The busy spring ploughing slowly came to an end. Time steadily entered April.
The audience in the streaming room was looking forward to and worried about the war that had yet to begin. Many of them were impatient and gradually forgot about it.
Jiang Pengji had been busy with government affairs for the past few months. Apart from presiding over the spring ploughing ceremony, she spent the rest of her time running around and inspecting the situation. The two most important things were the progress of the water-powered spinning wheel and cotton. These two pieces of good news eased the tense atmosphere.
Since Jiang Pengji supported Huijun to work on the water-powered spinning wheel, Huijun devoted most of her energy to it. The remaining space was left for the twins. The idea of using the power of water to weave was a fantasy. However, after Jiang Pengji's analysis and encouragement, Huijun felt that it would definitely work. If it didn't work, it must be because she didn't find the right way and didn't work hard enough.
With this idea in mind, Huijun often went to the woodworking workshop to look for Zhang Ping or Shao Guang. This made Fu Wang's subordinates think that she planted two blades of grass for Fu Wang. Huijun knew about this and responded with a cold snort. She and Fu Wang were not husband and wife in name. Their relationship was limited to having two children together. Fu Wang could not control her no matter who she was close to.
Planting grass?
It was none of his business to plant a grassland.
Of course, her relationship with Zhang Ping and Shao Guang was not ambiguous. Zhang Ping and Shao Guang also tried their best to help her practice and perfect the concept of the water-powered spinning wheel with the knowledge of the Mohists. Several generations of models were produced in the past two or three years, but they were not satisfactory. It seemed that something was missing.
When the lord returned with the troops, the woodworking workshop had a new member.
This newcomer was incredible. Not only was she a rare female in the carpentry workshop, but she was also a student who had been taught by the Mohist Master. Bai Yuexia was not good at government affairs. Jiang Pengji assigned her to the woodworking workshop and assigned her to work under Zhang Ping.
Although Bai Yuexia was a woman, his lord was also a woman. How could Zhang Ping dare to be disrespectful? It was just that many jobs in the woodworking workshop were tiring. It was common to work overtime and stay up late to revise the design. Zhang Ping was worried that a young girl like Bai Yuexia could not handle it.
At first, Bai Yuexia misunderstood the woodworking workshop as an ordinary place. Only when she arrived did she realize that it was very different from what she imagined.
Although the name of the Woodworking Workshop was misleading, it was actually a department with a proper title.
As one of the "workshop owners" of the carpentry workshop, Zhang Ping's salary was only twenty to thirty percent lower than that of the registrar of the prefecture government.
Knowing this, Bai Yuexia finally felt relieved.
Her ambition was not to become an ordinary carpenter.
The office space that Jiang Pengji allocated to the carpentry workshop was very large. The periphery was filled with ordinary items, and the items and documents were more valuable as they went deeper into the workshop. Bai Yuexia was assigned to be Zhang Ping's assistant. She had a higher starting point, so naturally, she had access to more confidential places.
After working with them for a while, she fell in love with this job.
Not only was the place of work interesting, but the colleagues were also very interesting.
What made her feel most comfortable was the way Zhang Ping and Shao Guang looked at her. The latter's eyes revealed a bit of strangeness when he first saw her, but the former completely treated her like an ordinary girl, as if he didn't notice the ugly birthmark that took up most of her face. Just this alone was enough to win her favor. When Bai Ning heard his daughter mention the name of another unfamiliar man, he immediately began to plan.
If Zhang Ping didn't have a family, he would be a good son-in-law.
Little did he know that it was not that Zhang Ping didn't notice Bai Yuexia's birthmark. He was so calm because he had a problem with his aesthetic standards.
Why did Wei Ci want to sell Zhang Ping to Bai Yuexia so that Bai Yuexia would not covet Jiang Pengji?
Because he knew that Zhang Ping didn't judge a person's beauty by their face, but by their hands!
Zhang Ping didn't hear it wrong. Zhang Ping's standard for beauty was the hands, not the face.
Why was Zhang Ping so obsessed with his wife, Crane, and still single after so many years?
Not only because he liked to be single, but there was another important reason — the only two pairs of hands that he liked were his own and Wei Ci's. Wei Ci was male, not female, and he was also his best friend. Zhang Ping couldn't possibly attack him with a disease, right?
Wei Ci noticed Bai Yuexia's hands.
According to the aesthetic standards of a mechanical otaku, the hands could score ninety-five out of a hundred!
Zhang Ping was blind and had facial blindness. Bai Yuexia looked like a fairy, so he couldn't appreciate it.
After a few days, Zhang Ping noticed the new assistant.
As an otaku who was close to the level of a Great Magister, he felt moved for the first time.
Looking at those hands, he felt a feather gently tickling his heart. The unfamiliar feeling made him confused and helpless.
However, Zhang Ping's personality was not much more outgoing than Wei Ci's. He was obsessed with carpentry and didn't know how to express his feelings.
In the eyes of outsiders and Bai Yuexia, Zhang Ping was just a qualified and friendly superior.
One day, Zhang Ping was modifying the latest version of the hydraulic spinning wheel.
This version of the spinning wheel was very close to the ideal state, but something went wrong and there were always problems when it ran.
Zhang Ping and Huijun racked their brains over this problem until Bai Yuexia's words woke them up.
After the modification, the hydraulic spinning wheel could smoothly use the power of water. There were no problems when it ran for a while. Although the single efficiency was still not high and it couldn't be compared to manual spinning, if one person took care of more than ten hydraulic spinning wheels, the efficiency would be like a runaway wild horse.
When the good news reached Jiang Pengji's ears, the whole streaming room was in an uproar.
Their streamer usually didn't make a sound, but the slightest movement would cause a big problem.
When they saw the ancient version of the hydraulic spinning wheel, the audience immediately took screenshots and rushed to the top searches.
However —
Zhang Ping wasn't very optimistic about it. Firstly, the efficiency didn't reach the expected figure. Secondly, the spinning wheel relied too much on water. Once the water flow reached the dry period, the spinning wheel was basically useless. It was too unstable. It was better to use the original manpower.
In addition, if spinning was completely replaced by hydraulic spinning, it would have a big impact on ordinary farmers.
It was fine to make it for fun, but it was almost impossible to promote it on a large scale.
Jiang Pengji had already made a decision, but she wanted her subordinates to use their own brains.
"Then tell me your opinion?"
Although Zhang Ping was a technical otaku, it didn't mean that he didn't pass the cultural class. He just wasn't as proficient as Wei Ci and the others.
"I think there are four problems with this. First, although the people's lives have improved, the clothes they wear aren't expensive and the demand isn't high. The output of ordinary households is roughly equal to the demand. Second, if the hydraulic spinning wheel takes away the livelihood of ordinary farmers, the value of the cloth will decrease. I'm afraid many people will lose their livelihood. Third, the spinning wheel needs water to run. If there's a drought and no rain, the wheel will be useless and can only be left to rot. Fourth, the spinning wheel can make a lot of things, but there aren't many materials for weaving. "
The first three points were very important, but the most important point was the fourth point.
There weren't many raw materials for weaving. No matter how capable the hydraulic spinning wheel was, how much could it do?
If the returns couldn't match the investment, wouldn't it be a loss-making business?
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
