Chu Qing did not eat dinner in the Queen's palace, but was invited to the Queen Mother's palace. The Queen Mother called the Queen, the princess, Chu Qing and Xiao Bao there, saying that there were many people and it was fun to have dinner together.

Chu Qing felt much more relaxed in front of the Queen Mother. After being made uncomfortable by the little princess all afternoon, she could finally feel normal now.

The last time I saw the Queen Mother was a year ago. This time the Queen Mother was more enthusiastic than last time. She ordered Aunt Jade to bring Jin Dun and keep her company by the couch.

Xiaobao was directly invited to sit on the Queen Mother's couch. There was a small table across from the Queen Mother. Many snacks and fruits were prepared on the small table, and the little princess kept company.

The Queen Mother asked: "I heard that your new store will be opening in a few days. Are the goods well prepared?"

Chu Qing: "When I returned to the Queen Mother, I was not fully prepared. Most of the woolen textiles were prepared, but not many cotton textiles."

"Why?" The Queen Mother was a little surprised.

“Because the threads of sweaters and woolen trousers are thick and easy to knit, an adult’s sweater can be knitted in an average of seven days, while a child’s sweater only takes three days.

But we can only weave six feet in one day, and it takes six to seven days to weave one piece of cloth. If you are weaving stripes or plaids, it will be even slower. We haven't put on jacquard fabric yet, otherwise it will be slower."

The Queen Mother asked again: "How many weavers do you have?"

Chu Qing replied: "We currently employ more than 3,000 workers, not all of them are weavers, there are also many men."

"Do men do this too?"

"As long as they are willing to learn, anyone can learn it. They are all farmers. They have no profitable business throughout the winter. They are not tired from doing this work and they can still make money. Therefore, there are textile workers of all ages in Chen's workshop.

"

"Can the elderly and children do things?"

"Able to spin and knit. Children often learn faster than adults."

Princess Zhaohua interrupted at this time and said: "Yes, Imperial Grandmother, Mr. Chu is good at spinning and weaving."

"Can the children sit still? Are the workers lazy?" The Queen Mother seemed to have many questions.

"I can't sit still, but I can hold on for half an hour every time. Because they pay on a piece-rate basis, they will be paid per spindle for spinning a thread, and weaving one piece of clothing will count as one piece of wages, so they work very seriously.

.”

"Did you steal anything? For example, cotton, scissors, spinning wheels, etc.?"

"Yes, but it was solved quickly. Because the work must be done in the minister's workshop, each person is only given one tool. If it breaks, you can replace it, but if you lose it, you will have to pay for it, so there is no way to steal it. As for the wool

, cotton or whatever, they don’t have tools, so there’s no use taking it back.”

"But it's not difficult to copy the spinning wheel," the Queen Mother reminded.

"Going back to the Queen Mother, I don't mind if they copy them. These things will become popular sooner or later. If they all learn how to do it, wouldn't they also be able to make money? Then I will buy their finished products."

"Are you willing to let others learn these profitable businesses?"

"Be willing to give up. If a skill is not popularized, it will be difficult to make progress. For example, without the ancestors writing books and biographies, future generations will not be able to acquire knowledge."

The Queen Mother smiled and nodded: "It's hard for you to be so broad-minded."

Chu Qing quickly thanked her. Don't think that the Queen Mother couldn't hear it. That's almost enough.

So Chu Qing said again: "If we can grow cotton in Daxuan, I will not be the only textile worker in the world. These things cannot be hidden if you want to."

There are knock-off mobile phones, imitation clothing, pirated books... These things cannot be covered up. If you want to make money in the long run, you must have your own uniqueness.

"But," the appreciative smile on the Queen Mother's face faded slightly: "We tried it in Daxuan, but we couldn't grow cotton. The late emperor also tried hard and set up several places for experiments, but even the grain harvest failed.

It’s a delay. I won’t advocate it again from now on.”

"Mother, can we pass on the food now?" the queen reminded, "the children should be hungry too."

The Queen Mother looked at the Princess and Xiaobao, who were stuffing snacks into their mouths while listening to the adults. When the Queen Mother looked over, she stopped and was about to reach out for the plate again.

"Pass the meal, pass the meal! Look, the children are all hungry. Let's eat and chat."

Chu Qing thought that the royal family "eat without talking" when eating, but that was not the case. The royal family were also human beings. They also told their children not to be picky about their food, and suggested that the elderly eat more nutritious foods and speak the same words as they should.

The Queen Mother was not fully satisfied with the conversation just now, so she asked again: "How much cotton did you harvest this time?"

"This time I collected all the cotton in Tuhuerte, which is 6.4 million jins." Chu Qing replied.

"There are so many!" The Queen Mother was surprised.

"Your Majesty, this number sounds huge, but I can't help but calculate it carefully. The cotton brought back this time was bought by me as soon as it was picked. If it was dried, it would lose a lot of weight;

Even if you don’t count the water loss, cotton contains seeds, and after removing the seeds, it will lose about 65% of its weight;

Then to produce cotton yarn, another 10% will be lost, and from cotton yarn to cotton cloth, another 10% will be lost. In other words, one hundred pounds of cotton bolls can produce at most one piece of cloth;

In the end, my 6.4 million kilograms of cotton can only produce 64,000 pieces of cloth, and one piece of cloth can make a set of tops and trousers.

In other words, if one person can make one set of clothes, it can only make 64,000 people. You see, the population of our Xingtang County alone is greater than this number."

The Queen Mother picked up the handkerchief, cleaned her hands, and said, "Yes, after calculation, there really isn't much left."

"And this is already more than half of the output of Voss Country." Chu Qing added.

"So there isn't much cotton in Voss. How much wool did you buy this time?" the Queen Mother asked again.

"I purchased a total of 400,000 catties of wool."

"How come there are so few?"

The contrast between 6.4 million and 400,000 is too obvious.

"Back to the Queen Mother, the wool I purchased was only two seasons of wool from three villages in the Hesote area, and they kept half of it for themselves. The terrain of the Voss country is much higher than that of Daxuan, and it is further north, and the winter lasts for more than half a year.

, so they consume a lot of wool, and I have not completely purchased the wool in the entire area." The report passed by Chu Qing to the Secret Intelligence Department explained all this, but the Queen Mother obviously only now has a clearer understanding.

"Well, Aijia understands. Come on, eat while it's hot. It's all because Aijia kept pestering you and missed your meal." The Queen Mother said with a smile.

Chu Qing's meal was really neither full nor hungry. It seems reasonable to advocate "eating without talking". Talking too much will affect appetite.

After the meal, Princess Zhaohua pestered Chu Qing to teach her knitting for a while, and then reluctantly let her go.

"Princess, don't be sorry. I have set up an 'experience hall' in my shop. You can go and play at any time. The tools there are complete." Chu Qing comforted her, "You can also bring your friends to play. I will give instructions to the people in the store.

The man will make a quiet compartment for you."
Chapter completed!