Even though Liu Fang was unwilling, Zhen Wenzhe still took Liu Fang to the Liu family's main house. No matter what the main house's attitude was, they had to persuade her slowly.
"The Marquis said that if you want to return home, go to the third room." The doorman said, "No need to come here specially."
The servants did not let Zhen Wen Ze and his wife in. Father Liu had known that the couple might come and had already told the servants.
Liu Fang was very unhappy when she heard this. She came to see them specially, but they were still so pretentious.
"I told you, they're not really good people at all," Liu Fang said. "They just like to put on airs."
Zhen Wenze finally understood that the relationship between the eldest branch of the Liu family and the other branches was indeed not that good. Perhaps the eldest branch of the Liu family would pretend to be friendly with the other branches, but they were too lazy to pretend with the third branch.
This made Zhen Wen Ze regret marrying Liu Fang. Liu Fang was completely useless.
"Nonsense," Zhen Wenze said, "If it weren't for the accident with my eldest uncle and you split up the family, this wouldn't have happened."
Zhen Wen Ze had someone investigate and knew some things. But by the time he knew those things, he and Liu Fang were already engaged, and there was no way to change it.
"They are secretive and not good people at all." Liu Fang blamed the people in the first wife's house.
"Let's go back first." Zhen Wenzhe knew that they couldn't get in, and the people from the Liu family's main house didn't want those things, so they could only take the things back.
It was already evening when they returned home, and Zhen's mother asked Zhen Wen Ze if he had gone to see Marquis Jingning.
"I couldn't get in." Zhen Wenzhe said directly.
Zhen Wen Ze didn't say anything about Liu Fang's unpleasant words. If he had, his mother might have complained to Liu Fang. Given Liu Fang's bad temper, Zhen Wen Ze decided not to bother with her for now.
"Why didn't she go in?" Zhen's mother was confused. "After all, she is my biological daughter."
"A lot of things happened when they were exiled here," Zhen Wenze said, "We didn't find out the details at first."
"..." When Zhen's mother heard this, she felt bad.
What happened? Did something else happen at the Liu family?
"Don't ask any more questions," Zhen Wenze said. "Let's leave it at that for now."
"I originally told you about other families." Zhen's mother was not happy. "If it weren't for her prominent family background, why would you choose her?"
"She's already married." Zhen Wen Ze was helpless.
"You are the one who married her...Alas." Zhen's mother sighed.
In the Liu family's main house, Liu Yulian discovered that the servants were not at all dissatisfied when they learned to knit wool. Some of them not only knitted quickly, but also knitted beautifully.
Liu Yulian looked at what she had knitted again and felt that it was ugly and not smooth.
Don’t think that knitting is just a single stitch. Even with a single stitch, it’s not that simple.
"I'd better wait and wear it." Liu Yulian found that the servants were good at knitting and could apply what they had learned to other situations. She didn't need to teach them too much. "The wool from the workshop is mixed with other silk threads."
Liu Yulian couldn't let those people make pure wool yarn. Pure wool yarn is expensive and not conducive to promotion. She had to mix other silk threads with wool to make it cheaper.
Even in later generations, silk thread made from pure wool was rarely sold.
"Those silk threads aren't bad either," Liu Yulian said. "They look nice and keep me warm."
"It doesn't matter what." Mother Liu thought that they wouldn't be frozen.
Liu Yulian was just thinking about pricing. Wool yarn is basically sold by the pound, not by the kilogram. Some people simply don't need that much wool.
The price of wool yarn was set, but no one was willing to buy it. The price of wool yarn was set too low, but there was no profit.
Liu Yulian sold the initial wool for three cents per pound. After the wool was processed and dyed, there was not much wool yarn produced from one pound of wool.
There is no pure wool. According to the content, even if the wool yarn contains 30%, the price cannot be too low.
However, since people already had cotton, wool yarn was not a necessity. Other yarns could be made into something similar to wool yarn, though they were not as warm, but people still bought them.
There are high-purity wool yarns that cost five cents and two taels, and low-purity wool yarns that cost two cents and one tael, and one cent and one tael.
Liu Yulian thought it depended on the wool content. The palace servants in the wool mill needed wages, and all the other miscellaneous items also cost a lot of money. Even though the wool yarn sold for a high price, it wasn't much higher.
