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Chapter 246

There are many records about the origin of mulberry and hemp in ancient books. There are many such legends in "The King of Huainan": "Fuxi turned sericulture into silk cloth", Shennong "taught the people to use mulberry and hemp as cloth", "Yellow Emperor Yuanfei Xiling's family cultivated mulberry and cultivated relatives diligently" Silkworms started this”…

Humans first used hemp natural fibers, which has a history of more than 1 years. Regardless of whether the inventor was Fuxi, Shennong or the wife of the Yellow Emperor, it was only after a certain sage was born that people knew how to process silk and hemp and weave hemp and silk into it. .

Silk and linen were the most important raw materials for clothing in ancient my country. The rise of cotton happened a long time ago. Its origin is highly controversial. There are two different opinions: one is that my country does not produce cotton and it was only introduced in the late Song Dynasty and early Yuan Dynasty. The "introduction theory"; the other is the "self-production theory" that China has been producing cotton since ancient times, and the production areas have gradually moved from the frontier to the inland.

No matter which theory you say, North China does not produce cotton, and indeed no Malvaceae plants such as cotton wool and kapok have been found in this area.

There are quite a few mulberry trees, and silkworms that feed on mulberry leaves are also common in the nearby mountains and forests. Roasted silkworm pupae is a favorite delicacy among the tribesmen.

Before the Ming and Qing Dynasties, North China was one of the most important silk producing areas. The conditions for growing mulberry and raising silkworms were complete. However, sericulture and silk fabric production were labor-intensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Silk was essentially a luxury product. A person with a beautiful body is never a sericulture person.

With the current productivity, it is far from time to develop the sericulture industry.

In addition to silk and linen, the vines of the leguminous plant Kudzu can also be used as raw materials for clothing and quilts. Kudzu cloth was once popular in the south, but was gradually replaced by the popularity of cotton cloth, and has basically disappeared in modern times.

Therefore, neither Zhang nor Lin knew much about the processing and weaving methods of kudzu material. Instead of spending time thinking about it, it was better to discard it and just have hemp material.

The small piece of linen cloth was passed among the clan members, and everyone touched the thin and soft cloth and couldn't put it down.

Women who are good at handling leather immediately realize that the biggest advantage of linen over animal skin is that it has good breathability, which is very suitable for making clothes and quilts, and can be used in spring and autumn!
In cold weather, you can wear an animal skin coat to keep warm. In warm weather, you can wear a straw hat and leaves to protect yourself from the sun. In spring and autumn, it is too hot to wear animal skins, and it is easy to catch cold when covered with leaves. If you can wear linen clothes, it will definitely be very comfortable!
Although the women wanted to make these linen materials into fitting clothes, Zhang Tian gave priority to using the first batch of hemp threads to weave fishing nets.

When it comes to food, clothing, housing and transportation, food always comes first.With fishing nets, men's fishing efficiency will be greatly improved. With the richness of aquatic resources in Shuijing Lake, fish catch will be a stable source of food for a long time to come.After solving the food problem, consider what clothes to wear.

As a craftsman proficient in primitive techniques, Zhang Tian naturally also knows some fishing net weaving skills.

These skills had not been used for a long time and were a bit unfamiliar at first. However, during his stay in the riverside tribe, watching the locals weaving fishing nets awakened many memories in him. The fishing net that Xiaoshun brought back could also be used as a reference.

It is not easy to weave a good fishing net. It can take a few months at a time and two or three months at a slow time.

As the saying goes: If a worker wants to do his job well, he must first sharpen his tools.Before starting work, a batch of tools must be made.

"I know I know!"

Xiao was very excited when he heard that he was going to weave a fishing net. He had specifically asked the eel for advice, although it was only theoretical.

He said loudly: "We need to make the shuttle and ruler first!"

Zhang Tian smiled and nodded.

The shuttle is an indispensable tool in the process of weaving the net. Its quality directly affects the efficiency and quality of the net weaving.

The ruler board is a tool for standardizing the mesh size, which is equivalent to a mold. Only with the ruler board can we weave meshes with consistent specifications.

Both of the above tools can be made of wood or bamboo. Bamboo is better and has more stocks in the clan.

"Do you still remember how to do it?" Zhang Tian asked.

"Remember!" Xiao nodded vigorously.

"Then you come and show us how to do it."

Xiao was very happy to see everyone's eyes falling on him. He enjoyed the attention and attention of the crowd very much.

The production of shuttles and ruler boards is relatively simple. Zhang Tian would definitely be more efficient than Xiao if he taught it himself, but he was happy to give Xiao a chance to practice and improve his prestige.

