[Comprehensive History] Clothes are all over the world

"Gada Gada." A strange voice came from the Daming Palace in Fengyang.

This strange and continuous sound caused the maids who were waiting to be summoned at any time outside the palace could not help but look up quietly. It is the coldest day of the year in the twelfth lunar month of winter, and the night wind is icy cold, although They all wore newly issued warm cotton jackets and stood in a place sheltered from the wind, but it was inevitable that they couldn't bear it anymore. At this time, if they stopped thinking about things and distracted their attention, it would be a bit difficult.

But distraction is distraction. These court ladies who followed the abdicated Emperor Hongwu and his wife to the Zhongdu Palace for the elderly all have extremely high professionalism and sense of smell. Prejudice.

Between Bai Xuefeifei, these palace maids carrying lamps were fixed in place like candles.

Just at this time, a few small lights and the sound of stepping on the snow moved from far to near, and the wind and snow reduced the visibility to the minimum. It was not until the other party approached about ten steps that everyone could clearly see the other party's first-grade female official uniform. Several palace maids hurriedly bowed their knees and bowed down, the leader raised his hand towards them, and seeing the faces of the girls turning pale with cold, he whispered: "Your Majesty knows that you have worked hard, and the special orders have been through you for the past few days. Serve brown sugar ginger tea and prepare it, hurry up, one bowl per person, come and drink to warm your body."

The faces of the maids on duty suddenly lit up. They all showed joy and thanked the lady officer softly. Then they handed the lanterns in their hands to their companions and went to get the tea bowls one by one in order.

It's really too cold today, even if this ginger tea was brought out from the small kitchen next to Kunning Palace not far from here, and wrapped in a quilt, it was half cold when it got here, but fortunately, the people in the dining room were willing to cut the ingredients , in addition to the minced ginger, pepper is also sprinkled. This bowl of tea immediately feels warm from the mouth to the stomach, which is really comfortable.

After drinking a cup of tea, a young hot girl had a cute little blush on her cheeks.

The leading female officer looked at this scene with a smile, as if she had sensed the sad sight behind her, she turned her head and looked at the big Han generals whose eyes were as immobile as a mountain, but whose small eyes were drifting down to them, and nodded with a smile: "Everyone Forgive me."

The guards are different from the maids. The maids are not responsible for guarding, and they are fine to eat and drink.However, according to the regulations, soldiers are not allowed to eat any food during their duty. It is a trivial matter to have three urgencies, the main reason is that someone is tempted to eat.

Sitting in this position, everyone in the world may be the enemy, and they can't be negligent at any time. Even if Emperor Hongwu believed in his wife's ability to command, if he really found out that they were eating, he might not say anything, but Empress Ma would never allow such a mistake that might hurt her husband to happen to her.

Hearing this, the soldiers immediately withdrew their expectant eyes, and continued to remain motionless, but it was not known whether it was the strong wind or other reasons, the feathers on the heads of these people seemed to have drooped.

The maid looked funny, but she really couldn't help with this matter, so she turned her eyes considerately, and looked at the main hall where the lights were still lit in the middle of the night. Looking at it, her face revealed Some disapproval, especially when she figured out what was causing the voice inside.

Different from these young maidservants, this woman in a winter coat with fine embroidery immediately figured out what it was based on the sound, and then thought of the reason for the commotion inside, and immediately had several copies of it. Sullen.

She stepped forward quickly, and knocked on the door of Kunning Palace: "Your Majesty, please see Xiaotao."

Coincidentally, as soon as she opened her mouth, the continuous "click" sound stopped immediately, as if even the atmosphere froze, and it took a while before there was a reaction.The palace gate of Kunning Palace was opened little by little, and what entered everyone's sight was a windshield made of thick cotton cushions. Two pieces of thick cotton cloth the size of quilts blocked the heating and the scenery inside, until the steward who called himself Xiaotao When my aunt entered the hall, she didn't make any sound.

Empress Ma is weak, and her son and grandson are extremely filial, so even in the middle of winter, the Kunning Palace is still full of heat. As soon as she entered the palace, Xiao Tao felt that the snow-covered cloak on her body was a little wet.

She took off her clothes and handed them to the maid beside her, then stood still and took a duster to remove the snow color that she had inadvertently stained on her body. , she swept her gaze, and immediately settled on a machine placed in the corner.

Although it is completely empty now, not even a thread, but Xiao Tao is sure that it was still working just a moment ago.

