The Golden Family, rising from the Western Regions

Chapter 124 The Beginning of the Golden State Industrial Revolution

The autumn harvest has passed and the grain has been stored in the warehouse.

The people of Hexi Fort completed the most important farming task of the year.

The lively scene in the fields gradually faded away, and only stubble and scattered straw remained on thousands of acres of land. It was empty and silent, with a hint of loneliness after the harvest, waiting only for the next spring to plant crops again.

But this does not mean that the people's farm work is over.

There is more important work to do.

While the grass on the pasture has not completely withered, every household will harvest it in large quantities.

After all, in winter, the sky is covered with snow and everything is dead and silent.

These stored pastures are life-saving supplies for cattle and sheep.

Relying on this simple method, the cattle and sheep can survive this winter.

By the next spring, the skinny cattle and sheep will eat fresh grass and will become fat and tender again in just half a month.

As the sun sets, the crimson light is gradually replaced by darkness.

Li Xiao drove a horse-drawn carriage back home.

The carriage was full of hay. After unloading it, he came to the water tank and drank a bowl of water in big gulps.

He exhaled lightly, then wiped his mouth with his arm.

At this moment, Sanfeng suddenly came running towards me from the backyard.

After seeing Li Xiao, he immediately showed a look of joy.

"Big brother is back, big brother is back."

Then, he grabbed Li Xiao's arm and pulled him into the backyard.

He looked as if he was excitedly seeking praise, and as he walked he said, "Come on, big brother, I can use the spinning machine now."

"I'll show it to you."

Li Xiao was pulled by Sanfeng into the backyard.

I saw my mother Qin Dani standing in front of a spinning machine, operating it with her slightly clumsy hands, trying to spin the wool into thread.

It was different from the one Li Xiao saw at his eldest sister’s house.

This spinning machine looks much bigger.

It is also composed of rollers and spindles, but the spindles are placed upright, and the original one spindle has now become eight.

In other words, one person who originally could only spin one thread can now spin eight threads at the same time.

Greatly increased work efficiency.

"Mom, you learn really fast." Li Xiao praised with a smile, and walked forward to carefully check the operation of the spinning machine.

"It only takes one day to learn how to spin wool into yarn. That's amazing." Li Xiao laughed.

Looking at the thickness of the roll of yarn next to it, you can tell that Qin Dani has almost learned it and is becoming more and more proficient.

Qin Dani was delighted to hear Li Xiao's praise. She stopped what she was doing and said, "The last time I went to your sister's house, I saw her busy knitting wool."

"I was thinking of learning from your elder sister, but unfortunately we don't have a spinning machine at home."

"I didn't expect that you, Dalong, could figure it out."

"And it looks like it's better than the one at your eldest sister's house."

Qin Dani was smiling and it was obvious that she was very interested in the spinning machine in front of her.

In fact, the textile industry was already very developed at this time, but it was mainly concentrated in the Jiangnan area.

Jinzhou is completely blank in this regard, with almost no family workshops.

The reason why Li Dafeng learned to weave wool was because of her neighbor aunt who came from the desert.

Li Dafeng asked someone to make a spinning machine based on the one at Aunt Huang's house and then he made one for himself.

But like the machines of this era, it can only spin one thread at a time.

When a certain amount was collected, Li Dafeng sent it to Aunt Huang's house.

When she returns to her parents' home, she will help sell the wool yarn in the desert.

Because the quantity is small, the price is very low. Li Dafeng actually doesn’t make much money, but it’s better than nothing and better than doing nothing.

After seeing her spinning machine, Li Xiao was inspired.

A better spinning machine was thought of.

The spinning jenny, the beginning of the Western Industrial Revolution.

It sounds a bit high-sounding, but it is actually very simple.

It is to stand up the originally horizontal spindle wheel to increase the storage space of the single spinning machine, turning one spindle wheel into eight spindle wheels.

Then, the original manual crank was converted to foot-powered, freeing up one hand.

Finally, the roller device and combing components were installed, and the lower tension device was adjusted.

A simple spinning jenny is ready.

Of course, what Li Xiao made now definitely cannot be called this name.

Li Xiao named it Hexi Spinning Machine.

In fact, this multi-spindle spinning machine was described in Xu Guangqi's "Tiangong Kaiwu" in the Ming Dynasty, and it is almost the same as the spinning machine in the early days of the Industrial Revolution.

This shows that my country had already started using this type of spinning machine during the Ming Dynasty. However, the emergence of the Qing Dynasty dealt a devastating blow to the Jiangnan business, and various technologies were also interrupted.

Otherwise, the Industrial Revolution might have occurred in China earlier.

Seeing Qin Dani's fondness for the spinning machine, Li Xiao also laughed: "It must be much easier to use."

