The Ming Dynasty: A Modern Return, Building an Overseas Empire

Chapter 117 Process Improvement, Preliminary Semi-Automation

As time went by, Zhu Gaoxu's fiefdoms of Handong Prefecture, Pingwei Prefecture, Ryukyu Prefecture, Luzon Prefecture, and Pingnan Prefecture in Australia all entered a period of stable development.

As time passed, the day set by Zhu Gaochi for the official commencement of commercial trade drew ever closer.

Merchants from some other small countries have gradually begun to arrive.

The trade route connecting with the Ming Dynasty has been opened, and some of the Ming Dynasty's official ships, as well as the civilian fleets selected by the government to travel with the official ships, have already arrived.

Formal commercial trade has not yet begun, but business with the Ming Dynasty is already progressing steadily.

However, Zhu Gaoxu ignored all of this.

At this moment, Zhu Gaoxu, along with a group of craftsmen and Wei Wanrong, arrived at a river with a relatively rapid current and a significant drop in elevation.

"Go and place these in the water."

Zhu Gaoxu did not have the craftsmen do the work, but instead gave the order to Niu Cheng.

Niu Cheng, accompanied by a group of guards, pulled up his trousers, took off his shirts, and together carried the waterwheel and some gear-shaped wooden wheels under Zhu Gaoxu's command to begin installation.

On the shore, craftsmen are building a five-spindle treadle spinning wheel and then connecting it to the waterwheel installed in the water.

What Zhu Gaoxu is doing now is improving the textile handicraft industry.

Three-spindle and five-spindle foot-operated spinning wheels became popular during this period, especially in the Jiangnan region.

It was far more advanced than the single-spindle hand-cranked spinning machines currently used in Europe.

However, whether it is a three-spindle or a five-spindle spinning wheel, there is a drawback: it requires a foot pedal and is driven by human power.

Furthermore, it's not a one-person operation; it requires the collaboration of multiple people, making it impossible to operate for extended periods and severely limiting production output.

What Zhu Gaoxu is doing now is replacing human labor with water power.

The best alternative, and the one that is relatively easy to develop today, is steam power.

Unfortunately, he knew the principles of steam power and had already told the craftsmen below him. He even set up a special research institute to concentrate manpower on these things.

The problem is, while I do know the facts, actually making this thing, and ensuring its stability, and developing a larger steam system, suddenly becomes much more difficult.

Without those technological power sources, the only thing that can be utilized is water power.

The water-powered spinning wheel already had its prototype in the Song Dynasty, but this technology is not widely used today.

Zhu Gaochi, on the other hand, modified a water-powered spinning wheel, assembling multiple gears for transmission, in order to achieve...

To reach the required speed, a smaller support shaft is connected to the main shaft, and the larger shaft drives the smaller shaft.

To make water power replace the axle rotation of the textile machine, it must reach several thousand revolutions per minute. This is why a difference in water level is required, and why a more complex method is needed to achieve this.

I failed several times in trying to do this.

This method puts immense pressure on the gears, and after they become smooth from friction, they become unstable. The gears were then replaced with bamboo nail teeth to achieve the required strength.

An active stripping tooth was designed for use as a brake.

After more than an hour of preparation, once everything was completed, Zhu Gaoxu immediately ordered the experiment to begin.

This test uses the five-spindle spinning machine, which currently boasts the highest strength.

"Activate the clutch!"

The person next to the active stripper began to move, and the axle wheel immediately started to rotate rapidly, and the five spindles of the spinning wheel began to run as the axle wheel rotated.

Seeing the success, Zhu Gaoxu was not excited. He immediately stopped and continued to add more spindles.

Gradually, even with ten or dozens of ingots, the uniformity can still be maintained.

Wei Wanrong, who was standing to the side, was the first to be unable to hold back.

"Your Highness, it's a success! With the water-powered spinning wheel, the Ming Dynasty will probably be unable to keep up with us in the textile industry from now on."

The increased efficiency of the textile mill means a further expansion of production capacity, so how could Wei Wanrong not be happy?

Textiles are a hard currency; they sell well everywhere and are often in short supply.

Zhu Gaoxu also smiled, but did not get excited.

The success of the water-powered spinning machine is just one step; if the textile industry can further expand its production capacity, another step is needed.

