Chapter 648 A Dream of Youth 180
After everyone calmed down a bit, Xie Wangzhi continued, "These are the experimental data I compiled. I also planted some cotton in my estate in the suburbs, and the main weaving is done in the weaving workshops in the suburbs. Would Your Majesty like to take a look?"
"go!"
Besides farming, weaving is also a very important activity. After all, people cannot live without food, clothing, shelter and transportation. On a specific day each year, the emperor would personally go to the fields to plow the land, while the empress would lead the women of the imperial clan to perform the Gongsang ceremony.
The emperor skimmed through the memorial, his eyes shining. He excitedly circled around twice before turning back to Eunuch Ding, "Have Li Shen make preparations; we're leaving immediately!"
This means that there should be no entourage; people should travel incognito.
Ding, the eunuch, was quite adept at it. After all, the emperor often secretly slipped out of the palace in disguise to eat, and he could tell just by observing whether the empress and Princess Yanxi had an extra meal at night.
However, it's getting late now, and if we go to the Xie family's weaving workshop, it will be evening, so we'll definitely have to stay overnight.
The old master thought so too, and therefore wanted to persuade the emperor to go again tomorrow, but the emperor was anxious and wanted to see how the weaving workshop actually operated.
By the time Li Shen had prepared the carriage, the emperor had also changed his clothes and come out. Being young and strong, he naturally didn't want to ride in a carriage, and besides, carriages were too slow.
Looking down at Xie Ning's small stature, the Emperor hesitated before asking, "Young Master Xie, would you like to ride in the carriage with Minister Zu and the others?"
Xie Ning is also going. I heard that she contributed a lot to the improvement of those textile machines, and we'll need her to explain things to us then.
"Your Majesty, I can ride a horse."
With that, she nimbly mounted her horse. She no longer takes a carriage to or from the palace; she rides a horse to work, which is much faster than taking a carriage, although it gets a bit sunny.
But it's a good way to get some exercise.
"Good! Xie Qing, you've raised a wonderful daughter!"
Xie Wangzhi modestly explained, then mounted his horse. The group galloped out of the imperial city, traveling along the imperial road at great speed. By the time they reached the small mountain village, the sun was setting, and the entire sky was bathed in warm hues.
On the muddy path, farmers carried their hoes home. Some carried a load of rice by themselves, while others shared a basket with one other person. Horses galloped by, startling a flock of sparrows that were scavenging for food in the fields.
Seeing the people enjoying a bountiful harvest, the emperor was in high spirits and couldn't help but dismount and chat with them, asking how the harvest was this year.
Most of the people here are tenant farmers, and they are all tenant farmers of the Xie family. Although Xie Wangzhi's official land is not here, Xie Ning's official land after he became an official was allocated here.
Of course, this was not a coincidence, but rather Xie Ning's own choice.
After all, many people came to her for medical treatment, including one official from the Ministry of Revenue who made an exception for Xie Ning when she asked if she could choose her own position.
It's not a big deal. He received a small favor from Xie Ning and couldn't wait to repay it with something so trivial.
Anyway, these positions are assigned arbitrarily by them. If you have a good relationship with someone or have received their "gifts," then you can choose a good position. If you don't have a good relationship with someone, then sorry, the position and quality of the land and the tenant farmers cannot be guaranteed.
Although the first half of the year was plagued by drought, the weather was favorable in the latter half, resulting in a good harvest this autumn, which pleased the emperor greatly.
Climbing up the small slope and looking down, the fields stretched out as far as the eye could see, a vast expanse of white. The emperor's heart pounded, and he led his entourage into the cotton field.
Besides the patch of low-lying cotton grass, there was also a patch of kapok trees planted on the sunny slope. However, the leaves were turning yellow and tinged with autumn colors at the moment, and the cotton fluff would not fall until next spring.
"Minister Xie, how much do you think cotton yields per acre?"
"Depending on the soil fertility, it ranges from seventy to ninety kilograms." Ten kilograms of cotton can be spun into a bolt of cloth, which can roughly make three men's long gowns or seven to eight women's dresses.
Inside, peasant women dressed in coarse cloth and wearing headscarves were picking cotton. The emperor also went down into the field and reached out to pick a cloud of white cotton.
A female worker ran over to stop them, but stopped when she saw Xie Ning standing to the side. They didn't know Xie Wangzhi, but they did know Xie Ning.
After all, Xie Ning often went to textile factories and would occasionally give them a lesson.
Xie Ning didn't talk about anything else, just stories. Later, they discovered that they were also very important, not dispensable.
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