"We should choose bamboo with a smooth, flat and thin surface, and avoid the bamboo joints..."

While Xiao Xiao was recalling the eel's instructions, he used a knife to cut the bamboo into pieces about the length of his hand and the size of two fingers, and then cleaned the yellow side of the bamboo to make it smooth and flat.

He quickly sharpened one end of the bamboo block, drilled a hole near the tip of the shuttle, and made an "n"-shaped hole. The other end was ground into a "u" shape to facilitate winding and knotting.

After trimming the burrs and smoothing it with leaves, a bamboo shuttle is completed.

Zhang Tian showed a satisfied smile.Xiao's hands-on ability is quite strong. Huang Yi didn't teach him step by step how to make the shuttle. He just showed him the finished product and he copied it perfectly.

The production of the ruler board is simpler, it is just a square board, like a small ruler.The size can be customized according to your own needs, generally it can be made into palm size.The only thing worth noting is that the upper and lower edges of the ruler board should be polished as parallel as possible. The more parallel the weaving, the more uniform the mesh will be.

With all the tools in place, the next step is the main event.

The birth of a fishing net requires a total of multiple steps such as making the net outline, starting from the beginning, plain weaving, taking out the pocket, sealing the net, painting the net, and carrying the bag. It is not at all simpler than making a horn bow.

Xiao just listened to Huang Eel's explanation of the process and thought he understood it. When it came time to start, he only came up with the simplest outline of the network, and then he struggled.

The net outline is the framework part of the entire fishing net. It is a load-bearing rope that is held in the hand to control the casting and closing of the net. Therefore, a good net outline must be strong and durable.It is not difficult to make. Just choose a thicker rope, seven or eight meters long, fold it in half three times, and then tie the two ends with thin threads.

Xiao was stuck on the second step. He took the net he brought back from the riverside tribe and looked at it for a long time without figuring it out. Seeing that the tribesmen were getting a little impatient, he had to look up to the sky for help.

Zhang Tian coughed and ordered: "That's it for today. You have to learn the knowledge bit by bit. You first make the shuttle, the ruler board and the net outline, and then teach the rest. Spin more threads, the more the better. There is not enough flax material here, so we have to cut some more and bring them back for retting."

He paused, his eyes swept over the familiar faces, and he named a series of names: "Mint, Iris, Green Snake, Red Rock..."

He singled out women who showed talent for spinning.

"The threads spun by you are long and fine. I will leave this matter to you. There will be many places where flax material will be used in the future, so don't let the flax retting pond be idle!"

The woman whose name was called straightened her back and responded in unison, with a look of pride on her face.Labor is the hardest, but it is also the most glorious. There is nothing more satisfying than using your own hands to create a beautiful life.

After the people dispersed, Zhang Tian quickly picked up the thread and practiced his fishing net weaving skills.

After he learned this traditional skill, he only practiced it two or three times, and the last time was three or four years ago.

He was really rusty at his craftsmanship, and he didn't dare to be a teacher until he regained his skills.It doesn't matter if Xiao Ka Ke is embarrassed. As a priest of the sky, he must maintain his omniscient persona.

The owl has just finished showing its eyes, and now its face is still hot.

He was always quick and eager to learn, so he immediately came over and asked, "What should I do next? I forgot..."

Zhang Tian didn't answer immediately. He thought for a moment and then said, "Go and get a piece of bamboo tube, as long as it's about the same thickness as your wrist."

Xiao quickly fetched the bamboo tube.

The women gradually became accustomed to the properties of the new material, and the threads they spun became longer and longer, wrapping around the spinning wheel to form a ball.

Zhang Tian took six pieces of twine, set aside about ten meters, and continued to wrap the thread around the bamboo tube for a total of 32 turns, which means that this fishing net will be woven into 32 net pockets.

He remembered it very clearly. This was because 32 was the product of four and eight. It had the meaning of coming from all directions and was considered a good luck.In addition, 32 is also a symmetrical number. The better the symmetry of the fishing net, the easier it is to open it.

After wrapping, remove all the coils, pass the mesh through the coils, tie the coils into a tight knot, and then tie the coils tightly with thin wire.In this way, all preparations before weaving the net have been completed.

The weaving process is more mechanized. To put it simply, it means constantly weaving and knotting. Each time a knot is tied, a mesh is formed.

The ruler board in his left hand and the shuttle in his right hand. The shuttle and thread are flexibly intertwined in Zhang Tian's hands, and the fishing net gradually takes shape as it is threaded and pulled.At first, Zhang Tian's technique was still very green, but then he gradually got better and finally formed an inertia. The constantly interlacing threads dazzled him.

