People in the Ming Dynasty are lawless

Chapter 748 Anyone who talks nonsense again will be killed! !
Just after the morning bell rang three times, the sound of the looms in the Jinling Women's Workshop began to sound earlier than usual. Aunt Zhang's hand holding the shuttle was bulging with veins, and the bobbin was pulled into a tight arc on the loom. The yard was crowded with female workers who had started work early, and even the girls in the literacy class stood beside the loom with red eyes.

"You've heard about it, right?" Mrs. Wang, the housekeeper, slammed the letter from Hangzhou on the table, and the coarse earthenware tea bowls jingled. "My sister was forced to jump into the river in Hangzhou!"

Suppressed sobbing came from the corner. The weaver Chun Xing suddenly broke the thread and said, "My mother stopped me from going out this morning, saying that she was afraid that I would follow the same fate as the Liu family's sister."

"Bullshit!" Aunt Zhang slammed the shuttle on the loom, making the wooden frame buzz. "We can weave one piece of cloth and it's worth three acres of land for men to farm. Why should we hide?"

There was a noise outside the courtyard gate. Several scholars in long gowns were pointing and talking. The leader was holding up a copy of "Female Commandments" and was about to speak when Lady Wang picked up a copper basin for sizing yarn and slammed it on the doorstep. Broken pieces of porcelain splashed at the feet of the scholars, frightening them so much that they took three steps back.

"Look carefully!" Madam Wang pulled open the cloth that had just come off the plane. Dark lines flowed between the warp and weft in the sunlight. "This is an order to be sent to U-Tsang. It uses a new recipe from the Institute of Physics. It won't fade even after being soaked in snow water. If you have time to gossip, why not go to the dock and see where our cargo ships are lined up!"

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves could be heard from the alley behind the workshop. Chen Han raised a cloud of dust when he reined in his horse, and two carriages full of cotton yarn followed behind him. He glanced at the silent scholars, took off the ivory plate from his waist and threw it to the guard: "Go tell the Imperial Academy's chief priest that if anyone comes to the workshop to cause trouble again, I will ask the crown prince to ask who is obstructing the court's tax revenue tomorrow morning."

As the sun rose higher, the workshop warehouse was already filled with newly woven cloth. Aunt Zhang wiped her sweat and suddenly held Chun Xing's shaking hand: "Girl, if you are afraid, go home."

Chun Xing shook her head and bit the thread even tighter. "My father said that if I don't make thirty cents today, he will lock the door at night." She suddenly raised her voice, "But our team just checked the numbers. At the speed of the new loom, I can weave fifty cents worth of material before sunset!"

These words were like sparks splashing into a frying pan. The women workers worked faster, their spools turning into a blur of white shadows. Just after noon, the first horse-drawn carriage that came to carry goods was blocked at the entrance of the alley - a full two hours earlier than usual.

Chen Han stood in the attic and watched all this, holding the newly arrived secret report from Hangzhou in his hand. Zhu Youwei said in the letter that the drowned girl had rope marks on her ankles, and the morgue also found a twenty-liang silver note from Xuji Cloth Shop. When he folded the letter, he found that his fingers were shaking.

"Master Chen." Madam Wang stood behind him without him noticing, holding the newly registered shipping order in her hand. "This morning's output is 20% more than yesterday." She paused, "The sisters are all holding back their energy."

As dusk dyed the Longjiang dock red, ten cargo ships flying the Women's Flag were loading. The laborers trotted with their bags on their shoulders, and the beads on the accountant's abacus rang like a rainstorm. A merchant wearing a square scarf squeezed to the front, holding up a silver note and shouting, "Add another 500 horses! We in Quanzhou are willing to pay an extra two cents per horse!"

Madam Wang stood at the bow and did not respond. She was lost in thought as she stared at the end of the canal, which led to Hangzhou. Suddenly she turned to the accountant and said, "Write this down. Keep a separate account for the surplus of 500 horses and send it to the sisters' families in Hangzhou as a relief."

