"In a basin surrounded by mountains on three sides, about a six-hour distance from Sedona City. That place meets the master's requirements," Mina flipped through her notebook and replied.
"Six hours? By carriage or by flight?" Lucas asked.
"By carriage," Mina answered.
"Mhm, that distance works," Lucas nodded. They could make a round trip in a single day, which wasn't too far.
"Then master, should I arrange a field visit?" Mina inquired.
"Mhm, we will set off tomorrow morning and return in the afternoon." Lucas calculated the time; they should be able to make it back to Sedona City before dark.
"Understood," Mina noted it down.
"Let's go inspect the workshops now," Lucas stood up and stretched lazily. Having sat for more than half the day, he needed to get up and move around.
"Okay," Mina followed Lucas out of the castle, and they boarded a carriage heading for the workshop district.
Tap, tap, tap...
"My Lord, we have arrived at the workshops," Chris said respectfully.
Creaaak!
Opening the carriage door, Lucas led Mina out and walked into the workshop compound.
This time, Lucas was here to inspect the textile workshop. Specifically, he was here to see the wool weaving. A massive amount of wool had already been transported from the Sahara. They had started spinning the wool into yarn a while ago, and now they had begun weaving it into wool cloth.
The wool cloth workshop also utilized looms powered by steam engines.
Buzz, buzz, buzz...
Even before Lucas entered the workshop, he could hear the sound of the steam engines running.
"City Lord, please wear a mask before entering the workshop. There is too much lint inside," The workshop manager, having spotted Lucas from afar, hurried over with a few masks in hand.
Lucas nodded. These masks were made of cotton fabric—a thin layer that didn't affect breathing much. This was actually an invention of their own making.
"Let's go, take me to see it," Lucas waved his hand. He was very invested in the wool cloth.
"Yes, my lord," The manager replied, leading the way. They entered the main doors and arrived inside the factory building.
Rows of looms were operating here. Strands of woolen yarn were driven by the looms, ultimately woven into wool cloth, which the workers then rolled into bundles.
"My Lord, please take a look. This is the finest wool cloth we can currently produce," The manager brought Lucas to the warehouse where the wool cloth was stored and unrolled a section of it.
Lucas reached out and felt the wool cloth before him. It was a bit prickly to the touch, but its density was roughly on par with high-grade linen. It was more than sufficient for surviving the winter.
"How much of this wool cloth can be produced in a day?" Lucas clapped his hands and asked.
"Not even a fifth of the linen production," The manager shook his head and sighed, then explained, "For one spinning machine, spinning wool into yarn takes time. The woolen yarn required for a ten-meter length of wool cloth takes half an hour just to spin from the carded wool."
The manager paused for a moment. Seeing no displeasure on Lucas's face, he quickly added, "My Lord, the biggest issue is degreasing the wool. That is what consumes the most time."
Lucas nodded. He was also trying to find a solution for this. Wool had to be degreased in order to remove that unique, pungent sheep smell.
And degreasing required alkali. Currently, they are only using the traditional method of extracting it from plant ash. Naturally, the speed wouldn't be fast; after all, they had to wait for the ash to settle and collect the clear water from the top to use.
This process was far too troublesome, making degreasing the most time-consuming bottleneck in their schedule.
The best solution right now was to find an alkali mine, but there was still no news of one. If they could find an alkali mine, not only could wool be made into clothing, but other animal furs could be used as well.
Lucas pondered for a moment. Looking at the wool cloth in the warehouse, there truly wasn't very much. It was enough to make winter uniforms for the soldiers, but if they wanted to sell it on the market, it was far too little.
"I will allocate more manpower to you and have the Research Department send over a few more looms. Before winter arrives, you must produce enough wool cloth," Lucas said calmly to the manager, though his tone carried a note of absolute seriousness.
"Yes, My Lord," The manager replied. As long as he was given more manpower, the output could be increased.
"Tomorrow, I will have someone deliver the design blueprints for the winter military uniforms. Have the garment workshop use the wool cloth to produce a batch first so we can take a look," Lucas instructed the manager.
With military uniforms made of wool, they wouldn't have to dress so bulkily in the winter. Their movements would be much more agile, and the insulation would be vastly superior to linen clothes.
"Yes, my lord," The manager responded respectfully.
"Master, are the winter uniforms going to be made of wool cloth?" Mina touched the wool cloth in front of her, feeling how prickly it was.
"Yes. Only military uniforms made of wool cloth will have good insulation. That way, they won't have to dress too bulkily," Lucas explained.
"But wool cloth is very prickly. It's not nearly as comfortable as linen or cotton clothes," Mina touched the clothes she was wearing, which obviously felt much better than the wool cloth.
"They can just wear a cotton shirt underneath before putting on the uniform," Lucas smiled faintly. He had naturally thought of this; for now, this was the only solution.
He had been preparing for the military uniform change for a long time. There were urgent matters to handle this winter, so preparations for keeping warm had to start right now.
This wasn't Earth, where several processing steps could be used to make the wool less prickly. Fortunately, wool's insulation was excellent, making this minor flaw insignificant.
"That works," Mina realized in sudden understanding. This was indeed a solution.
"Let's go check out the cotton cloth workshop," Lucas sneakily patted Mina's perky ass and walked out with a smile on his face.
"Master..." Mina's face instantly turned bright red. Swaying her hips and swishing her tail, she hurried to keep up with Lucas's pace.
The cotton cloth workshop had started operating after the cotton harvest. Fabric made from cotton was far more comfortable than linen, but the cost was also higher. After all, cotton production was limited, and rarity increased its value.
Even so, it was deeply beloved by the nobles. Currently, the clothes worn by the nobles residing in Sedona City were almost exclusively made of cotton. It was as if not wearing cotton clothes would somehow lower their status.
After inspecting the cotton workshop, Lucas visited the brewery. After all, in less than a month, Dahlia and the others would be returning, and these liquors were specifically prepared for the Deepstone Dwarf Kingdom.
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