I Rely on Beauty to Stabilize the Country - Chap 86
Early the next morning, Gu Yuanbai woke up from his sleep and realized that he was angry.
He lay on the bed and relaxed for a while, not bothering to touch it. After a quarter of an hour of rest, his anger finally subsided.
“I’m not feeling well, and I have a lot to think about.” Gu Yuanbai murmured and pulled the rattle beside the bed.
After finishing his breakfast, Gu Yuanbai went to Xuanzheng Hall to handle government affairs. After a while, the Minister of Industry, the two ministers and Kong Yilin came to see him.
The three of them reported that the cotton was ripe.
Gu Yuanbai was so happy that he rushed to the cotton field to take a look. What he saw was a cotton field like snow. What Kong Yilin called white cotton was indeed the same as cotton!
Kong Yilin stepped forward and picked a palm of cotton and sent it to Gu Yuanbai, “Your Majesty, please touch it. This is exactly the white cotton I mentioned. It has silk wadding in it. It is soft and light.”
Gu Yuanbai took it in his hand and rubbed it, with a smile on his face and a bright face, “Good stuff! Wu Qing, have you calculated the yield per mu?”
The minister of the Ministry of Industry also had a rosy complexion and beamed with joy, “I sent someone to calculate the yield per mu two days ago. Due to my careful care over the past six months, the yield per mu is three hundred and fifty kilograms!”
Daheng’s kilograms are smaller than modern kilograms. The output of 350 kilograms is only about 250 kilograms according to modern counting methods. Gu Yuanbai has never grown cotton, but he is already very satisfied with this number, very satisfied.
He praised the officials of the Ministry of Industry without hesitation, and even said that Kong Yilin’s contribution was unique in the world. All the officials present were refreshed by the praise, and even if they tried to suppress their laughter, they could not suppress their laughter. Go down.
Later, the Holy Admiral also called the farmers who grew cotton to come over and expressed his praise. After giving the reward, he immediately issued an order, “Wu Qing, immediately send people to pick all the white cotton, gather people to speed up the work for the soldiers and soldiers in northern Xinjiang, and The victims are rushing to make winter clothes without any delay!”
The Minister of the Ministry of Industry immediately agreed and said with concern: “Your Majesty, I’m afraid there are not so many people in Buzhuang.”
Gu Yuanbai thought for a while and suddenly said: “What does Kong Qing think?”
“The clothes made for soldiers and victims do not require outstanding embroidery techniques or meticulous stitching. They only need to be smooth and smooth so that the cotton wadding is not exposed,” Kong Yilin said. “The people have now finished their farm work, and the women at home have We all know how hard it is to make clothes, so why not pay some wages every day and let the girls from ordinary families come to make winter clothes for the soldiers and victims of the disaster in northern Xinjiang.”
Gu Yuanbai asked again: “How should the daily wages be calculated?”
“It’s not based on the number of ready-made clothes,” Kong Yilin said calmly, “Once a piece of clothing is made, it’s a portion of the money. Those with more skillful hands will naturally have more money, and those with slower hands will not waste money. After they hand over the ready-made clothes, , I asked someone to check the stitches and make sure that no cotton batting was exposed and that they were brand new and flat before I paid them the wages.”
Gu Yuanbai nodded lightly, “Let’s do what Kong Qing said.”
*
It is now October, and the autumn wind has begun to turn cold. If you want to transport a new batch of winter clothes to the north at the end of the year, when the coldest winter comes, you need to load all the winter clothes on the truck and transport them away in early November.
This is a large number. Regardless of the military branch, there are at least 30,000 soldiers in the north, plus a large number of disaster victims. A set of cotton-padded clothes for adults consumes one pound of weight. Even if there is enough cotton, the time to make winter clothes is still very tight.
Kong Yilin regards cotton as the stepping stone to spiritual advancement, so naturally he will not offer five or ten cotton seeds to him. Kong Yilin knew that white cotton could only show its value if there were enough of it. His temperament allowed him to spend all his money to buy enough seeds to plant hundreds of acres of land even before he was sure whether he could pass the imperial examination and become an official.
The successful planting of these white cottons, which cost Kong Yilin countless efforts, entered the eyes of the people of the capital and civil and military officials in October of the 10th year of Taikang.
Early that morning, the peasants who had already developed a habit of walking in twos and threes walked to the gate of the government. When they arrived at the gate of the government, there were already several levels of people surrounding them. After the people waited for a while, the official from the government who usually read “Daheng Guo Bao” to them came out on time.
But before reading the newspaper, the official cleared his throat and said loudly: “Our court is rushing to make winter clothes for the soldiers and victims in the north. The cloth village in Beijing is short of manpower. If any female family members want to earn some money, just come. The official will take note of the name, and we will go to the cloth shop together tomorrow to make clothes.”
As soon as these words came out, there was an uproar among the people. From time to time, some people asked, “Does the court provide the money?” “How is the salary calculated?” “If my mother-in-law goes, can she do it by herself?”
“Sir, my mother-in-law’s craftsmanship is good, but my daughter’s craftsmanship is not so good. Do you need clothes with flowers and birds?”
The official explained one by one, and finally said: “Don’t worry, everyone. All the people entering and leaving the village are female officials from our palace. They will be responsible for the meals and safety of the female family members in your family. There are also our officers and soldiers guarding outside. Before the sun sets every day, I will definitely return home. Let’s all rest at ease here.”
After finishing speaking, the official explained a lot more.
