It's October, and the crops have been planted in the fields. Farmers have nothing left to do except water the crops.
This year is a good year, and it is also a royal estate. The farmers do not have to worry about the persecution of corrupt officials. After paying the royal grain, the remaining grain not only fills the granary, but is enough to feed the children at home.
The warm sunshine drove away the chill of late autumn. Daiyu and a group of women and children sat in the yard of an old grandmother's house, smiling and asking about the farmers' daily lives.
With the Holy Emperor on the throne, life in the past two years can almost be said to be as beautiful as a dream. The old grandma kept holding the embroidery needle in her hand, and at the same time she was telling Daiyu about the situation in the past few years.
As people get older, they like to reminisce about the past. Grandma Lu was born in a embroidered family in Gusu, and she was once a female official in the East Palace.
Because the palace incident in the last years of Zhaowu was affected, fortunately the fourth master had a good adoptive mother, and the former maid of the East Palace was rescued and sent out of the palace by the Empress Dowager Cao.
The old nanny and several palace maids had no place to go, so they settled directly in this imperial manor. On weekdays, they helped the steward Zhang Qian manage the manor, and at the same time embroidered some embroidery and exchanged it for money.
As the number of widows of heroes and martyrs taken in by Zhuangzi increased, most of the wives of these soldiers did not have any skills to support themselves, and they did not have much energy to do farm work. Even if the emperor took care of them, their lives would be miserable. .
As soon as the old woman thought about it, she started teaching embroidery to these women and children. As a result, she got a lot of work in Xiufang in the capital. Although she was not rich, she could still make a lot of money.
Otherwise, how could all the little kids in Zhuangzi be strong enough to practice martial arts with Qin Da and others.
"Who says women are inferior to men? Grandma Lu led everyone to exchange money for embroidery to support a large family. This is worse than many men."
Daiyu looked at the pieces of embroidery in the wooden box. Even if it was just ordinary fabrics, with the exquisite embroidery work and exquisite patterns, it was better than the embroidery from several major showrooms in the capital.
However, because the showrooms that accept work are average, and the embroidery work and patterns are all top-notch, the amount of money that can be exchanged is limited.
She thought that Xiangyun now had an embroidery shop in her hands, and came up with a plan: Most of the people in Zhuangzi were women and children, and there would definitely be more widows of heroes and martyrs in the future, so they could only rely on the limited land output to fill their stomachs.
If this group of women and children can have a stable livelihood, such as embroidery work. It is better to open a showroom in Zhuangzi and let Xiangyun's shop sell...
Wait, dad once said that the silk embroidery of the Celestial Dynasty is extremely popular overseas, and the nobles of the East and West all regard it as an honor to wear the silk brocades of the Celestial Dynasty.
In this case, if the women and children in this village can support their family as embroidery workers, can women and children in other places also be able to support their families?
Sister Yun owns a shop, and the Xue family runs several showrooms. In addition to the second sister, the third sister, the fourth sister and the noble girls in the clan, if they can unite, wouldn't they be able to help more lonely women and children?
Which woman of this age doesn’t know how to embroider a few stitches? High, medium and low-end embroidery products will not have any worries about sales.
In addition, the embroidery girls in the palace can be said to have mastered almost all the embroidery techniques of the country. As long as they are managed properly, the huge sea trade is enough to convert these embroidery products into huge amounts of silver.
The Queen Mother is kind and would probably agree to let the embroiderers in the palace help. The worst she can do is go to Cining Palace a few more times a month and play the game of pretending to be the golden boy with the old lady...
Daiyu looked through the embroidery items in the box one by one, but she had already drawn up a rough plan in her mind.
The imperial court has opened several shipping offices along the coast, and the expansion of maritime trade is just around the corner. This is an excellent opportunity.
If this happens, at least the widows of military households who have lost their heads will have a stable income. Coupled with the government's pension and the output of the family's fields, supporting the family will not be a problem at all.
Thinking of this, Daiyu's eyebrows curved, and her shining eyes were full of fighting spirit.
Her Royal Highness the Princess came back from her meditation and asked with a smile: "Mom, would you like to recruit more apprentices? I want to open a showroom on Zhuangzi..."
…
Today is the Winter Clothes Festival and there is a good harvest. Zhang Qian is a quick-thinking person. He had sent a note to the palace earlier, saying that Zhuangzi would set up a running water mat today to express gratitude for God's grace and celebrate the coming of the prosperous age.
Originally, he just wanted to show his face in front of the emperor, but Zhezi, who didn't want to test it out, actually invited the emperor.
The emperor brought his three children to the feast. Zhang Qian was excited and extremely nervous at the same time.
