Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty

"The Imperial Master has arrived in person?!"

After Tang Yin heard this unexpected news, he immediately stood up from his seat and hurried out of the pavilion.

Hu Hancang and the others followed closely, which effectively alleviated the embarrassment just now.

"Hurry, hurry, hurry up and greet us!"

When everyone arrived at the north gate of the venue, a group of carriages had slowly stopped.

Tang Yin led a group of factory area managers to greet him at the door.

The car curtain was opened, revealing Jiang Xinghuo's face.

I didn’t ride a horse today because I had to gallop for several days in Suzhou Prefecture to conduct a surprise inspection on the Qingtian work. The skin on my thighs was worn away. I had to walk eight steps beyond the point. I couldn’t ride any more, so I came by car. .

"I've seen the Imperial Master!"

The Imperial Master's car parked at the north gate of the factory area, causing a sensation immediately.

This was the visit of the Imperial Master in person, and it was the first time for Xue Wuying and others to see the rumored Imperial Master of the Ming Dynasty up close.

Li Jie and the others were even ready to kneel down and salute, but were stopped. In the Ming Dynasty, such overly solemn etiquette was still not popular among the people and temples. Ordinary people did not need to bow down even when meeting officials, only when facing nobles. This kind of etiquette requirement is only required when dealing with the royal family.

Tang Yin looked at this familiar face and couldn't care less for a moment why he had been notified that he would come from Shanghai County for inspection tomorrow.

However, she did not dare to neglect, and stepped forward and said: "The imperial master has been traveling all the way, it is really hard work."

Jiang Xinghuo walked out of the carriage with a smile and said, "Come to the factory to inspect the work, and take a look at the conditions of these workers. What's the trouble? Why, you don't welcome me?"

Tang Yin quickly said: "How could it be? It just feels too sudden."

This suddenness actually has safety considerations.

This time in Qingtian, although it looked very satisfying to kill a lot of people, it also offended many people in the four Jiangnan mansions. This means that there are likely to be many people who are willing and able to attack Jiang Xinghuo himself. Taking action for personal safety In fact, Jiang Xinghuo understood this very clearly. Reform is a change that touches the interests of the gentry class. This kind of change is enough to rise to the level of life-and-death nature.

For those who want to stop the reform immediately and return to the era of Jianwen's "public righteousness and prosperity", the fastest and low-cost way to block the reform is to assassinate Jiang Xinghuo himself.

Jiang Xinghuo has never felt that he is the son of destiny. Although he is not afraid of death, a bullet or a crossbow arrow can also send him to reincarnation.

In order to avoid the end of the people and the government, Jiang Xinghuo has always done a good job in defensive measures. There are many soldiers guarding him around. In this case, there is no risk of being assassinated even outdoors. There are layers of iron and steel with tall people and horses. The pimple is protecting it.

However, he had notified the Shanghai County Government before that he was coming to the south to visit the handicraft factory area tomorrow. Jiang Xinghuo had not yet checked in. He only had a meal and rested for a while, and then suddenly slipped out of the back door and came directly, in order to prevent the County Government from There is really a mole. No one can guarantee this kind of thing.

"It used to be a wasteland, but now it has changed a lot. It's because you have put so much effort into it."

As Jiang Xinghuo spoke, he helped Tang Yin and the others up in admiration.

At the north gate of the factory area, Jiang Xinghuo talked patiently with the female workers who came after hearing the news for half an hour.

"You are performing very well in the factory, and the workers are also working hard and enthusiastically. I hope you will continue to work hard to build the factory into a prosperous place. If you need anything, whether it is the county or the government, we will try our best to help you. .”

Hearing Jiang Xinghuo's words, Tang Yin's eyes suddenly turned red. She didn't expect that Jiang Xinghuo valued them so much, which made her feel a little touched.

After all, Tang Yin had been brainwashed in the White Lotus Sect before, and was eventually abandoned as a chess piece. Even after she became a saint, Tang Yin could still know that there were many people who looked at her in strange ways and had unpleasant intentions behind them. Comment.

After becoming an ordinary female textile worker again, and standing out with her intelligence, literacy and organizational skills, Tang Yin had a different experience of the new life. There were also a lot of calculations and gossips in the factory, but Different from licking blood on the tip of a knife in the past, life is much more stable now. And most importantly, Tang Yin and the female workers really feel that their work is meaningful and is actually creating value.

