A while ago, Cheng Wanwan asked Old Man Zhao to help make a simple tool for playing cotton.
A large slingshot made of fir and a handy small hammer are the two most basic tools.
Zhao Dashan was in charge of the demonstration process. He tied a strong belt around his waist and tied a bamboo strip behind his waist, about two and a half feet higher than the top of his head. Then he hung the slingshot on the top of the bamboo strip so that the bamboo strip would It will bend forward, just right for playing cotton.
He holds a slingshot in his left hand and a small hammer in his right hand. When he hits the slingshot with the hammer, he can loosen the cotton.
But before that, the dried cotton needs to be spread neatly on a large table with a length of two meters and a width of two meters. The cotton flowers are manually torn into cotton wadding, which will make the quilt softer.
The beds of villagers are generally about 1.8 meters wide, so making a quilt that is 2 meters wide and 2.2 meters long is about the same.
If you want to make a quilt for heavy snow in winter, it will be about eight pounds for two people. If it is an autumn quilt, three or four pounds will be enough. It all depends on personal choice.
After Cheng Wanwan's introduction, Zhao Dashan finally started working formally.
The wooden hammer struck, vibrating the bowstring. The bowstring flicked left, right, up and down on the soft cotton, causing the cotton to fly up. The cotton like flying catkins regrouped, and there was a sound of strings and flying flowers. , there were a lot of flying catkins in the room, and after a while, the cotton was finally finished.
"This cotton has good elasticity." Cheng Wanwan praised it with eyes full of praise. "It's very fluffy and comfortable. It will definitely be very warm when covered in winter. Next, you need to press the loose cotton neatly to make it a qualified quilt."
Zhao Dashan changed the tools and took a round dustpan in his hand. The bottom of the dustpan was flat. He used this tool to press all the cotton. After pressing it neatly, he needed to use cotton mesh wire to fix the cotton. This requires the cooperation of two people.
One person uses a bamboo strip to pull it, and another person holds the cotton thread to fix the thread on the cotton. This step is a delicate job and requires four back and forth steps to completely fix it.
The last step is to flatten the quilt again, use a wooden round grinding disc to smooth the corners, and put it into the quilt cover. A thick quilt is now made.
The women who were watching were all stunned.
"My God, if I hadn't come here to study today, I would have thought that I would just put cotton into the quilt cover."
"In this way, the quilt will be extra strong, the cotton inside will not run into a ball, and you will not be woken up by the cold at night."
"We used to stuff reeds, willow catkins, chicken and duck feathers into quilts. We always sewed the quilt into small grids and stuffed some into each grid. Then after one winter, the stuff in each grid became a lump. Forget about the trouble, it's still good. Not warm.”
"Dashan Niang, how do you get such a brain? How do you become so powerful? From now on, I will grow whatever your family grows."
"By the way, it seems that two hundred acres of something was planted in Dashan not long ago. Is it pepper?"
"Do you still have seeds? I happen to still have two plots of land..."
The women always chatted for a long time. Just now they were talking about quilts, and then they started talking about growing peppers. In rural areas, they would borrow seeds from each other. This stuff is very cheap in the mall, and Cheng Wanwan didn't even bother. I would be reluctant to part with it, so I would give some to each household.
It's just that it's already autumn, so we can only wait until next year to plant.
The women in the village put aside the matter for the time being and started preparing to play cotton. Because the tools were simple and it didn't seem to be difficult to do, they went back to make their own tools one by one. If there was anything they didn't understand, they all came to ask Zhao Dashan. , Zhao Dashan did not hesitate to share his experience and taught everyone seriously.
But how can I put it, the tools are simple to make, and the process of playing actually tests skills. Otherwise, how could anyone say that half a pound of cotton can be played to eight or eight pounds? This does not mean that the weight is increased, but that it visually feels fluffy and soft. , this is the real success in playing. In the end, only three or four women and men in the village learned it.
Those women who had not had time to learn gave up when they saw how difficult it was, and decided to pay people who had learned to play cotton.
In this way, a new profession emerged in the village - cotton bomber.
While the villagers were playing cotton, Cheng Wanwan and Kong Xiu Niang decided on the style of cotton clothes and made autumn and winter linings.
The ladies of this era were accustomed to wearing silk and satin clothes. Before they accepted cotton, there were certain risks in making cotton jackets and cloaks.
But if it is made into a lining, it will have great advantages, because satin is not skin-friendly and does not trap heat. In the cold winter, wearing a cotton lining next to the body is comfortable and warm, and I believe it will be easily accepted.
At present, the market in Huzhou is only that big. Cheng Wanwan plans to use 10,000 kilograms of cotton to make clothes, and all the remaining cotton will be used to make quilts and cotton-padded jackets.
She didn't know how many people froze to death during the snowstorm last year. She was still frightened and hoped to use her own meager efforts to help the people at the bottom survive the severe winter.
She decided to make two sizes of quilts, four-pound quilts and six-pound quilts, and make some more winter clothes. The price would not exceed 200 cents. This part was not to make money, but to "make great achievements and benefit the world."
"An Ren, this price is too low." Kong Xiu Niang exclaimed, "The Cao family also sells silk quilts. A quilt weighing one pound costs at least two taels of silver. This quilt is no worse than a silk quilt, even if it sells for three or four taels. There is also a lot of money, and people are rushing to get it."
Cheng Wanwan shook her head: "Mother Kong Xiu, do you know how much this quilt costs? It's more than 100 acres of land, more than ten people, and more than 60,000 kilograms of output. All costs are included, and it doesn't exceed a hundred taels of silver. And even if I If all of them are made into quilts and sold, I can earn close to ten thousand taels of silver. Not to mention, some of them are made into linings. If you add them up, this cotton field can bring me twenty thousand taels of silver."
"But your silkworm raising is different. With 200 acres of mulberry farm, you can only raise about 200 silkworms at most this year. How many cocoons can you produce? After the cocoons become silk, only half of them can be used to make silk quilts. The cost is so high. It should indeed be sold for two taels of silver."
Kong Xiu Niang immediately made a calculation in her mind and couldn't help but click her tongue.
When cotton is planted in the ground, watering and fertilizing is enough. When the insect infestation is serious, it will be a little harder, but no matter how hard it is, it is easier than raising silkworms.
Raising silkworms requires certain skills, and if you are not careful, silkworms can easily die in large areas, and if they are not raised well, production will be reduced. Therefore, workers need to carefully maintain the silkworms without stopping for a moment.
From the same field of nearly 200 acres, more than 60,000 kilograms of cotton could be harvested, while the final yield of silk was less than 10,000 kilograms.
Sui Ruren's pricing seemed like a loss on the surface, but in fact, he made a huge profit. The money was much easier to earn than raising silkworms.
"After cotton is promoted and every household has cotton, quilts will actually not make much money. I have never thought of making money from this. We should focus on clothing design." Cheng Wanwan said with a smile, " Before others knew what cotton was, we produced cotton linings and took the lead in occupying the market. Are we worried about not being able to make money in the future..."
While the two were talking, a figure stood outside the door. The figure turned around and left quickly in fear of being discovered.
