casket of old days

Chapter 145

That night, a carpenter secretly went out of the city and came to a post outside the city.

A traveling businessman met him under the wall and sneered, "What's the matter? Have you thought about it?"

The carpenter hesitated for a moment, gritted his teeth and said, "I have a piece of news that I can sell to you, and I promise you it will be useful."

The traveling merchant asked curiously, "What news?"

The carpenter said, "You have to give 1000 taels and send our family out of Qingyang County."

The businessman frowned and said, "1000 taels is too expensive."

The carpenter laughed and said: "This news will definitely make Chu Qiguang die without a place to bury him, and it may also make the Wu family go bankrupt. Selling it to you for 1000 taels is considered lucky for you."

meow~~
Just as the two were talking, a meow sounded, which startled them. When they looked up... it was a white cat looking at them quietly.

It was Chu Qiguang who arranged for the cat demon to monitor the craftsmen in the workshop.

……

That night, the body of the traveling merchant was transported to the pier and sank to the bottom of the river.

Bai Mi looked at his head which was slowly being swallowed by the river, opened his mouth and yawned: "Shen's done, let's leave."

A group of cat demons following behind scattered out.

Not long after, with the sound of gurgling, a fluffy head with two ears pricked up surfaced...

In the same night, there were monsters in the workshop.

The craftsmen were woken up by the screams at night, and they followed the sound to find the carpenter turned into a half-human, half-demon.

That deformed and weird face often resurfaced in their hearts every night, making them tremble with fear.

Afterwards, there are rumors that the carpenter wanted to sell the workshop, so he was punished by Taoist Xuanyuan.

Originally, after the craftsmen passed through the Taoist exorcism rituals and the foundation-building method of the sky demon, they thought it was Xuanyuan Daoist who appeared.

This time, the demonization of the carpenter greatly stimulated them. No one dared to think about selling the workshop, and even in the next period of time...the work efficiency was greatly improved.

At the same time, under the connection between the Wu family and the Taoist temple, all the gentry, eunuchs, and wealthy families in the county received invitations to attend a Wu family meeting in ten days.

……

In Liyang County, inside the textile workshop of the Chen family.

A master craftsman pointed to the fabric in front of him and said proudly: "This double-sided embroidery is an ancestral skill of our Su family. Even in the south of the Yangtze River, no one can embroider this unicorn offering a treasure map. Even if it is me, It also took half a year to complete."

Chen Yuebai looked at the embroidery work in front of him, nodded in satisfaction, and decided to use this embroidery as the treasure of their shop.

During this period of time, the Chen family relied on their wealth and wealth to beat the Wu family's face almost all the way in the cotton market, and almost received most of the cotton accumulated in the hands of the cotton merchants, leaving only a small half for Wu. Family.

Chen Yuebai thought inwardly: "Just harvesting the cotton cost nearly 5 taels of silver, but the Wu family spent no less than us. Hmph, just this one, almost squeezed out their capital, and then How are you going to fight us?"

In addition to collecting cotton, the Chen family also recruited a large number of people from the Jiangnan area.

For example, the double-sided embroidery master Su in front of me is one of the masters specially invited by the Chen family from Jiangnan. Besides him, there are more than ten masters who are good at embroidery and more than 200 weavers, all of whom are experienced. A skilled old weaver.

In addition to them, the Chen family also imported the latest pedal spinning wheels and handlooms from Jiangnan, and invited local craftsmen to innovate in accordance with the northern environment.

Chen Yuebai followed a master craftsman to a cellar, looked at the one who was adjusting the loom inside, and heard the master craftsman say: "The climate in the north is dry, and the lint is intermittent, so it can't be spun into strands. Although it can be made into cloth, the quality is not good enough." good."

"In the past few months, we have repeatedly studied, and finally made a cellar, several feet deep, on top of the house, the eaves are about two feet high, and windows are made to let in sunlight, and people live in it. Wet spinning in the wetland is close, and it is close to the south. Soil is the same."

While talking, the craftsman picked up a piece of cloth and said, "My lord, please take a look. This cloth is fine and white, wide in width, durable in making clothes, and good in dyeing. It is not inferior to middle-grade cloth in the south of the Yangtze River."

Chen Yuebai nodded in satisfaction. With the new pedal spinning wheel, handloom, and skilled workers recruited from Jiangnan, the quality and quantity of weaving have been improved, but the labor cost has been reduced, and the total cost has been reduced.

