Chapter 117 Six Grades of Cloth
Henry looked at the puzzled carpenters and realized that with their limited knowledge of woodworking, most of which he had imparted, it was impossible for them to understand hydraulics and waterwheels.
"When you've further improved the spinning and weaving machines, making the linen threads several times finer, then you can learn about this new knowledge," Henry said somewhat resignedly.
Given too much at once, the carpenters couldn't quickly grasp these concepts. They needed to first absorb the knowledge of the spinning and weaving machines before delving into the application of hydraulics.
"Yes!" The carpenters were still a bit bewildered.
"This is already a good start."
Henry nodded, tugging at the linen thread in his hand. If several strands of such linen threads were twisted together, they could make a very strong rope. However, this type of linen fiber couldn't be soaked in water for too long. It seemed they needed to find some linen fibers that were resistant to wind and sun exposure.
"How long will it take for you to make the changes I mentioned?" Henry asked.
"We can do it quickly," one of the carpenters replied.
"Then get to work and let me see it," Henry instructed.
"Yes!"
The carpenters immediately took out their tools and started working, some fetching iron bars and some doing others.
"Ellie, take notes," Henry said as he watched the carpenters, "In the future, Eldoria's fabrics will be divided into six grades."
"Superior, high-grade, upper-grade, medium-grade, lower-grade, and lowest-grade."
Ellie quickly took out a thick notebook from her backpack and stuck it on Mila's perky butt, then started writing with a ballpoint.
Mila blushed, resisting the urge to smack Ellie's butt. She actually used her perky butt as a table. If it weren't for Henry's serious expression, Ellie would have gotten a few smacks on her butt.
"Just take the linen we made earlier as a sample. It's the lowest-grade linen, and it can be bought for a few copper coins."
Henry's mouth twitched. He turned his head, pretending not to have seen this tempting scene, and continued, "When the linen thread is as fine as a hair, it becomes the lower-grade linen; when the linen thread is as fine as hair, the linen can be made semi-transparent, that is the medium-grade linen, priced starting from silver coins."
Everyone present was stunned. If the medium-grade linen could be so thin as to be translucent, what level would superior and high-grade linen be?
"Henry, is there a problem with this grading?" Ellie whispered.
"No problem, just follow these requirements," Henry chuckled, "The material for making clothes is not just linen."
Everyone present was taken aback. Apart from linen, there was only animal fur, but clothes made of animal fur would be too smelly. People with a little money wouldn't wear them.
Talking about the smell, that's because the animal fur hasn't been degreased, so the fabric made from it will naturally smell. You have to know that there is also fat on the animal skin, and it is difficult to wash away the fat on the animal fur without using alkaline substances, especially in the summer, the animal fur clothes will smell rancid.
"Follow these requirements, but don't spread it around. Wait until the other fabrics are made, then distribute this grade." Henry instructed.
"Yes!" Ellie wanted to ask what the other fabrics were, but it was not the right time, so she resisted her curiosity and didn't ask.
Henry thought of the ancient people on Earth, especially the silk from the ancient times, which was equivalent to gold. That was the kind of superior fabric in his mind.
And there was cotton, a natural fiber that didn't require much processing. He was waiting for the spring to bring cotton seeds, and then cotton cloth would be of medium and high-grade.
Wool was a kind of material that could be made into several grades of fabric; as long as the problem of degreasing wool was solved, it could be spun into clothes.
The outer coarse wool could be made into blankets and so on, and the wool obtained after combing was a good raw material for medium and high-grade, which could be knitted warm sweaters.
Finally, there was silk, the raw material for this kind of silk, which was a really good material for high-grade and higher-grade clothes.
If these things were made, Henry could sell silk, cashmere clothes, and other things at the price of gold coins.
As for the last superior, that is the fabric brought by Henry from the Earth, which was only used by a few people in the Lord's Manor, not to be passed on.
After half an hour, the carpenters had finished modifying the spinning machine and had spun linen that meet Henry's requirement, making linen that was similar to the market in terms of stripe size, or even better.
"Very good!" Henry looked at the linen in his hand and asked, "How many machines can be made in a day with such spinning and weaving machines?"
"Henry, we can make four." The carpenters replied respectfully; they did not dare to imagine this quantity before, but the woodworking tools made by the military industry gave them such confidence.
"Four machines are too few, call the other carpenters to help, I want to produce at least ten machines a day."
Henry turned to Adam and ordered, "Giving them an extra meal, and arrange for people to start producing linen. I'll need it in two days."
"Yes!"
"By the way, is there a lot of paper in stock?" Henry thought of the several rookie doctors who used sheepskin scrolls yesterday.
"We have a lot of the worst grades of paper." Adam replied.
The worst grade of paper he was referring to was the kind that was more yellowish, similar to the color of sheepskin, with slightly poorer toughness, and would break when folded, but it was also better than sheepskin scrolls.
The products of the Lord's Manor were both good and bad, and the bad ones will generally be put on the market first, and then better products will be gradually introduced.
Henry nodded and said to Ellie, "Arrange for people to come and haul the goods and put some on the market for sale in two days."
"I got it." Ellie immediately noted it down, and people would be sent to haul the goods, and the shop had been prepared long before.
"Let's go to the commercial street."
Henry left with satisfaction. As long as there was linen, it was the first step to leverage the market.
Henry, who came from Earth, knew how powerful mass production was. While others were slowly rolling linen thread, he had already used machines. Although it is also a kind of semi-manual, the efficiency was dozens of times.
Mass production meant low prices, so dumping could begin, once more than fifty percent of the linen on the market comes from Eldoria, Henry could make a large number of money.
