Shen Qing and Jiang Shen arrived at the Fan family's gate.
A servant from the Fan family went in to report.
Jiang Shen asked Shen Qing, "Are you looking for a weaver here?"
Just as they were discussing recruiting weavers, Shen Qing came to the Fan family immediately, leading Jiang Shen to believe that the Fan family might have some weavers.
He had been following Shen Qing for two years. Although Shen Qing was efficient and decisive, he would never go to someone else's house when he was in trouble in business.
They must have come to resolve business matters.
Looking at the grand entrance of the Fan family's residence, Shen Qing smiled and said, "You'll see in a moment."
The servant quickly came out and invited Shen Qing inside.
Shen Qing led Jiang Shen straight to the Fan family school.
Dozens of tapestry weaving machines were neatly arranged in the room, and ten young girls were working diligently, their heads bowed and their hands moving up and down, weaving silk.
An elderly man with white hair was sitting on the platform. When he saw Shen Qing enter the courtyard, he immediately walked towards Shen Qing.
Shen Qing greeted him with a smile, cupping his hands in a respectful gesture to the old man: "Mr. Fan, it's been a long time. How are you doing?"
Mr. Fan smiled and said, "I'm still in good health! I can still do the weaving!"
After speaking, he looked at Jiang Shen and asked, "And who is this?"
"This is my assistant," Shen Qing said with a smile. "I've come today to tell you that I've returned to making silk!"
He also recounted how he united with other silk merchants to regain control of the raw silk trade.
"This raw silk is not only related to the interests of the vast number of silk farmers and silk merchants, but also to the interests of the entire Chinese nation! Foreigners, in collusion with foreign compradors, are making a fortune off the Chinese people, but in return, they are feeding the Chinese people opium, harming their bodies, and attempting to disintegrate this nation with opium. This is absolutely unacceptable! We are not only taking back the initiative in the raw silk trade, but also defending the dignity and future of this nation!"
Mr. Fan was moved to tears and said with righteous indignation, "Girl, I never expected you to have such a strong sense of national righteousness! If you have any difficulties, just tell me! I will definitely help you!"
Taking advantage of the situation, Shen Qing sighed and said, "My biggest problem right now is that I don't have any weavers. Although the Imperial Textile Bureau has allocated a quota, without weavers, we can't make silk products."
"Weaver? That's easy!" Old Master Fan pointed to the girl in the school who was weaving silk with her head down. "I'll get some of these girls for you, and you can become a weaver, right?"
Silk weaving is a fundamental skill that every kesi weaver must master, so any kesi weaver from the Fan family can be equivalent to several weavers from the common people.
Shen Qing was overjoyed: "Really? If you give me the kesi (silk tapestry) technique, what will you do on your side?"
Mr. Fan joked, "There's not much work lately, and the tapestry weavers are all idle! I'll just make some for you, so you can get your wages, and I won't have to support these girls anymore!"
After saying that, he added, "Besides, you don't have any silk to supply the weaving bureau, and the weaving bureau doesn't have any silk for me to weave! My work still depends on your silk, doesn't it?"
Shen Qing knew he was only saying that to comfort her, and gratefully grasped his hand: "Mr. Fan, rest assured, I will definitely treat your kesi weaving skills well. Then, I plan to establish a silk weaving school to cultivate more excellent weavers like you, so that our Jiangzhou silk craftsmanship can be passed down!"
Mr. Fan glanced around and whispered, "I want to be the principal of the school..."
Shen Qing laughed loudly: "No problem!"
On the way back to the Gao family home, Jiang Shen asked with a smile, "Now that the weaver problem is solved, will Su Lan still be allowed to set up a stall tomorrow?"
"Yes, we will set up a shop, but we can relax the requirements. Originally, we needed to hire skilled workers, but now we can hire female workers who have no spinning experience at all. Mr. Fan will personally teach them silk weaving skills."
Shen Qing spoke with a relaxed tone.
She hadn't expected that a trip to the Fan family would resolve all the issues related to the weavers and the silk weaving school.
I was just thinking of trying my luck.
Jiang Shen smiled and said, "It's clear that Mr. Fan cares about you a lot."
Shen Qing recalled her first visit to the Fan family, where the old gentleman pointed his finger at her and scolded her for forgetting her roots, calling her a traitor to silk.
She knew that Mr. Fan was disappointed in her but didn't really dislike her, so she didn't argue with him. Instead, she told him about her situation and plans.
Afterwards, without saying a word, Mr. Fan helped her weave an inner lining cloth using the kesi (silk tapestry) technique, and she knew that this old man was just stubborn but soft-hearted.
But I really didn't dare to think that the old man was being kind to me.
The Fan family is an old family of kesi (silk tapestry) weavers; the dragon pattern on the emperor's robe was woven by the Fan family.
The Fan family holds a pivotal position in both the kesi (silk tapestry) and silk weaving industries...
The following day, Su-lan set up a stall outside the shop to recruit apprentice weavers.
Shen Qing was busy with the new factory and didn't have time to go to the site. It wasn't until he returned to the Gao family home that evening that he asked about it at the dinner table.
"How did it go today in recruiting weavers? How many have you hired?"
"We only managed to recruit one girl," Su Lan reported, putting down her chopsticks. "It wasn't very smooth; we encountered some thugs causing trouble both this morning and this afternoon."
Shen Qing had anticipated this, but then he thought that with Jiang Shen around, everything should be fine.
Chunju said fearfully, "Before, when the young mistress and I were setting up our stall, someone came to cause trouble. Fortunately, Lord Qi came to our rescue. Now that Lord Qi has been transferred to the Textile Bureau, he can't control us anymore. Alas."
Su Lan whispered, "With Brother Jiang Shen around, all those thugs were chased away by him."
Shen Qing noticed something was off about that tone and looked at Su Lan.
Her little face was flushed, and she was looking down with her head down and lips pursed, appearing very shy.
He immediately understood.
Su Lan has fallen for Jiang Shen.
She glanced at Jiang Shen, who was standing guard at the door, and called out, "Jiang Shen, come in and have dinner with us."
Jiang Shen glanced back at the dining hall, then turned his head back to look straight ahead: "I'm not hungry, you eat first."
Shen Qing smiled: "Alright, come in and eat, hurry up!"
Chunju quickly went to serve Jiang Shen rice.
Jiang Shen entered and sat down opposite Su Lan.
The young man, in his early twenties, was handsome and well-proportioned. Despite living a life of hardship year-round, he had a fair complexion.
In modern times, he'd be the kind of handsome young man with a Korean style.
This type of boy is very attractive to girls who are just beginning to experience romantic feelings.
Shen Qing glanced at Su Lan and saw that her face turned even redder and her head lowered even further. She didn't dare to look at Jiang Shen sitting opposite her at all.
Looking at Jiang Shen, he was eating heartily with an upright demeanor, not even glancing at Su Lan.
Shen Qing thought to himself as he ate his rice:
Now that Jiang Shen is with her, he's considered part of the Gao family, and has little to do with Cheng Zhiwen. If Cheng Zhiwen is arrested as a traitor in the future, Jiang Shen shouldn't be implicated.
Although Jiang Shen is a rigid and methodical person, he is indeed an upright person and has excellent martial arts skills. I feel at ease letting Su Lan follow him.
Thinking of this, Shen Qing smiled and nodded.
"Young mistress," a servant ran into the dining room, handing her a letter with both hands, "an urgent letter from the Nanxun warehouse."
Shen Qing put down his chopsticks and bowl: "Nanxun warehouse? What happened to the raw silk?"
She quickly opened the envelope.
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