Zhu Nao

The recruiting was in full swing, and within a month or so, 5000 people stood out from the selection process and were sent to the military camp.

After recruiting soldiers, Zhu Nao handed over the soldiers to Yu Changming and Wei Yue for training, and then concentrated on managing government affairs.

Now that he has lowered the land tax, the government's income has been reduced a lot.However, raising soldiers is not a small expense, and money has to be found.Furthermore, right now is the time when people's livelihood is in decline, and enriching the people is even more urgent.

Fortunately, the land of Shu was originally a land of abundance. After Zhu Nao sorted out the government's various income and expenses, he quickly had an idea.

……

Jinguan City is an inner city in Chengdu, with high walls enclosing a large and wide area.The inner room is divided into several areas, including silk reeling area, dyeing area, brocade weaving area and washing and drying area.This is a brocade workshop run by the government of Chengdu. Thousands of craftsmen are busy working in the city. Every day, several pieces of Shu brocade are finished here.

Once upon a time, this Jinguan City was extremely prosperous, and most of the income of Chengdu Mansion came from the Shu brocade produced here.It's a pity that Jinguan City has been in decline over the years.

There are hundreds of looms lined up in the brocade area, but only a small half of these looms are currently in operation.Many of the Weaver Girls didn't even sit in front of the looms, and while they were unattended, they gathered in twos and threes to chat.

A weaver girl named Wang Xiaoyue said: "Yesterday I accompanied the prime minister to go shopping in the city. When I passed by the cloth shop, I saw the peacock brocade with hundreds of flowers woven by Mrs. Zheng... Oh my god, it is so beautiful. She wove it The peacock is just as alive. The feathers of the peacock are made of [-] or [-] colors of thread, and the sun shines on the brocade, making me unable to open my eyes! How on earth can she weave such a beautiful brocade? Come?"

Immediately someone said: "I've also heard that the brocade weaved by Mrs. Zheng is the best brocade in Chengdu, and the price of a piece of brocade she sells is five times that of the official brocade we weave! Is it really that good?"

Wang Xiaoyue said: "Really! The official brocade is placed next to the brocade she wove, like... like..." She had never studied, so she couldn't think of a gentle metaphor. He patted his thigh and said, "It's like a croaking toad placed next to Yuda's toad."

There was a burst of exclamation all around: "Wow..."

"Is it really that powerful? I really want to see it."

"If only I had the opportunity to make a suit of peacock brocade with hundreds of flowers..."

"Stop dreaming! If we can use official brocade to make a handkerchief in this life, it will be a blessing from our previous life. Do you still want to use Zheng Niangzi's Hundred Flowers Peacock Brocade to make clothes? Let me give you an idea , why don't you hurry up and kill yourself now, and reincarnate as soon as possible."

"It's your mouth!"

Shu brocade is a very expensive material, only the rich and powerful can afford it.Ordinary people may not have the opportunity to touch it in their lifetime.These Weaver Girls are much luckier than ordinary people. At least they can touch the lubricated and soft silk threads with their hands every day, and they can weave expensive and gorgeous Shu brocade by themselves.It's just that the finished Shu brocade won't have anything to do with them anymore.

After a while, a Weaver Girl started another topic with a sad face: "I heard that in the past two months, Zhu Yushi has successively abolished many Shang Fang in order to reduce the government's expenditure. Do you think our weaving workshop will have One day was also abolished?"

As soon as this statement came out, everyone was taken aback!

Someone immediately refuted.

"Impossible! The weaving workshop is an important source of income for the government treasury, and no matter how we abolish it, we will not be able to abolish it!"

"That's right. Those Shangfang were abolished because they were wasting money. Our weaving workshop can make money. How could it be abolished?"

Another person said: "It was only a few years ago to make money. These years, you can make money selling silk, but you can't sell the finished brocade."

"Yes, the weaving workshop may not be cut off, but we weavers may not be. Now the sales of Sichuan brocade are decreasing every year. I heard that even the brocade weaved eight years ago is still in the warehouse. Sold out. There are fewer and fewer jobs for us to do. The weaving workshop does not need so many weavers. It is not impossible to withdraw us..."

Hearing this, the Weaver Girls all changed their expressions.

