When the Saint comes, she does not collect food

Chapter 607 Wool Industry Chain

The night wind blew through the rugged rocks, making a whistling sound.

A thin mist rose from the mountains and forests, covering the overly simple country church on the edge of the village.

From the outside, apart from a cross installed on the roof, there is almost no difference between it and an ordinary armed farmyard.

The interior of the church was not luxurious either. Green moss grew in the corners of the walls, the floor was covered with a moldy wooden floor, and the low ceiling gave off a damp wood smell.

In front of the simple stone altar, there is a main podium and two rows of four seats, which can barely accommodate about 50 people. This is the scale of this old church.

At this moment, the pointed eaves were hidden in the darkness, and faint candlelight shone through the window frames and door cracks. It was lit by Ansel on purpose.

For this prayer meeting, he abandoned the oil lamp and lit the few remaining beeswax candles.

Unfortunately, compared to Ansel's expectations, the number of people who actually came to this prayer meeting was not as many as imagined.

"Are there only these fifteen people?" Bryson looked at the sparse crowd on the bench and couldn't help asking Ansel, "Are you late?"

Ansel didn't care much: "Henderson is selecting members for the wolf hunting team. Almost all the families with strong laborers are going."

Since there are many forests in the mountainous county, there are also a large number of wild beasts, including wild boars, wild wolves, foxes and even monsters.

Wild boars will dig up wheat, wolves will attack humans, foxes and minks will steal chickens and ducks, not to mention monsters.

So every year the knights would lead wolf hunting teams into the forest to hunt wild animals, and the people who accompanied them could get 20%-30% of the income from wolf hunting.

Therefore, there are many fierce people among the mountain people who are good at fighting and archery. It is not without reason that they become mercenaries and serve as the source of Meliati infantry.

But every year the wolf hunting team has about 20-40 members, who are selected by the village head every year, and the villagers naturally don't want to miss this opportunity.

Despite the temptation of salt, only 22 of the 15 mutual aid team members sent people, and many of them were fathers and brothers who went to the Henderson family and sent their own younger brothers.

As for the rest, some were too weak to participate in the wolf hunt, or had offended Henderson, so they would not be able to get a position even if they went.

After learning the reason from Ansel, Bryson first slapped his forehead, and then laughed at himself. As expected, if you really want to break conventions and traditions, how can it be so easy?

"Okay, let's get ready and start."

Fifteen believers sat in groups of three or four. It was already early September, but they had already put on animal skin vests and woolen trousers.

When they saw Ansel walk up to the altar, they immediately fell silent and stopped discussing wolf hunting.

After clearing his throat, Ansel announced to the fifteen believers:

“Dear believers of the Holy Lord, our fellow believers, at this moment, we gather in this simple yet holy church, not because of the cold outside, but because of the call of the Holy Lord and the enthusiasm in our hearts.

Perhaps there are only a few people present today, but as the scripture says: Wherever two or three are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.

The Holy Lord does not judge our piety by the number of people we are with, but rather by our inner faith and actions.

However, today I not only want to share the Lord’s words with you, but I also have a message to inform everyone.

Do you see the wool behind me? I have been wandering around the village recently and found that almost everyone has a spinning wheel in their home.

It’s a pity that every year we can only rely on borrowing and buying wool from armed farmers to weave cloth and make clothes, and most of the year is idle, which is too much of a pity. "

At this point, Ansel changed the subject: "You clearly have the technology and tools for weaving, but you can only stay here and cannot exchange for wealth. We in the Holy Way sect have always believed that labor creates value and exchange creates wealth.

You have labor and technology but no capital, and I happen to have capital. I wonder if we can adopt the model of processing supplied materials in exchange for wealth?

Winter is coming, and the superior order happened to buy a lot of wool. I took a part of it and wanted to give it to you to weave into yarn, and then ship it out for sale.

I will buy every pound of yarn you spin at half a dinar for yarn under 18 counts, and three-quarters of a dinar for yarn over 18 counts.”

