Rise of the 1630s South America

Chapter 935 Strategic Opportunity Period ([-])

Port Rocha, August 1652, 8.

Sirigu stood in a rented warehouse on the pier, carefully observing the latest batch of finished products delivered by the Luocha Textile Factory.This is the silk spun silk produced by the factory after using waste silk through special processing. Xiligu looked carefully and saw that the color of the silk cloth in his hand was quite bright and the handle was relatively soft. It could be seen that it was a kind of silk. More advanced textiles.

"Very good fabric." Sirigu judged: "It is different from long-fiber silk, but this short-fiber spun silk also has its own unique features. If we promote it well, we don't even need to lower the price, and we can It is really good to sell the cloth spun from this silk as well."

The silk spun silk in Sirigu's hands was developed by the people on the east bank based on the suggestions of immigrated Italian and Daming silk spinners, and it took several years.The main reason why it took so long is that semi-mechanized carding machines, spinning machines and looms have to be redesigned, tested, and finalized, and this cycle can be dragged on for a long time.To be honest, if it weren't for the strong support of the special funds allocated by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, a few years may not be enough to produce this kind of silk spinning machinery.

Of course, since this machine is funded and sponsored by the East Coast Republic, there is no Genoese involved, so the patented technology of this new machine is also reserved in the newly established Rocha Silk Mill (100% owned by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce) ), part of the production task is also done by this factory, and only the styles related to the special needs of the European market will be handed over to the Luocha Textile Factory for production-in the form of selling spun silk to the Luocha Textile Factory.

At the moment, the silk spun silk that Siligu is holding is produced by the Luocha Textile Factory. They buy silk from the Luocha Silk Factory (many of which are printed and dyed), and then spin them into ribbons, shawls, etc. that are widely in demand in the European market. Scarves, gloves, socks and other items were finally sold to various places through Genoese channels-mainly the Greater Spanish market (Spain, Southern Netherlands, Naples, Parma, etc.).

As for the raw materials for producing this kind of spun silk, to put it bluntly, they are actually very simple, and they are all things of low value, such as cocoon residues left after the silk reeling process, damaged cocoons that cannot be unwound continuously, and silk twisting process. normal discards etc.This kind of waste silk, which is collectively called waste silk, accounts for a large proportion in the process of artificial silkworm rearing and silk reeling, often between half and two-thirds.That is to say, at most half of the silk produced by artificially reared silkworms (in many cases only 30%-40%) can be used for reeling, and the rest is waste silk.

Since the proportion of waste silk is so high, it is a pity to discard it. Therefore, in the 17th century, in all the places where silkworms were raised in the world (Daming, Persia, India, Italy, France, etc.), the local people began to treat waste silk. Studies on silk utilization.Among them, France and Italy are negligible because of their pitifully small-scale sericulture. India mainly produces wild silk, which can be ignored. It can be said that Daming and Persia have a certain history and a certain scale of sericulture. In other countries, the degree of their research and utilization of waste silk is quite different.

For some reason, the Persians have not been able to make good use of it in this regard, so that when the people on the east coast went to Bandar Abbas for trade, they could buy a large amount of waste silk at a price that was almost free; Daming is different. In Ningbo Prefecture, where the production order has just resumed for two years, when Huang Yi purchased raw silk in various counties, the waste silk in the hands of local silkworm farmers and merchants was considered money, but the price was slightly lower. (Because waste silk is more troublesome to deal with, there are many processes, and the production cost is higher), there is absolutely no chance for you to pick it up for nothing.

The technology of dealing with waste silk by people on the east bank was originally derived from these Ming immigrants (there are also a few Italian silkworm farmers with relatively high skills. They also have deep research on silkworm raising and silk reeling, especially on silkworm pests Books also flowed into China in the later Qing Dynasty, allowing the Chinese to learn from each other's strengths and learn how foreigners raise silkworms.It's just that Ming people handed down manual techniques from generation to generation, while Dong'an people carried out mechanized design after thoroughly understanding these techniques, so as to make the whole process easier and faster, improve production efficiency, and create greater benefits.

In this process, the process of degumming waste silk—soaking waste silk for a few days, then cooking in alkaline water, then straining, washing, and drying—is difficult to produce by machine, so this step still needs to be processed. Factory workers manually remove sticky substances from waste silk; after the degumming process, there is carding and spinning. These special machines are quite different from cotton spinning machines (because the degree of fiber is different, and the characteristics of the material are also very different), but After years of design improvements, there is no serious problem, and it can basically be carded and spun normally.