Fortunately, everyone in the village was trustworthy. Tables were set out one after another, and large pots of food were served. The school grounds could not even accommodate everyone in the village, and the dining tables were set out on the street along the two exits of the school grounds. In the alley.
There were no exquisite banquets, and no delicacies from the mountains and seas. They were just pork stews, roasted game, steamed buns made of sorghum noodles, mutton braised cakes, etc. Most of them were meals customarily eaten by the military.
Only the emperor and the two princesses had a few plates of relatively exquisite dishes placed in front of them. These were fish just fished out of the river by the villagers and specially prepared by the chef.
Chun'er, who is less than five years old, is very happy today and has many friends.
She imitated the little doll on Zhuangzi, picking up a bowl full of meat and slapping rice into her mouth.
When the emperor saw his daughter eating happily, the farmers' faces were all smiles and they were naturally in a good mood.
In addition, the people sitting with him were all warriors, and they deliberately suppressed the speed of cooking because they were concerned about the emperor's identity. It was also a storm that aroused the emperor's fighting spirit...
However, he was no match for this group of cooks, and the bowls on the Zhuangzi were larger than those in the palace, so after two bowls, he felt a little full.
"Fourth Master's appetite is not as good as before. I still remember that you could eat at least three bowls of rice in one meal. Fourth Master is busy with state affairs every day and consumes your mind and energy. Why do you only eat this little?"
Qin Da couldn't help but frowned when he looked at the gray-white hair on the emperor's temples.
"Fourth Master, please don't blame me for speaking crudely. When you and Your Highness practiced martial arts with my husband, how strong would your body be? This is not good. Having a saint like you in the world is a blessing to hundreds of millions of people. You have to Keep practicing, everyone is still looking forward to long live you."
If these words are criticized by someone who is thoughtful, I don't know what unreasonable charges will be slapped on me when I encounter a foolish king.
The whole table fell silent. On the contrary, after hearing this, the emperor first smiled bitterly, and then shook his head freely.
"How many people are looking forward to my early death, and you are the only ones who tell me this... I know it, and I will pick up my martial arts skills in the future. When the prince is older in two years, I will lead everyone to restart the Northern Expedition, and realize the eldest brother's original goal desire."
On the way back to Beijing, the emperor was in a very complicated mood. The farmers were grateful for the emperor's kindness and dedicated the best harvests at home to the emperor.
Eggs from this family, pheasants hunted by that family, potatoes from the east family, pumpkins from the west family...
The emperor did not refuse these things and asked Zhang Qian to arrange three carriages to win the hearts of the bankers back to the capital.
He planned to use these things to entertain the officials at the court meeting, so that they could also taste the gratitude of the people to him, the emperor, and the court.
…
There were guests in Rongguo Mansion today, and Grandma Liu brought her grandson to kowtow to the old lady to thank her.
Last winter, her family got through the famine year with the help of Rongguo Mansion. This year's harvest was excellent. Her family now has no shortage of food and money. Her grandson also went to school and can now read a lot.
Although the handwriting of the copied Buddhist scriptures was crooked, and some words were obviously copied, Jia Cong could still feel the true feelings of the Wang family.
The old lady's senses became better and better for Grandma Liu, and she said with a smile: "That child is smart and smart. He can copy Buddhist scriptures after only one year of study. In the future, he may be able to get a good name. Originally, I wanted to keep the Liu family's descendants. It’s a stay for a few days, but unfortunately the child will go back to school tomorrow, so he can only be sent back after lunch.”
"Studying really shouldn't be delayed. It's not easy for farmers to have the opportunity to study. Wang Gou'er's family is also a grateful and measured person, so my grandson will help them again. Someone will send some books to them another day. If Ban'er really has He is so talented that our family can accept him as a student."
Jia Cong thought more deeply than the old lady. The Rongguo Mansion had no shortage of disciples in terms of military generals, but there were really few useful people among the civil servants.
In the future, he will take the path of being both civilized and military, and from now on he will look for and train more helpers. Grandma Liu's family has good character, and Wang Ban'er has a talent for reading, so why not give him a hand now?
The old lady understood Jia Cong's thoughts as soon as she heard it, and after being surprised, she felt relieved. Every generation of the Ning Rong Jia family will have amazing and talented people. The first generation Ning Rong Ergong, the second generation Jia Daishan and Jia Daihua, the third generation Jia Jing... well, neither does the eldest son. Good stubble.
She originally thought that this generation would be Baoyu, but now it seems that the brothers from Dafang have clearly left the others behind.
And compared to Jia Lian, Jia Cong is several times stronger. This Brother Cong is simply a monster in terms of his character, talent, and conduct.
