Dad, don't be greedy! My brother climbed into the emperor's bed, and I became famous overn

Xiao Ye turned the white cotton cloth over and rubbed the surface with his thumb.

The fabric is fine and even, and has a soft and supple feel.

Although it lacks the dazzling brilliance of the silks in the palace, it possesses a simple and solid quality.

This kind of material is gentle on the skin when used to make close-fitting undergarments, and it can also be used to make winter coats and padded jackets to keep out the wind and cold.

One piece of clothing can last for three to five winters without breaking.

The fine silks and satins in the palace are far more precious than this.

However, in terms of practicality and durability for everyday wear, it is outdone by this piece of white cotton cloth.

Moreover, cotton fabric is extremely rare on the market and is very expensive.

According to the amount reported by Manager Su, the Gu family girl's business was also very profitable.

Just as everyone was pondering this, Gu Mingyue calmly spoke.

"Sell to the people at a reasonable price."

Su Wan's eyes widened slightly. "Boss, what do you mean by 'affordable'?"

Gu Mingyue looked at her intently.

"Our original intention at Pujitang is: to help all under heaven when one is successful."

"Since it's a profitable business, let's minimize the profit margin and expand the female workforce and factory."

"We cannot only focus on immediate gains; we must consider the entire Dayong Dynasty. We must ensure that the people can afford to buy and use cotton cloth."

These words demonstrate a broad perspective.

Xiao Ye put the cloth back without saying a word.

But the look in his eyes when he looked at Gu Mingyue held even more admiration than before.

[Ding~ Xiao Ye's favorability towards you +1]

Gu Mingli: "???"

He didn't say anything!

Su Wan was also deeply moved, her eyes filled with admiration.

"Understood! The employer is being very righteous!"

She is determined to earn more money in the future and help others!

"Oh, right! Master, there's one more thing you'd like to take a look at."

Su Wan took two steps to the innermost part of the shelf and took something from the top shelf.

It was a short jacket.

The fabric is light blue fine cotton with fine stitches.

Unlike ordinary short jackets, this one feels incredibly light in your hand, like you're holding a wisp of air.

Su Wan draped her short jacket over her arm; the jacket hung down limply, fluffy like freshly risen dough.

"Boss, this is something new that we've made in collaboration with Manager Chen Sandao's team."

Su Wan smiled, her eyes crinkling, and handed the short jacket to Gu Mingyue.

"It's filled with duck down. We washed and dried it before filling it in. Would you like to try it on?"

Gu Mingyue reached out and took the short jacket.

The moment my fingers touched the fabric, I froze.

The weight, the fluffiness, the soft touch.

It was almost exactly the same down jacket she had touched in the original World Mall.

Gu Mingyue draped her short jacket over herself.

A thin layer is applied, like being wrapped in a warm cloud.

I could barely feel any weight on my shoulders, but my back and arms immediately warmed up.

It was unbearably hot to wear this in June, but she could imagine how it would feel to wear it in winter.

Ruined.

The down jacket is finished!!

Gu Mingyue took off her short jacket and draped it over her arm.

He pinched the fabric at the corner of his coat with his fingers and rubbed it hard twice.

The down inside silently bounced back to its original shape.

Su Wan continued speaking from the side, her voice brimming with barely suppressed excitement.

"It's quite a coincidence. Manager Chen Sandao had sent word that the boss had instructed him to keep all the duck down left over from slaughtering the ducks, in case it could be used to make clothes someday."

Su Wan scratched her nose.

"To be honest, when the three of us managers had a meeting, none of us could figure out how to make clothes from duck feathers."

She smiled sheepishly.

"Manager Wen said that we are too inexperienced and can't keep up with the boss's ideas. We need to think about things from an unconventional perspective, and maybe we can grasp a bit of the boss's thinking."

"Later, I started to try it out with the female workers."

"Finally, we discovered that cleaning the down feathers and stuffing them into the lining of clothing had such amazing results!"

Xiao Jue walked over and took the short jacket from Gu Mingyue's arm, examining it closely.

"In the northern winter, water freezes instantly. Every winter, of the 200,000 troops stationed on the border, tens of thousands die from frostbite alone."

He raised his head and looked at his elder brother, the emperor.

"If only I could have winter clothes like this..."

Xiao Ye nodded in agreement.

