Coming out of the glass workshop, Jiang Jin and Feng Qingzhu walked through the industrial zone.
"Are you getting used to managing things here in the industrial zone?" Jiang Jin asked softly.
Feng Qingzhu smiled and replied, "I am. Everything is going quite well."
Jiang Jin said, "You should train more talent to manage the various workshops separately. We will have more and more workshops in the future, and relying solely on you definitely won't work."
Feng Qingzhu nodded. "I have already selected outstanding individuals from the workshops to focus on training them. Please rest assured, My Lord."
To manage an industry well, one must first understand it. Jiang Jin had once told her this, and she deeply agreed.
Therefore, the people she selected were essentially technical backbones, and they had to be loyal and quick-witted.
Jiang Jin shook her head and chuckled. "You can also train a few assistants to keep by your side and help you out."
As they spoke, the two arrived at the weaving workshop. Remembering something, Jiang Jin asked, "By the way, has the woolen yarn been produced?"
When they first seized the flock of sheep, they slaughtered a hundred of them. At that time, Jiang Jin taught them how to process the wool, how to spin it into yarn, and so on.
Speaking of this, Feng Qingzhu's expression immediately brightened. "It has all been spun into yarn, and we even hand-knitted it into garments according to the methods you taught us. It is quite hot to wear right now, but it will definitely be very warm in the winter."
"The best part is that it's elastic. It can stretch to fit the body snugly, making it extremely comfortable." She took down a hanging garment and handed it to Jiang Jin. "Take a look."
Jiang Jin took it. The texture felt soft and delicate; it was indeed very comfortable.
In fact, this was a very common wool sweater in later generations.
Jiang Jin had taught them a few knitting techniques and let them figure out how to knit sweaters themselves, but she had not expected them to succeed so quickly.
Jiang Jin highly praised their professionalism. "You all did a great job. You can make the woolen yarn in different thicknesses, or knit two or three strands together, which will change the thickness and warmth of the sweater."
Feng Qingzhu's eyes lit up. "Alright, I will have them try it in a bit. We have also developed several different knitting stitches."
Jiang Jin looked at the physical examples of their stitches. "Not bad. You must learn to innovate. A master can lead you to the door, but the rest of the cultivation depends on yourself."
Feng Qingzhu nodded. "Yes, it is just a pity that we have too little wool."
Jiang Jin thought for a moment and said, "How about this: I will have someone shear all the wool from the flock and hand it over to you."
Normally, sheep could be sheared twice a year. However, considering that the winter in Gefeng was extremely cold and long, she planned to shear them only once.
"By the way, when you spin the yarn, you can also blend it with cotton. The resulting effect will be different. In short, experiment more," Jiang Jin added.
Feng Qingzhu had already started taking notes. She had too many things to manage and was afraid of forgetting.
Jiang Jin further suggested, "You can also knit gloves, hats, scarves, pants, and socks."
In this era of material scarcity, where even cotton was not widely popularized, wool was absolutely an excellent material for warmth. Such vital survival supplies definitely had to be utilized.
Feng Qingzhu seemed to understand, yet also seemed a bit confused, looking at her with wide, beautiful eyes.
Jiang Jin felt a bit helpless. "I will draw some pictures for you later, and you will understand."
She strolled around the weaving workshop and asked, "Has the new loom been finished?"
Most looms used in this era were pedal-operated oblique looms. This type of loom was relatively complicated to operate, difficult to maintain, and not very efficient.
When Jiang Jin saw the two newly built oblique looms back then, she remembered that she had better loom technology stored in her spatial dimension.
So the next day, she took out the blueprints for a three-spindle pedal spinning wheel.
This type of loom had a simple structure, lower production and maintenance costs, and most importantly, high efficiency. It was also simple to operate and easy to learn.
Feng Qingzhu nodded. "The manufacturing workshop is almost done making it. We can enter the testing phase in a few days."
"Good. We also need to train more weavers." Among the slaves she had bought, there were some who knew how to weave. With that foundation, they should adapt to the new machines much faster.
Feng Qingzhu nodded. "They are already being trained. My Lord, the ready-to-wear clothing store is selling very well right now. Should we recruit more workers?"
There were no ready-to-wear clothing stores in this era, only fabric shops.
Whether they were commoners or wealthy merchants, most people bought fabric to make clothes themselves or had their servants do it. Nobles even had dedicated tailors.
But Gefeng was different from any other city. She not only hired male workers but also female workers. This resulted in many households having everyone going to work, leaving them with no time to make clothes.
