Lin'an Never Night

Chapter 580 Please enter the urn
When Yang Yuan got married, Nan Fengchi went to Yang's house to give gifts and stayed for a meal.

But at that time, going to Yang's house to congratulate was a roundabout relationship established through Li Shishi and the Yang family's business.

Therefore, since Yang Yuan came with Fei Yuye this time, it would be more appropriate for Li Shishi to introduce them.

Soon, the cargo ship returning from Xinjin will arrive in Lin'an, and supplies to be sent to Xinjin are being intensively raised.

This time, Father Mark will also go north on the ship to realize his dream of becoming the Great Shaman of Saint Mark.

The emperor is on a western tour, and the Jin Kingdom will soon learn of this news.

Spring comes later in the north than in the south of the Yangtze River, so Wanyan Liang's Northern Expedition will have to wait for some time.

After all, the frozen soil has not melted yet, and traveling, setting up camp, and attacking the city will add many obstacles.

However, once it was known that the Emperor of the Song Dynasty was on a western tour, it would mean that during the time when the emperor was away from the capital, the Song Dynasty would absolutely not be able to launch a major war against the Jin Dynasty.

At most, they can create conflicts on the border and use minor actions to contain the enemy.

In this way, the Jin Dynasty's spring northern expedition will not be interfered with too much by the Song Dynasty, and the new Jin Dynasty will inevitably face greater pressure.

Therefore, the supplies shipped to Xinjin this time were mainly bows and arrows.

Of all the weapons on the battlefield, arrows have the best effect and killing power.

The second is the spear and halberd, which is the conclusion drawn from countless wars.

It was impossible for the State of Song to provide assistance to the new Jin Dynasty with war crossbows, which were the key weapons for the State of Song to ensure its long-range firepower advantage.

They would only provide Xinjin with military bows and their consumables - arrows.

However, private workshops were not allowed to produce arrows, and the Lin'an Military Equipment Bureau had limited production capacity for bows and arrows, so they were drawing bows and arrows from artisan workshops across the country to Lin'an.

Yang Yuan was on a day off today, and he paid special attention to the fundraising of military supplies. After learning about this situation, he suddenly thought of something: silk.

The Song State made a judgment on the subsequent situation of the two divided Jin States, and then concluded that the new Jin State would need a large number of bows and arrows.

When the Jin Kingdom marches north, they will certainly be equipped with a large number of bows and arrows.

Silk is an excellent "soft armor" to protect against bows and arrows.

Xinjin does not currently have the ability to equip its entire army with armor, either in terms of production capacity or financial resources.

No matter how expensive silk is, equipping a person with silk is not as expensive as equipping a person with armor.

Moreover, silk is light and does not affect the flexibility of soldiers. It is also easy to equip. Once you get it, you just need to tear a piece of silk and wrap it around the vital parts of the body several times.

Silk is used to protect against arrows, not made into clothes. Wearing a silk underwear inside, just a layer of silk, it cannot protect against arrows.

Multiple layers of silk can act as soft armor; the arrowheads are affected by the silk and do not penetrate deeply into the flesh.

Moreover, because of the silk wrapping, the barbs of the arrows cannot hook large pieces of flesh and blood, and can be easily pulled out. The trauma is not very destructive and heals faster.

At this time, the Jin people had not yet discovered the effect of silk in bow and arrow warfare, because no one had the sudden idea to try using silk to resist bows and arrows.

Its defensive effect against arrows was discovered accidentally by the Mongolian cavalry.

The Mongolian knights at that time burned, killed and looted along the way, relying on the lightning tactics of light cavalry and not wearing heavy armor.

The looted property included silk, which they carried wrapped around their bodies, saving effort than wrapping it around a horse's butt.

Its wonderful use in protecting against arrows was discovered by soldiers by chance during this process.

However, even after this wonderful use was discovered, it never became a common equipment for soldiers.

Because, in that era, there was no saying or objective conditions that "every soldier's life is important, and efforts should be made to reduce the chances of soldiers being injured or even killed in battle."

At that time, a human life was cheaper than a piece of silk, the life of a shepherd's slave was not even worth a piece of coarse cloth woven by a peasant woman, and the lives of three shepherd's slaves who went south to rob could not be exchanged for a bag of rice.

If the Mongols had enough money to equip every soldier with a piece of silk, they wouldn't have to plunder the world.

Once the pastoral slaves and the soldiers were injured, they would be abandoned and left to fend for themselves. Otherwise, there would be no "blitzkrieg" and they would be dragged to death by the wounded.

