Chapter 86
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Early the next morning, Gu Yuanbai woke up from his sleep and immediately felt his anger rising.
He laid in bed for a while, too lazy to move. After resting for a quarter of an hour, his anger finally subsided.
“My body isn’t good, and I think too much,” Gu Yuanbai murmured to himself and pulled the bell by the bedside.
After breakfast, Gu Yuanbai went to the Xuanzheng Hall to handle state affairs. After a while, the Shangshu of the Ministry of Works, along with two assistant ministers and Kong Yilin, came to pay their respects.
They reported on the maturity of the cotton.
Gu Yuanbai was delighted and personally went to the cotton fields to observe. What he saw was fields of cotton as white as snow, the same as what Kong Yilin called white cotton, exactly as soft and light as cotton.
Kong Yilin picked a handful of cotton and presented it to Gu Yuanbai. “Your Majesty, feel it. This is indeed the white cotton I mentioned, with silk fibers inside, soft and lightweight.”
Gu Yuanbai rubbed it in his hands and smiled with satisfaction. His expression was radiant. “Excellent! Official Wu, have you calculated the yield per mu?”
The Shangshu of the Ministry of Works also had a rosy complexion and joy on his face. “A few days ago, I sent someone to calculate the yield per mu. With careful care over the past half year, the yield per mu is as much as 350 catties!”
The catty used in Great Heng is smaller than the modern catty. With 350 catties of yield per mu, it would be around 250 catties using modern counting methods. Gu Yuanbai had never planted cotton himself, but he was very satisfied with this number, extremely satisfied.
He lavishly praised the officials of the Ministry of Works and praised Kong Yilin’s merits to the skies. The officials present were praised so much that they felt invigorated, unable to suppress their laughter even if they tried to keep a straight face.
Later, the Emperor summoned the farmers who planted the cotton to commend them. After giving them rewards, he immediately issued an edict, “Official Wu, immediately send people to harvest all the white cotton, gather manpower, and speed up the production of winter clothes for the soldiers and disaster victims in the northern border. There must be no delay!”
The Shangshu of the Ministry of Works agreed immediately but expressed concern, “Your Majesty, I’m afraid there aren’t enough people in the cloth store.”
Gu Yuanbai pondered for a moment and then suddenly said, “What do you think, Minister Kong?”
“For making clothes for soldiers and disaster victims, there’s no need for outstanding embroidery or meticulous stitching. They just need to be neat and flawless, so the cotton fibers don’t show,” Kong Yilin said. “The common people are already busy with farming activities. The women in their homes know how to make clothes. It’s better to give them some wages every day and let the women from the households come to make winter clothes for the soldiers and disaster victims in the northern border.”
Gu Yuanbai asked again, “How should the daily wages be calculated?”
“It’s better to base it on the number of finished clothes,” Kong Yilin replied neither fast nor slow. “Each completed garment would be equivalent to one wage. Those who are skillful will naturally make more, while those who are slower won’t waste any money. After they submit the finished clothes, have someone inspect the stitching. Once it’s confirmed that the cotton fibers are not exposed and everything is new and neat, then pay them.”
Gu Yuanbai nodded lightly, “Let’s do it as Official Kong suggested.”
***
Now it was already October, and the autumn wind was turning cold. If they wanted to deliver a new batch of winter clothes to the northern region by the coldest time at the end of the year, they would need to load all the winter clothes onto carts and send them off by early November.
This was a large quantity. There were no fewer than thirty thousand soldiers in the north, not to mention a large number of disaster victims. An adult cotton coat would require a pound of cotton. Even if there was enough cotton, the time to make winter clothes was extremely tight.
Kong Yilin saw cotton as a step forward. Naturally, he wouldn’t offer just five or ten seeds of cotton. Kong Yilin knew the value of this white cotton, and it would only show its worth if there was enough of it. His temperament prompted him to use all his money to buy enough seeds to plant a hundred mu of land even before it was confirmed whether he could pass the imperial examination and become an official.
And this white cotton, which cost Kong Yilin countless efforts to cultivate, entered the eyes of the people and officials of the capital in the tenth year of Taikang in October.
Early in the morning, the farmers, who had already formed a habit, walked in small groups towards the government office. By the time they arrived at the office, several layers of people had already gathered. The citizens waited for a short while before the official, who usually read the “The Great Heng Daily” to them, came out on time.
Before reading the newspaper, the official cleared his throat and loudly announced, “Our court is going to make winter clothes for the soldiers and disaster victims in the north. The manpower in the cloth mills in the capital is not enough. If any household’s women are willing to earn some wages, feel free to come to the government office and register your names. Tomorrow, we will go to the cloth mills together to make clothes.”
As soon as these words were spoken, there was a commotion among the crowd, with people occasionally asking, “Will the court pay us?” “How will the wages be calculated?” “If my wife goes, will she manage on her own?”
“Sir, my wife is skilled, but my daughter’s skills are lacking. Do you need clothes with embroidery and birds?” one person asked.
The official explained one by one, finally saying, “You don’t need to worry. Those entering and exiting the cloth mills are all female officials from our palace. They will be responsible for the safety and meals of your household’s women. There are also our soldiers outside guarding. Everyone can rest assured.”
After finishing, the official explained much more.
