As the rainy season draws to a close, the work of clearing fields in the four prefectures of Jiangnan is also in full swing.

The tax collectors, dressed in robes and hats, went door to door to verify information and encouraged the common people to boldly report the gentry's "refuge".

Jiang Xinghuo also went to Changzhou Mansion, and after meeting Li Jinglong, who had returned from crossing the river, he planned to inspect Changzhou Mansion accompanied by Changzhou Governor Zhang Yulan, and then turn around and go south through the workshop area of Songjiang Mansion and then to Zhejiang.

Qingpingbo.

This water pool, which is infused by a tributary of Baihe River, is inconspicuous in Changzhou's capital, and compared with the nearby prosperous Lucheng Town and Benniu Town, these small villages around Qingpingbo are nothing, neither the thoroughfares passing by, nor the remnants of the Grand Canal.

But Jiang Xinghuo chose here.

The reason is also very simple, this is the place where he went out of Beijing and ordered a public trial for the first time to kill the bullies of the Fan family.

Things are not people, and the desolate and dilapidated village at that time was already quite popular at this time.

Jiang Xinghuo stood in front of the stone lion in front of Fan's house, raised his arms, looked at the sky in the distance, and sighed softly.

Sometimes, looking back on the past really feels like a dream.

"Master Kuni."

A familiar call came from behind him.

Jiang Xinghuo turned his head and saw a teenager running out of the village, waving his arms excitedly and shouting to himself, while behind him, a woman looked at him with a smile.

Jiang Xinghuo signaled Wang Bin and the others not to be too vigilant, and then walked out, hugged the young man, lifted him up, and spun around.

It's not that Jiang Xinghuo doesn't want to turn a few more times, the main reason is that the boy's weight is not light, and Jiang Xinghuo is afraid of flashing to his waist after two more turns.

"I've grown up, and I've changed."

Jiang Xinghuo put down the boy, patted him on the shoulder, and said with emotion.

"Of course!"

The young man's face was excited, he had indeed grown taller, and his body was much stronger, and he looked like two people like the immature children before.

The boy was the son of Li Liuqi, who was regarded as a substitute for the dead ghost by the bullies of the Fan family, and at that time, the matter of Qingpingbo started from his family, and now more than two years have passed, and the child has grown into a teenager.

Jiang Xinghuo actually doesn't have much impression of them now, but when he saw the young man's excited face, a warmth still surged in his heart, and he couldn't help but smile and said, "How is it, is your family doing well?" ”

Aunt Liu stepped forward at this time, nodded and said, "Thanks to the blessing of the National Teacher, my family is living a good life." ”

Jiang Xinghuo carefully looked at the clothes on the two of them and the shoes on their feet, ordinary cotton and linen clothes, because of the popularity of cotton textiles, they have improved compared to before, and the shoes are still straw sandals.

From this point of view, the so-called "good life" must only be compared to the past self.

Jiang Xinghuo waved his hand and said, "The big guy's life is not very rich, I can't afford this sentence." ”

The breeze after the rain swept through his green shirt, and the reeds in the distance rippled with it.

Aunt Liu hurriedly shook her head and said, "How can it be, if it wasn't for the help of the National Teacher, I'm afraid that our family won't be able to survive now." ”

"It's all supposed to be done."

Jiang Xinghuo smiled, not wanting to dwell on this topic more, and asked instead, "Did the children in the family go to private school?" ”

"Yes, I don't want to be admitted to be an official in the future, it's good to know Braille after all."

"That's good."

Aunt Liu pulled her son and said, "Since the national teacher is here, let's come to my house for a meal, and prepare a table of dishes, which can be regarded as a thanksgiving banquet." ”

"Okay."

Jiang Xinghuo was not hypocritical, and readily agreed, after all, when people heard that they were coming, they must have prepared carefully, and if they didn't go, they would waste their minds.

He turned to Wang Bin and said, "Arrange meals for these brothers, and give the villagers more food money." ”

Wang Bin nodded, there is no need to gnaw on the dry food he brought with him, it is naturally excellent.

