Under the narrow eaves, the rain kept flowing down the tiles on the eaves.

The continuous spring rain fell without warning, and it rained for several hours from dawn, for Zhao Chunian, who was working on the dock, the rain prevented him from working on the dock to earn money.

"This God, I really don't let people live!"

Thinking of the rice jar at home that was about to bottom out, Zhao Chunian complained in his heart, sitting on the low stool by the threshold, his face was full of sadness.

It was not a good job to work on the docks, especially since he had to spare for a few months a year in the cold, and every winter, like all other coolies, he would go around looking for work to do, otherwise the family would have to sit on the mountain and eat nothing, and maybe not even survive the year. It was hard to wait until the beginning of spring, thawed, and finally waited until the start of work, but it didn't work for a few days, and it rained again.

"Dad, don't worry, the rain won't last long this spring......"

Xi'er, who was sitting on the threshold, said as she made a sweater there with two bamboo needles in her hand. This is last winter, Xi'er learned in the foreigner's church, using bamboo needles to weave this ball of dark green wool into a sweater, last winter thanks to Xi'er learned to knit sweaters, and every few days can knit a sweater, otherwise, last winter just the price of charcoal rose to that shape, the family will definitely not be able to eat.

This sweater is a fresh thing, so fresh that whenever he sees a sweater, Zhao Chunnian will be a little envious. The reason for envy is also simple, in the past in winter, the big guy is not wearing a leather jacket with a variety of leather inside, and a leather jacket with satin or cloth on the outside, or a robe with cotton in the middle of the cloth inside and out.

But this sweater is different, the sweater woven with wool is comfortable and warm, not to mention, it is extremely flexible to work, there is no bloat of a cotton jacket, and wearing it on the body is equivalent to wearing a small cotton jacket. However, not everyone can wear this sweater, the sweater woven by Xi'er is a military uniform woven on behalf of the woolen village, the wool is a woolen yarn village, and the knitted sweater must be returned to the yarn village, and then exchanged for wages, as for this sweater, it will be sent to the barracks in the end - only the officers and soldiers of the loyal and righteous army can wear the sweater, and not everyone.

Although he was a little envious of the clothes those people wore, Zhao Chunian also knew that these tens of thousands of loyal and righteous troops were stationed in Qinghe, which really brought a lot of benefits to their lives.

She is a woman who can earn money at home when it rains, but she is still idle here, which is really annoying.

"His father, I asked in the woolen village before, this thread is not expensive, let's hold a few catties of wool when we go back, and put a piece on you and the hairy egg, when the time comes, sew a layer of felt on the front chest and back, and in the winter, it must be warmer than a cotton jacket......"

Looking up, Xi'er looked at him, and it was an extremely bright pair of eyes, like stars in the night. Looking at his daughter-in-law, Zhao Chunian's heart warmed, and he said as if a ghost had made a mistake.

"Xi'er, if not, otherwise, I will go into the factory to work, and save myself from working on the dock like this, and rely on the sky to eat all day long......"

Go to work in the factory, for men who are used to being comfortable, there is always something not very accustomed, but, when you get used to it, it's not a big deal, for Zhao Chunian, he even adapts faster than others, at least in this military boots factory, a lot of shoe sewing skills, he will learn it, the twine soaked in tung oil, in his hands like an elf, from time to time in the needle hole that has been pressed out of the hole, and then sew it tightly, finally, a knee-deep cowhide military boots, Sewn out of his hands.

Like the workers in the military boot factory, Zhao Chunian does not need to learn all the processes, he only needs to learn to sew a few steps, so it is very fast to get started, which is the biggest difference between the factory of the Loyal Army and other workshops, its difference is not only the scale, the biggest difference is the division of labor, each worker only needs to be responsible for a few of the processes, so that it also saves the long apprenticeship period of the apprentices, only a few days of effort, they can basically master a few steps.

"Now there are a total of 652 workers in the boot factory, and at present they can make 275 pairs of cowhide boots per day, and their craftsmanship will become more and more mature in the future, and it is expected that the daily output can reach more than 600 pairs in the future......

As the manager of the leather boot factory, Liang Fengxi looked a little nervous in front of Jing Liu, especially when Jing Luo picked up a leather boot, he would always be a little worried to see if the needle and thread on the boots were sewn densely. I am worried about whether the non-slip copper nails on the sole of the boot are standardized, and even whether the circle of horseshoe-like iron palms behind the heel of the boot is in place.

