Chapter 182: Snowstorm (two chapters combined into one, 4000 words)
The Su family had a great time listening to music and watching plays. Before going to bed, Su Sanlang and Su Xiaosi were still talking about asking Brother Zhao to take them to see the play of a general riding a real horse next time. The two brothers made a lot of noise for a while before they fell asleep.
After Su Yanli finished taking care of his son, he passed by his daughter's room and knocked on the door, "Ajin, go to bed early."
"Got it, Dad. Good night."
"good evening!"
Whenever he said these two words, Su Yanli always felt weird, but also seemed very appropriate. The feeling was really wonderful. He smiled to himself, went into the house, hugged his wife and daughter and went to sleep.
With three maids serving her, Su Ruojin is now a real rich lady. She doesn't have to do anything but lie in bed and sleep soundly.
I don’t know if it’s a psychological effect, but I feel that the quilt today is particularly cold. I covered myself with it for a long time but it didn’t get warm. I hissed and grimaced, “Why is it so cold?”
It was Chunxiao's turn to be on duty today. She turned around and asked, "You think one hot water bottle is too cold? How about I have another one?"
"Do you have so many hot water bottles at home?"
"I'll go look for it."
Winter is here, and there are many people in the family. Putting one in each person's bed is considered a well-off family.
Su Ruojin curled up to keep warm and thought, in her previous life, she was from the south, and apart from air conditioning, she basically had to carry heat to keep warm in the winter. She had never enjoyed heating methods such as kangs and floor heating. In this life, she was born in the north, and she had to carry heat to get through the winter, let alone the years from the age of six.
In the past two years, the family conditions have improved and a fire basket can be placed in each room. However, the fire basket is still far inferior to the kang. It will go out after burning for a while and can barely keep one from freezing. I heard that the big kang and floor heating are very comfortable. Since floor heating is not possible, why don’t she build a kang and enjoy it?
The more Su Ruojin thought about it, the colder she felt in bed. Finally, she asked Chunxiao to sleep with her so that they could keep each other warm.
Is it really as cold this year as the Imperial Astronomical Observatory said? If winter is cold, what do we need to prepare?
Su Ruojin might be born to be anxious and worrying. When she heard the wind, she already thought of rain.
The next day, Su Yanli was on duty as usual. Su Ruojin went to find Shu Tong and asked, "Uncle, did you feel very cold when you slept last night?"
Shutong is a man with a temper. Besides, he has a wife and son now. The three of them squeeze into one bed, which is very warm. "I don't feel it."
Lu Dani put her son in the cradle, and the couple worked together to put the cradle in the wing room where the lady did needlework, and asked Mother Ji to take care of it together. She went to the kitchen to work, and when she heard the little master's words, she interrupted, "I feel that this winter is colder than in previous years."
Shu Tong still didn't think so and shook his head.
Is she being hypocritical? Su Ruojin looked up at the sky. It was no longer as blue and clear as before. It had become gray and the sun had lost its warmth. It was gloomy and cold.
She looked away and shook her head: "No, I feel cold."
"Add an extra quilt?" Or make the fire cage bigger?
Su Ruojin continued to shake her head: "I want to build a kang." Since none of you are cold, I won't be polite. I have worked hard to earn money for a year, so it's not too much to reward myself with a kang.
Just get to work, Su Ruojin went into her father's study and started writing and drawing, and was very busy.
Cheng Yingzhen glanced towards the study and asked, "Hasn't the blueprint for the young prince's shop been completed? What else do you want to draw?"
Shu Tong replied, "I don't understand what the Second Lady is talking about."
"This kid goes to his father's room all day long, flipping through those incomprehensible books and creating some weird things!"
Shu Tong smiled and said, "They are all good things that can make money."
That’s true.
Cheng Yingzhen smiled and stopped paying attention to her daughter. She turned around and went back to her room. She and Ding took care of the child and did needlework at the same time, feeling very comfortable.
After drawing the blueprint and buying the materials, Su Ruojin asked Shu Tongshu to find a good stove master. When Lord Xue found out, he quickly stopped Shu Tongshu and said, "I'll help Ah Jin find one."
Shu Tong didn't want to trouble a senior official from the Ministry of Works for such a small matter, so he waved his hand and said, "It's just... a stove... it's easy to find on the street."
Lord Xue was not willing to give up and insisted on taking the job. Shu Tong had no choice but to come back from the street and tell him that Lord Xue was determined to find a craftsman.
Su Ruojin pursed her lips and said, "Master Xue is really flexible. He can even lower his face to please a young lady like me. He is a capable person."
Shu Tong: ...I agree with you very much.
With the help of Lord Xue in finding craftsmen, construction began quickly.
After the construction started, Su Ruojin moved to the room that was once used for hired workers. As soon as she finished cleaning, she went to find Uncle Shu Tong and said, "The craftsmen are making the kang these days, let's go shopping."
The Su family now has a plan for their purchases. Shu Tong brings back things almost every day after sending the adults to work. There shouldn't be anything missing at home. He asked doubtfully, "Preparing for the New Year?"
"No, prepare for the cold winter."
