A Millennium Aristocratic Family Starting from the Shang Dynasty

Chapter 421 A craftsman supervises wool weaving
Luoyang, the capital of the gods, was overseen by a craftsman in the west of the city.

Thick smoke was rising, flames were blazing, clanking sounds were ringing, people were coming and going, and various iron tools were being sent to other places.In other courtyards, it was equally busy.

As a craftsman supervisor, in addition to producing weapons, this is also a place where various improvements or inventions are made.

Prince Wang Xin is checking the results of the craftsman's work as a supervisor.

"Your Highness, this is the chain mail armor we have just made, and we are now preparing to test it." A craftsman said while holding a roll of strange armor.

Wang Xin stretched out his hand to take the armor, and saw that the armor was actually made of iron rings, densely packed, and heavy in the hand. It was obviously made of sufficient materials, and he immediately ordered someone to test it.

In the nearby test field, several soldiers began to test the ring mail armor with weapons such as bows and arrows, crossbows, horizontal knives, horse spears, and hammers.

In about half an hour, the test results came out. The ring mail armor had a high defense against swords and some defense against bows and arrows, but its defense against crossbows, horse spears, and sledgehammers was much poorer.

The Sledgehammer, in particular, has almost no defense at all.

"Your Highness, this chain armor is very ineffective when used alone, but if combined with other armors, the effect is very good." said the soldier who was testing it next to him.

"Make a batch first and send it to the border troops for them to try. Remember to make them wear double-layer armor." Wang Xin looked at the test results and then said.

The ring-lock armor is light and highly flexible when worn, and is almost unaffected. Wearing a piece of armor on the outside makes it even more defensive.

It's just that making ring mail armor is very troublesome. After all, weaving iron rings one by one is not an easy task.

After seeing the armor, Wang Xin came to another workshop. As soon as he entered this workshop, a stream of steaming water vapor hit his face. The water vapor was mixed with an unpleasant fishy smell and the smell of feces, making it extremely nauseating.

Wang Xin frowned. Although he was the prince and the future heir of the Daqian Empire, he had not been pampered since he was a child.

"Your Highness, the environment here is terrible, why not go out first?" The master craftsman next to him said respectfully.

"It doesn't matter." Wang Xin waved his hand and said, "Who is under the jurisdiction of this place?"

"Your Highness, this is your Majesty!" A middle-aged man, sweating profusely and dripping wet, stepped forward and said.

Wang Xin looked around and then asked: "Have these wools been knitted?"

In the workshop, there are large pools, with a large amount of gray-brown wool soaked in the pool. In the pool, there are also a large number of white stones, which are constantly steaming.Those stones are limestone.

"Your Highness, the texture of this wool is rather hard, and the length of the wool is also short. We invited the spinning lady from the Weaving Bureau to weave it, and we managed to weave some of it."

"The wool sent from the North has a strong fishy smell and is very dirty. It needs to be soaked and cleaned in lime water. After nine repeated cleanings, the wool will appear light yellow or white.

The wool is then dried, carded, and kneaded into threads before being spun. "

As he spoke, the master craftsman led everyone through the workshop and finally came to a room where he presented the already woven woolen fabrics.

Wang Xin picked up the piece of textile and found it to be quite soft. However, the entire textile looked far less soft and smooth than silk, and the texture on it was also very rough. Wang Xin frowned as he looked at it.Wang Xin valued wool fabrics very much, and his father, Emperor Wang Jing of Daqian, also valued wool fabrics.

Since Da Gan occupied the northern grasslands, there have been 20 Gan people on the grasslands after several years of immigration. These Gan people live in six newly built cities. In the past few years, the court has collected taxes and purchased cattle. Sheep, sell grain, maintain the grassland.

As a result, it took several years. Although the grassland was successfully controlled, a lot of money and food were spent every year.Just food needs to be transported here every year, amounting to millions of stones.

Although millions of cattle and sheep are transported to various places in Daqian every year, the profits earned are still unable to break even.

This kind of unilateral investment can naturally be maintained if the country is strong. After all, the importance of the Northland grasslands needs no introduction.But if the national strength declines and cannot be supported, Daqian's rule in the grassland will soon be disintegrated bit by bit.

Finally, they had to withdraw their troops and return to the Central Plains.

So in order to maintain a balance of revenue and expenditure, the imperial court kept asking people to find places on the grassland where they could make money.

Unfortunately, there is almost nothing on the grassland except cattle and sheep.Even with some minerals, mining the minerals is extremely difficult.Therefore, many people have turned their attention to wool.

Wool grows every year. If the wool can be sold for money, the court will have a steady stream of income.

In fact, the Huns have been trying to weave wool for a long time, but unfortunately there has been little change in wool weaving technology for decades.

Wang Xin asked the craftsman to learn this technology and improve it at the same time.

He had also seen the Huns' woolen textiles. Those woolen textiles were very poorly made.The wool has not been cleaned, the texture is not soft, and it is not comfortable to wear at all.

The only advantage is that it is very warm.

In fact, China’s native goats, sheep, and wool are not very easy to use.These wools are not long enough, are difficult to weave, and even when they are woven, the shape is rough.

Wang Jing ordered the craftsman to make improvements. After dozens of experiments, the craftsman only made similar wool fabrics, but the results still failed to meet Wang Xin's requirements.

"Your Highness, although these wools are not very good at making clothes, they can be made into blankets. This kind of wool blanket has very good thermal insulation properties and is much better than those made from linen." A weaver girl next to her suddenly said.

Wang Xin heard this and quickly asked: "Is there a wool blanket that has been made?"

"Yes, please wait a moment, Your Highness." As he said that, the weaver girl took a thick blanket from a room next to her.

Wang Xin opened it and saw that the wool blanket was quite heavy, and the texture on it was rough, but still tight. At the same time, the wool had good warmth retention properties.Great for making blankets.

After inspecting it, Wang Xin immediately said: "First make a hundred blankets and send them to the border troops to try them out."

Wang Xin is now troubled by these wools. The ancestors left wool weaving methods on bamboo slips, but they tried and the wool weaved was not good.

If wool blankets are feasible, this can be regarded as finding a way out for wool. As for sheepskin fur, it is only used by people in border areas, and it is difficult to promote it.

(End of this chapter)