Sun Lan followed Lou Suzhen to visit the nearest school and workshop.

The first to go was the women's school.

As soon as I arrived at the entrance of the alley, I heard the sound of Langlang reading in the courtyard in front of me, not a man, but a woman's voice, and several guards guarded the alley.

These people looked like military households, all of them were burly and straight, with a bit of vigilance on their faces, carefully observing every passerby.

"There are always a lot of inconveniences for women to study outside, and this young man specially sent guards to help take care of them!"

Lou Suzhen admired Zhu Hao's actions very much, and even considered the safety of the woman when she came out to study in advance.

Sun Lan nodded.

As a woman, she knows very well how dangerous this world is, fortunately, it is not the Zhengde period, if anyone in the Zhengde Dynasty opened this kind of women's school in the capital, it is estimated that it would have been discovered by the emperor's ministers and served in a pot, and all the female students would be filled into the leopard room.

Entering the first courtyard, there is an old mother-in-law sweeping the fallen leaves, and in several classrooms with bright windows, there is a female gentleman holding a whip, pointing to the chalk words on the blackboard, teaching pronunciation and interpretation one by one.

These female gentlemen are all female actors in the opera troupe, because they need to memorize the opera, they have been learning to read and write since they were young, and now they teach part-time, and they only teach literacy, and they do not involve advanced knowledge, but they can easily do it.

Lou Suzhen brought Sun Lan to visit, and did not intend to let Sun Lan be a gentleman.

Besides, Sun Lan, as the proprietor, is equivalent to a female shopkeeper, where is the reason to teach in person? Of course, he is responsible for administrative work, management personnel and accounts, and these alone are enough for Sun Lan to be tired.

"Now is the winter leisure season, after the spring sowing, there are fewer women who come to study, but because all the students in school can work in the workshop under the name of the son, make money to supplement the family, many people sharpen their heads and want to send girls here, but unfortunately the scale of the female school is not large now, and it can't accommodate so many students."

Lou Suzhen had some regret in her words.

Sun Lan asked puzzledly, "Are there so many women who come to study?" ”

Lou Suzhen said with a smile: "My sister doesn't know anything, not only the girls who have not left the cabinet, but even if they are married women, there are not a few who come to study, and they are often harder than girls." Of course, the most important thing is that you can learn the skills of spinning and weaving here. ”

"Spun and weave?"

Sun Lan felt that her brain was not enough.

Women's learning is women's learning, what "Female Commandments", "Internal Training", "Women's Analects" and other content can be involved, and even poetry and songs can be taught, which is cited as the joy of the boudoir.

But Lou Suzhen has always said that spinning and weaving, since ancient times, which girl has not learned to knit female red since childhood? Why do you want to come here to learn technology?

"Let's go, I'll take you to the back alley."

Lou Suzhen didn't explain right away.

Since I brought a female shopkeeper to visit, it is natural that all the industries in the vicinity must be visited to deepen my understanding.

……

……

The whole alley here is where the women's school is.

In the back alley, there is a technical school, which teaches female students spinning and weaving techniques.

Go into one of the courtyards.

This is just an ordinary weaving school, and a woman in her twenties with a bun is explaining to more than twenty thirteen or fourteen-year-old girls how to use the loom in front of her, and the teaching equipment is the old-fashioned wooden loom.

“…… Leave me alone, you keep teaching. ”

Lou Suzhen saw that the woman was about to come over to salute, smiled and waved her hand and said.

The woman continued to instruct the students on the technical essentials of weaving.

"Here, you see...... To pull and then step on the ...... I used a lot of force just now, and I broke all the threads......"

As she spoke, the woman herself gave an example.

Then, under the witness of Sun Lan, a "weft" somehow passed directly through the "warp" used for weaving, and then somehow made a jump.

"Alright, you guys try it one at a time!"

The woman got up and let a female apprentice do the practice.

Lou Suzhen was very satisfied with the woman's teaching, nodded approvingly, and prepared to take Sun Lan to the next teaching point.

Sun Lan pulled Lou Suzhen's clothes and asked puzzledly, "Sister, why didn't I understand the technical essentials of the loom before?" How did you weave such a wide cloth? Also, how do you pass the shuttle? ”

The weaving cloth has shuttles, which are traditionally thrown from one end to the other by hand, so as to form the weaving weft.

Not to mention the cumbersome procedure, it is easy to pinch the arm, and because the transfer is completed by both hands, the length of the arm limits the length of the weaving weft, so that the width of the cloth is not too large.

Lou Suzhen smiled: "That's called Flying Shuttle, did you see that girl?" She lifted the cable on it, and the shuttle jumped over of itself, pulled it again, and came back. ”

"This ...... How is this possible? ”

Sun Lan was born in a scholarly family, is good at female red, and has a deep understanding of weaving.

The most difficult part of weaving, in addition to the initial binding of the thread and the reconnection after the thread is broken halfway, in fact, the most difficult thing is the use of the shuttle, and for the loom not far away, it seems that everything is not a problem, and there is a solution.

Lou Suzhen sighed: "At first, I was puzzled, but later I learned that there was a thing called a spring on it, which was made of iron, and it bounced back after pulling it, while the shuttle below was fixed on the crossbar and was very slippery. And that's just a loom for teaching, and when you see a steam-powered one, you'll know it's nothing. ”

"Huh? Is there a more powerful loom? ”

Sun Lan was an eye-opener.