As the night deepened, the lights were still on in the workshop. Chun Xing squatted by the well, scrubbing the yarn, her red, frozen fingers looking like ten little carrots. When her mother came with a lantern, the little girl was arranging the last wrung yarn.

"You little girl, why don't you..." The woman's raised hand suddenly stopped in mid-air. In the light of the lantern, she saw three baskets of processed yarn piled at her daughter's feet. According to the rules, she could get an extra 15 cents.

Chun Xing raised her head and said, "Mom, I earned 65 cents today." She took out an oil-paper bag from her bosom and said, "I left some meat buns from the cafeteria for you."

The woman suddenly squatted down and hugged her daughter. The lantern fell over on the side of the well, and the flames jumped up to illuminate the faces of the mother and daughter. In the distance came the sound of the night watchman's clapper. It was the third watch of the night, and the looms were still ringing in the workshop.

Before the next morning court session, Yu Xin stopped Chen Han who was rushing into the palace. The Minister of Revenue shook the account book in his hand: "Yesterday's commercial tax at Longjiang Wharf was equivalent to the past three days!" He lowered his voice, "I heard that they were all goods from the Jinguo Workshop?"

Chen Han did not answer, but pulled out a roll of cloth from his sleeve and handed it over. When Yu Xin unfolded it, he found that it was a treasure woven with a map of the South China Sea Islands, and there was a line of small words in the corner: "In the winter of the 23rd year of Hongwu, a hundred women workers in the Jinling Women's Workshop worked overnight to make it."

The palace gate slowly opened behind him. Chen Han straightened his clothes, the blood of Hangzhou and the lights of Jinling were burning in his chest. He knew that someone would impeach the woman for showing up in public today, but he was also aware that the amount of tax silver collected by the workshop in the past seven days was already on the prince's desk.

As the morning light shone on the golden roof of the Fengtian Palace, smoke from the Jinling Women's Workshop was rising. Lady Wang struck the gong and announced that the thirty women who had worked overtime last night could take a half-day off. No one left, and the sound of the looms soon filled the air again.

……

Just after the morning bell rang three times, the front of the Fengtian Hall was already filled with officials waiting for the morning court. Chen Han stood in the queue of civil servants and noticed that many people's eyes were vaguely glancing towards him.

Zheng Yanbai, the Minister of Rites, leaned over to the Minister of War and whispered, "I heard someone died in Hangzhou again? This women's workshop is really a disaster."

"Isn't it?" The Minister of War twisted his beard, "My wife said this morning that if I dared to let our daughter go to that kind of place, she would go back to her parents' home."

Chen Han listened to these discussions expressionlessly, his fingers rubbing the secret letter Zhu Youwei sent last night in his sleeves. The letter said that the drowned female worker in Hangzhou had marks on her ankles, which clearly showed that she was pushed into the river.

"Upon—"

Following the eunuchs' sharp shouts, officials filed in. Zhu Biao sat on the throne next to the dragon chair, his face as calm as water.

"I have a report to make!" Yang Zhan, the Minister of Public Administration, was the first to step forward. "The women's workshops in Hangzhou have forced decent women to death, and the people are furious. I request that all women's workshops be closed down immediately to correct the trend!"

Zhu Biao raised his hand gently: "Mr. Yang, please be patient. Is there any evidence for this?"

Yang Zhan pulled out a memorial from his sleeve: "The Hangzhou Weaving Bureau jointly wrote a letter, saying that the women's workshop disrupted people's livelihood and caused unrest in the family. There was even a woman who was divorced by her husband because of working in the workshop and then committed suicide by jumping into the river."

Chen Han looked coldly at the memorial in Yang Zhan's hand. The handwriting on it was suspiciously neat. He remembered Zhu Youwei saying that most officials in the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau had accepted bribes from Xuji Cloth Shop.

"I second the motion!" Yan Zhen, the Left Censor-in-Chief of the Metropolitan Censorate, stepped out and said, "A woman should take care of her husband and children. How can she be seen in public now? If this continues, it will damage morals!"

