Time passes slowly, and everything in Ming Dynasty is moving forward step by step.
At the end of August in the first year of Ankang, good news came from the chemical testing site of the Great Food Country.
The rayon requested by Zhu Jingyuan was finally successfully trial-produced.
After Zhu Jingyuan received the news, he immediately led a team to the experimental base to check it out like last time.
Lu Xueqin, the person in charge of the experimental base, excitedly held up a strand of silk and introduced to Zhu Jingyuan:
“Your Highness, this kind of rayon is twice as strong as cotton and five times as strong as wool.
“The key is that it is extremely wear-resistant, ten times more wear-resistant than cotton and twenty times more wear-resistant than wool.
“Clothes made from it are definitely more durable than any cotton material, and are especially suitable for work wear.
“The disadvantage is that it has poor water absorption, so if it is used as summer clothes, it will be easily soaked by sweat.
“But if you look at it from another perspective, this can actually be regarded as an advantage, they are very easy to dry.
"And they are actually made of plastic, so they should not become moldy."
Zhu Jingyuan took the bunch of filaments and gently twisted them with his hands, feeling quite excited:
"Okay, okay, let's try using it to make clothes. Not only can it be used to make clothes, but it can also be used to make bags and backpacks..."
The "rayon" created by Lu Xueqin is the nylon that Zhu Jingyuan used in his previous life, also known as nylon or polyamide fiber.
This is the world's first "fossil material synthetic fiber".
Not the first "synthetic fiber", nor the first "chemical fiber".
Prior to this, there had been "viscose fiber" made from natural fibers such as cotton and linen as raw materials, and the cellulose contained in them was isolated. Viscose fiber was the earliest chemical fiber.
Including artificial cotton, as well as later modal, cellel, bamboo charcoal fiber and other materials, they are essentially viscose fiber.
Compared with natural recycled material fibers, nylon, a synthetic fiber based on fossil materials, has the advantages of lower cost, shorter production process, and overall more environmentally friendly...
The previous points are actually relatively easy for people to accept, but the point of being more environmentally friendly may be difficult for many people to understand.
But the logic is actually very simple. Rayon, modal, bamboo charcoal, Tencel, and ice silk are all "regenerated fibers."
This "regeneration" process is the process of extracting natural cellulose. It requires the use of chemical solvents containing acids, alkalis, and amines to completely dissolve it, so it causes additional pollution compared to native cotton and linen materials.
Nylon, a synthetic fiber made from fossil raw materials, is produced directly from oil dug out of the ground, avoiding the consumption of water, pesticides and chemical fertilizers during plant cultivation.
Synthetic fibers crush natural fibers in strength and abrasion resistance.
Chemical fiber clothes can only be scratched or burned, but not frayed. One piece is worth ten pieces in terms of wear resistance.
The key is that when Zhu Jingyuan saw the nylon called "rayon", he felt an inexplicable sense of intimacy in his heart.
The current level of development of the world is really getting closer to the era when I lived in my previous life.
Zhu Jingyuan and Lu Xueqin studied these "plastic threads", determined their official name as "rayon", and registered the trademark.
Let them continue to prepare factory production solutions, try to use them in the textile industry and try to make clothes.
Also continuing to work on stretch yarn.
Nylon itself also has a certain degree of elasticity, but overall it is still relatively low and can only stretch about 5%.
Stretch yarn is polyurethane fiber, also called elastic fiber, Lycra, and spandex, which can be stretched to six times its own length.
With the direction pointed out by Zhu Jingyuan, relevant research is progressing very quickly.
By October of the first year of Ankang, the elastic fiber material called "elastic silk" was successfully trial-produced.
Compared to rayon and nylon, the effect of stretch silk is amazing.
No conventional textile material with such great elasticity has ever been used in human history.
In the past, natural fibers, such as cotton, linen and wool, were basically inelastic, and the elasticity of silk was also very small.
The rubber bands used in elastic bands cannot be made into fine threads and cannot be directly used to weave fabrics.
It can only be wrapped with cloth as a tightening edge for belts, cuffs, etc.
Elastic yarn can be directly used as a textile material to weave a light and thin fabric with overall elasticity.
Elastic fabrics that are taken for granted by modern people are now something very amazing.
So when synthetic elastic yarn was successful, even the craftsmen responsible for research and development were surprised.
Lu Xueqin took a bunch of silk threads and stretched them out several times. After letting go, they immediately returned to their original shape:
"Your Highness, this kind of synthetic silk is really amazing. It can be made thinner than silk, has the elasticity of a rubber band, and is tougher than a rubber band..."
Zheng Fuguang next to him also widened his eyes. He knew mechanics, but he didn't understand polymer chemistry:
"How is this made? Why can this kind of filament be so elastic?"
The maidservant who was following Zhu Jingyuan and the soldiers who were accompanying him to protect him were also extremely surprised. They all looked at what Lu Xueqin was holding in disbelief.
Zhu Jingyuan was also very emotional that the elastic material was finally made.
Modern body-fitting socks, gloves, underwear and other clothing can finally be made.
The biggest problem with chemical fibers is that they generally don't absorb much water, but they can be blended with natural fibers.
All kinds of modern elastic clothing are basically made of elastic silk spandex.
After everyone's initial admiration and surprise passed, Zhu Jingyuan once again assigned tasks to the person in charge.
Rayon and stretch yarn, that is, nylon and spandex, are usually not used directly.
