Chapter 450： The prelude of the printing era

The development of technology often presents a tree-like form. When a key technical difficulty is broken, many products behind this technical difficulty will develop one after another in a logical way. In Gao Wen’s view, Rebecca and Nicholas The "Arcane Transfer Cartridge" made by the egg is such a key technical difficulty. It seems to be only a core component of the printing press, but what is solved behind it is a key step in transforming traditional illusion magic into industrial printing products. .

As long as this key step goes out, the various printing techniques based on the principle of "Arcane Transfer" will develop naturally.

The only thing that is unpredictable is Rebecca’s keen “knowledge of new things” and unconstrained thinking.

He told Rebecca about the concept of fax and network printing. The girl was very happy. She said a lot of her own ideas and follow-up improvement plans. In the end, she even went to Gao Wen’s desk. Grab the pen and draw a lot of sketches to build her imaginary Magic Web fax workflow, and a matching miniaturized printing device with communication capabilities. In fact, Gao Wen thinks that this kind of equipment should be called "printer"...but in the face of the strange working principle of the arcane transfer device, he decided not to entangle this conceptual problem.

"Ancestral adult ancestors, do you think this is feasible?" Rebecca grabbed the sketch he had just drawn and happily ran to Gao Wen. Because the painting was too urgent, the girl’s face was covered with ink. "I think that in addition to machines that can print newspapers in large quantities, places like the Office of Government also need small printing machines for printing documents. These machines can all be connected together..."

Gao Wen looked at Rebecca, looked at the ink that was accidentally contaminated on her face, and looked at her like a happy dance, couldn't help but think of what Herty had said.

Although the relationship between the Cecil family and other nobles is not close, the winds of comparison between the nobles have always been popular, and in the circle of nominations of the nobles in the South, Rebecca has always been known as "clumsy", she is at etiquette. The clumsyness of the course is regarded as a typical example of “natural dullness”, and her enthusiasm for “exploration” in the castle and the study of mechanical behavior always make herself dirty in front of everyone, which especially exacerbates others. The negative impression of this "the late family of Cecil"...

Gao Wen’s mouth is tilted up. Those who can only slowly drink tea and flowers in the castle. How can a noble lady who needs eight steps to touch the scissors be smarter than his nephew?

“What do you laugh at the ancestors?” Rebecca asked curiously. “Is there a problem with the process I designed?”

"No problem, I believe this set of things will play a big role in the operation of the Office of Government Affairs," Gao Wen said with a smile. "But we still have to step by step, first to make a prototype of a large printing press to solve The bottleneck of newspapers and books printing."

At present, the implementation of general education in the territory has been more than a year, and the effect is obviously obvious. However, with the rapid increase of population and the rapid expansion of the territory, the existing general education model will also face challenges, and one of the most important challenges. It is the textbook.

Gao Wen needs a large number of cheap, uniform standard textbooks. Only by letting these textbooks cover the entire South with the general education, can he smoothly remove the obscurity that hangs over the people.

At present, the textbooks used by Cecil General College are still relying on traditional craftsmanship to produce “emergency goods” in small batches. The scale of the current teaching has been stretched, and it has to be printed enough to meet the entire south of the millions or even thousands. The textbooks needed for literacy for 10,000 people... If there is no industrial printing press, it will be an impossible task.

Therefore, Gao Wen will pay so much attention to the press project led by Rebecca.

He turned to Nicholas Eggs: "Nicholas, how long does it take to make a prototype?"

The silver-white ball floating next to it gives a confident voice: "Up to one day and a half counts the time to debug and design the assembly line. I have a ninety-nine-one grasp of success, because the most critical arcane transfer cylinder has been fixed. The rest of the structure is no more difficult for me than pinching a few gears."

“Very good, make a prototype first, the sooner the better.”

The silver-white ball floated up and down slightly: "You will see it soon."

Later, after discussing the work of the Institute of Magical Technology and finalizing the rewards for the members who made outstanding contributions to the research team, Rebecca left the Gaowen study with satisfaction with the sketch she had just drawn.

Taking a casual little tune and taking a brisk pace, the successor of the Cecil family walked through the corridors, whether it was walking and singing, or there was no dignified way of walking. These are not like orthodox. Miss aristocrats did, but everyone in this mansion has long been familiar with the style of the big lady, even the rigorous Heti, has now given up to correct Rebecca's manners.

As she walked across the corner of the corridor, Rebecca suddenly stopped and she saw the door not far from the front slightly open, with lights leaking out.

She recognized that it was Betty's room and walked briskly to see what Betty was doing.

After the door was opened, she saw that the little maid who had escaped from the old territory and followed her to the present was sitting next to the small desk by the bed, looking down at her head and looking at something.

The furnishings in the room are simple, except for the necessary bed tables and chairs, there is only a small closet and two small boxes in the corner.

A slightly old pan hanging on the wall next to the bed looks a bit weird, but it is Betty's baby. Now Betty is no longer the lowest-level kitchen maid, so she puts her most precious pan. Hanging in the room, no one can touch it.

Rebecca tapped on the door panel next to it, and the sudden sound made the little maid startled. The latter looked up and quickly stood up after seeing Rebecca, but Rebecca interrupted her before she was jealous. Her: "I am fine, I am here to see what you are doing."