Because of this, Yang Yuan was not worried at all that the Jurchens would master this little knowledge in advance. He asked Fei Yuye to prepare some silk and planned to equip the generals of the New Jin.

Of course, Fei Tianlu and his troops, although not numerous but able to be manipulated at will, all need to be equipped.

As the supplier, it was easy for the Song State to deliver this batch of supplies to Fei Tianlu.

Since it concerns her own father, Fei Yuye naturally gives her 100% effort.

As the matter was urgent and there was no need for silk that had been printed or dyed or had exquisite dark patterns during weaving, only its flexibility and fineness needed to be emphasized, Fei Yuye urgently contacted her godmother Li Shishi and asked her to introduce her to Nan Fengchi, the great silk master of Xiaoshan.

I don’t know what Fei Yuye is thinking. Maybe she still wants to find an opportunity to see the passionate scene between her godmother and Yang Yuan?
She suddenly had an idea and invited Yang Yuan to go with her. Yang Yuan was on vacation at the time, so he came along as well.

"Miss Yuye, you are saying that you need 4,000 rolls of silk. You don't need jacquard patterns or printing and dyeing. You just need the purest color, and it only needs to be more flexible and denser?"

"Yes! Looking at the entire Lin'an, the only person who can provide sufficient goods in a short period of time according to this requirement is probably you, Mr. Nanfeng. That's why I asked Madam Li to introduce me to Mr. Nanfeng for help."

"Um……"

Nan Fengchi twirled his beard and pondered, looking a little embarrassed.

Li Shishi saw this and understood what Nan Fengchi was worried about. She couldn't help but smile and said, "The price can be determined according to the price of the silk you are selling now."

Nan Fengchi was surprised at first, then overjoyed: "Really? If so, then there is no problem."

Nan Fengchi was in trouble because silk was in great demand.

As long as there is no worry about selling, they can sell the silk at a good price by completing the entire process from collecting and drying silk cocoons, reeling silk, spinning silk and weaving silk. They only need to add some weaving technology to the weaving stage.

At this time, you ask to lower some of the processes in silk weaving, so will the price be lowered?

Under the premise that there is no worry about sales, they have worked hard to complete the above-mentioned processes. Why should they reduce the difficulty of the process here and sell it to you at a cheaper price?

When the weavers heard Mrs. Li's promise to still buy at their current price, they had no problem.

Nan Fengchi smiled and explained, “To be honest, although Nan Feng is known as the largest silk owner in Xiaoshan, it only wins over local silk workshops of all sizes, and even many weavers who weave at home, and purchases their woven products in a centralized manner.

If they suffer a loss, they would rather find another way to sell their products, and may not be willing to be purchased by Nanfeng. "

What Nanfengchi meant was that he had opened a large workshop in the local area with hundreds or thousands of weavers. The weavers received their wages, and the silk fabrics belonged to him once they were finished.

In fact, Nan Fengchi is equivalent to the general contractor of the silk industry in Xiaoshan area. He breaks down the demand and purchases the finished products.

He took orders from outside and then delivered the finished products he purchased to silk merchants.

The actual producers include local private workshop owners of all sizes and small silk weavers based on family units. It is a very loose organization.

If he makes these small workshop owners feel that their interests are damaged, they may refuse such orders or even no longer accept his unified purchasing and sales.

When Fei Yuye heard Nan Fengchi say this, she knew that he should be able to provide enough silk before the next batch of cargo ships went to Xinjin.

Fei Yuye was very happy in her heart, as this matter concerned the combat effectiveness of her father's troops, which would make her father safer. How could Fei Yuye not do her best?

Fei Yuye said, "That's great. It's still early. Can you take us to some big workshops?
My family runs an embroidery workshop. Silk is common, but I have never seen how it is woven.

Today is a good opportunity to see it for myself, and also to explain the weaving requirements to the weavers in person."

Nan Feng Chi smiled and said, "Of course, Nan Feng will arrange it right away."

He thought that Fei Yuye was worried that he would make big promises today but would not be able to deliver on time, so he asked people to prepare carriages and took Yang Yuan, Li Shishi and Fei Yuye to visit several larger silk cocoon collection and drying workshops, silk reeling workshops, silk spinning workshops and silk weaving workshops nearby.

Fei Yuye was originally very excited because the "Moshanghua" embroidery workshop was engaged in silk embroidery. She had seen the imported silk since she was a child, but she had never understood the process of its production.

However, imagination is always beautiful, but when Fei Yuye really went to see it, she was greatly disappointed.

Nan Fengchi took them to several workshops with relatively large production capacity in the local area. This was also to prove the strength of Xiaoshan silk weaving to Yang Yuan, Madam Li and others.

