"It takes one hundred and twenty to make a machine, and it takes sixty days to make a horse, which is worth ten thousand dollars." [Miscellaneous Notes of Xijing]
Weiyang Palace, Pixiang Palace.
"The Chang Yu next to the Queen is so annoying." Song Du defended Guo Cainv: "What do you mean by calling you to lecture me several times? It's not like you don't know the palace rules!"
"The Changyu is like a servant around the country, with a high position and authority. This time, he has been ordered by the Queen to declare the palace rules. All the concubines in Weiyang Palace and the palace people have to go and listen, and I am not the only one." Guo Cainv said.
It was so easy, but she knew in her heart that it was not that simple.
Empress Dong excused herself by saying that since the capital was moved, many old people who knew the palace rules were no longer around, and the rules had become lax, leaving many new palace servants with no control over their prostitution. In order to establish a good atmosphere for the concubines who would be elected next year, Dong
The queen asked Ye Ting to order Miao Si and the Chang Yu around her to teach the existing palace residents the rules, and they would be assessed after one month. Those who failed would be punished accordingly, and in serious cases, they would be demoted from the palace.
Guo Cainv has been in the palace for four or five years. She is smart and diligent, and is familiar with all kinds of palace rules. Although Chang Yu always has a prejudice against them, the palace people of Pixiang Palace, and will make a few sarcastic remarks in her words from time to time, but she is very mature and mature.
For Guo Cainv, this is nothing. She is not afraid of how much threat this incident will cause to herself. After all, her qualifications and talents are there. Even if she is plotted against others, Song Du will not sit idly by and ignore it.
What she is worried about is the other palace people in Pixiang Palace.
"The eldest princess will select palace officials for the country next year, and the nobles' Pixiang Palace will inevitably have some new members. Some of the existing old members will be poor and will not be able to pass the exams that Ye Ting ordered them to take and will be eliminated.
"Guo Cainv said what she was most worried about: "At that time, there were many people in Pixiang Hall, so not everyone could believe it. The noble man should not talk as fast as he does now, so as not to be overheard by others and offended.
Cause trouble."
"You have said this many times." Song Du said casually.
Guo Cainv sighed helplessly. Song Du now relied on the emperor's favor and had always been willful in the palace. However, there were times when ordinary couples no longer loved each other, let alone the emperor? Now there are only one queen and two queens in the palace.
My lord, how long will Song Capital’s current favor be maintained when a new batch of concubines are admitted next year? It’s better to take advantage of the current favor to consolidate one’s position of power.
Being a woman is a guarantee.
This was originally a very simple truth, but Song Du was indifferent and acted like a child who had not grown up. Thinking of this, Guo Cainu persuaded her earnestly: "You will be thirteen years old next year, so you are not playful.
It's time to take it back. Your noble man has played the pipa well this year. Although the country has come frequently, he is not particularly enthusiastic about it. It's time to..."
At this time, several Cainv walked in from outside the palace. Guo Cainv stopped in time and looked at the people. She recognized that the person walking in front was Zhao Cainv from Fu Guiren Palace. Zhao Cainv was older, about twenty years old, and had a kind and honest temperament.
, the palace people in Weiyang Palace are very popular among each other.
"This is a winter coat made for the nobles of the Song Dynasty. My noble family asked me to send it to you." Zhao Cainv asked the palace attendants behind her to present several simple winter coats.
Song Du stood up happily, picked up the winter coat, touched and looked at it, and said, "Sister Shou is really thoughtful. The winter coats are so warm every year and are better than those sewn in the weaving room."
Guo Cainu's heart moved. The weaving room originally had the most outstanding embroiderers among the people. In addition, most of them were official slaves. However, due to the chaos in the court a few years ago, the weaving room was no longer what it used to be. Fu Shou was praised by the emperor because of his reputation as a good woman.
He entrusted the weaving room in the palace to manage the brocade harvesting in the entire Weiyang Palace together with the weaving room order. Since the Fugui people like simple and practical clothes and do not like luxury, over time, the simple and virtuous beauty of the Fugui people began to spread inside and outside the palace.
