Early the next morning, when Gu Yuanbai woke up from his sleep, he realized his anger.
He lay on the bed for a while, and he was too lazy to touch it. After a quarter of an hour's rest, his anger finally subsided.
"I'm not good, I think a lot." Gu Yuanbai murmured, pulling the rattle beside the bed.
After breakfast, Gu Yuanbai went to Xuanzheng Hall to handle government affairs. After a while, the Minister of Industry, together with the two servants and Kong Yilin, came to see him.
The three of them reported that the cotton had matured.
Gu Yuanbai was overjoyed, and went to the cotton field to take a look. What he saw was a cotton field like snow. What Kong Yilin called white cotton, it really was the same as cotton!
Kong Yilin stepped forward, took the cotton from the palm of his hand, and sent it to Gu Yuanbai, "Your Majesty, touch it, this is the white cotton that the minister said, it has silk and is soft and light."
Gu Yuanbai held it in his hand and rubbed it, his face was full of smiles, and his face was bright, "Good thing! Wu Qing, can you count the yield per mu?"
The minister of the Ministry of Industry also had a ruddy face, and his brows were filled with joy. "The minister sent someone to calculate the yield per mu two days ago. Due to the careful care for more than half a year, the yield per mu is 350 catties!"
The jins of Daheng are smaller than the modern jins. The output of 350 jins is only about 250 jins according to the modern counting method. Gu Yuanbai had never planted cotton, but he was 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 sky and the earth. go down.
Later, the farmers who planted cotton were also called by the Holy General to praise Youjia, and after giving the reward, he immediately issued an order, "Wu Qing, immediately send someone to pick all the white cotton, and gather people to speed up for the soldiers and soldiers in the northern Xinjiang. There must be no delay in making winter clothes for the victims!"
The Minister of Industry responded immediately, and said with concern: "Sir, I'm afraid there are not so many people in Buzhuang."
Gu Yuanbai pondered for a while, and suddenly said, "What do you think of Kong Qing?"
"The clothes made for the soldiers and disaster victims do not need outstanding embroidery and meticulous stitching, they only need to be flat and correct, so that the cotton wool is not exposed," Kong Yilin said. Everyone knows how to make clothes with one hand, so it’s better to give some daily wages and let the women of the common people come to make winter clothes for the soldiers and disaster victims in the northern Xinjiang.”
Gu Yuanbai asked again, "How to calculate the daily wages?"
"It's better to take the number of ready-made garments as the criterion," Kong Yilin said without hesitation, "if you make a piece of clothing, you will get a share of money. Those who are skilled will naturally spend more money, and those who are slow will not waste money. , so let someone go to check the stitches and make sure that the lint is not exposed, brand new and flat, and then pay the wages."
Gu Yuanbai nodded lightly, "Let's do what Kong Qing said."
*
It is now October, and the autumn wind is beginning 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 winter is the coldest, you need to load all the winter clothes in early November.
This is a large number. Regardless of the type of troops, there are at least 30,000 soldiers in the north, plus a large number of disaster victims. A set of adult cotton-padded clothes needs a pound of weight. Even if there is enough cotton, the time to make winter clothes is very urgent.
Kong Yilin regards cotton as a step forward, so naturally he will not offer five or ten cotton seeds. Kong Yilin knew about the white cotton, and only enough of it could reveal its value. His temperament made him spend all of his money to buy seeds that could plant a hundred acres of land even before he was sure whether he could pass the jinshi or become an official.
And these white cottons, which cost Kong Yilin's countless efforts to plant successfully, entered the eyes of the people of the capital and civil and military officials in October of the tenth year of Taikang.
In the early morning of this day, the farmers and Han, who had become accustomed to it, walked to the gate of the official mansion in twos and threes. When they arrived at the gate of the official mansion, there were several layers of heads around them. After the people waited for a while, the official in the government office who read "Daheng Guobao" to them on weekdays came out on time.
But before reading the newspaper, the official cleared his throat and said loudly: "Our court wants to make winter clothes for the soldiers and disaster victims in the north, and there are not enough people in the cloth village in Beijing. The official name is registered, and we will go to the cloth village tomorrow to rush to make clothes."
As soon as these words came out, there was a commotion among the people. From time to time, someone asked, "Is the court giving money?" "How is the salary calculated?" "If my mother-in-law goes, will she be able to do it on her own?"
"My lord, my mother-in-law's craftsmanship is good, but my daughter's craftsmanship is not. Do you need clothes with flowers and birds?"
The officer explained one by one, and finally said: "Don't worry, everyone who enters and leaves the cloth village is all the female officials in our palace, they will be responsible for the meals and safety of your female relatives, and there are our officers and soldiers outside guarding, every day before the sun goes down. I'll definitely go home. This one, you guys can rest easy."
After speaking, the official explained a lot.
Old man Xu stood there, he listened carefully, and after listening, he kept thinking about it on the way home. After thinking about it, he felt that this was because the sage and the imperial court wanted to help them spend the winter, so they gave them a job that could earn wages during the slack farming season.
When the old man returned home, he told the family about this matter. When the family members heard it, they were all delighted, "Can we earn the wages of the imperial court even with our craftsmanship?"
