[Qing Chuan] The Empress Dowager Raising Cubs Daily

Kangxi, who was far away in Hangzhou Weaving Department, sneezed a series of sneezes, and Nalan Xingde, who was right next to him, showed concern: "The emperor is tired? Why don't we stop today, and the master will go back to rest earlier, and wait for tomorrow..."

Kangxi waved his hand: "How can I be willing to rest."

He raised his eyes and looked straight ahead, unable to hide his excitement: "I won't see the first roll of yarn produced today, I'm afraid I won't be able to sleep at night!"

The Weaving Department is in full swing.

If someone who had been to the Weaving Department a few months ago came here at this time, they would definitely be shocked by the completely different scene inside.

The backyard of the Weaving Department has changed drastically.

There is an additional wooden waterwheel on the continuous waterway, and a hydraulic spinning wheel is connected to the other end of the waterwheel.

Nalan Xingde cheered up.

He pointed to the pedal on one side of the hydraulic spinning machine and said: "The servant also asked people to add a pedal to the side to manually adjust the speed of the water flowing into the spinning wheel. It is easy to control and can also be operated manually during water shortage periods or regions."

Everyone present was no stranger to the hydraulic spinning wheel.

In fact, this kind of hydraulic spinning machine has been put into practical use as early as the Song and Yuan Dynasties, but it was mostly used for flax yarn processing at that time.

With the increasing cotton production, the demand for cotton yarn is greater than that of hemp yarn, and the hydraulic spinning machine that cannot handle cotton yarn that is much weaker than hemp yarn has become tasteless and gradually declined.

The hydraulic spinning machine can produce more than [-] jins of yarn materials per day.

But now a skilled female spinner can only produce a few catties of yarn and weave two or three bolts a day, which is already very hardworking.

Just listening to the numbers is enough to make people speechless.

Nalan Xingde also saw this machine as an ornament by accident—the regrettable words of the officials of the Weaving Department echoed in his ears. Nalan Xingde simply bought it in the countryside by himself. Two sets, disassembled and figured out how to do it.

The flow rate is so fast that the yarn tends to break?Then try to reduce the flow rate?Will reducing the speed of water cause the large runner to be unable to be dragged?Then change the small wheel to try?Or try to increase the flat zone in it?Nalan Xingde acted casually. At first, the officials of the Weaving Department took it as a joke, and then some people were also aroused, and they also competed with each other.

The generous Nalan Xingde promised that as long as someone can come up with an idea that is adopted, there will be a reward of 500 taels.

You must know that the income of a female textile worker is calculated on a daily basis, ranging from one to one and a half cents a day, and only three to five taels of silver a month—and she has to work hard with her life.

And 500 taels of silver is equivalent to their income for more than ten years. How could the female spinners stand such a temptation?

During Kangxi's southern tour, dozens of modification plans had been put forward for the hydraulic spinning machine, but what is shown now is a machine that has been successfully tested and is waiting for repeated experiments.

The huge hydraulic spinning car slowly began to rotate, and the soft cotton yarn was drawn into it and passed through a process.

The only sound left in the whole workshop is the sound of the spinning machine.

Kangxi, Nalan Xingde, officials from the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau and the female textile workers were all staring at the machine in front of them with bated breath, waiting anxiously for the result.

Soon the first roll of cotton yarn was successfully produced.

Kangxi waved his hand, and an official from the Weaving Department quickly stepped forward to check carefully.

All eyes fell on his face.

Then everyone saw that his face was gradually flushed, and his lips trembled with excitement: "Report to the emperor, none of the cotton yarn is broken!"

The moment the voice fell, cheers suddenly sounded.

Kangxi was also very pleasantly surprised, he wanted to restrain his urge to laugh and put on an emperor's demeanor, but unfortunately there seemed to be two small hooks at the corners of his mouth, hooking his lips and crazily raising them upwards.In the end, Kangxi didn't bother to struggle anymore, he waved his hand: "Okay, okay, okay! Everyone has a lot of rewards!"

In an instant, the cheers sounded like thunder.