Old man Xu stood among them. He listened carefully. After listening, he kept thinking about it on the way home. After thinking about it, he felt that this was because the Holy Emperor and the imperial court wanted to help them survive the winter, so they gave them a job that could earn them money during the slack time.
When old man Xu returned home, he told his family about this matter. When the female family members heard this, they were all happy, “With our skills, we can also earn jobs in the court.”
AD4
Money? ”
Old man Xu said with a serious look: “Then you must practice hard. We don’t ask for speed or money, but for safety. These are clothes for the soldiers. Maybe the clothes you make can be used by our Daheng General put it on! Don’t be anxious about this matter. Contentment will always lead to poverty. You must be more serious than when you are at home. If you are all just for wages, it is better not to go.”
Old Man Xu’s mother-in-law said angrily: “Don’t we know about this?! Of course you have to wear the clothes seriously for the soldiers! Just you, go out and listen to the “Daheng Guo Bao” every day, look, now you speak like a He sounds like a scholar.”
Old man Xu chuckled, quite contentedly: “It’s different! It’s different!”
The mother-in-law glared at him a few times, but couldn’t help but laugh, and said to her daughter-in-law: “Not to mention, he listens to people’s readings a lot, and he knows a lot more. Sometimes when he talks to me, he I was stunned for a moment, just like a scholar.”
The whole family at the dinner table laughed. The eldest son thought about this matter and discussed it with his brothers: “Mom, why don’t you go? Just let Yun Niang and the others go.”
“Yes,” the eldest daughter-in-law said, “Mom, just have a good rest at home. We sisters-in-law will definitely do a good job in this matter!”
There were expressions of joy and nervousness on the faces of several women. They had never earned a wage by themselves. The men were not here, so they were a little uneasy and uneasy, but more of they were eager to try.
Mrs. Xu immediately widened her eyes and refused without thinking: “No, no, I must go. You don’t have to stop me. I am the best at needlework in the family. I went, and several of my daughters-in-law also have one.” The backbone.”
The sons tried to persuade him for a long time but still could not persuade him, so they could only nod their heads in agreement.
Early the next morning, Mrs. Xu took her daughters-in-law out. They were worried, but on the road they saw people coming out of every house, and without exception they were all women. Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, their hearts settled down, and they headed towards the government office together in twos and threes.
After writing down the husband’s name, everyone chatted in low voices. Not long after, people from the palace came, and they were politely and gently brought to the cloth village to get busy.
After daybreak, many men were talking about this matter when they went to listen to the “Daheng Guo Bao”. The mothers-in-law at home have left, and it is a lie to say that they are not worried. After listening to the Daheng National News, Mr. Xu waited at home, and his sons could not sit still. When the sky darkened at night and the family began to worry, Mrs. Xu and her daughter-in-law strode home with their faces glowing and smiling so hard that they couldn’t see their teeth.
Old man Xu and his sons breathed a sigh of relief, “What good thing happened? Did you get your wages today?”
Mrs. Xu and her daughters-in-law sat on their seats and said with a smile: “How can it be done so quickly? It takes two or three days to make this set of winter clothes even if you do nothing all day long. Even if you are quick, it will take two or three days.”
Old man Xu wondered: “Then what are you doing?”
“We are very happy,” Ms. Xu asked her daughter-in-law to take out the things. “The imperial court has prepared lunch for us. The rice is delicious. I guarantee you will be full. It is not only good rice, but also several kinds of dishes. Speaking of you, I don’t believe it, we ate meat for lunch today, and the taste is still there!”
The daughter-in-law carefully took out the pastry wrapped in oil paper. Mrs. Xu said, “Look, this is the pastry given to me by the female officer who takes care of us. The female officer said that it was rewarded because I made it quickly and well. This is Pastries are the pastries eaten by the emperor in the palace, so they are not cheap!”
Old man Xu was startled, jumped up and said: “The cakes that the Holy One eats are not cheap if you are still thinking about them! There is no way to eat them here, hurry up and offer them!”
Mrs. Xu snatched the pastries and rolled her eyes at Old Man Xu, “The female official in the cloth village said that when you take these pastries home, you will keep them for eating. If you offer them, these pastries will be in vain. I want to offer them to you.” Take your share, we still have to eat!”
Old man Xu was speechless.
The child at home ran over, saw the pastry in grandma’s hand, and rushed towards it. He grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth. After swallowing it wholeheartedly, his eyes lit up, “Milk, it’s so delicious!”
The child wanted to catch it again, but his hand was grabbed by an elder in the family. The elder’s face turned red with anger and said, “Eat slowly and carefully! Taste it. How can you eat like this?”
The child was confused, and the elders sighed, carefully raised their hands, pinched a piece of cake, and put it into their mouths.
It’s sweet and fragrant. It turns out that the pastries in the palace taste like this.
Old man Xu tasted and tasted, and tasted again and again. Only when the last bit of taste was gone did he stop smacking his lips. If you let him eat again, he won’t be willing to eat. The elders in the family gave the cakes to the children. The children were nervous, but they also followed the example of their elders and cherished them strictly.
That night, Old Man Xu and Mrs. Xu were lying on the bed, thinking about what the day would be like.
“I didn’t expect that one day I would be able to meet a female official in the palace.”
“I didn’t expect to be able to eat pastries from the palace.”
“Those soldiers are cold in the winter and have no clothes to wear. I have to hurry up to prevent them from freezing.”
“You have to be quick, but don’t be impatient,” Old Man Xu said. “When the court pays you the wages, you will make the decision. Each of you will have new clothes.”
As the night progressed, the snoring began. The capital fell into tranquility, and the bright moon hung in the sky.