Most of them are female prisoners who have committed crimes and were arrested and worked in weaving workshops to make atonement.Although it is forced labor, this job is very rare for them.Working in the weaving workshop at least has something to eat, and you can chat with people when you are free, and learning to weave is at least a craft.As long as the time limit is up, they can be released.But if they don't work here, they may be caught to do harder work, such as building walls and digging rivers with men, or they may be put back in dirty and smelly prisons.It is the worst thing to be put back in prison, because you don't work, you can only drink some thin soup every day, it is almost like waiting for death.

In the past, when the work was too much and tiring, the weavers complained incessantly.But now that there is less work, they are even more disturbed, fearing that they will be kicked out of the weaving workshop.No one wanted to leave, so everyone hurried back to the loom and continued to work, hoping that if they behaved well, they could stay.

It's a pity that making Shu brocade can't be done by weaver girls alone. As the sales of Shu brocade are decreasing and the silk threads sent by weaving workshops are also decreasing, they don't have so much to do even if they want to work.

Sitting in front of the loom, Wang Xiaoyue fiddled with the silk thread idly, but the peacock brocade she saw on the cloth shop yesterday came back to her mind.

She couldn't help thinking that if only she could weave such a beautiful Shu brocade sometime.The peacock is really beautiful. It feels like it can jump off the brocade at any time and become a living peacock, unfolding a colorful peacock screen.If she had such good craftsmanship, she would not have to worry about being driven away by the weaving workshop.And when the time of serving the sentence is over, she can continue to weave and make money with her craftsmanship, so that the family can live a better life...

=====

Ling Chengpa, who was in charge of guarding the workers, was sleeping on the table at the moment.

He dreamed that he was walking on the street wearing extremely exquisite hundred-flower peacock brocade, and everyone on the road gasped in envy when they saw him.Suddenly, a group of chariots of dignitaries and dignitaries came on the road ahead.

Whenever he meets such a noble person, he has to make way for him.But this time, the nobleman saw the gorgeous robes on his body, hurriedly got out of the car, and ordered the servants to lead the horses to step aside and let him go.

Ling Cheng felt proud.He raised his chest and raised his head, spread his hands and feet, and walked out with steps that his relatives would not recognize.He was about to walk over in front of that dignitary and nobleman.Suddenly, someone tapped him on the shoulder a few times.

Everyone on the street disappeared without a trace, and even the main street disappeared with it.He opened his eyes in a daze, only to realize that everything just now was just a dream.

His dream was disturbed by someone, he turned his head angrily, only to see that it was a young man in plain clothes who woke him up.The man was very strange, he had never seen it before.This person's skin is fair and clear, his eyes are slightly curved, and there is a faint smile on his face.

Ling Cheng thought it was some new worker in the workshop, and immediately stood up ferociously, scolding and reaching out to push the man's shoulder: "What are you doing standing here without going to work? Do you want to be beaten?!"

However, before his hand could touch that person, a young boy suddenly jumped out from behind, grabbed his wrist and twisted it backward.He suddenly screamed in pain: "Ah!"

He thought it was the workers rebelling, and he cursed while struggling: "Bastards, are you crazy?! I will send you all to mine tomorrow!" Mining is much harder than working in a weaving workshop, and often produces human life.Most prisoners do not like to work in the mines.

At this time, he saw the official Jin who was in charge of the weaving workshop running over in a hurry.He was overjoyed immediately: "Ha, now you two are finished!"

However, Jin Guan ran over, first slapped Ling Cheng several times, and cursed: "Bastard, how dare you bump into Zhu Yushi, are you impatient?"

Jin Guan slapped his subordinates hard, and then hurriedly bowed to the young man and the boy: "I beg the censor to be merciful, it is the official who is incapable of discipline, and the official will definitely teach him a good lesson! I beg the censor to be merciful. "

Ling Cheng was dumbfounded: Yushi?Which censor? ?

Zhu Nao said lightly: "Jing Zhe, let him go."

Cheng Jingzhe let go of Ling Cheng, but Ling Cheng seemed to have been hit by a spell of immobilization, only a pair of eyeballs could move, and looked at Zhu Nao from bottom to top in horror.

