Upon hearing this, Chen Juzi looked troubled and said, "Aunt Wang, we are at a crucial time for studying. If the people renting the room are too diverse, it might delay our exams."

Xu Zhi bowed to Chen Juzi and said, "Sir, we're only renting here for a short time. If you're worried about disturbing your studies, we can pay for you to stay at the Zhuangyuan Inn in the capital for a while. You can come back after we've finished here. What do you think?"

Zhuangyuan Inn is a long-established inn in the capital. It is said that several top scholars once stayed there. Before the imperial examination, it was the most popular place for candidates to go.

The Scholar's Inn not only provides accommodation but also a place for scholars to study. With so many scholars gathered together, they can speak freely. Who knows when their thoughts will spark a debate with someone else's? Who knows what words from someone might enlighten them?

However, not just anyone can stay at the Scholar's Inn. Not only is the price high, but more importantly, you need a recommendation from a well-known person in the capital. You can only get in if you have a letter of recommendation from that person.

For the candidates, money was one thing, but the most important thing was the recommendation letter from these families in the capital. Not everyone could get such a recommendation letter. You should know that if you could get a recommendation letter, it meant that you had to guarantee the candidate's words and deeds, which was a great responsibility.

Upon hearing this, Chen, the scholar, asked in surprise and doubt, "Such a good thing really exists?"

Xu Zhi smiled and said, "We really have no other choice. We would be grateful if Mr. Chen could do us a favor."

Chen, carrying the two books, returned to his room and discussed it with his companions. After Wang Mama led Xu Zhi and Zheng Yuanyuan around the front and back yards of the house, several scholars were already waiting in the front yard.

Xu Zhi had already sent the scholars living in the small courtyards on both sides of the large courtyard where the clothes were made to the Zhuangyuan Inn. So, as soon as Chen and the others agreed, Xu Zhi quickly sent someone to take them to the Zhuangyuan Inn. The two sides agreed that the accommodation fee provided for them at the Zhuangyuan Inn would only last until the house here was rented out. Whether they moved back or continued to pay for their own accommodation at the Zhuangyuan Inn afterward was none of Xu Zhi's business.

After Xu Zhi quickly settled on the house with Wang Mama, she sent someone to invite a cook and two helpers. After the three of them came and cleaned the room, the people from the Yongning Marquis's estate delivered the supplies.

Looking at the people standing all over the yard, Zheng Yuanyuan smiled so wide her mouth almost reached her ears.

With people on hand, things became easier. The Ning family helped find people who were very skilled in needlework. After they came and looked at the job, they formed groups of several people, with some responsible for cutting, some for stuffing cotton, and others for sewing. This greatly improved efficiency.

Xu Zhi was surprised that someone would do such a thing. The aunt who brought everyone over heard Xu Zhi's question and said with a smile, "We all come from the same place, we are all from the Yongning Marquis's Mansion. We came here to help Ninth Aunt make cotton clothes for the soldiers in Wuzhou. Ninth Aunt is kind-hearted and even pays us wages. Since that's the case, we will naturally do whatever it takes to make the clothes as quickly as possible."

Those who came from the south of the city to do work saw what the people on the estate were doing and wanted to follow suit, but because they didn't trust each other, they were always working alone, which made things much slower.

Xu Zhi naturally couldn't force people to do this, but fortunately the aunties and grandmothers from the village were quick, so she didn't care about the speed of these people from the south of the city.

Before starting work, the old women in charge of inspection carefully checked everyone entering the courtyard. Those who were already working there were unhappy and said to Zheng Yuanyuan, "Miss Zheng, we've been working here for quite some time now, and suddenly these old women come to search us. What does this mean?"

Zheng Yuanyuan patiently explained, "Dear sisters-in-law, we work for the Ministry of War, which is a very important matter. This was arranged by those officials. We are all earning money from them, and it's not easy for any of us. Please bear with us."

Some people were clamoring to quit, but Zheng Yuanyuan smiled and said, "If any of the older sisters feel that this is inappropriate, we can collect our wages in advance and leave. We are just following orders, and the rules are hard to change."

Seeing Zheng Yuanyuan's attitude, the troublemakers quieted down. The old women searched the people and found some things that were not suitable to be brought into the yard. They put them away on the spot, making it clear that this was a one-time thing, and if there was a next time, they would be fired.

Xu Zhi's series of moves left Zheng Yuanyuan dazzled, but they were undeniably effective.

Every day, Xu Zhi would stay in Zheng Yuanyuan's small room to oversee the progress of making the cotton-padded clothes. Zheng Yuanyuan sneaked in, sat down in the chair opposite Xu Zhi with a grin, and said, "Sister-in-law, I've only just realized that I'm really far behind you. Before you came back, I was so busy every day, but I could only watch helplessly as the progress didn't go as planned. You've only been back for a few days, and wow, in just a few more days we'll have all the cotton-padded clothes finished. Oh my, when that happens, I feel like I can finally relax."

Xu Zhi smiled slightly and said, "Yuanyuan, our Great Liang has a million soldiers, hundreds of thousands of whom are in the north alone. Haven't you thought about taking all the cotton-padded clothes from these soldiers and making them?"

Zheng Yuanyuan was stunned for a moment after hearing this, and said, "Sister-in-law, I really didn't think of that. I'm already so worried about these 20,000-plus units in Wuzhou that I can't eat or sleep properly. If you give me units from other places, oh dear, how am I supposed to live?"

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