However, the process of drying and reeling silk cocoons is not only unsightly, but also extremely smelly.

Piles of silk cocoons, soaked in yellow-black water, gave off a foul smell.

Who could have imagined that the smooth and delicate silk could be born from nirvana in this way?

Nan Fengchi saw that Madam Li and Fei Yuye were both covering their noses slightly, and he couldn't help but laugh and said, "We in the Song Dynasty have three treasures that are exported overseas.

Porcelain, tea and silk. Except for tea, which is tender and juicy when it grows on the tree, the other two are all reborn in this way.

That porcelain is as thin as paper, as loud as a chime, and as fine as jade, but before it is fired, it is just a piece of porcelain stone or a lump of mud. The same is true for silk..."

Nan Fengchi smiled and said, "Nan Feng invited you all here just to let you have a look. You can rest assured. Although the time is tight for 4,000 rolls of silk, my Xiaoshan weaving workshop can weave it in time if we work harder."

He clasped his hands and said, "Please come this way. There is another workshop across the wall. They are responsible for printing and dyeing. It is much more beautiful over there."

Nan Fengchi greeted the owner of the silk reeling workshop, told him to go about his own business, and then led Yang Mu and his party to the printing and dyeing workshop.

Because the two workshops cooperated a lot, a door was opened on the wall between the two workshops to facilitate the transportation of some goods.

This door is open during working hours and locked when work is over. Nan Fengchi turned the car and led them to that door with familiarity. The door was the printing and dyeing workshop.

Yang Yuan was walking when he suddenly stopped by the roadside.

There was a big pit on the ground next to it for soaking silk cocoons. There were many silk cocoons soaked in it, and the smell was unpleasant.

At this time, two silk reelers were using long-handled scoops to scoop up the cocoons soaked in the water. They must have been soaked to the point where they could be used to spin silk. When they used the scoops to stir up the stagnant water, the stench became even stronger.

When Li Shishi saw this, she couldn't help but stop beside him, covering her nose, and chuckled, "Why are you watching this with such interest, like a child?"

Yang Yuan smiled, followed Li Shishi and continued to walk forward, laughing softly, "A man stays young until he dies."

Li Shishi glanced at his face, then glanced at his lower body, and said with a half-smile: "Really? I don't believe it."

Yang Yuan had already walked up to her side, walking side by side, and said without looking away, "You want to provoke me? Wait, I'll teach you a lesson tonight."

Li Shishi giggled, glanced at him coquettishly, and said in a friendly voice, "Really? I still don't believe it."

When Fei Yuye, who was walking in front of Nan Fengchi, was about to step over the threshold, she looked back.

Yang Yuan and his godmother were seen walking side by side, talking and laughing, and everything seemed normal.

But Fei Yuye just felt something was not normal.

When Yang Yuan reached the threshold, he suddenly turned around and glanced at the pit where the silk cocoons were soaked, with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Uncle Gou told him that ever since the batch of special ink for banknote printing entered Xiaoshan and disappeared, they have used many methods to investigate openly and secretly.

They explored all the local bookstores, paper-making workshops, schools, private schools, and even temples that had the ability to print their own classics.

They also secretly investigated some isolated families, but still had no news.

Now, they even suspected that Xiaoshan might just be a place where they deliberately set up confusion.

They probably passed through Xiaoshan and transported the ink to the subordinate prefectures and counties outside Lin'an.

When Yang Yuan saw the large pit where cocoons were fermenting and smelled the unpleasant odor, he suddenly thought: is it possible that this silk workshop, which has nothing to do with printing Jiaozi, can also be used as an excellent place to hide?
Yang Yuan withdrew his gaze calmly, and when he looked up again, it was as if he had stepped into a colorful cloud.

The courtyard is filled with pieces of dyed silk hanging out to dry, swaying in the breeze, in a riot of red, orange, yellow, and green.

Shishi and Yuye were already strolling happily there, like a pair of fairies in heaven.

……

In the study of the Tang Mansion, Tang Situi and Yan Shen were having a very pleasant conversation.

After Tang Si returned home, he met Yan Shen. When he saw the gift that had not yet been removed, he knew why the lady was so courteous to Mr. Yan.

The two sides met, exchanged some pleasantries, and recalled the past, and it turned out that the two families were indeed relatives.

The Yan family is a large family in southern Fujian, and Tang Situi's ancestors were from Qingtian County.

Qingtian is adjacent to Wenzhou in the east and belongs to central Fujian. The two families had intermarried during the Five Dynasties.

According to the family tree, the two are actually cousins.

