allonlinenovel Chapter 580: The Weaving Workshop Triggers Internal Involution
Chapter 580: The Weaving Workshop Triggers Internal Involution
Prefect Yao asked, "How can your weaving workshop weave such light and soft cotton cloth?"
Tong Huaqiong pointed to the loom and said, "My cotton-spinning machine and loom have been improved, and can weave light and soft cotton cloth."
The loom she was pointing at happened to be the one in front of Gu Xiaoxue.
Gu Xiaoxue stopped weaving.
Prefect Yao walked forward to take a look, then touched the unfinished cloth on Gu Xiaoxue's loom, and the feeling was exactly the same as in his hands.
He didn't understand the loom, but that didn't stop him from being excited.
"Aunt Tong, how did you improve the cotton spinning machine?" Prefect Yao was a little excited.
The experts are among the people.
Tong Huaqiong said: "I used to grow cotton and found that the cotton in Qinghe Bay grew very well, but I only planted half an acre of land at most for cotton clothes and quilts, because I couldn't make full use of the value of cotton. Our looms were not good at weaving cotton. Not only did they damage the looms, but the woven cloth was also very coarse. Later, I met a businessman from Huating in the capital city. His wife was wearing cotton cloth, and I realized that cotton cloth could be light and soft. When I asked, I was told that their hometown in Huating all wore such cotton cloth, and the key was that the price was very cheap."
"I was thinking about weaving cotton cloth. County Magistrate Liu's classmate happened to be an official in Huating County, so I asked County Magistrate Liu to ask Huating County about cotton spinning machines. Huating County gave me the drawings of cotton spinning machines and cotton spinning machines. My nephew Gu Daqiao spent several months to improve the machine, which can weave fine and soft cotton cloth."
"So in the end, the ones who made the greatest contributions are Magistrate Liu and Gu Daqiao. Magistrate Liu took the people's requests to heart. If he hadn't put down his dignity and asked Huating County to borrow a loom, they wouldn't have given us the blueprints." Tong Huaqiong pointed to Gu Daqiao who was debugging a new loom and said, "If it weren't for Gu Daqiao's thoughtfulness, the loom blueprints would be useless."
County Magistrate Liu puffed out his chest and praised him again.
Prefect Yao took a step forward and came to Gu Daqiao.
Gu Daqiao was about to kowtow but was held back by Prefect Yao.
Governor Yao asked Gu Daqiao, "How many kilograms of cotton can be used to make a piece of cloth?"
Gu Daqiao looked at Tong Huaqiong, who smiled and encouraged Gu Daqiao to answer Lord Yao's questions in person.
Gu Daqiao said nervously, "Twelve kilograms of seedless cotton can make one bolt of cloth. Now we are adding the wasted cotton. I feel bad about the wasted cotton. I am trying to find a way to improve it and see if I can reduce it to ten kilograms of cotton per bolt of cloth."
Prefect Yao was very satisfied with Gu Daqiao's precise and modest answer.
Then he turned to Tong Huaqiong and said, "One acre of cotton field can produce 300 kilograms of cotton. Your 30 acres of land can produce 9,000 kilograms of cotton, including seed cotton and lint cotton..."
County Magistrate Liu quickly added: "The amount of dried and seeded cotton is 100 kilograms per mu of land, and 30 mu of land is 3,000 kilograms. Aunt Tong, am I right?"
Tong Huaqiong nodded and said, "You two masters are wise."
County Magistrate Liu came from the countryside, and Prefect Yao came from a noble family, so they knew the produce of the land very well, which showed that their time spent in the fields was not in vain.
Governor Yao smiled and said, "If we assume that 12 jin of cotton is one bolt of cloth, then 3,000 jin is 250 bolts of cloth."
Tong Huaqiong thought that this number was quite auspicious.
Then Governor Yao became excited: "Just like Aunt Tong said, not only Qinghe Bay is suitable for growing cotton, but our entire Ningcheng is suitable for growing cotton. Cotton yields more and is easier to grow than hemp. The reason why cotton was not grown on a large scale in the past was that it could not be woven into easy-to-wear cloth. Now your weaving workshop can weave fine and soft cloth, so cotton cloth, which is cheap and feels good, can benefit the people."
