The husband is the future chief [infrastructure]

Although Jiang Ziyan didn't collect much cotton from the countryside this time around, it was enough for the current period of time.

The newly harvested cotton was not directly picked from the field. The reason why Jiang Ziyan charged a higher price than the market price was because the cotton he harvested had to be clean and seed-removed.

Generally, cotton has to go through the two steps of cleaning and carding. Now the textile mills are in urgent need of cotton, so what is collected is clean cotton, which can be used after a little cleaning.

To turn cotton into cloth through weaving, the premise is to first make cotton into thread.

Generally, the cotton is first kneaded with fingers into small thin strips that are as thick as fingers, and then the spinning wheel is used to weave threads.

Experienced master craftsmen generally hold the kneaded small cotton sliver in their left hand, take out a small end from the small cotton sliver, and hang it on the spinning wheel.

Step on the pedal to turn the spinning wheel, wind the thread and transfer it to the turntable, add cotton sliver at any time with the left hand, slowly pull the cotton on countless noodles into yarn, wind them together, and the cotton thread is done.

However, this kind of cotton thread is made of single thread. Jiang Ziyan asked to make multi-strand thread. The multi-strand thread is twisted together to form a single thread. After being woven into cloth on a spinning wheel, it will be wear-resistant and strong.

After the materials and technology were ready, Jiang Ziyan began to put up notices through the cement factory, saying that he had opened a new textile factory and was recruiting apprentices. The requirement was that all the apprentices recruited should be women, and they should be younger. Children also need it, which can be cultivated from an early age.

Cement factories employ almost all male workers, while textile factories employ almost all female workers.

Now the rural women in the entire Lin'an area couldn't believe that they could also become apprentices and earn money to support themselves.

The morals of the world are very harsh on women, and almost all women are born to marry someone in exchange for a few taels of gift money.

Obedience to the father at home and obedience to the husband after marriage, the status is very low.Generally, only elderly middle-aged women can find a job as a sweeper in the city or town.

It was the first textile factory like Jiang Ziyan to recruit only female workers.

The folk customs in Jiangnan are more civilized, because the textile industry is more developed, so more female workers are recruited.

But in the south and north of Lin'an, there are almost no jobs that only recruit female workers. This news shocked all the women in the county.

The salary stated in the notice is very good, but the winnings are a little less, but it is already very good to live there for free.

This kind of condition is very suitable for families who are too poor to support too many children.

Instead of letting the girl in the family get married early to reduce the burden, it is better to send her to a weaving workshop as an apprentice.

As for recruiting apprentices, of course, not everyone wants to come.Because they are the first batch of apprentices, they may become the mainstay of weaving and spinning in the future, so Jiang Ziyan personally saw them when recruiting the first batch of apprentices.

Among the apprentices who will become apprentices in the future, very few are married, and almost all of them are unmarried half-grown girls.

One of the girls, Jiang Ziyan, was so impressed with her that he couldn't help but think of Erya who he had seen in Qingping Village.

The little girl's surname is Huang, and her name is Huang Zhaodi. She can speak well, and she is very sensible at the age of 13.

In the countryside, people are usually engaged by the age of 13.

Jiang Ziyan asked her why she wanted to come here as an apprentice, and the little girl said that it was because she didn't want to marry, so she forced her mother to take her here as an apprentice.

Jiang Ziyan asked her why she didn't want to marry, and the little girl said so.

"When my sister was not married, although she often worked at home, she lived happily. But after she got married, she was often beaten. Every time I went to see her, she was crying. That mother-in-law was very fierce. Sister's life is not good at all. I don't want to live like that in the future, I was thinking, if I can support myself by myself and live a good life, why would I marry someone to add to my pain?"

The little girl's remarks really shocked Jiang Ziyan, which was exactly the same as the thoughts of those women in his previous life.But fortunately, it was not heard by others, otherwise it would be shocking to others.

How can there be a woman who does not marry?If you haven't married after ten years, you are a yellow-faced woman, and those are old girls who are not wanted.

Jiang Ziyan lamented that the little girl's thinking was too avant-garde, and admired her personality, so he left her behind.

In view of the reputation of the cement factory, it is not difficult for the textile factory to recruit workers. Could it be that the family is willing to let them come.

Not many people came to sign up as apprentices on the first day, only two or three.By the next day, the number of people gradually increased, most of them were girls sent by their families.

There is one less person in the family to eat, at least it can reduce the burden.

After a few days in succession, Jiang Ziyan saw that the number of people recruited was almost there, and he was going to put up a sign saying that the number of people was full and that there was no recruitment.

As a result, Jiang Ziyan came out of the house, and before the temporary non-recruitment notice was posted, Jiang Ziyan saw a thin girl standing outside the door, pulling the threshold, dirty all over, wanting to enter but not daring to enter.

After Jiang Ziyan approached, the little girl looked at him timidly, but she didn't dodge, but tidied her clothes. Although they were dirty, they looked tidy.

"Little girl, are you here to sign up?"

Jiang Ziyan asked in a low voice.