She really wanted to observe what the shuttle and the spring were up close, and study the operating principle of the shuttle in detail, but Lou Suzhen only took her to visit in front of her, and did not plan to teach in detail, so she could only put away her curiosity for the time being.

……

……

Next, Lou Suzhen took Sun Lan to see the new spinning machine.

It is Zhu Hao's improved "Jenny Spinning Machine", which can spin ten yarns at a time, and it is not a ball of thread, but a spindle, each spindle looks very stocky, and after it is spinned, there is a special person next to it to take it away.

Lou Suzhen pointed to the spinning machine and said: "This is a hand-spinning machine, spinning ten spindles at a time, using cotton, the spun yarn is not used as a raw material for the workshop, only for hand training, and the output will be sent to the next door for female students to practice weaving." As soon as there is a need, the spinning machine can be connected to the yarn wheel, driven by a steam engine, and people only need to take care of it. ”

Sun Lan heard it in a fog, and she didn't know what Lou Suzhen was talking about.

Sun Lan asked, "Where is the workshop?" ”

Lou Suzhen said: "All the courtyards in the back two alleys are spinning workshops, and all the yarn spun is sent to the weaving workshop...... Childe placed all the weaving workshops and some of the spinning workshops outside the city, in the city...... The price of land is too expensive, and the labor is also expensive, so it is better to be outside the city, and you can open a workshop in any place. ”

"That'...... How much cloth can be produced in a year? ”

Sun Lan is very concerned about this.

Lou Suzhen smiled and shook her head: "I'm afraid this is only known to Gongzi himself, my task is only to teach girls to learn, pass on the skills to the disciples, and when they are proficient, they can learn literacy while becoming familiar with spinning and weaving...... I don't bother with the rest, because the weaving workshops are not around. ”

When Sun Lan heard this, she felt more and more that her father-in-law was very mysterious.

How can you improve spinning and weaving techniques and make a profit?

Don't you feel ashamed that an official runs to do business?

Lou Suzhen said: "But according to Childe, there are more people used in spinning now...... In fact, the weaving is driven by a steam engine, and the manpower used is very small, and from Anlu to Jingshi, and then to Nanjing, the weaving workshop is gradually expanding the scale of production, so it is necessary to ensure the supply of yarn. ”

What Lou Suzhen said touches on an important issue.

With the steam loom, the weaving efficiency has been greatly improved, but the spinning technology has not kept up, resulting in a lack of yarn supply.

Although the spinning machine can also be driven by a steam loom, the efficiency improvement is obviously not as immediate as the steam loom, in fact, the Jenny spinning machine is already very efficient in the case of female workers hand-cranking, which makes Zhu Hao have to put more labor on spinning.

Lou Suzhen is not so much helping Zhu Hao train female textile workers, but rather training female spinning workers to meet the needs of larger and larger spinning workshops.

"If there is anything I don't understand, sister, just ask, there are too many people here, usually female gentlemen and students, as well as taking care of the home and cleaning and cooking, and there are people who come to work, the number is at least thousands, and not everyone is good at all kinds of people...... Fortunately, women have never had as many bad intentions as men, as long as they do their part. ”

Lou Suzhen has not been in the women's school for a long time, but she is already equivalent to the mountain chief here, and her tone is a little proud.

"In the evening, the opera garden rehearses, let's go over and have a look, and introduce the Gongye girl to you, her name is Gongyeling, she is a celebrity in the opera troupe, and Mrs. Gongsun, that is, the son's teacher, also comes here from time to time to teach...... Oh yes, Mr. Gongsun's name is Gongsun Fengyuan, and it is said that he was cultivated by Gongzi. ”

Sun Lan was confused for a while.

Since Mrs. Gongsun is Zhu Hao's teacher, isn't Gongsun Fengyuan Mr.?

Why is it cultivated by Zhu Hao?

Lou Suzhen pursed her lips and smiled: "It's all unintentionally revealed by Mr. Tang when he gossips." This Mr. Gongsun was supported by his son, and after he was promoted, he was introduced by his son to serve in the country...... The younger sister of the Gongsun family knows more than me, so if you have anything in the future, just ask her. Let's go to the next yard and have a look. ”

……

……

Zhu Hao's women's school finally formed a triumvirate model headed by Lou Suzhen, Mrs. Gongsun and Sun Lan.

Although Gong Yeling joined early, she is not focused on this now, and only occasionally comes to teach on weekdays.

After Sun Lan joined, it has now become a model in which Lou Suzhen is responsible for daily management, Mrs. Gongsun is responsible for training female gentlemen and teaching, and Sun Lan is responsible for coordinating the overall situation.

For a woman who has basically been out of the door for more than ten years, it is simply the beginning of another life, and Sun Lan finally understands why Lou Suzhen, a woman who has long passed her youth, is so enthusiastic about the things in front of her and wants to take this as her lifelong career.

For the average person, it's simply fun, fulfilling, and enjoyable......

Sun Lan just joined this big family, and he didn't want to leave.

What kind of husband and son, go to the side.

What could be more fulfilling than this?

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(End of chapter)