——————

Although the Chu Empire has entered the industrial revolution, and ships and trains have appeared and been used on a large scale, the culture of the Chu Empire is still not much different from that of thirty or forty years ago.

This is also true when it comes to clothing. In today's Chu Empire, the right collar is still a very important clothing feature. Even double-breasted clothes are relatively rare, and even double-breasted clothes cannot be used as formal wear to attend some formal occasions.

For contemporary Chu people, the traditional large and elegant Hanfu is still the most important attire. You can wear other clothes in daily life, such as professional attire similar to military uniforms that have appeared in recent years. However, in formal occasions, Hanfu is still the most important attire.

The only choice.

The official uniforms of officials are still Confucian clothes based on blue, and the official court clothes of officials are traditional Hanfu.

Even the students are dressed in traditional scholarly attire, with Confucian robes and scarves, which are the standard attire for contemporary students in the Chu Empire.

The only thing that has changed a lot is work clothes. Because work needs to be convenient, the wide and elegant Hanfu is not very suitable. From this, professional clothes gradually appeared.

Professional attire evolved from military uniforms, and the military uniforms of the Chu army were based on combat needs, taking into account the convenience of combat and appearance.

However, if combat and work requirements are not taken into consideration, people are still more inclined to wear traditional Hanfu in daily life.

Not to mention when attending formal occasions, men in the middle and upper classes will be more inclined to wear formal Hanfu with silk as the main fabric.

The traditional dress that Boss Chen refers to refers to this kind of silk Hanfu.

Let’s not talk about other aspects of this kind of Hanfu. The important feature is just one word: expensive!

After all, silk is used as raw material, and silk was a fabric in the luxury category both before and now.

Although the silk production in the Dachu Empire is increasing day by day, the domestic demand is also growing day by day. Even if there are modern steam factories for spinning, weaving, printing and dyeing, etc., it is difficult to produce silkworm cocoons as a raw material.

Increased with the progress of industrialization.

So far, silkworm cocoons still require artificial breeding in the Chu Empire, and it is difficult to carry out industrial breeding. However, after modern cultivation, the quality of silkworm cocoons is better, easier to maintain, and easier to feed.

At the same time, the output is just larger.

But essentially, the source of silk production has not changed much.

This also limited the production of silk. Coupled with the rapid economic development within the Chu Empire, people's demand for high-end fabrics such as silk was increasing year by year, which further raised the price of silk.

In recent years, due to the huge domestic demand, the silk export volume in the Chu Empire has been decreasing year by year... This has also led to a gradual increase in the price of silk in Europe and other overseas regions.

There are fewer European nobles who can afford to wear silk now... It's not that there are fewer nobles or they have less money, it's just that the price of silk has increased.

The reduction in silk exports is also an important feature of the Chu Empire's foreign trade in the past ten years, that is, the export volume of primary products such as silk and tea has been reduced year by year.

However, the total amount of export trade has not decreased, but has increased rapidly. This increased share mainly comes from a variety of industrial products, among which the growth rate of defense products is the most obvious.

The export of silk has decreased, but the domestic price is still extremely high. The price in the Americas is not cheap, and high-end silk is even more expensive.

Song Erniu wants to get a silk Hanfu, which is not cheap.

To be honest, when he came to a tailor shop specializing in high-end dresses in Shuanghe County and asked about the prices of dresses made of various silk fabrics, he almost left without turning around!

This price is too expensive.

And if you buy this, it’s not just one piece, but a set of many pieces.

It must have pants, a top with long hem and wide sleeves, and a middle coat underneath.

Then you have to pair it with a pair of well-made, purely handmade traditional men's shoes, such as raised-toe soap boots. In addition, you can also choose black leather shoes that have been popular in recent years. The middle and upper classes of the Da Chu Empire are very fond of black shiny leather shoes.

Good impression, in addition to daily wear, some people have begun to wear it with traditional dresses in formal occasions.

So don’t be surprised if you see a Chu man wearing a large and elegant Hanfu and a pair of modern black leather shoes... This is normal.

Even to a certain extent, this is the fusion of tradition and the modern industrialization of the Chu Empire.

Of course, whether they are boots made with traditional craftsmanship or high-end leather shoes made with modern craftsmanship, they are not cheap!

When attending formal occasions, in addition to clothes and boots, you also need to match a hat. Nowadays, upper-class adult men in Chu State generally wear black domed hard-shell futou when attending some formal occasions, but they are not officials themselves.

It's called a bowler hat.

Officials or nobles and other higher-ranking people generally wear beam crowns. This thing is part of the court uniform, and not everyone in the Chu Empire can wear it.

Because Liangguan continues the millennium old system, the details are strictly distinguished according to the wearer's grade.

Just like the crimson court dress, it is the official dress for officials of the fourth rank and above and cannot be worn by ordinary people.

Although the Da Chu Empire has relaxed its etiquette system a lot, some things still have restrictions. For example, yellow is the royal color, crimson court clothes are worn by officials of the fourth rank and above, and Liang Guan is the hat worn by officials and nobles.

Under such circumstances, ordinary middle- and upper-class people without official status had no choice but to choose other hats when attending formal occasions. Finally, under the influence of the upper class, they wore black domed hard-shell futou. There were many subsequent variations. Song Er

What Niu chose was a black domed hard-shell wide-brimmed hat, which is actually one of the variations of Futou. It has only become popular in recent years, and some young people prefer it.

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!

