After explaining the recent affairs in Anxi to Feng Changqing, Zhou Jun had some free time, called Sun Aying, took a few soldiers, and rode to the new city of Qiuci Town.
The original population of Qiuci Town was 81,000. Since the refugees from Guanzhong moved to Anxi, the original old city could no longer accommodate it, so it could only be centered on the large oasis along the Yudai River (now the Qiongsayi River in Kuqa)
Expansion to the south.
The newly built new city is not only close to the ferry, but also can go directly to the old city via the inland river. There are also newly built official roads that lead to Yanqi in the east and Shule in the west.
In terms of planning, the new city is laid out according to the "square market" that was common in the Tang Dynasty, but the original entrance and courtyard design was canceled and replaced by a small building with double eaves in the Song Dynasty.
As a result, an inner hall that could only accommodate a few hundred people can now accommodate more than a thousand people.
Entering the middle street of the new city, Zhou Jun rode a horse on the road. Looking around, there were pedestrians everywhere.
Vendors shouting to sell goods, laborers returning from work, and children playing and laughing, the bustling crowd gathered together in the city, making it appear full of life.
When we come to Fangshi, the center of the new city, there are the official offices of the new city and an oasis for residents to get water and rest... The most important thing is that here is a landmark building of Qiuci New City-Jianghong Taixue.
Zhou Jun repeatedly explained to Feng Changqing the construction of Jianghong Taixue before he set off for Dashi.
This was the first Imperial Academy built in the Tang Dynasty, and perhaps in the entire human history, for the purpose of researching and learning craftsmanship technology.
The entire Imperial College covers an area of more than a thousand acres, with more than a hundred study buildings alone, and countless other buildings, warehouses, etc.
The people in the government include two parts.
One part is the inner workshop of craftsmen who moved from Liangzhou and is led by Master Mao Shun; the other part is the alchemy scholars from the inner city of Yanqi, led by Jabir, the father of modern chemistry.
Therefore, Taixue was divided into the East Court and the West Court. The East Court gathered many craftsmen of the Tang Dynasty, while the West Court was mostly composed of Western scholars from Dashi and other countries.
Zhou Jun first went to the east courtyard.
In the courtyard, craftsmen and peasants coming and going were busy moving furniture and taking care of the courtyard.
When the soldiers responsible for guarding the Imperial College saw Zhou Jun and his party, they quickly straightened up and shouted loudly: "Guard them all!"
After hearing this, people stopped what they were doing, looked in Zhou Jun's direction, and bowed.
Zhou Jun waved his hand and signaled everyone to go about their business. Then he went to the steward and asked, "Where is the wool craftsman?"
The latter pointed in the direction.
Zhou Jun led his soldiers into the inner garden of the east courtyard and found Mao Shun in the library, who was sorting out books.
Mao Shun is nearly fifty years old, but his ability to climb up and down ladders is no less than that of young people.
Zhou Jun looked on in horror, and finally caught the opportunity and invited Mao Shun down.
Zhou Jun: "From now on, let others do the rough work. As the chief of the East Academy of Taixue, the master craftsman should take care of himself."
Mao Shun said: "This craftsman makes books by categories, but the juniors don't know how to do it and can only arrange them randomly."
Zhou Jun asked his servants to make a pot of tea, and went to a quiet side hall with Mao Shun. After sitting down, he said: "It has been more than half a month since Liangzhou Neifang moved to Qiuci. Is the craftsman still used to everything here?"
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Mao Shun took a sip of hot tea and said with a smile: "How can you not get used to it? Especially this Imperial Academy built specifically for craftsmen, it is really more magnificent than the Imperial College in Chang'an City. Zhou Lang came over and said to me
, Shun was once hesitant to rectify the name of the craftsman, but now he has no doubts about it!"
Zhou Jun also smiled and said: "The number of people in Jianghong Taixue is not large now. When there are more students in the future, it will be expanded again. Regarding the classification of departments I mentioned before, does Master Jiang have any ideas?"
Mao Shun: "Erlang said before that Anxi wants to make profits from craftsmanship. I summarized it and planned to divide the East Hospital into the following departments. The first one is the Craftsmanship Department, which is mainly responsible for craftsmanship of instruments and basics.
The research of knowledge is headed by me personally; the second one is the Weaving and Textile Department, which is mainly responsible for sericulture, fabrics, silk reeling and other textile-related research, and Peng Po is the director..."
Zhou Jun nodded first and then said: "Before, we also said that Anxi can produce celadon."
Mao Shun: "Yes, the third department in the East Campus is the Glaze and Porcelain Department. This department is mainly responsible for developing glazes and porcelain, but the technology still needs to be explored, so I am still in charge."
After finishing speaking, Mao Shun thought for a while and said to Zhou Jun: "Since Erlang has asked, if you want to explain the three departments in the east courtyard in detail, I plan to invite two more people to come over."
Zhou Jun nodded in agreement.
So Mao Shun asked the craftsman to go to the back compartment and invite two women to join the tea party.
One of the women was Po Peng, a master of textiles; the other woman was slightly younger than Mao Shun and Po Peng, but Zhou Jun's impression of her was somewhat dim.
After the latter introduced himself, Zhou Jun finally remembered.
The middle-aged woman, named Dong Yanniang, was originally a female official in the Chang'an Palace. She was mainly responsible for the manufacture of palace supplies, as well as the maintenance and repair of treasures.
While painting the palace porcelain, Dong Yanniang accidentally burned her arm with a red-hot porcelain embryo and became half a disabled person. She was then kicked out of the palace. Later, she was fortunate enough to be taken in by the Bachuan Market, where she finally found her home.
Seeing Zhou Jun present, Peng Po and Dong Yanniang did not dare to sit down because of their low status.
Seeing this, Mao Shun shook his head and said, "Since I respect Zhou Erlang as my master, just keep it in my heart. Why should I care about some common etiquette?"
Zhou Jun waved and asked Granny Peng and Dong Yanniang to sit down.
The two girls thought for a moment and then sat down sideways.
Zhou Jun first asked Peng Po: "The Imperial College has been built. Have the flower tower machines in Liangzhou Neifang been properly installed?"
Granny Peng: "Twelve Hualou machines have all been installed and tested. They are all in good condition."
Zhou Jun asked again: "I have mentioned before that using cotton as fabric and reeling silk into quilts, is there any way now?"
Granny Peng: "The Governor ordered the cotton to be reeled into silk and then spun into cloth. At first, I thought it was unbelievable, but then I gradually realized some tricks."
"To spin cotton into cotton yarn, the first step is to separate the cotton seeds from the cotton."
"At first, I removed the cotton seeds by hand, which took a long time and could not be removed completely. Later, when I was combing my hair with a grate, I suddenly remembered something. If I use a grate to make a thick stick, put cotton in it, and roll it
By rolling it over, wouldn't it be possible to comb out all the cotton seeds like combing hair?"
"Then, I asked Mao Shun for help, and it took several days to make this trick. After a try, it really worked."
Zhou Jun asked excitedly: "In other words, cotton can be used for weaving?"
Po Peng shook her head and said: "Rolling is only the first step. After that, there are processes such as elasticizing cotton, spinning, sizing, winding, threading, dyeing, weaving, etc. Although these processes are similar to silk yarn, they are
The subtle differences make cotton yarn very difficult, and we are still trying to find the best way to weave it."
Zhou Jun calmed down and nodded slightly.
The fiber of cotton is different from that of silk. It requires the use of additional technologies such as blended weaving and solid spinning. If you want to truly obtain a strong and durable cotton yarn, I am afraid there is still a long way to go.