"When the Wu family sells, we will be able to sell it cheaper than him. The more cotton weaves they buy, the more they will benefit. If you don't want to waste tens of thousands of taels of cotton, you can only come to us. .”

"When the Wu family is killed, whoever does cotton textiles in Beiyue Mansion will not follow our Chen family's lead, and when the mutual market opens, they will make a lot of money every day."

"Although it took more than [-] taels of silver back and forth, it was all worth it."

Thinking of this, Chen Yuebai couldn't help laughing.At this moment, a young man from a distance ran over and said something.

Chen Yuebai frowned, looked at the master craftsman beside him and said, "Then Chu Qiguang said that he invented a new machine tool that does not require manpower, but only uses water power and horsepower, and its output can be twenty times that of traditional looms. Master Cai, how about you?" Do you think it's possible?"

Master Cai laughed and said: "It's absolutely impossible, my lord, have you ever heard of Jiangnan commoners being taken over by the world? I have never heard of any machine in Jiangnan that does not require manpower, but can produce twenty times as much. This is simply unheard of, my lord. Don't be fooled."

……

Rumors about new hydraulic spinning machines and hydraulic looms have already made a splash in Qingyang County.

The time finally came to the day when Chu Qiguang was going to hold a press conference.

On this day, the rich and well-to-do households in Qingyang County were invited to the textile workshop.

A total of 500 people came, including masters, young masters, servants, and nurses. It seemed that the workshop was small and crowded.If it weren't for the face of the Wu family and the Taoist temple, I'm afraid many people present would be too lazy to stay any longer.

In front of them were two machines covered by a curtain, and Chu Qiguang stood in front of the curtain, and with a clap of his hands, the servants on both sides forcefully rolled down a huge picture scroll.

The above is the amount of cotton cloth that the Ding family sells to the northern monsters every year.

Looking at the four or five hundred spectators below, the blue veins on Chu Qiguang's forehead twitched slightly, enduring the anger of wanting to rush down and kill a few people, and sighed helplessly in his heart: "Sure enough, as soon as there are too many people, they will come..."

He had no choice but to endure the illness in his heart, and began to say: "As we all know, among the northern monster races, except for wolf monsters, cow monsters, and sheep monsters, other races need a lot of warm clothes, and if the monster clan wants to maintain their human form, the same Clothes are needed to keep out the cold."

"Not to mention that the slaves of all races, including the human race, who they captured in the past also need clothes to keep out the cold."

While speaking, he clapped his hands again, and behind him was the second huge picture scroll, which showed the demand for cotton cloth of the Yaozu after the opening of the mutual market.

"100 million pieces, this is the amount of cotton cloth that the Yaozu needs every year."

With the falling of the picture scrolls and Chu Qiguang's explanation, everyone present gradually attracted their attention. They looked at the estimated population of Lingzhou, the estimated demand for cotton cloth, and the amount of cotton cloth shipped from the south every year. Estimates... and for comparison, Lingzhou produces very little cloth every year.

The impression given to everyone present is... Cotton cloth is a rigid demand, and there is a huge market in the whole north and among the monsters, which makes people salivate.

And Chu Qiguang also became more and more comfortable speaking on stage, and the spirit in his mind seemed to be constantly sublimating, which made him speak more and more freely: "Over the years, many places in the north have been ordered by the imperial court to grow cotton, and many state capitals have been ordered to grow cotton. Cotton is even taxed."

"Cotton planting has been popularized in more than half of the prefectures and counties in Lingzhou, but most prefectures and counties are still less able to weave, because the cloth in the north is still not as good as that in the south."

"So cotton has always been shipped from the north to the south, and cloth from the south to the north. The cotton we grow ourselves in the north has to go around the south of the Yangtze River to be woven into cloth and sold to us."

"But today..."

As Chu Qiguang pulled the curtain, revealing the two machines that were continuously operating and producing cotton yarn and cotton cloth, Chu Qiguang said slowly: "...We want to redefine textile!"

Chen Gang said: "I understand the applause." After speaking, he took the lead and applauded.

Accompanied by the bursts of applause below, Chu Qiguang felt that his spirit seemed to rush out of his physical body, as if he had gone straight to the sky, came to the end of the starry sky, and saw the abyss beyond the imagination of all life, and saw the endless... …the incomprehensible, the indescribable depth.

(End of this chapter)