EP.28
Although we know that the Industrial Revolution began with the steam engine, we often do not know what it was designed to create.
In fact, what the Industrial Revolution attempted to mass-produce was ‘clothes.’
If you say this, ‘Are you sure?’ You may feel this way, but until the Industrial Revolution, the standard for becoming middle class in Europe was ‘Can you wear a new set of clothes every year?’ It was.
It was a daily routine for the poor, regardless of age or gender, to wear tattered clothes.
Because fabric and clothing were so rare, they were a valuable commodity that would sell without fail as long as they were made, even if other products were not known.
So, during the Industrial Revolution, people who owned factories tried to mass-produce clothes that would sell as long as they were made.
If you ask me why I am thinking like this right now.
This is because the machines I am going to ask the craftsmen in the workshop to make are the three types of machines needed to make cloth clothes in large quantities.
And when I opened the door and entered the workshop, I saw various types of tools on display along with the unique heat of a blacksmith shop.
A huge anvil, hammer, saw, axe, planer, armor, mannequin, and bellows and furnace connected to a watermill are all needed to work as a blacksmith.
The overall atmosphere gives the impression that this is a workshop where great technicians are working.
As I was looking around, a man who was pounding a piece of metal with a hammer in the workshop saw me, put down the hammer he was using, and started coming towards me.
He is short, has slightly tanned skin, has a face covered in soot, and has strong muscles visible through the gaping clothes.
There are no other races such as elves or dwarves in this world, but if there were, they would definitely be mistaken for dwarves.
It’s foolish to judge people by their appearance, but this person seems to be recognized at a glance as a top-notch craftsman wherever he goes.
A sturdy and stubborn-looking man with a solid physique, sharp eyes, and a stubborn mouth.
“I am Eugene Heinz, leader of the Dryme Workshop. “Lord Jaeger.”
“Thank you, Heinz. Yes, I asked His Majesty the Crown Prince to introduce me to a good craftsman, and he introduced you. Can I expect your skills?”
“Although I cannot say that I am the best engineer in the Reich Empire, I am confident that if you were to list outstanding engineers, I would be in the top ten. So tell us what you want and we will do our best to make it happen.”
Usually, when you show off your skills in this way, it feels like bravado, so you might feel repulsed, but with the man standing in front of you, instead of feeling repulsed, you actually felt more confident about how good your skills were to be this proud.
I can’t be sure because I haven’t yet seen the mechanical weapons and armor made by this man in person, but I guess I feel that way because I felt his great pride as a top craftsman.
“Okay, then I won’t talk too much. “Here’s a new machine I want to make. Can you make it?”
Saying that, I held out before his eyes a blueprint showing a Whitney-style cotton gin, a Jenny spinning machine, and a loom with a semi-automatic drum called a drum.
If you look at the content inside, it looks like a middle school student drew a gorebalsebbal, although only the rough principles and shapes were drawn.
As a student who was very interested in the development of machinery and weapons, even in my current life, I became curious about the textile industry that caused the Industrial Revolution, and while researching, I found the blueprints of three machines that I found through surfing.
Heinz looked at me and said with a sigh of astonishment, “I wonder how much it helped him to draw pictures using the visual memories I had in my head and to add as many explanations as I could in writing.”
“Even within the system, I have heard bards sing a few times that Lord Jaeger is a genius in tactics and strategy. It’s amazing that someone who has never studied to become a craftsman can design a ‘machine with a proper concept.’ However, other than the machine called the cotton gin, I don’t know how it is used. Can you explain?”
“Okay then, I’ll tell you in detail. First off, cotton gins are used to get the damn seeds out of cotton, and spinning machines aren’t that great. To put it simply, it is a tool that uses about 8 spinning wheels to pull out yarn from a pile of cotton. Also, the loom with ‘flying drum’ here allows you to quickly insert horizontal threads between vertical threads.”
