When the Saintess Arrives, No King Exist-Chapter 646 - 607: Wool Industry Chain

The night wind whistled through the jagged rocks, making a mournful sound.

Thin mist spread up from the forest, shrouding the edges of the village and its overly simple rural church.

From the outside, except for the cross on the roof, it almost looked no different from an ordinary Armed Farmers' courtyard.

The interior of the church was similarly not very luxurious. Moss grew in the corners, a layer of moldy wood flooring covered the ground, and the low ceiling exuded the damp smell of wood.

A simple stone altar stood at the front, along with a main lectern and two rows of four pews, barely able to seat around 50 people, constituting the scale of this old church.

At this moment, the pointed roof was concealed in darkness, with faint candlelight filtering through the window grills and door cracks — lit intentionally by Ansel.

For this prayer meeting, he abandoned the oil lamps and lit the few remaining beeswax candles.

Unfortunately, contrary to Ansel's expectations, the actual attendance at the prayer meeting was not as high as imagined.

"Only these fifteen people?" Bryson gazed at the sparse crowd on the benches, unable to resist questioning Ansel, "Were we too late?"

Yet Ansel was quite unconcerned: "Henderson is selecting members for the wolf hunting party; anyone with strong labor at home has basically gone."

Due to the abundance of forests in Mountain County, they also birthed numerous wild beasts, including boars, wolves, foxes, and even magical creatures.

Boars can topple wheat, wolves attack humans, foxes and minks steal chickens and ducks, and magical creatures are even worse.

Thus, every year, the Knight leads the wolf hunting party into the forest to hunt beasts, and those accompanying them get 20%-30% of the wolf hunting revenues.

Thus, there is a large group of fierce mountain folks who are skilled in combat and archery; it's no wonder they work as mercenaries and serve as the source for Moliat's infantry.

However, the wolf hunting party members number around 20-40 annually, always selected by the village head, and the villagers would not miss this opportunity. 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Despite the lure of salt, only 15 households from the 22 mutual aid teams sent people, many having dispatched young ones while fathers and brothers went to Henderson's house.

As for the rest, either their physical health prevented wolf hunting participation, or they've offended Henderson, making them unlikely to secure a spot even if they went.

Having learned the reason from Ansel, Bryson first slapped his forehead, then self-deprecatingly chuckled; truly, breaking tradition is never easy, is it?

"Alright, let's prepare; it's about to begin."

Fifteen Believers gathered in threes and twos, already wearing fur vests and wool pants early in September.

Seeing Ansel ascending the altar, they immediately fell silent, ceasing their discussions of wolf hunting.

Clearing his throat, Ansel announced loudly to the fifteen Believers:

"Fellow Believers of the Saint Master, our friends in faith, at this moment, we gather in this simple yet holy church not because of the cold outside, but because of the Saint Master's call and the zeal in our hearts.

Perhaps today, only a few have gathered, yet as scripture states: wherever two or three gather in my name, there I am with them.

The Saint Master does not measure our piety by numbers but values our inner faith and actions.

However, today, besides sharing the word of the Lord with you, there is also news that needs conveying.

Do you see the wool behind me? I've been wandering around the village recently, noticing that nearly every household has a hand spinning wheel.

Sadly, they can only rely on borrowing and buying wool from Armed Farmers each year to weave clothes, leaving their wheels idle for much of the year, which is quite wasteful."

At this juncture, Ansel shifted his tone: "You certainly have the technique and tools for weaving, yet can only remain trapped here without generating wealth. The Holy Path has always believed labor creates value, and exchange creates wealth.

You possess labor and technique but lack capital, whereas I have capital. Would it be possible for us to adopt a processing model to generate wealth?

Winter is approaching, and the senior Monastery has purchased a lot of wool. I've allocated a portion to hand over to you for weaving into yarn, which will then be taken out and sold.

The yarn you spin per pound, I will buy at Half Dinar for threads under 18 count, and three-quarters Dinar for 18 count and above."

The so-called yarn count refers to the fineness of wool yarn. By the Empire's definition, a pound of wool spun into 840-yard lengths of thread constitutes 1 count, spun into ten 840-yard lengths constitutes 10 count.

Simply put, the higher the count, the finer the spun yarn.

Typically, 18 count is the limit, above which can be made into thick crash cloth used for paddings or jackets, whereas below can only be made into blankets and the thickest winter wool pants.

There's even more advanced 28 count or even 58 count and above, with the 58 count spun yarn woven into high-grade fabric mostly used for noble underwear and intimate shirts.

That cannot be produced by a hand spinning wheel.

The family spinning wheels used in villages can spin yarn up to 30 count as a maximum, even Horn's star-gear cannot spin fabric above 58 count due to efficiency instability and mechanical structural issues.

Seeing the villagers below still in a daze, Bryson couldn't help but explain: "Brother Ansel gives you wool for free, and your wives spin yarn with hand spinning wheels in a day; the inferior one he exchanges for Half Dinar, and the good one he adds another fifty percent, yours. Understand?"