prosperous age

There are many rules for caning in court, let alone forty or fifty times.

If you want to kill someone, twenty strokes of the cane are enough.

Therefore, the first thing to do is to rescue Zou Yuanbiao from the imperial beating. Minor injuries are not a big deal. It is enough to teach him a lesson, as long as there are no serious injuries.

Feng Bao nodded when he heard this, but remained silent.

"Next, find a remote and inferior county and tell him not to come back."

Wei Guangde laughed again.

Hearing this, Feng Bao understood Wei Guangde's thoughts.

Save the person and also save his skin.

After a long pause, Feng Baocai said slowly, "Shan Dai, your request is not low."

"Brother Shuanglin, please show some mercy. This kid is ignorant and not worthy of your attention.

Sending him to a remote place to let him reflect on his mistakes is no less severe a punishment than simply removing him from office."

Wei Guangde still maintained a forced smile and said.

As long as it is what he saves and has nothing to do with him, even if you beat him to death on the bench, Wei Guangde won't even frown.

But since I’m from Jiangxi, I have to express my gratitude.

If you don't help, the team will lose morale and it will be difficult to lead them.

“Okay, that’s it.

But from now on, this person should not even think about getting back on his feet."

Feng Bao stood up and said to Wei Guangde before leaving.

Wei Guangde sat there without standing up to see him off, but just nodded slightly.

After Feng Bao left, Wei Guangde took out a note he had written long ago and called Lu Bu.

"Send it to Lord Wei and ask him to make the arrangements."

The note Wei Guangde gave to Wei Shiliang was naturally to ask him to look after Zou Yuanbiao.

Although it is only a skin injury, it still needs timely treatment to offset the pain of running around, and you also need to eat and drink well to replenish your body.

Wei Guangde did not do these things personally, but let the people behind him watch. He often helped his fellow villagers to settle disputes.

After Lu Bu left with the note, Wei Guangde also stood up, left the cabinet, and headed straight for the imperial city gate.

He was feeling a bit annoyed today and wanted to go home and rest as soon as possible.

However, when Wei Guangde returned home today, he saw his wife and a group of female relatives gathered in the main room in the backyard, with many pieces of cloth on the table.

"Where did you send all this cloth? Why are there so many of them? Why don't you put them in the warehouse? Why are they all piled up here?"

As Wei Guangde spoke, he strode into the house.

"The master is back."

Wei Guangde returned home relatively early during this period, so Xu Jianglan was used to it. She just said something, but her hand was still stroking the cloth.

Wei Guangde walked over and touched it, "Hey, this is not cashmere."

Wei Guangde only touched it once and felt that it was different from the cashmere he had at home. When he pinched it again, he felt that its elasticity was much worse.

"This is something sent by the Northern Chamber of Commerce in Mongolia. They say it's made from wool collected from Mongolia. It can be used to make clothes. That one is a blanket."

At this time, Xu Jianglan explained the origin and name of the thing.

"Oh, no wonder, can they produce it in large quantities?"

Wei Guangde remembered that a few years ago, he had asked his Chamber of Commerce to take advantage of the results of the Longqing Peace Talks to trade with the Mongols in the north, purchase a large amount of wool from the grasslands, and try to develop the wool textile industry in Daming.

In ancient times, wool was also used to make various cold-resistant items, such as cloth and blankets. However, due to the unharmonious relationship between the grassland people and the inland farming people, there was a shortage of wool and it never developed.

The poor production industry of the grassland people made it even more impossible for them to develop a large-scale wool textile industry.

Therefore, in modern times, the wool textile industry first began to flourish in Europe and then became one of the main commodities in international trade at that time.

Nowadays, people pay attention to “food, clothing, housing and transportation”, and it makes sense that clothes are put first.

However, with the Longqing Peace Agreement, resources on the grassland were continuously traded with the Ming Dynasty through mutual trade. All they could provide were cattle and sheep. Even if they had horses, they would not be exported to the Ming Dynasty in large quantities, just as the Ming Dynasty restricted the sale of ironware.

The result of these transactions is that the prices of beef and mutton in the north have dropped, making them affordable for ordinary people.

However, how much beef and mutton can they eat based on their income alone?

Therefore, the transaction between the two parties has actually reached a bottleneck and can no longer be expanded after reaching a certain scale.

The grassland has a huge demand for grain, salt, tea, and ironware from the Ming Dynasty, but it has always been strictly controlled by the Ming Dynasty.

However, even if the grassland people could not exchange for the Ming Dynasty's ironware, they still needed several other things, especially tea, which could be considered as the hard currency in the hands of the Mongols.

By trading tea with the Ming Dynasty, they could transport the tea to the west and trade with western countries, thereby obtaining the ironware and other supplies they needed.

