The Duke of Chengguo's Mansion sent a lot of things, including a list, which also stated which things were for Liu Yulian.
When Liu's mother was in the capital, she had seen many good things and could see the sincerity of the Chengguo Mansion.
"It must be Young Master He who has returned to the capital." Mother Liu said with a smile. The people in Duke Cheng's Mansion knew that Liu Yulian's medicine cured He Xichen, so they sent so many things.
The visitor also mentioned that there was a wooden box that the old lady had given to Liu Yulian. Liu Yulian took the box and looked inside. She found jewelry and a stack of banknotes inside.
Liu Yulian didn't expect the old lady to be so simple and crude, but she liked it. So many banknotes, all money.
"If the young lady likes it, the old lady will be relieved." said the visitor.
Mother Liu had these people taken to dinner first. They were exhausted and had come from far away. Mother Liu also had some watermelon cut for them and some cakes prepared. Since the Duke of Chengguo had sent so many gifts, they had to return the favor.
It’s just that I don’t have that many things at home, and there’s not that much to give away.
"We still have two rolls of cotton cloth at home." Liu Yulian knew what her mother was thinking. They didn't have any good things at home, so it would be difficult to return the gift. "Give them some homemade dried fruits and jams. Those things are easy to store. I think they understand our difficulties."
"Let's do it this way." Liu's mother said, "Didn't you make a double-sided embroidery earlier? Take that."
It was a double-sided embroidery of a kitten. The patterns on both sides were slightly different, but very cute.
Liu Yulian originally wanted to give it to her niece to play with, but she obviously preferred a real live cat to an embroidery. In order to prevent her from damaging the embroidery, Liu Yulian did not give the kitten embroidery to her niece.
"Some people out there want to make double-sided embroidery, but it's not an easy task, and the embroidery may not be that good." Liu's mother said, "If you really want to sell it, it can fetch a lot of money, so it's good to have one like this."
Liu's mother saw the wooden box that the old lady of the Chengguo Mansion gave to Liu Yulian, which contained a thick stack of banknotes. So their family couldn't be too stingy and still had to show some appreciation.
"Then put it up." Liu Yulian thought that if her niece liked it, she would embroider another one for her later. "Would you like to buy some more local specialties?"
"Yes, it's the local specialty." Mother Liu nodded, "We have to buy some, otherwise, those things are not enough to look at."
Liu's mother had been the head of a household before, and she knew that families like the Chengguo Mansion had many good things, and the things they gave were not worth anything at all.
Those who sent things to the northwest will return to Beijing in two days, so it's a good opportunity for them to take the things back with them.
At this time, Widow Zhang was with her brother.
"Three cents a pound of wool. If you have any, give it to me," said Widow Zhang. "At least we can earn a little more and buy a few pounds of meat."
Widow Zhang's brother was surnamed Liu, the eldest of the family, so let's call him Liu Da. Liu Da had originally wanted to sell the wool to supplement the family income, even if it was just a few cents, that would be enough to buy some meat for the family.
Five cents for a pound of meat, a few cents is not bad.
"Really?" Liu Da was shocked. He obviously didn't expect someone to spend so much money to buy a pound of wool. "The wool at home is just sheared from sheep. It's not very good."
"If it's not very good, then we have to deal with it," said Widow Zhang. "The county lady is offering three cents per pound, which is very fair. You go out and sell the wool at one cent per pound, and there's no guarantee anyone will buy it. Brother, you should also tell the other people in the village. It's better than burying the wool in a pit."
"I'll go check it out tomorrow." Liu Da didn't intend to ask the villagers to go so soon. If people haven't collected it yet, that would be terrible.
"The county lady wouldn't be kidding you. She doesn't need this little money." Widow Zhang slammed the table. "Don't dilly-dally like that. Just tell them who wants to go early. Are you still a man if you keep dilly-dallying? How can you possibly earn money if you don't give it a try?"
Widow Zhang thought that Liu Da could send some people with him. If Liu Da only brought a small amount of wool, wouldn't it seem that he didn't do his job well? Widow Zhang thought that she had promised the county lady that she would send more wool.
