One of the consequences of the highly developed cotton textile industry in Songjiang Prefecture is that the industry has been severely involuted.
Anyway, there are cotton cloths everywhere in Songjiang Prefecture, why should I only buy yours?
You can definitely buy it from someone else.
Whose quality is good and whose cotton is cheap will naturally have a greater market.
Under such circumstances, the cotton spinning industry in Songjiang Prefecture could not stop at all and had to think about progress all the time.
Therefore, the moment they saw stockings, Pan Xiaona, Qu Ye and others realized that a new and competitive product had emerged.
Although Zuo Mengeng never let go, they persevered.
The next day, Pan Yunlong, the head of the Pan family, and Qu Yin, Qu Ye's father, came to the house by chance, just for stockings.
"You two are rare guests. You don't come to the Three Treasures Palace for anything."
They have been old friends for many years, and Xu Ji always teases them when they meet.
As a son-in-law, Pan Yunlong has nothing to hide.
"Isn't this a good thing that Zhong Heng did? My in-laws didn't tell me. Our Pan family has done this business. If you want money, give money, and if you want land, give land."
"Hey Pan Jizhong, do you plan to eat alone?"
Qu Yin was unhappy and quickly intervened.
"Our Xu and Qu families have been in contact for decades. For such a grand event, the Xu family cannot leave the Qu family behind."
Xu Ji looked at the two of them and found them quite strange.
In the past, these two people were very proud and arrogant, and each of their businesses had their own secrets, and they actually made a lot of wealth.
Compared with them, the Xu family can only be regarded as a junior fabric supplier, and it doesn't take much to look at their faces.
Unexpectedly, one day, they would actually come to our door for help.
All of this was brought about by Zuo Mengeng.
"Boy, these stockings are made by Zhongheng. You have to ask him what the regulations are."
Only then did Pan Yunlong and Qu Yin react. Regardless of their elder status, they surrounded Zuo Mengeng. They had the same idea over and over again, that they must be involved in this business.
Little did he know that it was too late for Zuo Mengeng to be happy about the two people's enthusiasm.
After returning yesterday, Zuo Mengeng expected this to happen, so he thought hard all night and planned a big pit to bring in the Pan family and the Qu family.
"Two uncles, no one can do this silk stocking method with the current skills of Songjiang Prefecture."
When he said this, Pan Yunlong and Qu Yin were both unconvinced.
"My dear nephew, don't underestimate the skills of the craftsmen of my Songjiang Prefecture. When it comes to the art of cotton spinning, in the whole world, none other than my Songjiang Prefecture is the best."
Qu Yin said nothing, but kept nodding his head, obviously having the same attitude as Pan Yunlong on this point.
Zuo Mengeng said patiently: "Uncle misunderstood. The Songjiang Prefecture craftsmen can't make these stockings. It's not a craftsmanship problem, but a craftsmanship problem."
In this era, the division of technology is not so detailed.
Pan Yunlong and Qu Yin couldn't figure out the difference between craftsmanship and craftsmanship for a while, so they had to wait for his explanation.
"This kind of stockings is made by using a special crochet hook to pull the silk thread. This kind of crochet hook requires special means to cast. At present, except for my nephew's Linqing, it cannot be made anywhere else."
Stockings are thin and thin, so the threads must be extremely thin.
Although it is not as good as nylon in later generations, it is still far thinner than the thinnest silk threads today.
There are two issues involved here.
One is how to divide the velvet thread into thinner and more numerous pieces, and the other is how to weave with this thread that is thinner than a human hair.
Although the most powerful craftsmen of the Ming Dynasty could divide many silk threads into one hundred equal parts, there was absolutely no way to thin velvet.
It's not a problem of craftsmanship, it's just that the human eye can't keep up with the discernment.
Zuozhuang used a microscope to solve this problem.
Under the microscope, the velvet threads were magnified several times, and the overall structure became extremely clear, making it easier to refine.
In this way, an ordinary velvet thread can be subdivided into thirty-five finer threads.
The craftsmen said that it can actually be more refined. However, the current tools cannot be made smaller, which limits the further improvement of the technology.
Similarly, because the silk thread is too thin, weaving becomes a big problem.
Ordinary needles cannot be used because they are too thick.
Still using microscopes, Zuozhuang's craftsmen created extremely fine crochet needles with apertures of 20 microns, and the needle tips even reached an astonishing three microns.
Only in this way can the knitting needs of stockings be met.