Young ladies from official families used to embroider purses as gifts, but now they can knit scarves. Knitting scarves is much simpler than making purses. Purses require embroidery and a few patterns, but scarves can be simpler.
A sweater may require more than half a pound of wool, and a sweater will sell for at least forty or fifty cents.
"It's better not to let them knit too many. Just put a few pieces on the market and sell the wool." Liu Yulian carefully calculated that the price of a sweater might be a bit expensive for those ordinary people. It would be better to see what kind of wool they buy to knit.
Wool with high purity goes for the high-end route, while wool with low purity goes for the low-end route.
Liu Yulian sighed, she really wasn't cut out for business. Every time she had to deal with prices or calculate costs, her scalp would tingle.
"It would be great if I could just make something and not worry about anything else." Liu Yulian sighed.
"Don't worry about anything else, just let others toss you around?" asked Liu's mother.
"As long as they're trustworthy," Liu Yulian said, "I feel like I lose a lot of hair every time I do this."
"Just like your father, your father doesn't like to make trouble." Mother Liu said with a smile, "Find a better accountant and do more calculations."
Liu Yulian pouted. This wasn't an easy task, considering they were in this small town. She figured she'd have to recruit a few more talented people, as she didn't think she could come up with anything special.
"There's nothing good to do recently." Liu Yulian didn't think about growing sugarcane to make sugar. She didn't have to think about such things, there would always be someone else to do it.
Liu Yulian did what she needed and what she needed. She wanted to be a salted fish, a salted fish that didn't have to worry about so many things, with someone to cover her with a blanket and massage her shoulders.
"Don't say there is nothing. Maybe there will be one by then." said Liu's mother.
"..." Liu Yulian blinked. She wanted to hide in the quilt, but suddenly she thought of something. "If we really want to make it, let's make a kang. The kind with a fire underneath that can keep the bed warm."
Liu Yulian thought this was something she could try, but of course, she couldn't possibly form a construction team. With her level of intelligence, she figured that even if she did, she'd probably end up losing a ton of money.
Although this kind of thing requires some skills, it will be much easier once people learn how to do it.
"There are indeed people doing this nearby." said Liu's mother.
"Oh." Liu Yulian nodded. Look, it's already on the kang.
Liu Yulian thought to herself that it was fortunate that she didn't think she was too arrogant and didn't think about claiming that this was her invention and that was hers. She should not be too ostentatious. If she was too ostentatious, others would say that this thing already existed, but no one promoted it.
"Just have someone do it." Liu's mother said, "Why don't you go and see the wine you made?"
"You have to watch it." Liu Yulian said, "You'll lose if you don't watch it."
Every time Liu Yulian calculated these things, she suspected she was going to lose money. How many technicians actually made money in business? Yes, having skills can do a lot of things, but if you don't know how to manage it, it will also be a disaster.
It is not easy for someone like Su Qiuya who knows how to study food and plan.
Liu Yulian couldn't do it, otherwise, her shop wouldn't always be without openings.
The second wife returned to the town, and Liu Yanbo was going to take the Tongsheng exam. After passing the Tongsheng exam, he would continue to take the exam, at least to get the Xiucai exam, or even the Juren exam. Tongsheng had to go to the county town to take the exam, Xiucai had to go to the prefecture, and Juren was the provincial capital.
Su Qiuya believed that Liu Yanbo should be able to pass the exam, after all, Liu Yanbo studied so hard.
"When you pass the exam, we'll go to the county town." Su Qiuya said, "There are more people in the county town, more money to make, and they can take better care of you."
Su Qiuya had figured that when they moved to the county town, they could sell the shop in the town to the third wife's family. The third wife's family would learn some skills by working in their shop, but the third wife's skills were not as good, so they would stay in the town.
"It will be more convenient if we go to the county town," Su Qiuya said, "and we won't have to worry about running into them all the time."
Every time Su Qiuya met someone from the Liu family's eldest branch, she couldn't hide away or face them head-on. She thought those people looked down on her and felt uncomfortable.
She is a businesswoman, she makes a living by using her own hands, and she does it in an upright way.