Everyone was overjoyed, cheered, and talked about everything in front of them with joy.

Kangxi set the time for the celebration banquet, and then rushed back to the mansion full of joy.If it wasn't too late, he would have liked to tell the Empress Dowager, the Empress Dowager and the Empress about this great joy immediately.

It's a pity that it's late, everyone should have fallen asleep...

Um?Kangxi paused, looking forward suspiciously.

The yard is actually brightly lit?

Kangxi looked at the night like thick ink, and the hazy moonlight, and he was very sure that it was the hour of Haizheng.

Why are the lights still on in the yard at this time?

Kangxi stepped into it full of suspicion, and the little eunuch who had been waiting for a long time hurried forward to greet him: "My servant greets the emperor."

Kangxi yelled and looked at him at the same time.

The appearance of the little eunuch was very familiar, and Kangxi soon remembered that he was serving the queen.

Is the queen thinking about herself?

Thinking that he was busy with government affairs these days and hadn't spoken to the queen for a long time, Kangxi's brows and eyes stretched, showing a little smile: "Is the queen remembering me? I know, I will go to see the queen now."

After speaking, Kangxi stepped up and was about to leave.

The little eunuch knelt down on one knee and hurriedly shouted: "Your Majesty, Your Majesty! The Empress Dowager is here for the invitation, and the Empress Dowager is also with the Empress Dowager."

Kangxi paused.

With a dazed look in his eyes, he asked in confusion, "Now...where?"

The little eunuch responded nervously.

Kangxi raised his eyebrows, suppressed the weird feeling in his heart, and he was the one who led the palace people to the courtyard where the Empress Dowager stayed, and he turned his head to ask the people around him: "What happened these two days?"

Liang Jiugong thought about it carefully, and shook his head in doubt: "I don't know."

"Emperor Niang has always preferred to go to bed early rather than late for maintenance. Why is she still waiting for me so late today?" Kangxi was puzzled, and felt that the situation was a little weird.

"The slave doesn't know..."

"What's the use of raising you!" Kangxi glanced at Liang Jiugong in disgust.He stepped into the yard full of apprehension, and was greeted by Uzhina and others who had already received the news and came to greet him.

Uzhina smiled.

Kangxi didn't see any problem from her expression.

Kangxi pushed the door open and entered.

He raised his eyes and saw that apart from the empress dowager sitting at the top, the queen was indeed sitting at the bottom, casting helpless gazes at him.

It seems that the problem lies with the Empress.

Kangxi came to a general conclusion, and after paying his respects, he immediately asked a question: "Emperor Niang summoned my ministers in the middle of the night, but what's the rush?"

Qiqige looked Kangxi up and down.

It was easy to say, but Qiqige felt a little embarrassed again if she really wanted to ask about her son.She cleared her cough and motioned for Uzhina to hand over a tray of letters to Kangxi: "Emperor... take a look at these."

"This is..." Kangxi was slightly taken aback, then picked up a few letters with a smile: "Isn't this a letter from the palace?"

"That's right, all the concubines are still waiting for you to go back." Qiqige spoke earnestly, waiting for the accent on the word "waiting for you".

Kangxi: .........?

He didn't hear what the Empress Dowager meant, and after a moment of consideration, he asked a question: "Yes...Have you finished memorizing all Yinqi's books?"

So Queen Mother wants to go back to Beijing?

Qiqige's thoughts were torn apart in an instant, thinking about Yinqi's progress, she shook her head again and again: "It's still early, the child has only memorized one-third of it at most."

In this way, when can I return to Beijing...

No, now is not the time to talk about that.

Qiqige is serious again.

She stared at Kangxi who was trying to change the subject, her face darkened: "Is the emperor with the local officials these days, and is there a banquet or something?"

Kangxi's eyes showed surprise: "How did Queen Mother know?"

Because of the success of the hydraulic spinning machine, he was going to celebrate with great fanfare and reward many meritorious persons.He just thought about this matter just now, how could Queen Mother know?

The queen couldn't help opening her eyes wide: "Your Majesty?"

