Chapter 1477: Technological Innovation

According to Zhinu, these current weaving techniques have already changed the original weaving method of only crossing one over and one under. Various methods of diagonal weaving and cross weaving have appeared, which can weave fabrics with different structures and textures. This technology has actually existed for a long time, but because it was not considered a major innovation, no one had requested a merit award for it.

At this moment, Baifeng looked at his own clothes again; the fabric seemed truly different from before. If one looked closely, it had various triangular-like structures. It looked a bit different from the most basic one-over-one-under weaving method, but it was only a visual difference. Baifeng had not felt any obvious difference during the process of actually wearing it; otherwise, he should have discovered it long ago.

As for the matter of patterns, Baifeng knew that the History Book mentioned someone called Huangpo or Huangdaopo. She invented a type of loom that could not only weave but also create different patterns. However, at that time, Baifeng was only looking at it for exams, so he had only glanced at it and could not remember the specifics, let alone the pictures of the loom, which were older than old Qing Dynasty documentaries. Even if he remembered, he wouldn't know how to use it if he drew it.

But Baifeng could confirm from this one thing that the research and exploration direction of Zhinu and the others was correct. Most patterns should be woven during the weaving process. There are many such textiles from ethnic minorities that are all woven by hand bit by bit, and they are very beautiful.

However, weaving like this is inevitably very time-consuming and laborious, and after dyeing, the patterns might not necessarily be clearly visible. What is woven now should be called hidden patterns. If color-fast threads could be dyed, then beautiful visible patterns could be woven.

There is another more convenient method, which is to dye patterns onto the fabric during the dyeing process. In the era where Baifeng lived, where everything had to be "retro," many discarded and forgotten crafts were picked up again. After some fuss, they could even become viral products that anyone could learn about and try to make.

One of these is tie-dyeing, but tie-dyeing cannot produce relatively complex, uniform patterns; at least, it does not fit Baifeng's aesthetic. Right now, Baifeng's aesthetic is the most important thing.

Therefore, he described a method for quickly creating patterns to Zhinu and Miaoyin: "You find people from the Ministry of Works to make a thin board, then carve the patterns you want onto it and hollow them out.

Then you can place this board on the cloth. Either use mud or something else—think of a way—or just use paste made from bran to smear into the hollow parts. Then lift the board, and that paste will remain on the cloth.

When you go to dye the cloth afterward, the dye will not reach the places covered by the paste. Finally, remove the pasted stuff, and isn't that a pattern?"

"However, for this type, you cannot soak-dye it; you have to apply other dyes layer by layer."

The more Miaoyin heard, the more excited she became, and she wanted to try it on the spot. It was just that there were too many things to prepare: someone needed to draw the patterns, then hand them to the Ministry of Works to make the boards, and now there wasn't much Alum left. Miaoyin only felt that she was incredibly anxious; having so many good ideas but being unable to implement them was just like how the world was so vast, yet she could not go anywhere.

With Baifeng's technical guidance, the technical philosophy of the Weaving Department had been innovated again, and the direction of development was even clearer. As long as the Alum could be provided, they could completely achieve significant technological progress in a short period of time.

Before leaving the Weaving Department, Baifeng told Zhinu and Miaoyin: "Keep all the samples of the cloth pieces made, and then label clearly below how they were made and what they were made with. This is very useful.

In the future, you will still need to adjust the concentration and the dosage, and you will need such different cloth pieces for comparison, so be well-prepared now.

Also, keep some; I want to make a good trade with the Xuanyuan Tribe. Such good things will definitely be able to extract many things from the hands of the Xuanyuan Tribe."

With a joyful mood, Baifeng left the Weaving Department and then took a vehicle to the smelting plant. One part of it was specifically used to test the refining of those newly discovered minerals. Those Alum ores were only a small piece left, used as a reference sample so that future people would not have no reference and would not know what to dig, or dig up useless things.

According to the final appearance of the Alum, this ore must be the whiter the better, and the more transparent the better. Baifeng looked at that piece of ore; it indeed did not look much like the Alum ore in his imagination, but the test results had already proven it was, so there was no problem.

Baifeng gathered everyone who participated in the exploration, mining, and refining together. But because he saw that there were really too many people, it was not easy for him to give everyone Nobility, but he could reward them according to the size of their contributions and the role they played.

Among them, the two who discovered the ore and the one who discovered the Alum in the water puddle were all granted Nobility. The one who discovered the ore was granted the title of Viscount, and the one who discovered the Alum was granted the title of Baron, and they were given an Individual First-Class Merit. Although they were not soldiers, they still had merit; soldiers just received Military Merit.

All others who participated were also given merit. Even those who tended the fires had a Collective Second Class Merit. To them, this was a windfall from Heaven, an unexpected joy. They received rewards for work that had absolutely no gold content; one could only say their luck was too good.

After the rewards, it was time to reassign tasks: "I can give you so many rewards, which means that what you discovered this time is very important. It is called Alum. You don't need to worry about what it is specifically used for yet, but it is related to your lives, and everyone will be able to use it.

Now, I want you to reorganize the teams and head to the marked Alum mine at the fastest speed to mine a large amount of Alum ore. If you need manpower, go to the Ministry of Revenue to have them allocate Slaves to you; even hiring tenant farmers is fine. Its importance is on the same level as a Magnet.

Before Winter brings heavy Snow to block the mountains and roads, bring back a batch of Alum ore. Then, you who are responsible for refining must try bit by bit to improve the process. If the yield of the next batch of ore is not as high as this time, then artificially repeat the mistakes of this time to see which step is useful for increasing the yield.

Do not throw away the slag from this time either; continue to refine it. Repeat it a few more times to see if you can refine a little more out of it. Even if it is just a single grain, it is useful for the current Huaxia."