Bringing the Railway to Daming

Chapter 235: Female Workers’ Life, Arriving in North America! [Please Subscribe]

After entering the factory, the roar of the steam engine filled my ears.

In fact, the design of the Jinling Textile Factory's factory building followed Liu Kuan's advice, separating the steam engine room from the production workshop with a cement wall and lengthening the transmission system as much as possible, so the sound transmitted to the workshop has been greatly weakened.

Even if it is weakened, it is still a noise to people.

The women workers in the workshop were busy at their looms, looking very focused. Perhaps they had been warned by the mill management beforehand, so they did not stop their work to greet Liu Kuan and the other officials.

In fact, as long as the machines keep running, their operations cannot stop, and it is difficult for them to leave their jobs.

These female workers all wear uniform blue work clothes and hats, standing in front of their posts, performing boring operations that cannot be relaxed at all. It looks hard work.

However, the scene is indeed pleasing when the cotton cloth is produced quickly on the machine, which can be seen with the naked eye.

Liu Kuan walked slowly over with a few officials, and stopped when he came behind the two female workers.

It turned out that the two female workers were Deng and Guanyinnu who had successfully entered the Jinling Textile Factory.

Because the Jinling Textile Factory paid very well and recruited workers from the two counties of the capital through the government, and because the Hu customs still existed in the early Ming Dynasty, it was normal for women from the countryside to work in public to make a living, and it was even more normal to work in a weaving workshop, so there were indeed quite a few women who came to apply.

With so many applicants, the textile factory naturally has to select the best ones.

With Deng and Guanyinnu's textile skills, they would not have been able to pass the interview. But since Old Zhu had given the order, they naturally passed.

Speaking of which, Liu Kuan had seen the two of them in the factory during the training of female workers before, so he was not surprised at this time.

He just wanted to see how these two "women" from unusual backgrounds would perform on their first day of work.

Guanyinnu's movements seemed slow but orderly.

Deng's movements seemed skillful, but there were always dangers. If he had not trained enough, he would most likely make mistakes.

"I wonder how long these two can last in the factory." Liu Kuan smiled secretly and walked over with the officials.

Deng and Guanyinnu used to grow and sell vegetables during the day and weave at night, which was indeed hard work. But compared to working as a textile factory worker, it was much easier and more free.

The work in a textile factory is not hard for female workers, but the strict management, long hours of boring operations, and the required concentration can easily make people physically and mentally exhausted.

Of course, the wages of female workers in textile factories are not low either.

At least what was mentioned in the previous notice was just the base salary, and the final monthly salary would be the bonus.

In order to encourage female workers to work hard and do more work, their bonuses are linked to the quality of the products they produce.

According to Liu Kuan's estimation, as long as the female workers don't slack off and go to get off work normally every day, they can earn at least two guan per month!

This income is very high.

At the prices in the early Ming Dynasty, it was enough to support two or three people.

In addition, the textile factory also provides lunch, treats accidents and work injuries, and provides pensions.

Considering that they only have to work during the day and can weave or do housework at home at night, it is definitely a good job for ordinary women today.

After leaving the cotton weaving workshop, Liu Kuan inspected the cotton spinning workshop and other departments of the textile factory. He expressed his approval of some of the factory's work and made a few small suggestions before leaving. After all, the Jinling Textile Factory was under the Ministry of Revenue's Commerce Bureau, which was not under his jurisdiction and was not even in the same department. He only needed to come and inspect it occasionally...
After Liu Kuan left, the female workers at Jinling Textile Factory continued to work until early noon.

There is a cafeteria in the factory, and there is only half an hour for lunch and rest at noon, so the female workers all eat in the cafeteria.

When the other female workers hurried out of the workshop and headed for the canteen, Deng fell behind, and Guanyin Nu naturally accompanied her.

"Oh my God, the work in this textile factory is too tiring. I regret it." Deng pinched her sore arm and complained.

Guanyin Nu was also pinching her arm and nodded when she heard this: "It's indeed tiring - working from the morning hour to the beginning of the afternoon, not only do I have to stand the entire time, but my hands are also rarely idle. The most important thing is that I can't let my mind wander."

Deng said with a bitter face, "It's too hard to earn these two strings of cash a month. I don't want to work anymore."

Guanyinnu sighed, "The work in the factory is tiring, but if we go out, it will be difficult for the two of us to earn three or four strings of cash a month."

"The vegetable business was already difficult, and now with the Jinling Textile Factory, I'm afraid that the cloth people weave themselves will become cheaper in the future, and we won't be able to make as much money as before."

Speaking of this, Guanyinnu and Deng couldn't help but recall the shock they felt when they first saw the steam spinning machines and steam looms.

A steam loom could produce ten times more cloth in a day than a hand loom, and a spinning machine could spin hundreds of spindles simultaneously! The amount of yarn spun in a day was dozens of times more than what ordinary people could produce at home!
There are still few steam machines in the factory now, but it is said that more will be added in the future and more workers will be recruited.

If there were hundreds of steam textile machines, how many spindles could the Jinling Textile Factory spin and how much cloth could it weave in a day?
Once the goods from the factory are sold, the prices of spindles and cloth on the market will inevitably become lower.

Thinking of this, Deng gave up the idea of ​​leaving the factory.

"Let's just hold on for a little longer. When we first started growing and selling vegetables, we also found it very hard. Once we get through it and get used to it, we won't feel tired anymore."

"Besides, he might be keeping an eye on us. If we don't work hard, it's useless. We might never become a prince again in our lifetime."

After hearing this, Guanyinnu nodded in agreement, and then the two of them quickened their pace to go to the cafeteria and line up for food.

The food in the cafeteria is pretty good. Although there are only two vegetarian dishes, one of them is tofu, and they all have some oil and water. They are also generous with salt - but the price of salt in Ming Dynasty is quite cheap now, so it is normal for the cafeteria to be generous with salt.

After lunch and washing the dishes, the two of them rested with the other female workers for more than two quarters of an hour, and then the factory bell rang...
···
Under the guidance of Liu Kuan and with the support of Zhu Yuanzhang and his son Zhu Biao, the science and industry of the Ming Dynasty developed day by day.

On the other side of the Pacific Ocean, after more than two months of exploratory voyages, the Ming Dynasty's first long-distance exploration fleet not only successfully arrived at the North American continent, but also arrived at the first important exploration area on the map given by the court on the first day of May.

"This is probably the Seattle area shown on the map of North America given to us by the imperial court, right?"

At the junction of a bay of unknown length and the ocean, nine large ships of the First Long-distance Exploration Fleet were anchored in a natural harbor, looking weathered. Fleet Commander Chen Zhongming and his deputy commander stood on a high observation tower, each holding a telescope to look around.

This telescope was a reward from the imperial court to Zhang Bingyi after he successfully completed his mission on Ice and Fire Island last year.

The days of sailing on the sea were very boring, and he had already memorized the map of North America given by the court in his mind.

Hearing Chen Zhongming's question, he didn't put down the telescope and nodded excitedly, "Looking at the surrounding mountains and seas, it should be the Seattle area!"

　Second update.

　　I'm feeling a little unwell, so this chapter is already 2,000 words long.

　　Good night~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)