This process is called latte art.

Lace art, simply put, is the process of manually programming patterns onto fabric.

Nowadays, everything is done manually, that is, by hand.

Zhu Gaoxu's improvement was to make the process semi-automated, further reducing time costs and increasing the output of finished products.

The machine used today to assist in creating decorative patterns is called a flower-laying machine.

One person is pulling flowers high up, while another is weaving weft.

Latte art requires memorizing numerous patterns, and it's a physically demanding and precise job, resulting in extremely high speed.

Slow and prone to errors.

If this process is not improved, even if the textile machine is improved, how much money can be made by relying solely on raw fabric?

Raw materials are worthless in any era.

After processing, the price skyrocketed.

Latte art is also an indispensable part of the textile industry.

Zhu Gaoxu's improvement involved recording each weft, or each pattern stroke, using perforated cardboard. A probe would pass through the holes in the cardboard to trigger the heddle-lifting machine for the corresponding warp. If the probe did not pass through the holes, it would not trigger the machine. This process was repeated for a whole cycle.

However, this little gadget uses a problem that has yet to be solved: the spring.

However, unlike a musket, this thing can't be replaced by bamboo shrapnel.

However, due to the elasticity of the bamboo shrapnel, Zhu Gaoxu tried to lift dozens or even hundreds of wires in parallel at once, but he couldn't manage it.

This was another problem that had once given Zhu Gaochi a headache, but it was eventually solved by flattening the lever.

To ensure accuracy and locate the correct position during each rotation, Zhu Gaoxu added positioning pins and positioning holes.

These look familiar, don't they?

It has a sewing machine vibe to it, and the perforated cardboard even has a hint of the early days of computers.

This is indeed the case, and these were the basic prototypes of sewing machines and computers.

Zhu Gaoxu tried, but the delicate parts needed for the sewing machine cannot be manufactured now!

As for computers?

Ah, Zhu Gaoxu didn't even entertain that thought.

Back then, it took me ten years to piece together various materials and technological developments after the Ming Dynasty in modern times.

It was all out of curiosity, curiosity about the future development of the Ming Dynasty, that I went to study it.

The transformation of the textile industry today is also a preparation for the shift from metal processing to water power.

The barrel of a musket, or breech, is still manually polished. Zhu Gaoxu is already thinking about creating a simpler version of a water-powered machine tool, namely a chambering machine.

It not only directly increases production but also allows for better control and precision.

The emergence of this thing also represents the transition from smoothbore guns to rifled guns.

These are things Zhu Gaoxu can only think about for now.

It is not supported; various technical conditions do not allow it.

Advancement in a specific technology cannot be achieved simply through technological progress.

It often requires the simultaneous advancement of multiple technologies to achieve this.

Seeing that the latte art experiment was also successful, Zhu Gaoxu breathed a sigh of relief.

In the future, this place will become the largest textile industry center.

Want some goods?

Enough pipe!

While complex jacquard weaving is slower, and even more advanced designs still require manual labor, those are the ultimate luxury items.

Generally, with this kind of technology, it's perfectly adequate for export.

"Madam, you're in the textile business, right? Here, take these and use them."

You can bring the weaving factory with you too; it's used for producing these things.

Later, among ordinary people, some entered the textile industry, and it gradually became widespread.

Zhu Gaoxu no longer intended to run the business under the government; instead, he planned to keep it in his own hands.

The national treasury is the national treasury, and slush funds are slush funds.

With these vital businesses in hand and in a dominant position, it becomes much easier to regulate the market.

Once handed over, the imperial court will not take responsibility, and someone in the private sector will naturally rise to power.

At that time, setbacks were inevitable.

And hand it over to the royal court?

Then it won't be his anymore. He'll just pop up in this kind of scheme or that kind of scheme, and his official positions will keep increasing.

Zhu Gaoxu had been on guard against those situations.

As for the future, we can gradually improve it. At least for now, it's most reassuring to have it under our own control.

After giving these instructions, Zhu Gaoxu instructed the craftsmen to try to improve or modify these techniques for use in other fields.

On the way back, Zhu Huan came in a hurry.

"Your Highness, a secret message has arrived from Vida of Iwami."

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