Royal Gold Medal County Magistrate

A group of people huddled in a corner, discussing for ages without reaching a conclusion.

They could only disperse and observe the textile machines again, trying to memorize more of the structure, so they could find skilled craftsmen back home and secretly learn to replicate them.

Soon, most had seen enough, and they continued in groups to the next process area.

After the finished fabric was produced, the next area was the cutting section.

Here, cutting tables were arranged in long, exaggerated rows.

Female workers transporting the fabric distributed it along the tables one by one.

The female workers who received the fabric immediately began cutting.

However, they were only responsible for cutting the fabric into fixed shapes, and after neatly stacking them into piles, they wouldn't look at them again.

When the piles of fabric were high enough, female workers responsible for transportation would move the cut fabric to the next process.

The merchants stood by the long tables and began whispering again.

"Brother Liu, have you ever seen this setup before? Why are they only cutting and not sewing?"

"I haven't. It seems like the sewing will be done in the next stage."

"I never thought there would be such a method for making clothes! And the speed at which those female workers cut the fabric is so fast! How much fabric can they cut in a day?"

After marveling, the merchants quickly followed the female workers transporting the cut fabric to the next process.

Soon they arrived at the sewing area, where most of the factory's female workers were working, sewing clothes.

This section had the largest number of female workers, with hundreds of tables placed in the sewing area.

The sewing workers' tables were different from the others, very large, and with pre-drawn partitions on them.

The female workers transporting the fabric carefully placed the cut fabric according to the partitions.

The sewing workers, without even looking up, grabbed the fabric and began sewing.

Before long, a brand new piece of clothing was produced and tossed into the basket at their feet.

The merchants couldn't help but gasp when they saw this.

Someone exclaimed, "I understand! They've separated the steps of clothing production. Each person is only responsible for one step."

"That way, they can become skilled enough! The quality of the things produced in this way is both stable and efficient!"

"Wonderful! It's truly wonderful!"

"I never thought there would be such a production method in the world. In my opinion, we can all learn this method, it's even more important than the textile machines!"

The other merchants all nodded in admiration.

However, these merchants had obviously not observed carefully enough.

The sewing area actually had some "flaws".

Looking at all the steps, the slowest was the sewing area, which greatly slowed down the production of the entire assembly line.

Because there were no sewing machines, they could only use hand sewing, so the most manpower was allocated here.

Of course, Fang Zheng Yi had thought about finding someone to make sewing machine-like auxiliary equipment.

But unfortunately, although he had seen treadle sewing machines, he only understood a fraction of their principles.

He had Old Qi, a craftsman from Taoyuan County, try to make one.

Old Qi had also made several prototypes, but problems immediately appeared during testing.

Although the structure of the textile machine was complex, it was traceable, so it could be improved upon.

But the structure of the sewing machine was even more complex and there was no precedent, so Fang Zheng Yi had people temporarily suspend the exploration in this area.

So now, the female workers' sewing seemed very fast, able to keep up with the progress of the textile and cutting areas.

In fact, the sewing effect was somewhat shoddy.

To be fast, the stitches were not beautiful or tight enough.

But the finished clothes were still wearable, just prone to unraveling and tearing.

Some female workers had reported this, and Fang Zheng Yi had carefully considered the problem. In order to ensure a sufficient supply to the market, he had them maintain the status quo.

Fang Zheng Yi had even considered selling the cut fabric directly and letting people sew it themselves at home.

But after thinking about it, that would be even worse than buying finished fabric and cutting it at home, completely redundant.

The poor sewing was actually just a small problem, because the quality of the fabric could be guaranteed!

As for needlework, it was never a problem. In this era, almost every woman in every household knew how to sew.

As long as the seams were unraveling or tearing, then the people could just sew them up themselves.

This was better than not being able to afford clothes in the winter.

After the merchants finished their tour, they began to walk out of the textile factory's interior one by one.

Outside was an open space, where dozens of chairs had been set up in advance. Fang Zheng Yi was standing at the front, shielding his eyes with his hand, looking towards the inside of the textile factory.

The merchants began to gather around Fang Zheng Yi one by one.

But no one sat down. Some looked at Fang Zheng Yi with hopeful eyes.

Others huddled together in twos and threes, discussing in low voices.

Still others lowered their heads in thought.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, Fang Zheng Yi lowered his hand and said, "Everyone, you should have finished the tour, right? How do you feel?"

"It was worth the trip! It was worth the trip!"

"Thank you, Master Fang!"

"Master Fang is noble!"

Fang Zheng Yi smiled and waved his hand: "Sit down, everyone must be tired, let's talk while sitting."

The merchants were very obedient and began to sit down one after another.

Indeed, they had walked for so long and been so excited for so long, it had been a long time and they were a little tired.

The main event should be next! I wonder what Master Fang is planning!

Even if he doesn't sell the textile machines today, he will make a fortune! Just this new method of division of labor and collaboration has already opened everyone's eyes.

Going back and imitating it will quickly improve production efficiency and reduce costs, which is almost like a pie falling from the sky!

Everyone stared at Fang Zheng Yi with eager eyes, as if looking at the God of Wealth.

Fang Zheng Yi looked at everyone with a smile, and didn't say anything.

It seems that everyone's enthusiasm has been mobilized, very good.

Finally, a merchant couldn't help but ask curiously: "Master Fang! You have really opened our eyes today. I have been running a cloth business all my life and have never seen such a loom and production method!"

"So, I boldly ask, will this... loom be sold?"

Fang Zheng Yi smiled and began to pace back and forth in front of the merchants.

Lowering his head, scratching his nose from time to time, looking particularly conflicted.

The merchants also felt a sense of tension.

Fang Zheng Yi did not directly answer his question, but asked: "Everyone, do you think, if the cloth and ready-made clothes from the Banshan Textile Factory flow into the market, will there still be opponents in the capital?"

As soon as this was said, many merchants present broke out in cold sweats.

Fang Zheng Yi's words were simply a threat to everyone!

The cost of clothing and cloth is basically composed of raw materials, labor, and warehousing and transportation.

There is nothing to say about raw materials, the larger your quantity, the lower the cost.

For ordinary cloth merchants, the purchase price of raw materials is basically the same.

Warehousing and transportation will not create too much difference, except for high-end clothing such as silk and fur.

Ordinary clothes are produced and sold locally.

Then, in addition to the cost difference of raw materials, the biggest difference is labor!

Now, the Banshan Textile Factory has such a terrifying production efficiency, one person is worth ten people, who can compare?!