Su Ruojin was born with a sense of crisis. Ever since the Fourth Prince said that this year would be a cold winter, she had become addicted to stockpiling. She always felt that she would only feel at ease if she filled her house with things, otherwise she would not be able to sleep well at night.
Shu Tong was puzzled: "Hasn't it been prepared? There is firewood and charcoal, and the utility room is full.
Su Ruojin shook her head, "There's not enough firewood."
"Just buy it after you use it?" It's not like I won't buy it. It doesn't matter what the book is.
"No, you have to buy two months' supply."
"I really have to buy enough for the New Year!" He said it was not preparing for the New Year. Although Shu Tong felt it was unnecessary, the Second Lady said he had to prepare it, so he should prepare it. It would be better to prepare it all at once, so that he doesn't have to run out every day in the winter. Wouldn't it be nice to stay at home and accompany his son?
Thinking that he could make fewer trips and stay at home to take care of his son, Shutong became more enthusiastic than the young lady. He drove the mule cart all over the street, buying rice, noodles, pork, radishes, eggs, etc. - anything that was easy to store.
The hardest thing to buy is salt. It is obvious that Su Ji needs salt to do business, but it is impossible to buy more for no reason.
Apart from the Wenshan shop, Su Ruojin had never asked Zhao Lan for help with anything else. This time, for the sake of salt, Su Ruojin asked Uncle Shu Tong to ask Siping for help to get more for storage.
"Buy salt."
"How much?"
Shu Tong was too embarrassed to say it directly, so he asked, "How much can the Fourth Steward buy for us?"
Siping thought to himself, as a young prince, I could get you a sack, but he didn't dare to say it. After all, salt and iron are things controlled by the court, and it is not good to hoard them privately without a legitimate use.
Seeing that Siping refused to reveal his true colors, Shutong had no choice but to speak up, "We... want to pickle a lot of pickles. Can you give us 100 kilograms?"
Isn't it just a sack?
"I want to report to the young prince."
"Okay, okay, I'm not in a hurry." Shu Tong went to the street to buy thick cloth, kapok, blankets and other cold-resistant supplies.
The young lady actually wanted so much salt at once. Zhao Lan was puzzled and came to the Su family in person. He saw the ping-pong noise in the place where the young lady lived, "What is this for?"
"I'm afraid of the cold, so I asked someone to make me a bed that can be heated."
Wouldn't that bed be on fire?
Seeing Zhao Lan's incredible look, Su Ruojin quickly took him to the room, where the craftsmen were working on the heart of a stove and a bed.
"It's not a wooden bed, but a bed made of stone bricks. This way, no matter how hard you burn, it won't catch fire."
"Isn't it uncomfortable to sleep on a bed like this?"
"Won't."
The kangs in the Northeast did not exist in the Bianliang City during the Dayin Dynasty. The people of Dayin used braziers and fire cages to keep warm. Su Ruojin did not know whether there were kangs in the Northeast of Dayin, but in the Song Dynasty, the Northeast region also used fire pits for heating, and this method of heating is still used today.
This kind of kang is used by people to cook during the day, and at night they would seal the stove mouth and use it for heating. The kang can be used for both heating and filling the stomach, killing two birds with one stone. It is very practical.
Regardless of whether it was awkward or not, Zhao Lan generally accepted everything made by the young lady. Since it was better than the charcoal brazier, he made one in his private courtyard and asked the young lady for the blueprint.
Then ask her why she uses so much salt?
Su Ruojin was stumped by his question. Should she tell him that she was afraid of too much snow in winter and wanted to spread some salt to melt it? Let's not talk about whether there was so much snow. Besides, the salt production in the Dayin Dynasty was very low due to low productivity. The court strictly controlled the sale of salt.
"This...I want to pickle a lot of pickles."
It sounded like an excuse. Even if she brought it over to resell, Zhao Lan wouldn't mind. He smiled and said, "I brought it to you."
Santai asked two guards to carry it in.
"Will it let you..."
"No." Zhao Lan said directly, "You have a shop, so it's not excessive to stock up some salt for the shop."
"Thank you, young prince." Su Ruojin thanked him quickly. After that, she did not forget to remind him, "The Imperial Observatory said that this winter is colder than in previous years. If you have subordinates, remind them to stock up on food and drink so that they won't be caught off guard when the time comes."
The Imperial Observatory says this every year, but Zhao Lan doesn't take it seriously. However, Su Ruojin has no chance to come into contact with the Imperial Observatory. When she heard it, she took it to heart and made a lot of preparations for it.
Maybe Zhao Lan had never been the head of the family, or maybe it was just as he thought: the Imperial Observatory said it every year, but he overlooked one thing. The reason why the Fourth Prince was able to personally supervise the repair of the public housing for rent must be that the Imperial Observatory said something to the emperor in private, and the emperor asked his son to take action. However, in ancient times, people were taboo about natural disasters, and they always closely associated natural disasters with fire disasters. They would not let people take precautions in advance, as if saying so would be a "crow's mouth".
