Chapter 124 Autumn Harvest Banquet In an instant, the attendants beside him rushed forward,...
In an instant, the servants nearby rushed forward and politely "asked" a few people to leave to make room for the peasant women.
Yang Erniu hugged her daughter tightly, not knowing what to do. The maids gently pushed her forward, and forced her daughter to kneel two or three steps away from the main table.
"Okay, harvest is a happy day. You have a child with you, so there's no need to be so reasonable. Just sit down." Mu Xue said.
Yang Erniu did not dare to look up, but only lowered her head to agree and was led to take a seat. However, her daughter, who was young, looked at the princess and the little princess sitting next to her in a specially made high chair with excitement.
Wow, it's the princess! And she's so close to them.
When the little princess saw the girl with pigtails, she tilted her head slightly and smiled.
Mu Xue heard the laughter and saw her daughter was happy, so she smiled and said, "I'm happy today."
She glanced at the dishes on the table and ordered, "Give them the elbows to eat."
The attendant immediately and obediently brought over a large plate of tender and fragrant pork elbows, and whispered to Yang Erniu, "Thank you quickly."
Yang Erniu hurriedly led her daughter to thank the emperor. Meanwhile, Rong'er had brought a few peasant women over and asked them to sit down. The peasant women sat down in a crowded manner, and only dared to sit in the front half, feeling a little awkward and unnatural. They had long been accustomed to eating and drinking at a small table or in the kitchen. Suddenly, sitting at such a good table, solid and beautiful, with such a distinguished nobleman beside them, was like a dream.
Jiang Zhuangtou saw their appearance, and turned around to see that the men were only staring at the bowls and chopsticks, as if their eyes were attracted by the porcelain. The scene was a little awkward for a moment. Fearing that the princess would be unhappy, he quickly reached out to take the wine pot: "Come, come, come, ladies and aunts, this is rice wine, fill it up first."
Muxue also picked up the chopsticks, knowing that no one would dare to move unless she did it first.
Sure enough, seeing her pick up the dishes and eat slowly, the people around her breathed a sigh of relief, their spines that were originally as straight as poplar trees relaxed a little, and they picked up their chopsticks tremblingly. Especially the peasant women, after eating the hot and fragrant stir-fried dishes, their expressions were much more relaxed.
Mu Xue moved the dishes slowly. Although the knife skills seemed to be done by the kitchen staff who came to help in advance to ensure safety, the overall flavor was still different. Compared with the kitchen staff, it was less exquisite and more fresh. The dishes prepared by the farmers were extremely fresh. The mutton buns were also made of freshly ground wheat flour, which was fragrant and chewy.
When she had almost finished eating, she put down her chopsticks and looked at a peasant woman at the next table.
"Can you drink alcohol normally? This wine looks refreshing, but it's a bit intoxicating."
The long-faced peasant woman was about forty years old. When she heard the question, she grinned and said, "I eat too. I'm not afraid of getting drunk."
Yang Erniu's daughter also said: "My mother and aunts ate it during the Chinese New Year, and I dipped the tip of my chopsticks in it and tasted it."
The princess's friendly attitude gradually opened up the peasant women's chatterboxes. They were simple and generous people, and when the princess asked about their daily lives, they chattered one after another, such as when they came here, what they were not used to before, and how they felt comfortable now.
Yang Erniu said: "Everything is good. The happiest thing is that there is a free school in front. My child can learn a few words. This was unthinkable in my family before!"
There is no need to pay tuition fees, and it is not limited to boys, which is really a good thing.
The long-faced peasant woman next to him also said, "The charity school is good, people gather together and it's warm. Especially in winter, it's much better than Banshengli, my hands are frozen. Last year I wanted to make some clothes during the winter, but it was so cold that I didn't feel like it. It's a pity that I can't go in at my age and status, otherwise I would have to stay in the charity school all day."
The peasant woman next to her laughed and complained, "She slipped away for a few days and hid in a corner."
"Hey, hey, stop talking nonsense." The long-faced peasant woman blushed. The others laughed.
Mu Xue said: "You can also go to the charity school to listen to the lessons and learn a few words."
The long-faced peasant woman said, "Your Highness, I have no affinity with this word. I even feel sleepy when I listen to the teacher's lecture. With such a good place, I might as well spin some cloth..."
They chatted a lot and talked about daily life. It was very lively and then they went home after the banquet.
Dusk is falling. The weather is good today. The sunset glow is long and the light purple glow is layered in the sky.
Mu Xue returned to the princess's residence in the morning light. The little princess had fallen asleep after playing so much. She asked someone to watch over her and went back to the study, where she sat behind the large pearwood table and thought about what she had just seen and heard.
The winter here is really cold. Although the farmers have firewood for heating, few of them are rich enough to heat the whole house. Most of them just freeze and endure the slow winter. When people are cold, they don't want to work. Just like the peasant woman said, how can you weave with frozen hands?
She rested her hand on her chin and thought for a while. This kind of weather is suitable for central heating, which can bring people together to keep warm and do something, such as weaving.
To be honest, she is a big sheep farmer, with a lot of sheep business every year. In addition to mutton, wool and cashmere are also very good raw materials for commodities. But in the past, there were not many people, so the wool was sold in a rough way. Now these skillful women who came from the west have nothing to do in winter, so they can do some weaving and increase their income.