Su Qiuya didn't think she was any worse than the first wife's family. If she was any worse, it was mainly because the first wife had risen up, and the second wife had taken the lead in saying she wanted to split up the family. Su Qiuya felt that this might be a thorn in the first wife's heart, so she wanted to stay away from her.
"Okay." Liu Yanbo thought it would be better for them to go to the county town. They couldn't stay in this small town forever.
Liu Yanbo also wanted to let the people in the first house know that he could move up step by step without relying on the first house.
These people from the second house are extremely strong-willed, and each of them insists that they don't rely on the first house for many things.
The first wife didn't care about the second wife's people at all. Even if Liu Yanbo passed the imperial examination, it wouldn't matter. When Liu Yanbo entered the officialdom in the future, he would know that slapping others in the face was not a particularly realistic thing, especially for people like Liu Yanbo who had no connections.
Marquis Jingning ordered the wool yarn sent to Beijing to contain more than 80% wool, so that no one would say that the wool yarn they sent to Beijing was of poor quality.
In the palace, the emperor saw the wool threads, which were indeed very soft.
"It must be cold in the northwest." The emperor couldn't help but say. If it wasn't cold, why would she be bothering with cotton and wool yarn? He thought Liu Yulian must be a person who is very afraid of cold.
Afraid of cold (cotton, wool yarn), afraid of hunger (growing wheat in culture medium), and afraid of death (invulnerable armor)...
The emperor couldn't remember what Liu Yulian looked like. She was the daughter of Marquis Jingning and the fiancée of the second son of Duke Chengguo. The emperor believed that Liu Yulian must have entered the palace, but he had met so many people that it was inevitable that he couldn't remember some of them.
"What about the other exiles?" asked the emperor.
"No new dishes have been delivered yet." said the eunuch on the side.
The eunuch thought the emperor wanted to see if those people could also come up with so many things with the Liu family, but they just didn't bring any new things. If an exiled person didn't have any ability, how could he expect others to send him ordinary things?
If it's local specialties as a gift... the emperor wouldn't want them either.
What the emperor wanted was things like culture medium, not gourmet food. No matter how delicious the food was, it couldn't make the people of the world live better.
"Look at these people, they're still thinking about returning to the capital. How can they return without some ability?" The emperor sighed. "They should just go and join the army and take the imperial examinations."
The emperor did not deprive some exiled people of the right to take the imperial examinations, unless the family had committed a serious crime, in which case the emperor would prohibit the family's descendants for three generations from taking the examinations.
Along with the wool yarn, two loose woolen sweaters were also sent to Beijing, similar to the one-size-fits-all sweaters sold online in later generations.
This kind of woolen sweater was mainly worn as an inner layer. If it was worn as an outer layer, it would not match other clothing of the era.
"Send some wool yarn to the imperial concubine." The emperor didn't care how the imperial concubine asked people to knit the sweater, he just gave the gift to her.
When the imperial concubine saw the wool yarn, she didn't know how to make it, so she just waited for those who had learned how to knit to teach her. She also wanted to try it herself to see how it was knitted.
Two days later, when Princess Su came to see the Imperial Concubine, she happened to see the Imperial Concubine knitting a sweater. The Imperial Concubine thought that this was relatively simple and she could knit a few stitches.
"Mother." The Prince Su's Mansion did not receive the wool yarn, and the Princess Su did not think it was a big deal.
The Marquis of Jingning's Mansion sent wool yarn to the emperor and the Duke of Chengguo's Mansion. These wool yarns are rare things, at least no one else can make wool yarn at present.
"Come and take a look. These woolen yarns are really good." The imperial concubine waved towards Princess Su. "Why don't you knit a small garment for the child?"
The children of the imperial family had plenty of clothes to wear, but the imperial concubine didn't think of knitting a sweater for herself, but only for her grandson. She saw that woolen items didn't have many patterns, and she didn't think she could impress the emperor with them.
The things made by County Lady Rongning are more practical, rather than fancy.
Such things are not very suitable for the palace, but more suitable for people outside. Children like to run around, so it is better to dress warmly.
"Mother has skillful hands." Princess Su said.
"What's so special about hand skills? It's just very simple." The imperial concubine said, "If you try hard, you will be able to do it."
The imperial concubine thought that it was great that her sister had such a capable daughter-in-law as Princess Rongning.