所谓的纱支就是羊毛纱线的粗细程度，按照帝国的定义来计算一磅羊毛纺成840码长度的线叫做1支，纺成10个840码长度的线叫10支。

That is, the higher the count, the finer the yarn spun.

Generally, the limit is 18 count. Above count, it can be made into thick kraft cloth for padded jackets or jackets, while below count can only be used to make blankets and the coarsest winter woolen trousers.

Of course, there are more advanced ones with 28 counts or even 58 counts and above. The high-end fabrics woven with 58 count yarn are mostly used as underwear and undershirts for the nobility.

That's not something that can be spun by a spinning wheel.

The maximum number of threads that a household spinning wheel used in rural areas could produce was 30 counts. Even Horn's Star Cast Gear could not produce more than 58 counts of cloth due to unstable efficiency and mechanical structure problems.

Seeing that the villagers below were still confused and didn't understand, Bryson couldn't help but explain: "Brother Ansel gave you wool for free. Your wife used the spinning wheel to spin yarn in a day. He took half a dinar in exchange for the bad ones, and added 50% to the good ones. Do you understand?"

"Oh oh oh."

"Wouldn't it be enough if you had said so earlier?"

"Brother Ansel too, why do you always have to make so many cultural papers?"

The mountain folks finally understood what was going on, but they did not start to speak enthusiastically as Ansel had expected. Instead, they began to talk in low voices.

After they chatted privately for a long time, one of them was finally nominated. He stood up shyly and said, "You spent money to buy wool, and you spun it for us for free. After it was spun, you bought it back for free. How can this be so embarrassing?"

For these mountain people, the transportation cost of buying wool from other places is a huge amount of money, and how to sell it after spinning it into yarn is another big trouble.

Every time whether it is buying or selling, the merchants will suck blood out of you. People like Ansel who clearly mark the prices and even have no cost risk are obviously at a disadvantage.

It's just that now it's autumn and winter is hard to bear. They really need more income, but it's difficult for them to lower the price or refuse against their will.

Ansel waved his hands quickly: "Don't be embarrassed, this is what I should do. This is my political achievement."

Speaking of this, Ansel was also embarrassed, because according to the calculations of the Gospel Court Commercial Department, the cost of wool should account for about 35% of the total cost of manufacturing woolen cloth.

Ansel received a purchase price of 1.1 dinars per pound of wool. In other words, the cost of converting each pound of wool into cloth should be around 3.1 dinars.

Ansel only took out 0.5-0.75 dinars from the cost as processing fees, and at least 1.2-1.3 dinars for transportation costs and losses, and finally the workers of the Holy Loom of the Holy See only received 0.05 dinars.

But the problem was that the gear looms of the Holy See were so efficient that a rural spinner could spin 10 pounds of thread in 9 days, and the 9 pounds of thread could be woven on a reel loom in just one hour.

The efficiency of the reel loom driven by the holy wheel is 40 times that of the human-powered loom.

A village spinner earned 0.5 dinars a day weaving, while a worker in the Holy See weaving workshop earned 0.5 dinars an hour (actual daily wage was 3 dinars).

一条12码长1码宽的克拉司布售价是27第纳尔，用料7.2磅羊毛，总成本22.3第纳尔。

Horn put it directly on the market, and after deducting miscellaneous expenses, he made a net income of at least 4 dinars for each piece of cloth.

But Horn would not do that, because a kras cloth jacket uses 2-3 yards of material, costs 6.75 dinars, but sells for 12-14 dinars.

Based on the experience of Jeska's wife, the businesswoman Isolde, in supplying ready-made military uniforms to the army, Horn has successively set up several garment workshops with assembly line workbenches in the workshop area of ​​​​Jeanne d'Arc.

He was confident that he could reduce the production cost of each ready-made jacket to 1 dinar, and at the same time reduce the selling price of each piece of clothing to less than 10 dinars, so that he could earn a net income of 10 dinars for each piece of cloth.