Only then did he realize that weaving fishing nets was not as easy as the eels said. Maybe it would become easier once you become proficient, but it was definitely hellishly difficult when you first got started!It is a great test of weaving ability, which is what men lack.

Women have far more knitting experience than men. If a woman does this, she may learn faster.

But men only think about it in their hearts and will never admit it with their mouths.They want to be fishermen. If a fisherman can't even make fishing tools, wouldn't it be a joke?

Despite the high level of difficulty, the men all studied very seriously.

It took Zhang Tian several nights to teach the men how to weave mesh with shuttles and rulers.

As the number of meshes and turns of the mesh increases, a buoy made of wood needs to be added to the middle section of the weaving to slow down the sinking speed of the fishing net in the water and allow it to stretch better.

After you continue knitting for a sufficient number of turns, it's time to weave a net bag.

The same weaving method, but the knots are required to be strong and smooth, and try to avoid slip knots and slanted eyes, so the net bag part will be woven slower and the length will be about one meter to avoid missing fish.

Finally, the net is sealed, which is the process of fixing the stone net pendant with a rope.

This step is extremely time-consuming and laborious, not only because the arrangement and connection of the threads are intricate, but also because the knotting techniques are different from before, and each net bag must hang at least one stone net pendant. There are 32 net bags in one net, so it needs to be polished at least 32 times. A stone!
This is hard work for these new fishermen!
They work normally during the day, not only taking care of the millet seedlings in the fields, but also going boating and fishing in the lake. They also work overtime at night to make fishing nets and polish stone net pendants. Of course, they are happy to work overtime, no matter how hard and tiring they are, they still enjoy it. .

After sealing the stone net pendant, a fishing net is basically formed.

In order to increase the strength and service life of the net lines, the entire fishing net needs to be processed after weaving. Because later generations often used the method of painting, this process is called paint netting.

There were no industrial paints in this era, only natural paint produced by the lacquer tree. However, the lacquer tree is poisonous and its sap can cause allergic reactions in people. Moreover, there are not many such trees nearby, so we had to give up.

Zhang Tian also knew an ancient and primitive method.

He asked men to paint it with animal blood collected every day, and then baked it with fire to solidify the blood and give it a certain protective effect.

After the fishing net is dry, start lifting the bag, that is, using threads to connect the net bag and the coils on the net frame one by one.

At this point, the men were almost fainting, and their minds were as messed up as the numbness in the pond.The women were also a little dizzy looking at the countless grids formed by densely packed threads.

Most people have given up thinking long ago. They strictly follow the instructions of the sky priest without thinking about the reasons. Many people even haven’t understood the principle of the fishing net until they finish weaving it, and they still ask: "Why did you throw the net into the net?" Can you catch fish if you fish it out again in the lake? Won’t the fish run away?”

Zhang Tian explained patiently: "Because the fishing net has two layers, the outer layer is the net, and the inner layer is the thread that pulls the net bag. When the net is cast out, the net is open, and when the net is closed, the net bag is pulled. It will roll in and close up, trapping the fish inside like a cage.”

He demonstrated as he spoke.He hopes that everyone can truly understand and learn how to weave fishing nets, so that they can weave fishing nets independently in the future, instead of having to be taught by him every time.

In this process, the gap between people is once again reflected.

Xiao Xiao was able to keep up with his teachings, and several young people such as Sable, Snake Grass, and Granite also understood it quickly, while the others had a harder time.

Zhang Tian asked the good students to teach the poor students, and asked those who understood to answer questions for those who did not understand.

The first batch of fishing nets took nearly two months from start to finish, and the yield rate was less than half. Half of the fishing nets needed improvement, and a small part were completely unqualified and had to be reworked.

After all, it was the first time to weave a net, and this result was within Zhang Tian's expectation.It will definitely be faster to weave the net again later than the first time. At least the stone net pendant does not need to be re-polished, which can save a lot of time.

The men who succeeded in weaving a fishing net were so excited that they couldn't sleep, and the losers couldn't sleep even more. The comparison between people is so irritating!
Early the next morning, Xiao Xiao and a group of fishermen rushed to the lake to test the water with their fresh fishing nets.

They stepped into the shallow water near the beach, stood in a row, and threw the fishing net far away. The fishing net relied on inertia to open its surface, fell into the water, and slowly sank to the bottom.

Pulling the net outline and folding the net bag, dazzling silver light appeared in the fishing net, and excited shouts sounded on the lake!

From today on, they are real fishermen!
(End of this chapter)