The bear child of the Red Chamber, Jia Cong

When Situ Cen returned to the capital, he had to wander around, looking at the streets and alleys as before.Compared with when he left Beijing, there are obvious differences at a glance, such as stands holding red and green flags at the intersections, new street lamps and bus stops on the side of the road.The most eye-catching thing is the pedestrians on the road.The younger ones all wore some simple and strange clothes, and their feet also had strange shoes.The older ones still wear ordinary clothes.Situ Cen took a brief look at the side, the young people walked very fast, most of them were bouncing around.

Then he went into a tailor's shop by the side of the road, where all the new clothes were hung.There are more than a dozen large mirrors in the store, and there are many customers.Most of the clothes hanging in the store have no buttons, and there is something shiny on the front of the front.Situ Cen hurriedly asked his buddy to inquire.The man said: "This is a zipper, made of steel. Just pull it on. It's the most convenient, but it's not as troublesome and time-consuming as buttons." He demonstrated it to Situ Cen in front of a wooden man in clothes. "Young people your age are more and more into this kind of coat these days."

Situ Cen thought it was interesting, so he zipped the wooden man back and forth a few times, and said with a smile, "It's really cheap, where did you get it from?"

The buddy said, "I learned it from the West." The corner of Situ Cen's mouth twitched: I can figure out who made it with my toes.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw two young people aged seventeen or eighteen to his left, all wearing this kind of coat.One of them took off what he was wearing and threw it to his companions, picked up the clothes in the store, put them on, and walked to the big glass mirror to take a picture.The companion smiled and said, "You're getting fat again."

The man took it off with a smile: "It's really fat. Change to a larger one."

A clerk beside him handed him a dress that was exactly the same, and said with a smile: "I told you that petty officials must wear large-sized clothes. The large-sized ones are great, strong and majestic."

The man put on a new one, turned around in front of the mirror and said, "It fits well." He took another look, "The collar is too big."

The clerk said: "Your official, would you like to try the crow blue one? The collar is smaller."

"Alright." The man took off his clothes and threw them to the buddy, then turned around and went to the clothes hanger to get a new one.

Situ Cen had already noticed that many customers in this shop were trying on clothes, so he wondered: "Aren't you afraid that you will be ruined by the test?"

The guy next to him said: "It is inevitable that there will be some bad ones, but they are generally good."

Situ Cen looked at the clothes on the wooden man, they were very simple, with only a small camellia embroidered on the chest.Only then did he recall that the name of the shop seemed to be Camellia Fashion Shop.There are five or six pieces of clothes hanging in the same style, all of which are exactly the same.Nai thought for a moment, then asked casually: "The master tailor in your shop is really capable, how can he make so many identical clothes?"

The man said: "These are all from Dajiala No. [-] Garment Factory. Our owner has opened Yanjing No. [-] Garment Factory in the suburbs of Beijing, and is training female sewing workers."

"The seamstress...is a dressmaker?"

"Garment factories operate on an assembly line." The man said, "Sewing machines are also used."

Situ Cen became interested: "When did you come up with another sewing machine? I haven't heard of it yet."

The guy smiled and said, "Now the production has not expanded, so it's not easy to buy. But I heard that the sewing machine factory is about to start construction."

Another guy interjected: "How can the sewing machine factory be so fast? Didn't the boss say that the parts processing factory should be built first?"

This one said: "Build at the same time, just start the front and rear feet. Many women in the country of Yan don't go out in the backyard, and the sewing machines are designated for sale."

Situ Cen unconsciously took a breath, and looked up into the store - from the staff to the customers, they were all young people, and all of them had smiles on their faces.Jia Cong once said that young people are the easiest to accept new things.From fresh clothes and shoes to sewing machines and bicycles, to the imperial court.Yan Guo will definitely become his within ten years, and no one can take it away.Nai sighed softly, and said to the clerk, "Can you pick something suitable for me?"

The clerk hurriedly pointed to the wooden figure and said, "In my opinion, this style must look good on a senior official, but the color on our model is slightly darker. Look, there is the same light silver-gray one over there, which is worn by a senior official." Livelier."

Situ Cen followed his finger to look, and smiled wryly: the light silver-gray coat had a bright yellow hem.Bright yellow is not something that anyone can wear.So he went over to pick one up, and didn't take off his own clothes, but put on a cover over his head.Standing in front of the mirror, Situ Cen himself was a little surprised: it really made him look more alive.Lower your head to fasten the zipper and pull it up, then grab the slider and pull it up and down a few times. It's much more interesting than trying it on a wooden man.He smiled and asked, "How much are these clothes?"

