Volume 2: Residence in the Capital Chapter 221 New Spinning Machine
Before Zhang Shou could say anything, Lu Sanlang hinted to Zhang Chen to take out the imperial ruler and beat Zhu Er so hard that he ran away. If this spoiler was left alone, everyone wondered if he would continue to be a dog with nothing to show for it. Lu Sanlang even followed him out, claiming that he was going to watch Zhang Chen give Zhu Er a good beating, and considerately left Banshan Hall to Zhang Shou, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu.
Zhang Shou was too lazy to argue with Zhu Er. He looked at Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu calmly and said, "That guy said something that was not very pleasant to hear, but your situation is indeed similar to mine. After all, Princess Deyang and Princess Xinyang are only your fiancées now, and have not officially married yet."
Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu were both a little embarrassed. Then they heard Zhang Shou say, "Come on, let's go somewhere. Otherwise, when they come back, they will ask questions again. When there are too many people around, some things will be hard to say."
With Zhang Shou's words, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu naturally would not object. They both knew that although they were called marquis' children, the Huaiqing Marquis and Nanyang Marquis brothers had shallow roots, and they were illegitimate children. In fact, whether compared with Lu Sanlang or Zhang Chen and Zhu Er, they were far behind. At least, those three did not have to consider the issue of future expenses after marriage.
Even if it was Zhu Er...it was just that the Duke of Zhao's Mansion usually restricted his expenses and prevented him from spending money recklessly.
So, the two followed Zhang Shou out of the Imperial College in silence. When they saw Ah Liu driving over, they both dismissed the followers waiting there and followed Zhang Shou into the car. When they finally got off the car, they found that this was the place where everyone had flocked to before. It was said that it was the place where Zhu Tingfang, the son of the Duke of Zhao, took in an orphan named Xiao Cheng. Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu couldn't help but feel a little surprised.
However, Zhang Shou did not enter the Xiao family. He stood at the door and heard Xiao Cheng reciting poems inside, and then urging Yang Hao and Zheng Dang in a serious manner. He could not help but smile, and then waved to Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu to follow him into the blacksmith shop next door.
When they passed the empty shop occupied by Guan Qiu who was writing furiously, crossed the yard, and finally came to the main room at the back, Zhang Shou suddenly stopped at the door and asked without turning his head, "Have you two ever seen a woman weaving?"
Even though their father was a soldier and even though they were often tight on money, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu were sons of a marquisate after all, so how could they know this? So they looked at each other and were about to shake their heads when they realized that Zhang Shou couldn't see, so they could only say in unison, "I haven't seen it."
"That's true... Actually, I mostly saw people raising silkworms and reeling silk, and then weaving the silk into silk. As for the hand-spinning loom for cotton, I've never seen it since we don't grow cotton in the village." Zhang Shou said to himself, if I hadn't lived in the village for three years and seen people weaving silk, I would at most have seen people symbolically weaving cloth by hand when visiting the folk village, and had seen the female textile workers weaving cloth in large state-owned textile factories on TV.
Therefore, he pushed the door open and went in. When he saw Zhao Si, who was sitting on the ground next to the spinning machine, looked up at him and quickly jumped up, he gestured to the other party not to be polite and immediately asked, "What's going on?"
"Everything has been adjusted, there should be no problem!" Zhao Sixi was delighted. "Dr. Zhang, find someone who is good at weaving to give it a try. Although I have only worked with Master on the spinning machine a few times, that was because Master owed me a favor, but I still remember the method. That machine only had three spindles, but this one can have eight spindles, eight yarns at a time. And looking at your structural diagram, Dr. Zhang, I think it can drive more spindles!"
Zhang Shou reached out to turn the spindle, then turned around to see Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu staring at the spinning machine with bewilderment in their eyes. He smiled and said, "The same person is spinning much faster than before. Do you know what this means?"
Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu looked at each other. Even though they were not good at business, they still reacted immediately. Zhang Lu was surprised and excited and shouted: "With the same manpower and the same time, we can make several times more money!"
"Oh?" Zhang Shou laughed. Seeing Zhao Si nodded in agreement, he said slowly, "But have you ever thought about this? There are only so many cotton fields, and the annual cotton production is basically relatively stable. If all of them are replaced with such new spinning machines, then there are likely to be two results."