Old man Xu stood among them, listening carefully. After hearing it, he kept thinking about it on the way home. After much thought, he felt that this was the Emperor and the court’s way of helping them through the winter, by giving them an opportunity to earn wages during the agricultural off-season.
Old man Xu went back home and told his family about it. When the women in the household heard, they were all happy. “With our skills, can we also earn wages for the court?”
Old man Xu said sternly, “Then you must practice well. We don’t seek speed or high wages, just stability. These are clothes for the soldiers, maybe the clothes you make will even be worn by our Great Heng generals! This matter can’t be rushed. Contentment brings happiness. Being greedy leads to poverty. You must be more serious than when you are at home. If each of you is just after the money, it’s better not to go at all.”
Old man Xu’s wife scolded angrily, “Did we not know about this? Of course, we need to be serious about making clothes for the soldiers! You, always going out to listen to the The Great Heng Daily, now you even speak like a scholar.”
Old man Xu chuckled and felt somewhat pleased, “It’s different! It’s different!”
His wife glared at him and couldn’t help but laugh, saying to her daughter-in-law, “It’s true! He has listened to the newspaper so much, and he knows a lot of things. Sometimes when he talks to me, he makes me feel like I’m talking to a scholar.”
The whole family laughed at the dinner table. The eldest son pondered this matter and discussed it with his brothers, “Mother, why don’t you stay home? Just let Yun Niang and the others go.”
“Yes,” the eldest daughter-in-law said, “Mother, you rest at home. We sisters-in-law will definitely handle this matter well!”
Several women had joyful yet nervous expressions on their faces. They had never earned their own wages before, and with the men away, they were somewhat apprehensive and uneasy, but more eager to try.
Old Madam Xu immediately widened her eyes and refused without hesitation, “No, I must go. You don’t need to stop me. My needlework skills are the best in the house. If I go, the daughters-in-law will have someone to rely on.”
After persuading old Madam Xu for a long time, the sons couldn’t convince her, so they had to reluctantly agree.
Early the next morning, old Madam Xu took her daughters-in-law out of the house. They were nervous, but when they looked around on the road, they saw that every household had sent out women, without exception. Seeing this, they felt relieved, and they walked together towards the government office.
After registering their names at the government office, the people whispered to each other. Before long, people from the palace came and politely led them to the busy cloth mills.
When many men went to listen to the The Great Heng Daily later, they also talked about this matter. The women in the family had all left, and saying they weren’t worried was fake. After listening to the The Great Heng Daily at home, old man Xu waited at home. His sons couldn’t sit still either. When it was getting dark in the evening and the family started to worry, old Madam Xu, with her daughters-in-law, returned home with a radiant face, laughing heartily.
Old man Xu and his sons finally breathed a sigh of relief. “What good thing happened? Did you get paid today?”
Old Madam Xu and the daughters-in-law sat down, smiling, “How could it be so fast? Making this set of winter clothes, even if you do nothing all day, it will take two or three days, even for those who work fast.”
Old man Xu was puzzled, “Then what about you?”
“We’re just happy,” old Madam Xu had the daughters-in-law take out what they had, “the court prepared lunch for us, fragrant rice that guarantees you’ll be full, not to mention the good rice, there are also several kinds of dishes. Believe it or not, we had meat for lunch today, and the taste is still lingering!”
The daughters-in-law carefully took out the pastry wrapped in oil paper, and old Madam Xu said, “Look, this is the pastry the palace’s female officials gave me. They said it’s because I work fast and well. This pastry is the same kind the emperor eats, not cheap!”
Old man Xu was shocked and jumped up, “You’re still considering whether the pastry the emperor eats is expensive or not! How can you eat it? Offer it as sacrifice quickly!”
Old Madam Xu snatched the pastries, glared at old man Xu, and said, “The female officials in the cloth mill said that this pastry is to be eaten when you bring it back home. If you offer it up, you’ll be wasting these pastries. We should offer your portion. We still have to eat!”
Old man Xu was speechless.
The younger children in the family ran over, seeing the pastries in grandma’s hands, they pounced over, grabbing them and stuffing them into their mouths. After gulping down the pastries, their eyes lit up, “Grandma, it’s delicious!”
The children wanted to grab more, but their elders grabbed their hands. The elders blushed with anger, “Eat slowly, eat carefully! How can you eat like this?”
The children were clueless, and the elders sighed, also carefully picking up a piece of pastry and putting it into their mouths.
It was sweet and fragrant. It turned out that the pastries from the palace tasted like this.
Old man Xu tasted and tasted again, enjoying it until there was no more taste left, and then he stopped licking his lips. He couldn’t bear to eat more. The elders in the family gave the pastries to the children. The children were nervous, learning from the elders to cherish them carefully.
That night, Old man Xu and his wife lay in bed, pondering over the events of the day.
“I never thought there would be a day when we could see the palace’s female officials.”
“I never thought we could eat pastries from the palace.”
“The soldiers are cold in winter without clothes to wear. I have to hurry up and make sure they don’t freeze.”
“We need to be fast, but not rush,” Old man Xu said, “when the court pays the wages, you can decide, each person gets a new outfit.”
Late into the night, the sound of snoring gradually rose. The capital fell into tranquility, with the bright moon hanging in the sky.
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