After sizing him up, he could see clearly that although Zhu Nao was dressed plainly, he had an extraordinary demeanor. He didn't look like a prisoner who worked all the year round in a workshop?Then look at the Jin official next to him, still kneeling and begging for mercy... So, this person is really Zhu Yushi? !

Ling Cheng was so frightened that his legs went limp. He really didn't know how the censor would condescend to come here, let alone why the censor was dressed so plainly.He quickly lay down on the ground and kowtowed desperately: "Censor, spare your life, Yushi, spare your life! It's a villain with eyes that doesn't know Mount Tai, please forgive Zhu Yushi!"

Zhu Nao laughed and said, "I don't want your lives, get up."

Ling Cheng and Jin Guan continued to kowtow to beg for mercy.They have never been an official with such a serious crime, and they are really frightened.

Jing Zhe said coldly: "Get up as soon as you get up, don't delay Yu Shi's time."

Hearing what he said, the two got up from the ground in desperation.Seeing that Zhu Nao didn't mean to blame, they sweated coldly, while secretly rejoicing: it was rumored that Zhu Yushi was an official who was very generous to his opponents, and it seemed that the rumors were true.If it were Yuan Jilu, I'm afraid they would have been dragged out long ago.

Zhu Nao was still amiable: "I just walked around the workshop and found many weavers doing nothing, what's going on?"

Ling Cheng broke out in a cold sweat, and hurriedly wanted to kneel on the ground again: "It's the villain's lax supervision that makes those bastards lazy. The villain is going to teach them a lesson."

Zhu Nao looked at Jin Guan, waiting for his answer.

Official Jin was a little afraid to speak at the beginning, but Zhu Nao stared at him, making his scalp numb, and he knelt down again with a plop: "Forgive me by the imperial censor. It's because the subordinates are not doing well."

Juno sighed helplessly.These officials of the Chengdu Mansion didn't know what was going on, they knelt down very diligently, but couldn't speak clearly.What kind of unfavorable law is it to do things unfavorably?What can be improved?Not a word of it.

In fact, it wasn't that Jinguan didn't know what the problem was, but that he didn't dare to say it.

The weaving workshop has been in operation for more than a hundred years. In its heyday, almost all silks and satins in the country were produced here, and even many merchants from barbaric countries in the Western Regions would come here to seek brocade.At that time, thousands of weavers in the weaving workshop had no time to weave brocade, and the brocade weaved would be sold out immediately.At the same time, the treasury of Chengdu Mansion was also filled to the brim.

However, in recent years, the sales of Shu brocade have become increasingly poor.There are three reasons for this.

One is that war broke out in the north, and affected by the war, the sales of Shu brocade in the north are decreasing day by day; the other is that there are more and more silkworm farmers in the south of the Yangtze River, and the weaving industry in the south of the Yangtze River is gradually rising, and the wealthy and wealthy people in the south demand Shu brocade The third is that although Shu brocade has a weaving workshop run by the government, it does not monopolize the industry.There are also many weaving craftsmen among the people, and the quality of Shu brocade produced by folk craftsmen is far better than that of official brocade.As a result, even local wealthy households in central Sichuan were willing to order brocades from folk craftsmen instead of official brocades.

In addition to workshops, the government's weaving workshop also has a large area of ​​mulberry fields.At present, for the weaving workshop, it is better to sell the reeled or dyed silk to folk brocade weavers at a high price than to let the weavers in the workshop continue to weave.In this way, a large number of weavers will naturally be free.

In fact, in such a situation, as a brocade official, I should have found a way to reform and improve the quality and sales of official brocade.However, this Jinguan's talent is mediocre, and he doesn't have such skills.Or, Jin Guan should report the situation to the government to reduce the number of people in the workshop, so as not to cause waste of government spending money to support idlers.However, the more workers there are in the workshop, the richer Jinguan's salary will be, so he has not reported this point, and it is a problem that Zhu Nao discovered only after studying the account books himself.

Zhu Nao was talking with Jin Guan here, and the workers not far away noticed the situation and gradually gathered around to watch the excitement.

Seeing the scene where Jin Guan and Ling Cheng, who have always been domineering, knelt on the ground and kowtowed, the workers immediately talked about it.

"Hey, didn't those two people come to see us just now? Who are they?"