"If they are willing, I will buy the wool for two cents per pound and then send it to the county lady." said Widow Zhang.
"No." Liu Dadao said, "It's not being sent to the provincial capital or the capital, it's right here in the town. Can't they send it to the town themselves? Why would they be willing to give you money?"
For that penny, the villagers would walk a long way. Moreover, if there were a few more pounds of wool, it would bring in several more pennies.
"I understand. Send it over as soon as possible," said Widow Zhang. "Don't dawdle. By the way, do you have any sheep with lots of wool?"
"Why?" Liu Da had indeed seen sheep with lots of wool, but no one liked them very much. Their wool was cheap and hard to sell. If they weren't sheared regularly, their wool would be too heavy and difficult to raise. "You want to buy lambs?"
"I did have this idea. I wanted to buy sheep with more wool," Widow Zhang said. "There are many people at home, so many to feed. Not all of them go to work on the farm. If they have some free time, won't they just sit at home and wait for food? I can buy a few sheep and let them raise them."
Widow Zhang thought wool was another way to make money. She also knew that people in town sold food made from goat milk, so raising goats was still viable. With so many people in her family, splitting up the family gave her another way to make money.
"It's not that easy to raise them. You can't just raise as many as you want all at once. The sheep might get sick." Liu's family has several sheep and knows that sheep are more than just grazing animals. It's not enough to just drive them out to graze; they have to pay attention to other things. "Sometimes there's not much grass in one place, so we have to go elsewhere."
"Everything is hard work." Widow Zhang doesn't believe there's a free lunch in this world. Hard work is the right thing to do. "Your family has been raising sheep for many years, you can give it a try."
Widow Zhang believed that the people in her family lacked courage, didn't know what was good, and didn't have good vision. She would tell them what she knew, and whether they would do it or not was their business.
"I won't say anymore. I have to go back. If I don't go back and keep them under control, they will just slack off." Widow Zhang said.
Widow Zhang's children and grandchildren didn't dare to be lazy, they all worked very hard. But Widow Zhang was fond of saying such things, and her children and grandchildren were quite afraid of her.
The next day, Liu Da and two other people from the village carried the wool to the Liu family's main house to sell. They didn't want to take an oxcart because it would cost money. The wool wasn't particularly heavy, and since they were farmers, they could carry it.
They were a little nervous before they came, worried that the Liu family's eldest branch would not be able to collect the wool.
When they saw the housekeeper come and weigh the wool and pay them on the spot, they felt relieved. It turned out that the Jingning Marquis family really did accept wool, and it really was 30 cents per pound. Some families still had some wool, and they wondered why they didn't bring all the wool. Why did they think they couldn't take so much wool?
"Do you want more?" Someone's voice trembled.
"Yes." The housekeeper nodded. "You can send as much wool as you want. Wool like the ones you sent today are three cents per pound."
"Yes, we have some at home," someone said. "We'll deliver it tomorrow."
The main reason is that it takes time to go back and forth, otherwise, these people would think of delivering the wool today.
When General Xu learned that the eldest branch of the Liu family wanted to collect wool, Liu's father even came to him. General Xu had spent a long time in the northwest and was familiar with the surrounding situation. He even knew where the sheep were most abundant.
"Rongning County mainly collects wool." General Xu told Mrs. Xu when he returned home.
When General Xu heard what Father Liu said, he didn't think Princess Rongning was particularly good at spending money. Some things simply cost money to obtain. Three cents a pound of wool might be expensive, but since Princess Rongning said so, the wool must be useful.
"Then take it." Mrs. Xu said.
"She previously made an invulnerable silk thread," General Xu said. "Both Yuan'er and his brother have armor, including shirts and pants."
And I have nothing.
General Xu certainly didn't think Liu Yulian was going to make him armor; he just wanted to spend some money to have Liu Yulian make one for him. However, there was no need for that, as he had already received Liu Yulian's transcribed notes.
As long as their people crafted silk thread according to the notes, they would be able to create invulnerable silk thread. However, the probability of successfully crafting these threads was too low, and they had to be verified one by one, rather than just weaving them into a piece of cloth.