The dirty little girl also exuded a stench, like a little beggar who has been in a beggar's den for a long time.

She looked at Jiang Ziyan with a pair of dark eyes, and she could see that she was a little bit timid, but she still mustered up the courage to ask: "Yes, I heard that you are recruiting here, and I also want older ones."

After speaking, it seemed that she was afraid that the other party would reject her, so she quickly added another sentence: "I have been watching here for several days, and people as old as me go in every day."

"Yes, we are recruiting people here, but we are not recruiting workers, but apprentices. Are you interested in learning weaving and making clothes?"

There was a gleam in the little girl's eyes, and she asked crisply, "Can I?"

Jiang Ziyan waved at her, motioning for her to come in.

The little girl seemed to know that she was dirty, she was a little embarrassed, she patted the dust off her clothes, and then carefully followed Jiang Ziyan into the door.

When he arrived at the house, Jiang Ziyan sat down on the chair behind the desk, picked up a pen and paper to register.

"What's your name?"

"I...my name is Xiaochi."

"Is the surname Chi? Does that name exist?"

The little girl shook her head, "I, I was raised by old beggars. They said they found me by the pond, so they called me Xiaochi."

Jiang Ziyan registered for her, and in the name column, he just wrote the word Chi. After thinking about it, the little girl is pitiful without a name or surname, so he said: "Why don't you use the surname Chi? Chi Jing, okay?"

Xiaochi nodded, Chi Jing, she likes this name very much.

Probably because she was inferior to her status as a beggar. After all, she grew up eating a lot of food. She was always afraid of being rejected by others. She unconsciously picked the corner of her clothes and asked in a soft voice: "With a name, I can Are you here as an apprentice?"

Jiang Ziyan smiled at her softly and nodded, "Well, yes. You can be an apprentice here in the future, remember to learn from the masters. There is free food and lodging here, and there is pocket money every month. Are you happy? ?”

Hearing Jiang Ziyan's exact answer, the little girl was instantly overjoyed. In fact, she had been looking outside the door for several days, and it was only today that she hesitated to come in and give it a try.

"Great, when I learn it, I can make clothes for beggar grandpas in the future!"

"Ah."

Jiang Ziyan was surprised that this little girl grew up in a beggar's den, but she didn't look crooked at all, and she didn't have any tendency to steal. She was a very smart little girl.

Up to now, the textile factory has recruited more than 50 apprentices, but there are not so many textile machines. There are only ten textile machines, which can only be divided into groups, and each group can be used alternately.

The price of a textile machine is not cheap, and Jiang Ziyan plans to see how they are learning after a while before deciding whether to buy more.

Everything in the textile factory is going smoothly, Lin Zhao is also very busy, he is busy with the mine.

Now it has been confirmed that he discovered the mine, which is indeed an iron mine, and has reported it to the Ministry of Industry.

Not long ago, the Ministry of Industry sent special workers to check it out, and confirmed that this is indeed an iron mine, and it seems to contain a lot of ore.

There is a limestone mountain and an iron mine nearby, which is a godsend place for making cement.

In this regard, Lin Zhao wrote an excerpt to the emperor, requesting that the ore powder in the iron mine be given priority to be used for making cement.

Since the emperor ordered all the nearby official roads to be built into concrete roads, the sales of cement have increased a lot.

And I don't know which rich owner heard that building a house with cement is stronger and better in warmth, so it won't be afraid even if the ground shakes.

Therefore, a large amount of cement was purchased to build houses.Unexpectedly, the built house is very beautiful and neat, and the craftsmen are also very good at embellishing it. The final house is very popular.

It's just that the cost is higher, and only the rich can afford cement at present.

Mine mining is more troublesome, and only experienced miners can lead it to the mine. Fortunately, there are already tested detonators/tubes, which are much more convenient than before.

In the boundary of the small Lin'an City, not only a cement factory has been built, but also an iron mine is being mined. Suddenly, more manpower is needed, and the villagers in several nearby villages are almost expropriated.

Lin Zhao treated him very well when he was digging limestone. It was not free corvee. This time, the county magistrate Lin Zhao still arranged for the mining.

The Ministry of Industry refused to pay, and Lin Zhao couldn't make the villagers work for nothing, so he could only pay them as wages from the yamen's account.

Going into the mine is not as dangerous as digging stones. The wages cannot be lowered, at least slightly higher than when digging stones.

During this period of time, Jiang Ziyan was so busy that he got up early in the morning to check the situation of the textile factory, went out from the textile factory to check the cotton in the field, and finally went to the cement factory to check the quality of the cement.

Although the cement factory has been in operation for more than two months, it stands to reason that these workers are more proficient, but Jiang Ziyan is afraid that someone will cut corners and make unqualified cement.

So check it out every now and then, for a random spot check.

However, judging from his spot checks, he was overthinking. The quality of the cement has always been good, and the people who come here to work are very serious.

Both Jiang Ziyan and Lin Zhao are very busy these days. They obviously live in the same room, but they can only see each other at night.