There is water here in Qingpingbo, there must be fish, and there is no need for the villagers to exert much effort.

On Aunt Liu's side, Jiang Xinghuo was afraid that he would bankrupt others, so he only took Zhang Yulan, the prefect of Changzhou, and followed Aunt Liu to her house.

"National teacher, you sit down first, I'll go to the kitchen and get it again."

In the courtyard, after Aunt Liu finished speaking, she hurriedly ran to the back of the hall.

Jiang Xinghuo looked around from the outside, and found that in addition to a table of hearty meals prepared, only a person in the room was wiping the tables and chairs with low eyebrows, apparently cleaning.

At this time, the man got up, Jiang Xinghuo only felt that he was a familiar man, he greeted him, and asked with a smile: "Master Guoshi, I heard that you came to our countryside today."

Jiang Xinghuo looked at him, and the words he wanted to say seemed to have thought of something, and his expression was a little weird.

"You guys, no. Could it be?"

This man was the "one tiger" who drank the severed head porridge that day and took the brothers to fight hard.

But now wearing clothes, with a headscarf wrapped around his head, and an honest fisherman's dress, he has lost his fierce posture in the past.

Aunt Liu and "a tiger" are very calm about this, there are still frequent wars in these years, the people are not living well, and the separation of wives is not a new thing, it is normal for acquaintances to live together, not to mention that Aunt Liu is still pulling the child, if there is no man in the family, it will be even more difficult to live.

"I followed the dam repair for a year, and before leaving, I gave the road fee and some wages, and then I came back."

He took the initiative to explain that Jiang Xinghuo did not punish them heavily, but first detained them in Changzhou Mansion for a period of time, and then threw them to repair the dam, although it was also heavy physical labor, but it was much better than cutting off the head of the army, and the laborers who repaired the dam had enough to eat.

Jiang Xinghuo looked at him twice, suddenly thought of something, and said, "What about your brothers?" You're not doing anything illegal now, are you? ”

"How can it!"

The man's eyes were full of fear, he knew Jiang Xinghuo's power to kill people, he hadn't seen him for so long, this kind of power was still the same, which made his heart tremble, and if it wasn't for Jiang Xinghuo reaching out and saving his life, I was afraid that he would have been left with no bones.

He only felt that Jiang Xinghuo looked really kind, but there were some things that he couldn't say nonsense, not to mention that the parents of Changzhou Mansion were sitting next to him.

"Wujin City is now more prosperous than before, and those who don't want to fish in Qingpingbo are working as a husband at the wharf over there, and their lives are quite good."

The two stuffy dishes in the pot were also served, and Jiang Xinghuo asked while eating, "Do you have a farmer?" ”

"Yes, I just fish and plant four acres of land at the same time."

"How's Kiyota doing here?"

A tiger carefully considered his words and replied: "This side is poor, there are no landlords, so there are no things to take refuge in the official newspaper, everyone in Qingtian is very cooperative, if there are some disputes, they can also be resolved through negotiation, it really can't be solved, it is mainly based on the results of the government side of Qingzhang." ”

"Is there anyone who is not convinced?"

"Yes, definitely. No matter how Qingzhang is not convinced, there are some things in the village that are not clear. ”

Jiang Xinghuo nodded, this is the truth, the peasants are indeed simple, but there are some grievances, and they do exist.

Why did it take thousands of years until the end to have a good story of "Three Feet Alley"? In other words, why can "Three Feet Alley" become a good story?

With very few given resources, no one is willing to give up the slightest benefit of his own.

This kind of status quo cannot stand on the moral high ground and point fingers, because whether it is a brick or an inch of land, it is related to the vital interests of the parties.

It's like that joke, "I really have a cow".

"Are the hands and feet of the officials who went to the countryside to participate in the Qingzhang clean?"

"That's pretty clean."

Zhang Yulan, who was absentmindedly holding the vegetables next to him, heard this, and this was a sigh of relief.