In the northwest, Liu Yanbo packed up and prepared to go to the county town. Su Qiuya prepared a lot of dry food for him and also gave him a lot of silver.
"Don't be too frugal." Su Qiuya explained, "The cost of living in the county town is definitely higher. If you look at girls from outside less, you will spend less."
"Don't look at them." Liu Yanbo held Su Qiuya's hand tightly. He felt that Su Qiuya was good.
Su Qiuya accompanied him in exile, and did not divorce him or run away. Su Qiuya also worked hard to open a shop to earn money to support the family, which touched Liu Yanbo deeply.
Liu Yanbo thought that if he could have a promising future, he would definitely earn a title of Consort for Su Qiuya.
"That's what you said. Don't bring back a concubine when the time comes." Su Qiuya said.
"With the situation in our family, why should we keep a concubine? If we really want to keep one, just keep a little girl." Liu Yanbo looked at Su Qiuya's little belly. He wanted to have a child with Su Qiuya as soon as possible.
"Stop talking about this. Pack up your things. We're leaving tomorrow." Su Qiuya said, "You don't have to worry about Mom. You won't be in the county town for long. You'll be back after the exam. It's okay."
"Okay." Liu Yanbo hugged Su Qiuya.
The Second House hadn't told the First House that Liu Yanbo had gone to the county to take the exam for the Tongsheng degree. Su Qiuya was afraid that if Liu Yanbo failed, it would be a joke. It would be better to wait until Liu Yanbo passed before telling the First House.
Su Qiuya believed that Liu Yanbo's passing the Tongsheng exam was a happy event and must be made known to others. Even if the Tongsheng's rank was not high, even if it was at the very bottom, it was still a big step forward for Liu Yanbo.
After Su Qiuya started selling drinks made from goat's and cow's milk, some shops followed suit. Other shops' drinks had a strong fishy smell, and few people bought them. But as those shops gradually learned how to make drinks, the fishy smell gradually decreased.
This also resulted in the dairy products in Su Qiuya's shop not being so easy to sell. The town was small, and there was more than one shop selling these things. If the flow of people was divided, there would be fewer people buying things.
Su Qiuya wanted to go to the county town more and more as soon as possible. After they arrived at the county town, there would be many people there and they would definitely earn more money. They would not have to face the people from the eldest branch of the Liu family.
"You should learn more, and when we go to the county town, you can open a shop here." Su Qiuya said, "If you can't come up with so much money to buy a shop right away, you can pay the rent."
Su Qiuya couldn't let the third wife use the shop for free. The second wife had also spent money to buy the shop. If she let the third wife use it for free, they would think they were being taken advantage of, and then they would dare to have the disgusting intention of taking their things.
"It doesn't matter if your skills aren't good enough, practice makes perfect." Su Qiuya said, "You two aren't shameless people, and you wouldn't dare ask for more from the eldest wife. Just run your business here peacefully, at least you can make some money."
Su Qiuya deliberately mentioned the first room to let the people of the third room know that the people of the first room were not good people. The people of the first room would not help them, and they, the illegitimate children, could only huddle together for warmth.
"Thank you." Liu Yanyuan didn't know what to say. He just felt that his second brother and sister-in-law were so nice to them.
The fourth wife, Lin Xiaowan, bought some land and planned to follow the eldest wife in planting something. She also thought that the eldest wife didn't rely on farming for a living, and she didn't know how much money the eldest wife could make from farming. She just wanted to give it a try first. If farming didn't make money, she would try something else.
Just as Lin Xiaowan was thinking about what to do next, a cackle sound came from the yard.
"Ah." Liu Yanyuan was chased around by the big white goose in the yard. "Stop chasing me, stop chasing me, my ancestors."
Liu Yanyuan thought that this was his home and these big white geese were his, so why were these big white geese chasing him and pecking at him?
"Oh, you are willing to go home? Why didn't you die outside?" Lin Xiaowan raised her eyebrows.
It’s no wonder Lin Xiaowan said that. Liu Yanyuan has been going out early and coming back late these days. People who don’t know him would think he is working hard.
In fact, this guy started to mess around as soon as he had some money. He would go to watch people fighting crickets and buy snacks. He was just a playboy who never came home.
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