Even her husband and the old men in the Rongguo Mansion are not as good as this grandson. Maybe Brother Cong will have a greater fortune in the future, and it may not be impossible to have three men in one family.
Grandma Liu brought a lot of home-grown fruits and vegetables, as well as game she bought from the hunters in the village. The family had a taste of it during dinner and talked about interesting farm stories for a while around the table.
Lin Ruhai was forced to take a leave by the emperor, but he was a person who couldn't take time off. After learning about his daughter's plan from Jia Cong, not only did he not stop it, but he enthusiastically helped make suggestions.
Compared to the crude plans of Jia Cong and Dai Yu, Mr. Lin, who was familiar with the political economy of the country, almost overthrew the entire strategy drafted by Dai Yu.
"You can't just do things that are great and complete. As the saying goes, governing a big country is like cooking small dishes, and the same goes for doing business, not to mention important matters related to women, children and their families."
Lin Ruhai picked up a pen and circled a few of Daiyu's original partners and said: "Haimao is a cornucopia, yes, but Haimao is both a cornucopia and a beast that devours people. Every ally must be carefully selected, such as These families..."
Jia Cong and Dai Yu walked over and saw Lin Ruhai surrounding several houses including Hengyang Princess's Mansion, Jianning Hou's Mansion, Songjiang Xu Family, and Chengdu Yuan Family.
Just listen to Lin Ruhai say: "The eldest princess of Hengyang has been there for a long time. She has been ill for the past two years, and her children are ineffective and their character is unreliable. The Jianning Hou Mansion does run a silk business, but his family The business was obtained by forcing the Fujian Chamber of Commerce to use the power of the Hou family. There are also imperial merchants such as the Xu family and the Yuan family, who are too ambitious and should not be friends..."
Lin Ruhai has been in high and low officialdom for more than ten years. Now he has reached the first rank and holds great power in the household department. His control over people's hearts can be said to be superb.
He analyzed the two of them one by one, picked out the best among them, and divided them into several levels.
And began to guide Daiyu to formulate a plan. For example, it could be piloted in the capital first, and the scale does not need to be too large. There is no need to find others to cooperate from the beginning, just bring in the sisters at home.
After making some achievements, you can seek cooperation with people of good character in the clan to expand the scale. Of course, the Queen Mother or the Imperial Concubine must take the lead in this matter.
When the scale is large enough, it would be best to obtain the emperor's permission to establish an imperial merchant and join the imperial court's sea trade plan.
…
In early October, Jia Cong and Dai Yu both had their own jobs and were busy without touching the ground.
Although the plan against Wala was taken over by the central boss, Yilan seemed to have identified Jia Cong. Now that he was free, he came to Rongguo Mansion to find him almost every other day.
The emperor probably felt that he was so busy every day that he didn't even have time to go to the harem. He felt unhappy when he saw his ministers leisurely, so he actually gave Jia Cong the title of Doctor of the Ministry of Rites and asked him to be responsible for entertaining the future Prince of Shunyi County.
Yilan came to Jia Cong again, because as this year's Tienwang Mountain hunt was coming, he would accept the emperor's edict, and Aluotai's people would also arrive in the capital.
He really has no idea where Wala will go in the future. It doesn't matter if he loses the position of Khan, but if his own plan causes Wala's blood to flow into a river, then he will really become Wala's sinner.
"Uncle Yongfeng, what is this?"
Yi Lan saw the newly made clothes on the table in Jia Cong's study. The style was strange and not what the Han people wore today.
Jia Cong curled his lips and said: "Wool, that is, clothes woven from wool. Yilan Khan, the most indispensable thing in the grassland is wool, and the Central Plains has technology. When this technology matures, what will the people of Oua do? Will you be short of money to buy food and salt?"
This woolen coat is the first finished product woven by the Ministry of Industry using fine wool hand-spun on a water-powered loom.
The craftsmen at the Ministry of Industry are really skilled. Jia Cong just provided a rough idea. They actually produced several looms in just one month, changing the use of wool from traditional plain weave and twill weave. Woolen fabrics, tufted blankets, etc. have crossed over to woolen clothing.
Compared to fleece blankets and other items, clothing made of wool is more marketable. The strong warmth retention properties will definitely make woolen clothing a popular trend in the cold autumn and winter.
At least Jia Cong was very satisfied with the woolen coat on the table. Although it looked a bit weird, the winter in the capital was really cold. It would be better if he had a thick woolen sweater.
Monthly ticket recommendation ticket
I fell asleep while typing today, and I had already finished updating my dream. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I saw that I had written just over a thousand words, and I cried to death.
I just added 3,000 words, so let’s update one chapter first. Will update again tonight.
(End of chapter)