In the subsequent weaving process, Dongan people also developed a large number of new machinery, such as semi-mechanized and semi-manual jacquard machines and so on.Of course, this kind of machinery is not much different from the machinery of the Luocha Textile Factory, and it can be regarded as a kind of machine.The real big difference is the previous process, that is, the carding machine and the spinning machine. At present, the natural science research is working overtime, preparing to develop a fully automatic carding machine and spinning machine on the basis of the existing machinery, so that The silk spinning industry, an important branch of textiles, has been completely rejuvenated, creating greater benefits for the East Coast Republic of China.

These benefits are currently reflected in the silk, silk and linen (silk cotton, silk wool) blended fabrics, knitted fabrics, lace, and silk products of the Luocha Textile Factory, which have brought more than 60 yuan in revenue to the East Bank every year (for income after half dividend), and the market and profits are still growing at a high speed.At this time, anyone with a little brain can foresee how much the profits of the people on the east coast will soar when the lower-cost silk spun silk enters the market!

And after tasting the superhuman profits of the silk textile industry, any employee in the textile industry will not be very interested in the linen spinning, cotton spinning, and wool spinning industries where the profit margin is not very high.Those industries—especially the cotton textile industry—work hard for a whole year, which is often not worth the profit of the Luocha Textile Mill for a few months (of course, the Luocha Textile Mill is limited by market factors, and it is only a year. It can be produced normally in a few months), it is simply impossible to make people feel at ease.

Exporting a large amount of silk fabrics to Europe is also of great significance for avoiding the fiercely competitive wool spinning market and the cotton spinning market whose profit margins are also decreasing day by day.You know, in the past, people from the east coast sold millions of cotton cloths a year to Europe, which already attracted the hatred of countless people.Even some cloth merchants who deal in linen and woolen cloth on a daily basis have experienced a great decline in business under the impact of cheap new things like cotton cloth on the east coast. Out of their own interests, they naturally began to use various means to discredit the textiles on the east coast—if If possible, they will try their best to prevent East Coast textiles from entering their territory, so as not to rob them of their profits.

Appropriately introducing new products and new patterns at this time is of great significance to reducing the degree of hostility that East Coast textiles receive in Europe.Silk fabrics are expensive, with a higher profit margin per piece, and are suitable for consumption by the wealthy and aristocrats; the prices of silk cotton and silk-wool blended fabrics are slightly lower, but the degree of comfort may be higher, which is very suitable for some small and medium-sized businessmen and government officials in Europe today. class of middle-class consumption.

After these markets are developed, people on the east bank can greatly reduce their dependence on the export of cotton textiles. In the future, traditional textiles such as cotton cloth and woolen fabrics can be sold steadily in the existing market without taking great risks to compete with them. European cloth merchants or guilds compete to open up new markets, which is of great benefit to improving the external image of a country with "original sin" (yellow race or heathen) on the east coast.

"After silk spinning comes out, the Italian textile industry, which is already in a difficult situation, may be even more unsustainable." Siligu didn't know why he suddenly thought of this. He put the silk spinning on the table next to him, and used He said in a slightly sad tone: "The wool textile industry in Genoa, Milan, Tuscany, Lucca, and Venice is already on the downhill road, and the cotton textile industry is also in a difficult situation under the competition from the east coast. If you even have traditional advantages The silk weaving industry in China has also been defeated by competition, so is there any hope for the Italian textile industry? Is it necessary to exist?"

At this moment no one can return to Sirigu's question.In fact, the Italian silk weaving industry is currently struggling to survive under the constraints of raw materials (a small part of which is self-produced and most of which are imported from the Ottoman Empire). This is not a year or two. The outbreak of war led to the direct export of Italian silk to Britain and its colonies (which meant that the Dutch's share of profits was saved), and these industries may have been dying.Especially after the Genoese brought some skilled silk weaving workers and technology to the east coast—and at the same time provided a rare sales market—the Italian silk weaving industry may be showing a trend of accelerating disintegration.

While shaking his head and lamenting the glory of the Italian textile industry in the era of his ancestors and fathers, Sirigu grabbed a quill and began to write letters to the local St. George's firm, suggesting that they purchase a large number of low-cost silk spun silk produced on the east coast, and at the same time continue to further develop Market, strive to squeeze out the purchasing power of the last riyal, because it is also related to their own interests.

You see, Mr. Sirigu, as a senior manager of Genoa with a sense of national pride, has a sympathetic attitude towards the Italian textile industry that is struggling under the competition on the east coast, but at the same time, he does not let go of every opportunity to make money—— Even if this opportunity to make money is based on harming the Italian textile industry - the height of the buttocks and the head is not uniform, it is really difficult for him.

(End of this chapter)