Chapter 122: The Beginning of Jin Prefecture’s Industrial Revolution

The autumn harvest was over, and the grain was stored in the granaries.

The people of Hexi Fortress had completed the most important agricultural task of the year.

The lively scene in the fields gradually faded. On the thousands of mu of land, only stubble and scattered stalks remained, empty and quiet, carrying a trace of loneliness after the harvest, waiting for the spring of the coming year to plant grain again.

But this did not mean the people’s farm work was over.

There was even more important work to do.

Taking advantage of the time before the pasture on the grasslands completely withered, every household would harvest large amounts of it and bring it back.

After all, when winter came, heavy snow would seal the sky, and all things would wither.

These stored pastures were life-saving supplies for the cattle and sheep.

Relying on this simple method, the cattle and sheep could stubbornly survive the winter.

Wait until the coming spring, when the emaciated cattle and sheep ate fresh pasture; it would only take half a month for them to become plump and oily again.

The sun set in the west, and the crimson glow was gradually replaced by darkness.

Li Xiao drove a horse cart back home.

The cart was full of hay. After unloading it, he went to the water vat and drank a large bowl of water.

He breathed a sigh of relief, then wiped his mouth with his arm.

Suddenly, he saw San Feng running excitedly from the backyard.

Seeing Li Xiao, she immediately showed a delighted look.

“Big Brother is back! Big Brother is back!”

Then, grabbing Li Xiao’s arm, she pulled him towards the backyard.

With an excited look begging for praise, she said as she walked, “Come quickly, Big Brother; I know how to use that spinning machine.”

“I’ll use it for you to see.”

Li Xiao was pulled into the backyard by San Feng.

He saw his mother, Qin Da Ni, standing in front of a spinning machine. Her hands operating it somewhat unfamiliarly, trying to spin wool into thread.

Different from the one Li Xiao saw at his eldest sister’s house, this spinning machine looked much larger.

It was also composed of a roller and spindle wheels, but the spindle wheels were placed vertically, and instead of the original one, there were now eight spindle wheels directly.

In other words, work where one person could originally spin only one thread could now spin eight threads simultaneously.

Greatly increasing work efficiency.

“Mother, you learned really fast,” Li Xiao praised with a smile, walking up to examine the operation of the spinning machine carefully.

“It’s only been a day, and you’ve completely mastered it, turning wool into spun thread. Amazing,” Li Xiao laughed.

Looking at the thickness of the roll of spun thread beside her, he knew Qin Da Ni had learned pretty well and was becoming increasingly proficient.

Hearing Li Xiao’s praise, Qin Da Ni also showed a happy look, stopped her hand movements, and said, “Last time I went to your sister’s house, I saw her busy weaving wool.”

“I was thinking of learning from your eldest sister, but unfortunately, our family didn’t have that spinning machine.”

“I didn’t expect you, Dalong, to actually tinker it out.”

“And it looks even easier to use than the one at your eldest sister’s house.”

Qin Da Ni looked cheerful, obviously very interested in the spinning machine before her.

In fact, the textile industry in this era was already very developed, but it was mainly concentrated in the Jiangnan region.

Jin Prefecture was completely blank in this regard— there were almost no family handicraft workshops.

The reason Li Dafeng learned to spin wool was because of her neighbor auntie, who came from the Desert.

Li Dafeng had someone make one modeled after Auntie Huang’s spinning machine.

But just like the machines of this era, it could only spin one thread at a time.

When enough was gathered, Li Dafeng would send it to Auntie Huang’s house.

When she went back to her maiden home, she would help sell these wool yarns in the Desert.

Because the quantity was small, the price was suppressed very low. Li Dafeng actually couldn’t earn much money, but it was better than nothing— better than being idle.

And Li Xiao got inspiration after seeing her spinning machine.

The beginning work of the Western Industrial Revolution — the Spinning Jenny.

It sounded somewhat high-end, but in reality, it was very simple.

It was just turning the originally horizontal spindle wheel vertical, increasing the accommodation space of the single spinning machine, changing from one spindle wheel to eight.

Then, changing the original manual crank to pedal power, freeing up one hand.

Finally, installing roller devices and combing components, and adjusting the tension device.

A simple Spinning Jenny was made.

Of course, made by Li Xiao now, it definitely couldn’t be called by that name.

Li Xiao named it the Hexi Spinning Machine.

In fact, this kind of multi-spindle spinning machine was described in Song Yingxing’s Tiangong Kaiwu (The Exploitation of the Works of Nature) in the Ming Dynasty, almost the same as the spinning machines in the early Industrial Revolution.

This showed that China had already started using this kind of spinning machine during the Ming Dynasty. It was just that the emergence of the Qing Dynasty dealt a devastating blow to Jiangnan commerce, and various technologies also suffered a discontinuity.

Otherwise, the Industrial Revolution might have appeared earlier on the land of Huaxia.

Seeing Qin Da Ni fondling the spinning machine admiringly, Li Xiao also chuckled: “It’s definitely much easier to use.”