Betty with the expression of a dull expression, raised his finger to the small desk next to it Rebecca curiously took a look and saw a "Witch and Potion Bottle" Spread out on the desk, this is a very easy-to-read book. Although the title of the book carries the word "sorcerer", the actual content is basically a simple story. She remembers that when she was young, she also Such a book, this is one of the earliest enlightenment books that the children of the wealthy class of this era first contacted.

The book is very old, and it has obviously been read many times. The writing in some places has been slightly blurred, and the edges of the paper are also very worn, but it can be seen that it has been carefully treated and preserved.

"This is... Mr. Santis lends it to me," Betty explained the origins of the book. "I'm going to finish it, I will return it after reading."

Rebecca looked at Betty with amazement. At this moment, she suddenly had a feeling in her mind when she was in the state of flying:

Betty is only two years younger than her.

However, this girl who is only two years younger than her, but now she has just learned the basic words, she just can understand an enlightenment book that she has already turned over when she was seven years old, and she is very interested.

And if it wasn't for his ancestors who insisted on promoting general education, the little maid would have no chance to touch the book in her life.

Rebecca blinked. She never treated Betty as an "inferior". She and everyone in the castle were like family members, even the lowest level of shovel horseman and Betty. The kitchen maid, at a very young age, even took Betty and several other little maids of similar age to organize a small castle adventure, they played like a sister.

But why she never noticed... Betty didn't even have a book.

Rebecca was a bit confused. She couldn't understand why she hadn't noticed this kind of thing in her life for more than a decade, but she felt that she noticed it today because the success of the "Arcane Printing Machine" was in sight.

The ancestors once said that when the printing press is popularized, the printing era will come, and the monopoly of knowledge and knowledge transmission will be completely broken. At that time, even the most ordinary poor people, the family There should be a few books of your own.

Industrial printing is an indispensable part of the promotion of Cecil’s “General Education” to the entire South.

"Betty, do you want a book? It's your own book."

Betty was a bit confused, but she thought about it for a moment, and nodded hard: "Well."

Rebecca laughed: "I will give you a few books after a while!"

In fact, she can now send many books to Betty, whether it is a simple enlightenment or a real magic book, but she feels that those books do not meet her requirements. After she wants to wait for the printing machine to be practical, the first batch of industrial use After the printed book is printed, it is meaningful to pick the right one from Betty.

After Betty heard Rebecca's words, it was confused for a long time. After a long time, he said: "But the book is very expensive..."

"No, the book won't be that much more expensive. My ancestors said a word, knowledge can be precious, but it shouldn't be noble, and shouldn't be expensive," Rebecca shook her head and noticed Betty's confused eyes after her. I laughed. "It's okay, you can't understand it. It's okay. Soon you will see it with your own eyes. From now on, every ordinary person in this land can not only read, but also read the newspaper. Your own book! Lots of books!"

Betty opened her eyes and looked at her in front of her eyes. This is the "Miss Jusco" who grew up with her. It took only a long time to say: "Miss... This way of speaking is a bit like a lord."

Rebecca scratched his hair: "Oh, yes, I think it is."

......

The first industrial press available was completed earlier than Gao Wen expected.

Only in the afternoon of the next day, he saw the large-scale machine that was personally processed, assembled and personally commissioned by Nicholas Eggs on the "Mechanical Round Table" of the Institute of Mechanical Engineering.

Together with Gao Wen, he came to the mechanical research institute for acceptance equipment, as well as Herbie and Rebecca, who is the head of the project, and Godwin Orlando, the president of the Cecil newspaper and the head of the press and publishing department.

The new press is like a steel monster crouching on the ground, with long metal grooves extending forward and backward. The groove should be the structure for conveying paper, and the center of the machine can see that vital. "Arcane Transfer Cartridge", which is fixed by a movable bracket above a flat plate in the center of the machine. The outline of the gears and connecting rods is visible on the inside of the bracket.

Below the transfer device, there is a guide groove for the paper to pass through, and an ink plate at the bottom.

In addition to these main structures, there is a “attachment structure” on the side of the printing machine as if it were a separate machine. On the top of the square box, which is square and half-man high, Gao Wen saw the “large size” that Rebecca had mentioned. The palette (keyboard) and the "editing authority" for controlling the projection crystal inside the arcane transfer cylinder, the dazzling dozens of buttons are arranged in a fan shape, and are mounted on a slanted metal panel. On the top of the metal panel, you can also see a small projection crystal.

That projection crystal should be used to provide a "preview".

From the outside, the installation is far more complex than any of the magic machines that were made on the previous territory.

If you don't know the total ability of the Nicholas egg, Gao Wen will not believe that this thing was created in one day.

"Look, I will say, you will see it soon!" Nicholas eggs always floated beside the new machine, with a strong pride in the tone.

Gao Wen looked at the industrial printing machine in front of him with amazement, but what was even more surprising was the shape of the Nicholas egg. This original spherical silver-white metal ball now looks a bit square.

Although it has not reached the point of being angular, it is indeed a bit square.

"How do you... shape becomes like this?"

"Oh, this time I’ve been tossing this press, it’s tiring, it’s okay, just go back and sleep.”

Gao Wen: "..."

What is wrong with this ball?