Most of what the workshop secretary said was recorded in the documents, which Fang Yun had already read, but there were some that were not in the documents, which allowed Fang Yun to better understand the workshop.
Workshops in each country are divided into different levels according to technology.
Currently, the top-level ones are the Mohist Workshop in Jia State and the Lu Ban Workshop in Shen State. However, Lu Ban’s actual surname is Gongshu, and the Lu Ban family calls themselves the Gongshu Workshop.
The high-level workshops are the workshops of engineering families or families related to engineering families such as the Zhang Heng family, the Ma Jun family, the Zu Chongzhi family, and the Liu Hui family. Although the Liu Hui family is not an engineering family, Liu Hui is famous for mathematics, and his family's workshop is not inferior to that of engineering families in many aspects, and they even often exchange technology with engineering families.
As for the medium-sized workshops, they are the workshops owned by ordinary semi-saint families and royal families and officials of various countries.
Other workshops established by wealthy and famous families or ordinary people can only be regarded as elementary workshops, far from being comparable to better workshops, but they also have their own advantages and can also make money.
Ning'an County is too close to the north and may be attacked at any time. Most of the workshops belonging to the aristocratic families here are relatively backward, and the most advanced workshops are in safe places in the rear.
However, the royal family of Jing State built the best military equipment workshops and textile workshops here to provide the army with a steady supply of what it needs.
Soon, the carriage stopped in front of a workshop.
The workshop secretary got out of the car first, and then smiled and said, "Fang Xusheng, this is the best textile workshop in this county, Ning Zhiyi Workshop!"
"Yeah." Fang Yun then got out of the car.
As he stepped out of the carriage, Fang Yun saw a large number of people waiting in line in front of him. At a glance, the number of people was more than five hundred.
Behind these people is a spacious factory building, and the faint roar of water-powered textile machines can be heard.
Fang Yun smiled faintly. Before reading the document, he thought the workshop here was just a small workshop with a few people at most dozens of people, but after reading the document, he realized that the workshop was not much different from the factory in later generations. And one of the Mo family's workshops in Liangjie Mountain even had more than 10,000 people, which was extremely spectacular.
The power of mechanical engineering is slowly changing the world.
Everyone in front of the workshop had a warm smile on their face. These people were all educated, and their children and grandchildren were also studying. They had a natural respect and even admiration for Fang Yun.
Fang Yun not only made their descendants more knowledgeable, not only made the scholars who protected them stronger, but also made the people of Jing proud. In their hearts, Fang Yun was already the number one person under the Semi-Saint.
Fang Yun looked at the fiery gaze and smiled, "I came here not for vanity, but to learn the craftsmanship and see if you need any help. Don't treat me as an outsider, treat me as a family member."
Apart from teaching and trying cases, this was the first time that Fang Yun truly joined a group of unfamiliar people. He neither put on airs or used official language like he did with the other officials, nor did he say too many polite words. He just said what he had in mind.
This workshop did not hold a warm welcome ceremony like in later generations. After knowing that Fang Yun really did not care about the pomp and circumstance, most people returned to their respective jobs, and only the foreman and management staff of the workshop stayed with Fang Yun.
After chatting with everyone for a while, Fang Yun went straight to the point and entered the factory. He saw a row of textile machines as high as two stories standing in front of him, running smoothly under the power of water and machinery, making a rumbling sound, and the cotton threads were like clouds, full of strange beauty.
People are constantly coming and going in the factory, creating a busy scene.
The workshop foreman began to introduce the specific details of the water-powered textile machine.
"… This water-powered loom saves manpower and energy. But it also has a flaw. It is unstable during dry or flood seasons, so sometimes it needs to be stopped. If it is urgent to start working, moonstone can be used as power. However, moonstone is relatively expensive. It is the main power to drive the mechanical beasts and is rarely used. Therefore, during periods of stable water flow, the workshop should start working more often…"
“… You may think that weaving is very simple, and cotton threads can be made into cloth by weaving them together. However, before the cotton threads are threaded onto the loom, dozens of tedious processes are required, such as ginning, bouncing, spinning, beating, sizing, dyeing, winding, dropping, warping, brushing, etc. These are all completed by the workshop next door. So even though our weaving workshop seems very busy, we don’t actually work very much every day, because the previous processes are slow…”
After visiting the weaving workshop, Fang Yun went to inspect the workshops related to weaving.
After an hour of understanding, Fang Yun finally discovered that the efficiency of the loom alone was already extremely high, but what restricted the weaving efficiency was not the loom but the previous process.
Fang Yun felt a little ashamed after reading it. He had taken it for granted before, thinking that as long as the loom was improved, the weaving efficiency would be easily increased and the labor force would be released. In fact, the workers had a high level of improvement on the looms, but the improvement on other processes was relatively slow.
After understanding the situation on site, Fang Yun had a vague plan in mind, which was to innovate everything from the initial flower-tying to the final weaving! Not only should the weaving time be accelerated, but also some processes that are not currently available should be added, so that the future cloth can not only be woven faster, but also better, stronger and more durable.
Fang Yun made a rough calculation and found that if all the innovations were completed, the weaving speed would at least increase by two times, and the quality would at least increase by twice.
However, the real focus is not weaving, but some improvements in mechanisms. Some of them are brand new knowledge for the craftsmen in Shengyuan Continent and can be used in all the mechanisms in all workshops. Once they are fully understood by the workers, they may form a small-scale mechanical innovation!
Lei Shushan's innovation in Jiaguo can barely be described as a point of technology, a small step on flat ground, while Fang Yun's planned innovation is a whole line, a big step upward.
"We will try to overcome the technical difficulties within ten days! However, this innovation process cannot be leaked. Before the complete innovation, all related workshops must be closed to isolate the workers from the outside world. They will eat and live in the workshops and can only leave after the innovation is completed."
Thinking of this, Fang Yun suddenly felt a headache. His own private soldiers were not suitable for blockade. After all, the workshop belonged to the government, and the government hated private forces interfering the most. Otherwise, Fang Yun would not have to worry about food or floods. He could just pay for the problem himself. But he couldn't pay a penny.
In order to seal off the workshop, the Beimang army stationed locally must cooperate. Not to mention whether General Beimang agrees, even if he agrees, people from Zuo Xiang's party may leak the matter.
"I can only use the excuse of the top-secret technological innovation of the factory as an excuse to ask the people in the Criminal Court to issue an order. As long as the Criminal Court is there, no one will dare to spy on the secrets."
Afterwards, Fang Yun sent a letter to the Criminal Court. Since it was to mobilize the Jing** team, it took half an hour for the Criminal Court to give a clear reply, and said that they would start closing the relevant workshops tomorrow.
This is good news for Fang Yun, as he has plenty of time to prepare.
However, after the Criminal Court gave its reply, Fang Yun received a large number of letters one after another.
"What? How dare you say that you are the only one who can get the first place in the two subjects of the industrial and agricultural families? Tell me honestly, do you want to get the first place in the top ten?"
"Is the Lei family slandering you? I heard that the Lei family is mad at you!" (To be continued...)