Lin Gao Qiming

Chapter 1389 Stubbornness
It took only a few minutes for the two of them to walk in, and they were already drenched in sweat.Wu Zhixiang took out a handkerchief and kept wiping away her sweat.Then Zhao Yingong led him into the silk reeling workshop, where the pedal machine was whirring, and the cocoons in the pot were sinking and floating.The workshop was filled with steam, and the water vapor was even heavier. The walls and the floor were dripping everywhere.The stench of scalded silkworm chrysalis, the smell of alum in the pot, mixed with the smell of water vapor, soot and human sweat, made people feel tight in their chests and couldn't breathe.

Although there were many workers going back and forth in the workshop, they turned a blind eye to the arrival of these two masters and went about their own business.Only one foreman came up to salute.Zhao Yingong waved his hand and the other party backed away and went about his own business.

The whole workshop is like a beehive, and the humming sound of reeling cars fills the humid and hot air.Hundreds of female workers are busy in their respective silk reeling positions, while stepping on the cart, they keep sticking their fingers into the [-]-degree hot water to fish out the silk ends and put them on the cart. Although the environment in the workshop is harsh, they are engrossed in each of them. , barely blinking an eye.The fingers seemed to be flying, and the car above the head was turning so fast that it was dazzling.

In order to facilitate the operation, all the female workers in the workshop have short hair.There is also a towel wrapped around the forehead-to absorb sweat, so as not to need to wipe the sweat with a towel frequently.The clothes on their bodies were dripping wet, and a puddle of water had accumulated under each of their feet. It was not known whether it was the sweat on their bodies or the hot water splashed from the basin.

Where did Wu Zhixiang have such an experience? Even though he was young and strong, he still felt chest tightness and shortness of breath. He saw hundreds of female workers with the same short hair and the same clothes working at the same rhythm. The speed was so fast that he couldn't even see clearly. , not feeling aghast.

This is not human, it is obviously like an Australian machine!Wu Zhixiang thought to herself, I really don't know how the Australians did it?But he was also very excited. Although he couldn't understand it clearly, he was fully aware of the efficiency of it. How could the silk reeling of each household be so fast!No wonder that every time Australians make something, the price will drop to the point where other people can't sell it at their own expense!
Although his chest was tight and he wanted to vomit, he was very excited mentally.When I looked up, I saw that there was a walking horse building surrounded by walls in the factory, but the walking horse building was not open, and it was installed with a grid wall made of bamboo, and there seemed to be a figure shaking inside.

"what is this?"

"This is the patrol building. It is specially for the patrol to go back and forth to supervise the work of the female workers."

Zhao Yingong explained that there are production regulations for the products reeled in this silk reeling factory.Each silk can only be combined with three or four cocoons, so that workers reel silk more slowly than manual silk reeling. The manual reeling of silk reels a catty a day, and here there are only six or seven taels.The wages here are based on the piecework system.Women workers generally want to lift more weight and earn more wages, and often build cocoons secretly beyond the limit, that is, more than four or five cocoons per cocoon, which not only wastes raw materials, but also affects the quality of silk.

This walking horse building was set up to supervise the female workers. The inspectors patrolled back and forth on the walking horse building, peeking at the female workers' operations from the grid - because of the cover of the grid wall, the female workers could not see that someone was supervising.If the inspection finds that there is an excess of cocoons in that work position, it will send a paper card with its number book to the foreman, and the foreman will immediately send someone to check the reeling button according to the number. After investigation, they were still handed over to the female worker and continued to work.However, if the overweight is more than 1/3 of the standard number, it will be punished according to the regulations.

If female workers are lazy, gossip, or do other things that violate the rules, they will be punished once they are checked and recorded.

"So that's it!" Wu Zhixiang nodded, "Brother Zhao is here to rule the factory with military law!"

"Military law is strict. However, if you want to start a factory, you can't produce safely." Zhao Yingong also felt that he couldn't stand it anymore, but he didn't want to lose face in front of Wu Zhixiang, so he put on a calm expression of indifference.

Zhao Yingong led him out from a corner of the workshop, and there was another room outside.There are large windows on the wall, with north-south ventilation, tall and bright, walking out of the hot and humid workshop, it is really light in body and mind.

In the room, there are many long wooden stools with backrests, and a long table along the wall, filled with teacups made of bamboo tubes, and each teacup has a name and mark written on it—almost none of the female workers can read. People can only use such pattern notation.On the table, there were several large celadon jars covered with white cold cloth.There are many towels hanging on the wall, marked like teacups.

There are more than 20 female workers in the room who are resting. They are panting heavily and slumped on the bench, wiping the sweat that has not been wiped off with a towel, and they look exhausted.

Several girls in Tsing Yi and double servant girls were running around, those who delivered towels, those who washed and dried, those who boiled water, those who delivered tea...everyone was very busy.