“This spinning machine can spin eight threads at a time.”

Picking up the wool yarn Qin Da Ni made earlier, he kneaded it gently in his hand.

Quite strong, not easy to break, perfectly usable for weaving wool fabric.

This was a fabric better than cotton cloth.

Warmer than cotton cloth, and with better stress resistance.

The biggest problem was that it shrank easily.

Furthermore, wool was not as high-yielding as cotton and couldn’t be promoted on a large scale.

“Why did everyone run to the backyard?”

While Li Xiao and the others were talking, the Old Master walked in with his hands behind his back.

The Old Master hadn’t been idle all day either— like Li Xiao, he was cutting grass.

He just drove the flock of sheep back.

Hearing San Feng’s voice, he hurried over. After all, the backyard was full of his blacksmithing stuff, sharp and angular, quite dangerous.

“Grandpa, come and see. This pile of wood Big Brother tinkered out can really spin wool yarn.”

Seeing the Old Master coming, San Feng’s eyes lit up, as if seizing an opportunity to show off.

Saying this, she replaced Qin Da Ni and stood in front of the spinning machine.

Reaching out to grab a handful of wool, she combed it gently and placed it next to the rotating wheel. Then, she stepped lightly on the pedal. With power, the rotating wheel began to turn.

Pulling and combing the wool fibers evenly, making them neat and straight.

The spindle wheels spun rapidly, twisting the combed wool fibers tightly into strong yarn.

This process was not complicated. Soon, more and more yarn gathered on the spindles, forming full balls of thread.

Watching this scene before him, the Old Master was also somewhat stunned.

Turning to look at Li Xiao— “During this time, is this the thing you tinkered out?”

This thing?

Although the Old Master’s tone was calm, Li Xiao could still hear his disapproval.

A bit disrespectful to this Hexi Spinning Machine.

“This isn’t an ordinary thing,” Li Xiao shook his head.

“Ordinary spinning machines can only spin one thread at a time, but this one can spin eight threads at once, or even sixteen threads.”

“Work that originally took sixteen people can now be finished by one person— it can save a lot of effort.”

“Grandpa, tell me, isn’t it amazing!” Li Xiao explained.

But the Old Master still looked calm and nodded— “This thing is just for weaving cloth, right?”

“You could say that” Li Xiao nodded.

Actually, spinning and weaving were two different things.

The spinning machine turned raw materials into spun thread, while weaving was the process of weaving spun thread into cloth— they were two sequential processes.

Just having a spinning machine wasn’t enough. To develop Jin Prefecture’s textile industry, a loom also had to be developed.

In this regard, Li Xiao also had a clue.

Preparing to add something to the looms of this era.

Exactly the flying shuttle recorded in middle school history textbooks, which could greatly increase weaving efficiency.

However, the use of the flying shuttle required a tool.

Springs!

To forge springs, the Old Master’s help was needed.

“During this time, you’ve been tinkering with this spinning machine and spent a lot of energy.”

“In the future, put more thought into practicing martial arts.”

The Old Master said with his hands behind his back, neither lightly nor heavily.

Then, he gently patted San Feng’s head, revealing an ugly smile on his face.

Encouragingly, he said, “San Feng, not bad— better than your mother and grandma.”

Li Xiao naturally understood the Old Master’s meaning.

In the Old Master’s view, weaving cloth was women’s work.

For Li Xiao, a big man, to tinker with this stuff seemed a bit like not attending to proper duties.

He should focus on martial arts, farming, riding, shooting, and training troops.

Helpless, Li Xiao shook his head with a smile and could only coax the Old Master: “Alright, Grandpa, my martial arts definitely won’t fall behind.”

It could only be called a gap in cognition.

In the Old Master’s view, he with strong soldiers and sturdy horses was king; having big fists meant being right, and everything else was meaningless.

But Li Xiao, with the perspective of later generations, saw it very clearly.

Many times, war was a competition of comprehensive strength.

Relying solely on soldiers daring to fight and risk their lives couldn’t achieve great things.

There must be solid economic and technological power as support to go further.

Even if one war was lost, it wouldn’t hurt the foundation; and one could easily regroup an army armed to the teeth.

Without these, one war might beat you back to your original form.

However, Li Xiao didn’t argue seriously with the Old Master about this reasoning.

Instead, he asked the Old Master— “Grandpa, in a few days, I plan to organize a caravan to go to the Desert.”

“To sell the West Wind Fury we brewed during this time.”

“Who in our Li family can handle this?”

Before the autumn harvest, Li Xiao had already sent a message to the Old Master to lead people to start brewing wine in large quantities in Hexi Fortress.

After fermenting during this period, the wine of Hexi Fortress had already succeeded.

Next, only the step of distillation needed to be completed.

West Wind Fury could officially complete mass production work.

So, Li Xiao prepared to send someone to the Desert. While selling wine, they would also buy a batch of cotton back.

Although wool could also be woven into cloth, its performance in some aspects was still inferior to cotton cloth.