Chapter 1196 The End of the Universe is Carrying Goods

Chapter 1196 The End of the Universe is Carrying Goods

Chapter 1196 The End of the Universe is Carrying Goods
Coincidentally, just as the Guo father and son were discussing wool, Shao Xun was also discussing this matter with the Tuoba Xianbei children who were accompanying the emperor south.

In the Sangzi Garden of Yecheng, there are so-called looms brought by Western Hu merchants, which are quite outrageous.

The thing was actually assembled on site in Yecheng. It was huge, almost as tall as a house when stood up, with a spindle hanging down. One person was spinning the thread by hand and winding it with a distaff, while another person prepared the roving and wound it into a disc.

Weaving takes place on a beam at the top of the machine, and the woven cloth is rolled up on the beam.

The entire process is almost entirely manual, with machines seemingly providing only a minor contribution.

In short, the efficiency is very low.

Shao Xun felt that real wool spinning machines must not be like this, and the ones brought by these Hu merchants were too backward.

Animal fiber was first used by nomadic people, but the technology really developed after entering farming areas.

However, animal fibers such as wool and camel hair were rarely used for textiles in ancient Chinese farming areas. Even if relevant technologies were developed on a temporary basis, they would soon be lost in the long river of history.

Wool spinning really developed in the city-states of Central Asia. They had a considerable level of civilization, writing, and various related technologies. They were able to develop complex machines that were difficult for nomadic peoples to master, and eventually spread them eastward and westward.

This is evident from the fact that the vast majority of woolen textiles unearthed in China are in Xinjiang.

The process of this wool spinning technology spreading eastward was not smooth because there was silk weaving in the Central Plains, but after it was spread westward to the Mediterranean, it immediately became popular among the locals. Their main fabrics now are woolen cloth and linen.

Shao Xun felt that if he wanted to find truly advanced wool spinning machines, he had to go to the city-states of Central Asia. The late Ming Dynasty book Tiangong Kaiwu mentioned wool spinning, saying, "Weaving machines and sheep breeds were brought by the Yi people at that time, so all weavers today are from that tribe, and there is no Chinese tradition."

"Wool is very good at keeping out the cold." Shao Xun held a piece of woven wool cloth in his hand and said, "It may have various defects. The wool is short, coarse, and hard. It cannot be spun directly. It needs to be cleaned and fluffed first, and then twisted and spun into yarn..."

Shao Xun handed the woolen cloth to Pugu Ting and said, "Let's see how it goes."

"It's much softer than a felt carpet." Pugu listened and touched it carefully and said.

Shao Xun couldn't help laughing.

The standard for felting wool is much lower than that for spinning and weaving. Generally, the wool is laid flat, humidified and heated, and then beaten and rolled, that is, external force is applied to allow the wool to naturally tangle. Some wool processing methods do not even remove the grease on the wool, and the technical content is very low.

Authentic degreased wool is spun into yarn and then woven into cloth. It has a high technical content and is naturally softer than felt blankets.

Shao Xun took out another piece of woolen cloth, looked at the Yellow Gate Minister Yin Yuan, and said, "You are from Dunhuang, do you know what this thing is called?"

"Ji (ji) is the cloth woven by the Western Hu." Yin Yuan replied, "There is a country called Jibin in the Western Regions. They are skilled in weaving and embroidering. Emperor Gaozu of the Han Dynasty once issued an order prohibiting merchants from wearing brocade, embroidery, silk, gauze, and tassels. He listed tassels on the same level as brocade and embroidery, which shows how precious they are."

"There have been furs since the Han Dynasty, why are they rarely seen nowadays?" Shao Xun asked.

"Maybe it's too expensive." Yin Yuan said, "Han Shizhong Dou Gu sent 800,000 yuan, but only bought more than ten pieces of miscellaneous fur."

"Why did Dou Gu buy fur?"

"During the Han Dynasty, dukes and marquises used bamboo and wood to make their tables, and in winter they would spread fine fur on top to keep warm. In fact, this item still appeared from time to time until the Three Kingdoms." Yin Yuan said, "In the late Han Dynasty, Sun Jian often wore a red fur cap, thinking it was a sign of noble status. Emperor Wen of Wei also gave two furs to the crown prince of Wu. In the Jin Dynasty, the Jie people in Liangzhou still knew how to weave fur. I think there should be someone among Liu Shizhong's people who knew how to weave this item. Fur is a kind of fur cloth from the Western Hu people."

