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Chapter 391: The Spread of New Technologies

Zhao Sheng finally caught his breath after a long moment, then spoke, "The men behind me are farmers from our Gao Family Village. They've been using Celestial Fertilizer for two or three years now and have become masters in its application."

As soon as he uttered these words, the farmers of Yang Village were startled. They had just been discussing Celestial Fertilizer themselves, and now, to their surprise, a prominent figure from Gao Family Village had arrived.

It suddenly dawned on them what the characters written on those sacks meant: "Celestial Fertilizer." There were several large sacks of it.

The Yang Village farmers' gaze immediately turned fervent as they looked at the bags.

Old Yang seemed to grasp something and gathered his courage. "I understand now. You've come to Yang Village to sell Celestial Fertilizer, haven't you? But even if we get it, we wouldn't dare use it improperly, unless someone can teach us how."

Zhao Sheng smiled. "What a coincidence. I'm here precisely to teach you how to use this Celestial Fertilizer."

At this, the Yang Village farmers were overjoyed, several almost cheering aloud.

Old Yang's expression grew serious. "The tuition won't be cheap, will it? Can we afford it?"

This question immediately silenced the farmers' burgeoning cheers. They were all impoverished peasants, and having just endured a three-year drought, their families had long since run out of money. How could they possibly afford tuition?

He then pointed to the sacks of Celestial Fertilizer. "Even these sacks of Celestial Fertilizer are free. We're giving them to you to try out. If you find them effective, then you can consider purchasing them next spring. Gao Family Village will soon send people to establish a 'Fertilizer Supply Cooperative' in Heyang County, where you'll be able to buy it then."

The Yang Village farmers were thrilled.

Zhao Sheng clapped his hands on his thighs and stood up. "Alright, I've rested enough. I can talk without gasping now, hahaha! Let's go, I'll teach you how to use Celestial Fertilizer right away."

The Yang Village farmers were delighted. "Please, honored sir, instruct us."

Zhao Sheng trotted towards a farmer's field, speaking as he ran, "Let's start with this plot... *huff*... *huh*... *oh dear*... *pant*... *pant*..."

The farmers exchanged bewildered glances.

***

Huanglong Mountain, Prison Valley.

The entire valley felt like a natural prison, confining over seven thousand labor reform prisoners. Able-bodied male prisoners were regularly escorted out to participate in heavy labor, such as constructing a road from Huanglong Mountain Prison to Bai Family Fortress. Another example was building a cement beacon tower on the highest peak nearby.

However, there weren't many young men among these prisoners.

The reason was simple: young men formed the core fighting force of the marauding rebels, suffering heavy casualties. In battles against the Gao Family Village Militia, many young men had been executed by firing squad.

What remained were mostly the old, the weak, women, and children.

These individuals couldn't perform heavy labor, so Gao Family Village had to transport in weaving machines and cotton, putting them to work in textile production.

At noon that day, the area outside the prison gates suddenly grew lively.

A large contingent of Gao Family Village Militia arrived, accompanied by numerous carts carrying several strange machines.

These machines were pulled into the prison section reserved for the old, weak, women, and children, placed within their former textile workshop. To accommodate these large machines, many of the existing weaving machines had to be dismantled.

Then, under the arrangement of Warden Zhong Gaoliang, a large group of old, weak, women, and child labor reform prisoners gathered in the workshop to observe these peculiar devices.

Accompanying the machines was an "engineer" from the Craftsman Well in Gao Family Village. He wore clean cotton clothes, his hair neatly combed and slicked back, giving him an air of importance and sophistication.

The engineer spoke loudly, "Next, I'm going to show you the latest 'steam spinning machine' and 'steam weaving machine'."

The prisoners exchanged confused glances, not understanding.

The engineer began his demonstration. "You add coal here, and water here... Alright, now watch carefully."

As the machine started, the steam engine hissed and puffed loudly.

The massive contraption began to move on its own, spinning cotton into thread with a rapid whirring sound.

The prisoners gasped in astonishment. "Wow! That's incredible!"

Next, the engineer hung the freshly spun thread onto the weaving machine. With another hiss of steam, the weaving machine started clanking and rattling on its own. In no time, it had woven a large quantity of cotton thread into cotton fabric.

"Did you see that clearly?" the engineer asked, a triumphant look on his face. "Do you know what this means?"

A young female prisoner from Yichuan County immediately burst into tears. "Waaah... I know... I understand..."

Seeing someone grasp it so quickly, and even shed tears of emotion, the engineer was secretly pleased. He encouraged her, "Good that you understand. Come out and tell everyone what you've understood!"

Tears streaming down her face, the young female prisoner said, "I understand. With this machine weaving fabric, the prison no longer needs us. They can kill all of us now and save a lot of grain."

The surrounding prisoners all turned pale with fright, and many of the old, weak, women, and children began to weep.

The engineer choked! He nearly spat a mouthful of blood three feet away.

*Such a rich imagination?*

The engineer yelled in exasperation, "What the hell did you understand?! Does our Gao Family Village really need to save *that little bit* of grain from you? Are we some kind of demons who'd kill people because we lack grain? Don't confuse us with those marauding rebels!"

The old, weak, women, and children collectively asked, "Then what should we understand?"

The engineer, exasperated, burst into laughter. "Hahaha, ha! You're truly going to be the death of me, hahaha! This machine represents faster spinning efficiency, faster weaving efficiency, which means more, cheaper cotton fabric! From now on, the price of cotton fabric won't be sky-high, understand? Ordinary people will be able to afford cotton clothes, understand? Even you labor reform prisoners can wear clothes made of cotton fabric, understand? Understand?! *Hmph*... You're going to make me die of anger!"

The prisoners looked bewildered. "???"

The engineer muttered, "Trying to talk about technological progress with you lot is like playing a lute to a cow."

Warden Zhong Gaoliang walked over from the side, chuckling softly. "Don't bother with them. These people are slow-witted; it's hopeless to make them think. You'll just have to give them direct orders."

The engineer sighed and issued a command, "These new spinning and weaving machines are already in mass production. Before long, all the old textile machines in the prison will be retired. All of you will begin learning to use the new machines. Form into small groups. Once you've learned, you'll use the new machines to spin and weave, understood?"

Upon hearing this, the old, weak, women, and children realized they weren't going to be killed. *That's wonderful!* They eagerly replied, "Understood!"