"The national teacher can rest assured, the demonic spirit of our Changzhou Mansion has long been reversed, and in the four mansions in the south of the Yangtze River, the active and law-abiding in the matter of Qingtian, not to mention the first, it is definitely the front."

"That's good."

Changzhou Mansion was indeed slaughtered by Jiang Xinghuo before, which can be regarded as being scared, and Zhang Yulan is also considered to be attentive, so in this Qingtian operation, there are still people in Suzhou Mansion who dare to play "shrinking the bow", but there are very few of these officials under Changzhou Mansion who dare to do anything.

After eating a meal, it was already noon, Aunt Liu cleaned up the dishes and chopsticks, Jiang Xinghuo and the others were inconvenient to disturb anymore, so they left and left.

Looking at Jiang Xinghuo's departing back, Aunt Liu patted her child's shoulder and said, "You have to study hard, and in the future, you will become a big official like a national teacher and benefit the people." ”

Unexpectedly, the child shook his head and said, "I can't be it." ”

"How majestic the national teacher is, he is still a great good man, a great hero, whoever dares to provoke him, he will dare to kill whom." Stepdad interjects on the sidelines.

"It's good to farm, everyone is an official, how can there be so many officials, plant a good field, and lie on the ridge and look at the sky when you're tired, how good."

Jiang Xinghuo walked on the dirt road where the village had not completely dried up, his mind drifted away, and during this period of time, his mentality has gradually changed, and he has become more and more "WTO", and his eyes on these people have gradually changed.

——————

After Qingpingbo drew an end to his short experience in the past, Jiang Xinghuo inspected Changzhou Mansion and cut off a string of gentry's heads before heading south along the west side of Taihu Lake and returning to Songjiang Mansion.

Songjiang Prefecture, handicraft workshop area.

It is located on the former site of Dahuangpu, a short distance away from the county seat of Shanghai.

However, compared to the muddy field before, this place can be said to be a big change.

In the cotton textile field, there are rows of workshops, and female weavers hang the spun cloth one by one on a fixed multi-knot pole net.

Inside the factory, a variety of textile machines are in operation, and occasionally equipment is carried in.

Because most of these textile machines need to be powered by the water flow of the Huangpu River next to them, in addition to the pedal power, many U-shaped canals are dug into the workshop as a never-ending circulating power.

At this time, Jiang Xinghuo blew up the dammed lake in Dahuangpu back then, which undoubtedly became a wise move.

Although most of the women weavers here, the workers shuttle through the workshops, busy with their own affairs, but also in an orderly manner, which obviously means that there is a considerable degree of organization here.

"Oops!"

Suddenly, there was an exclamation from the crowd.

"What's going on?"

I saw a thin woman fall to the ground, her face was pale and she covered her stomach, her forehead was covered with beads of sweat, and her eyes flashed with fear.

"Are you alright?" Someone next to him walked over and asked.

The woman didn't look at her, and shook her head.

But the experienced woman could see: "She looks like she's going to give birth prematurely!" ”

"Hurry up and get to the hospital!" The weaver next to her hurriedly shouted.

Soon, someone was going to carry the improvised stretcher.

A few familiar weavers picked up the woman, put her on a stretcher, and ran towards the outside of the workshop.

In the workshop, people talked about it, but it was nothing more than gossip.

This is unavoidable, just like the secret information station of the aunts at the entrance of the village.

"How could it be so coincidental?"

"I don't know!"

"But it hurts to look at her." Someone said.

At this moment, a carriage came from the road and stopped on the side of the road, and immediately, a woman accompanying it hurriedly shouted.

"Put it in the carriage!"

"Chief Tang, it's really good that you're here!"

Several female workers carried stretchers and rushed towards this direction with brisk steps.

"Wait!"

Several foreigners who came to visit looked stunned at this time, but Tang Yin didn't say a word and drove these people out of the carriage.

"Human life is at stake, what are you waiting for?"

"Hurry down, don't hit anyone!"

When the carriage rode away and drove to the hospital in the factory area, several foreigners were still in a state of complete confusion.