"Hush, take it easy and listen to what they are saying."

"Censor...he is Zhu Yushi?!"

"Oh my god!! That's Zhu Yushi!! He walked past me just now, and he smiled at me!!!"

The workers had never seen such a big official before, and they were all petrified.Someone's legs went limp and almost fell to the ground.

After they gradually accepted that the two young men were Zhu Yushi and his bodyguards, they listened attentively to their conversations, wondering what purpose Zhu Yushi came to the weaving workshop in person.

On the other end, Jin Guan confessed to Jun Nao for a long time, but the more he admitted, the more Jun Nao shook his head.Jinguan realized that Zhu Nao already knew the situation in the weaving workshop, and he was afraid that he would not be able to pass this test if he didn't tell the truth.

So he could only endure the pain in his heart and suggested: "Yushi, it's really a bad time right now. The sales of Shu brocade are not as good as every year, which will cause the Weaver Girl to be idle. In order to save government expenses, it is better to cut off half of the Weaver Girl." ..."

When he said this, his heart was bleeding.Now there are five or six hundred weavers in the weaving workshop. Because they are prisoners, they don't need to be paid wages, but food expenses are indispensable.He skimped on diet and was able to dig out a lot of oil and water.Cutting off half of it, he will have a lot less oil and water.

The weavers nearby were all shocked when they heard this.

They were really afraid of something. They were afraid of being laid off just after they finished talking, but now they heard with their own ears that Jin Guan said that they would be laid off.This cut also directly cuts half, everyone is in danger now!

Even if they are often reprimanded and beaten by the officials in the weaving workshop, even if they work hard, they will not get paid, but this is the best treatment they can get so far.They must not be laid off! !

"Yushi Zhu!"

Wang Xiaoyue suddenly rushed out from the crowd and ran straight to Zhu Nao.The officials were startled and wanted to stop her, but she rushed out so suddenly that no one could stop her.In a blink of an eye, Wang Xiaoyue had already run in front of Zhu Nao.

She knelt down in front of Zhu Nao with a plop, and begged, "Zhu Yushi, please don't drive us out of the weaving workshop. We may die if we leave here. We will definitely work harder, please open Forgive me."

She had heard that Zhu Nao was a benevolent and good official, and she might be able to sympathize with their suffering, coupled with a moment of impatience and fear, so she rushed out.

Ling Cheng was frightened half to death by her, fearing that she would be charged for running into Zhu Nao, he hurried forward to drag her away, but was stopped by Jing Zhe.

Zhu Nao looked at Wang Xiaoyue, and asked gently, "What crime did you commit as a Weaver Girl here?"

Wang Xiaoyue lowered her head and said, "I, my younger sister was sick and cried because of hunger, so I went to the landlord's house and stole a chicken."

Junao let out a "huh".Most of the workers working in the weaving workshop did not commit serious crimes, otherwise they would not have the opportunity to be assigned here.

Although none of the Weaving Girls around had the courage to speak in front of Zhu Yushi like Wang Xiaoyue, they all looked at Zhu Nao earnestly, or kowtowed to him from afar, hoping that he would If you can forgive me, don't drive them out of the weaving workshop.

Zhu Nao smiled and said, "Don't be afraid, I won't drive you out."

Wang Xiaoyue and all the workers around were overjoyed when they heard this, and some even wept with joy: "It's great, Zhu Yushi said, they can stay in the weaving workshop, and they don't have to worry about being sent back to prison or driven to do more work." Hard work again!

Not only the workers were happy, but Jinguan was even more delighted.He thought it was a decision to lay off people this time, but he didn't expect Zhu Yushi to let go when a Weaver Girl came out to beg for mercy.Zhu Yushi is so benevolent that he doesn't look like a high-ranking official. It's great to be an official under him!

As soon as the corners of his mouth reached his ears, Zhu Nao called him: "Jinguan."

Jin Guan hurriedly lowered his head and said, "The next official is here!"

Zhu Nao said, "You have been dismissed."

Jinguan's smile instantly froze on his face.He was... dismissed?Resigned? ? ! !

His complexion changed suddenly, and he was busy preparing to intercede, hoping that Zhu Nao would also forgive him.But Zhu Nao said again: "Ah, that's right."