"I'm asking someone to make it." Mrs. Xu was also worried that her husband would be injured on the battlefield. After getting the notes copied by Liu Yulian, she asked someone to make the silk threads.
One hundred taels, two hundred taels, three hundred taels...
Mrs. Xu felt a pang of heartache. After spending so much silver, she still produced not enough silk thread. To successfully produce enough silk thread for a shirt and pants would probably cost several thousand taels of silver. She also thought that a few thousand taels of silver was not as important as her life. She had not been directly injured, and even if she might have suffered some internal injuries from the shock, that would be much better.
Sometimes it was a direct assassination at close range, a single blow. If the armor blocked the blow, the life would be saved.
"You want to collect the wool, right? Then I'll do it," said Madam Xu. "It doesn't cost much. I'll give it to her. You too, your family has taken advantage of them so much, yet you don't even know how to give more and help with some things."
"How come you don't know that I didn't do anything? Her brother is still under my command." General Xu said.
"He's just a soldier. How could he possibly be by your side every day?" Mrs. Xu said. "He even sent some watermelons. They're really good."
Mrs. Xu had some property and land in the northwest, and she had grown watermelons, but the watermelons at home were not as delicious as those from the Liu family.
"Just eat it." General Xu thought of his elderly mother far away in the capital, and his children there, who hadn't been able to enjoy such delicious watermelon. "There are other delicious foods in the capital... and they can also eat watermelon. Anyway, it can satisfy their taste buds."
"Someone has come from the capital, so it's a good opportunity to send some things back." Madam Xu received a letter from the capital a few days ago. The Chengguo Mansion sent people to send things to the Liu family's main house, and also sent some things to the Xu family.
Mrs. Xu was thinking of her children who were far away in the capital, so she thought of asking those people to bring the things to the capital.
With the help of the Xu family, Liu Yulian collected a lot of wool in just half a month. The smell of the wool was indeed quite strong, and she had to find a place to build a house to process the wool.
It was impossible for Liu Yulian to make wool at home. She had too much wool, and it was even more difficult to store it at home. Liu Yulian couldn't wash the wool by herself, nor could she make it into wool yarn by herself.
"People just gave you some money, and you spent it again." Seeing her daughter's actions recently, Liu's mother couldn't help but think that her daughter was really good at spending money.
"We still need to build a wool workshop," Liu Yulian said. In ancient times, most of them were called "XX workshops," so she also called the building she built a wool workshop. "Now, the wool is all there, and those people are cleaning it and preparing to make wool yarn."
Liu Yulian would go over from time to time to check on them. Those ancient people had never made wool yarn and had no idea how to make it. Liu Yulian had to remind them how to do it. The wool also had to be sterilized and disinfected to prevent invisible bacteria and insect eggs from growing on it.
Those people had never done any of these steps before. Liu Yulian would watch them and remind them that after doing it for a long time, they would become more skilled and be able to do it better and faster.
"In order to make a woolen sweater, we have to collect wool and set up a wool workshop..." Liu's mother really found it troublesome with so many steps.
"It's because no one is doing it," Liu Yulian said. "Once we do it and figure it out, others will follow suit. When more people do it and the wool mill can still make money, we'll continue. If it doesn't make much money, we'll close it. It's no big deal."
Liu Yulian didn't want to open her own wool shop just to make money; she was a technician. When the court learned that wool could be made into excellent wool yarn for warmth, perhaps the emperor would reward them.
"I'm not stopping you." Mother Liu didn't stop her daughter, but sighed, "Some grapes are ripe."
Time flies. Mother Liu thought back to when they were exiled to the northwest and first arrived in Shiyuan Village. Life was not easy then. It was only because of her daughter's research that life at home became easier.
"Yes, it's time to sell grapes." Liu Yulian nodded.
Liu Yulian also collected wool from shepherds on the border. Shepherds from other tribes would occasionally come to exchange for goods. When someone happened to learn that this place was collecting wool, they were surprised. So many shepherds brought their wool to that place to sell. They didn't like to receive copper coins, but preferred to exchange copper coins for supplies.