Here, Tang Yin, like female workers, does not need to be bound by the old social rules. How much people earn depends on their workload. Moreover, life in the factory is also a new and beautiful life experience. .

"Thank you, Imperial Master."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and said to everyone: "You have worked hard. If you should go to the factory to rest now, please rest quickly. Don't disturb your lunch break. We will get together again in the future when we have plenty of time!"

Many female workers reluctantly said goodbye, and then entered the gate of the factory area one after another.

Later, under the leadership of Tang Yin, Jiang Xinghuo and several foreign students visited the interior of the factory.

In the cotton textile workshop, the water-powered spinning machine runs continuously under the water power of the Huangpu River diversion channel on the other side. Different from the human foot power, this kind of spinning machine uses a water-driven runner to drive the spinning wheel to rotate and weave. .

Under Lao Zhu's policy, because he disliked the waste of water and the impact on farmers in watering their fields, they burned everything.

But luckily it wasn't that long ago, only more than thirty years ago, so Jin Yiwei still found this thing in the remote countryside of Huguang Chief Envoy.

Although it is a bit shameful to call "archaeological scientific research", I have to admit that the wisdom of the ancient Chinese is unparalleled. Even if this thing is improved and adapted to cotton textile production, it will promote the early stage of China's first industrial revolution. , are more than enough. In Jiang Xinghuo’s previous life, the British only used this level at the beginning.

Jiang Xinghuo made a visual inspection and found that this huge textile machine was about ten meters long and as tall as a basketball stand. If placed in the workshop, it would be half a basketball court, so it was huge.

"This is the spindle, which is used to turn the cotton yarn. This is the twister. Then this is the water wheel, and this is the transmission device that guides the water wheel outside." Tang Yin introduced one by one.

Watching the two leather ropes rotating continuously with the water flow, driving dozens of spindles to fly, and the cotton yarn to take shape, the foreign students were fascinated for a while.

This is not one water-powered textile machine, but countless huge water-powered textile machines, arranged in a workshop at the same time.

This unparalleled visual shock and production efficiency beyond their imagination gave them a great shock.

Tang Yin smiled slightly and said: "This is the most advanced textile machine in our factory, and it has many advantages."

She pointed at a textile machine with her index finger and said: "The cotton yarn we make using these machines is lighter, softer, and more breathable than the one made by hand. These cotton yarns can be rolled out while passing through. The cutting knife below is manually operated to cut and pack the boxes.”

“What is your current spinning speed with this machine?”

"About twenty kilograms of cotton yarn can be produced in an hour."

This is not a small number. You must know that cotton yarn is very light, and in terms of technology, the lighter the better, which leads to the fact that although a lot of it is spun and the speed is fast, the weight is not much. One hour Twenty pounds of cotton yarn, without a cutting knife, would probably pile up a hill in front of the machine.

"So you can spin two hundred pounds a day?"

"Almost, this machine has been improved several times. We have replaced the spinning lines and grooves. The quality of these steel parts is much higher than the previous iron parts of the Yuan Dynasty. Our technology has also So more refined.”

Jiang Xinghuo nodded. The impact of breakthroughs in basic materials is in all aspects. With steel that can be obtained on a large scale, not only can machine parts be made harder, but also many processing accuracy and durability can be improved. A huge change.

Upon hearing this number, Xue Wuying, who had a little knowledge of spinning, couldn't help but feel a sense of despair.

In Japan, the most commonly used textile machines among private people are pedal-operated one- or three-spindle spinning wheels.

However, Japanese women can only get two to three kilograms of yarn from a spinning wheel after working hard for a day. What is the difference?

A hundred times!

How despairing!

While Japanese women were still immersed in weaving, on the other side of the ocean, Ming Dynasty had begun to use this efficient and cheap machine on a large scale. The cotton textiles produced by this monster-like machine were not only strong, beautiful and durable, but also The efficiency is dozens or hundreds of times higher than manual work, and it’s also cheaper!

How does this compare?

But Xue Wuying immediately recovered from this huge shock, and secretly made up her mind. This time she came to the Ming Dynasty to gain more knowledge. If one day she can return to Japan, and is expected to restore the rule of the Southern Dynasty Dajue Temple, then she must This advanced textile technology was introduced from the Ming Dynasty.