"This spinning machine can spin eight threads at a time."

He casually picked up the wool Qin Dani had prepared earlier and gently kneaded it in his hands.

It is quite strong and not easy to tear, so it can be used to weave woolen cloth.

This is a much better fabric than cotton.

It is warmer than cotton and has better stress resistance.

The biggest problem is that it shrinks easily. Another problem is that wool is not as productive as cotton, so it cannot be widely promoted.

"Why are you all in the backyard?"

Just as Li Xiao and the others were talking, the old man walked in with his hands behind his back.

The old man was not idle that day. He was mowing the lawn just like Li Xiao.

Just came back with the sheep.

After hearing Sanfeng's voice, he hurried over. After all, the things in the backyard were all his blacksmithing tools, which were sharp and angular and quite dangerous.

"Master, come and see, this pile of wood my eldest brother made can really be spun into woolen yarn."

When Sanfeng saw the old man coming, her eyes lit up, as if she had seized the opportunity to show off.

As he spoke, he replaced Qin Dani and stood in front of the spinning machine.

He reached out and picked up a handful of wool, combed it gently, and placed it next to the wheel. Then, he gently stepped on the caster, and with power, the wheel began to turn.

Pull and comb the wool fibers evenly to make them neat and straight.

The spindles spin rapidly, tightly twisting the combed wool fibers into strong yarn.

The process is not complicated. Soon, more and more yarns are placed on the spindle, forming full balls of yarn.

The old man was also a little stunned when he saw the scene in front of him.

He turned to look at Li Xiao and asked, "Is this what you've been tinkering with during this period?"

This thing?
Although the old man spoke calmly, Li Xiao could still hear that he didn't take it seriously.

This is a bit disrespectful to this Hexi spinning machine.

"This is not an ordinary thing." Li Xiao shook his head.

"Ordinary spinning machines can only spin one thread at a time, but this one can spin eight, or even sixteen threads at a time."

"It used to take sixteen people to do the job, but now it only takes one person, which saves a lot of effort."

"Master, do you think it's powerful?" Li Xiao explained.

The old man remained calm and nodded: "This thing is used for weaving."

"You can say that." Li Xiao nodded.

In fact, spinning and weaving are two different things.

The spinning machine is used to spin raw materials into yarn, and weaving is the process of weaving the yarn into cloth. They are two separate processes.

Spinning machines alone are not enough. If we want to develop Jinzhou's textile industry, we must also develop looms.

Li Xiao also had an idea in this regard.

Prepare to add something to the loom of this era.

It was the flying shuttle recorded in middle school history textbooks that could greatly improve the efficiency of weaving.

However, the use of the shuttle also requires a tool.

spring!

If you want to forge the spring, you need the old man's help.

"You've been tinkering with this spinning machine all this time, and you've put in a lot of effort."

"From now on, I'd better focus more on practicing martial arts."

The old man put his hands behind his back and spoke in a calm tone.

Then, he gently touched Sanfeng's head and an ugly smile appeared on his face.

He said encouragingly: "Sanfeng, you did a great job, you are better than your mother and grandmother."

Li Xiao naturally understood what the old man meant.

In the old man's view, weaving is a woman's job.

Li Xiao is a grown man, but it seems a bit unprofessional for him to tinker with this thing.

You should focus on practicing martial arts, farming, riding and archery, and training soldiers.

Li Xiao was helpless, shook his head and smiled, and could only coax the old man and said: "Okay, Master, my martial arts will definitely not fall behind."

It can only be said that it is a gap in cognition.

In the old man's view, the one with the strongest army and the strongest soldiers is the king, the one with the bigger fist is right, and everything else is empty.

But Li Xiao had the vision of future generations and saw it very clearly.

Many times, war is a test of comprehensive strength.

Nothing great can be accomplished simply by soldiers daring to fight and fight.

We must have strong economic and technological support to go further.

Even if a war is lost, the foundation will not be damaged, and an army armed to the teeth can be easily reassembled.

Without these, a war might be enough to bring it back to its original state.

However, Li Xiao did not argue with the old man about this.

Instead, he turned to the old man and asked, "Master, in a few days, I plan to organize a caravan to go to the desert."

"Send the Xifeng Lie we've been brewing for a while and sell it."

"Look, who in our Li family can stand firm?"

Before the autumn harvest, Li Xiao had already sent a message to the old man and took his people to Hexi Fort to start brewing large quantities of wine.

After this period of fermentation, Hexibao's wine has become a success.

Next, all that remains is the distillation step.

Xifeng Lie will be able to officially complete mass production.

Therefore, Li Xiao planned to send someone to the desert to sell wine and buy a batch of cotton.

Although wool can also be used to make cloth, its performance in some aspects is still inferior to cotton.

(End of this chapter)