Instead, the two must be combined in a specific proportion, or combined with other fiber materials, twisted into a new mixed silk thread in a special way, and then used to weave fabrics.
The so-called elastic cotton, core-spun yarn, etc. are all made in this way.
Those regenerated fiber materials such as modal, ice silk, and Tencel must be blended with spandex if they want to gain elasticity.
Therefore, in the modern textile industry, elastic silk spandex is widely used.
With spandex, stockings in the modern sense can finally be made.
Stockings are purely petrochemical industry products, basically using only nylon and spandex.
That is, the "rayon" and "elastic yarn" produced by Zhu Jingyuan's petrochemical experimental base.
This thing seems simple, but in fact it involves the entire oil mining, smelting, chemical industry, and textile industry systems.
Of course, the synthetic fiber industry was not born for stockings, stockings are just a by-product.
In fact, this is true for many things in modern times. Small things that seem ordinary and inconspicuous can only be produced by relying on extremely complex and huge industrial systems.
From this perspective, most countries in the world in the new century will not be able to produce even a single stocking.
Including most of the so-called developed countries...
Now that the two most important materials in synthetic fibers have been successfully developed, Zhu Jingyuan once again announced bonuses to all relevant craftsmen as agreed, and everyone will receive another year's salary.
No one doesn’t like more wealth, and no one doesn’t like having their work recognized.
After Zhu Jingyuan's announcement was passed on, the atmosphere in the entire experimental base became extremely warm again.
Zhu Jingyuan stayed at the experimental base for a short time, allowing the craftsmen of the petrochemical experimental base to take another break. He, Zheng Fuguang and others returned to the palace.
Then Zhu Jingyuan summoned the main ministers of the Food Kingdom and craftsmen from various laboratories and factories for a meeting.
Zheng Fuguang and Liu Zhixin both followed Zhu Jingyuan to the petrochemical base, and they could probably guess what Zhu Jingyuan was going to do.
After everyone arrived, Zhu Jingyuan said directly:
“The uses of these two synthetic materials, rayon and elastane, are enough to support a whole new textile industry.
"So I decided to officially start the comprehensive development and construction of the country's own petrochemical, textile, and clothing industries."
After Zhu Jingyuan started, he stopped slightly and looked at the ministers and craftsmen around him, wanting to hear their opinions.
Liu Zhixin, the chief minister of Zuo of Dashi Kingdom, is the oldest and most honest person among this group of people.
After hearing Zhu Jingyuan's thoughts, Liu Zhixin, who had already made some preparations, said worriedly:
"Your Majesty, the local population of our big food country is still too small, and supporting the limited petrochemical industry is the limit.
“Both the textile and clothing industries require a large amount of labor and sufficient water sources.
"The places in our big food country are basically not suitable for the development of this..."
Oil extraction and chemicals are capital-intensive machines that require high investments to build infrastructure.
There is a high demand for labor, but it is not particularly sensitive to labor prices, so immigrants can be directly attracted at high prices.
Textiles and clothing are purely labor-intensive industries that require cheap labor.
Zhu Jingyuan was also prepared for this, but he did not speak immediately and wanted to continue to listen to opinions.
A group of officials discussed for a while, and Pan Shien, the right judge of the Dashi Palace, tried to speak:
“Your Majesty, Liu Changshi and his subordinates believe that textile and clothing factories do not need to be located in the mainland of the Great Food Country.
“According to the King’s long-term plan, Liusha City’s defense will only retain the oil mining industry, and the petrochemical industry will be placed along the coast of Da Shi Sea.
"As for the textile and clothing industry chain, I believe it should not be placed in Liusha City, or even in the mainland of Dashi Country.
“It can be placed on the west coast of the Great Qin Sea or on the island of Crete and recruit Thai and Western workers to work on it.
"Solving the problem of shortage of manpower from Daming can also reduce production costs."
When the left judge Xu Minghui heard this suggestion, he subconsciously said:
“If you want to reduce costs, it’s better to put the factory directly in the eastern part of Mozhou and use Mozhou’s Mo slaves to work.
“Anyway, the eastern part of Mozhou belongs to our big food country now.
"Especially the big piece in the middle is directly the private property of the king."
Zhu Jingyuan asked slightly uncertainly:
"The Thai and Western workers are okay, but the Mexican slaves...can they do the work in the textile and clothing factories?"
Regarding this question, Xu Minghui, Liu Zhixin, and other ministers and craftsmen were a little hesitant and did not dare to give a definite answer.
They really don't believe in Mo Ren's ability, including Xu Minghui himself who made this suggestion.
Pan Shien hesitated for a few seconds and then tried to say:
"If the Mo people can't do it, how about introducing the Tianzhu people to Dongmo Continent?"
This suggestion quickly won the approval of the surrounding officials and craftsmen.
In the eyes of the Ming Dynasty people in this world, the Tianzhu people belong to the Hu people, and in many cases their status is higher than that of the Xiyi people.
Come and try it quickly. 】
Because the people of Ming Dynasty felt that the people of Tianzhu were easier to manage than the people of Xiyi.
Zhu Jingyuan was speechless.
If the British transported people from Tianzhu to Mozhou, and the Ming Dynasty also transported people from Tianzhu to Mozhou, would there be any people left in Tianzhu?
Will Mozhou become a large Tianzhu?
But if you think about it from another angle, the large Tianzhu seems to be better than the "Mo" continent.