The clerk said, "Six hundred dollars." Situ Cen has never worn such cheap clothes.Looking down, although the material is made of fine cotton, the stitches are very neat.For some reason, Situ Cen had the feeling that the shopkeeper had made a lot of money.It's just that he wanted to go back and ponder over the zipper, so he ordered the boy following him to pay the bill.

The clerk laughed and said, "It's not convenient to wear a long robe under a coat. Would you like to wear a pair of jeans over there?"

Situ Cen didn't want to wear the clothes when he bought them, but said: "No need." He took off the clothes and threw them to the boy, and strode out of the shop.

After a while, the boy who paid the bill came out with his clothes and called "Master".Situ Cen glanced back at the clothes in his hand, and said, "Go and buy the pair of jeans they were talking about."

The boy agreed to go in.Not long after, he bought a pair of jeans and came out, saying: "Their buddy said that they should also be paired with a pair of rubber-soled sneakers. The shoe store next door has them."

Situ Cen let out a "hmm", picked up his feet and walked into the shoe store next door to buy a pair of sneakers.Coming out to look at these three things made me uncomfortable for some reason.

At dusk that day, Jia Cong had just returned to the mansion before he had time to meet Jia Amnesty, when someone sent a post outside, Situ Cen asked him to have a drink.So I didn't change my clothes and went straight to the address of the appointment.

The tavern was next to Jian'an Institute of Technology, and all the students were sitting in it, all wearing new-style clothes. Jia Cong's own duck-egg green arrow sleeves were very abrupt.After looking for a buddy to inquire, Situ Cen Ding's table was not a private room, it was in the corner of the lobby on the second floor.Jia Cong went upstairs to look around for a while, and saw Situ Cen sitting at a square table wearing a jacket and jeans, and the two tables next to him were full of people in green clothes and caps, obviously he was leading his servants, he didn't think it was funny.Nai walked over.

Situ Cen, who was pouring his own drink, looked up at him and gestured to the next table.One of the servants beckoned to the waiter to come over and let the food be served.Jia Cong sat directly opposite him and looked at him: "The clothes look good and look good."

Situ Cen said: "Clothes are six hundred yuan. I went to the shop near the school, it's quite expensive."

Jia Cong said: "The clothes on the assembly line are not expensive. It won't be long before everyone under the age of 40 in the country of Yan will accept this kind of clothes—except for the rich and noble. After all, the rich and noble are very few, and almost all the slaves have escaped. They hire servants again, or they don’t provide clothes for the servants, or they have to watch all the servants in the family wear these clothes.”

Situ Cen asked, "What are you trying to do with such weird clothes?"

"It's easy to wear." Jia Cong said, "The zipper is not going to be retailed for the time being, which means it can't be bought. But it's really convenient, right?"

"Yes. Much more convenient than a button strap."

"All the fabrics in the garment factory are purchased directly from the fabric factory, which is much cheaper than retailing on the street. The factory is also operated by workers on an assembly line, so the cost is very low, and the price of the finished clothes is also very low. Anyone can afford it. Ah Cen, what do you think? I thought, if buying clothes outside is so cheap, cheaper than buying fabrics yourself, how many ordinary families will still make clothes? Not to mention that they can’t buy convenient and fashionable zippers.”

Situ Cen didn't understand: "You want the common people to buy clothes to wear? Isn't it good to make clothes?"

"It takes a lot of energy and effort to make clothes at home." Jia Cong said, "Women don't need to make clothes, so they can spend a lot of time doing odd jobs to earn money. What the country of Yan lacks most now is labor, and male labor is simply not enough. "

Situ Cen opened his eyes wide and said after a while, "You...is it for this?"

Jia Cong spread his hands: "Otherwise, what else can I do? I am the regent of the Yan Kingdom, so naturally I have to solve the problem." He took a sip and said, "At first I thought about buying some African slaves to work. After thinking about it, black people The physical fitness is very strong, and the emancipation of slaves is a matter of time. I don’t want to introduce foreigners into the country yet. In this case, I can only improve the utilization rate of labor force and accelerate industrialization. Fortunately, I am really smart as a student. In the past few years Improved chimney filters have reduced much of the soot pollution, and heavy industry can then be sped up."

Situ Cen frowned: "What is heavy industry?"

"Uh... how to explain it?" Jia Cong scratched his head.

"Make clothes?"

"No. That counts as light industry." Jia Cong said, "Do you know about sewing machines?"

"I just heard about it today."

"Sewing machines are heavy industries. Machinery industry." Jia Cong said, "Also, the railway from Beijing to Tianjin will start construction in a few days."

"railway?"

