The Textile Industry Layout and Baijiu in Glass Bottles

The County Magistrate of Danshan County immediately took Luo Chong to inspect the textile industry when he heard the Chieftain ask about it.

Last year, as the Han Tribe's territory grew larger and its population increased, the single Textile Mill in Hanyang City could no longer meet the tribe's demand for cloth. The Textile Mills in Ruyang Commandery, meanwhile, mainly produced high-end silk fabrics that ordinary commoners could not afford. Under these circumstances, Luo Chong soon issued an order to move textile handicraft production down to the local level.

First, the three counties under Hanyang Commandery each began producing textile equipment such as looms with the support of the technical teams Luo Chong dispatched. They then encouraged the local cultivation of distinctive fiber crops and recruited idle women workers for skills training. Finally, they successfully established county-level Textile Mills.

Take Danshan County, for example. Its population was actually larger than Hanyang City's had been back then, and even now the two were roughly equal. Thus, its fiber-crop yield was no lower than Hanyang City's. All the equipment, such as looms, was produced by local carpenters under the guidance of master craftsmen sent from the commandery. As a result, its production equipment was also on par with Hanyang City's. As for its greatest distinguishing feature, that naturally lay in its different raw materials.

That was right—the raw materials were different. The Han Tribe currently had several kinds of textile fibers, mainly ramie, followed by wool and alpaca fiber, then Mulberry Silk and Chestnut Silkworm silk. Cotton was still being planted experimentally and had yet to become mainstream. Danshan County was different, however. They had developed several new materials of their own: flax, hemp, Chinese hemp, and jute.

The reason for this was naturally the Merit Rank System Luo Chong had introduced.