Daming 1805

Chapter 263 Synthetic Fiber Textile Industry Begins
Time passed slowly, and everything in Daming was moving forward step by step.

At the end of August in the first year of Ankang, good news came from the chemical testing site in Dashi Kingdom.

The rayon requested by Zhu Jingyuan was finally successfully trial-produced.

After Zhu Jingyuan received the news, he immediately led a team to the experimental base to check, just like last time.

Lu Xueqin, the person in charge of the experimental base, was a little excited and introduced to Zhu Jingyuan with a strand of filament:
"My lord, this artificial silk is twice as strong as cotton and five times as strong as wool.

"The key is that it is extremely wear-resistant, ten times more wear-resistant than cotton and twenty times more wear-resistant than wool.

"The clothes made of it are definitely more durable than any cotton wool material, especially suitable for clothing and work clothes.

"The disadvantage is that the water absorption is relatively poor, so if it is used as summer clothes, it will be easily soaked by sweat.

"But if you look at it from another angle, that's actually an advantage, they're very easy to dry.

"And they themselves are actually made of plastic, so they should not be mildewed."

Zhu Jingyuan took the bundle of filaments and twisted them gently with his hands, feeling quite excited:
"Okay, okay, then try to make clothes, not only clothes, but also bags and backpacks..."

The "rayon" produced by Lu Xueqin is the nylon of Zhu Jingyuan's previous life, also known as nylon, or polyamide fiber.

This is the world's first "fossil material synthetic fiber".

Not the first "synthetic fiber", nor the first "chemical fiber".

Prior to this, there have been "viscose fibers" made of natural fibers such as cotton and linen as raw materials, and the cellulose in them has been separated. Viscose fiber is the earliest chemical fiber.

Including rayon, and later generations of Modal, Celer, bamboo charcoal fiber and other materials, the essence is this viscose fiber.

Nylon, a synthetic fiber made of fossil materials, has the advantages of lower cost, shorter production process, and overall more environmental protection compared to natural recycled fiber...

The previous points are actually relatively easy to accept, and the fact that it is more environmentally friendly may make it difficult for many people to understand.

But the logic is actually very simple. Artificial cotton, modal, bamboo charcoal, tencel, and ice silk are all "regenerated fibers".

This "regeneration" process is the process of extracting natural cellulose, which needs to be completely dissolved with chemical solvents including acids, alkalis, and amines, so it causes additional pollution compared to the original cotton and hemp materials.

Nylon, a synthetic fiber made of fossil raw materials, is produced directly from the oil dug out of the ground, avoiding the water, pesticides and fertilizers consumed in the planting process.

Synthetic fibers trump natural fibers in terms of strength and abrasion resistance.

The chemical fiber clothes are only scratched or burnt, not worn out, and one piece is worth ten in terms of wear resistance.

The point is, now that Zhu Jingyuan sees nylon called "rayon", he feels an inexplicable intimacy in his heart.

The current level of development in this world is really getting closer and closer to the era in which I lived in my previous life.

Zhu Jingyuan and Lu Xueqin studied these "plastic threads", determined their official name as "artificial silk", and registered a trademark.

Let them continue to prepare factory production schemes, try for the textile industry and try to make clothes.

At the same time continue to study elastic silk.

Nylon itself also has a certain degree of elasticity, but overall it is still relatively low, and can only stretch about 5.00%.

Stretch yarn is polyurethane fiber, also known as elastic fiber, Lycra, spandex, which can be stretched to six times its own length.

With the direction pointed out by Zhu Jingyuan, the progress of related research is also very fast.

By October of the first year of Ankang, the trial production of the elastic fiber material called "elastic silk" was successful.

Compared with rayon and nylon, the effect of stretch yarn is amazing.

No conventional textile material with such enormous elasticity has ever been used in human history.

In the past, natural fibers such as cotton, linen and wool were basically inelastic, and silk had very little elasticity.

The rubber bands used in elastic bands cannot be made into thin threads by themselves, and cannot be directly used to weave fabrics.

It can only be wrapped with cloth and used as a tightening edge for belts, cuffs, etc.

Elastic yarn can be directly used as a textile material to weave a light and thin fabric with overall elasticity.

Stretchy fabrics, which the modern man takes for granted, are now something very awe-inspiring.

Therefore, when the synthetic stretch yarn was successful, even the craftsmen responsible for the research and development were surprised.

Lu Xueqin held a bundle of silk threads and stretched them out several times. After letting go, they immediately returned to their original shape:

"Your Highness, this synthetic silk is really amazing. It can be made thinner than silk, has the elasticity of a rubber band, and is even tougher than a rubber band..."

Zheng Fuguang next to him also stared wide-eyed. He knows mechanics, but he doesn't understand polymer chemistry:
"How on earth is this made? Why is this filament so elastic?"

The maids who followed Zhu Jingyuan, as well as the guarding soldiers, were also extremely surprised now, and they all looked at the things in Lu Xueqin's hands in disbelief.

Zhu Jingyuan was also very moved that the elastic material was finally made.

Modern body-fitting socks, gloves, underwear, and other clothing can finally be made.

The biggest problem with chemical fibers is that they are usually not very absorbent, but they can be mixed with natural fibers.

All kinds of modern elastic clothes are basically made of elastic silk spandex

After everyone's initial admiration and surprise passed, Zhu Jingyuan once again arranged tasks for the person in charge here.

Rayon and spandex, also known as nylon and spandex, are not usually used directly.