Jinguan raised his head hopefully, hoping for a turnaround.But Zhu Nao smiled at him: "Give you two days. Go to the government and report how much money you have embezzled in total. If you can make it up, I will punish you lightly. Well, I hope you can do it in two days." Figure it out."

Jinguan: "!!!"

=====

The other side of town.

The buddy of the cloth shop came to a yard and patted on the door of the yard: "Is Mrs. Zheng there?"

After a while, a woman's lazy voice came from inside: "Who is it?"

The buddy said: "Linji Buzhuang."

After a while, the door of the yard was opened, and a woman dressed in colorful woven cloth and gorgeous jewelry on her ears and neck came out: "What's the matter?"

The clerk took out a money bag from his pocket and handed it over: "Miss Zheng, someone ordered two peacock brocades again."

Madam Zheng took his purse, opened it and counted it, and she looked quite satisfied: "Got it. Come and pick it up in three months."

The clerk said anxiously: "Three months? It's too long. This time I want to wear it for a birthday party. I need it urgently. Can't you hurry up?"

Mrs. Zheng said coldly, "Brocade weaving skills are complicated, and three months is not fast enough? If you have the ability, you can weave it yourself!"

The guy was angry and funny: "Why do you tell me to weave? If I can weave, who will look for you? Those who can afford your peacock brocade are all high-ranking officials and nobles. If you wait too long and people get annoyed, can you offend me?" ?”

Mrs. Zheng snorted disdainfully: "If you blame me, you will blame me. Who is this old lady afraid of? Besides, if they blame me, can your cloth shop run away? Stop scaring me here."

Dude: "..."

This is true.Mrs. Zheng is just a brocade weaver, not a businessman.The shopkeeper of Linji Cloth Village took a fancy to her talent and took on some jobs for her, taking a commission from them.If the other party blames him, Bu Zhuang really has to find a way to cover it, otherwise no one will have a good life.

Seeing her being so arrogant, the man felt very unhappy.He rolled his eyes and had a bad idea, so he said, "Ms. Zheng, why don't you take in more apprentices? The brocade you weave is very valuable, but it's too slow. It takes a few months to produce one brocade." You recruit a few more apprentices, teach them the craft, let them provide for you, and weave five or six pieces of brocade every month, calculate how much more money you can make?"

After hearing this, Mrs. Zheng stared at her eyes, put her hips on her hips and cursed angrily: "You evil thief, trying to trick my old lady into passing on your skills? Go back to your mother's womb and dream!"

The guy was sprayed with saliva by her and wiped his face embarrassingly.

Mrs. Zheng's brocade weaving skills are passed down from her family, and she herself has the talent to realize several sets of unique weaving methods. So now the brocade she weaves has become the most precious Shu brocade in Sichuan, and the price can be several times higher than others.

Every craftsman will not easily pass on his craftsmanship, after all, it is his own rice bowl.However, some craftsmen will accept apprentices and let the apprentices work to support the master as a reward for teaching.But there are also some craftsmen who never pass on their skills to outsiders, but only to their own descendants, so that they can firmly hold the golden rice bowl in the hands of their own family members.Zheng Jinniang is the latter.

She is a widow. People say that widows have a lot of gossip. Maybe because of this, she is vain and strong, and has a very bad temper.However, her craftsmanship is good, and others can't do anything about her if they don't like her.

Mrs. Zheng pointed at the clerk's nose and scolded: "Are you stupid to be an old lady? How much more money can you earn? If my old lady's craftsmanship is really passed on, who will come to me to weave brocades in the future? Rotten!"

Even if the apprentice wants to support the master, after a few years the apprentice will establish his own family, he will naturally have to recruit other apprentices.Unique skills are not unique.

The guy thought to himself: You also know your bad temper, if others can have your craft, no one will ask you to weave brocade...

On the mouth, he coaxed: "What you said, I was thinking of you..."

Mrs. Zheng said: "Don't fart there. I want my old lady to accept apprentices, unless the sun comes out from the west! Get out!" After speaking, she slammed the door hard.

The clerk touched his nose and said in a dazed tone, "Don't forget the brocade, I'll come back to pick it up in three months..." Touching his nose, he walked away dejectedly.