Wool Workshop
Chapter 70: Wool Workshop
Chu Huaibei found a vacant lot beside the main road outside the military settlement and asked craftsmen to build a workshop according to her drawings. She built a high wall around it. In the future, all the people here would be women, so even if she sent people to guard it, she was afraid of accidents.
The people around were full of curiosity about this. While the house was still under construction, Chu Huaibei had already written the recruitment requirements on a blackboard and hung it on a big tree nearby.
After the last literacy campaign in the military camp, there is basically no need to send extra people to stand guard at the blackboard to explain. There will always be one person in ten households who can read.
Chu Huaibei plans to mainly produce sweaters and felt in this workshop. If the sweater market becomes saturated in the future, he will specialize in felt products.
Chu Huaibei wanted to teach the knitting skills to the common people for free, as she had no intention of earning any money from them. The bulk of the workshop's profits came from selling felt products to wealthy families.
the tenth day of the first lunar month
Manager Zhang finally returned to Youzhou with the caravan. This trip to the northwest had taken over two months. Although the journey was difficult, he ultimately lived up to his master's trust and successfully completed the mission.
Back at the house in Youyun City, this two-courtyard house was the resting place for their caravan.
Manager Zhang told everyone to have a good rest, and after bathing and changing clothes, he went to the palace to meet the master.
After handing the credit note signed by the three tribal chiefs to Aunt Wen with both hands, Manager Zhang continued to talk about what happened during this trip.
The first stop, the Tuoba tribe, was the easiest one, which was also related to the fact that they were closest to Daxia. The weather on the way was also good and there was no heavy snow.
The second stop, the Helan tribe, was closest to Mongolia. They took a long detour from the west and experienced a heavy snowfall along the way. Fortunately, they were well prepared and there were no casualties.
The third stop, the Yuling tribe, had retreated to the depths of the grasslands, further from Mongolia after being plundered by the Mongols. They were almost impossible to find. The tribe's leader had been replaced by the old leader's eldest son, and the number of tribe members had been greatly reduced.
The newly appointed chief of the Yuling tribe was full of hatred towards Mongolia in his words. He was more grateful to the caravan for its willingness to buy on credit than the other two tribes. He immediately left the tent and called the remaining people together. After conveying the caravan's intentions, he knelt down and kowtowed in gratitude with the excited tribesmen.
The caravan's guards were so frightened that they all stepped aside, refusing to kneel down. Steward Zhang stepped forward to help the clan leader up, and after much persuasion, he got everyone to stand. "Master, please be merciful. Just exchange your wild horses next year."
Chief Yuling also asked the tribe's high priest to offer his master's longevity tablet, which said that a goddess had come to protect Yuling.
When the concubine heard this, the hand holding the teacup paused for a moment. Although she didn't say a word, she looked somewhat relieved.
Although the main purpose of the transaction was for next year's Broncos, I still feel very gratified that this act of timely assistance, which was a matter of life and death, was remembered and appreciated by everyone.
When your efforts are rewarded beyond their value, whether materially or spiritually, it gives you more motivation to keep going.
While sighing, the concubine suddenly thought of the current emperor, and her mood suddenly became bad again. She imitated her son's curse words, cursing the old man, Lao Deng, and bastard in her heart one after another, and finally she calmed down.
"You've all worked hard on this trip. I'll give each of you five taels of silver as a reward. If they want to buy any New Year goods, as long as they have them in my shop, I'll sell them all to them at cost price. I'll bring back twenty jars of fine wine to celebrate your safe return."
"Thank you for the reward, sir. I thank you on behalf of everyone." Manager Zhang stood up and saluted, but did not turn around and sit down.
"But what else is there? Feel free to tell me."
Seeing Manager Zhang, who was always efficient, standing there, the concubine asked.
"Master, let me be frank. During this time of being trapped in the snow, everyone relied on the meat sauce to survive. So everyone asked me to ask if I could give them priority in selling the meat sauce in the future."
Manager Zhang had already explained to the caravan that this was the initial batch of meat sauce the master had given them, and that was all they had. Everyone was thrilled to hear this, praising the master for his wisdom and for ensuring their safe journey. But then they remembered that if they offered this to other caravans, they would never again be able to enjoy the delicious meat sauce.
A group of people surrounded Manager Zhang and urged him to take this opportunity to ask the master when he saw him.
Manager Zhang has been traveling with this group of guards for more than five years, so naturally they have a deep relationship. After all, they can be considered brothers who have experienced life and death together.
This means I have to bite the bullet and ask my master for preferential treatment for them.
"Don't worry about it. Once the peppers are grown, you can have as many as you want. Everyone in your caravan can buy them at cost price. However, you can only buy two bottles at a time, and you can buy twice a month."
The toffee thought it was something particularly difficult, but it turned out that he liked chili sauce. She agreed without thinking too much and set some rules to avoid any trouble.
There had been daring people caught before, who took advantage of the loopholes when she was rewarded for her meritorious service in the caravan and started a reselling business. She bought goods from shops at low cost, transported them to other places and sold them at high prices to the people.
Fortunately, the crime was discovered in time and no major disaster occurred. Of course, the man was expelled from the caravan after his goods were confiscated, and he was sent to the local government on charges of defrauding the people and sentenced to several months of labor service.
"Thank you, Master!"
After hearing his master's reply, Manager Zhang knew that the meat sauce would definitely be produced in large quantities in the future, and he could tell his brothers the good news.