The wool production on the grassland is so great that they simply cannot digest it all.

The establishment of the Northern Chamber of Commerce was because Wei Guangde saw the opportunity and united the surrounding chambers of commerce to form a new chamber of commerce responsible for purchasing wool from the grasslands and developing a large-scale wool textile industry.

Only when the grasslands can solve the problem of survival through economic means can the war for survival between the grassland peoples and the farming peoples be avoided.

When the Mongols got used to herding sheep and collecting wool in exchange for daily necessities, they would naturally lay down their butcher knives and develop peacefully.

For the Ming Dynasty, the huge military threat from the north could only be fundamentally resolved.

Not to mention that the strength of the grassland in the late Ming Dynasty had been greatly weakened, especially after the friction between the Later Jin and the Ming Dynasty, its military strength had sharply decreased.

The Jurchens in Liaodong today can only be bullied by the people of the grasslands and pose no threat to the Mongols at all.

Wei Guangde looked at the other cloths and wool blankets that were delivered, nodded and smiled, "This stuff is still not as warm as cashmere, it's just that it's too expensive, but the wool fabrics are cheap and in large quantities."

In fact, to be honest, ordinary people in the Ming Dynasty probably couldn't afford wool products, so they could only buy some cotton to make cotton clothes to get by.

Wool fabrics were something that only people with a little bit of wealth could enjoy.

But at least, many wealthy families who cannot afford cashmere can still buy woolen fabrics for the winter.

The collection of wool is like a haircut, which involves shaving off all the hair with scissors and then taking it off completely, commonly known as shearing. Each sheep can produce several kilograms of wool every year.

Cashmere grows at the roots of the goat's coarse hair and falls off naturally, so every spring when the goats shed their hair, herders use a special iron comb to grab the cashmere little by little like combing their hair. This is called raw cashmere.

However, only a few dozen grams of cashmere can be harvested from each goat every year, so it is not an exaggeration to consider cashmere as a "luxury product".

The basic technical principles and standards of cashmere processing and production in the Ming Dynasty were actually not much different from those in later generations. The same method of combing the cashmere was used, which was then processed into yarn and then spun on special spinning machines.

Wei Guangde put down the woolen fabric in his hand and shouted outside: "Ask Zhang Ji to come see me." "Master, what have you thought of now?"

No one knows a man better than his wife. When Wei Guangde saw these woolen fabrics, he immediately called Zhang Ji, and he must have thought of something.

"Haha, I did think of something.

Previously, the Ministry of Revenue also reported that it had received a request from the Internal Weaving and Dyeing Bureau for money, saying that they were planning to send someone to Lanzhou to purchase velvet to embroider a dragon robe for Your Majesty.

"what?"

As soon as Wei Guangde finished speaking, Xu Jianglan opened her mouth in surprise.

During this era, blue velvet was extremely expensive. To purchase the materials needed to make a dragon robe, even hundreds of taels of silver might not be enough, not to mention the labor costs of the internal weaving bureau.

It takes at least two years to complete a dragon robe from purchasing materials to the finished product, and this is still a relatively simple crown robe.

If it is the imperial robe that the emperor needs to wear during a grand ceremony, it may take ten years to produce even one.

There were hundreds of people in the Internal Weaving and Dyeing Bureau who were responsible for making dragon robes alone. This was why the imperial palace kept thousands or even tens of thousands of people for a long time.

The so-called dragon robes we see in later generations, although they look similar in style, are all printed and dyed.

The real dragon robe is embroidered by the embroiderers stitch by stitch.

The shoulders of the black robe are woven with sun, moon and dragon patterns, the back is woven with stars and mountain patterns, the sleeves are woven with fire, Hua insect and Zong Yi patterns, and the collar, cuffs, hem and hem are all natural color.

The purple skirt has two patterns each of algae, pink rice, fu and fu, three pieces in the front and four pieces in the back. There are pleats at the waist. The embroidery and brown are both natural colors. There is no stitching at the front and back below the waist.

The middle singlet is made of plain gauze, with a blue collar, cuffs and hem. The collar is woven with 13 fu patterns. The knee-guard is the same color as the skirt, with 2 each of zao, fenmi, fu and fu, and a natural color border.

There are also six colored large and small ribbons in yellow, white, red, black, pale blue and green, jade hooks, jade pendants, gold hooks, jade rings and red socks and shoes.

Although each dragon robe has a different style, the standards are the same and all the above-mentioned contents are necessary. The only differences are in appearance and color.

If it has a special meaning, such as being worn on the emperor's birthday, there will often be countless "Shou" characters as patterns, or bats, or ruyi, etc. on the dragon's running horse.

The Internal Weaving and Dyeing Bureau asked the Ministry of Revenue for silver to make the dragon robe, which was not a small amount. Just a blue velvet dragon robe would probably cost several thousand taels of silver.