Liu Runzhong was stunned when he heard this.

The Jie people are indeed the authentic "Western Hu", but the problem is——

"Your Majesty, the Jie people in Shangdang are good at retting hemp. This skill passed down from their ancestors is hard to find." Liu Runzhong said embarrassedly: "How about I go back and ask?"

"The wool weavers in Sangziyuan in Yecheng are Jie people." Shao Xun glanced at him and said, "In the early years, they wove furs for Shi Le. But don't I have furs? What I want is a loom. The ones in Sangziyuan are just ok. If you don't want a fur to be sold for tens of thousands of coins, you have to think of a way."

"Your Majesty, the expensive ones are fine fur and flower fur, and the fabrics may not be wool, but may be relatively precious animal hair." Yin Yuan said: "During the Han Dynasty, Ban Chao was stationed in the Western Regions for many years, and the dignitaries in Chang'an often asked him to buy Yuezhi horses, frankincense, and fine wool blankets. During the Han Dynasty, the Weiyang Palace stipulated that the Kapisa carpet (fine wool blankets woven from cashmere) was used, and these items were all worth thousands of gold."

After listening to this, Shao Xun sighed and said, "I don't live as luxuriously as Emperor Wu of Han. The Taiji and Zhaoyang Palaces only have felt carpets."

After saying this, he looked at Pugu and said, "Did you hear that?"

"I heard it." Pugu said quickly.

"You are sitting on a mountain of treasure and don't know it." Shao Xun said, "However, I am not asking you to weave a piece of fine fur or flower fur worth ten thousand coins. You can just weave a piece of miscellaneous fur worth hundreds or thousands of coins. The more people buy it, the more you earn."

Pu Gu heard that he was smart, so he just smiled bitterly and said, "Your Majesty, the Xianbei people only know how to fight and kill, they are not skillful, and they are stupid. Maybe they can only sell wool."

After hearing this, Shao Xun laughed and scolded, "You are useless."

However, selling wool is also a way out.

He knew that the sheep on the northern grasslands were almost all sheep, with very few goats.

The finest cashmere comes from goats, but the main source of wool is from sheep.

Depending on the quality of the pasture, the ratio of large livestock to small livestock is between one to five and one to ten. The small livestock here are actually sheep, and the large livestock are horses, cattle and camels.

The better the quality of the grassland, the more large livestock there are, and the closer the ratio is to one to five, and vice versa, the less, because large livestock eat more and consume more.

The quality of Tuoba Xianbei's pasture is good. Although it is not as good as one to five, it is not far away. From now on, they can use some of the resources for raising large livestock to raise sheep. Sheep do not eat grass roots, which is much better than goats.

Of course, there is no need to do this now, because they cannot consume their own wool and most of it is wasted. Selling this wasted wool can greatly improve the economic conditions of these tribes and further deepen their economic ties with the Central Plains.

The market and customers are all in Zhongyuan, why are you rebelling? Are you destroying your own job?
"Now that Tuoba has been decided, I will forcefully push forward some things." Shao Xun looked at the other tribesmen and said, "Whether you are willing or not, you must follow my steps. Whoever has wool or even a salt pond will benefit greatly in the future."

Degreasing wool requires an alkali or a weak acid salt.

In the Middle Ages, Europeans used wood ash and even urine to degrease wool. When the scale of their business expanded, they began to use soda ash. There is a natural alkaline lake in Hungary that supplies almost half of Europe with soda ash.

There is actually a large amount of soda ash on the grasslands of northern China (most of which exists in the form of salt ponds), but no one mines it.

Economic means are indispensable if we want to control the grasslands more deeply and for a longer period of time.

However, grasslands are often in a trade deficit position. Apart from bulk commodities such as livestock, furs, horns, and animal tendons, there are only scattered commodities such as medicinal materials, honey, wax, and bird feathers.

Wool products are definitely a powerful tool to balance the trade deficit.