This is actually really not good for the people, but the ancients were so superstitious. His Royal Highness Prince Yan said that this winter would be very cold, which was also a tactic for carrying out his work. Unexpectedly, Su Ruojin heard it and prepared a scene for it. Not only that, Lord Xue, who came to observe the work of the craftsmen, saw that Madam Su and her servants had prepared a large amount of winter food and clothes. He asked a few questions and found out that this was the case, so he hurried to prepare it.
Yang Si Niang often came to the Su family to play, and also told Mrs. Yang that this winter was particularly cold and it was inconvenient to travel.
"Did Madam Su Er say that?"
Yang Si Niang nodded, "Her family bought a lot of firewood, charcoal, and rice and flour... Anyway, they bought everything they need to eat. I think it's enough to last until the first month of the year."
Madam Yang never treated the Second Lady as an ordinary lady. Seeing her hoarding food, she also hoarded food. She had money anyway, and even if she couldn't eat it all, it wouldn't go bad in the winter. At worst, she could wait until next spring.
Yang Si Niang asked: "Mother, Ah Jin also made a bed for himself that he can warm himself by the fire, do you want to make it?"
"A bed with a fire?"
"Um."
This...Mrs. Yang really couldn't accept it at once, she needed to think about it.
The winter of the sixteenth year of Chengxi was indeed extremely cold as predicted by the Imperial Astronomical Observatory. Just as the winter began, the first heavy snow fell for two days and one night. The snow on the roofs, yards, and roads was up to the calves, causing great obstacles to people's travel.
Except for important government offices, many shops on the street were closed, and private schools, academies, and the Imperial College closed early.
The Su family benefited from Zhao Lan's help. When His Royal Highness Prince Yan was renovating the public housing in the building, they knew in advance that the winter would be cold, so they stocked up a lot of rice and grain early on, both at home and in the shop. When heavy snow blocked the road and closed the shop, the Su family stayed at home for the winter, and Su Yanli took the children to draw the Jiujiu Xiaohan Tu.
Influenced by Su Ruojin's stockpiling, the Su family's neighbors also prepared enough winter food. When the heavy snow trapped the streets of Beijing, their lives were not affected. They stayed at home and waited for the snow to melt.
But the common people in Bianliang were not so lucky. The heavy snow first lasted for two days and one night, and then continued on and off. Many people did not have food stored at home. The snow continued to fall, the market was closed, and they could not buy food. The prospect of chaos was looming, which made people feel panic-stricken.
On the tenth day of snow, early in the morning, Su Ruojin got up and opened the door, all she saw was white snow. The patio that had just been swept yesterday was covered with a thick layer of snow again, and there was even a lot of snow accumulated in the corridor.
Shu Tong put on his felt hat and asked, "Young lady, do you still need to use salt to sweep the snow in the courtyard and in front of the door?"
"sweep."
Shutong was worried: "It's not affordable to use salt to sweep the snow every day!"
"Are you running low on salt?"
"It's enough for now, but I'm afraid the snow won't stop for a while!"
"It's okay, just sprinkle salt when necessary."
Shu Tong was astonished. He finally understood why the Second Lady stockpiled so much salt. She actually used it to melt snow. That was really enough... He was so moved that he didn't know what to say for a moment.
Su Ji BBQ stopped operating a long time ago, and only two kinds of food were left for Su Ji breakfast, namely steamed buns mixed with coarse flour and soy milk made from soybeans. This was not for the purpose of making money, but to provide convenience for the residents living near the shop.
The supply is limited every day, two per person per day plus a bottle of soy milk, until 500 are sold out each day.
Although the three-in-one policy that Prince Yan obtained from Su Yanli was not fully implemented, the emperor still agreed to let him try it out with public rental housing on two streets first and see the results before fully implementing it. As a result, before the policy could be fully implemented, heavy snow fell on the city.
In order to facilitate his work, Zhao Lan would not return to Prince Jin's Mansion when it snowed heavily. He had been working in the secret base of the Investigation Department. Due to the influence of Su Ruojin, his subordinates also stockpiled a lot of food and drinks. He also stayed on the kang bed almost all day long. When he was working, he rolled up the quilt and put it away like a young lady. When he went to sleep, he moved the desk on the kang away, spread the quilt, and slept warmly until dawn.
When the King of Jin came to see his son out of concern, he sat on the kang, eyebrows raised in surprise, "My son, how did you come up with this? No wonder you didn't even go back to the palace."
Zhao Lan suppressed the smile on his face after hearing what Laozi said, "Father, why did you come here today..."
Hearing this, the King of Jin's good mood became depressed again. "The King of Wei and the King of Yan are fighting, and the emperor has turned a blind eye. I am here to remind you not to get involved in their fight."
"I know."
King Jin frowned and said, "I heard that it was you who suggested to King Yan that the tenants repair their houses in exchange for rent?"
Zhao Lan narrowed his eyes and said, "Last year, we caught a lot of spies in the Ministry of Industry, which caused Fourth Brother to be scolded, so I asked Mr. Shen to help him come up with this idea."
"You..." Prince Jin pointed at his son for a long time without blaming him. His son was only fourteen and did a good job. He didn't want to blame him, but he couldn't be careless about the struggle among the princes. If he was not careful, he would lose all his glory and might even lose his life.
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