Chapter 406: Sudden Bad News (Please vote and subscribe)
"Ah, by the way, how do you raise silkworms? Can you tell me? I want to see if it's the same method I know." Feeling the atmosphere in the room getting more and more awkward, Luo Chong couldn't help but ask, as if he had gone too far this time.
"Oh, it's like this. We collect the eggs of the flying insects that the silkworms have transformed into a few days after they die. Then, after about a month, when the leaves grow again, the eggs will break open by themselves, and tiny black insects will crawl out of them. Then, we put these little black insects on the trees, and they will eat the leaves by themselves, and go through the process from birth to death again.
It takes about 50 sunrises and sunsets for these insects to crawl out of the eggs and turn into flying insects and lay eggs again. We raise them on the trees, and they can make two silkworm cocoons before it snows." Sancho immediately answered seriously when he heard Luo Chong's question.
"Yes."
Luo Chong nodded. As far as he knew, this kind of breeding method of placing silkworms on trees and letting them eat leaves by themselves should be a semi-artificial, semi-open breeding method. If it is transformed into a fully artificial breeding method, the output and quality can be greatly improved.
For example, semi-open breeding is to put silkworm seeds on trees artificially and let them eat leaves by themselves. However, what intelligence can insects have? They will definitely eat all the leaves for you first. However, if it is fully artificial breeding, mulberry trees can be planted on a large scale, and mulberry leaves can be picked reasonably by humans, so that there are leaves on the trees all year round, and the silkworms will never go hungry all year round.
The second is to organize people to collect silkworm seeds and change the breeding from twice a year to four times a year. As long as the hatching time of silkworm seeds is staggered, the silkworms, which only have a life span of more than 50 days, can be raised uninterruptedly throughout the year. In this way, it is very easy to harvest silk cocoons four times a year. After all, the four seasons in this world cycle once for fourteen months, which is two months longer than that on Earth.
"Well, actually, I think the method you use is not good. If you can collect and raise the silkworms completely artificially, that is, collect the silkworms and pick leaves manually to feed them, they should be raised better. In this way, you can also rotate the leaf-picking areas so that they don't eat up all the mulberry trees.
And there are also problems with the way you use the cocoons. According to the method I know, the cocoons should be dried immediately after making them to kill the silkworm pupae inside, and then the cocoons should be boiled in hot water, and the silk that makes up the cocoons should be pulled out, and several strands should be combined into one strand, and spun into silk thread that can be used for weaving. The silk thread is then woven into silk, which is silk cloth. You know what weaving is, right?" Luo Chong said and asked at the end.
"I know about weaving. I just think the linen and woolen cloth of the Han tribe are amazing, so I decided to join the Han tribe. Moreover, life here is very good. There is no need to worry about starvation. There are also sturdy houses to live in. There are many tribesmen, and there is no fear of invasion by wild beasts and enemies.
But, chief, can such messy silk be turned into silk thread? I have tried it before, but I can only pull out a very short strand each time, which is not as long as a hair. Also, if the silkworm moth is killed, how can it lay eggs? Won't it be impossible to raise them in the future?"
Sancho first happily explained the reasons why he wanted to join the Han tribe, and then questioned Luo Chong's method of raising silkworms. His thinking is very organized and he is a smart man. No wonder he can become the leader of a tribe.
"No, no, no, you are wrong. As far as I know, silk is the neatest thing, while hemp fiber and wool are the shortest and messiest. Haven't you heard of the term "a mess of hemp"? Oh, yes, you definitely haven't heard of it, cough" Luo Chong coughed to cover up his embarrassment, and then continued.
"According to what I know, a silk cocoon is actually made of a single strand of silk. The silk used in a complete silk cocoon is 700 to 1,500 meters long and is made up entirely of a single strand of silk. It's just like a naturally wound spindle.
But you said that the silk you pulled out was very short. That's because the silk moth has already bitten the cocoon and crawled out from inside. That's why I said that you should kill the silkworm pupae inside before the silk moth comes out. This is the only way to keep a complete cocoon and get a continuous strand of silk.
In addition, you said that after killing the silkworm pupae, there will be no silkworm moths laying eggs, and you can't continue to breed them in the future. In fact, this is very easy to solve. You don't have to kill all the silkworm pupae. You can just leave out a group of good ones and let them emerge as moths and lay eggs. This is the same as when we raise pigs and cattle. We need to keep breeding cattle and pigs, and kill all the others for food. As long as there are breeding stocks, they can continue to reproduce."
Luo Chong's eloquent explanation made Sangqiu and the others' eyes light up. Yes, why didn't they think of it? No wonder the young man in front of them could be the leader of such a large tribe. He is really a wise man who is unmatched. It is said that the Han tribe can develop to this point, all thanks to the wisdom of this leader.
"Leader, I understand. What should we do next? Also, I haven't seen the spinning and weaving of the Han tribe yet. I don't quite understand it now, and I don't know how to raise it artificially as you said," Sangqiu asked at last.
"Well-this question, how many people are there in your tribe, and how many are here now?"
"There are more than 170 people in total, and there are 28 here now."
"Well, then, how about this, you take a few people back first, don't rush to come, wait until all the silkworms in this batch have laid eggs, and then bring the cocoons and silkworm seeds here. By the way, there are also mulberry seeds, do you know what they are?" Luo Chong arranged.
"Yes, that kind of tree will bear small red fruits, and there are seeds in the fruits. We have collected a lot of them." Sangqiu replied.
"Yes, that's it. The fruit is called mulberry. Remember to bring seeds, mulberry seeds, silkworm seeds, silkworm cocoons, and people. Just bring these. The other useless ones can be discarded. When you get here, the Han tribe will distribute new living supplies to you.
Dashu, you have to arrange a team to go back with them, responsible for their safety on the migration road, and help them relocate. Bring some cattle and horses. After they are picked up, they don't need to be stationed here. Send them directly to Hanyang City. I will make other arrangements."
Luo Chong gave the two people orders in an orderly manner. Dashu also looked at Luo Chong. This was not the first time he had done such a thing. Naturally, he understood the meaning of the leader's words. The so-called protection and help were true, but at the same time, it also meant surveillance and supervision. Since he had agreed, it would not be so easy to regret it.
"I understand, leader. I will go back tomorrow to arrange the relocation of the whole tribe. However, aren't we moving here? Where is Hanyang City? Is it far from here?" Sangqiu first agreed to relocate the whole tribe, but at the same time he remained vigilant about the Hanyang City mentioned by Luo Chong.
"Hanyang City is the first city of our tribe, and it is also the best developed. The textile industry of the entire Han tribe is all in Hanyang City. If you want to learn weaving, you can only go there. Don't worry, it's not far from here. It only takes half a day to get there by horse, a day by car, and seven sunsets on foot. I will let Dashu take you there by then. If I am not here, you can find him if you have any problems."
"Yes, I understand, chief. I will go back and prepare now." Sangqiu was relieved after listening to Luo Chong's explanation, and immediately said goodbye and went back to prepare.
However, just when Luo Chong had just solved the problems of the Sang tribe, Shu Da came in from outside in a hurry, holding a roll of animal skin letter in his hand.
"Chief, something happened. Youfu's caravan was attacked, and some people in the caravan were killed in the battle."
(End of this chapter)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