However, Xue Wuying has never thought about what Japan would be like if the Southern Dynasty Dajueji Temple could resume its rule in Japan.

Of course, these are all things for later and will not be mentioned for now.

At this time, Jiang Xinghuo and Tang Yin were standing next to the textile machines and observing the working conditions of these machines. At this moment, the international students finally felt what the real textile industry was and also felt the heritage of the Ming Dynasty. This was what they The motherland, which uses the skins of wild beasts as clothing and eats with hands, will never be able to achieve this in its lifetime.

And this is just the initial result of the industrial revolution in the textile industry!

After the development of the steam engine is completed, and some special high-precision spare parts are added, the performance of the entire textile machine will probably undergo earth-shaking changes.

Moreover, in this era, in just a few years, due to the brainstorming and whimsical ideas of workers, a large number of patented technologies have emerged. Although most of these patented technologies cannot help real industrial production, they are large in number. , there will always be truly useful technologies that can be put into application, which is also the meaning of patent law.

These technologies may be called the development history of textile machines in later generations.

All in all, the value brought by these large-scale water-powered textile machines can be said to be difficult to estimate.

From cotton to cotton textiles, there are many steps, such as ginning, stretching, spinning and weaving, etc., and the next workshop is the processing of cotton silk.

Jiang Xinghuo pointed to the female workers working on the assembly line and asked Tang Yin: "They work in the factory and have made a lot of contributions to the Ming Dynasty. How much are they paid every month?"

Tang Yin hesitated for a moment and said, "Depending on different workshops and positions, it's about one to two stones of rice."

The current official currency of the Ming Dynasty is treasure banknotes, and copper coins are auxiliary coins. However, due to various reasons, the circulation of copper coins is somewhat insufficient, and considering that food is a hard currency in the current agricultural society, many of them are used in actual private transactions. It is calculated in terms of grain, and the same is true here in the factory area. You can choose to receive grain, or you can choose to exchange for copper coins according to the floating grain price.

During the Yongle period, wages of one to two shi of rice could basically feed a family of four or five people without starving to death.

Judging from the rice standard price, the income of female textile workers can be said to be above average among all social classes in Jiangnan.

"Yes, Not Bad."

Jiang Xinghuo nodded and said, "Is there any daily consumption in the venue?"

Tang Yin did not dare to talk nonsense, and took Jiang Xinghuo around the canteen, bathhouse, hair repair shop, clothes shop, clothes shop, food shop and other places. He saw that all the service businesses in the area had free services. Jiang Xinghuo felt very satisfied with the standard services and optional premium services.

This method not only provides a basic guarantee for female workers, but also provides room for choice, which is quite humane.

After all, everyone has a love for beauty, not to mention that many of these female workers are young. It is when they like to dress up, they are far away from home and there is not much burden, and they are happy to have a higher quality of life.

"What about the supply of cotton?"

"There are quite a few people in Songjiang Prefecture who are converting rice to cotton, and it's basically enough."

Of course, "converting rice to cotton" here is not the same concept as Xiaoge Lao's "converting rice to mulberry". The former is a spontaneous economic behavior and has considerable location advantages and a long planting history.

Since the Huang Daopo period, Songjiang Prefecture has been a high-quality cotton producing area. The light and hydrological conditions here are not only suitable for growing rice, but also suitable for growing cotton.

Since the handicraft workshop area is established here and the production volume is so large, the original cotton supply is definitely not enough. The purchase price of cotton has gone up. It is not surprising that some local landowners and gentry are "changing rice to cotton" in order to make money. Anyway, what Songjiang Mansion is short of is not rice, but cotton.

After finishing his inspection of the factory, Jiang Xinghuo had another private conversation with Tang Yin.

It’s still that pavilion.

The breeze blew through the bamboo forest, making a rustling sound.

The tea set was placed on the stone table. Jiang Xinghuo held up the teapot with one hand and slowly poured water into the teacup. The tea leaves rippled up and down with the hot water.

Tang Yin watched Jiang Xinghuo pour tea quietly. His head, which was usually full of thoughts, was surprisingly empty. He just felt that the other person's hands were really beautiful, slender and well-jointed.

"It would be nice if I could chop it off."

Strange thoughts passed by.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at the former White Lotus Sect saint in front of him. She had the agility of a girl and the charm of a young woman. She also had a seductive charm about her that was difficult to conceal.