Some good people even began to compare Queen Mingde Ma, who liked to wear rough robes, with her.
This is not a good sign.
She raised her eyebrows and asked, "How can both the country and the queen have a share?"
"Well." Zhao Cainv replied: "The winter clothes belonging to the country and the queen have been sent away long ago, as have those of the eldest princess and the noble Huaiyuan."
After hearing this, Guo Cainu became silent. After Zhao Cainu left, she looked at Song Du who was happily trying on new clothes, and couldn't help but increase her tone: "My lord, look at this!"
"What?" Song didn't understand, and immediately misunderstood: "The clothes made by Sister Shou are indeed cold-resistant, but they are not very pretty. It would be nice if they had more patterns."
Guo Cainv had nothing to say.
The winter clothes sewn by Fu Shou were quickly delivered to the emperor. The emperor looked at the satin pattern for a few times, put down the slips in his hand and asked: "Are the silk looms in the weaving room sufficient?"
The damask machine is a jacquard machine, also known as the flower tower. It is a machine used for weaving in the Han Dynasty. It usually requires several weavers and jacquard workers to cooperate to operate it. It can weave a variety of patterns, in addition to meeting the needs of the palace.
, the emperor also planned to use it as an official textile institution to participate in future market trade.
"Now there are more than 200 weavers in the weaving room. Each one can weave five pieces in three days. Counting that every month, he can...well, he can..." Mu Shun suddenly got stuck in the middle of the calculation.
"Okay." The emperor did not embarrass him, and said directly: "There are so many jacquard looms at present, and it takes a lot of effort. You will take a jacquard loom and send it to Gewuyuan later, so that Han Ji and Ma Jun can see it.
See if there is any improvement. In addition, let them think about whether cotton can also be woven with a jacquard machine."
"Cotton? Your Majesty said it was kapok?" Mu Shun was a little confused. The local kapok is only used to fill pillows. How can it be used to weave cloth?
"It's not kapok, it's Baidianzi." The emperor stood up, walked to the window, casually pointed to the yard outside, pointed to a clump of plants that looked like white silkworm cocoons the size of chickens, and said, "This is it.
"
Baidiezi, also known as cotton, was introduced to the Central Plains after Zhang Qian's passage to the Western Regions. Because it did not receive enough attention and did not master the utilization method, at first people only used it as an ornamental plant and planted it in the courtyard. When mature, it was also considered a plant.
A sight. And its distribution range is so small that people only use it as a filling for bedding and pillows like ordinary kapok.
The emperor accidentally discovered this plant when he was walking in the yard. When he learned that people in this era did not pay enough attention to cotton, the emperor was surprised and happy. Although cotton had been introduced to China as early as the Han Dynasty, it was not until the Han Dynasty that cotton was introduced to China.
Its promotion as the main clothing material for people had to wait until after the Song Dynasty.
Cotton can withstand severe cold better than silk, kudzu, and hemp. If cotton cloth and cotton-padded clothes can be spun in advance and promoted to the people, it may be possible to reduce the freezing damage of the people during the Little Ice Age.
"Baidiezi can also weave?" Mu Shun flattered and said with a smile, "This is the first time this slave has heard of it."
"There are a lot of things you don't know." The emperor recalled that Mu Shun couldn't even do arithmetic just now, and said with a smile: "The Ailao people in the southwestern Yi know dyeing and embroidery, and they embroider it with white folds, and weave it into articles like silk brocade. It can be seen that
Taking this as a guide, it is not without precedent. You pick this cotton and send it to Ma Jun, and then send some to the weaving room. Remember to remind me next spring, and let Shanglinyuan order open a place in Shanglinyuan.
Used to grow white seeds."
Seeing that the emperor was in a good mood, Mu Shun continued to pretend to be dumbfounded and planned to say a few more words. In the blink of an eye, the visitor Ling Li Jian came in and reported to the emperor: "Your Majesty, Captain Shuiheng sent your Majesty a new money sample.