Not to mention that many of these refugee commoners were completely alone.
Thus, the ready-to-wear clothing store emerged to meet the demand, and business was booming.
Jiang Jin gave a soft hum of agreement. "We also need to continue researching fabric dyeing techniques. Didn't I give you some materials before? See which dyes are available in our vicinity."
Coming out of the industrial zone, Jiang Jin went to the new city. Over the span of a few days, the large fish pond had only filled up to less than a fifth of its capacity.
Yun Chengxuan was by the edge of the fish pond, lecturing the fish: "Little fishes, little fishes, you must grow up quickly. Grow three catties a day, and give birth to lots and lots of tiny fishes."
Saying that, he swallowed his saliva. "Remember, you don't need to grow your heads, tails, or bones, just grow your bodies. I like eating meat..."
Jiang Jin was speechless.
Her eldest nephew had been going to the Liu River to catch fish these past few days. Regardless of size or species, he put them all into the fish pond to raise.
Unfortunately, although the Liu River was large, the fish inside had mostly been fished out. While he had some harvest, it wasn't much.
Seeing her, Mu Qing hurried over. "My Lord."
Looking at the lush green surroundings, Jiang Jin felt very good. "Have all the sweet potatoes been planted?"
Mu Qing nodded. "They have all been planted. By the way, the flax and hemp should be ready for harvest in another month."
Jiang Jin's eyes lit up. She calculated the time and asked, "Can we plant two seasons this year?"
"Hemp is cold-resistant, so there should be enough time to plant two seasons."
Jiang Jin looked into the distance. "The water canal we are digging should be almost done, right?"
She had put Mu Wanbai in charge of digging the canal to divert water down from the river on the northwest edge of Mount Gesi.
"Yes, I estimate it will be completed in another two days." Although he hadn't gone to see it himself, Mu Wanbai reported the progress to him every day.
Two days later, the canal was finally dug through. Watching the rushing water flow into the fish pond and irrigate the fields, Mu Qing felt elated.
Mu Wanbai's face was also full of smiles. "Grandfather, you no longer have to worry about the farmlands not having enough water."
Mu Qing stroked his beard. "Haha, indeed. And this water is good water too. Not bad at all."
Mu Wanbai looked at the dried vegetables spread all over the ground in the distance. "Another batch of napa cabbage has matured. All these vegetables given by My Lord have such high yields."
The buildings in the new city's livestock area had long been constructed, and a large concrete floor had been built in front of them, which could be used for sun-drying things and other tasks.
Speaking of this, Mu Qing's emotions were complex. "This year is a year of abundant harvest. With such high-yielding grain seeds, if only they could be promoted nationwide..."
He felt a pang of sorrow and only spoke again after a long while, "We must carefully save the seeds for the crops that My Lord said can be saved for seeds. I figure it won't be long before we have even more land to cultivate."
"As for the ones that cannot be saved for seeds," he shifted his gaze toward the experimental fields, "we must strictly follow My Lord's instructions and properly cultivate the hybrid rice."
Jiang Jin's spatial dimension actually held a massive amount of all kinds of crop seeds. After all, in the 25th century, these seeds had been prepared for a population of hundreds of millions.
Her database contained the most advanced hybrid rice technology, but practical application was a completely different matter. Therefore, the experimental fields were absolutely essential. Technology was only truly useful once it was mastered, and her ambitions extended far beyond the small territory of Gefeng.
Mu Qing did not understand what his Lord meant by these different generations of hybrid rice, but the man had one great virtue: an eagerness to learn. As the Minister of Agriculture, he possessed a vast reservoir of knowledge. After humbly asking questions without an ounce of pride, he finally grasped the core concept of hybridization. It was as if a whole new world had opened up before him.
Every day, aside from teaching the farmers how to cultivate the land, he spent the majority of his time in the experimental fields, his heart burning with passion and anticipation.
Mu Wanbai remarked in awe, "The cement ground is incredibly useful. The Lord said we can use it to dry grain and wheat, so the rice we eat in the future won't have so much sand in it."
Mu Qing smiled. "It's not quite big enough for that yet, but we have woven quite a few mats using the Lord's methods."
Meanwhile, Jiang Jin had already mounted her horse and led her men out of Gefeng.
She had just received a report from the scouts: a troop from Quzhao had been spotted on the official road within Gefeng's borders.
Since Quzhao was currently too preoccupied to deal with her, she had to seize the opportunity to snatch as much as she could.