The old man Xu said with a straight face: "Then you must not practice hard, we don't ask for speed, and we don't ask for more money, we just want to be safe. This is the clothes for the soldiers, maybe the clothes you make can still be used by us Daheng. The general put on it! You can’t be in a hurry, contentment and greed for money make you poor, you have to be more serious than when you were at home, if you are all for wages, you might as well not go.”
Old man Xu's mother-in-law said angrily: "Don't we know about this?! Of course, the clothes for soldiers must be taken seriously! Just you, go out and listen to "Daheng Guobao" every day. It smells like a scholar."
The old man Xu smiled, quite complacent: "It's different! It's different!"
The mother-in-law glared at him a few times, and couldn't help but laugh, and said to her daughter-in-law, "Don't talk about it, he has listened to other people's newspapers a lot, and he understands a lot of things. Sometimes when you talk to me, the I was stunned when I said it, and I was really like a reader."
The whole family at the dinner table laughed. The eldest son pondered this matter and discussed it with a few brothers: "Mother, if you don't go, just let Yunniang and the others go."
"Yeah," the eldest daughter-in-law said, "Mother, you can rest at home. Our sisters-in-law will definitely do a good job in this matter!"
The faces of several women had expressions of joy and nervousness. They had never earned a salary by themselves. When the men were not there, they were a little uneasy and uneasy, but they were more eager to try.
Mrs Xu's eyes widened immediately, and she refused without thinking: "No, no, I must go. You don't have to stop me. My sewing is the best at home. I went, and several daughters-in-law also have one. backbone."
Several sons persuaded for a long time, but they had no choice but to nod in agreement.
Early the next morning, Mrs. Xu took her daughters-in-law out of the house. They were apprehensive, but when they saw it on the way, everyone came out, and they were all women. Everyone, look at me, I look at you, my heart settled down, and went to the government together in twos and threes.
After writing down the name of the husband's family, everyone chatted in a low voice. It didn't take long for someone to come to the palace, and they were politely and gently brought to the cloth village to get busy.
After dawn, when many men went to listen to the "Daheng Guobao", they were also talking about this matter. The mother-in-law at home has left, and it is false to say that he is not worried. After listening to the Daheng Guobao, the old man waited at home, and his sons couldn't sit still. When it was dark at night and the family began to worry, Mrs. Xu took her daughter-in-law with a red face, and strode towards the house without seeing her teeth with a smile.
Only then did Old Man Xu and his sons breathe a sigh of relief, "What's wrong with this, you got paid today?"
Xu Shi and his daughter-in-law sat on the seats and said with a smile, "How can it be so fast? This set of winter clothes is made in a hurry, even if you don't do anything all day long, it will take two or three days to be fast."
Old Man Xu wondered, "Then what are you?"
"We're happy," Mrs. Xu asked her daughter-in-law to take out the things. "The imperial court prepared lunch for us. The rice is fragrant, and it ensures that you are full. Not only good rice, but also several kinds of dishes. Speaking of you, I can't believe it, we have eaten meat at noon today, and the taste hasn't dissipated yet!"
The daughter-in-law carefully took out the pastry wrapped in oiled paper, and Mrs. Xu said, "Look, this is the pastry given to me by the lady who took care of us. The lady said it was because I made it fast and well. Cakes are the ones eaten by the emperor in the palace, and they are not cheap!"
The old man Xu was startled, jumped up and said, "You are still arguing that the pastries eaten by the Holy Master are not cheap! Where can you eat them, hurry up and offer them!"
Mr. Xu snatched the cakes away and gave Old Man Xu a white look, "The female official in the cloth house said that when you take these cakes home, you will keep them to eat. If you offer these cakes in vain, I want them to be served to you. For your share, we still have to eat!"
The old man was speechless.
The child at home ran over, and when he saw the cake in Grandma's hand, he rushed over, grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth. After swallowing it whole, his eyes lit up, "Milk, it's delicious!"
The child wanted to catch him again, but was grabbed by the elders in the family. The elders blushed with anger, "Eat slowly, eat more carefully! You can taste it, how can you eat like this?"
The child was ignorant, the elders sighed, and then carefully raised their hands to squeeze a piece of cake and put it in their mouths.
Sweet and fragrant, it turns out that the pastries in the palace have this flavor.
The old man Xu tasted and tasted, tasted and tasted, and when the last bit of taste was gone, he stopped smacking his lips. Let him eat again, he is reluctant to eat. The elders in the family gave up the cakes to the child. The child was nervous to watch, but also imitated the appearance of the elders and cherished it with a straight face.
That night, Old Man Xu and Mrs Xu were lying on the bed, pondering the taste of the day.
"I didn't expect that there would be a day when I could see the female officials in the palace."
"I didn't expect to be able to eat pastries in the palace."
"Those soldiers are cold in winter and have no clothes to wear. I have to hurry up and don't freeze them."
"It's fast, but don't worry," said the old man Xu, "When the court pays you, you will be the masters, each with new clothes."
Late at night, the snoring gradually started. The capital fell into tranquility, and the bright moon hung in the sky.