This figure satisfied Bai Zheng greatly.
"Well, I have something here. I'd like Jizhen Tower to help me get a good price for it." As Bai Zheng said, she took out a piece of paper from her sleeve.
When she went out this morning, she had only planned to pick up Bai Yinan and hadn't thought of coming here. She didn't bring all the things with her. Fortunately, she had put the newly - made paper on her.
The steward took the paper Bai Zheng handed over. He was quite puzzled about this thing he had never seen before. "May I ask, miss, what kind of treasure is this?"
It was no wonder that the steward was so ignorant. Ever since Bai Zheng woke up, she had found that the world was very backward, especially when it came to writing materials. People still used bamboo slips and silk.
In her previous life, as a chemistry genius, she had tinkered with paper - making in the laboratory during her undergraduate years and promoted the four great inventions of China in front of her foreign classmates. Now it came in handy.
Bai Zheng didn't explain. She just said politely, "Could you please bring some writing brushes and ink?"
Hearing this, the maid standing aside, without waiting for the steward's order, went out to fetch the writing brushes and ink and put them on the table. She also thoughtfully ground some ink.
Bai Zheng picked up the writing brush, took back the paper from the steward's hand, and quickly wrote the three characters "Jizhen Tower" on it.
She was grateful to her mother, who was a history major, for forcing her to practice Chinese calligraphy with a soft - tipped brush since childhood. Even after going abroad, she would practice from time to time out of homesickness. That's why she could write decent Chinese calligraphy now.
The steward was confused. This white thing seemed to be able to be written on. Although its material was unknown, even the finest silk was only worth five taels of silver per bolt.
How could such a thing fetch a good price at an auction?
After finishing writing, Bai Zheng put down the brush, gently blew on the characters, and then handed the paper to the steward. "Steward, do you know that if this small piece of paper is filled with words, only a few dozen pages of it can hold a copy of Records of the Great Zhou Dynasty."
The steward gasped.
Records of the Great Zhou Dynasty was written by Xu Chao, a sage of the previous dynasty. It recorded the history and the features of people of each dynasty of the Great Zhou Dynasty. It was the enlightenment textbook for all the scholars in the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Ordinary bamboo slips would need almost two ox - carts to hold this book. This famous work had taken two or three hundred years to gradually spread across the Great Zhou Dynasty.
Bai Zheng understood the steward's expression at this moment and added, "Compared with silk, the cost of this paper, even for dozens of pages, is only a few copper coins."
A glint of light flashed in the steward's eyes. He vaguely guessed something.
"Silk is very easy to let the ink seep through, but this paper won't. It can also be made thicker like silk..."
The steward's face was beaming with joy.
Of course, he knew what this meant! Although this paper itself was not precious, its appearance would change the fate of all the scholars in the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, and even in Western Liang, Southern Shu, and the surrounding small countries on the whole continent!
Bai Zheng continued calmly, "I heard that Sun Qi, the former war god of Western Liang, had a book called Twelve Strategies of the Warring States. The emperor has always wanted it. Unfortunately, despite a lot of manpower and material resources, only seven strategies have been passed on so far. If we use this paper to copy it..."
If this paper was used to copy books, there would be no need to worry about the inconvenience of transporting books even from a long - distance!
The steward had roughly guessed Bai Zheng's purpose, but he still asked carefully, "This paper is indeed rare. But as you said, something that costs less than one copper coin may not fetch a very high price."
Bai Zheng smiled. "I didn't come here this time to sell this paper. I'd like Jizhen Tower to help me auction the papermaking technique."
Just as he thought!
The steward tried hard to hold back his excitement, but his attitude became even more respectful.
"Miss, on behalf of Jizhen Tower, I guarantee that we will get you a good price for this treasure at the auction three days later. However, according to the convention, Jizhen Tower will take a 10% commission for the items we help to auction."
A 10% commission was reasonable. Bai Zheng nodded, put down the teacup, stood up, and bowed. "Then I'll trouble you, steward. I went out in a hurry today and only brought this one piece of paper. I'll leave it to you. On the 15th, please send someone to my mansion to pick up the newly - made paper."
"May I ask your name and where you live, miss?"
Bai Zheng didn't hide it. Anyway, the Crown Prince and the others would surely find out where the money came from. "My surname is Bai, and my given name is Zheng. My father is Bai Yinan, the vice - minister of the Ministry of Revenue."
Wasn't she the third young lady of the Bai Mansion who had recently made a big stir in Yongding City after the corruption case? She had insisted on breaking off the engagement with the second young master of the Prime Minister's Mansion because she thought he was dissolute and immoral!
While the steward was in a daze, Bai Zheng had already left the room. He looked at the paper Bai Zheng had left him, lowered his head and thought for a while, then quickly walked up to the third floor and headed towards a private room at the end of the corridor.
The private room was at the corner of the corridor. Ordinary people would think they had reached the end when they got here. Who would have thought that just a few steps further, there was actually a hidden door.
The steward knocked on the door. There was no response from inside. So he stood outside quietly waiting. After a while, he finally heard a calm and gentle voice from inside saying, "Come in."
The steward pushed the door open and saw a man in gorgeous clothes sitting in the room. He was sitting on a chair, wrapped in a thick blanket. Half of his beautiful face was hidden under a black mask. Beside him lay a snow - white wolf without a single strand of miscellaneous hair. The wolf was huge. Even when lying down, its head was level with the man's knees.
The man was stroking the wolf's head with one hand and flipping through the ledger with the other. Although he looked very leisurely, there was a natural air of nobility about him.
The steward closed the door behind him, turned around, and bowed respectfully. Then he held out the paper Bai Zheng had left with both hands and said, "Master, the third young lady of the Bai Mansion came to Jizhen Tower today and wanted us to help her auction something."