I Rely on Beauty to Stabilize the Country

Early the next morning, Gu Yuanbai woke up from his sleep and realized his anger.

He lay on the bed for a while, too lazy to touch, and after resting for a quarter of an hour, his anger finally subsided.

"Your body is not good, and you think a lot." Gu Yuanbai murmured, and rang the bell beside the bed.

After finishing his breakfast, Gu Yuanbai went to Xuanzheng Hall to handle government affairs.After a while, Minister of the Ministry of Industry, his servants and Kong Yilin came to see him.

The three of them reported that the cotton was ripe.

Gu Yuanbai was overjoyed, and rushed to the cotton field to have a look in person. What he saw was a snow-covered cotton field. What Kong Yilin called white cotton was no different from cotton!

Kong Yilin stepped forward to pick off the cotton in the palm of his hand, and brought it to Gu Yuanbai, "Your Majesty, touch it, this is exactly what I call white cotton, with silk in it, soft and light."

Gu Yuanbai took it in his hands and rubbed it, his face was full of smiles, and his face was full of glory, "Good thing! Wu Qing, have you counted the yield?"

The minister of the Ministry of Industry also had a ruddy complexion, and his brows were beaming with joy, "I sent someone to calculate the yield per mu two days ago, and because of the careful care of it for more than half a year, the yield per mu is a full 350 catties!"

Daheng's jin weight is smaller than the modern jin weight, and the output of 350 jin is only about 250 jin according to the modern counting method.Gu Yuanbai has never grown cotton before, 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 is the only one in the world. All the officials present were refreshed by the praise. go down.

Later, the cotton farmers of the Holy Admiral also called over to praise them. After giving the reward money, he immediately issued an order, "Wu Qing, immediately send people to pick all the white cotton, and call people to speed up the preparations for the soldiers and soldiers in northern Xinjiang." Victims rush to make winter clothes without any delay!"

The Secretary of the Ministry of Industry immediately agreed, and said worriedly: "My lord, I'm afraid there are not so many people in the cloth village."

Gu Yuanbai thought for a while, then suddenly said: "What do you think of Kong Qing?"

"The clothes made for soldiers and disaster victims don't need outstanding embroidery and meticulous stitching. They just need to be flat and smooth so that the cotton wool doesn't show," said Kong Yilin. We all know the job of making clothes with one hand, so it is better to give some wages every day and let the women of the common people come to make winter clothes for the soldiers and disaster victims in northern Xinjiang."

Gu Yuanbai asked again: "Then how should the daily salary be calculated?"

"If you don't judge by the number of ready-made clothes," Kong Yilin said without rushing, "If you finish a piece of clothing, you will get one share of the money. Naturally, there will be more skillful hands, and slow hands will not waste the money. After they hand in the ready-made clothes , let a special person go to check the stitches, and pay the wages after making sure that the cotton wool is brand new and smooth.”

Gu Yuanbai nodded lightly, "Let's do what Kong Qing said."

It's already October now, and the autumn wind is starting 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 away in early November.

This is a large number. Regardless of the type of arms, there are at least 3 soldiers in the north, plus a large number of victims.A set of cotton padded clothes for adults takes a pound of weight. Even if there is enough cotton, the time to make winter clothes is very tight.

Kong Yilin regards cotton as a step forward, so naturally he would not offer five or ten cotton seeds.Kong Yilin knew about white cotton, and only having enough of it could reveal its value.His temperament made him spend all his money to buy seeds enough to plant a hundred acres of land even before he was sure whether he could pass the Jinshi examination and become an official.

And these white cottons, which took Kong Yilin countless painstaking efforts to successfully plant, entered the eyes of the people in the capital and the civil and military officials in October of the tenth year of Taikang.

Early in the morning of this day, the peasants who had formed the habit walked to the gate of the government in twos and threes. When they arrived at the gate of the government, there were already several layers of heads surrounded.The people waited for a while, and the official from the government who usually reads the "Daheng Guobao" to them came out on time.

But before reading the newspaper, the officer cleared his throat and said loudly: "Our imperial court has to rush to make winter clothes for the soldiers and disaster victims in the north. The cloth shop in central Beijing is short of manpower. If anyone's family members want to earn some wages, feel free to come The government will record the name, and we will go to the cloth shop tomorrow to make clothes."

As soon as this remark came out, there was an uproar in the crowd, and people asked from time to time, "Is the money paid by the court?" "How is the salary calculated?" "If my mother-in-law goes, can she do it by herself?"

"My lord, my mother-in-law's craftsmanship is good, but my daughter's is not. Do you need clothes with flowers and birds?"

The officials explained one by one, and finally said: "You don't have to worry, all the female officials in the palace are going in and out of the cloth house. They will be responsible for the food and safety of your female relatives in your family. There are also our officers and soldiers guarding outside. I will definitely return home. Here, everyone, rest assured."

After finishing speaking, the officer explained a lot.