Zhu Biao did not respond immediately, but turned to the Minister of Revenue Yu Xin: "Mr. Yu, how much tax did the Women's Workshop pay last month?"

Yu Xin was stunned for a moment, then flipped through the account book and said, "Your Highness, the Jinling Women's Workshop alone has paid 3,500 taels. Although the Hangzhou branch has just opened, it has also paid 800 taels."

There was an uproar in the hall. This figure was equal to the annual tax revenue of a small state.

Zhu Biao nodded slightly and said, "My dear ministers, before we discuss this matter, let me tell you a story."

His voice was neither hurried nor slow, but it made the entire hall quiet.

"In the fifteenth year of Hongwu, I accompanied my father on a private visit to Songjiang Prefecture. It was snowing heavily that day, and we saw an old woman selling pancakes on the street. Her hands were red from the cold, but she insisted on setting up the stall. I asked her why, and she said her husband had died early, her son was conscripted to build the Great Wall, and she had three grandchildren to raise at home."

Zhu Biao looked at all the ministers and said, "Later, I sent people to investigate and found that there were thousands of widows like this in Songjiang Prefecture. Some of them sold pancakes, some washed clothes, and some even had to sell themselves into slavery. Do you know why?"

The Minister of Industry asked subconsciously: "Why?"

"Because no one gave them a chance to make money honestly." Zhu Biao's voice suddenly rose, "But now, the Women's Workshop has given them a chance!"

Yan Zhenzhi wanted to argue: "Your Highness, this is against the ancestral rules after all..."

"Ancestor's rule?" Zhu Biao sneered, "In the first year of Hongwu, my father issued an edict to encourage widows to remarry and support themselves. This is the true ancestral rule!"

He stood up, the golden thread on his dragon robe flowing in the morning light. "I have sent people to investigate the Hangzhou incident. The female worker did not commit suicide, but was hired by Xu Ji Cloth Shop to push her into the river! What are they afraid of? They are afraid that the women's workshop will make their inferior cloth unsalable!"

Chen Han stepped forward at the right time and said, "I have a report. Xuji Cloth Shop bribed officials of the Hangzhou Weaving Bureau with ten thousand taels of silver in the past six months. This is the confession." He handed over a stack of documents.

Zhu Biao took the document and slammed it on the table: "Look! This is the gentleman you call for upholding morality! For money, he is willing to kill people and burn things!"

The hall was completely silent. The officials who were filled with righteous indignation just now lowered their heads and dared not say a word.

"Since the opening of the Women's Workshop, it has supported thousands of families." Zhu Biao's voice gradually calmed down. "Widows can support their children, divorced women don't have to sell their bodies, and even little girls can earn their dowries with their own hands. Isn't this a great kindness?"

He walked down the steps and came to Yang Zhan: "Yang Qing, how many daughters do you have in your family?"

Yang Zhan’s forehead was covered with sweat. “Your Highness, three.”

"If they become widows in the future, would you rather see them starve to death, or would you rather hope that they can live a decent life with their own abilities like the women in the Heroine Workshop?"

Yang Zhan opened his mouth and finally lowered his head deeply.

Zhu Biao returned to his seat and said, "I will issue an order to close down Xuji Cloth Shop in Hangzhou immediately and dismiss all officials involved. The Women's Workshop should not only continue in Hangzhou, but also be promoted to Suzhou, Songjiang and Yangzhou!"

He looked at Chen Han: "Chen Qing, you are fully responsible for this matter."

"I accept the decree."

When the court was dismissed, the officials who had just spoken righteously were now avoiding Chen Han. Only Yu Xin came over and whispered, "Master Chen, is the Women's Workshop still hiring accountants? I have a niece..."

Chen Han smiled and said, "Of course. Let her go directly to the workshop to find the manager tomorrow."

When he walked out of the palace gate, the sun was shining brightly. Chen Han squinted his eyes and saw the smoke rising from the Jinling Women's Workshop in the distance.

He seemed to be able to hear the sound of looms and the cheerful laughter of the female workers coming from there.

……

The sound of the morning bell has not yet faded, but the West Market in Jinling City is already bustling with people.