The three words of disapproval on Xiao Tao's face were as if they were real. She looked at Empress Ma who was lying on the bed, pinching a book and seemed to be reading seriously, and said half-truthfully, "Mother, if you continue to do this, Your Majesty will definitely blame His Highness the Crown Prince." This thing brought to you has made you tired."

"I think he dares?" Empress Ma threw the book away immediately, and stared at her phoenix eyes. She had the air of being a husband and wife, but this aura was reflected in the subtle emotions of the maid who had served her for nearly 30 years. The eyes gradually shrank, and finally revealed a little guilt.

I wanted to refute, but after thinking about the character of the old man at home, Empress Ma finally touched her nose, pulled out a velvet robe from under the quilt, and handed it to the maid as if offering a treasure: "Taoer, take a look , how is this done?"

The female officer who had been Aunt Peach in front of others for many years sighed, she took the robe with both hands, and as soon as she unfolded it, she knew who it was made for.

Emperor Hongwu and his wife advocate frugality. Even after ascending to the supreme position in the world, Emperor Hongwu will go to the field in person, and Empress Ma will start reeling silk, weaving and tailoring clothes by raising silkworms. The kind that the emperor pretends to be.

Empress Ma's handicraft was also practiced. In the past, she was born as an adopted daughter. In that era, even if she was Guo Zixing's adopted daughter, she would inevitably have to do some rough work. When life at home was still relatively difficult, she made clothes for almost every adopted son of Emperor Hongwu, but now that her energy was declining, only Emperor Hongwu could wear the clothes she made.

Most of Emperor Hongwu's adoptive sons were orphans picked up, or the youngest sons taken in by sacrificed generals. For them, Empress Ma was their biological mother, and the love and care from their mothers was also the most precious treasure in their life. It is said that Emperor Hongwu was able to use his adopted sons like his arms, which is also related to the closer family connection between this branch and the other royal families.

However, the above information is actually a bit wrong. Over the years, Empress Ma actually made clothes for two people, that is, the Mubai brothers who returned to the capital after all kinds of hardships. Taking the two children under their noses to raise them, doing everything by themselves, and even tailoring a lot of clothes, this importance is also the main reason why the Mubai brothers did not encounter any messy things in the palace.

Yes, the clothes in Xiaotao's hands are obviously made for Mu Bai.

It can be seen from the slender waist.

Emperor Hongwu has reached this age, no matter how well he takes care of himself, he will inevitably gain weight, but now he is not exercising. The two oldest people can already start to compete who has the bigger belly.

On the contrary, His Royal Highness is in the ambiguous transition period between youth and youth. He already has the height and shoulder width of a young man, but the slenderness of the rapid growth period of a teenager has not dissipated. His Highness spends a lot of time exercising every day, and this series of factors have resulted in the current results.

The body fat rate on the prince's body is frighteningly low, and his figure is smooth and powerful. You can't see it in robes on weekdays, but if you wear a slightly tight-fitting leather jacket or a hunting suit, you can see that His Highness has beautiful lines on his body. Well, if the clothes made for him were a little tighter, then even the second son Zhu Yunwen, who was two years younger than him, wouldn't be able to wear them.

... No, it is no exaggeration to say that girls of the same age may not be able to wear it.

Because of His Royal Highness's figure, Xiao Tao recognized the clothes as soon as he lifted them up. This velvet dress is obviously an inner shirt for the purpose of keeping warm. In order to keep warm, the inner shirt will be more snug than the blouse, but this It doesn't mean that the clothes are easy to make, the more compact the version is, the more technical it is.And the collar of the robe in her hand was sewn up, and the finish was extremely high.

Xiao Tao's eyes narrowed immediately, she recalled the activities of the master in the family during the day and night, and immediately judged that Queen Ma must have stayed up all night, and not just once or twice, definitely for several days!

"No, I just made this today." As if guessing what she was thinking, Empress Ma smiled and waved her hands. She pointed to the machine in the corner of the room that Xiaotao had just rolled her eyes at: " This thing works really well, and with a few nods, the work of the first afternoon is done."

Xiao Tao was also a little surprised when she heard this, and then, with the encouragement of Empress Ma, she also took two pieces of fabric and sat down to try it out.

When Chu Chu came to the seat, this woman who is also a good embroiderer was still a little restrained, and didn't understand how to use this thing.

When the crown prince delivered something, she happened to have a mission to go out, so she just pretended to meet each other. Although she knew that it seemed to be a new small loom, she didn't know how to operate it.

However, surprisingly, this seemingly complicated thing is very simple to operate.

