Chapter 33 Chapter 33: The Story Behind Papermaking

As we all know, the Four Great Inventions are the pride of China. When talking about the Four Great Inventions, one cannot fail to mention Cai Lun.As the inventor or improver of papermaking, Cai Lun's name is well-known to all women and children, but few people know his life trajectory, and his final destination is even less known. Parents want their children to be smart, beautiful, lively and cute. Because the emperor of the dynasty loved art (especially the art of calligraphy, the style of "Zhangcao" was named after him), he was an aesthete, and he liked to send people all over the country to select handsome and intelligent young people to serve in the palace. To be straightforward, it is to be a eunuch.Cai Lun, who was born in a peasant family in Leiyang, Hunan, was unfortunately selected.

In 75 A.D., Cai Lun, who was in his teens, lost his lifeblood. He bled a lot and endured unbearable pain.Afterwards, he left the parents who gave birth to him and raised him, and was taken to Luoyang, the capital city thousands of miles away, where he entered the palace and began his life as an eunuch.What all this will leave on a child's heart, every feeling person can imagine, but no one can really feel. Once you come, you will be safe. From the day he entered the palace, Xiao Cai Lun decided to be a prominent eunuch.He worked hard, and in the second year, he became a little yellow door.Soon, Cai Lun was promoted to be the servant of the Huangmen in charge of official document communication, and had the opportunity to contact the emperor, empress, concubines, princes and ministers.As the saying goes: How can you not get your shoes wet when you often walk by the river?Cai Lun and his concubines met and interacted a lot, and could not help intervening in the open and secret struggles between them.

At that time, Empress Dou of Emperor Zhang of the Han Dynasty had a weak stomach and could not give birth to a son, so when she saw the concubines who had Longzi, she was jealous and tried every means to knock them down. Cai Lun turned out to be her accomplice.Empress Dou first instigated Cai Lun to frame Prince Liu Qing's mother, Song Guiren, for "cousing evil and charming ways" (that is, using crooked ways to confuse the emperor), forcing her to commit suicide, and deposed the prince as Qinghe King; then she arranged for someone to write an anonymous letter to frame Prince Liu Zhao Liang Guiren, his mother, forcibly took Liu Zhao, who was still in his infancy, as his own son, and asked the emperor to make him the crown prince.For Cai Lun, the death of Song Guiren became his "Xiao He", which not only brought him an unexpected high-ranking official and rich salary, but also dug a grave for him early.

In 88 A.D., Emperor Hanzhang died, and 10-year-old Liu Zhao succeeded to the throne. This is Emperor Hanhe.As soon as Empress Dowager Dou came to power, Cai Lun's spring came. He was promoted to be a Zhongchang servant because of his meritorious service in harming others. He was always by the little emperor's side and participated in state affairs, with a salary of two thousand shi.The later demise of the Eastern Han Dynasty had a great relationship with the eunuchs' chaos in politics, and Cai Lun was the initiator of the eunuchs' interference in politics in the Later Han Dynasty.

Ten years later, Cai Lun's backer, Empress Dowager Dou, passed away, but he immediately took refuge in his new master, Empress Deng Sui of Emperor He.To be honest, this new master is not a bad person, as a queen has a high status in history. Empress Deng is a talented woman who likes to recite poems and compose Fu, dance and ink. At the same time, she is a person who likes to be economical and not luxurious, so she very much needs a kind of paper that is cheaper than silk paper and has a better quality for writing and drawing.Cai Lun, who was clever since he was a child, realized that he really had a place to play. Therefore, he volunteered to serve as Shang Fangling in charge of making imperial utensils, concentrating on improving papermaking technology.He summed up his papermaking experience since the Western Han Dynasty, and carefully produced high-quality paper using raw materials such as bark, rags, hemp heads, and fishnets. He was awarded by the emperor and empress, and papermaking was promoted throughout the Eastern Han Dynasty.

In the year that Cai Lun successfully improved papermaking, in 105 AD, Emperor Han He died early, leaving orphans and widows in charge of the Han Dynasty.Empress Deng was promoted to become Empress Dowager Deng.To say that this Empress Dowager Deng really suffered a lot, the little emperor she held tightly in her arms also left her two years later.Empress Dowager Deng lost her only son, so she had to choose a child from the royal family to be placed on the throne of the emperor.In the end, the 13-year-old emperor's nephew Liu Hu was successfully elected, and he was Emperor Han'an. Liu Hu's election as emperor scared Cai Lun to death, because Liu Hu was the son of Qinghe King Liu Qing, Liu Qing was the deposed crown prince, and his deposed and the murder of his mother Song Guiren were the responsibility of Cai Lun and Empress Dou masterpiece.

Fortunately, the Chuanguo Yuxi is still in the hands of the Empress Dowager Deng, and the little emperor is just a puppet at the front desk. Cai Lun's seemingly good life can continue to live.He was named "Longting Hou" and stepped into the ranks of princes and nobles.Later, he became a servant of Changle. This position is not easy, because only the most trusted person by the queen mother can be qualified. At that time, the queen mother was higher than the emperor, so Cai Lun was already under one person and above ten thousand people. . Just when Cai Lun was uneasy, Empress Dowager Deng left him and left. Emperor Han'an took charge, and Cai Lun's good days finally came to an end.Cai Lun is a person who cares about face. He felt that instead of sitting and waiting for death, he would die in humiliation.

In 121 AD, Cai Lun, an outstanding scientist who made great contributions to the development of papermaking, died abnormally in Luoyang, Kyoto.