Prince Taikonai of Japan, also known as Yukimai Sakura, is not very easy to talk at this time, because she, as a woman, is vaguely aware of what is happening.

And Lu Gong of Luzon wanted to speak, but his Chinese level was not good, and at this time, he was in a hurry, and he couldn't speak, and even the sentences were incomplete.

Or a decent person with a small beard, Hu Hancang asked calmly at this time: "Director Tang, is this female worker born prematurely?" ”

Tang Yin gave him a blank look and ended the conversation that followed.

The handicraft workshop is full of female workers, and this kind of thing is inevitable.

However, compared with the small probability event of giving birth, in fact, it is more menstrual affairs that bother female workers.

Once the menstrual period comes, sometimes it is not so painful, and you can endure it and continue to work, but if the abdominal pain is unbearable, it is really life-threatening at that time.

As a woman, Tang Yin understands this pain very well and has taken a lot of measures, while in this era, most men can't understand it, and regard it as filth and try their best to stay away.

"Let's eat first, I'm hungry."

A little episode is not a cause for concern, He Duanzhi from the Ryukyu Kingdom sincerely suggested at this time.

Li Jie nodded and agreed, he has been in Daming for almost ten years, and the reason why he doesn't want to go back has a lot to do with not wanting to go back to the island to eat pilaf.

Since everyone was hungry, Tang Yin, as the host here, was embarrassed to let them continue to be hungry, so he said.

"You have come from afar, although the canteen in the venue tastes average, you should eat some of it."

The factory area is equipped with all kinds of facilities and buildings, a bit like a large town, with everything you should have.

When I came to a district cafeteria, because it was not a meal, there was no usual crowd of people inside, and not many people ate here.

Tang Yin led them to find a table and sit down, then handed over the recipe and said: "Everyone, take a look, now that there are few people who want to eat, you can order anything, the recipe is there, and when there are more people who will eat, you can't order it." ”

"Well, thank you."

He Duanzhi took a look at the menu and smiled: "The dishes here are not cheap, right?" ”

"A single point is a large plate."

Tang Yin didn't explain the question of whether it's cheap or not, if you want to be cheap, it's good to line up to eat a daily random meal, since it's a la carte, it's definitely not cheap, and this thing is relative, the dishes made here may taste average, but the salt and oil are clean, the vegetables and meat are also fresh, and the portion is large, it is for manual laborers to eat, and the small light dishes made by Jiangnan people themselves are definitely not comparable.

Tang Yin got up and took the tray and personally filled them with some drinks.

It is said to be a drink, but it is actually similar in nature to the free soup in modern canteens.

In order to better improve production efficiency and help female workers relieve their pain, Director Tang intimately prepared a free ginger and jujube hot drink in the canteen, which is a large bucket of water sprinkled with a small handful of ginger and a large handful of cut jujubes, and at the same time add some other traditional Chinese medicine to replenish qi and blood.

Of course, as for brown sugar longan and the like, there is no such thing, and if you want to put yourself in the food store to buy it, there are small bags.

In addition, there are a lot of delicious snacks in the food store, but they are not cheap, and the same is true for the clothing store.

Obviously, it means that the factory eats the factory flowers, because the wages of female workers are considered high in the whole Jiangnan, so they naturally need some small means to return to their lives, so as not to resign frequently from female workers.

If you want to eat well, drink well, and dress well, of course, you need to pay for it, but these things are not forced, if you don't want to improve your quality of life, then in the workshop area, there are also standard food packages and free drinks, as well as supporting work clothes, it is completely up to you.

According to the survey statistics obtained by Tang Yin, generally speaking, young girls will spend more on these, while older female workers, especially those with families, will be more economical and save up their monthly wages to send to their families.

"Then let's have a hot and sour lotus root."

Zheng He went to the West and had not yet sailed to a place where he could bring back potatoes and fried shredded potatoes, but in Jiangnan, especially in the canteen in the factory area, lotus root has been the mainstream recently.