As for the guilds in Jeanne d'Arc, I'm sorry, the craftsmen in the city are under your jurisdiction, but the industrial area is outside the city, which is the territory of the Savior Army.

He spent 4000 gold pounds to buy 4000 dan of wool, which was distributed from Gravel Plain to South Mound County to spinners in the hundred-household district to be spun into thread, then transported to North County and sent to the Holy See to be woven into cloth, and finally shipped down the river to Joan of Arc to be made into ready-made clothes.

Finally, these finished clothes will be transported to all directions along the Nauan River.

4000 dan of wool is equivalent to 56000 pieces of cloth. If it is processed into clothes and then sold, it can roughly earn about 4660 gold pounds.

In fact, if the canal in South Mound County could be opened, the transportation and loss costs could be further reduced. If Horn could transfer the spinning process to the machinery of the Holy See, the profit could increase further.

But Horn is not prepared to do so. Profit is not the goal but the means. The goal is to revitalize the economy of Thousand River Valley.

Through spinning, the mountain people of South Mound County can earn an additional income of about 15 dinars per month, which at least makes the reform period of the four-field rotation less difficult.

No matter how many times Ansel told them that the Holy Way Sect advocates freedom and equality, he could not win their trust by actually increasing their income.

This worked better than Horn's preaching.

And there is another huge benefit, which is that when Horn announces the dredging of the river and the construction of the canal in the future, he will just say: "Once the canal is open, the processing fee will be increased by another 20%, and whoever is in favor will be against it."

Not to mention Henderson, even if the county governor objects there's no chance.

When the time comes to recruit labor, both the enthusiasm for work and the public opposition will be much smaller, because they are not only working for Horn, but also for themselves.

Just like the bumper harvest in Langsander County last year, it was because each hundred-household district built and repaired a large number of water conservancy and irrigation facilities at extremely low labor costs, and the efficiency of collective labor was improved.

Unfortunately, the mountain folks still didn't understand Ansel's explanation, and could only rely on Bryson to translate: "The wool was bought by His Majesty the Saint Sun. There are not enough craftsmen in the city, so I'm asking you to lend a hand. If you do a good job, Brother Ansel will be appreciated and become the archbishop. Do you understand?"

After hearing this, the villagers understood that they could earn less money in exchange for political achievements. They immediately patted their chests and assured him, "Don't worry, you are a good person. You are much better as a bishop than that Urizen."

Squatting on the ground or sitting on stools, these mountain people rubbed their hands, and the heat in their eyes almost ignited the wool piled in the corner.

These farmers were the poorest on the estate, and they had only a few dinars in surplus throughout the year.

The spinning wheel at home was piled with ashes, and I usually picked hemp and flax to make clothes for myself.

But now their own agricultural income is not affected, and their wives and daughters at home who cannot do heavy work just go to spin yarn.

A person can spin 0.9 pounds of thread a day, which means he can earn an extra 30 dinars in 15 days a month, which is more than 1 gold pound a year. Who wouldn't be jealous?
"But Brother Ansel," a villager stood up, "we have other things to do at home on weekdays, such as threshing, harvesting, repairing the house, hunting wolves, and housework. It seems that we don't have time."

When the villager said this, Bryson, who was originally nodding and smiling, was stunned.

Yes, these villagers have a lot of work to do throughout the year. They have to sow and make wine in spring, plow and harvest in summer, thresh, chop wood and hunt wolves in autumn. They only have free time in winter.

It is no wonder that the mountain people are addicted to alcohol and gambling. In the long and gloomy winter, their cheapest and most nerve-numbing form of entertainment is alcohol.

These agricultural activities often require the participation of the whole family. The peasant women and children are all very busy, so where would they find the time to spin?
Amid the worried and solemn gazes of the crowd, Ansel laughed: "How come there is no time? If there is no time, where would we find the time to gather here?"

Looking around, Ansel opened his arms and said, "Isn't there our mutual aid team? You say, we can't just call our farmers' mutual aid team like this forever, what name should we give it?"

(End of this chapter)