A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 694 Another money tree
When Wu Huaiyu heard the result,
Still in Mihara.

Taking advantage of the fine weather, thousands of acres of cotton in Wujia Sanyuan are busy picking. The newly picked cotton has to be dried in the weather. Bags of cotton are spread out to ventilate and dissipate moisture.

The ground was covered with white cotton, as if heavy snow had fallen from the sky.

The Wu family's cotton processing workshop has started work.
The first process is to remove cotton seeds. At this time, Gaochang people still picked cotton seeds by hand, which was laborious, time-consuming and inefficient.

Fan Yanglu's cotton cultivation in Hebei Province has developed a rolling method, which uses an iron rod and a pallet. During operation, the seed cotton is placed on the pallet and the iron rod is used to gin and roll the cotton. Compared with pure manual labor, this method Picking seeds is more efficient.

The Wu family has previously developed the hand-crank type, which is actually an upgraded version of the rush rubbing method. It mainly consists of two rotating rods with different thicknesses, which are connected to the rockers respectively. During operation, two people rock the rockers and one feeds the seed cotton, which greatly improves the efficiency.

But in Wu Huaiyu's view, the efficiency was still low. With a heavy reward, the craftsmen first improved it to a pedal-operated truck, and then developed a truck mixer.

And it has been upgraded to the Jurong style and Taicang style. One person in the Jurong style can serve as three people, and two people in the Taicang style can serve as eight people. The efficiency is doubled.

The first problem in cotton spinning processing has been solved.

At this time, in the Wujia Yuanbao,
Rows of newly manufactured mixers, all of which are foot-operated mixers, are extremely efficient compared to hand-operated mixers or hand-operated rollers.

The cotton of the Gaochang people only costs seven cents per catty for the best quality cotton, while the top-quality cotton cloth costs one thousand eight hundred cents per piece. Cotton worth 21 cents can be woven into a piece of cloth worth one thousand eight hundred cents.

The most important thing is that all aspects of processing are costly and slow, especially seed removal, which requires manual peeling of cotton seeds. Not much can be peeled out in one day. This process severely limits the textile processing of cotton cloth.

But after Wu Huaiyu’s several years of investment, the Wu family went from the basic iron rod rubbing method to the hand-operated roller, then to the foot-operated roller, to the hand-operated mixer, then to the foot-operated mixer, and even upgraded to the Taicang style. ,

Dozens of times improvement in efficiency.

Huaiyu led a group of women from the Wu family in the seed-removing truck mixer workshop of Xingongfang. He watched the hired villagers nearby bring in packages of freshly dried seed cotton, each with a mixer truck, and sat there. While pedaling the car, put the seed cotton evenly into it.

When the truck is used to gin cotton, the cotton seeds in the cotton are stripped out.

"It peeled off so cleanly,"

The foreman of the workshop is very fond of these new mixers. This mixer looks very simple. It seems to be composed of just a few pieces of wood and iron. It is not very big, but when the pedal is moved, it can move many things. Pause for ginning and seed removal.

Workers can operate it after simple training.

Turn the crank with your right hand, step on the pedal with your left foot, add seed cotton with your left hand, and press the lower shaft against each other. The cotton is brought to the front of the car and the cotton seeds fall behind the car.

"Collect these cotton seeds, don't waste them."

Cottonseed is also a good thing. It can be used to extract cottonseed oil. The extracted oil is edible, but it is said that long-term consumption may cause infertility, so Wu Huaiyu plans to extract the oil from the cottonseed and use it to make soap and toilet soap.
In fact, if you are really evil, you can sell it as cooking oil, just use the sludge to make soap, or make lamp oil.

However, Wu Huaiyu felt that this kind of shady money should not be made. Eating too much can make people infertile. This is really an immoral thing that will lead to a son without skin.

Making soap is also a good use.

"Alang, after the dried seed cotton is deseed in this ginning workshop, the cotton will be sent to the next ginning workshop, and the cotton seeds will be sent to the oil pressing workshop."

The women of the Wu family were very curious about the cotton and the villagers ginning the cotton.

Women of this era were basically good at spinning and tailoring, but most people had never seen cotton fabrics. The women of the Wu family were familiar with Chang'an's luxury cotton fabrics, and they were quite comfortable to wear.

But I have never seen this process before.

Compared with silk and linen, which also need to be degummed, cotton does not need this process, but the seeds are removed.

The cotton that has just been seeded is not soft enough yet, so it needs to be loosened with a big bow.

The slingshots in the Wu family's slingshot workshop are also newly developed by the Wu family. They are four-foot-long large wooden bows with ropes attached. They are much more efficient than those small slingshots.

The deseeded cotton was spread out, and men hired from nearby villages fixed a four-foot-long bow on their backs and a wooden hammer in each hand.

Holding the mallet in his right hand and the bow in his left hand,
The vibration of the big bow string is used to make the cotton looser and softer. Compared with the previous ginning and seeding workshop, which was mostly filled with women, this flower playing workshop is only filled with men.

