My son, how could you be Lü Bu?!

Chapter 55 Lu Bu Uses His Brain

The wooden box was opened.

Suddenly, a fluffy, pure white tabby cat that looked like it had just been weaned darted out from among them. It glanced around, chose a less crowded spot, and tried to escape.

Before the four-legged beast could even make a move, the quick-witted and agile Hu Chuquan grabbed it by the neck, leaving it upside down, struggling desperately and meowing.

Upon seeing this extremely rare pure white raccoon, Lü Ping was stunned for a moment, then his face lit up with surprise.

"A raccoon dog?!"

"Where did you get this raccoon dog?!"

"In my hometown, there are monks from the Western Regions who preach. It's really strange. They have shaved heads and speak in a language that no one can understand."

Huchuquan, the son of the Southern Xiongnu Chanyu, put the pure white raccoon cat into a wooden box. He scratched his head, a simple smile on his face.

"This Hu cat was brought by him from the Western Regions."

"Originally there were only two or three, but they would have several litters in their lifetime. He simply couldn't keep them all, so he decided to let them roam freely."

"When I went hunting there before, I spotted this one pure white cat among a bunch of mixed-colored cats, so I caught it and kept it as my own."

talking.

Seeing that Lü Ping's eyes were already shining, Hu Chuquan directly stuffed the wooden box into Lü Ping's hands.

"I suppose Brother Lü likes it, so I brought it especially to give to Uncle Lü!"

Since arriving in the Han Dynasty, where raccoons were not common, Lü Ping had not touched a raccoon for several months. When he saw an extremely rare pure white raccoon, he did not refuse it at all and hugged the wooden box to his chest, loving it dearly.

Seeing that Huchuquan, a Xiongnu, had made the first move.

The other minor officials, who had all heard rumors about Lü Ping's impending promotion, finally realized what was going on.

Those who were prepared followed Hu Chuquan and took out all sorts of items from various corners, surrounding Lü Ping directly; while those who were unprepared did not show any weakness at this time, and shamelessly surrounded him, saying some flattering words.

In a short time.

Lü Ping was instantly swallowed up by the crowd.

......

Just as Lü Ping was submerged in the government office.

Several cars slowly pulled up in the Lü family courtyard.

Shen Pei got off the carriage and saw Lu Bu surrounded by a group of wandering knights in the courtyard, talking about something. He looked around curiously.

"Fengxian? Where is your father?"

The sudden call startled Lü Bu, who was surrounded by wandering knights. He shivered and looked up repeatedly. When he saw that it was Shen Pei, he breathed a sigh of relief.

He glanced at Shen Pei and Shen Zhengnan, who had been running to his courtyard for the past two days, and replied irritably.

"Still in the government office."

Shen Pei didn't seem to care about Lü Bu's expression at all, and just pointed to the carriages that had come with him and laughed.

"Didn't your father say he could improve Cai Lun's papermaking?"

"This is the craftsman that your father and I found."

"I spent a lot of money, out of my own pocket, and used a lot of favors to poach them from a few small families in the city who were good at papermaking."

"With these craftsmen, it should be much easier for your father to improve Cai Lun's papermaking!"

"As for their lodging, I asked Uncle Fang for a courtyard not far from here, so they can stay temporarily."

"However, now that we have the craftsmen, the money and materials needed to improve the craft are insufficient. We didn't bring much money with us when we first arrived in Wuyuan County. After purchasing these craftsmen, we are really short of money. I'll have to ask your father and me to come up with a solution."

Shen Pei gave Lü Bu a long, rambling lecture.

Just moments ago he was somewhat impatient with Shen Pei, but upon hearing that the matter involved his own father, Lü Bu's expression suddenly became serious.

He quickly tugged at Cheng Lian beside him, signaling Cheng Lian to take notes carefully. He himself rarely used his brain, and nodded repeatedly.

Seeing that Lü Bu was actually listening, Shen Pei raised an eyebrow, somewhat surprised.

Then, as if she had thought of something else.

He whispered his instructions again.

"Oh, right."

"Recently, the county troops from various cities have gathered in Jiuyuan. There are more and more soldiers inside and outside the city. Fangbo said that your father, as a military officer, should take more time to guard and maintain order when he has nothing to do."

"To avoid causing any trouble!"

To teach my father to supervise soldiers? To maintain order?!

Upon hearing these two words, Lü Bu, who had initially lost interest, suddenly brightened up.

Shen Pei looked at him with a slightly puzzled expression.

He nodded emphatically.

......

The papermaking process is roughly nothing more than soaking, steaming, pounding, papermaking, pressing, and sun-drying.

a few days later.

In a courtyard that was much larger than the Lü family's courtyard, there were more than a dozen large wooden barrels arranged in two groups.

The wooden bucket on the left was made by craftsmen according to the old techniques. Inside, it was filled with water and raw materials needed for Cai Lun paper, such as tree bark, hemp fibers, rags, and old fishing nets.

The wooden bucket on the right was made by Lü Ping himself. It contained bamboo that had been peeled and chopped into sections, tree bark with the outer hard skin removed, leaving only the inner tough skin, and fishing nets that had been blanched in boiling water and pounded with a wooden mallet.

In fact, Wuyuan County does not produce green bamboo.

These bamboos were obtained by Lü Ping through the difficult request of Zhang Fan, who was still on duty at the Shimen Ferry, from passing caravans.

As a PhD specializing in arid-region agriculture, Lü Ping didn't know much about papermaking. However, in his previous life, his mentor was quite fond of calligraphy and often asked him to go to Xuancheng to buy some extremely expensive Xuan paper from paper mills.

As he bought more and became more familiar with the owner, he would often squat in the paper mill and watch how they made paper. The owner was a kind person and didn't kick him out.

Although he had never made paper himself, he still understood the general process, even if he hadn't eaten pork.

After several days of fermentation, the courtyard was filled with a strong, pungent, putrid odor.

Early in the morning.

Curious about the progress of papermaking, Lü Ping slowly walked into the courtyard, carrying the raccoon dog he had roughly named "Da Bai" based on its color.

Just getting started.

The pungent smell rushed straight into the heads of Lü Ping and the raccoon. The raccoon let out a miserable cry, jumped off Lü Ping's arms, and fled towards the outside of the courtyard.

Lu Ping also subconsciously turned his head away, trying to avoid the pungent smell.

But... when he turned his head.

Just then, they spotted their eldest son, who was secretly leading Cheng Lian and Wei Xu out of their own courtyard and hurrying off in a certain direction.

Seeing this, Lü Ping was stunned.

"What's been going on with Fengxian these past few days? Why is he going out so early in the morning again?"

"His behavior is so similar to when he was temporarily staying in the village outside the city. Could he be up to some trouble again?"

The distance between them is a bit far.

Lu Bu couldn't hear his father's mutterings. He simply whispered a few instructions to the few wandering knights following behind him, and the group quickly disappeared from Lu Ping's sight.