Instead, the two should be combined in a specific ratio, or combined with other fiber materials, twisted in a special way to form a new mixed silk thread, and then used for weaving fabrics.

The so-called elastic cotton, core-spun silk, etc. are all made in this way.

Those regenerated fiber materials such as modal, ice silk, and tencel must also be blended with spandex to obtain elasticity.

Therefore, in the modern textile industry, elastic silk spandex is widely used.

With spandex, silk stockings in the modern sense can finally be made.

Stockings are purely petrochemical industrial products, basically only nylon and spandex are used.

That is, the "rayon" and "elastic silk" produced by Zhu Jingyuan's petrochemical experiment base.

This thing seems simple, but it actually involves the entire oil extraction, smelting, chemical, and textile industry systems.

Of course, the synthetic fiber industry was not born for stockings, stockings are just a by-product.

In fact, many things in modern times are like this. The seemingly ordinary and inconspicuous little things can only be produced by relying on an extremely complex and huge industrial system.

From this point of view, most countries in the world in the new century cannot even produce a pair of stockings.

Including most of the so-called developed countries...

Now that the two most important materials in synthetic fibers have been successfully developed, Zhu Jingyuan once again announced bonuses to all relevant craftsmen according to the original agreement, and everyone will be paid another year's salary.

No one doesn't like more wealth, and no one doesn't like being recognized for their work.

After Zhu Jingyuan's announcement was handed down, the atmosphere in the entire experimental base became extremely lively again.

Zhu Jingyuan stayed in the experimental base for half a day, allowing the craftsmen of the petrochemical experimental base to rest again, and he, Zheng Fuguang and others returned to the palace.

Then Zhu Jingyuan called the main ministers of the Great Food Kingdom, craftsmen from various laboratories and factories to a meeting.

Zheng Fuguang and Liu Zhixin followed Zhu Jingyuan to the petrochemical base, and they could probably guess what Zhu Jingyuan was going to do.

After everyone arrived, Zhu Jingyuan said directly:

"Rayon and stretch yarn, the use of these two synthetic materials is enough to support a whole new textile industry.

"That's why I decided to officially start the comprehensive development and construction of Dashi Country's own petrochemical, textile, and clothing industries."

After Zhu Jingyuan started, he stopped for a while, looked at the ministers and craftsmen around him, and wanted to hear their opinions.

Liu Zhixin, the left chief history of the Great Food Kingdom, is the oldest and most honest of this group of people.

Hearing Zhu Jingyuan's thoughts, Liu Zhixin, who had already made some preparations, said worriedly:

"Your Majesty, the native population of our Dashi Country is still too small, and the limited petrochemical industry that supports it is the limit.

"Both the textile and garment industries require a lot of labor and also need to have enough water.

"The places in our big food country are basically not suitable for the development of this..."

Oil extraction and chemicals are capital-intensive machines that require high investments to build infrastructure.

There is a high demand for labor, but it is not particularly sensitive to the price of labor, so it can directly attract immigrants at high prices.

Textile and clothing are purely labor-intensive industries that require cheap labor.

Zhu Jingyuan was also prepared for this, but he didn't speak immediately, wanting to continue to listen to opinions.

A group of officials discussed for a while, and Pan Shien, the right interrogator of Dashi Wangfu, tried to speak:

"Your Majesty, Liu Changshi and his subordinates think that textile and clothing factories don't need to be located in the mainland of Dashi Kingdom.

"According to Your Majesty's long-term plan, the protection of Liusha City will only retain the oil mining industry, and the petrochemical industry will be placed on the coast of the Great Food Sea.

"As for the textile and clothing industry chain, my subordinates think that it shouldn't be placed in Liusand City, or even in Dashi Kingdom.

"It can be placed on the west coast of the Great Qinhai Sea or Crete, and recruit Thai and Western workers to do it.

"Solving the problem of shortage of manpower from Daming can also reduce production costs."

Xu Minghui, the judge on the left, heard this suggestion, and subconsciously said:
"If you want to reduce costs, it is better to put the factory directly in the east of Mozhou, and use the ink slaves in Mozhou to work.

"Anyway, a place as big as the eastern part of Mozhou now belongs to our Great Food Kingdom.

"Especially the large piece in the middle, which directly belongs to the king's private property."

Zhu Jingyuan asked a little uncertainly:
"Taixi workers are alright, but Mexican slaves...can they work in textile and garment factories?"

Regarding this question, Xu Minghui, Liu Zhixin and other ministers and craftsmen were a little hesitant and did not dare to give a definite answer.

They really don't believe in the abilities of the Mo people, including Xu Minghui himself who made this suggestion.

After hesitating for a few seconds, Pan Shien tried to say:
"If the Mo people can't do it, why don't we introduce Tianzhu people to East Mozhou?"

This suggestion was quickly endorsed by the surrounding courtiers and craftsmen.

In the eyes of Ming people in this world, Tianzhu people belong to Hu people, and in many cases have a higher status than Xiyi.

Because the Ming people think that the Tianzhu people are easier to manage than the Xiyi people.

Zhu Jingyuan was speechless for a moment.

If the British transported Tianzhu people to Mozhou, and Ming Dynasty also transported Tianzhu people to Mozhou, would Tianzhu still have people left?

Will Mozhou become a large Tianzhu?

But if you think about it from another angle, the large Tianzhu seems to be better than "Mo" Zhou.

(End of this chapter)