Xia Hongsheng asked Arhan to continue to harvest cotton and cotton seeds from the Western Regions, and after Arhan left, a few old farmers who had been in the land all their lives came to their home in a hurry, ready to give them cotton seeds and let them try to grow cotton.

Xia Hongsheng has never planted land in his later life, and vaguely remembers that cotton is light-loving and warm-hearted, and he doesn't seem to pick the ground very much.

Specifically, Xia Hongsheng doesn't know. However, these old farmers have been planting all their lives, and even if they don't plant well at the beginning, they will definitely be able to find a pattern after planting a few times.

The cotton seeds were distributed to these old farmers, and these old farmers patted their chests one by one to ensure that Xia Hongsheng would not be disappointed.

Cotton is a good thing, because the cotton fiber fineness is fine, there is a natural curl, the cross-section has a cavity, and can be intertwined, so the warmth is very good, the heat storage capacity is very strong, and does not produce static electricity. Under the irradiation of sunlight, pure cotton will restore the elasticity of cotton fibers, elongate, and store more heat energy in the fibers. Therefore, the thickness of the quilt will increase significantly after being exposed to the sun, and it will feel very soft to the touch.

In the land of Liaodong, once the war continues into winter, the troops must be withdrawn. Otherwise, the soldiers will not be able to stand the cold of the winter there, will get sick, will get frostbite, will become weak and weak, and then lose their combat effectiveness.

In fact, in history, both Emperor Yang of Sui and Li Shimin encountered this problem when they conquered Goryeo.

If there was enough cotton to make cotton jackets and quilts to replace the inferior skins, silk and linen used by ordinary soldiers, we would be able to solve the cold problem encountered during the conquest of Goryeo.

However, cotton alone is not enough, and if the cotton is not treated, it cannot be directly used as a filling to make a cotton jacket.

At the very least, the cotton has to be bounced over and become a soft flocculent before it can be used as a padded jacket.

Or it can be spun into cotton thread, cotton cloth, and made into clothing.

This brings us to two more issues.

Cotton is played, and cotton is spun.

Playing cotton is an old craft, although it is rare in the city in later generations, but older people will have a clear memory of "playing cotton". With the sound of strings, flowers flying, and finally a pile of cotton is pressed into a neat futon, as if it is a kind of magic, to the surprise of the children. At that time, the cotton craftsmen also walked the streets and alleys, and the business was overwhelming. Later, with the advancement of this technology, it is rare to play cotton by hand, but in the more remote villages, there will still be the existence of hand-played cotton, a very simple, relying on human hands, with a bowstring-like elastic tool, with a hammer to strike the bowstring, so that the cotton on the board gradually loosens, and then the two sides of the cotton wool are woven into a net with yarn vertically and horizontally to fix the cotton wool. After the gauze is ready, it is pressed and ground with a wooden disc to make it flat, solid and firm.

And the village where Xia Hongsheng teaches is that extremely remote mountainous area!

When I was teaching by myself, the quilt issued by the Education Bureau was not good, so I had to find a place to play it myself, and the black cotton had to be covered more comfortably...... Forget it, don't mention the sad past.

However, what Xia Hongsheng wants to make is not this kind of tool for playing cotton.

Using this tool to play cotton is too slow and too inefficient, and a person can pop out eight or nine catties of cotton in a day.

What Xia Hongsheng wanted to make was another kind of cotton playing tool that he saw in that village - a wooden box float.

The principle is actually similar to that, but the cotton is put into a wooden box, and there are wooden wheels on the side, and the wooden wheels are pulled by the livestock to make the cotton quickly bounce in the wooden box. This kind of wooden box-type float can pop out more than 200 catties of cotton in a day, which greatly improves efficiency.

I heard the old man in the village who used a wooden box to play cotton for the people in the village said that her wooden box float was still an antique, which was left over from the Qing Dynasty. Xia Hongsheng was greedy for a long time, and later heard that the old antiques of the Qing Dynasty in her house had already been smashed when she was ****. Later, her old man was worried that she would go early, and she would not be able to make a living, so she did it again. The old lady was confused and confused. However, the old man's plan for a rainy day is obviously clever. The old man was much older than her, and he passed away early, so the old man relied on this wooden box to feed seven or eight children, and is still serving the villagers.

The principle of this thing is very simple, Xia Hongsheng has also seen the real thing and how it works, so it is not difficult to restore it.

The key is in the cotton spinning machine.

Today's spinning wheels are naturally incomparable to the machinery in later generations. But if it is placed in this era, it is also leading. Whether it is a hand-cranked or foot-operated type, it is now widespread and widely used. In particular, the foot-operated type frees up both hands and improves efficiency, and now twisted weaving is based on it.

However, what Xia Hongsheng wants to do is the kind of large textile machine that can be used for large-scale textile production. From the shuttle, to the Jenny spinning machine for cotton yarn, to the hydro-powered spinning wheel for weaving cloth......

Hydraulic spinning wheels, spinning machines, and looms are driven by water power, which increases the efficiency of weaving countless times, but it also restricts the need for factories to be built by the river, and is affected by the seasonal difference in the amount of river water, resulting in unstable production and many other unfavorable factors. But even so, it seems to be the most advanced form of the textile machine before the advent of the steam engine.

What Xia Hongsheng wants to make is this kind of hydraulic spinning wheel.

Through the hydraulic twisting, the large runner is driven by the hydraulic force. In ancient times, the number of spindles in spinning wheels was generally only two or three, and the most was only five. And on the water-powered spinning wheel, there are at least dozens of spindles. These characteristics make the large spinning wheel have the prototype of modern spinning machinery, and adapt to large-scale specialized production.

If these things can be made, then the impact will not only be as simple as rushing out enough cotton jackets and cotton clothes for the army before Li Shimin launched the war against Goryeo, but also has great significance for the development of commercialization in the Tang Dynasty.

In addition, the emergence of these kinds of machines can also let the world see the role and effect of the machine, and let people know that it can be done. From the side, it will also stimulate the development and use of machines in different industries.

Thinking of this, Xia Hongsheng was very excited, looked at the cotton in the big boxes, and turned around and went to the study. He wants to write down his ideas, and then worry about those carpenters and the people of the Mo family, and let them help him to make these few things! (To be continued.) )