This thing seems to be common, but if you want to match it with a dress, it is basically a top hat made by a master with exquisite craftsmanship, and the materials are basically top-notch, and it is very expensive.

In addition to the three major items of hats, clothes, and shoes, there are also some other odds and ends, such as belts... This damn thing is also expensive.

Then there is the jade pendant hanging around the waist.

When men in the Chu Kingdom wear traditional Hanfu, they must hang something around their waists, especially jade pendants.

The jade pendant can not only be used as decoration, but also has a practical function, that is, it can hold down the hem of the Hanfu... so that the hem will not fly up after just two steps!

The elegant feeling of Hanfu means that the hem of the sleeves looks smooth and elegant, but it means that the hem of the sleeves flies around or even lifts up!

In later generations' parlance, it is probably that what is needed in girls' hairstyles is long and straight black hair, which looks smooth and elegant... rather than long and messy black hair that looks like a crazy woman.

Therefore, the jade pendant hanging around the waist is very important.

Such small, visible accessories are often used by the middle and upper classes to show off their status and even financial resources.

After all, jade can be cheap or expensive, and some varieties that look good and are boasted a little will be sold at very high prices.

Of course, its price also depends on the popularity... After all, this thing is not gold, and the output of jade is actually a lot.

As for whether the appearance is good or not, and whether it is worth the money, this is a matter of opinion. Some people think pure white is better, some people think pure green is better, some people think white with green... In short, is this thing expensive?

Look at what varieties people touted and what varieties were popular during this period.

The well-known jade mining, production and sales one-stop enterprise in the Dachu Empire: the Royal Jewelry Company under the Royal Assets Department, has been advocating jadeite for the past ten years.

After ten years of speculation, jadeite that was not worth much before was suddenly stirred up, and the price soared by more than a hundred times.

You ask why we advocate jade... Because the Royal Jewelry Company obtained the jade mining rights in Yongchang Mansion, Yunnan Province twelve years ago, and then dug out a large amount of jade, which is called Yongchang Jade locally.

But this thing can’t be sold at a high price!

In order to raise the price of their Yongchang jade, they began to shamelessly promote and hype, and launched the jade brand "Jade", and took the upper-level route to send jadeite to the royal family.

Well, that's right, 'Jade' is not the name of a certain type of jade, it is just the name of a Yongchang Jade brand owned by Royal Jewelry Company, which owns various patents for the brand's perfection.

Because jade jade has taken the top royal route, it has gradually fallen into the aristocratic group, the bureaucratic gentry group, and now, although the reputation of jade jade cannot be compared with that of Hetian jade, its value has increased a hundred times than before.

The Royal Jewelry Company, which owns the entire Yongchang Jade Mining Area, is making a lot of money and has contributed a lot of profits to the Royal Assets Department year after year.

The jade pendant Song Erniu chose was a jadeite jade. Although this thing is not as good as Hetian jade, Lantian jade and other top jade categories, it can be regarded as a second-rate jade in recent years.

After getting this whole set of clothes and accessories, it cost Song Erniu more than 70 Chu Yuan.

At this price, it is actually considered low among traditional dresses. In the words of later generations, it is an entry-level dress.

No matter how expensive it is, it's not that Song Erniu can't afford it, but he can't bear it... As a child from a poor family, if you ask him to spend more than 70 yuan to wear a traditional dress, he already feels very luxurious, and he will spend even more.

With too much money, he would rather not go to that party.

This is also because he has made a lot of money in the past two or three months. His canvas workwear business is doing very well, and he can sell dozens of sets of clothes every day. In order to meet the market demand, he has continuously increased recruitment

As a worker, I purchased more than a dozen pedal sewing machines.

Nowadays, his clothes are in short supply and he is considering further upgrading his small workshop and turning it into a formal clothing factory.

Having made money, he also had greater ambitions to further expand the scale, so he went to attend a gathering of businessmen in Shuanghe County.

Make some connections and prepare for subsequent expansion of production or even getting involved in other industries.

Otherwise, he would still be reluctant to part with this outfit.

After preparing the dress, it didn't take long for Song Erniu to follow Boss Chen to attend a party.

The initiator of this party was a manager of Dongyang Trading Company's branch in Shuanghe County. Although this manager seemed to be just a part-time worker, and his net worth was not as high as the other small businessmen present, his power status was comparable to that of Song Er.

Niu, Boss Chen and the others are much stronger.

After all, he represents the Dongyang Trading Company, and the Dongyang Trading Company is still one of the only two armed trading companies in the Chu Empire, specializing in business in the Americas.

Although both the Eastern Trading Company and the Western Trading Company have lost their trading franchises over time, they still retain a large number of assets, including a large number of colonial real estate and mining rights. In addition, they control a large number of assets in indigenous countries.

A large number of channels and assets.

Their huge size caused these two armed trading companies to occupy an extremely important position in the foreign trade of the Great Chu Empire.

This has also brought huge influence.

In the small place of Shuanghe County, Dongyang Trading Company is the largest company. They own the largest gold mining area in Shuanghe County and are the only gold mining company in the area. In addition to Dongyang Trading Company's mining area, other

There is no organized mining in the mining area, and some gold prospectors do it alone.

In addition to gold mining, Dongyang Trading Company owns many industries in Shuanghe County, including shops, inns, etc.

He also owns a very large farm in the area north of Shuanghe County. This farm grows a large amount of cotton, wheat and other crops, and the manpower used is not immigrants from the country, but prisoners of war from the military.
To be continued...