Chapter 185 As expected (please vote and subscribe)
The four of them came to the outskirts of the city under construction. Some tribesmen were using buckets to draw water from the well, and then transported it to the construction site with a wheelbarrow to mix with mud. Buckets of clean water were taken out of the well, as if it would never run out, which surprised Shang and Elder Bian.
"Did the water in this pit get poured in in advance? How can there be so much water? Or did it leak in when it rained?" Elder Bian asked puzzledly.
"No, this kind of deep pit is called a well. The water in it comes out from underground. It's not far from the river here. If you dig a little deeper, you can dig out water. Even if the water in it is used up, clean water will soon come out again. The
water in the well is cleaner than the river water, and it is warm in winter and cool in summer. It won't freeze in winter. In the future, the tribesmen will live in brick houses and use well water as a water source. There is a well at both ends of each row of houses here." Luo Chong continued to introduce.
Elder Shang and Elder Bian were shocked. It was the first time they knew that water could be dug out of the soil, and it would keep bubbling up. Doesn't this mean that the Han tribe can solve the problem of drinking water wherever they go?
After looking at the well, the four of them went to take a look at the rough-finished house that had been built. There were no wooden doors and windows installed yet. It was just an empty shell, but all the necessary facilities were already in place.
There were more than 60 rough-finished houses like this, which was the result of the labor of more than 500 people. Luo Chong took them to the first model house that was built. It had three kitchens, two bedrooms, a stove, and a kang. Everything was available, and Luo Chong personally pointed to each place to introduce it to them.
"The one in the middle is the kitchen, and the one against the wall is the stove. The round hole on it is for the pot, and the opening below is for firewood. You can light a fire to cook soup and rice, and the smoke will come out directly from the chimney. In winter, the smoke can also be directed to the kangs under the rooms on both sides."
As Luo Chong spoke, he took them to a bedroom on the side, pointed to the big kang and introduced it, "This is the sleeping place, where several people can sleep. It's empty underneath, and the smoke and heat from the burning firewood can reach underneath, so that the kang will be very hot. You can put straw mats and animal skins on it, and it's very warm to lie on it in winter. There are such kangs in the rooms on both sides. This house can accommodate 10 people, two or three adults and a few children."
Elder Shang and Elder Bian tried to climb onto the kang, which was very solid. They patted the blue bricks covering it, and a hollow sound came from underneath. Then they both imagined the scene described by Luo Chong in their minds.
In winter, when it snows heavily outside, you can have a hot meal without leaving the house. After eating, you can sit on the warm kang to work, sew clothes, twist hemp thread, etc., but it seems that there is no way to weave cloth. The floor of the house is also paved with large blue bricks. It is so hard that you can't insert wooden sticks to weave cloth.
Luo Chong looked at the two people sitting on the kang, staring at the empty half of the floor in the room thoughtfully, so he said: "The empty space can be used to put a loom, and you can sit in the warm house to weave cloth in winter. If you join the Han tribe, you can use the loom and no longer have to squat on the ground to weave cloth."
Xiaodie relayed Luo Chong's words. Speaking of that kind of advanced loom, the two people became curious again.
"Han leader, can we see your loom?" asked Elder Bian.
"Of course, as long as you agree to join the Han tribe, I can have someone send you a few machines. Come on, I'll take you to see them. The machines are not here now. They are all in our temporary residence."
After visiting the residence, the group rushed to the temporary residence consisting of a large area of thatched houses. There were pots and jars of pottery placed at the door of each house. The number was staggering.
Groups of children were playing between the thatched houses, and there were also older children helping adults with work. The four of them soon came to Luo Chong's thatched house, where there was a huge thatched shed. All the textile machines of the Han tribe were currently here.
Under the thatched shed, a few months pregnant women were operating the machines to work, and a large circle of little girls followed them to learn.
"This is called a combing machine, it is used to comb wool balls. You just need to sit and step on it with your feet. It can tear the wool balls apart, smooth them, and then crush them into coarse yarn. This machine can not only comb wool balls, but also flax skin.
This is a spinning machine for twisting thread. It is also stepped on, so you don't need to rub it with your hands. The spinning speed is very fast. You will know it when you see it.
The largest one next to it is a loom. You can ask Xiaodie to introduce it to you. She can use these machines, or you can go up and try them yourself and feel them." Luo Chong pointed to the machines and said.
Xiaodie was so excited to hear what Luo Chong said. She could finally show her face in front of Am in person. It was a rare opportunity.
Xiaodie quickly replaced one of the pregnant women and sat in front of the loom that she had used for more than half a month.
"Mom, look, this is the loom made by Luo Chong. There are two wooden boards underneath. You can separate the vertical lines into two layers by stepping on them. We no longer have to use bone needles to pick up the lines like we do."
Xiaodie said as she stepped on the pedal below. The two sets of warp threads on the machine quickly alternated up and down, and the two people who watched exclaimed in amazement. Just this one technology saved them so much time. In the weaving tribe, when threading the weft thread, the warp threads had to be picked up horizontally one by one. This process alone took several minutes, but on the loom of the Han tribe, it only took a step of the foot.
"This wooden boat-like thing with two pointed ends is called a shuttle. The spool inside is used to pull the horizontal line. The Han tribe calls it the weft line. And the weft knife hanging on it is what makes the woven fabric so dense."
In order to make them understand, Xiaodie explained and operated it. As the foot pedal drove the warp to open and close, the wooden shuttle kept delivering left and right, and the weft knife swung back and forth again and again. The tight woolen cloth was formed quickly, minute by minute and inch by inch, which made Shang and Elder Bian stunned.
Such a complex, fast, and efficient loom was something they could not even dream of. For a while, they were all shocked. It seemed that this thing really should not exist in the world. Such black technology should be a tool of God.
After being surprised, the two tried to operate the loom under Xiaodie's guidance. One old and one middle-aged, both women had long-term weaving experience and got used to this loom quickly because it was the same principle as the weaving of the Bian tribe.
Shang tried for a while, then it was Elder Bian's turn. The old woman seemed to be crazy. She sat in front of the loom and was reluctant to leave. She kept operating the machine.
After a while, before Luo Chong could introduce anything else to them, Elder Bian in front of the loom immediately expressed her opinion.
"I agree to join the Han tribe, but we must be given a loom like this one."
After Elder Bian expressed her opinion and attitude, she lay on the loom and cried loudly, saying that her life was too unfair and not worth it. If she had such a loom when she was young, she would have been able to weave so much more cloth in her life. In the end, her life was wasted like this.
The old woman cried bitterly, she was so heartbroken and heartbroken that she wished she could be reborn again and weave cloth on the loom for the rest of her life.
(End of this chapter)
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