Tong Huaqiong thought to himself that he was indeed a senior official, as he saw through the key point immediately.
"Aunt Tong, you have made great contributions, and so has Gu Daqiao. I want to reward you." Prefect Yao looked excited.
As an official, don't you want the people in your jurisdiction to have a place to live, enough food to eat and warm clothes to wear? Now Aunt Tong's cotton spinning machine has solved the problem of warm clothes, how can he, as a parent official, not be excited.
Tong Huaqiong didn't care about the reward. She was already a county lady, so what if she could be rewarded with the title of a princess or a county lord?
She wants to take the border business.
Su Chengmin said that the officers and soldiers in Mobei needed winter clothes. The previous cotton-padded clothes were heavy and not warm enough, so she wanted to take over this business.
The business of 100,000 soldiers on the border.
She can't rely on herself alone, she must have official support. Magistrate Yao has the support of the Yao family in the capital, so perhaps they can help her.
But this request could not be made in front of everyone, so Tong Huaqiong said to the prefect Yao: "Master Yao, I am a down-to-earth businessman. A clean government and a stable society are enough for me to do business with peace of mind. As for the bridge, it is indeed worth rewarding."
Tong Huaqiong looked at Gu Daqiao and said, "Daqiao, Lord Yao wants to reward you. Our Lord Yao is the most generous. Just tell Lord Yao what reward you want."
Gu Daqiao was already stunned, not knowing what reward to propose.
Tong Huaqiong saw Gu Daqiao sweating profusely, and said to the regretful Yao Zhifu: "Daqiao is the first scholar in our Gu family. The teacher praised him for his intelligence and hard work. But he injured his leg and went home to farm without even taking the exam. Lord Yao, why don't you give him the title of Yimin?"
Prefect Yao said, "Yes. Not only will Gu Daqiao be made a righteous citizen, but his family's land tax and military service will also be exempted."
Gu Daqiao kowtowed excitedly to express his gratitude.
This was the last time I kowtowed before an official, except for the emperor.
Gu Daqiao thanked Governor Yao verbally, but in his heart the person he was most grateful to was Tong Huaqiong. Only Tong Huaqiong knew the regret in his heart.
If a scholar passes the examination and becomes a scholar, he can meet an official without kneeling. However, Gu Daqiao will never be able to pass the examination and become a scholar.
Except for scholars, common people who did not need to kneel when meeting officials also did not need to kneel when meeting officials.
Tong Huaqiong understood Gu Daqiao's thoughts, so she asked Governor Yao to give him a reward as a righteous citizen.
Although this reward is not as valuable as gold and silver, it is what Gu Daqiao wants.
As for the exemption of land tax and military service, Tani Ohashi was even more surprised.
In addition to paying land taxes, farmers in Dasheng also had to bear military service. During years of war, they needed to fight in the battlefields or perform corvée labor with the army. In peacetime, the taxes would be converted into grain and silver to be paid.
The military service in this dynasty was already considered low, but Gu Daqiao had poor legs and feet, which made it inconvenient for him to farm or make money. Even the low taxes on grain and silver for others were a considerable burden for him.
Now that Prefect Yao has exempted him from land taxes and military service, not only has Gu Daqiao's burden been reduced, but even if a war breaks out in the future he will not be forced to send his son to serve because of his leg disability.
Song Qiaoniang was instructing the Weaver Girl to weave cloth, and naturally heard the news that her husband was favored and rewarded by the prefect. She was so excited that she burst into tears.
When the other weaver girls saw this, they did not envy Song Qiaoniang, but were just glad that they had found Tong Huaqiong's good friend.
There was even a Weaver Girl who secretly thought, we are all human, how could Gu Daqiao improve the loom?
Why can't they?
Tong Huaqiong had never expected that by pushing Gu Daqiao into the sight of Governor Yao, she would actually trigger internal strife in her own weaving workshop.