back to ancient times to be emperor

Chapter 237 The Spinning Wheel
When Zhou Zhiruo came to her senses, Lu Chengqi had been watching silently from behind for a long time.Realizing that she was embarrassing, Zhou Zhiruo's pink face turned hot, and she said angrily, "Your Majesty, you came out quietly, did you intend to see your concubines laugh at you?"

Lu Chengqi pretended to be innocent and said: "Zi Tong, you have wronged me. The queen mother has already rested, so I can't make a lot of noise, right? However, Zi Tong's serious appearance is really pretty, hahaha..." After finishing speaking, Lu Chengqi didn't Laughed heartlessly.

Laughter is contagious, and the maids around couldn't help laughing when they heard the words, and covered their mouths to laugh.Everyone was happy, but Zhou Zhiruo was not happy, and turned the handle angrily, and the wheel started to spin, messing up the silk threads.

Seeing such a scene, he knew that the joke was a bit too much, Lu Chengqi quickly said: "Zi Tong, don't be angry, I'm just joking. Who is born to know how to spin yarn? Zi Tong can do this very well. Not bad. If you don’t believe me, I’ll just ask these palace people.”

After attracting Zhou Zhiruo's attention, Lu Chengqi hurriedly said to the nearest palace man, "I'll ask you, how long did it take you to learn this? Don't lie, it's a crime of deceiving the emperor!" Lu Chengqi The half-serious, half-threatening tone really scared the maid.

Without even thinking about it, the maid blurted out: "Return to Your Majesty, this servant girl learned how to spin yarn, and she is already familiar with it in just half a day..."

Lu Chengqi was taken aback when he heard the words, and thought to himself: "Oh my God, there is no such unreasonable player! I told you to tell the truth, and it was for Zhiruo, why did you really tell the truth? ?”

Now it's all right, Zhou Zhiruo looked away again under self-defeating circumstances.Lu Chengqi, who was in a predicament, went to the doctor for his illness and gave the maid a hard look, which scared the little girl who was only fourteen or fifteen years old back a few steps, her head so low that it almost fell to the ground.Tears welled up in a pair of round eyeballs, he didn't know what he said wrong, he was so wronged that he almost cried, and he suppressed the tears so that they didn't fall down.

Lu Chengqi asked another court lady to answer again, this time he behaved himself and chose an older court lady, presumably she wouldn't be like the little girl before, talking nonsense, right?

Sure enough, with the lessons learned from the past, the maid said cautiously: "The maidservant is relatively stupid, and it will take three days to learn it. The empress is much smarter than the maidservant, and within half a day, it can catch up with the hard work of the maidservant in a day... ..."

Lu Chengqi was satisfied when he heard the maid's answer, nodded and said: "Zitong, you heard me, this is not what I said. You should believe what the palace lady said, in fact, you can do this, already Very good."

Zhou Zhiruo was noncommittal, and silently wrapped up the messy thread without saying a word.Lu Chengqi knew that this time, Zhou Zhiruo, who had always known the general situation, was really angry.Although it was an unintentional mistake to lose face in front of so many people, it affected her majesty as the lord of the harem.Realizing the seriousness of the matter, Lu Chengqi quickly swung the maids, servants, and imperial guards out of Jingfu Hall, walked to the axle, and vigorously stirred the crank on the axle, which was obviously meant to please.

This big spinning wheel is different from a hand spinning wheel or a pedal spinning wheel, and it can be done by one person.It is so large that it usually takes two people to work together to complete it.The working efficiency is nearly five times faster than those previous hand spinning wheels or pedal spinning wheels.All because the hand spinning wheel, which is completed by one person, can only spin one spindle at a time, but this big spinning wheel can spin five spindles at a time!

If you are skilled, you can spin as much as [-] catties of silk a day, while an ordinary spinning wheel can only spin about [-] to [-] catties a day.Which is better and which is worse can be seen at a glance.

Of course, if someone invents a large water-powered spinning wheel, more than 30 silk or hemp ingots can be spun at one time, which is much more powerful than the three-spindle spinning wheel invented by Huang Daopo.It is a pity that, according to the authentic history, this kind of hydraulic spinning wheel did not appear until the Southern Song Dynasty.

The Southern Song Dynasty was able to resist the attacks of the Kingdom of Jin and Mongolia for nearly 200 years with a corner of the land, and it still has its unique features.The benefit of utensils is undoubtedly the best in the world.However, he was congenitally incomplete, so he was conquered by the Mongols with iron hooves.

However, Lu Chengqi didn't feel much about this "backward" textile car.He just wanted to stop Zhou Zhiruo from being angry, and said in a low voice, "Zi Tong, it's my fault, I shouldn't have made fun of you in front of so many palace people. I..."

Hearing this, Zhou Zhiruo sighed leisurely, and said: "Your Majesty, you are the Son of Heaven. Even if you made a mistake, you can't blame yourself like this. The majesty of the heavenly family cannot fall under the hands of Your Majesty. The concubine just felt that for a while Don't worry, it's nothing."

Actually, Zhou Zhiruo was very moved in her heart, Lu Chengqi was willing to let go of the emperor's airs and apologized to her, showing that she really was in his heart.With such a low profile, it's hard for Lu Chengqi, who wants to become the emperor of all ages.Of course, this was just Zhou Zhiruo's own idea.

As Lu Chengqi, who was deeply influenced by later generations, he didn't think it was such a big deal for his wife to admit his mistakes.Sometimes when husband and wife get along, it is inevitable that there will be quarrels.At this time, there must be one person who puts down his figure first, so that the relationship between the two can be reconciled as before.Otherwise, with the accumulation of little things, cracks will appear in even the deepest love.As a man, you have to be able to afford it and let it go. What is an apology to your wife?Prove that you really love your wife, that's why you care so much about her!

Seeing that Zhou Zhiruo was willing to forgive him, Lu Chengqi also talked more.The topic of course was this spinning wheel. Only then did Lu Chengqi notice its "advanced nature". It was able to spin five spindles at once, which was much better than the three-spindle spinning wheel in the textbook!
It's a pity that such a big spinning wheel is not affordable for ordinary people.Lu Chengqi didn't need to ask the price, and knew that such an "artifact" would cost at least a thousand guan.Except for some big handicraft workshops, who can afford it?

Moreover, this big spinning wheel needs two people to work together to spin silk or hemp quickly. In ordinary peasant households, women have a lot to do. Who can weave together every day?
Therefore, the choice of history is to replace the more advanced large spinning wheel with the three-spindle spinning wheel, which is not unreasonable.After all, most of the Central Plains are self-cultivated farmers and small farmers, and textiles are just a sideline.It seems unreasonable to hire someone for a side job.Even if the neighbors help, they can't help you every day!Considering all these, the economical and practical single-person spinning wheel will eliminate the fittest.

Unless there are large-scale textile factories, these family workshops can be dispersed.But at that time, how to dispose of the surplus labor force was another big problem.If not done well, social stability will be destroyed.Business development also requires steady progress and cannot be rushed.

While Lu Chengqi was thinking, he talked and laughed with Zhou Zhiruo, and he didn't think there was anything wrong with a man spinning silk.

But at some point, a figure walked out from the inner hall of Jingfu Hall, watched the two of them silently for a long time, then sighed a few times, and walked away quietly...

(End of this chapter)