"No need to be so polite, it's not a big deal. Manager Zhang, go back and have a good rest for a few days. We need to go to the northwest again in June."
June is the season for wild horses on the grasslands. At this time, horses appear in herds, which is a good time to trap wild horses.
"Yes, Master. I will take my leave first."
"Well, go ahead."
Zhang Guanshi left the palace and happily returned to the mansion with the twenty jars of fine wine his master had given him. His master had always disliked his servants drinking too much, as it would not only delay things but also cause trouble when drunk.
This time, we have a rare opportunity to have twenty jars at once, which is enough for brothers to drink to their heart's content.
In the evening, Chu Huaibei returned from the military camp and was relieved to learn that the caravan going to the northwest had returned safely.
I heard that the caravan encountered heavy snow and relied on meat sauce to survive the difficulties, so everyone liked the meat sauce very much.
Chu Huaibei was smug. How could it be bad? This meat sauce was packed with ingredients. The lean meat and fat were cut into small pieces and fried in oil. There were also onions, ginger, garlic, chili peppers, oil, salt, sugar, soy sauce, and even diced dried vegetables.
A can of meat sauce contains all the elements needed by the human body, and the key is that it tastes good. Chili peppers can warm people who have never eaten spicy food in the cold winter. It can be said to be a must-have item for long-distance travel in winter in ancient times.
Speaking of which, I have to thank my eldest cousin. If she hadn't given the peppers to my mother as precious flowers and plants, she wouldn't have been able to make this meat sauce.
As the peppers mature, I have already saved all the seeds. I will wait until the temperature is right in May this year to plant them, and they will be harvested in August and September. The seeds I obtained can be planted on a large scale in the farm, and in just two years, I can eat as much as I want!
After seeing the peppers, she asked her mother to send a letter to her eldest cousin, asking her to keep the seeds and plant them in the field next year. The letter also included planting instructions.
I also wrote a few chili recipes and sent them over. Although the chili skin was left after the seeds were removed and it wasn't that spicy, for people who haven't tasted spicy food, this level of spiciness should be very stimulating.
When Miss Feng received the letter from her aunt, she was a little confused when she took it from her father. After opening it, she found out that her cousin had eaten the pot of flowers she had given to her aunt from a foreign country!
He also told her to collect the seeds and provided her with planting instructions and several recipes.
After reading the letter, Miss Feng was still a little dazed. How come everything can be grown and eaten when it comes to her cousin? Is her cousin so knowledgeable and talented?
When my cousin was a child, my uncle and father were worried about his studies, saying that his uncle was a rough man and couldn't teach him well. Isn't that a good thing?
Handing the letter to her father, Miss Feng continued to daydream.
After reading the letter, Mr. Feng folded it, put it back in the envelope and returned it to his daughter.
"Since Huaibei said so, just do as he says."
"Oh, okay, Dad."
The father and daughter underestimated the magic of chili peppers. After tasting the chili dishes made according to the recipe, most people in the Kang and Feng families fell in love with the spicy taste.
Unfortunately there weren’t many peppers, so I divided the pepper skins equally between the two houses after leaving the seeds. I just used them up after eating the recipe once.
The greedy young people in the mansion were obsessed with it and wished they could turn themselves into the god of agriculture and turn grass into trees.
Chu Huaibei didn't know about these things yet, mainly because Miss Feng was too embarrassed to say it directly: Hey, cousin, the recipe you gave me is so delicious, but there is too little chili pepper, it's not enough to eat.
Chu Huaibei is very busy now, so he doesn't pay much attention to his uncle's family affairs.
Apart from going to the military camp, I was in the sweet potato greenhouse and the wool workshop under construction.
The sweet potatoes are growing well, and these cultivated seedlings can be used to plant at least one acre of land when sown in April.
By continuing to grow seedlings, the potato seedlings can be distributed to the people for planting at the latest next year.
The wool mill was built very quickly; the main frame was erected in just a few days. However, a deep well needed to be dug, which would take some time.
The workshop consumes a lot of water. Although it is not far from the river, Chu Huaibei still does not plan to ask people to fetch water back and forth. If they carry water a hundred or eighty times a day, people will be exhausted and it is not worth it.
The wool washing room is closest to the well, and in the following order are the printing and dyeing room, drying room, wool-spinning room, spinning room, knitting room, and felt room.
A lot of wool has been collected at the nearest farm. Fortunately, the weather is cold now, so it can be stored for a while.
As for the recruitment, only two people have signed up so far, both of whom are widows with hot tempers who are well-known in the military settlement.
In any era, widows have a lot of troubles around their doorsteps. Only by being more aggressive can they avoid being bullied by people with ulterior motives.
Chu Huaibei wrote on the blackboard that the wages were to be paid daily, 20 wen a day, and 10 wen a day for children aged 10 to 14. Here, children became adults at the age of 15.
I originally thought that with this kind of treatment, even if it didn't attract a lot of people to sign up, it would at least attract ten or so people to come and work, so that the workshop could get up and running.
Unexpectedly, after the news had been out for so many days, there were very few people coming. Chu Huaibei told his mother about this phenomenon and wanted her to help analyze it. The concubine was not a woman in the traditional sense of this era, so of course she could not figure out the reason.
Just tell Chu Huaibei the solution and let the servants in the manor do the work, no need to bother.
This is indeed not a problem, but Chu Huaibei's original intention was to let the women learn skills, earn money for the family, and improve their family's living standards.
If she directly employed servants, it would go against her original intention of opening a wool workshop, and she was unwilling to give up just like that.
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