"The first result is that because of the high output of cotton yarn, the market will be in short supply and demand will exceed supply, and the price will be gradually pushed down. Some people who use the new spinning machine will certainly become rich, but more people who do not switch to this machine will have low output and low selling prices, so their income will become less and less, and they can no longer make a living through this sideline."
"The result is that these people will be poorer than before, and out of anger, they may come to hate the machines, and the people who use these machines may end up in tragedy."
You know, in history, after the invention of the spinning jenny, the price of yarn plummeted soon, and the inventor was smashed by angry craftsmen and driven out of his hometown. Although the clever and hardworking inventor later reopened the factory and became rich, he probably never forgot the nightmare in the early days.
Zhang Shou paused for a moment before continuing, "The second result is that this new type of spinning machine is gradually being rolled out. Because of its high efficiency, more and more people are using it. In addition, the price is cheap, so most spinners are using it. However, because the output of raw material cotton is limited, the cotton used for spinning is in short supply, and the price of cotton may increase."
"Because cotton fields are more suitable for sandy alkaline land, they cannot be grown in all places. So in order to make a profit, some people will try to reclaim wasteland into cotton fields. However, some short-sighted landlords may convert rice fields and wheat fields into cotton fields because growing cotton is more profitable. In the case of such a change of crops, there will be a loss in yield, which will affect farming and grain production."
"However, weaving cannot be done quickly. In the end, high production at the front end will force more people to join weaving or improve the machines."
Even though Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu were not good at reading sage books, they understood Zhang Shou's explanation so simply and straightforwardly. As for Zhao Si, after being stunned, he couldn't help scratching his head, but he was a little unconvinced.
"Since you have such concerns, why do you want to improve this textile machine, Dr. Zhang?"
Zhang Shou laughed and said, "The theory is the theory, and the implementation is the implementation. It is impossible to put the machine aside just because it increases production but affects people. However, this point cannot be ignored. In addition, you might as well think about how to gin cotton faster and how to weave cloth faster. Because just spinning faster will force the development of an entire industry."
"Since you have made this spinning machine, I will give you a corresponding bonus. If you make other things, you will also get bonuses. When the machine is proven to be effective after trial, you will get an additional share."
Zhao Si was immediately delighted. After thanking him repeatedly, he said awkwardly, "However, I haven't figured out what you meant by boring and drilling machines, Dr. Zhang. After all, it's different from a grinder, and if it's hydraulic..."
Before Zhao Si could finish his words, Zhang Shou interrupted him and said, "Take your time to study those lathes. I'll ask someone to come and try the textile machine. If it works well, I might even ask your master to help me make a hundred or eighty machines as an emergency measure."
Seeing Zhao Si's eyes light up and nod repeatedly, Zhang Shou glanced at Luo Xiaoxiao who was hesitant to speak, and then he called her over. As expected, Luo Xiaoxiao said with a smile: "Dr. Zhang, I have made the manual spring winding machine you mentioned. Although the spring force varies due to the problem of wire drawing, the overall force is good."
Zhang Shou was very excited when he heard that the manual spring winding machine had been made. He followed the man to a corner on the other side that was full of various parts, and saw him take out a pile of springs of various specifications. Of course, as for the elastic force standard, it was hard to say. He checked them one by one, and finally nodded with a smile.
"Since you have made this spring winding machine, there will naturally be corresponding rewards. So, Zhao Si has made a new spinning machine. You can think about it with him and try to install a spring on the shuttle used for spinning on the loom in the past and change it into a flying shuttle that can automatically go back and forth. Of course, this is my idea. How to implement it depends on you."
Seeing Luo Xiaoxiao immediately grabbed Zhao Si without saying a word, the two of them started a heated discussion. Zhang Shou smiled for a moment, and when he turned around and saw Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu were stunned, he waved to them to follow him out.
When they got to the yard, he smiled and asked Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu, "Do you know why I just told you what would happen if the new spinning machine was really useful?"
This time, it was Zhang Wu who reacted faster: "Young Master, what you mean is that a simple matter can affect the entire body."
"Yes, many things in this world are not isolated. A small choice can sometimes affect a series of things and even the overall situation. So when you do something, you might as well think about how others will react and respond. This is the same as playing chess, not thinking about one step, but two, three or even more steps."
