People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 746 They are just afraid that women will steal their limelight

The morning mist has not yet dissipated, but a long line has already formed in front of the Hangzhou Women's Workshop.

When Xiao Tao pushed open the door, she was so shocked by the scene in front of her that she took a step back - there were not only young women in the team, but also white-haired old women, and even a few little children with pigtails holding their mothers' clothes.

"Manager, are you still hiring today?" A thin woman with prominent cheekbones squeezed to the front. "My husband died in the mine, and I have three children at home waiting for food..."

Xiao Tao clenched the list in her hand. She remembered that when Xu Ji Cloth Shop sent people to cause trouble three days ago, it was also a group of pitiful people huddled in the corner and trembled.

"We'll accept you!" She raised her voice. "As long as you're willing to learn, we'll accept you!"

The crowd cheered. Xiao Tao asked the female workers to bring a long table and register the names one by one. A lame old woman's rough fingers trembled violently when she pressed her fingerprints.

"Grandma, your hand..."

"It's okay." The old woman grinned, "I've been weaving for forty years. I can sew with my eyes closed."

When we were halfway through the registration, we heard the sound of horse hooves from the street corner. Several scholars in long gowns came riding donkeys, and the leader was Li Xiucai, who had spoken so much in the teahouse that day.

"How disgraceful!" Li Xiucai covered his nose with his sleeve. "It's inappropriate for a woman to show her face in public!"

Xiao Tao continued to register without looking up. She heard the sound of the looms behind her, but none of the female workers paid any attention to these sour scholars.

Li Xiucai's face flushed, and he suddenly jumped off the donkey and overturned the inkstone. The black ink splashed on the snow-white job recruitment notice, which looked like snow stained by mud.

"What are you looking at?" he shouted at the crowd, "You foolish women, do you know that this is corrupting morals?"

A woman holding a baby in the team suddenly said, "My husband, my husband has been ill for half a year, and the rice jar at home is empty. If you can give me some food, I will go home now."

Li Xiucai choked. His companion behind him tugged at his sleeve and whispered, "Brother Li, forget it..."

"It doesn't count!" Li Xiucai shook off his companions and took out a copy of "Female Commandments" from his pocket, "Listen everyone! Women should be chaste and quiet, how can they..."

"Li Maocai!" A loud shout came from the end of the street. Prefect Zhao walked over quickly with his yamen runners. "You have repeatedly disrupted the order of the workshop. Do you really think I dare not punish you?"

Xiao Tao put down her brush. She saw several peddlers carrying loads of newly arrived cotton yarn following behind Magistrate Zhao.

"Sir." She bowed, "It's just a small matter, it doesn't matter..."

"It's not a small matter." Prefect Zhao glanced at the scholars coldly, "Last night, Xu Ji Cloth Shop sent someone to set fire. Fortunately, the patrol discovered it early." He suddenly raised his voice, "Come here! Take Li Maocai to the government office for questioning!"

Li Xiucai knelt on the ground with his legs weakened: "Students are innocent!"

The bailiff found a secret letter from his sleeve, written by Manager Xu. The letter clearly stated that the workshop warehouse would be burned down, and also set a time for the action.

The crowd went wild. The skinny woman suddenly rushed over and beat Li Xiucai: "God damn it! You are trying to kill us, an orphan and a widow!"

Xiaotao grabbed the woman and found that her wrists were covered with bruises.

"Don't get your hands dirty." Xiao Tao said softly, "Go to the workshop and have some hot tea. I'll teach you how to use the new loom."

As the sun rose higher, the sound of looms in the workshop became more frequent.

The new female workers learned very quickly, and the lame old woman even improved the way the shuttle sewed.

"Look, sir." The old woman pointed at the loom, "If you modify it like this, the thread won't break easily."

Xiao Tao squatted down and observed carefully, and found that it was indeed the case. She was about to speak when there was a commotion at the door.

Zhu Youwei and several Jinyiwei stood in the yard, with the bruised and battered shopkeeper Xu tied at their feet.

"The princess?"

"I came to give you a gift." Zhu Youwei kicked Shopkeeper Xu, "This guy confessed that six officials in the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau accepted his bribes and deliberately blocked the approval documents for the workshop."

Xiao Tao took a deep breath. She finally understood why there were always people making things difficult for the workshop since it opened.

"It's all resolved." Zhu Youwei clapped her hands. "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has just issued an order to remove those six people from their official positions and confiscate their property." She suddenly lowered her voice. "When their property was searched, we found that they had secretly hidden 50,000 pieces of 'Quanqing cloth', all of which were inferior counterfeits made by Xuji."

The sound of a loom thread jamming came from the corner of the yard. The thin woman knelt down in panic: "I didn't mean it..."

Zhu Youwei helped her up: "If you mess up, just start over. The workshop doesn't lack this little cotton yarn."

The midday sun shone through the window lattice, casting fine spots of light on the ground. Xiao Tao looked at the female workers in the yard and suddenly found that their eyes had changed - no longer the shrinking look when they first met, but with a kind of burning light.

When finishing work in the evening, Xiaotao was stopped by an unexpected person.

