The Wanli Emperor of the Ming Dynasty was extremely rebellious

Chapter 159: Emphasis on Military Affairs over Culture to Enrich the Nation and Strengthen the People
In March in the capital, spring is warm, flowers are blooming, grass is growing, and birds are singing.

The earth seemed to have revived and was full of vitality.

In the military farms, soldiers from the Beijing camp were driving oxen with their families and plowing the land with the oxen.

On the grassland, groups of war horses were moving slowly, nibbling the grass comfortably.

On both sides of the Wenyu River and the Yongding River, rows of towering water wheels are rising from the ground.

The ditch next to the waterwheel was gradually filled with clear river water and flowed to the surrounding fields.

Everything was developing in the direction Wanli had expected.

The Beijing camp has recruited a full 240,000 soldiers, and he has also recovered enough military farms to provide a stable and prosperous life for the families of the soldiers.

The nine major border towns were also filled with 50,000 border troops and garrisons, and the number of military farms was also quite sufficient, especially in Yansui Town, Guyuan Town, and Ningxia Town.

After these three towns moved to the three plains of Waiwai, there was more than enough grassland to use. Just by opening up a row of fields on the bank of the Yellow River, the military farms could guarantee that each household would have 50 mu of land.

The key now is money. The taxes collected by the court are not enough to support so many soldiers in the Beijing camp and the border garrisons. He has to pay one or two million taels of food and wages every month.

This is only the case when there is no war. Once a war breaks out, the military rewards and pensions for casualties will definitely be more terrifying than food and wages.

He must make enough money to make the Ming Dynasty strong.

Now glass mirrors and other products have gradually spread to major cities in the two capitals and thirteen provinces of the Ming Dynasty, and the next step is spinning and weaving.

Early in the morning around noon, as the sun rose, there was the sound of thundering hooves from the direction of the imperial city. Tens of thousands of imperial guards and Jinyiwei cavalry swarmed out of Xi'an Gate, passed Desheng Gate, and soon arrived at the south bank of the Wenyu River.

The Wenyu River is close to the Mountain Resort, and the prepared materials can be transported via the Chaobai River and the Beiyun Canal by naval warships. Therefore, the water wheels and workshops here were the first to be built. The first batch of workshops have been completed and spinning can begin.

Wanli brought Duke of Peng Qi Jiguang, Duke of Yingguo Zhang Yuangong, Marquis of Wu'an Zheng Weizhong, Earl of Yongnian Wang Wei and others into a spinning workshop where wool fluff was flying. When they saw it, they couldn't help but look shocked.

The three machines here are two or three meters wide, three or four meters long, and about a meter high. Their huge size and constantly rotating giant rollers make them look like monsters.

To be honest, these days there are very few objects this huge except for boats, especially this thing that is constantly turning driven by a water wheel and is covered with dense yarns, which looks really amazing.

Wanli looked at it for a while and couldn't help but fanning his nose with his hands.

There's too much fluff in here.

He thought for a moment, then said to Yongnianbo Wang Wei, "Father-in-law, everyone working here should cover their mouths and noses with something like a mask. It's not good to breathe in the hair."

Yongnian Earl Wang Wei nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, I understand."

Wanli walked to the side of the spinning machine, picked up the spun spindle on the stand and looked at it. Then he handed it to Zhang Yuangong, the Duke of Yingguo, and asked, "What do you think of this spindle?"

I read?

Upon hearing this, Duke Yingguo Zhang Yuangong hurriedly took the spindle and looked at it carefully together with another father-in-law, Zheng Danian.

Zheng Danian was originally in the cloth business, and later he opened many weaving workshops with the Duke of England Zhang Yuangong. Naturally, he was quite familiar with yarn.

These days weaving and spinning go hand in hand. Before hand weaving, the yarn must be spun first. He had no idea how many yarns he had seen.

He examined it carefully with the Duke of England, picked up several spindles to compare, and then couldn't help but exclaim in surprise: "The thickness of these yarns is exactly the same. How is it possible?"

You ask me?
I just came up with an idea, but I don’t really understand the specific spinning process.

Upon hearing this, Wanli raised his hand and beckoned over the craftsman, Old Zhao, and asked directly, "How did you achieve this uniform thickness of yarn?"

Old Zhao thought about it carefully, and then said carefully: "This is mainly due to the wisdom of His Majesty. The two large rollers are scraping against each other, so the amount of wool in the gap is the same. The excess will be scraped off, so the yarn spun is of the same thickness.

The thickness can be adjusted. Just move the two large rollers closer together and the yarn will be thinner. Just move the two large rollers further apart and the yarn will be thicker.

You are even trying to flatter me.

Well, there is a future.

Wanli asked again: "Can you make a loom?"

