Yuan Yao accompanied Yuan Shu, talked about some situations in Nanyang, and then turned the topic to Yuan Heng.

He knows the inside story.

After hearing what Yuan Yao said, Yuan Shu finally felt relieved and his tone became erratic.

"So, A Heng will be able to enter the palace next year?"

"If nothing else, it should be like this."

"What about Cai Yan?"

Yuan Yao was stunned. "Cai Yan? What happened to her?"

Yuan Shu chuckled twice. "Since your sister's visit to her hometown is just a cover-up, how can Cai Yan be an exception? She has followed the emperor for so many years and has never married. Even Zhou Gongjin was rejected by her. I guess she only has the emperor in her eyes.

One person. You said..."

Yuan Yao quickly raised his hand, interrupted Yuan Shu, and said with a wry smile: "Aweng be careful, this is not something to joke about."

"Who said I was joking?"

"..." Yuan Yao was speechless and had to pretend not to hear, lowering his head to drink tea.

After a while, Yuan Shu said again: "The emperor has means, both soft and hard, and can hold a group of veteran ministers and generals in the palm of his hand. However, the affairs of men and women are different from governing the country. After all, he is too benevolent and righteous and unwilling to let others down. Nothing will happen in the future.

Well, if something happens, it will probably be about this matter between men and women. Boyang, if you have the chance, you have to remind your sister."

Yuan Yaohan responded twice.

——

Liu Xie discussed with Fu Shou and Xun Wenqian for a long time, and finally decided to upgrade the silk business.

One option is dyeing.

At present, a lot of silk sold to the Western Regions is still plain, and is dyed by merchants from the Western Regions themselves before being sold to various places. An additional process will naturally lead to more losses, so many merchants from the Western Regions are beginning to seek to purchase finished products in specified colors.

Currently, the color with the highest demand is purple, and it is said that the nobles of Qin Dynasty like purple the most.

There are some of the best dyeing workshops in Zhongmou, but purple grass requires the use of comfrey. Lithospermum itself is a medicinal material. If it is used in large quantities for dyeing, it will inevitably cause price increases and increase costs.

Therefore, how to increase the yield of comfrey or find other materials suitable for dyeing purple becomes more urgent.

Liu Xie still uses the old method of offering rewards to attract more people to study.

In addition to many printing and dyeing workshops, Shandong also has many Taoist priests who make alchemy. These people are proficient in various crafts and are familiar with various plants and minerals. However, their goal is to refine elixirs, not to find dyes, so they have not achieved much. If they could have

Offer a reward to attract some people to research, and you will get results soon.

Considering the scale of the silk business, a reward of dozens of gold is not worth mentioning.

Another way is more realistic: embroidery.

Embroidery is labor-intensive, but the price will also increase exponentially. If you can increase the proportion of embroidered stitches, you can make more profits. And most of the people engaged in embroidery are women. They can make money without going out often, which is a good idea for many women.

For children, this is the most suitable way of making a living for them, and it is also acceptable to their parents and husbands.

Liu Xie suggested that Fu Shou organize a training class and invite embroidery masters to teach, so as to improve the level of embroidery and increase production.

When necessary, division of labor can also be carried out to improve productivity.

These methods have proven to be effective, and printing houses are adopting this production method.

Xun Wenqian proved this. She recently visited a printing workshop and saw with her own eyes the operation of this division of labor, and the efficiency improvement was obvious. However, she was also worried that embroidery and printing and dyeing are different, and each person's craftsmanship has a great impact. If different people

When people work together to complete a work, there may be subtle differences.

Liu Xie laughed: "Do you think those barbarians have such high taste that they can distinguish the subtle differences?"

Fu Shou also said: "We can go hand in hand. Real masters can complete it independently, but the selling price is higher. After all, even the same master cannot embroider two identical pieces of embroidery. Such embroidery

Not an ordinary commodity, but a unique treasure."

Xun Wenqian agreed. "Only by widening the gap can the price be raised. I agree with this."

Looking at the queen and the nobles who spoke so eloquently about commodity exchange, Liu Xie burst into laughter.

They really put their whole heart and soul into it, thinking only about increasing profits and making more money, without caring about their own identities. If they were betrayed and Xun found out, he would probably be heartbroken.

Pursuit of profit has always been what Confucianism is most opposed to.

He also objected, but he was not in a position where he could not eat because of choking, and he was even more disdainful of making money without a bottom line while being a gentleman in the kitchen, and he also had to look aloof and denounce him as a fool, a copper stinker, and so on.

Install the latest version.]

What stinks is never money, but people who are only interested in profit.

After talking about the business, Liu Xie casually asked Xun Wenqian, "I heard that Mrs. Tang is holding a party and recommends articles and works published this year. Do you know?"

Xun Wenqian didn't care either. "I heard about it, it seems like it was just in the past two days."

"Are you attending the meeting?"

Xun Wenqian's eyes flashed slightly. "I didn't have any arrangements originally. If Your Majesty wants to hear it, I can accompany you."

Liu Xie nodded.

——

Early the next morning, Xun Wenqian came to Yinfang.

Mrs. Tang was having breakfast and was quite surprised to see Xun Wenqian coming.

"Have you eaten?"

"Not yet." Xun Wenqian was not polite and sat down directly.

Mrs. Tang was even more surprised. While asking someone to prepare breakfast for Xun Wenqian, she asked, "Is something wrong?"

"Did you not inform the emperor about your book recommendation meeting?"

Mrs. Tang was silent for a moment. "Is this necessary? It's not a big deal."

"Education is the foundation of governing a country, and recommending books is a measure that affects the style of writing. How can it be a trivial matter?" Xun Wenqian said bluntly and recounted how the emperor mentioned this matter yesterday.

The emperor seemed casual, but she couldn't treat it as a trivial matter.

Mrs. Tang quickly put down the bowl and wiped the corners of her mouth with a handkerchief, her eyes wandering.

The maid served breakfast, and Xun Wenqian picked up the bowl and started eating. After finishing the entire bowl of porridge, she put down the bowl and then said to Mrs. Tang who had not yet spoken: "Don't you want the emperor to appear?"

"Well, since the Emperor is here, scholars may not be able to speak freely." Mrs. Tang regained her composure and said calmly, "That's why I made my own decision and didn't report it."

Xun Wenqian stared at Mrs. Tang twice, raised her hand, and signaled the maid to leave.

The maid looked at Mrs. Tang uneasily.

Mrs. Tang was a little surprised, but she still nodded and asked the maids to retreat, leaving them alone in the hall.

"Auntie, don't you want to meet the emperor?"

Mrs. Tang frowned lightly. "Wen Qian, what are you talking about?"

"You know the emperor's attitude toward Confucian scholars and scribes. Even if this book recommendation meeting may not go as well as the emperor wants, at most he will not attend, and it is unlikely that he will directly veto it. If you report it, it will not affect the result. Maybe

Not being as good as the Emperor wants should not be the reason for you not to report it."

Xun Wenqian paused. "Can I understand that you held this book recommendation meeting just to tell the emperor that you don't want to see him?"

Mrs. Tang was startled, and then said: "Wen Qian, is this your intention or the emperor's intention?"

Xun Wenqian said calmly: "In all major matters related to governing the country, you and I are the emperor's minions, and we cannot follow our own whims. My aunt must also understand that without the emperor's support, you and I would not be where we are today."

In the end, her achievements are nothing more than a good wife and mother, and she will not leave her name in the history books for the rest of her life."
Chapter completed!