Seeing that Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu nodded quickly, Zhang Shou stopped preaching and said thoughtfully: "The capital is not a cotton-producing area. I heard that apart from the two cotton-producing areas of Jiangnan and Shandong, Cangzhou, which is closest to the capital, has relatively more cotton fields, and the other is Xingtai. Therefore, if this spinning machine is really to be promoted, the source of cotton will probably fall into these two places."
As soon as Zhang Shou said this, Zhang Lu called out, "Young Master, my family has 400 acres of cotton fields in Cangzhou!"
"My family should have some too." Zhang Wu took a deep breath and then said in a deep voice, "If possible, I can ask my family to give me the cotton fields when we divide the family property, and nothing else!"
Zhang Shou couldn't help but smile when he saw the two brothers react so quickly and resolutely. However, when he thought about the best cotton varieties, upland cotton and sea island cotton, both of which were introduced from America, he couldn't help but sigh. No wonder people often say that the continent is a gift from God. On that land, there are so many excellent crops that are not available on other continents!
To be honest, he increasingly doubted why Emperor Taizu, who took the lead in sailing to America at such an old age, had no major purpose in this regard, not for immigration or colonization, but for the crops.
He smiled as he thought about it and said, "To promote spinning machines, we don't necessarily have to start from the cotton fields. Besides, a few hundred acres of land may seem like a lot, but how much cotton can actually be produced in a year? How much yarn can be spun? How much cotton cloth can be woven? How many clothes can be made? Moreover, after seeing the spinning machine just now, you should be able to imagine that as long as someone is interested, it would be easy to copy it."
Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu had never really been involved in business - as illegitimate sons, they could not get involved in the family business. So, at this moment, the two looked at each other and had to admit that Zhang Shou was right, but they were even more confused.
So what should we do?
Zhang Shou recalled the various handicraft industries that Carpenter Sun and Ironsmith Zhang had inquired about before, and said thoughtfully: "The most urgent thing is to find a skilled spinner to try this machine. If this new spinning machine can really increase efficiency several times, then it will depend on you two."
Hearing this, Zhang Wu and Zhang Lu looked at each other, and Zhang Wu asked tentatively: "Young sir, do you want Xiao Wu and I to come forward and sell 180 textile machines?"
"What are you thinking? A royal consort and a groom, going to sell spinning machines to people?" Zhang Shou was both angry and amused. "You think too little of yourselves. You know, many people have not yet digested your marriage. Just wait and see. Within a few days, or even today, there will be officials, merchants, and even people of all kinds who want to make friends with you."
"At this time, no matter which of you two, casually say that you want to buy a weaving and dyeing workshop. Remember, you want one that can weave both silk and cotton. As for the reason, it's even simpler. Just say that you plan to weave and dye the most beautiful clothes to please your future daughter-in-law. In this way, naturally someone will take the initiative to contact you."
Zhang Wu was dumbfounded, but Zhang Lu was much more obedient than him. He immediately said with joy: "Yes, maybe someone will take the initiative to offer it with both hands!"
"No, I will never accept anything that is offered to me by others." Zhang Shou immediately interrupted Zhang Lu's smugness. "You should be grateful if you receive something from someone else . There is no such thing as a free lunch in this world. If someone offers you a favor, they will naturally want you to do them a favor in the future. Of course, you can ignore it like a consort or a groom, but if you do that, your reputation will be ruined."
Although Zhang Lu was a bit cunning and greedy, he immediately understood what Zhang Shou said. He couldn't rely on his parents, and he didn't know whether the emperor appreciated him or pitied him for the marriage. If he ruined the emperor's good impression of him for a little money, he would be the biggest fool in the world!
Zhang Wu agreed even faster: "Don't worry, young sir. A-Lu and I understand. If someone comes to us, we will buy the weaving and dyeing workshop at a fair price...but what should we do next?"
Zhang Shou smiled easily and said, "The follow-up is very simple. Now that we have a weaving and dyeing workshop, we can gather all the spinning and reeling families or workshop owners who used to supply this weaving and dyeing workshop in the name of your high demands. Of course, the reeling is just a cover. The most important thing is the spinners. Let them gather here, keep them spinning for a few days with high salaries, and spread the word."