Old Zhao nodded repeatedly and said, "Your Majesty, ordinary people can also make a loom. Spinning and weaving go hand in hand." Well, not bad.

Upon hearing this, Wanli nodded slightly and said, "Very good. I will promote you to the position of Deputy Envoy of the Wensi Academy of the Ministry of Works. From now on, you will be responsible for developing new spinning machines and looms. If you can develop a water-powered loom for me, I will confer a title of nobility upon you."

Oh my, after doing hard labor all my life, I became an official and even had the opportunity to be granted a title of nobility!

Old Zhao bowed repeatedly and said, "Thank you for your grace, Your Majesty."

Wanli nodded slightly, then asked, "How about using this kind of spindle to weave cloth from now on, Da Nian?"

Zheng Danian nodded repeatedly and said, "Great! The cloth woven with this kind of spindle will definitely be smoother, and the wool will be softer. Clothes made from this cloth will be more comfortable to wear."

That's no problem.

Wanli thought for a moment, then decisively said, "Then you should quickly build weaving workshops. Not only in the capital, but also outside the city. Every centurion in the Beijing military camp should have one. Each centurion should have as many looms as the number of women and children who can weave."

what?
How many weaving workshops are there?

The Beijing Army now has 240,000 troops, and it seems that it will eventually be expanded to 360,000 troops, which means 3,600 weaving workshops!

It is estimated that there will be at least 100,000 or 200,000 looms. How many spindles will be needed then?
Zheng Danian thought about it carefully, then asked cautiously, "Your Majesty, I estimate that we need to purchase at least 200,000 looms. Can we produce so many spindles here?"

How many spindles does this take?
Wanli said simply, "Old Zhao, you do the math."

Old Zhao calculated seriously: "This spinning machine can produce about 100 kilograms of spindles a day. Two spinning machines can produce about 200 kilograms. One piece of cloth requires about 3 kilograms of spindles. The spindles produced by a spinning workshop can weave about 60 to 70 pieces of cloth.

If women and children don't spin but only weave, they can probably weave one bolt of cloth in five days, or six bolts a month. So, a workshop's monthly spindle production should be enough to weave more than 300 looms. Ten spindles would be enough to weave more than 3,000, and a hundred would be enough to weave more than 30,000. We only need to build about 600 such workshops to have enough for 200,000 looms."

We only need to build about 600 such workshops!

The efficiency of the machine is much higher than that of manual work.

Upon hearing this, Wanli said decisively, "Dannian, we need to build more weaving workshops. There are more than 600 spinning workshops on both sides of the Wenyu River. We also need to build weaving workshops on both sides of the Yongding River. There are even more there."

what?
There's no need for spinning; two hundred thousand looms can produce millions of pieces of cloth in a month!
Zheng Danian pondered, "Your Majesty, what is the purchase price of these spindles? We have woven too much cloth. If we want to sell it, we have to go wholesale. The maximum selling price for wholesale is only one ounce of silver for four pieces."

This is considered profit.

Wanli thought for a moment and then asked, "How much does cotton cloth cost, and how much profit can it make?"

Zheng Danian said without hesitation: "Your Majesty, cotton is about 60 coins per pound.

Nowadays, one piece of cotton cloth uses about three catties of cotton. Three catties is 180 wen, and nine catties is 540 wen. Three pieces of cloth cost one tael of silver. After deducting labor costs, we can only make 50 wen per piece.

This wool has been spun into yarn, so it can't be much cheaper than cotton.

However, the families of the guards in the Beijing camp had to earn money from weaving to supplement their family expenses. If one tael of silver was worth four bolts of cloth, and they wove five bolts of cloth a month, they could only sell a total of 1,250 wen. If the wage was 100 wen per bolt of cloth, that would only be 500 wen a month. They had to make a profit of at least 50 wen per bolt of cloth.

This is really a headache to calculate.

Wanli thought about it carefully and said simply, "Let's charge 50 coins per pound of yarn."

By this calculation, wouldn't it mean that I can make sixty cents per horse? Wholesale is more profitable than retail!

Zheng Danian nodded repeatedly and said, "Okay, I will try my best to build as many weaving workshops as possible."

To build a weaving workshop, you need a loom, and the loom needs to be made by a craftsman, and you have to pay the craftsman wages.

There really isn't enough money to spend.

However, once this money is spent, the garrisons in the capital and the border areas will all make money, as will the craftsmen. The wealth of the people will increase, and the Ming Dynasty will become more and more prosperous.

It's money well spent.

Wanli thought about it carefully, then said to Yongnianbo Wang Wei: "Father-in-law, recruit as many craftsmen as possible to make looms. We need to produce at least 20,000 looms a month."

what?
We are still recruiting craftsmen!
(End of this chapter)