"Alas, what's the point of getting angry with me? We are on the same side." Lu Yi sighed depressedly:
"There are too many people talking now. Some want to go east, some want to go west. Some want to kill dogs, some want to chase away chickens. I think unless the workers can be allowed to return to work, there will be more unrest for a while."
"Well, the three of us brothers are here to discuss resuming work." Then Mr. Liu said lightly.
"It's difficult." Lu Yi shook his head and said, "With fewer people, it won't work unless we can get 200,000 weavers back to work together."
"Of course we will return to work together, otherwise what are we doing here?" Liu Zhengqi said arrogantly.
"Ah, is this true?" Lu Yi was dumbfounded.
"Are you doubting the Dongting Chamber of Commerce or my brother?" Xu Zhixiang glared.
"No, no, I never expected that." Lu Yi waved his hands quickly. Nowadays, whoever can give him an order is an ancestor who cannot be offended.
"Who dares to deceive people at this time?" Liu Zhengqi waved his hand to stop Xu Zhixiang from getting angry, and said to Lu Yi: "We have done our best to ensure sales. But if we don't start production immediately, everything will be in vain."
"How many orders can there be?" Lu Yibaba asked.
"We don't have much time. Go gather the weavers and tell everyone together." Liu Zhengqi said in a deep voice, "Hurry up, or something will happen."
"Oh, okay." Lu Yi immediately perked up. He asked people to protect Mr. Liu and the other two, and he quickly ran to pass on the message.
~~
Similar to the Dongting Chamber of Commerce formed by silk merchants, weavers also had their own textile industry guilds.
Through the guild, Lu Yi quickly passed on the news brought by Liu Yuanwai to the weavers of all sizes scattered around the city.
This was truly like a long drought followed by a cold rain, and a dead tree coming back to life with spring. The weavers could no longer hold back.
Although many people were skeptical about the Chamber of Commerce, no one dared to not go out of spite. What if the orders were limited and only given to those who showed up, wouldn't they regret it?
So no matter what they thought, no one dared to delay, and everyone rushed to Lu Garden in Loumen for the meeting.
~~
As the name suggests, Lu Garden is the Lu family's garden.
The ancestors of the Lu family were the famous Wujun Lu family, descendants of Lu Xun, Lu Ji, and Lu Yun. In terms of family background, they were slightly inferior to the Langya Wang family, but their ability to branch out was far better than that of the Langya Wang family.
In addition to the Changzhou Lu family, the Kunshan Lu family, the Shanghai Lu family... and the Pinghu Lu family that was almost wiped out, are all from the same clan.
Therefore, although the Lu family's influence was greatly reduced after the fall of Minister of Personnel Lu Wan and Grand Commander of the Embroidered Uniform Guard Lu Bing, the Lu family's children were implicated and their influence was not as great as before, no one still dared to provoke this wealthy and powerful family with a thousand-year heritage and children spread all over the south of the Yangtze River.
Therefore, Liu Zhengqi decided to hold the meeting at Lu Garden instead of the Dongting Merchants Guild headquarters which was also located in the city.
This way they don't have to worry about an angry mob rushing in halfway through the session and dragging them out and beating them up.
The current head of the Changzhou Lu family is named Lu Kuang, who is the youngest son of the former Minister of Personnel Lu Wan.
His father climbed to a high position in the imperial court because of his passion for fame and his ability to socialize with the powerful, but he was also involved in the Ning Wang Rebellion.
After the Ning Wang rebellion was defeated, the eunuchs searched his house and found the letters that Lu Wan had exchanged with him on a daily basis. This angered the Emperor Zhengde, who ordered his immediate arrest and imprisoned his elderly mother, wife and children in Changzhou.
Lu Kuang was only seven years old at the time and was not spared. He also witnessed his 90-year-old grandmother die in prison.
Although Lu Bing's efforts saved the Changzhou Lu family and spared Lu Wan from death and exile, this tragic experience left a deep shadow on Lu Kuang's childhood, causing him to refuse to study or become an official for the rest of his life, and even to be unwilling to deal with officialdom.
As the saying goes, "One loses in one place, but gains in another", the Lu family enjoys a very high reputation among the people of Suzhou.
Therefore, he rejected Liu Zhengqi's request at first... It was obvious that Liu Yuanwai and others were representatives of the governor and the prefect. If they rashly got involved, the citizens would think that the Lu family had betrayed them.
But Liu Zhengqi came prepared. He told Lu Kuang that Lin Zhongcheng promised that if the Lu family helped to quell the riots this time, he would use the power of the governor to change the descendants of Lu Bing, who had been in prison for nearly two years, to residential surveillance.
In the past, Lu Bing rescued the Changzhou Lu family who were in the same situation. If Lu Kuang now ignores the life and death of the Pinghu Lu family, is he still a human being?
He finally agreed to let the Dongting Chamber of Commerce hold a weaving household meeting in Lu Garden. He also took the initiative to contact the Wuxian Gu family, Xu family, Shen family and other Suzhou nobles to stand up and persuade the citizens to stop the riots and restore order.
The influence of the aristocratic families and the Dongting merchant group is enough to cool down the vast majority of Suzhou citizens who are too arrogant.
During the meeting at Lu Garden in the afternoon, everyone was finally able to talk properly.
When Mr. Liu calmly explained the relief plan, the resentment in the weavers' hearts disappeared in an instant.
"Sign your names in the account book now, and you can get the silk tomorrow morning. You can also get an advance of the starting fee to be distributed to the weavers." Mr. Liu smiled at the weavers in the yard, "What reason do you have to make trouble now?"
"No, that's all." The weavers did not expect the solution to be so powerful. It was far beyond their expectations and even a little unbelievable.
"Liu, Chairman Liu, from now on we don't have to worry about sales anymore?" someone asked stutteringly.
"No need. Didn't I just say that? From now on, Suzhou's silk industry will be sold at a protective price."
Liu Zhengqi waved his hand and smiled, "Just focus on leading the workers to work. No matter how bad the market is, the price will not be lower than this protection price. If the market improves, the purchase price will naturally rise. In short, you will have a stable income in the future!"
"Shh, that's great..."
"Am I dreaming?" The weavers started to pinch each other excitedly.
"It hurts, I'm not dreaming!"
"You are dissatisfied, but now you have been given a stable job. There is no reason for you to make trouble anymore, right?"
After Liu Zhengqi finished playing the good guy, Vice President Xu played the bad guy again and said sternly: "Whoever makes trouble again will destroy everyone's rice bowl and our big pot!"
"Yes, President Xu is right!" The weavers changed their minds and shouted, "We, the 200,000 weavers, firmly support Lin Zhongcheng and the Dongting Chamber of Commerce!"
"Both guild leaders have come this far. If anyone makes trouble again, it would be intentional to cause trouble!"
"That sounds like human language." Xu Zhixiang snorted, "After the meeting, send all your workers home and get the looms running tomorrow!"
"Tonight, the army will enter the city to quell the rebellion. Anyone who does not return home before dark is deliberately rebelling." After a pause, he continued murderously:
"Not only will we never have work to do, but we won't protect you if the prefecture or the county comes to settle the score!"
"Yes!" the weavers responded in unison.
ps. Here is the third update from yesterday.