Some families had more wool and bought a lot of coarse grains.
Three coins per pound of wool was nothing to the nobles. Even if some shepherds herded a hundred sheep at a time and earned a few hundred coins or a tael of silver in a summer, it was not considered a lot.
Some tribal leaders discovered that wool could be sold, and they even sent people to sell wool, selling all the unused wool in the tribe. As long as people were willing to pay for it and provide supplies, they would sell it.
Wool is not a rare thing, but selling it can improve the lives of the people in the tribe, so those people are still very willing to sell it.
One tribal leader even disguised himself and entered the city, hoping to see what the people were doing with the wool. He didn't think they were collecting wool to capture them, and he didn't think they were stupid enough to use the wool to set it on fire, even though it was flammable.
The chief stayed in the capital for several days before he learned that it was the Rongning County Lady who was collecting wool. He also learned that the Rongning County Lady had set up a wool mill in a town. The wool mill hired workers, and it would take a lot of people.
As a leader, he couldn't stay in one place forever, but he was curious and wanted to see for himself. So he applied for a job as a worker in a wool mill. After all, if he didn't like it after a few days, he could just quit and leave.
When he saw the workers at the wool mill processing wool, he was stunned. Why was there such a complicated process? How much money would it cost in the end, and how much food could that money buy? I really don't know how the people in Daliang managed such a costly thing...
"Bring the wool basket here." When the chief was stunned, someone reminded him, "Bring it here quickly."
"The wages here are quite good, better than other jobs we could find outside, and we have more time to work here," someone said. "Don't be ungrateful. The wages here can be paid on a daily or monthly basis."
Some people worry that a month is too long, so they settle their accounts every day or every few days.
Liu Yulian had already instructed people to settle the accounts with those people. Some of them were poor and might be waiting for the money to be settled on that day to buy rice.
The process of turning wool into wool yarn is complex, including removing grease, impurities, and peat. The chief thought the Daliang people were too much trouble, but he couldn't help but watch them for several days, even waiting to be paid.
Su Qiuya, the second wife of the Liu family, had heard that Suixin's shop was selling goat milk and wondered if the first wife was going to retaliate against the second wife and try to steal her business. But Su Qiuya had just recently researched a way to remove the fishy smell from goat milk, and she had made a flavorless version, which the customers loved.
Fortunately, Dafang’s Sui Xin shop only sold goat milk a few times and then stopped selling it.
Su Qiuya breathed a sigh of relief. They had been buying watermelons from the eldest wife for a while. The few watermelons sent by the eldest wife were not enough, and they couldn't expect the eldest wife to send watermelons all the time, so they had to buy them.
"Probably no store is giving away grapes anymore, right?" Su Qiuya couldn't help but think so, because grapes are more expensive than watermelons.
When the grapes are ripe, all the shops start selling grapes.
"No," Liu Yanbo said, "My fourth sister is getting married in two days, so I have to go to the village. I can't go back that day, so I have to close the shop for a few days."
"It's time to go back." Su Qiuya didn't like Liu Fang, but she also knew that she couldn't let her down at this time. If they didn't go back early, she was afraid that others would say, "Where's the eldest wife?"
"I'm not sure, maybe they'll go that day." Liu Yanbo didn't think anyone from the eldest branch would go. Even if the family split up, they still had the same surname. The eldest branch wouldn't let anyone else say anything bad about them. Even if the elders didn't go, there were younger ones who would go.
Liu Yanbo couldn't possibly go to the first wife's house and ask them when they were leaving, nor could he ask them what they needed to prepare. The first wife's family was different from the second wife's. The first wife's family was the legitimate daughter, while the other wives were illegitimate daughters.
"Don't pay attention to them." Su Qiuya said, "We can't care so much."
The eldest wife of the Liu family already knew the date of Liu Fang's wedding. Logically, Liu's father was Liu Fang's biological father, so he should go. However, Liu's father did not like Zhen Wenze very much. He thought that this person was too calculating and was wondering whether he should go or not.
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