The current spinning wheels were already ahead of their time. Creating something even better wouldn't bring much benefit. Being one step ahead makes you a genius; being ten steps ahead makes you a madman. No one wants to associate with a madman. It's better to keep a few cards up your sleeve.
The structure of these spinning wheels wasn't complicated. Even if the carpenter didn't leak the design, someone else would eventually replicate it. When that happened, it would be time to upgrade and improve. There was no rush.
After the shop assistant loaded the hemp skins, Jin Feng and the others went to the grain store to buy several bags of grain. With dozens of mouths to feed at home, grain was being consumed rapidly. Fearing another encounter with the yamen runner, Jin Feng didn't even stop to eat before leaving the county seat with his group.
In reality, Jin Feng was overthinking it. It wasn't until an hour after they left that the yamen runner was finally released by the magistrate's assistant. By the time he reached the yamen gate, Jin Feng and Liu Tie were long gone.
"Where are the two men who were talking to me earlier?" the yamen runner grabbed the gatekeeper and demanded.
"Officer Zhang, they left as soon as you did," the gatekeeper replied.
"Damn it!" The yamen runner wanted to slap himself. Another golden opportunity had slipped through his fingers.
"Do you know why they came to the yamen?" he asked.
"I think they were here to handle some household registration documents," the gatekeeper answered.
The yamen runner turned and ran back into the yamen.
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Back in Xihewan, the carpenter had just left, delivering parts for five more spinning wheels. Zhang Mancang was busy assembling them. A group of women stood at the door, eagerly waiting but not daring to enter. Tang Dongdong had made it clear: anyone caught peeking at Mancang's work would be banned from the workshop. So, the women, who had even stopped digging for wild vegetables, now spent their days loitering outside the blacksmith's shop, ready to snatch up a spinning wheel the moment Mancang finished assembling one.
Jin Feng glanced at the thatched shed, now crammed with over twenty spinning wheels. Tang Dongdong and Runiang's beds had been moved back to the east room, squeezed in with Xiao'e. While it was still manageable in late spring, once summer arrived, the heat and overcrowding would make it unbearable. Some women had suggested taking the spinning wheels home, but Tang Dongdong had firmly refused. The spinning wheels were her lifeline, and she'd rather work slower than risk them being taken out of the workshop.
Expanding the workshop was no longer optional. But Jin Feng didn't want to build another thatched shed. It leaked in the summer and let in the cold wind in winter—it wasn't safe. Since they were in it for the long haul, Jin Feng wanted something sturdier. A multi-story building was out of the question, but at least a few tiled houses would do.
The problem was, Xihewan had no brick kiln, and neither did the nearby villages or even the county seat. Building a brick kiln just for a few houses seemed excessive. But then it hit him—if there wasn't one, why not build one himself? It could even be a profitable venture. Digging a simple kiln wasn't that difficult.
With this thought, Jin Feng's enthusiasm surged. Spring plowing was over, and the men in the village had little to do. With a wave of his arm, Jin Feng gathered the men of the village.
In any era, economic power determines family status. When farming was the main livelihood, men were the primary breadwinners, and they called the shots at home. But since the spinning workshop opened, the women had started earning money too—thirty copper coins a month, more than what most men made from farming. The women had begun to assert themselves, even daring to eat breakfast without waiting for their husbands, claiming they had to rush to work.
A few days ago, Sixth Brother had beaten Sixth Sister for this, but the consequences were severe. Sixth Sister arrived late to work and, with an injured arm, spun too slowly. Tang Dongdong sent her home and replaced her with another woman. The usually meek Sixth Sister nearly attacked Sixth Brother when she returned, and even his parents, who usually sided with their son, took her side. The old man chased Sixth Brother for miles with a hoe.
The most outrageous was Auntie San, who had stopped doing laundry altogether. Last night, Second Dog saw Uncle San sneaking back from the river with a basin of clothes in the middle of the night, looking like a thief.
The women were growing bolder, and the men, though seething with resentment, could do nothing. They lounged listlessly against walls, sighing heavily. When the village chief announced that Jin Feng was hiring again—this time for men—the men sprang to life, racing to Jin Feng's house, afraid they'd miss out.
When Jin Feng said the job came with two meals a day and two copper coins, the farmers nearly cried with gratitude. Finally, they had a chance to turn things around. The women only earned one copper coin a day, but the men could earn two!
That very afternoon, the men grabbed their tools and headed to the wasteland by the river. Jin Feng had scouted the area carefully—the soil here was perfect for making bricks. Some men began digging the kiln, others went to the mountains to cut wood for carts and fuel, while the rest, under Jin Feng's guidance, started making brick molds.
Without modern machinery, everything had to be done by hand. They dug mud from the riverbank, mixed it with water, and kneaded it like dough with hoes. Then, using wooden molds, they pressed the mud into rectangular bricks. The bricks needed to dry in the open air before they could be used, which would take about as long as it took to finish the kiln.
The men, fueled by their determination to reclaim their status, worked with extraordinary vigor. Jin Feng had estimated it would take seven days to dig the kiln, but they finished in five. The kiln was primitive by modern standards, but for the backward Great Kang Dynasty, it was advanced enough to produce decent red bricks.
Once the firewood was ready, Jin Feng directed the villagers to stack the dried bricks inside the kiln. They sealed the entrance, and thick smoke soon billowed from the chimney. Transforming soft mud bricks into solid, durable bricks required temperatures over 800 degrees Celsius for at least three days and nights. With the low heat value of wood and the new kiln, Jin Feng expected it to take even longer. He was even prepared for the first batch to fail.
The entire process, including cooling the kiln by sprinkling water, would take over ten days. Jin Feng had the villagers continue making brick molds while they waited.
But before the bricks were ready, an unexpected group arrived in the village. Over a dozen men rode in on tall warhorses, led by a young man in a green robe, followed by burly, armored men with fierce expressions. Several bore scars on their faces. Children playing at the village entrance screamed and ran back, shouting, "Bandits are here!"