"I wonder what kind of business it is that can earn tens of millions of taels of silver a year?" Zhong Hongzhang asked curiously. Zhong Ruolan and Manager He next to him also looked at Yan Liqiang, afraid of missing every word Yan Liqiang said.
"Of course it's a business that turns waste into treasure!" Yan Liqiang smiled calmly, "If the Zhong family believes in me, when Mr. Zhong goes back this time, I will ask the Zhong family to do their best to stockpile wool and purchase ranches to prepare for sheep breeding, because in the next few years, wool in the northwest will become very popular. The wool that is now useless will be turned into exquisite and expensive fabrics. If this business is really done, it is not impossible to make tens of millions of taels of silver a year!"
Zhong Hongzhang reacted immediately, his eyes widened, "Sir, have you found a way to make wool into fabrics?"
"Yes, I already know how to turn wool into fabric!" Yan Liqiang said calmly. In the past two months, Yan Liqiang had already succeeded and sorted out all the steps. As long as he used the cheapest wood ash to make soda ash and went through simple cleaning steps, he could easily solve the problem of degreasing the wool. After drying and combing, the degreased wool could be used directly for spinning like cotton. The spinning efficiency of ordinary spinning machines was too low, so Yan Liqiang made some improvements to the spinning machines. The principle of the hand-cranked Jenny spinning machine was actually not complicated. Compared with ordinary workshops and household spinning machines, it was not difficult to manufacture. A few qualified carpenters were enough to do the job. After using the spinning machine improved by Yan Liqiang, the spinning efficiency of one person could be increased by a full sixteen times compared to traditional spinning efficiency. The spun yarn could be woven into cloth by the improved flying shuttle loom, and the efficiency was also increased many times.
The three people from the Zhong family looked at Yan Liqiang in shock. Seeing their incredulous eyes, Yan Liqiang said nothing more and stood up. "Follow me, I'll take you to a place and you'll know..."
Zhong Hongzhang, Zhong Ruolan and Manager He naturally stood up, and Yan Liqiang led the three of them out of the Yan family's living room and walked towards the Yan family's backyard.
After walking a few steps, Zhong Hongzhang found that Yan Liqiang was about to lead a few people to the backyard, and he reminded him, "Master Yan, is this convenient..."
"Haha, don't worry, Mr. Zhong. There are no female relatives in the backyard of the Yan family. Only my father and I live separately in the backyard, and there are only a few servants and maids!" Yan Liqiang said, without stopping, and led the three of them directly through the corridor and two courtyards.
Along the way, the further they walked inside, the more the three people from the Zhong family felt that the security in the backyard became more and more strict. The layers of doors were guarded by guards from the Yan family, and it was basically impossible for ordinary people to come in.
After wandering around in the Yan family mansion for two minutes, Yan Liqiang brought the three people to a large courtyard. The guards in this courtyard were even more strict. There were six guards guarding the gate of the courtyard, and the gate of the courtyard was locked. The gate of the courtyard was not opened until Yan Liqiang came and asked the guard to open the gate.
The yard was spacious and large. On one side of the yard were several rooms that could be lived in. The middle of the yard was empty, with no flower beds or plants. There were only flat floor tiles and wooden racks in the yard. On the wooden racks were layers of winnowing baskets stacked up like steamers for steaming buns. On the other side of the yard was a large room. From that room, one could faintly hear the sounds of a loom and wooden wheels turning.
As soon as Zhong Hongzhang and the other two arrived here, their eyes were immediately attracted by the layers of things drying in the yard. What was drying on the wooden rack was a piece of snow-white and soft stuff. From a distance, it looked like cotton. Yan Liqiang led the three people to a wooden rack, reached out and grabbed a ball of things from a dustpan drying on the wooden rack, and handed it to the three people from the Zhong family, "Mr. Zhong, Miss Ruolan and Manager He, can you recognize what this is?"
The thing in the hand is as white and soft as a cloud, dazzlingly white in the sun, and furry in the hand, with a special delicate feel, completely different from cotton, and more textured. Looking at what you see, people who don't know it will definitely find it difficult to associate it with the half-yellow and half-white wool from sheep that is mixed with mud, debris, feces, lanolin, and stuck together in pieces and clumps.
"This is... wool?" Zhong Hongzhang asked in shock.
"Well, to be precise, it is sheep wool. After a special treatment process, the sheep wool that could not be used for weaving before has become what Mr. Zhong has in his hands. This thing has dried thoroughly and has become almost the same as cotton. As long as it goes through a simple process again, it can basically be used to weave things..."
"In the room over there, is there someone using this thing to weave something?" Zhong Hongzhang asked, pointing to the large room not far away where the sound came from.
"Hahaha, since we're all here, just follow me and you'll know!" Yan Liqiang led the three of them towards the big room. "This yard is a special experimental site I set up at home. I found six reliable couples in the town and gave them a large sum of money to let them live in this yard for two months without contacting the outside world. Instead, they will follow my instructions and requirements to explore the steps of using wool for weaving. Apart from me, the other three are visiting here for the first time..."
As Yan Liqiang spoke, he had already arrived at the door of the big house. He stretched out his hand and pushed the door open.
There were more than ten people in the room, both men and women, including a steward from the Yan family. When they saw Yan Liqiang push the door open, everyone stopped what they were doing and greeted Yan Liqiang.
Yan Liqiang smiled and greeted everyone, "Don't stop, just keep going, I'll bring someone to take a look..."
After hearing what Yan Liqiang said, the people who had just stopped immediately got busy with their work again.
Looking at the things in the room, Zhong Hongzhang, Zhong Ruolan and He Zhanggui, who were just stunned by the white wool, were once again amazed and refreshed their three views - there were many strange tools placed in this big room, which none of them had ever seen before. One of them was as big as a bed, and it seemed to be a spinning machine, but it was completely different from the spinning machines they had seen. The traditional spinning machine had only one spindle placed horizontally, while the spinning machine in front of them was much larger than the traditional spinning machine. The spindles on the spinning machine were not placed horizontally, but vertically. There were as many as sixteen spindles on a spinning machine. As the woman sitting in front of the spinning machine shook the handle, the sixteen white threads hanging on the spinning machine began to spin, just like the most magical magic in the world...
Just by looking at the spinning machine, Zhong Hongzhang knew that the value of this spinning machine was inestimable. It could increase a person's spinning efficiency by sixteen times. Apart from anything else, as long as a person had such a machine at home, it would be extraordinary. A woman who could spin and spin this machine could support a whole family...
On the other side, the flying shuttle loom made Zhong Hongzhang unable to take his eyes away...
"All these tools here are made by me. They have been tried and improved here and have been finalized. It's a coincidence that tomorrow, the first batch of spinning machines and looms made by the Manufacturing Bureau will be delivered to the town. I will open a large workshop in the town to produce cloth. The first batch of woolen cloth will be available in less than half a month..." Yan Liqiang said as he led the three people around the room.
For those who are lazy and ignorant, perhaps they cannot understand what is in front of them, and do not know the meaning of it. However, for Zhong Hongzhang, who is well-informed and has been struggling in the world for decades, these things are like opening the door to a brand new world for him. Compared with these things, the small iron mine sent by their family is nothing at all...
(End of this chapter)