copyists who can write well and have a certain level of education. In an era where literacy is considered talent, hiring such a large group of people comes at a great cost. There is also a significant difference in time expenditure.
This is simply a money-making method... no, it's a great advancement in human civilization history.
"Gentlemen, the printing technology we currently use is only a very basic technique, what I call block printing. At this stage, it can only be used for emergencies. Engraving plates is still very time-consuming. Books like the 'Scripture' may require a long time to engrave."
Paul introduced his improvement plan to everyone, "My idea is to develop a tool that can freely arrange words or letters, which I call movable type printing."
He explained the principle of movable type printing to the officials, eliciting another round of astonishment.
Finally, Paul handed a stack of papers to the officials of the Ministry of Industry. Inside were detailed descriptions of the principles of movable type printing and the structure of the original printing machine. He instructed, "Give this to the craftsmen at the mechanical factory, mobilize manpower to cast a batch of movable type, and produce a printing press."
Casting metal type was quite troublesome. If the casting of the movable type wasn't sufficiently regular, it would seriously affect the typesetting. They also needed to develop specialized printing ink. From Paul's memory, the printing ink invented by Gutenberg seemed to be composed of linseed oil, lampblack, and varnish, which could adhere both to metal and paper.
TL Note: Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg was a German inventor and craftsman who invented the movable-type printing press. Though movable type was already in use in East Asia, Gutenberg's invention of the printing press enabled a much faster rate of printing.
If only metal type is cast, it still requires manual application of ink and brushing of paper. The properties of ink make this work not easy. However, with a printing press, it would save a lot of time and effort.
The most primitive movable type printing press in the West seems to have been adapted from a screw-type linen press. This mechanical structure is simple: it has a heavy base with two columns on the sides supporting a crossbeam. Through the crossbeam, there's a rotatable wooden screw that can press down reinforced pressure plates or platen that can slide between the columns. Anyone wanting to evenly apply pressure on a flat surface would likely think of using this simple device.
Paul drew up the structure diagram of the printing press for the craftsmen according to this device.
He announced, "Once the printing press is successfully developed, we will establish a printing factory and promote this technology among the public, vigorously advancing the cultural and educational undertakings within the territory."
"In addition, I have long entrusted Quiller Foster to bring a large number of books from the South, including poetry, prose, novels, and so on. We can print these books in large quantities, bind them beautifully, and then sell them to the nobles and wealthy people in the South who enjoy elegance and sophistication."
This is another source of wealth.
At the meeting, Paul also received three pieces of good news that delighted him.
The first piece of good news was a letter sent by Hansel's men again to the capital, saying that this time he had recruited more talents, including several alchemists. In addition to talents, he had also gathered a large number of refugees, ready to send them all to the Northwest Bay.
The turmoil in the South has created many refugees heading north, causing headaches for the lords in the North. It's already "difficult" enough to feed their own people; where is there "extra" food to support these refugees? Moreover, the influx of refugees has continued to worsen the security situation in various territories.
Now Hansel was swaggering under the banner of recruiting refugees, and he even set up reception stations at several key intersections. The lords, on the one hand, with a mentality of watching a joke, on the other hand, organized manpower to tie up the refugees in their territories and send them to his reception stations.
"The letter said that the first batch could possibly number six to seven hundred people. Are we capable of receiving this batch of refugees?"
"The Administrative Council has already made preparations to accommodate refugees. Considering that due to customs and other reasons, they are likely to conflict with the locals, we have set up a batch of temporary residences on the south bank of the Wes River. We have also notified factory owners and farmers from all over to come and recruit manpower."
Governor Ford, representing the Administrative Council, gave Paul a satisfactory answer.
The second piece of good news was that the arsenal had improved the formula for gunpowder. In theory, the optimal gunpowder formula is composed of nitre, sulphur, and charcoal in a ratio of 78.74%:11.84%:11.32%. This formula generates the most gas, releases the most heat, and reaches the highest temperature, thus having the strongest killing power.
The craftsmen didn't know these chemical theories, but they still relied on a large number of experiments to separately summarize the optimal gunpowder formulas for guns and cannons. The ratio of nitre, sulphur, and charcoal for gun firing gunpowder is 75%:10%:15%, and for cannon firing gunpowder is 78%:8%:14%.
With these improvements, not only has the power of gunpowder been enhanced, but the service life of firearms and cannons has also been extended.
The mechanics also designed a set of hydraulic-driven gunpowder grinding and stirring equipment, greatly improving the efficiency and precision of gunpowder production while saving a lot of manpower.
The third piece of good news was that the arsenal's craftsmen had finally produced reliable springs. The mechanics from the capital brought advanced heat treatment technology and made a great contribution in this regard. With springs available, the first flintlock gun was assembled, and combined with the improved quality gunpowder, its firing rate reached over 80%.
Paul ordered the arsenal to continue improving the flintlock guns. With flintlock guns, soldiers could be packed more tightly, greatly increasing firepower density and to some extent avoiding interference from weather factors. Sooner or later, he would have his entire army equipped with flintlock guns.
Paul suddenly had a flash of inspiration: "I suddenly thought of another way to make money. Since we have good springs, can we manufacture a shock absorber for our carriages? Riding in carriages now is really uncomfortable."
Using springs to make carriage shock absorbers is a money-making tool for various crossers, so how could he let it go?
Officials from the Ministry of Industry immediately promised to convey Paul's idea to the craftsmen at the mechanical factory. In fact, shock absorbers for carriages don't necessarily have to rely on springs. There are already various shock absorption measures in this world.
After arranging a series of things properly, Paul decided to set off for Port Frand to the South again because two new sail ships had been manufactured, and one of them would soon be heading south to open a new route. He wanted to see the lineup of the "Expedition Team."
Unexpectedly, this time Advisor Ladia voluntarily proposed to accompany him.
With a serious expression, Advisor Ladia said to Paul,
"My Lord Earl, you may encounter some unfavorable things on the road this time."
(End of the Chapter)
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