Changsheng: Peak at the Beginning

Chapter 192: Legend of Zhen Huan 62

The Fucha family had many connections, and when Yi Xin mentioned that she wanted to find a way to spin wool into thread and weave clothes, she vaguely mentioned some clues that she remembered. At the end of August, news came from the Fucha family that the method she described could really remove the fishy smell of wool and wash away the grease attached to the wool. In this way, the wool could even be dyed like cotton and silk threads. However, the Fucha family had not yet found a way to weave it into clothes, but they had already sent people to the grassland to secretly look for those who could make felt.

Sure enough, after washing and combing, the wool can be easily spun into thread like cotton, but the wool thread is much thicker than the finest cotton thread. But that doesn't matter. The Fucha family sent a lot of wool thread, a total of six colors, four pounds each, and several already woven blankets.

Sang'er spread a few blankets on the bed and turned over and over to feel them. Finally, he happily concluded, "My lady, this wool is really good. It's not an exaggeration to say that it's warm to the touch. When the weather gets cold, you can use this blanket as a mattress. It will definitely keep you warm!"

There were already silk quilts in the palace, but they were very difficult to maintain and only the masters could use them. In a place like the north, a silk quilt could only be used for one year. If it was used again in the next winter, it would not be as warm as the first year. Therefore, only wealthy families could afford it.

But the wool was very cheap, even low-priced. Sang'er felt that if the craft of weaving wool could be spread a little, her family might be able to use such warm mattresses and quilts during the winter.

Just thinking about it, Sang'er felt that it was a great achievement for her mother to have people come up with this method of processing wool!

Turning around, Yi Xin asked someone to invite Concubine Yue to come over and talk. Hong Sheng was rarely free, and Concubine Yue was playing with Hong Sheng in the east side hall. Yi Xin had a lot of thoughts in her mind these days, and for a while she couldn't take care of Concubine Yue. Fortunately, Concubine Yue could always find some fun on her own, so Yi Xin didn't feel guilty for neglecting Concubine Yue.

As soon as Concubine Yue led Hong Sheng into the house, she created a huge crowd of people by herself. On one hand, she ordered people to serve tea and snacks quickly, on the other hand, she had to greet Yi Xin, and on the other hand, she had to make sure Hong Sheng watched his feet when he walked. From time to time, she had to quarrel with Hong Sheng. She was really busy. Xizhu saw the two palace maids bringing the tea and she was trying to hold back her laughter.

After drinking tea and trying snacks, Sang'er just came out after packing up. Yi Xin winked at Sang'er, and Sang'er took the other palace maids with her and went downstairs. Apart from Yi Xin, Yue Guiren and Hong Sheng, there were only Xizhu and Yue Guiren's confidant Guo'er in the room.

Yi Xin showed the woolen thread roll to Concubine Yue, "This thing was made by the Fucha family according to my ideas. Although you don't know how to spin thread or weave cloth, and your embroidery skills are just ordinary, I'm sure Guo'er can see something of it."

Guoer took the woolen yarn ball handed to her by Concubine Yue and took a look at it. Sure enough, she discovered the clue after a while: "My Lady, my lady, I have been holding this yarn ball in my hand for a while and my palms are sweating. It is very good for keeping warm in winter!"

Concubine Yue still didn't understand. She had everything she needed at home, and after entering the palace, Yi Xin had taken care of her all the way, so her life was very good. At least she never lacked ice in the summer, and the best silver frost charcoal and red charcoal in the winter.

Guo'er was specially trained by the Xia family for Concubine Yue. Like Xizhu, she was not short of knowledge. So when she saw that Concubine Yue did not understand, Guo'er came out and knelt in front of Yi Xin to thank her: "Thank you, Your Majesty, for always thinking about our young master. I will send a message to the master when I go back and ask him to come to ask for advice."

Seeing that Guo'er understood, Yi Xin just nodded and said, then turned to Xizhu and said, "Ask your Dong family members to help out at the Fucha family. I'm not a person who favors one over the other."

The wool business is quite big, and the Fucha family can barely handle it, but it would be embarrassing if they did so, so her parents have already contacted her maternal family. The Dong family has quite a few members, but the Xia family is small and seems to be at a disadvantage. But it doesn't matter, anyway, Yue Guiren's father Xia Wei is the emperor's confidant, and the emperor will surely ask Xia Wei to take charge of a part of the wool business in the future.

The wool matter has not been reported yet, but the private benefits have basically been distributed. Yi Xin doesn't care about this. Anyway, it is enough for her as long as most of the people who can knit sweaters are women.

As for Shen Meizhuang, as her relationship with the emperor gradually improved, she finally mustered up the courage to talk to the emperor about foot binding.

Shen Meizhuang first started by talking about foot-binding competitions in Shanxi and other places, testing the emperor's opinion on foot binding. Unexpectedly, the emperor frowned and said, "I don't see what's so good about feet being bound into the so-called 'three-inch golden lotus', but I know that wanting to bind a pair of feet into a three-inch size is against the laws of nature."

Shen Meizhuang really didn't expect the emperor to use the word "against the laws of nature" to describe foot binding. She couldn't hold back her tears and scared the emperor. "Mei'er, what's wrong with you? Why are you crying all of a sudden?"

Shen Meizhuang quickly wiped away her tears with a look of emotion, and waited until the heat in her throat dissipated before she spoke smoothly: "Your Majesty, I was just frightened by the foot binding issue."

The emperor didn't know how a pair of feet changed from five or six inches in size to about three inches. Shen Meizhuang didn't know either before, but after she found out more, she felt that all men in the world were extremely abominable and hateful.

Shen Meizhuang introduced to the emperor with a little hope: "I didn't know how a pair of big feet could be wrapped into a three-inch size by a piece of cloth, so I had nothing to do and found someone to learn about it. Only then did I know that the so-called foot binding is not to use a piece of cloth to restrict the growth of the foot bones, but to bend the toes towards the soles of the feet when the girls are five or six years old or seven or eight years old!"

The emperor was horrified when he heard this. "How can this broken toe be tied to the sole of the foot?!"

In fact, after hearing this, the emperor roughly understood Shen Meizhuang's intention of talking about foot binding today, but even though he was the emperor now, he could do nothing about the issue of foot binding.

"Mei'er, you have to know that not only did the previous emperor issue an edict to allow people to unbind their feet, but even my emperor Mafa issued an edict after ascending the throne to forbid foot binding. But you see, this imperial edict has spread all over the world, but the number of women with bound feet has not decreased from generation to generation."

"There are some things that the emperor can do nothing about."

Shen Meizhuang didn't believe it, "Your Majesty, the problem of foot binding is more serious in Jiangnan than in other places. As far as I know, in Jiangnan, it's not just the girls from rich families who have to bind their feet since childhood. This bad habit has even spread to ordinary people."

"In my opinion, the reason why the two emperors failed to issue edicts to allow people to have their feet unbound was probably because they did not really touch the pain points of those people. If the emperor could issue an edict saying that any family with women with bound feet would not be able to take the imperial examinations and become an official, then no one would dare to go against the emperor's will."

This was a good idea, but unfortunately the emperor was very careful about his reputation. He had offended many people before because of the "officials and gentry paying taxes together" issue, and his reputation among the people is still not good. If he forced people to unbind their feet and stopped foot binding, he would surely become a tyrant like Jie and Zhou, who were notorious in the streets.