Queen Ma ordered her to move one by one, thread the thread, unwind the spool, place the fabric under the needle, and then just move the fabric forward while stepping on the pedal.The needle thread will shuttle back and forth on the fabric with the speed of her pedaling. As long as her kinetic energy is maintained at a constant speed, the stitches on the fabric can be dense and well-proportioned.

Xiaotao couldn't help tearing the fabric, and found that its firmness was not much different from the one she sewed by hand. She couldn't help being surprised: "This, this is very useful."

"That's right." Empress Ma stood behind her and pointed out: "Your hand is like this, bend an arc, yes, this way you can bend directly."

"Oh, the thread is broken? It's okay, wear it here and here, don't need to tie a knot, just use it directly, it's very strong."

After a while, the sound of "咔嚓咚咚" in the Kunning Palace sounded again and again. The maids who resumed their duty after drinking ginger soup outside the door couldn't help but wonder. Just now, seeing the expression on the aunt's face when she entered, it was obvious that she wanted to stop the empress. Doesn't seem to be able to stop it?

It's the third watch, so staying up late is not very good.

But not long after boarding, these court ladies also followed Xiaotao's old path.

Empress Ma asked her grandson for another brand-new loom, and then put it in the clothing room of Fengyang Palace. Just like a sports car is a man's romance, a loom is a woman's toy.Everyone in the palace is a smart person in this line of work, and it only took half a decade from getting started to playing well.

During this period, the work efficiency of Shangyifang has increased sharply, and the spring has not yet arrived, and they are about to finish sewing the summer clothes. The reason for the word "soon" is entirely because the fabric has not been delivered yet.

In other words, Shangyifang has digested all the fabrics in stock!

This was almost impossible in the past.

For the clothes in the palace, the most time-consuming time on a set of clothes is definitely the embroidery and decoration part. In order to save time and improve efficiency, there is no such embarrassment that the clothes have not been done when the solar terms change. Usually, the clothes supply of the palace It is a many-to-one multi-department cooperation model. There are many departments responsible for dyeing, embroidery, and trimming, while only one room is responsible for the final stitching and finishing.

The sewing of the cloth is nothing more than that, the dyed cloth is produced in batches, not to mention the tributes from the people, so it often happens that there is nothing to do on weekdays, and it is a pile of work.

But now, in this harvest season, Shangyifang has completed the ALLCLEAN achievement. This feeling of rubbing your hands and waiting for the subordinates to process the raw materials, how should I put it...is it so exciting!

Although everyone is in the same system, there is also a competitive relationship between each other. I finished the work in hand and waited for your work to come to fruition. Doesn't this mean that my efficiency is higher than yours?I didn't see that the manager in the next room had a green face these days, and he was still wondering whether they had added someone, etc.

It's not that people are added, it's all thanks to the new machinery that has been given.

This machine is really easy to use, the speed is fast, the stitches are stable, and it doesn't take much effort and eyesight. In the past, the daily work can be cleaned in an hour.

However, this product still has some shortcomings, for example, it is easy to break the thread and needle. Although the maintenance and replacement are simple, it is also a bit delayed. After handing it in, I rubbed my hands together and asked if I could give them one more loom?One more, and their efficiency may be able to kill the old guy next door.

One more?Do you want peaches?

There are only five sets of this thing in the entire Ming Dynasty, one was given to Empress Ma, one was given to each of the Shangyifang in Yingtian Mansion and Fengyang Mansion, and the remaining one was used by the Ministry of Industry as a template for remodeling and upgrading. Come out more.And most importantly, mass production of this machine is not easy.

Inside is used to complete the sewing function is an arc-shaped thread winding machine, each time the needle is pressed down, it will take the thread to a circle, and then connect with another thread that goes through the hidden thread, so that a closed After that, there is a buckle.

But the size of this machine expander is very difficult to figure out. Almost every machine will have some errors due to one or another reason, or the expansion of wood is different, or the toughness of the tendon used for transmission is different. In addition, this machine expander cannot have any sharpness. The smoothness of the cutting surface must ensure that it can hook the silk thread without breaking it. These factors determine that such products cannot be mass-produced at all, and craftsmen can only test one by one.

But the big headache for the staff of the Ministry of Industry is that if it is just the urging of the Shangyifang, they still have enough confidence to shout: "Do you know how difficult this thing is?", but when the crown prince urges them, they really have no There is a way.

What else can they say but keep grinding with red eyes?No matter who let this thing not be invented by the Ministry of Industry, if someone overtakes in a curve and can't catch up with the original product made by others, then they should not be in the Ministry of Industry.