After explaining up to this point, Heinz seemed to have finally understood the design drawings I showed him and the value of these three machines, so he clapped and spoke with a surprised expression.
“The most annoying thing about making clothes from cotton is having to extract the numerous seeds inside it, but if we can replace that with a machine, we will definitely be able to make cloth and clothes faster than before. “If we could go further and speed up the speed of spinning yarn on mechanized spinning wheels and weaving on mechanized looms, this could change the world.”
What if the machine had been explained to other nobles, including the crown prince, by presenting a blueprint instead of showing it in action?
Obviously, they couldn’t even guess what kind of functionality the devices I came up with were capable of.
Just as a person who has never eaten a lemon cannot imagine how it tastes sour when told that it is sour.
However, because Heinz was an excellent engineer who knew machines, he was able to recognize the true value of the machine just by looking at the blueprint and explanation, even without actually operating the machine.
“So you think you can make it? Or maybe it won’t work.”
However, Heinz muttered as if he had no intention of listening to me, copying the blueprint I gave him onto a piece of paper nearby.
“First, to make this cotton gin, the gap between the two cylinders that rotate like a handle must be thinner than the vertical thickness of the seed. Wouldn’t it be possible to make the size of the barrel where the spinning machine hangs the thread by hand? Also, when making this drum, they suggested using a spring. What function does this have, and how does it allow it to travel back and forth over such a wide distance with ease…? “If you look at the blueprint, it doesn’t seem impossible.”
When I saw that, I was inwardly impressed and a little shocked at the same time.
What impressed me was that just by showing me a rough explanation and blueprint, he came up with an answer on how to build and improve the machine, which is something most humans cannot do.
What was also shocking was that, no matter how much the craftsman was protected by the Crown Prince, he would appoint a person who was a customer who requested a product and even had the title of ‘Imperial Knight’ and focus only on the blueprint. You’re ignoring me because of equipment development.
They say that among the people who are called true geniuses, there are a lot of crazy ones… but isn’t this too extreme?
Heinz continued to use his pen and touch the blueprint as if he didn’t care what I thought.
There are a lot of things we need to talk about in the future, but it will be difficult if that person continues to act like that.
So, to turn Heimtz’s attention to me, I shook his shoulder vigorously and said,
“It’s nice to see you coming to your senses and working hard on the crude blueprint I drew… but isn’t that too extreme?”
Heinz must have finally realized his rude behavior and bowed his head and apologized.
“I’m sorry, but I think I was blinded because it was a good mechanical blueprint with such an ingenious idea. Still, one month for me and my students. No, if you give me three weeks, I can make a proper prototype…”
I don’t know anything about machine manufacturing, but I don’t know anything about cotton gins and spinning machines, but since I use springs, I think it would take a long time to make a loom with a drum…
I had doubts about whether I could really make something right by the promised time.
Since Heinz is an expert, you can trust that a proper prototype will be produced within 3 weeks.
Also, even if I fail, it doesn’t mean I don’t have any free time…
“I believe that that amount of time is enough. Is there anything else you need? “I will ask you to pay more from my personal assets, so don’t hesitate to tell me.”
Then Heinz looked at me with a worried expression and said.
“Actually, it is a problem to recreate such a complex machine, but we need people who know how much performance it will perform when it is built. So, is it okay for Lord Jaeger, who brought this blueprint, to step in and make sure it is made properly?”
“Of course. But I can’t be here with you every day. “If you need me, send someone to call me the day before.”
“Yes, I understand. Then, before you leave, please listen to my thoughts and respond. “It may be inconvenient, but there’s nothing we can do because we’re creating something new.”
So I talked about the cotton gin, the spinning machine, and the loom with the drum in Heinz’s workshop until the sun rose the next day.
As a result of that effort, three weeks later, the three machines I had requested were completely manufactured.
Now all that remained was to demonstrate the usefulness of the machine in front of the crown prince and receive appropriate investment.
See next episode