After all, the silk and gold threads embroidered on it are simply luxurious.

But even for this expense, Wei Guangde was unable to submit a petition to request exemption.

After all, it is a dragon robe that is made. We can't let the emperor wear a dirty dragon robe and then ask someone to wash it. There is no such rule.

The dragon robe is not washed. It does not mean that it cannot be “washed”, but that it must be “changed”.

In fact, the early dragon robes, that is, those from the Qin and Han dynasties, were all made of silk and linen, and theoretically could be washed with water.

But on the one hand, it is easy to shrink after washing, and on the other hand, the emperor rarely has the opportunity to wear the dragon robe, so he does not wash it and directly replaces it with a new one.

It turns out that the dragon robes of the Qin and Han dynasties were not for the emperor's daily wear. Only on important occasions such as ancestor worship and other large-scale state affairs, the emperors wore dragon robes to show their status.

Usually, the emperor wore casual clothes.

The development of dragon robes reached its peak during the Ming Dynasty. As for the materials used for dragon robes, "The Exploitation of the Works of Nature" recorded in detail the craftsmanship of dragon robes during the Ming Dynasty. The emperor's dragon robe had to be made of the best silk in the country.

The reason why the internal weaving and dyeing department wants blue velvet this time is similar. Everything must be made of the best materials.

As for "changing", it actually means cleaning the stains on the dragon robe.

This was taken into consideration when the dragon robe was being made. The palace people initially wove the dragon robe in sections and then sewed them together.

When a certain area of ​​the dragon robe is stained, they will skillfully disassemble the stained area separately and replace the old part with a new part. This restoration technique is so sophisticated that no trace can be seen. Of course, the effort spent on it is unimaginable.

In this way, the emperor's dragon robe was "washed" once, so the emperor's dragon robe was definitely not, as some people say, worn once and then not worn again or when it got dirty, and then put aside.

In fact, even if it cannot be repaired, that is, the spare materials for making it are gone, the new one will have color difference, making it look unsightly and lose its solemnity. At that time, the dragon robes will also be treated differently according to their value and significance.

The dragon robes worn during special ceremonies would be preserved and later buried in the underground palace as burial objects of the emperor.

Ordinary dragon robes would be burned and would not remain in the world.

"Master, you don't want to."

At this time, Xu Jianglan had already guessed Wei Guangde's thoughts and spoke hesitantly.

"Ah."

Wei Guangde nodded and said with a smile: "I plan to let Zhang Ji inform the Northern Chamber of Commerce and ask them to carefully weave a batch of woolen cloth and send it to the palace for trial.

If the Queen Mother and Your Majesty like it, the palace can naturally purchase woolen cloth to make warm clothing.

Of course, I would not say a single "no" to the purchase of Lanrong. After all, the things in the palace must be the best.

It's just ordinary clothes, I think it can be replaced by wool fabrics."

At this point, Wei Guangde looked at his wife and continued, "Please arrange for someone to make a set of these materials as soon as possible. I want to wear them when the weather gets cold.

When you go out to attend the backyard party, don't forget this, it's a great opportunity to sell this thing."

Letting the royal family wear woolen fabrics would definitely have a positive impact on the nobles in the capital.

As for him, he would influence the dress of the ministers in the court. It can be said that everything was done for the purpose of making money.

As long as everyone in the palace and the government offices wore woolen fabrics, this thing would be completely established in the Ming Dynasty, and private merchants and wealthy families would naturally follow suit.

The price of cashmere is more than ten times that of sheep. It is not common even among noble families, let alone ordinary people.

"This has been going on for several years, and it's finally time to bear fruit. We must operate it properly and make back the money we invested many times over."

Speaking of this, Wei Guangde's mood also improved.

Just then, Zhang Ji came over.

He had just welcomed Wei Guangde into the mansion and had just returned to the front. He was not far from the backyard, so he arrived so quickly.

Wei Guangde told Zhang Ji what he meant, and Zhang Ji was responsible for coordinating all these external affairs.

"Yes, sir. I will arrange for Song Hui to contact the Northern Trading Company and make a batch of fine woolen cloth as a backup."

Zhang Ji agreed immediately.

"Tell me when the things are ready, and I will contact the palace and send them in."

After Zhang Ji left, Wei Guangde picked up the woolen cloth and said with a smile: "Prepare a batch for our family in Jiangxi as well. The boss will leave Beijing for the south next month, so it's a good time to bring it back."

"I understand, sir."

These woolen fabrics are much softer than those made by the people in the past. They are very comfortable against the skin and not rough at all.

"Maybe this thing can even be sold to Mongolia."

Thinking of the gifts that Mongolia had sent to his residence before, Wei Guangde couldn't help but ponder again. (End of this chapter)