Zhu Mingzhong, who was holding the long military boots, didn't know what Liang Fengxi was thinking, but looking at this kind of "Prussian boots", which was famous in later generations, he couldn't help but think of Bismarck's sentence in his heart: "The appearance of military boots and the footsteps during the march are powerful weapons of the army." ”。 He didn't know if the sound of military boots was a weapon, but military boots were definitely not inferior to rifles, after all, soldiers need to walk on it.

Although the hard-soled boot is heavy and clumsy, it protects the calves and feet of soldiers during long marches, thus keeping troops fighting at war. Of course, the reason why I chose long military boots is not only because of this reason, but also because the number of military boots is simple, with only three sizes: large, medium and small. It does not care about size, because in addition to military boots, it needs to wrap feet, and there are two kinds of foot wrapping: thin cotton cloth for summer wear, and wool for winter wear. It has a rectangular shape, about three feet long and one foot wide, which allows a wide shoe to fit.

In a way, boots are all-weather comfortable military shoes, and there is no better shoe for the military, at least for the military of this era. Dress fast, not afraid of dirty, not afraid of water. Of course, the only fly in the ointment is that the "cost is slightly higher".

However, compared with cloth shoes with a lifespan of only one or two months, the lifespan of cowhide boots with copper spikes and iron heel protection can reach more than ten or even twenty years.

"It's good that the current recruits don't pay the military salary......"

Thinking of the price of this kind of long military boots, Zhu Mingzhong secretly rejoiced in his heart, this may be the most important thing - nearly 100,000 recruits are "compulsory soldiers" for military service, and they only have an allowance of 30 yuan per day. This is in stark contrast to those veterans who have been promoted to sergeants, and the lowest salary is 2 taels or 3 cents. This is also the "dual-track system" in the Loyal Army, where veterans receive "high allowances" as sergeants, while recruits only receive "basic allowances".

And this difference allows Jiangbei to have sufficient financial resources to improve the equipment of soldiers, just like this kind of military boots that are enough to wear for more than ten or twenty years, which is not a kind of welfare.

Looking at the workers in the factory who are either sewing boots, or using a pressure rod nail machine to make a needle, Zhu Mingzhong's mind can't help but think of a sewing machine, if there is a sewing machine, maybe the speed of production of boots will be faster, and the price will be cheaper, when the time comes, this military boots can not only equip the army, but also can be sold to the people, of course, the sewing of military uniforms will also undergo fundamental changes.

It may even drive the industrial development of Jiangbei. In fact, until now, the industry and commerce created by Zhu Mingzhong have served the army from the beginning, military uniforms, military boots, weapons, quilts, munitions and other industries constitute Jiangbei's government-run industry and commerce, and this may be the characteristics of Jiangbei, and in the end, all this will drive the development of Jiangbei's overall industry and commerce, whether it is the subcontracting of military uniforms and uniforms, or the current production of military boots, in the future, all this will eventually evolve into factories, and military production will become the driving force behind the development of industry and commerce, after all, more than 100,000 military supplies are placed there......

"Now, everything is changing!"

When leaving the boot factory, Zhu Mingzhong, who was sitting in the carriage, felt the slight bumps in the road, unlike the cowhide pull suspension used in other four-wheeled carriages, his "special car" used leaf spring shock absorption made by the arsenal, which would undoubtedly be more comfortable. Compared with the low-cost cowhide pull suspension, the leaf spring made of steel plate has a better shock absorption effect, but the price is relatively expensive, but it is not too much to use in the "luxury car", and to a certain extent, this is also a kind of "military to civilian", after all, most of the factories in Jiangbei are for military services, in the future, one day, it is necessary to carry out "military to civilian", just like the current carriage factory, now it is the simultaneous production of military and civilian products, the ratio of the two has even reached one to one, and the profits brought by civilian production, The development of the factory is guaranteed. It was not just the production of wagons and gun wagons that sustained the factory.

When running on the road paved with gravel that is not smooth, because of the effect of suspension shock absorption, the carriage swayed, and Zhu Mingzhong, who was sitting in the car, looked at the spring light outside the car through the glass window, and couldn't help but fly to another place.

"By now, they're almost ready!"

Thinking of the information he had received a few months ago, thinking of all of them, the corners of his lips lifted slightly, his face showed a look of mockery, and at the same time, he secretly sneered in his heart.

"Hmph, General...... This time, I have to see what you, the great general, are capable of......"