Qiqige was heartbroken: "Sure enough, I was caught by the Ai family! Emperor, emperor, have you forgotten the purpose of your southern tour!?"

Kangxi: .........? ?

He finally realized that something was wrong: "Wait, wait, wait - Empress, Empress, what are you talking about?"

"You still pretend to be a fool now?" Qiqige said with a serious face, "Did the emperor get a woman who was paid by a local official, or did he fall in love with some actor? You came to the south to inspect the river affairs and understand the people's livelihood. It's not for you to talk about love!"

"...What kind of girl, what kind of actor? What kind of love talk!?" Kangxi couldn't laugh or cry, "I'm busy with business these days, and I feel dizzy every day. I don't even have time to rest. How can I have the energy to deal with such things? thing?"

"……real?"

"Of course it's true!" Seeing that there was still suspicion in Qiqige's eyes, Kangxi was both angry and funny, and quickly explained the things he was busy these days. At the end, he complained angrily: "You If you don’t believe me, ask the little eunuch, I’m finally free, and I just wanted to find the queen!”

"What about the banquet?"

"As for the banquet, there is really such a thing. I plan to hold a celebration banquet to celebrate it warmly."

Qiqige and Queen Qiqi breathed a sigh of relief.

Kangxi sighed: "Do you believe me this time?"

Qiqige laughed and quickly changed the subject: "Speaking of which, what does the hydraulic spinning machine look like? How much cotton yarn can it produce per day?"

Qiqige was a little puzzled.

In Qiqige's impression, the hydraulic spinning machine was older than the Jenny spinning machine, and it was not gradually used until the 18th century, but now... it has already taken shape?Qiqige was even more surprised when he heard that it was transformed from a hydraulic spinning machine in the Song and Yuan Dynasties.

Is that so?I have never heard of it...

Then she asked curiously, "What about the loom?"

Kangxi was slightly taken aback: "The loom?"

Qiqige nodded: "Have you changed the spinning machine but not the loom?"

Kangxi was slightly taken aback.

Qiqige knows a little bit about this.

Historically, the appearance of the flying shuttle greatly improved the efficiency of the loom, which led to an imbalance between spinning and weaving, which promoted the reform of the spinning machine.

Seeing Kangxi's puzzled face, Qiqige quickly explained: "Aijia means that the amount of spinning is too much, so what about the efficiency of the loom? If the efficiency of the loom cannot be improved, the spinning materials will pile up, and in the future Will those women workers only need to work a few days a month, but their income will be reduced? What is the income of women textile workers now? How are wages calculated?"

Liang Jiugong replied in a low voice: "Reporting to the Empress Dowager, female textile workers are mainly paid daily money, usually one to one five cents a day, if they work every day, they can earn three to five taels a month."

Qiqige nodded: "That is to say, with the accumulation of cotton yarn materials, after the output is too high, these female workers may only have to work for ten days a month, and the monthly income will drop to about one tael? It may even be due to the simple and convenient operation, and at the same time The number of weavers without jobs has increased, which has led to government offices and textile shops lowering their wages, turning them into incomes of [-] or [-] renminbi per month... What do you think will happen then?"

Kangxi, who was full of joy just now, seemed to have been poured a basin of cold water.He suppressed his smile and sat up straight: "My son... didn't think of this."

Kangxi's joy was gone.

The reduction in the income of female textile workers means that the quality of life of the same number of female workers will usher in a significant decrease, and even some families who only rely on spinning and weaving will become increasingly impoverished. If the worst situation is reached, it may cause turmoil or even riots.

Kangxi looked serious.

The queen's cheeks paled slightly: "Then this hydraulic spinning machine...shouldn't be promoted?"

Kangxi was not reconciled to this.

Qiqige looked inexplicable: "Is it a good thing to increase production efficiency? What Aijia means is that the looms must also be modified. Think of ways to increase the output of weaving."

Kangxi: "...Oh."

Under Qiqige's puzzled eyes, he coughed lightly, and said hastily: "The people who want to come to the Weaving Department must have found a solution, and I will ask you tomorrow."