As long as the relevant consumption habits are cultivated, all aspects will gradually improve if there is demand, such as more advanced textile machines, better sheep breeds (producing more, longer, finer and softer wool), etc.

To cultivate consumption habits, you need to promote products!
Promote products with the dignity of an emperor!
The end of the struggle for hegemony in troubled times turns out to be selling goods!

******
"Ji County and Dunqiu are not bad. They were almost barren land at the end of the Jin Dynasty. Now the population is gradually recovering, but there are still wastelands." In the Jinyang Governor's Mansion, Shao Xun sat on a Hu bed with his hands folded and closed his eyes to pretend to sleep. Han Wang Shao Yan overcame his fear and tried to speak in a calm tone: "But Yangping County is not so good. This county was not severely damaged and there are not many wastelands. After the 1,200 guards in Suoyang Prefecture multiplied and thrived, the population gradually increased, and two or three out of ten people privately divided the land. Even those who did not divide the land often farmed with the troops. If a guard's family has two hectares of land, there were originally three households of the troops farming, and now there are brothers and sisters. Each household has less land to farm. Whether it is the guards or the troops, the financial resources are not as good as before."

Hearing this, Shao Xun opened his eyes and said, "It has been less than six years since the establishment of Zuoyang Prefecture, and there are already so many people who have divided the land. But it's not surprising."

The reason is very simple. These soldiers were reorganized from the former Luoyang Central Army and the Yan and Yu hereditary soldiers. They had families to support. Many of them had more than one child when they served as soldiers, and some were even adults. Now, in the past five or six years, is it strange that two or three out of ten people have divided the land privately?

"Wulang, how do you think we should deal with this?" Shao Xun asked.

"Grandpa, I feel..." While speaking, Shao Yan cautiously glanced at Shao Xun.

"Just say it frankly. You are my son. Even if you said something wrong, can I really blame you?" Shao Xun said with a smile.

Shao Yan's heart warmed up, so he stopped hesitating and said directly: "Grandpa, the palace soldiers are the foundation of the country, and they must not be neglected. Some things should be done even if it offends people. Grandpa has tried every means to solve the problem of surplus palace soldiers in recent years. The situation of the Left and Right Cavalry Guards and the Left Jinwu Guards has greatly improved, and the situation of the Left Flying Dragon Guard is also being solved slowly. I think we should not waver and should persevere."

"If we don't do anything now, the soldiers may only last for a few decades. But if we do something, they can continue to live for decades longer. Even if it's only five or ten years, it's always good."

"You just said that this is something that will offend people. Your father asked you to investigate the land and property of the government soldiers throughout the country, and you have offended quite a few people." Shao Xun said.

Shao Yan shook his head and said, "I'm not afraid of offending people."

"Then what are you trying to do?" Shao Xun laughed and said, "Your elder brother discovered this problem a long time ago. I asked him if he was willing to go down and clean it up. He was afraid. Why aren't you afraid?"

Shao Yan lowered his head and said nothing.

Shao Xun stood up, gently stroked his son's back, and said, "Accompany me to the military headquarters in Jinyang."

"Okay!" Shao Yan suddenly raised his head, looking slightly excited.

“Haha! You’re so grown up, but you’re still like a kid.” Shao Xun patted his shoulder and laughed.

"Go and get the horse." Shao Yan ran out in a flash, forgetting even to greet.

Looking at Wu Lang's receding back, Shao Xun sighed slightly.

After sighing, his eyes were full of smiles.

He is a man, not a god, but a father.

The son needs the father's affirmation, and the father also enjoys spending time with his son.

Wu Lang is a good person. He really doesn’t ask for much. He just wants the affirmation of others.

Perhaps, his sons are all pretty good, at least not particularly anthropomorphic, and at worst, they are at average level.

If I make a mistake, I will correct it after it is pointed out.

Going out and experiencing things will slowly update your cognition and enrich your experience.

Every step of their growth can be traced, and when they are in their twenties, thirties or even forties, their abilities and cognition will be much stronger than they are now.

This is life, no one is born knowing it.

A moment later, a large group of knights rushed out from the south gate of Jinyang.

Shao Xun only took King Han with him to the Longxiang Mansion in the Jin Temple.

(End of this chapter)