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Chapter 1078 Stockings

Just as the navy was busy building a port in Colombo and secretly transporting muskets and artillery to the port of Hormuz using the Danish East India Company's merchant ships, the two initiators of the conspiracy were distracted and did the work that the emperor should not have done.

"Click... click... click..."

As the two feet stepped on it alternately, dozens of question-mark-shaped steel wires moved up and down in odd and even numbers. Every time a row was lifted, a long needle with a thread passed through the question marks and then passed back when the other row was lifted.

As the two rows of steel wires rose and fell, a long needle shuttled back and forth, and a thin piece of silk cloth slowly appeared behind the machine. No, it can't be said to be a piece, but a roll.

No matter what type of loom, the cloth woven is always one piece, the only difference is the width. But this machine wove a cylinder, like a trouser leg.

If you have seen socks being knitted in a factory in the future, you will definitely understand what this simple machine is. A knitting machine, a very primitive knitting machine driven by foot and operated by hands.

Its prototype was invented by the Englishman William Lee, long before Hong Tao ascended the throne. This machine can weave sweaters, trousers and socks, many times faster than pure manual work, and the quality of the finished products is the same, so there is no problem of personal technique.

But decades later, its structure and function have not changed much. It has only evolved from using wool as the raw material to weave woolen trousers and sweaters to using silk as the raw material to weave stockings.

Yes, it was stockings, which were very similar to those of later generations, except that they were not highly elastic and translucent. Moreover, stockings at that time were not exclusive to women. On the contrary, in the European aristocratic circles, only men wore stockings, and they did not wear pants to deliberately expose them.

Just imagine, a big man who is over 1.8 meters tall, weighs over 180 kilograms, has a broad back and strong muscles, with bare legs wearing a pair of stockings, pointed leather shoes, pumpkin-shaped shorts, and thick powder on his face, walking down the street in a swaying manner. What kind of scene is that?
When Kepler and Descartes worked together to build this machine, they brought it to the palace and personally demonstrated its functions to the Emperor. Hong Tao grinned and went up to try it, but gave up in less than ten minutes, shaking his head.

It's not that I didn't learn it. This thing is not difficult to use. As long as the hands and feet have no obstacles in coordination, you can learn it after watching it a few times. The reason why Hong Tao shook his head was not only because he felt disgusted with the application of the product, but also because he was not satisfied with its performance.

"The Imperial Textile Factory has long used water and animal power to drive its machines. This pedal method is not suitable for large-scale production and needs to be modified before it is finalized. I will ask the craftsmen in the machinery factory to come to the academy to study with you on how to modify it."

But no matter how disgusting it is, Hong Tao does not intend to put it into cold storage. Instead, he wants to finalize it as soon as possible and then put it into production. There is definitely no market for stockings in the Ming Empire and Asian countries, but the demand in European countries is huge.

The thinner the fabric, the more the leg hair is visible, and the higher the price. European nobles like to wear this thing, and it is said that many noble women also began to favor stockings, often wearing them under skirts instead of underpants.

In fact, Hong Tao agreed to put the improvements into production not just for the money. His more ambitious goal was to upgrade the knitting machines step by step in actual use, slowly develop better performance, and ultimately achieve the goal of dominating the knitwear market.

Currently, there are only a few types of knitwear products, including sweaters, woolen trousers, woolen gloves and hats, plus stockings, which still cannot form a system. But Hong Tao knows that knitwear will sooner or later become a major category of textiles with the development of weaving equipment, and it will become more and more diverse, so he must make efforts in advance.

"Your Majesty, according to your rules, can this knitting machine calculate fractions?" But when Kepler and Descartes presented the knitting machine to the emperor, they were not thinking about industry and business, but integration.

Ever since he and Galileo, Mersenne and others went to the palace to write a letter strongly requesting the emperor to take time out to give lectures at the academy, the emperor was forced to come up with a set of excuses.

He said that knowledge has a price and cannot be given away for free. It must be exchanged. What is the exchange? Points! Every work, every provable conclusion, every major discovery produced by the academy can be scored according to its importance.

Every time the emperor accumulated 100 points, he would go to the academy to give a lecture, and the course content would be collectively decided by the European teachers in the academy, who would teach whatever they wanted to know.

In order to win trust, this set of rules was written down and posted on the notice board of the college. Not only European teachers have this treatment, but other teachers and students are also treated the same way.

In order to force the emperor to answer the questions in his mind, European teachers, under the organization of Galileo and Kepler, formed five groups, namely medicine, alchemy, physics, mathematics, and astronomy, and used their spare time to create.

This knitting machine is the work of the physics team. Although it still uses William Lee's ideas, it has been improved in various aspects such as structure, and its performance has been greatly improved.

"Of course it can. According to the rules, it can directly enter the industrial chain and contribute benefits in a short period of time, so it should be counted as 200 points." Faced with the indisputable reality, Hong Tao couldn't just wipe his face and deny it. He had to pretend to be calm and fair and strictly follow the rules.

"Then when does Your Majesty plan to give lectures at the academy? We will post the notice after we go back." Descartes smiled ugly. He loved his hair and refused to cut it, but he didn't take care of it, so he looked like a beggar.

"If I can provide a valuable idea, can we exchange two lectures?"

Of course, Hong Tao was reluctant to teach at the academy. He used to tell students that no one had the ability to make too many associations and thoughts, so there was not much burden. Now that there are more European scholars, he can't just open his mouth and talk.

As the saying goes, "Trouble comes from the mouth." As a plagiarist, the more you talk, the more loopholes there will be, and sooner or later you will be exposed. But if you limit the number of listeners to a very small circle, the consequences will be much more controllable. At worst, you can label it as a state secret and prohibit it from being spread outside. If that doesn't work, you can also put it under house arrest under various pretexts.

"...Can you reveal some relevant information first so that I can correctly judge its value?" Descartes looked at Kepler. The latter's krypton gold brain worked at high speed, analyzing the emperor's past performance and quickly came to a conclusion: no rabbit, no eagle!

(End of this chapter)