Chapter 94 Seeking Cloth in Qianzhong

Ning An was not angry when he heard this, but laughed:

"That's because you're not a princess. If I improve my spear skills, my father will praise me for being smart, and then everyone in the world will say I'm smart."

However, the facts have proved that it is not easy to be a smart person in the martial arts field.

Ning An, with fiery enthusiasm, stumbled in the snow with a spear in his hand, fell several times, and his palms were almost scratched.

Her hair was wet with snow and sweat, and her clothes were stained with several dark marks. She looked as disheveled as if she had been fished out of the snow.

She returned to Yaohua Palace in such a state of embarrassment, and as soon as she entered the palace she shouted:

"Mother, I'm exhausted today..."

She turned around, her tone suddenly rising with surprise:

"Father!"

Inside the palace, Murong Yu and Concubine Shu were sitting at the table, about to have dinner together.

Seeing Ning An's expression, Murong Yu asked:

"Why is Ning An in this state today? How are the palace servants serving him?"

Ning An happily walked quickly to his father and saluted:

"Father, I was learning spearmanship with General Yuan in the martial arts arena today, and I got a little dirty."

Murong Yu saw Ning An's smiling face and was very happy:

"How is Ning An doing with his studies?"

Ning An lied calmly: "I have learned very well and made great progress!"

Murong Yu laughed: "As expected of my daughter."

Concubine Shu wiped her daughter's forehead with a handkerchief:

"Hurry up and take a shower and change your clothes. You'll catch a cold if you keep wearing these wet clothes!"

Ning An went back to his own palace to bathe. As he left, he turned back and asked:

"When will the emperor leave? Was he still in Yaohua Palace when I changed my clothes?"

Murong Yu: "Hurry up and change your clothes and come to dinner. I will dine with you and your daughter tonight."

"Yes, father!" Ning An walked slowly to the door of the palace.

The moment he stepped over the threshold, the small figure almost rushed out.

Ning An felt that today was really a great day.

I learned how to use a spear and also got to see my father, who hadn't been to Yaohua Palace for quite some time.

Ning An was the first princess in the palace.

Before Ning An was born, there were only the eldest prince, the second prince and the third prince in the palace.

Murong Yu paid more attention to his first daughter at that time.

But later, new people continued to enter the palace and other princesses were born, so Murong Yu paid less attention to Ning An.

But Ning An has always longed for her father's attention. She wanted to be her father's favorite daughter, just like the prince was her father's favorite son.

Shufei felt a little sad as she watched her daughter leave happily.

Ning An longs for fatherly love so much, but being born in a royal family, his longing for true love will most likely end in disappointment.

"Rong'er, what's wrong? Are you still angry that I haven't come to see you for a while?" Murong Yu lifted the hair from Concubine Shu's temples.

Concubine Shu came back to her senses, acted shy, and glared at Murong Yu:

"Your Majesty, I dare not. I know Your Majesty works tirelessly for state affairs, so how could you be angry? I just hate that I am not a man and cannot share Your Majesty's worries in the previous dynasty."

Murong Yu felt relieved after hearing this:

"If Rong'er were a boy, wouldn't my harem be missing a beauty? Besides, you have a good brother in the previous dynasty who can help me share my worries."

Concubine Shu: "My brother?"

Concubine Shu's grandfather was a minister of war, while her father was not very talented and was only a seventh-rank official. Concubine Shu's brother, Qin Yuan, was somewhat talented and was currently a doctor in the Treasury Department of the Ministry of War, a fifth-rank official.

Concubine Shu couldn't ask directly about the affairs of the previous dynasty, so she had to ask in a roundabout way:

"My brother is not very talented, and it's all thanks to the Emperor's support."

Murong Yu remained silent and recalled what happened in the court today.

Things did not go smoothly at court this morning.

Officials from Qianzhong Road submitted a memorial to Chang'an, saying that the autumn and winter in Qianzhong Road were particularly cold this year, and that the sowing and production in spring and summer were missed due to riots. Now many people in Qianzhong Road still have not enough food to eat or clothes to wear.

If this continues, it will probably become a vicious cycle and lead to more unrest.

He requested the imperial court to distribute disaster relief food and cloth to Qianzhong Road to help the people survive the winter.

Murong Yu mentioned this matter when he was in court.

Minister of Revenue Fu Qian stepped forward and said:

"Your Majesty, the grain for Qianzhong Road can be allocated from the nearby Shannan Road, Jiangnan Road, and Lingnan Road, but as for cloth—I'm afraid we can't raise that much at once."