Seeing Zhao Yingong come in, the girls who were running stopped one by one, and retreated timidly to the side.But the female workers were not so nervous, they just stood up quickly.

"It's okay, sit and rest." Zhao Yingong said with a smile, but Wu Zhixiang felt a chill.

"The master is here, how can we sit..." said a female worker who looked like a foreman.

"If I tell you to sit down, you can sit down. You won't have the energy to work for a while." Zhao Yingong's words were gentle and his attitude was very firm. The foreman had no choice but to accuse the female workers and let the female workers sit down again. But this time they were not as relaxed as before. Very stiff.

Zhao Yingong didn't care about them, he just sat down on a bench and greeted them: "Sit, sit."

Wu Zhixiang, such a delicate and transparent character, already felt that the atmosphere was not right.Besides, sitting with a group of female workers in this unstructured place is really unseemly.But since it was invited by the host, it was inconvenient to disobey, so I had to sit awkwardly.

Seeing him take his seat, several girls came over to serve him immediately.An older girl asked, "Do you want some tea, sir?"

Zhao Yingong said: "Walking under the sun for a long time, the female workers just poured some Artemisia annua tea. Pour a cup for Mr. Wu too."

Two cups of Artemisia annua tea were brought over—these large porcelain vats were filled with all kinds of refreshing and thirst-quenching drinks, specially prepared for the female workers in the silk reeling workshop.There is Artemisia annua tea and salt soda mixed with salt, sugar and citric acid - of course there is no carbon dioxide in it.

A young girl who was busy outside the house came in quietly, seeing Zhao Yingong's expression was indifferent, but she ignored her, so she walked over and knelt down: "Master..."

Zhao Yingong drank several sips of tea, took a breath, and finally said: "I asked you to take someone to study, you really work hard!"

"Return to the words of the master!" It was Xihua who was kneeling on the ground. Because she was born in a scholar's family and could read and write, she was trained as a normal student. While studying with Zhao Yingong in the private school in the villa, she was also responsible for teaching literacy .

Xihua shuddered, forced a smile and said: "The master told these children to be handed over to the servants, and the servants will naturally do their best to repay them.

Zhao Yingong sneered and said: "Do your best to pay back so much that you don't even listen to what I have to say?" After saying that, he took a sip of the tea cup, and the people in the room were too frightened to breathe out.

"Slaves don't dare." Xihua bowed his head and said, "It's their duty to pass on female music to serve the master, but these girls have been learning silk and bamboo tuning, and there are too many books missing, and the servants are afraid that they will be delayed... "

"It's really ridiculous to delay them. I'm asking you to teach them how to read and write, not to ask them to take the Jinshi exam!" Zhao Yingong sneered, "You lady, you've become more and more prestigious—"

"I don't dare!" Xihua couldn't hold it anymore, touched his head to the ground, and said in a trembling voice, "I don't dare to be disrespectful, I just think that the master wants them to study hard, it will be of great use in the future of……"

Zhao Yingong smiled and said: "Okay, even if you did something wrong out of good intentions, I won't pursue your fault today. It's just that you said you wanted to teach them a make-up lesson, why did you bring them here again?"

"Reporting to Master," Xihua said, "After the lecture in the afternoon, the slaves brought them here to help." After she finished speaking, she kowtowed again, "The slaves dare not lie."

"You are kind!" Zhao Yingong sneered and put down his teacup.Just about to get up and leave.Xihua, who had been kneeling on the ground, suddenly said:
"My lord, the servants have absolutely no intention of contemptuous of the lord, and they dare not make their own opinions. It's just that the sisters and aunts here have to work for six hours a day. The weather is hot now, and every time it's time to rest, everyone is exhausted. One day Several of them fainted, the slaves just felt that they could do something for them, it would be good to take a breath..."

Zhao Yingong's face was already angry: "So, I took them in to work in the Cihui Hall, but I was torturing them!"

"I don't dare!" Xihua's body trembled, but she continued, "I also know that I can't do anything, so I just ask the master to reduce the working time here by one or two hours--everyone can't take it anymore, if this continues I'm just afraid that there will be something I can't bear. The servant entered the workshop by himself, and couldn't stay for a moment..."

Wu Zhixiang and the surrounding female workers were stunned, their faces turned pale.They all know that Xihua's words are true, the factory is indeed not a place for people to stay, not to mention that they have to work in it for six hours, with only one meal and a few rests in between.

Zhao Yingong turned pale with anger, and said with a sneer, "Listen, it's all my fault."
"Don't dare. The servant should die!" Xihua's face was flushed red, and his whole body was trembling, "The servant should die. But the servant is telling the truth!"
Zhao Yingong was so angry that his hands were shaking, and he said to Wu Zhixiang: "Listen, what kind of rules are these! Come here! Drag them out and beat them to death!"

(End of this chapter)