Li Xiucai's wife, Wang, was holding her two children and wandering at the entrance of the workshop. When she saw Xiao Tao coming out, she knelt down and said, "Manager, please be kind and take us in."

Xiao Tao quickly helped her up: "Where is Mr. Li?"

"I was thrown into prison." Wang bit her lip. "All the valuables in the house were confiscated by the government." She suddenly grabbed Xiaotao's hand. "I can't read, but I'm very skillful and can weave cloth..."

Xiaotao looked at her rough fingers and longing eyes, and remembered her past self.

"follow me."

The lights were on in the backyard of the workshop. Zhu Youwei was checking the newly arrived dyes. When she saw Xiaotao and Wang come in, she nodded in understanding.

"Princess, this is..."

"I know." Zhu Youwei interrupted her, "Let her try the loom."

Wang's craftsmanship was unexpectedly good. The cloth she wove was so fine and even that even the experienced weavers praised her.

"I learned it at my parents' home before." Wang explained in a low voice, "After I got married, my husband wouldn't let me touch the loom, saying it was a lowly job."

Zhu Youwei sneered: "What about now?"

Wang didn't say anything, but her eyes said it all.

In the dead of night, Xiao Tao was alone in the warehouse counting cloth. The door creaked open and Zhu Youwei walked in holding a candlestick.

"are you tired?"

Xiao Tao shook her head: "Just a little..." She suddenly choked up, "Princess, why do they hate us so much?"

The candlelight flickered in Zhu Youwei's eyes: "Because I'm afraid."

"afraid of what?"

"They are afraid that women will no longer need them." Zhu Youwei's voice was very light, "They are afraid that the world will change and they will no longer be able to be high and mighty masters."

Xiao Tao thought of Li Xiucai's ferocious face and Xu Zhanggui's vicious eyes. She suddenly understood that those obstructions and slanders were just out of fear.

"Go to sleep." Zhu Youwei blew out the candle, "There will be more women waiting for us tomorrow."

The moonlight shone through the window paper, weaving a fine light net on the ground. Xiao Tao looked at the interlaced light and shadows, as if she saw the straight backs of countless women.

When the morning bell rang, a long line formed outside the workshop again. This time there were more faces in the line - wives beaten by their husbands, old women whose sons had died, and even a few young girls in Confucian robes.

Xiaotao pushed open the door and the sunlight shone on her straight back.

"Queue up to register." She said in a clear voice, "The Women's Workshop welcomes everyone."...

Chapter 338 Undercurrent

It rained all night in Hangzhou. When the sky was slightly bright, seven or eight men in silk clothes were already sitting in the private room on the second floor of Zuixianlou. Shopkeeper Xu slammed his fat hand on the table, making the teacups jingle.

"You all heard about it, right? That girl from the Women's Workshop paraded around the city with a group of women yesterday!"

Mr. Li, who was sitting by the window, twisted his beard and sneered: "Three embroiderers in my shop quit their jobs this morning, saying they wanted to learn new looms. Women should stay at home to take care of their husbands and children. How can they show up in public like this?"

"It's more than just showing up in public." Zhao Dongjia, the boss of the silk shop, lowered his voice, "I heard that men and women mixed together in that workshop, and they didn't even avoid discrimination when changing clothes. If my wife dared to go to that kind of place, I would break her legs!"

The young scholar in the corner suddenly looked up: "But those women did weave good cloth..."

"Shut up!" Shopkeeper Xu's spit sprayed on the scholar's face, "What do you know? This is going to break the ancestral rules! Today they can work, tomorrow they can take the imperial examination, and the day after tomorrow they will ride on the heads of men, right?"

There were footsteps on the stairs. Everyone fell silent immediately, and only breathed a sigh of relief when they saw that it was Mr. Zhou, the Chief Secretary.

Master Zhou shook off his wet sleeves and pulled out a roll of documents from his bosom: "The latest news is that the Women's Workshop has obtained the approval document from the Hangzhou government and will officially start work in three days."

The private room was in an uproar. Mr. Li grabbed the document and rubbed his fingers on the official seal: "Is Magistrate Zhao crazy? How dare he approve such a document!"

"Lord Zhao was also under pressure." Master Zhou smiled bitterly, "The Crown Prince's handwritten order was sent directly to the government office. Who would dare not obey?"

Shopkeeper Xu's fat face flushed red. He suddenly overturned the tea table, and the sound of porcelain breaking startled the sparrows on the whole street.

"Then let them not open it!"

The sun was blazing at noon, but under the shade of the trees by the West Lake, another group of people gathered. Several porters in shorts squatted under the willow trees, listening to an old man in a straw hat talking.

"My daughter worked as a trial worker in the workshop for three days, and she received more bonuses than I did in half a month working at the dock." The old man took out an oil-paper bag from his arms, inside of which lay two white flour buns. "Look, this is the lunch provided by the workshop."

The young porter swallowed his saliva and said, "Really so much?"

"Why would I lie to you?" The old man lowered his voice. "That new loom is amazing. My daughter said she can weave five bolts of cloth a day. The wages are calculated by piece. If you are quick, you can get four taels of silver a month!"