"You probably don't know. Three months after my family Miao Miao was born, the Taiwan government built the world's first railway. Although it was difficult, I have accumulated a lot of experience." Jia Cong smiled, "Ah Cen, the industrial revolution has really begun gone."

Situ Cen thought for a while: "The Industrial Revolution, I saw it in your bookstore in Dajiala. It is to change all kinds of manual work into machines. Didn't it start a long time ago?"

"In the past, it was not counted as small-scale and small industries. Railways are the symbol of industrialization. Only with railways can there be fast and bulk transportation." Jia Cong smiled and made a "V", "You will come to Yan State again in a few years , that’s called a big change.”

Situ Cen suddenly remembered something: "Speaking of which, I haven't been to Taiwan for a few days. Has it become more powerful there?"

"That's right! That's our scientific research base. We've tested all kinds of new things before moving to Yan Country."

Situ Cen stared at him and said, "You asked my eldest niece to study there on purpose."

Jia Cong said innocently: "Of course it was intentional. Not only your eldest niece, but also the eighth son of the Wu Wang family."

"My eldest niece also wears such clothes?"

Jia Cong took another look at him: "No. The school uniforms their children wear are not like yours." He then pointed to a few female students in Jian'an Polytechnic uniforms at the next table and said, "Here, it's probably like that."

Situ Cen turned his head and took a look: "Is this different?"

"What's the same? You look down for yourself!"

"It's not ordinary clothes anyway."

"Of course not Hanfu." Jia Congli said confidently, "Students wear Hanfu to class every day, so what about physical education? Hanfu is only worn in specific classes."

Situ Cen looked at the students at the next table again: "Should the students of Yan State also wear this?"

"That's right!" Jia Cong said, "From the beginning of school this spring, all schools in the country of Yan, regardless of whether they are large, medium or small, have issued uniforms. Students must wear school uniforms to school, and no other clothes are allowed. School uniforms don't cost them money. bought."

Situ Cen snorted, "Anyway, it's cheap. Anyway, it's easy for you to make money. A day trip to the Forbidden City costs [-] silver."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "It's none of that matter, the money has other uses."

Situ Cen immediately said, "The same is true for my eldest niece's school? Only school uniforms are allowed, and nothing else is allowed?"

"Of course! I didn't tell you just now? Taiwan is an experimental field. All the national policies of Yan State have been tested there first, and they are implemented here after they are effective and gained experience. After all, it is a tiny place. Much bigger."

Situ Cen thought for a moment: "What about Guangdong, Guangxi and Jiangxi? And Yunnan and Guizhou."

Jia Cong said: "If conditions permit, we will promote them at the same time. There is also the Yan family in Dongying. Although the population is smaller, the policy of the Yan State is also used. After ten years, young people in these places will be used to wearing these clothes on you. , I will also get used to the fact that my classmates and colleagues are both male and female, and there are many subtle things. They will be the regular army to promote industrialization."

This time Situ Cen was silent for as long as a cup of tea before he said, "I'll go and see what your railway looks like."

Jia Cong smiled and said, "I have photos, I would have brought them to you if I had known."

Situ Cen took a sip of his wine: "No hurry." After a while he asked again, "Is there anything new you have hidden that I don't know about?"

Jia Cong thought for a while and said: "The tungsten filament vacuum light bulb that has been researched for so many years finally improved and broke through last year. The brightness is sufficient and it has been on for more than nine days. It will not be long before mass production and promotion. There is also a phone. There was a principle a few years ago, and it was just figured out in the past two years, and there are still improvements."

"Do you have any pictures?"

"Have."

Situ Cen put down his chopsticks: "Let's go, let's go take a look in your mansion."

"Hey! The hot food just came out! We've been talking, but I haven't eaten a few bites!" Jia Cong said, "Besides, the restaurants near the school are not allowed to waste food, don't you believe it? Dare you go and try it? Believe it or not, the students and the staff came up to talk about you " Situ Cen had no choice but to watch him for a while, then picked up his chopsticks again.Jia Cong smiled and said, "But you can pack it up and take it away."

"No need." Situ Cen said angrily, "Leave after eating."

"That's right! The photos can't fly away!" Jia Cong said cheerfully, "When you eat, you should eat!"

Later, Situ Cen buried his head in eating, but Jia Cong teased him without answering, which was very boring.After eating, they went to Rongguo Mansion together.

Standing at the entrance of Lixiangyuan, Situ Cen suddenly said: "You, the regent, don't want to build a palace?"

Jia Cong said: "I want to do it! But not now, we have to wait." He winked, "We are not robbers, we can't rob us by force, right?" The soldiers opened the door, and Jia Cong said as he walked, " It’s not like we don’t have money, can’t we just buy it openly?”