That's what he thought too.

With the national treasury empty, cotton-padded clothing is in short supply among the annual provisions allocated to the northern border troops.

This has always been a difficult thing for him.

Xiao Ye asked, "How much does this down jacket cost?"

"Five taels of silver," Su Wan replied crisply, clearly indicating that a price had already been agreed upon.

Xiao Ye frowned.

Five taels of silver for one piece.

The 200,000-strong army guarding the northern border would need one million taels of silver for each soldier.

This sum of money is far too large for the national treasury's expenditure.

But if we set a cost price from the workshop...

Xiao Ye turned to look at Gu Mingyue.

Gu Mingyue: "???"

Good heavens!! Is Huang Jiaojiao planning to place a bulk order?!

NO~~~~

Please, no huge orders falling from the sky!!!

What to do? What to do?

Gu Mingyue instinctively looked at her brother.

Guards! Gag Huang Jiaojiao!

Gu Mingli scratched his head and turned to look at the door.

He was at a loss.

Gu Mingyue took a deep breath.

Calm down! Calm down!

Her mind was working very fast.

The down used in a jacket is about three catties, and with the cotton fabric and sewing costs, the total cost is about three hundred coins.

Two hundred thousand pieces would be sixty thousand taels.

Adding in the transportation losses from Jiangzhou to the northern border, the overtime costs for rushing the work, the expenses for bribing checkpoints along the way, and the cost of food and lodging on the road, the total principal amounted to at least 80,000 taels.

In addition to workshop operating costs and equipment depreciation.

One batch can consume at least 100,000 taels.

Wait! What if she donates it?

Not only will it not make money, it will also cost 100,000 taels of silver!

Gu Mingyue's eyes lit up.

"Second Master."

Xiao Ye was still looking at her with that short jacket in his hand.

Gu Mingyue's tone was calm and composed.

"The soldiers are suffering in the bitter cold of the northern border. Now that Pujitang can make down jackets, the soldiers there will definitely need them. Pujitang will donate the down jackets for those 200,000 troops."

The room fell silent.

Su Wan's mouth was open, and her hand was frozen in mid-air.

Xiao Jue paused for a moment while waving his fan.

Gu Mingli turned her head to look outside the door, a sly smile playing on her lips.

Xiao Ye held the short jacket, a hint of joy on his face.

"Mr. Gu, are you serious? That's 200,000 military uniforms. You think you can just donate them like that?"

"donate."

Gu Mingyue didn't stumble over a single word.

"The soldiers on the border defend the country, and the loss of lives due to frostbite in winter is more severe than that caused by enemy attacks. Since Pujitang has production capacity, it should give priority to the army."

She added a sentence after she finished speaking.

"There are still a few months before winter. The down is readily available; Manager Chen has been saving it up for a few more months."

"The cotton workshop produces 1,600 bolts of cloth a day, and a portion of them are specifically used to make military coats. They are to finish all of them before winter and then ship them to the northern border in batches."

Xiao Ye's eyes lit up.

"it is good."

He turned to look at Liu An.

His tone regained the usual imperial majesty and decisiveness.

"Pujitang Textile Workshop was granted the title of Imperial Merchant and hung with a gold plaque bestowed by the Emperor."

"Products from the workshop are allowed to pass through all state and provincial checkpoints without any additional tolls."

Liu An's charcoal pencil scribbled across the paper.

Imperial Merchant Appointment!

This is the first one in the Great Yong Dynasty!

Gu Mingyue was unmoved by this; she merely gave a slight bow.

"Thank you, Second Master."

After saying that, he turned to look at Su Wan.

By making the textile workshops make such a huge sacrifice in profits, the emperor was essentially giving the workers a prestigious reputation.

In ancient society, people placed more importance on reputation.

Gu Mingyue said to Su Wan, "Manager Su, why don't you take the workshop to thank our distinguished guests?"

Su Wan opened her eyes wide, not daring to even breathe loudly.

If she still couldn't discern the identities of these important people after the master had put it so clearly, she would truly be a fool.

Su Wan's hands began to tremble.

He knelt down with a thud, his forehead pressed against the ground, his voice trembling.

"Thank you... thank you for your kindness!"

[Ding~ Xiao Ye's favorability towards you +1, current favorability: -521]

Gu Mingli: "..."