Murong Yu was displeased:

"Can't you even gather some cloth?"

"This winter is so cold that demand for hemp fabrics is outstripping supply."

"After the riot in Qianzhong Road, a considerable amount of funds have been allocated for the reconstruction of various prefectures and counties. Right now, the residences of the King of Liang and the King of Yue are still under renovation. The palace in Jiangnan is not yet completed, and there is also Wentang in the suburbs of Beijing..."

Fu Qian said a lot, the general meaning of which was that there was not enough material if there was no money, and more money was spent on other things.

Murong Yu: "Cloth from the national inventory?"

Fu Qian: "Your Majesty, most of the cloth in the national inventory is silk and cotton, not for the people."

A group of ministers began to discuss.

Some people suggested that we should ask people in the capital to donate some old clothes. Since there are few people in Qianzhong, it would be enough if each person in the capital donated one piece of clothing.

Some people disagreed: "Only wealthy families in Chang'an can donate old clothes. Many poor people don't even have enough clothes to wear themselves. How can they donate?"

Some people even suggested not using cloth and letting the people hunt and wear animal skins, since their ancestors were all barbarians anyway.

An official from the Qianzhong Circuit couldn't help but ask, "Who would go hunting naked in the middle of winter? Are furs really that easy to find?"

No one suggested sending silk and cotton fabrics for emergency use. Silk and cotton fabrics were supplied to the royal family, bureaucrats, nobles and others for their own use.

They themselves needed to wear new clothes, their wives, children, parents needed to wear new clothes, and their groups of concubines and servants also needed to wear clothes.

That is something that only they can enjoy, not something that barbarians and unruly people can possess.

Qin Yuan came out at this time.

His official position was not high, he spoke little, and his seat in court was at the back, so most of the time he was just a supporting role.

But today he spoke in a loud voice in the court:

"Your Majesty, I think it would be better to transport cotton and cotton cloth from Lingnan to Qianzhong. A distant relative of mine recently came to Chang'an from the south and brought a piece of cotton cloth, which is as effective as silk in keeping out the cold."

Everyone present, including Murong Yu, knew about cotton cloth and cotton.

This thing had been presented as tribute a long time ago, but the nobles looked down on it and thought it was inferior to silk cotton.

Moreover, there are not many areas for growing cotton, and some people only grow it for viewing.

The Minister of Works said, "There are few people who can spin cotton. How can we find someone to spin cotton on short notice?"

Qin Yuan didn't argue with anyone, just looked at Murong Yu:

"Your Majesty, the cotton cloth I'm talking about is Black Mountain cloth from Lingnan. It's said that Lingnan is already producing cotton cloth in large quantities, and Lingnan is close to Qianzhong, so transportation is convenient."

Murong Yu: "Black Mountain Cloth?"

Everyone knows about Black Mountain Ink, but they don’t know about Black Mountain Cloth. If you have endless silks and satins to wear at home, why would you go to see what other people in the market use?

Moreover, some civil officials said that the country folks were indeed ignorant and their names were not poetic, they only knew to call it "Black Mountain", which was really unsophisticated.

The Dyeing and Weaving Department Director of the Imperial Household came out and said, "Your Majesty, I agree with Doctor Qin's suggestion. Although cotton isn't cultivated in many areas, it's grown in Lingnan and central Fujian. If all this cotton is used, it will be enough to supply cotton cloth this winter."

This time no one stood up to refute it, and it seemed to sound okay.

Murong Yu also thought this plan was feasible, so he handed the matter over to the Ministry of Revenue and the Ministry of Finance to handle together, asking the nobles in the capital to donate old clothes if they could, and at the same time asking Lingnan to send Black Mountain cloth to Qianzhong.

Murong Yu didn't explain in detail at the Yaohua Palace at this moment, he just said that Qin Yuan came up with a good idea and mentioned the black mountain cloth produced in Lingnan.

Concubine Shu smiled and continued, "Your Majesty is extremely lucky. Even a place like Lingnan can produce such fine products."

Murong Yu liked to see Concubine Shu smiling. When she smiled, her heart and eyes were full of him.

Admire him as a supreme and perfect man.

He benefited greatly from it.

Dishes of imperial cuisine were brought into Yaohua Palace.

The carved ginseng and shark fin soup were still steaming when they were served.

Concubine Shu considerately placed a piece of boneless fish into Murong Yu's bowl and poured him some wine.

"Lingnan is blessed with good fortune, producing both ink and cloth. Unfortunately, Lingnan is so remote that its people cannot see the emperor."