Because this is a very laborious job, with a big bow tied to the body and beating constantly.

The cotton that has been fluffed can enter the next workshop to enter the spinning process. Of course, some cotton will enter another quilt workshop after being fluffed here to be directly made into quilts.

The loose cotton is laid out, and then both sides of the cotton batting are fixed in a mesh shape with gauze. After the gauze is in place, it is pressed with a wooden disc to make it flat and firm.

At this time, it becomes a good bed of cotton wool. If you sew a quilt cover on it, it will become a soft and soft quilt.

Fan Xuanfu and the others were astonished as they watched the cotton change from seed cotton with seeds, to lint, then to cotton wool, and then to quilts.

"It feels so soft and warm,"

"This quilt is also beautiful. It's red and has mandarin ducks printed on it. It's really festive."

"This quilt uses ten pounds of cotton, so of course it's warm."

One pound of cotton costs seven cents, and ten pounds of cotton costs seventy cents. It has also been embossed, quilted, and quilted.

Then this quilt is not cheap.

Wu Huaiyu smiled and said, "This is a quilt. It is as high-end as fur. It is even a luxury product."

The nobles had firewalls, heaters, and even furs for the winter. Some of their quilts were stuffed with silk batting, some were stuffed with wool, or even down. They didn't have to worry about being cold or too cold. Young maids could also be arranged to warm the beds and feet.

But the poor have a hard time in winter, and even the fuel expenses are more difficult. As for the quilt, there is straw to stuff it with, and there is no straw to stuff it with reed flowers. It can be stuffed with whatever rags can be used, and a few people can hug each other to keep warm.
It is common for people to freeze to death in winter.

At this stage, the Wu family's quilts will definitely still be high-end or even luxury goods like cotton. Because the quantity has not yet increased, the price will naturally not go down.

This newly spun quilt is fluffy and warm. It's really no worse than any other wool quilt.
In Gao Yanzhi's words, it feels like being in the clouds.

"I asked you to play several beds here for each of you. One mattress and two bed covers. One thin and one thick quilt. You can change it in autumn and winter. This quilt is soft, warm and comfortable. You can use it again after a few years."

"I didn't expect this cotton to be so good. Hemp and kudzu are not so magical. They can be woven and made into quilts."

"That's not all. You can also make cotton-padded clothes and cotton-padded shoes. You can fill the fabric with these cotton waddings. You can make them as thick or as thin as you want. You can wear them in spring and winter. No matter how cold it is, you won't be afraid of it." The cotton harvested by the Wu family this year, in addition to spinning cotton cloth, In addition, quilts, cotton shoes, cotton jackets, etc. will also be produced. This is a huge new market.

Although the Lu family, Li family, and others have now expanded a lot of cotton planting area, they do not have the advanced textile, jacquard, printing and dyeing technologies of the Wu family, and they have not mastered the first ginning and elastic technology.

I walked around the various workshops, and they were all in full swing.

The cotton fields on the plateau are still busy picking, and the Wubao in the rear is busy processing. From the fields to the workshops, there are nearby villagers hired by the Wu family, including men, women, old and young.

Wu Huaiyu asked the stewards about their wages.

The wages are mainly based on piecework. Cotton picking is based on the acre, ginning is based on the catty, cotton bombing is also based on the catty, textile jacquard printing and dyeing are all based on the piece, and the later processes are more complicated and the labor prices are higher.

The Wu family has more advanced spinning wheels and looms, and will hire some girls and women to work in the textile factory, with food and accommodation provided, and piece-rate wages. This kind of production is more efficient and the quality is more guaranteed.Especially on high-end fabrics such as jacquard and printing and dyeing.

The other model is outsourcing, giving the materials to nearby women, who spin at home. This efficiency is definitely much slower. After all, home textile machines are bound to be backward, and it is difficult to guarantee better quality.
But many women have to take care of their families after all, so they use their free time to do textile processing, doing more or less to supplement their family income.

For many families who have lost their land, they have no conditions to grow mulberry or hemp. They can only use the little land to grow mulberry and hemp to raise silkworms, or directly buy other people's mulberry leaves to raise silkworms, or directly replace them. Others process textiles.

The Wu family has planted a lot of cotton this year, so picking cotton, ginning cotton, stretching cotton, spinning, weaving, printing and dyeing, and many other processes require a lot of labor, which can provide many opportunities to make money at once.

"For the female workers trained in our textile workshop, skilled workers can earn four to five taels per day of spinning and one horse per day of weaving. If they are skilled and diligent and take early night rest, they can earn 45 horses per month."

The manager reported on the efficiency of the female textile workers in the Wu family's workshop.

The outstanding ones are indeed very powerful,

However, if you take an early night rest, it may be a blessing, which is the maximum limit.

"Basic wages are based on four taels of spinning per day and one bolt of weaving per day. If you can spin four taels of yarn or weave one bolt of fabric per day, you will be guaranteed to have good wages in one month. If you weave more, you will be rewarded with a price. However, it is best not to work for more than five hours a day.