"You are very honest."

Jiang Xinghuo looked at her deeply.

In the past two years, although Tang Yin had many opportunities to continue to develop the White Lotus Sect with the remaining organizational structure, Tang Yin did not choose this path, and Jin Yiwei never had any clues about her surveillance.

Hearing what Jiang Xinghuo said, Tang Yin's face seemed to turn slightly red, and he whispered, "Tang Yin doesn't dare to make any mistakes."

"Be normal."

Jiang Xinghuo pushed the cup over.

Tang Yin regained his seriousness, lowered his head and said, "The Imperial Master is a man who serves the people."

Jiang Xinghuo smiled and said, "People like me usually don't end well."

Tang Yin raised his head, looked into Jiang Xinghuo's eyes, and said seriously: "But didn't the Imperial Master think about himself?"

Jiang Xinghuo's hand holding the teacup hovered in mid-air.

At this time, Jiang Xinghuo was already seriously considering that if Tang Yin persuaded him to secretly develop the White Lotus Sect and prepare to rebel in the coming years, then this woman would really not be able to stay.

The fight for the throne is inevitable, but there are Zhu Gaoxu, Li Jinglong and others in the military circles, and the nobles are almost Qing Yishui's supporters. Jiang Xinghuo also has considerable influence on the civilian side. How can I put it, the future path of reform in the Ming Dynasty , there is no need for the help of Jianghu forces like the White Lotus Sect, and secretly cultivating such a force will not lead to failure. Let alone cultivating it, there is a risk of exposure at any time, and the gain will not be worth the loss.

Tang Yin seemed to have noticed something. He tucked his hair behind his ears, pursed his lips and said with a smile, "The Imperial Master has reached the age where he should start a family and start a career."

Jiang Xinghuo was stunned and said with a smile: "A few days ago, Duke Rong's elder sister wanted to introduce her great-granddaughter to me."

After laughing, the storm disappeared.

Seeing Jiang Xinghuo closing his eyes and listening to the wind, Tang Yin's words rolled on his lips, but he didn't know how to say them out.

After much thought, I finally brought up business matters again.

Tang Yin reported about the menstrual towels seriously.

"So that's it."

Jiang Xinghuo was not unlike ordinary officials who were extremely disgusted by this. Instead, he thought for a moment, nodded slightly, and asked, "What will be the reaction this time?"

Tang Yin said: "Reporting to the Imperial Master, the quality of these made this time is quite good, especially popular among female workers, and the cost is low. If we can promote and sell them, and slowly spread the stalls from Jiangnan, then The profitability pressure on our factory has also been reduced a lot.”

Tang Yin is very confident about this matter. If this new product can be promoted, it will definitely increase the factory's turnover by a large margin.

Seeing that Jiang Xinghuo remained silent, Tang Yin continued: "Don't worry, Imperial Master, this business will definitely not be a loss. My daughter's family has been using cardamom since she was a child, and she has used it even in her sixties. The money will continue to flow."

Jiang Xinghuo waved his hand. There are many ways to make money, and there are countless ways to make huge profits. These are not very important to him. On the contrary, if it can slightly improve the overall health level and population life expectancy of the Ming Dynasty, then it will be a great good. .

"Okay, we can start with the women of Songjiang Mansion. It's best to do this in a subtle way. The imperial court is not suitable for publicity."

With Jiang Xinghuo's affirmation, Tang Yin felt relieved.

After all, this kind of thing can be big or small, but on a grander scale, in the Ming society that is still ruled by Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, it can even be said to be an extremely immoral thing.

But with Jiang Xinghuo's setting the tone, many things would be much easier to handle.

"In addition, the private textile industry is also gradually recovering."

"This matter is a franchise. Don't compete with the people for profit. In the next few years or even more than ten years, the overseas market will be extremely broad. The private textile industry can just let it develop."

Jiang Xinghuo remained calm.

Allowing manual workshops that produce cotton textiles with machines and assembly lines to impact the private market will certainly bring temporary benefits, but it will undoubtedly lead to the bankruptcy of thousands of households' sideline businesses, which is undoubtedly a very harmful thing.

The two talked for a while, but with the arrival of Zhao Haichuan, the conversation came to an abrupt end.

"National Master, something big has happened."

"The Shipping Department of Ningbo City seized a person living on the relocation island. He is suspected to be Emperor Jianwen."