When Tang Yin came back with a drink, he heard Hu Hancang say.

Drinks were distributed to a few people.

"Chief Tang, we can't afford such an expensive dish!"

He Duanzhi stood up at this time and said.

This kid has been in Daming for a long time, and he has learned a lot of gags, and he is obviously joking at this time, after all, they are all sent by the Ministry of Rites and Guozijian to visit, and they belong to part of the propaganda task of promoting the strength and prosperity of Daming, and what is it to have a la carte meal in the canteen.

Tang Yin is different from the women they have seen, neither the subtle shyness of a famous lady, nor the bold and unrestrained women of Qinglou, but a rare career woman, very assertive, and uncoaxing.

"It's affordable, but if you think it's expensive, we can change the package."

"Forget it."

He Duanzhi said with a smile.

He Duanzhi is just to be polite, how can he really eat a set meal.

The atmosphere was not bad, a few people joked about the day, and soon, there were handymen working in the canteen to serve a few bowls of rice, and brought dishes and chopsticks to everyone, and the dishes were all on in a short time.

What matches the price on the menu is the amount of the dish.

Although there are only a few dishes, there is a full table.

He Duanzhi took the chopsticks and ate them.

"Wow, it really smells!"

Lu Gong on the side couldn't help but admire.

These people came to Daming from the island country, not to mention anything else, let's not talk about how the legendary country of Daming is, just by eating and drinking, they have been completely conquered.

This can also be seen from the fact that Yukimai Sakura frequently waves her chopsticks and delivers food to her slightly open mouth.

The son of the Ryukyu chieftain, the prince of Luzon, and the prince of Japan put it bluntly, there is nothing delicious in their country at all, so that when they go to the canteen, they feel that the taste is very good, although it is not as rich as the dishes in the big restaurants in Nanjing, but these home-cooked dishes also have a unique flavor.

Hu Hancang eats decently, after all, he is the former Emperor of Annan, and compared with these countries, Annan, which borders the Ming Dynasty, is still a lot more developed in terms of food.

"Well, it's really delicious, and the food here is very special."

After burying her head in cooking, Xue Wuying, who had not spoken, couldn't help but say.

"Huh." Li Jie laughed dryly, didn't speak again, and ran to add food by himself.

After eating lunch, everyone continued to stroll here, and He Duanzhi saw a gazebo next to him and proposed, "Why don't we go to the pavilion for a while?" ”

They are guests, and of course the host cannot refuse such a reasonable request.

Lu Gong said at this time: "Okay, anyway, I'm too idle, just blow the wind, talk to you, and by the way, find out the customs and habits of the Ming Dynasty." ”

Everyone: "."

"That."

He Duanzhi stiffened, endured goosebumps all over his body, pulled Lu Gong and said, "If we don't know how to say it, don't say it." ”

Tang Yin smiled, beckoned an entourage, and moved the tables and chairs in the pavilion together.

Several people sat around the stone table, looked at the surrounding scenery and began to chat.

Suddenly, a unique landscape caught their attention.

It was a lot of white, thick cotton, and there seemed to be some extra processing in the middle of the cotton.

These cotton cloths, like picture scrolls, were unfolded in an open space next to a small bamboo forest, not far from the gazebo.

"It's really white!"

Lu Gong swallowed his saliva involuntarily, and no one knew why he swallowed his saliva.

"Of course."

He Duanzhi said: "Tang Changchang is the top textile factory in the Ming Dynasty, and the things she makes here must be the best." ”

"White as frost and snow, it's really unusual, I think Daming is to bleaching and dyeing these high-end white cloths, and sell them to earn interest margins." Xue Wuying thought in her heart, and at the same time looked at these white cloths fluttering in the wind, thinking that it should be extremely beautiful to be able to cut clothes and wear them on herself.

"It's really an honor to be able to come to Daming this time!"

Hu Hancang also lost no time in saying with emotion.