Old man Xu was standing there, listening carefully, and after listening, he kept thinking about it on the way home.After thinking about it, he felt that the Holy Majesty and the imperial court wanted to help them survive the winter, so they gave them a job that could earn wages during the slack season.

When the old man returned home, he told the family about this matter, and the women in the family were all overjoyed when they heard it, "With our skills, we can also earn the court's salary."

AD4

money? "

The old man Xu said with a serious look: "Then you don't have to practice hard. We don't want to be fast or rich, but to be safe. These are clothes for soldiers. Maybe the clothes you make can be used by us Daheng. Put it on by the general! You can’t be anxious about this matter, contentment is always happy, you are greedy for money and 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 wife said angrily, "Don't we know about this yet?! Of course you have to be serious about the clothes you wear for soldiers! Just you, go out to listen to "Dahengguo Daily" every day, look, now you can talk the same way. It's like a scholar's taste."

The old man Xu chuckled, quite pleased with himself: "It's different! It's different!"

The mother-in-law glared at him a few times, and couldn't help laughing, and said to her daughter-in-law: "Not to mention, he has listened to other people's newspapers a lot, and he understands a lot. I was taken aback when I said it, really like a scholar."

The whole family at the dinner table laughed. The eldest son pondered over this matter, discussed it with a few brothers and said, "Mother, why don't you go, just let Yunniang and the others go."

"Yes," said the eldest daughter-in-law, "Mother, you can 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 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. I am the best needleworker at home. I will go, and some daughters-in-law will also have one." backbone."

The sons tried to persuade him for a long time, but they were still not persuaded, so they nodded in agreement.

Early in the morning of the second day, Mrs. Xu took her daughters-in-law out. They felt apprehensive, but when they saw on the road, they could see people from every household, all of whom were women without exception.Everyone looked at me and I looked at you, their hearts settled down, and they went to the government together in twos and threes.

After writing down the name of the husband's family, everyone chatted in low voices, and not long after, someone came from the palace, politely and gently brought him to the cloth village to get busy.

After daybreak, when many men went to listen to the "Daheng Guobao", they were also talking about this matter.The women in the family have all left, and it is false to say that they are not worried. Old man Xu waited at home after listening to the Dahengguo newspaper, and his sons couldn't sit still. Xu brought his daughter-in-law with a red face, and walked towards the house with big strides, smiling so hard that his teeth could not be seen.

Only then did Old Man Xu and his sons breathe a sigh of relief, "What's wrong with this, you got your wages today?"

Xu and his daughters-in-law sat on their seats and said with a smile, "How can it be so fast? This set of winter clothes can be produced in a hurry, even if you don't do anything all day long, it will take two or three days if you are quick."

The old man Xu wondered: "Then you are?"

"We are happy," Xu asked his daughter-in-law to take out the things, "The imperial court prepared lunch for us. The rice is delicious, and you are guaranteed to be full. It is not only good rice, but also several kinds of dishes. Speaking of which, you I don’t believe it, but we have eaten meat at noon today, and the smell is still there!”

The daughter-in-law carefully took out the pastry wrapped in oil paper, Xu said: "Look, this is a pastry given to me by the lady who took care of us. The lady said that I was rewarded because I made it fast and well. This The cakes are the cakes eaten by the emperor in the palace, they are not cheap!"

The old man Xu was startled, jumped up and said: "You are still thinking about the cakes eaten by the Holy One, so they are not cheap! How can this be eaten, and offer it up!"

Mrs. Xu snatched the pastries, and gave the old man a blank look, "The lady in the cloth shop said that this pastry is for food when you take it home, and you paid for these pastries for nothing. Go for your share, we still have to eat!"

Old man Xu was speechless.

The child at home ran over, and when he saw the pastry in grandma's hand, he rushed over, grabbed it and stuffed it into his mouth. After swallowing it whole, his eyes lit up, "Grandma, it's so delicious!"

The child wanted to grab it again, but was caught by the elders in the family. The elders turned red with anger, "Eat slowly, eat carefully! You have a taste, how can you eat like this?"

The child was ignorant, and the elders sighed, followed by carefully raising a hand to pinch a piece of pastry, and put it in their mouths.

Sweet and fragrant, it turns out that the pastries in Gonglitou taste like this.

The old man Xu tasted and tasted, tasted and tasted, and finally stopped smacking his lips when the smell was gone.Let him eat again, he is not willing to eat.The elders in the family gave the cakes to the children, and the children were nervous, so they followed the example of the elders and cherished them strictly.

That night, old man Xu and Mrs. Xu lay on the bed, thinking about the taste of the day.

"I didn't expect that there would be a day when I could see the female officer 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 needs to be quick, but don't worry," Old Man Xu said, "When the imperial court pays the wages, you are the masters, and each of you will have new clothes."

The night was getting late, and the snoring was getting louder.The capital fell into tranquility, and the moon hung in the sky.