Mu Xue then called over the eunuch Guan Zhuang and Qiu Hua, asked them about the situation in detail, and then said, "I want to build a big house next to the Tianjian School, burn a charcoal stove in it, and keep it warm, so that the women can weave wool, and the men can make boots and the like."
Qiuhua thought about it and understood: "This way, we can centrally heat and work. The children can study next door, and the mothers and fathers can work here. It couldn't be more convenient."
"That's right. During the New Year holidays, everyone can have a place to have fun. After all, in winter, it's not like the autumn harvest time when we can set up tables outside. There must be a place," Mu Xue said.
Such public spaces would exist in many villages in the form of ancestral halls. However, the farmers she recruited were all from Kouzi, with different surnames and families, so there was no such place in Yanzhidi Village.
Now we can bring these functions together.
"Let's build one first and call it a commune," Mu Xue said, "as a processing workshop for wool and other products. If time is tight, we can just build board walls and a felt roof. Anyway, let's give it a try first."
She basically follows this process, first doing a small test, summarizing the experience and then generalizing it. Qiuhua and the others are also very familiar with it, and they immediately agreed to it, and each of them assigned tasks and did their own work.
Time is still very tight. Once it snows here, the long winter begins. We have to build a commune before the coldest days of winter.
Because the Princess's chief historian had designed the house at the beginning of the construction, the houses of the farmers in Yanzhidi were well-structured. Such a vast Yanzhidi was divided into four small villages, and many houses in the villages were close together. The school, which served as a charity school, was located at the opposite end of the houses, in the middle.
The autumn harvest is completed, and the farmers are not in a hurry to dry the crops and store the winter vegetables. They have a rare chance to relax.
Yang Erniu sent her daughter to the charity school early in the morning and saw that there were suddenly many more craftsmen carrying wooden rulers on the open space next to her. They were marking lines and driving piles on the ground. They were there when Yang Erniu sent her daughter and when she picked her up. It was obvious that they had been busy all day.
Judging from the clothes and fabrics, as well as the exquisite craftsmanship, he must be the craftsman mentioned by the princess's dowry.
Yang Erniu's daughter was curious, so she took advantage of the break to ask, "What are you going to build?"
The craftsman wiped his sweat and saw that it was a little girl of five or six years old. He replied, "A warm room."
A heated house?
Yang Erniu and her daughter were a little confused as to how to keep warm and whose house it was.
I wanted to ask more, but the chief craftsman over there was already urging me: "Hurry up, the work must be completed before the freezing weather sets in. Don't dawdle and talk nonsense here. If you finish it ahead of time, you'll get a reward."
The craftsman agreed and turned back to his work.
The news that a commune was to be built near the school spread quickly to the people of Yanzhidi. They were idle anyway, so they just talked about it. Some of them were farmers who were recruited as temporary workers, so they heard all kinds of news.
"Have you heard that a commune is going to be built next to the charity school?"
"What is this? What is a commune?"
"I heard that this is where we keep warm in the winter."
"What's the point of building that thing? For the village heads to live in?"
"That's already been there, isn't it? It's the row of rooms in front of the counter. And they made it so big. Unless it's for the eunuch who's in charge of the manor, there's no point in building such a big house."
Yang Erniu and Aunt Wang, the long-faced peasant woman who had spoken to the princess, heard these discussions and saw that the commune was gradually taking shape. They could not help but think of the princess's questions at the autumn harvest banquet that day.
At that time, the princess specifically asked whether the house was cold and the situation of winter textiles.
Could it be because of... Aunt Wang's heart moved, but she immediately shook her head. No way, how could a master worry about a servant like this?
Although she felt it was impossible, her heart was still pounding. Aunt Wang simply went out early in the morning and ran to the Lama Temple to burn incense and pray to the Buddha to bless her family and the princess, so that everything would go smoothly and peacefully.
As the house grew taller day by day, the farmers began to talk about it more and more. Some believed it, some didn't, but everyone couldn't help but take a look at the place where the house was built when they passed by the charity school.
The first snow fell, heralding the arrival of winter. The commune's big house basically took shape, and after waiting for a few more days, while the snow cleared, they hurriedly put up and fixed the felt roof.
The last step was scheduled on an auspicious day. It was a cloudy day, with clouds covering the sky like wool, and the wind blew into people's necks, making them shrink their necks in the cold.
Eunuch Guanzhuang and head of Jiangzhuang led people to hang up the plaque early in the morning. The plaque was covered with red cloth, which swayed gently in the wind. It was a rare bright color in such a boring season.
"Okay, hurry up and line up. The princess will come and cut the ribbon soon."
Yang Erniu, Aunt Wang and others followed the crowd and slowly moved to the open space in front of the new house, where they stood in a row, and took the opportunity to quietly check whether their hair was messy and their clothes were stained with mud.
After waiting for a while, I heard the sound of horse hooves approaching, and a carriage with a canopy was slowly approaching, surrounded by horses in front and behind.
Aunt Wang raised her head and took a quick look. It was similar to the procession when the princess came last time, except that there seemed to be more servants wearing Mongolian robes.
The curtain of the carriage was lifted, and the prince consort helped the princess get out of the carriage, holding her hand.
It turned out that the prince consort had returned and accompanied the princess to cut the ribbon.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