Hu Hancang knew very well that among the Jinyi guards who escorted them, the head of the Jinyi Guards named Zhao Haichuan was said to be the henchmen of the national teacher, and these words may be indirectly conveyed to the ears of the national teacher, which will help help their family survive better in Daming.

Li Jie said: "We can't make such a good cloth on our Ryukyu. ”

After speaking, Li Jie suddenly thought of a question, and couldn't help asking: "By the way, Chief Tang, what is this cloth used for?" ”

This person is also a ghost, and he also knew by chance that Tang Yin and Jiang Xinghuo seemed to have a good relationship, and they often exchanged letters.

But Tang Yin seemed to have encountered something unspeakable, and was silent for a moment before asking, "Do you really want to know?" ”

"Of course."

He Duanzhi hurriedly said: "We don't know how to weave, and we don't know these white cloths. ”

Hu Hancang said at this time: "Tang Changchang, I also want to know, is there similar cloth in other places, these require a specific environment, or can they be produced anywhere?" ”

Xue Wuying also nodded and said, "Yes, I also thought about this question just now, and I asked Sister Tang Yin to tell us." ”

Tang Yin shook his head and said, "You'd better not know." ”

Li Jie: "Then I'm even more curious. ”

Xue Wuying also said: "Yes, Sister Tang Yin, you just tell us." ”

“.”

Tang Yin opened his mouth and said: "This is a menstrual cotton cloth for female workers. ”

There are tens of thousands of female workers in the factory, and they are generally not very old, and the old ones have no ability to work or have weak labor ability, and they can't do the textile industry, so physiological problems are naturally a problem that Tang Yin, the supervisor, needs to face, and escape is not a way, it can only make things worse, after all, a small problem, when multiplied by tens of thousands of times, is a huge problem.

To this end, in addition to distributing free ginger jujube water in the canteens of various districts, Tang Yin also took advantage of the advantages of the textile workshop to make a large number of menstrual cotton cloths.

Perhaps for the Ming Dynasty at this time, this matter could not cause the slightest wave of public opinion, but the aftermath of its influence was indeed extremely far-reaching.

At this time, if the folk woman comes to the menstrual event, there is no such thing, the common practice is to make a small cloth bag with a clean cloth, and every time the menstrual event comes, it is loaded with clean plant ash, because the plant ash has the effect of sucking blood and water, and after the menstrual event is over, then clean the small cloth bag and put it up, and use it as usual the next time the menstrual event comes.

This method is undoubtedly very backward, unhygienic and prone to breed all kinds of health problems.

However, due to the fact that the ancient society generally did not pay attention to this, and was even ashamed to speak up, it has always been so improvised.

And this kind of grass ash bag is not bad, as for the use of grass and leaves, it is not uncommon.

The menstrual cotton cloth designed and produced by Tang Yin was inspired when he undertook the task of making hemostatic cloth for the Ming army.

This year, because more than 200,000 Ming troops around Nanjing are going north, the handicraft workshop area is very busy, and they began to make all kinds of cotton armor, cotton jackets, as well as pants, socks, backpacks, beds and other supplies in advance of last winter, which naturally includes hemostatic cloth.

At that time, Tang Yin was thinking that since the soldiers were injured in the battle, this thing can stop the bleeding, so it can also be used to help female workers.

That's why this new product was designed.

And now we can't see the social impact of this epoch-making new product, just to help the female workers in the factory area, but with the passage of time, with the natural spread of the network of female workers returning to their hometowns, this new product will definitely gradually become a popular thing in the whole Ming Dynasty.

At that time, in fact, the factory will have a stable source of profit.

Although Jiang Xinghuo did not allow the products in the factory area to impact the domestic cottage industry, and used the huge military supply and overseas markets to meet the existing production capacity, the new products that this cottage industry could not manufacture in batches were completely unaffected.

It doesn't matter if it's cheaper, it's a small profit but a quick turnover, anyway, there are so many women in the world, and they have to use it every month.

And just when everyone reflected on their praise just now and began to feel ashamed, someone suddenly came to report a message to Tang Yin.

"The national division's convoy has arrived."

(End of chapter)