We are not allowed to deduct wages at will. Everyone is working very hard, so we must ensure at least three meals a day."

Whether it is ginning or elastic, or various processes such as textiles, printing and dyeing, it is all very hard. Wu Huaiyu hires his neighbors and is willing to let everyone get the corresponding hard-earned money.

What's more, the current cotton spinning industry is a high-end and hugely profitable industry. The Wu family has made a lot of money. It is also appropriate for the neighbors who follow the work to have some soup.

"It's going to get cold soon. I'll save half of the first batch of cotton cloths, cotton clothes, quilts, and cotton shoes that I make, and I want to give them away."

The Wu family has added a new specialty. In addition to sugar, loose tea, liquor, fire salt, soap, etc., this cotton quilt will also be very popular.

The emperor, queen, and prince must be sent first.
Then Qin Qiong, Li Jing, Warrior Xun, Warrior Leng, Cheng Yaojin, Fan Xing, Qiu He, Duan Decao, Niu Jinda, Yang Gongren and others are naturally indispensable.

I will definitely use quilts in every room of my house this year.

While thinking about the gift list, news from Chang'an arrived.

Wu Huaiyi was promoted to the governor and governor of Guangzhou, Hou Junji was demoted to the governor of Guangzhou, and Su Dingfang was promoted to the left guard Zhonglang general.

Brother Huaiyi has only been the governor of Shaozhou for two years, and he was directly promoted to the governor and governor of Guangzhou. This is the middle governor of the third rank. He was originally only the fourth rank of the governor of Xiazhou, but there is a lot of difference between him and the third rank. .

Doctor Yinqing Guanglu, Commander-in-Chief of Guangzhou Military Affairs, Guangzhou Governor, and Qujiang County Marquis Wu Huaiyi,
My brother has soared into the sky,

Wu Huaiyu was really happy for him when he heard the news. He did this to take revenge on Hou Junji.Hou Junji dared to accuse him of raising three thousand adopted sons for rebellion. This had exceeded the limit of Wu Huaiyu's tolerance. He had to fight back, and he had to fight back fiercely and without mercy.

In today's position, if some things cross the bottom line, you have to fight to the death.

He knew in his heart that although this counterattack could get something that would make Hou Junji uncomfortable, it would not kill Hou Junji, but he had to do it even if he couldn't.
This is attitude.

Hou Junji was demoted to Lingnan and became the governor of Guangzhou. To be honest, it was a bit unexpected. He thought that this time would only make the emperor hate Hou Junji more, but he did not expect such a good effect.

Of course, he never expected that Huaiyi would be promoted to the governor of Guangzhou, and that Hou Junji would be his long history. This would really be a mouthful of shit to Hou Junji, and it would be heartbreaking to kill someone.

Senior brother Su Lie, on the other hand, seems to have made the emperor unhappy this time. Maybe he should have found someone else to bring this matter to light in the first place. After all, senior brother Su Lie was not one of the emperor's confidants, so he made a miscalculation this time.

Hou Junji, a dog, is afraid that if he turns around and goes to Lingnan now, his intestines will turn green with regret.

As for Shi Siming, who was sentenced to death, Wu Huaiyu didn't worry at all. Such a guy who overestimated his own capabilities would not regret his death and brought the blame on himself.

After Lao Wu heard the good news, his face flushed with excitement.

He even started to tremble slightly.

Huaiyi is the eldest son, and he has finally entered the third rank. He has been directly promoted from the fourth rank to the third rank. At this level, he is all the Yin Qing Guanglu doctor from the third rank.

You can erect a door halberd and build a family temple.

The branch of the long house was finally erected.

Third grade, dear and precious,
To be promoted to the third rank of officialdom, to be granted the title of marquis, is to truly become one of the high-ranking nobles of the Tang Dynasty.

"Erlang, I thank you on behalf of your brother." Lao Wu said excitedly.

"Aye, why do one family speak the same language?"

However, when Lao Wu learned that Hou Junji was avenged by Wu Huaiyu this time, and was demoted to Guangzhou as a long history and became Huaiyi's deputy, he was a little worried.

"Can Dalang suppress the man named Hou? What if he causes trouble?"

"Don't worry, Lingnan is not really out of reach. Besides, if Hou is not honest this time, then I don't mind messing with him again."

Although Wu Huaiyi was promoted to the Governor of Guangzhou because of Wu Huaiyu and the Wu family, Wu Huaiyi was originally from the Yuancong Forbidden Army, and was a member of the Xuanwu Sect who made great contributions that day. He also made amazing political achievements in Shaozhou.
"Our family now has a male, two marquises and an uncle. The Mihara Wu family has also become the Shuangji Wu family," Lao Wu was as excited as if he was drunk.

The two brothers Huaiyi and Huaiyu are now in the third rank and have been granted the title of Duke. They can both hold halberds in the door. Lao Wu is very excited when he thinks about it.

Huaiyu smiled and said, "So, I have to thank Hou Junji for accusing me of treason. Well, I will send someone to send two quilts to his wife and children later."

(End of this chapter)