A few men in short shirts were squatting under the wall of the Women's Workshop, eating sesame cakes, and the crumbs fell on their trouser legs that were stained with engine oil.

"Have you heard? There were female workers in Hangzhou who were forced to jump into the river!" The bearded man suddenly pounded the wall, scaring away a flock of sparrows.

Old Zhang from the blacksmith shop next door rushed over with a hammer in his hand, the hammer head still steaming. "Those bastards from Xu's Cloth Shop! My daughter has been in the workshop for half a year, and our house has been renovated - they can't stand seeing the poor having a full meal?"

Aunt Liu, who sells steamed buns at the corner of the alley, squeezed into the crowd with a basket of freshly steamed buns piled up like a small mountain. "My husband wanted to stop my wife from going to work yesterday, so I told him to touch the bacon hanging under the beam!" She shouted, "Since my wife got paid, the kids can eat white flour every day, and those gossipers are paying to support my family!"

The workshop door creaked open, and the manager, Madam Wang, came out holding the account book. The crowd immediately surrounded them, asking about the news in Hangzhou. Madam Wang raised her hand to press it, and the calluses on her sleeves were thicker than those of the men.

"Don't panic, sisters. The prince personally asked about it this morning." Her voice was not loud, but every word was as sharp as the shuttle on a loom. "Every extra piece of cloth we weave means one more slap in the face to those bastards!"

Suddenly there was a loud clanging noise in the workshop. Chun Xing threw the shuttle box with red eyes, and the bobbins rolled all over the floor.

"When my mother was sick, why didn't those scholars come to give out porridge?" She grabbed half a piece of "mathematical cloth" and shook it open fiercely, "Now they are asking whether we women should earn money!"

Just then, Chen Han's carriage rolled over the bluestone road.

The "Hens Crow at Dawn" banner held by the scholars was torn to pieces by the soldiers driving the carriage before it was unfolded.

"If you dare to block the way to the workshop again, you will be punished for disturbing the imperial merchants." Chen Han lifted the curtain of the carriage, revealing the Ministry of Revenue approval document on his waist. A blue-shirted scholar was about to speak, but was hit at the foot by Old Zhang with a hammer, and fell into the gutter in fright.

The smell of rice suddenly wafted from the backyard of the workshop.

More than 20 female workers squatted beside the looms, eating with ceramic bowls in their hands. The greasy braised pork in the bowls made the children around them drool. Aunt Liu's youngest son suddenly got into the crowd, holding up the "Three Character Classic" and shouting: "My mother knows more characters than the head of the village!"

As dusk deepened, Madam Wang hung red lanterns at the entrance of the workshop.

Under the lanterns was a notice with wet ink: 30% of this month's profit will be used to support the sisters in Hangzhou, and 20% will be used to set up a girls' charity school. There were sobbing sounds in the crowd, and I didn't know whose mother-in-law was wiping tears.

When the night watchman rang the third watch gong, Chun Xing was still working under the lamp.

She entangled the strips of cloth in her fingers, but the shuttle flew faster. "Tomorrow morning," she said to her sister, "I will buy a piece of 'Quanqing cloth' for my mother to make a new dress - using the cloth I wove myself."

The moonlight shone on the newly painted plaque of the workshop, and the word "Women" was dazzlingly bright.

……

The morning mist had not yet dissipated, and the sound of looms in the Hangzhou Women's Workshop was more frequent than usual. Xiao Tao clutched the letter from Jinling, her fingertips trembling. Zhu Youwei stood under the eaves, the morning light outlining her tense shoulders.

"Read." She said softly.

Xiao Tao cleared her throat, but her eyes were red first. "His Royal Highness the Crown Prince has issued an order to close down Xuji Cloth Shop and dismiss the officials involved. The Women's Workshop will soon be expanded to Suzhou and Songjiang..."

There was a clang in the corner. Aunt Liu accidentally knocked over the thread basket. The old woman squatted on the ground to pick up the shuttle, her hands shaking violently. "The court...really decided for us?"

……

(End of this chapter)