Yes, this product called "sewing machine" was knocked out by a folk craftsman at the first time, after His Royal Highness issued a reward.

In the early days, the prototype of this product was actually a hand-pressed sewing machine, which can sew a stitch just by pressing it down like a stapler. The craftsman who made this product was entirely to satisfy his vision loss due to glaucoma Lady sewing fun.However, in order to take away the reward that His Highness the Crown Prince added that "if you can use your feet as power, you will have more rewards", this person modified it again, and it became the prototype of the first sewing machine in Ming Dynasty and even in the world.

The principle is actually the same, nothing more than changing the source of power and increasing the speed of work. With such a modification, this person directly took away a pile of gold, and His Royal Highness specially sent someone to take care of and protect them to avoid being caught. Desperadoes attracted by wealth hurt them.

The one in the hand of this craftsman is also one of the five that was not mentioned before. It is now placed in the storage room of the Earth Altar, and it is going to be on the stage as the main force of the textile industry during the Spring and Autumn Festival next year. God, it can be seen that it is valued.

Of course, compared with the crude original model, the new version of the sewing machine that has been polished and rebuilt by the Ministry of Industry has improved several steps, but it still does not meet the requirements of His Royal Highness, because The loss rate of this new needle and thread is really a bit high.

In this regard, the craftsman is also very helpless. In fact, the wear rate of ordinary iron needles is not small, but it may take tens of millions of uses to break or bend a needle, and it may take a year or two to put it on a human body. , but for a mechanically powered sewing machine, this is only a few days of labor. The original loss rate of several years will naturally appear faster if it is put into a few days, but this is not incomprehensible.

"This is not a reason." His Royal Highness waved his hand, "In the process of using, such consumables are consumed too much, and this level is definitely beyond the reach of ordinary people. We must improve the way of inserting needles and reduce the consumption of needles. , or improve the smelting technology of the needle and increase its hardness, you can decide for yourself, in short, this kind of discount for a few days is absolutely not allowed, at least it must be used for more than seven days."

The mouth of the minister of the Ministry of Industry grew. For a moment, he didn't know whether to complain that he had to start with a modified needle to build a sewing machine, or whether he should be amazed that His Royal Highness wanted to put this machine in the homes of the people.

It is true that this machine does not use particularly expensive materials, but it uses a lot of gears and chains. These are all knocked out by people. The labor cost is not insignificant. If it is on sale, such a machine will at least cost Is it equivalent to a tael of gold?

Can ordinary people afford it?

Mu Bai tapped the table with his fingertips, motioning for the servant to sit down and talk, and when he opened his mouth, the poor servant almost fell to the ground: "The public will definitely not be able to afford this price now, so you have to pay for it." Find ways to keep costs and selling prices down."

"You are not required to do everything in one step, at least first, cloth shops, tailor shops, and cloth-related industries must be able to afford it first." Mu Bai raised two fingers and said to the poor guy: "Within two years, we will It’s not hard to get it down to that cost, is it?”

No, it's not difficult, how can it not be difficult?Just when the servant was one step away from foaming at the mouth, His Highness the Crown Prince squatted down in front of him, speaking in a bewitching tone: "Ai Qing, do you know what you are doing?"

"I don't know, I don't know." The servant shook his head like a sieve, and felt that he would not be able to deal with Shangfeng after returning, it was like resigning.

Mu Bai held his chin, and said in a low voice: "Have you seen what the Shangyifang looks like now? With this machine, tailoring and sewing clothes are no longer a time-consuming and labor-intensive task. The more sewing machines there are among the people , there will be more demand for fabric."

"The greater the demand for fabrics, the higher the requirements for looms. Under the demand, there must be someone who improves looms like Huang Daopo."

"As the efficiency of weaving increases, the demand for silk threads will also increase. In this way, it won't take long for someone to improve silk reeling technology."

"When the silk reeling technology changes, the demand for raw materials will increase. Soon, someone will either improve the silkworm breeding technology, or someone will find better weaving materials. Aiqing, look, you are not changing this one The loom..." The young man moved his fingers in the air, pointing out the entire industrial chain in the void, and finally said with a smile: "You improved the entire future."

The Minister of the Ministry of Industry, the Minister of the Ministry of Industry suddenly became excited.

The author has something to say: Xiaobai: Look at this big cake, it is big and round...

A top-down industrial chain is the best model, and demand is the foundation of industrial progress.