Such a process is currently only possible in Linqing.
Even if you give a microscope to the best craftsmen in Songjiang Prefecture, they will not be able to make crochet hooks that meet the requirements.
Because the material used in crochet hooks is alloy steel.
Yes, Linqing has already begun testing alloy materials.
Because the crochet hook is too small, it will easily break if the material is not hard enough.
As soon as Zuo Mengeng drew the crochet pattern on the paper, Xu Ji, Pan Yunlong, and Qu Yin smiled helplessly.
They knew that Zuo Mengeng was right, Songjiang Prefecture could not produce such a craft.
But when I think about such a good product as silk stockings, it is really a pity that Songjiang Prefecture cannot produce it and miss a great opportunity to make money.
This is what Zuo Menggen wants. Only in this way can he have room to intervene.
"In the past few days, my nephew has seen the power of Songjiang Prefecture's cotton spinning, and he knows that if he wants to achieve scale, he can only set up business here. If the two uncles don't give up, how about we run it as a joint venture?"
Pan Yunlong was shocked.
"My nephew is willing to provide such skills?"
He was really stunned.
In this world, if anyone has any unique skills, it is too late to hide them.
It is the ancestral motto of many families to pass things down from son to daughter, from daughter-in-law to son-in-law.
Everyone knows how much wealth the silk stocking manufacturing process can bring. To put it bluntly, it is not a problem to create a wealthy family because of it.
How do they know what Zuo Mengeng values?
"Since we are jointly operating, these skills belong to all of us. If my nephew doesn't use them, and he has no business ability, wouldn't he just put them on the shelf and waste them in vain?"
Even so, Pan Yunlong couldn't help but be amazed.
"This is the only person I have ever seen in this world who is as broad-minded as a wise nephew."
Qu Yin was afraid of long nights and many dreams, and just wanted to finalize the matter quickly.
"What are the regulations for the partnership my nephew mentioned?"
His eagerness actually helped Zuo Mengeng.
"My nephew means that if we have the money, the ability to contribute, and the land, we can jointly build a weaving factory in Songjiang Prefecture. The income from the future will be distributed among each family according to their equity."
Xu Ji thought for a moment and said: "The velvet used in these stockings is not produced in Songjiang Prefecture. If there is no source of goods, I'm afraid things will be in disharmony."
In the Ming Dynasty, there was only one place of origin for velvet, and that was Zhangzhou, Fujian Province. It was not until the Qing Dynasty that it was introduced to Jiangning Weaving House.
But his worries were not a problem at all for Zuo Mengeng.
"What my father-in-law doesn't know is that Huang Youxuan is from Zhangzhou and is now the prefect of Dongchang. He and my son-in-law share the same goals. My son-in-law has already made an agreement with Zhangzhou about silk, and the annual velvet fair is open to supplying it to us."
Seeing that Zuo Mengeng had even solved the problem of raw materials, they no longer had any worries.
"That's good. Count me as the Pan family."
Qu Yin is also nimble.
"The matter of craftsmen and weavers will be left to my Qu family."
As the largest cloth merchant in Loutang Town, the Qu family has more than 100 weavers.
But this amount is really not enough for Zuo Mengeng.
"My nephew wants to build a factory with thousands of weavers. He also invites his father-in-law and two uncles to recruit talents to join in the great work."
Xu Ji and others were all surprised when they heard that the weaving factory actually had thousands of weavers.
There are weaving workshops in Songjiang Prefecture, but the largest ones only have one or two hundred weavers.
To put it bluntly, it is still a primitive handicraft workshop.
But what Zuo Menggen wants to build is a large industrial factory. What he wants is to rely on higher production efficiency, lower production costs, and greater output to crush the handicraft industry of this era.
Stockings are just the beginning.
Once the factory has established a firm foothold, he will definitely enter the traditional cotton spinning industry.
By that time, powerful industrial machines will surely make the traditional and primitive handmade textile industry bid farewell to the stage of history.
Zuo Menggeng’s dream is to let the world feel the power of China’s industrial dumping four hundred years in advance.
But the most important thing right now is to let traditional old people like Xu Ji, Pan Yunlong, and Qu Yin understand what a factory is.
He did not explain himself, but winked at Xu Erjue.
As an on-the-spot witness to the production of Fuyao Group, vegetable companies, agricultural reclamation groups and military factories, I believe Xu Erjue will become a qualified communicator.