Suddenly, a sneer came from behind the tree. The private school teacher in a long gown came over, waving a folding fan and said, "You are bribed by such a small profit? A woman's virtue lies in her lack of talent. You will suffer retribution sooner or later for not observing the virtues of a woman."

The old man quietly put away the steamed buns and turned to leave. The young porter chased after him and said, "Uncle Zhang, is the workshop still hiring? My wife is very skillful..."

The private school teacher's angry curses were drowned out by the chirping of cicadas.

At dusk, the backyard of Xuji Cloth Shop was brightly lit. A dozen or so owners were gathered around the account books, their faces gloomy.

"Look, everyone." Shopkeeper Xu pointed at the latest deficit, "Ever since the news of the Women's Workshop spread, our cloth business has been closed for three days!"

Mr. Li suddenly stood up and slammed the table: "We can't just sit there and wait for death! I suggest that all cloth shops unite to lower the price of silk. They can't buy raw materials, so how can they start production!"

"It's useless." Master Zhou shook his head. "I heard that the cotton yarn of the workshop is shipped directly from Songjiang Prefecture, using the canal transportation specially approved by the Crown Prince."

After a moment of silence, Zhao Dongjia spoke sinisterly: "Then let's start with the people. Tell all the weavers that whoever dares to work in the workshop will never be able to buy a single thread in Hangzhou again!"

The scholar raised his hand timidly: "But the wages they pay..."

"Wages?" Shopkeeper Xu's hideous smile was particularly terrifying under the candlelight. "Once the workshop can no longer operate, let's see how they will pay the wages!"

When the night watchman's clapper rang, the corner door of the backyard quietly opened. The scholar slipped out of the alley and ran straight to the back alley of the government office. He knocked on the door three times and whispered, "Master Zhao, I have something important to report."

The gong had just sounded at the second watch, and the lights were still on in the side room of the Women's Workshop. Xiao Tao stared at the Hangzhou city defense map on the table, and Zhu Youwei's silver scissors were pointing at the location of Xu's Cloth Shop.

"Fatty Xu met with the owners of thirteen cloth shops tonight." The captain of the Imperial Guard whispered, "They plan to cut off our supply of raw materials."

Zhu Youwei sneered: "As expected."

Xiao Tao's fingers trembled slightly: "Princess, do you want to start work early? I'm afraid they will harm the female workers."

"No need." Zhu Youwei's silver scissors snapped shut. "You can recruit workers as usual tomorrow. I will make my own arrangements."

Before the morning mist cleared, a long line had formed in front of the workshop. Xiao Tao had just opened the door when she heard crying and shouting from the street corner. A young woman was dragged by her husband by her hair, with blood on her forehead.

"Bitch! How dare you sign up behind my back? I'll beat you to death!"

Xiao Tao rushed over and blocked the way: "Stop!"

The man raised his fist: "Get lost! I discipline my wife, it's none of your business!"

Silver light flashed. Zhu Youwei's scissors were pressed against the man's Adam's apple: "Try to move again."

The man froze in place. He recognized this as the Princess of Jiangdu, and his legs went weak and he knelt down.

"Princess, please spare my life! I just... just..."

"Just what?" Zhu Youwei put away the silver scissors, "Just because I'm afraid my wife will earn more than you?"

The onlookers burst into laughter. The woman broke free from her husband and hid behind Xiao Tao.

"Registration continues." Zhu Youwei raised her voice, "The Women's Workshop is guarded by the Royal Guards. Let's see who dares to cause trouble!"

Manager Xu, who was hiding in the crowd, had a livid face. He turned around and got into the sedan chair, growling at the sedan bearer, "Go to Zheng's house! Quick!"

Zheng Yanbai was practicing calligraphy in his study and frowned when he heard the announcement. He had just finished writing the last stroke of "Female Commandments" when Fatty Xu came in.

"Mr. Zheng! You have to make a decision for us!" Shopkeeper Xu rushed to the table, "Those women are simply lawless!"

The old minister put down his brush and said, "Master Xu, how old is your daughter this year?"

Shopkeeper Xu was stunned: "Ten...sixteen."

"Have you ever read Biographies of Women?"

"This……"

Zheng Yanbai suddenly slammed the table, shocking the inkstone so much that it jumped three inches: "How dare you come to see me! You can't even teach your own daughter well, and you still have the nerve to criticize others!"

When Shopkeeper Xu was kicked out of Zheng's house, he met the scholar who sneaked in from the back door. The two passed by each other, and a corner of the secret letter in the scholar's sleeve was revealed - it was Shopkeeper Xu's plan last night.

At 3:45 pm, the sun was blazing. Suddenly, there was a loud noise in the backyard of the workshop. When Xiaotao rushed out, she saw the newly arrived loom emitting black smoke and several masked men climbing over the wall to escape.

"Get 'em!"

The Jinyiwei who were lying in ambush jumped up. When they reached the alley entrance, the masked man in the lead suddenly turned around and shot the crossbow arrow in his sleeve directly at Xiaotao's face.

There was a flash of silver light. Zhu Youwei's scissors clamped the arrow shaft accurately.

"Keep alive!"

……

(End of this chapter)