Moreover, both of them were born in the seventh year of Zhenghe in the Northern Song Dynasty, the same age.

After discussing the month, it was said that Tang Situi was born two months earlier, so he is my cousin.

This relationship seems to be quite old, but because China's historical culture is so long, many things that happened over a period of hundreds of years will make people feel as if they happened "just yesterday."

Especially since the Yan family left the Central Plains during the chaotic Five Dynasties, and now they have returned to the Central Plains to find their former in-laws, this interval of less than two hundred years really connects them together as if it were just yesterday for these overseas Chinese.

His words, conversation and temperament were all extraordinary. After some contact, Tang Shitui's impression of him changed greatly and they really became close to each other.

Yan Shen said: "Although the Yan family moved overseas due to the turmoil in the Central Plains, they never forgot China.

Every male generation of our Yan family’s descendants must travel to their hometown when they are young before they can hold the coming-of-age ceremony.

This time, my cousin returned to his hometown not for traveling, but to return first on behalf of the family and investigate the situation.

Because Java is not peaceful right now..."

Yan Shen sighed and then told the current situation in Java.

Although Java is small, it has three countries, namely the Kingdom of Taruna in the west, the Kingdom of Mataram in the center, and the Kingdom of Kediri in the east.

The power of East Java gradually expanded, and it was no longer content with the status quo, intending to expand its territory. So it attacked the Mataram Kingdom in the central part of the country while challenging another island country, Srivijaya.

As a result, East Java was defeated by Srivijaya, the king was killed, and the prince led the remnants to fight hard. Srivijaya had already invaded Java, and war broke out in Java.

When Tang Situi heard about the situation in Java, he could not help but slam his hands and said, "Warmism and war will lead to destruction, that's all.

The current situation of our Great Song is very similar to that of East Java. We have Bactria to the west, and we still want to launch an expedition to the north against Jin?
"Whenever there is a war, the people will be exhausted, and if they are defeated, they will perish. If they win, the emperor will be more arrogant, and use his arrogance to rule over the exhausted people, which is still a way to death."

Tang Situi stood up and paced back and forth excitedly: "No, I am the ruler, how can I sit back and watch! I must persuade the emperor to stop the war, protect the country and the people, which is the long-term strategy for the country."

Yan Shen was surprised when he heard this: "Jinzhi, is the Song Dynasty also going to go to war?"

Tang Situi waved his hand and said, "The emperor has just ascended the throne and intends to do something. The minister who was fortunate enough to come to the throne catered to the emperor's wishes and encouraged the emperor to conquer the four directions.

Don't worry, cousin. The senior officials in the court will not sit idly by and will naturally persuade the emperor to stop being deceived by villains. "

Tang Shitui asked, "Cousin, do you have a place to live now?"

Yan Shen said: "Brother, I am now living in Fanfang. My original intention is to settle down first, and then choose a big house to bring in my family.

But I haven’t found a suitable place yet. And my family has been living overseas for a long time, so it may be difficult for me to obtain the citizenship of the Song Dynasty, let alone buy a big house and move my family members here…”

Tang Situi waved his hand and said, "It's just a trivial matter. Cousin should have come to me earlier. I am the ruler. Isn't it easy to solve this matter?"

Tang Shitui hesitated for a moment and said, "In the next few days, I will first help my brother solve his identity problem, and then send someone to help my cousin find a suitable big house. If there is really no suitable one, I will buy land and build it myself."

Tang Shitui said happily: "I will take you to meet more ministers of our dynasty. You can tell them about the situation in Java and let them know how serious it is.

Weapons are dangerous tools and must be used with caution. Knowing the past can help us learn from the present, and the same is true for knowing the outside world.

Yan said happily: "In that case, I'll trouble you to go in. As for making good friends, that's what I want.

My Yan family is a great family in southern Fujian. Now that I have decided to return, I should do my best to serve the Song Dynasty!"

Tang Shitui was very happy to hear this. He now used what Yan Shen knew about the situation in Java to warn the ministers in the court and persuade them to be cautious in military affairs.

Moreover, the Yan family was originally a big family in southern Fujian. After talking with his cousin, he showed great knowledge. It can be seen that the Yan family has not lost its foundation because of living overseas for two hundred years.

In this way, the Yan family can select talented people to become pillars of the court in the future.

Not only does he have a close relationship with the Yan family, he is also the leader of the Yan family. With his qualifications of being able to be appointed as prime minister in his forties, the Yan family will become a strong arm for him.

Thinking of this, Tang Shitui secretly made up his mind that even if he didn't consider the ancestral relationship between the two families, he would vigorously cultivate and support the Yan family.

……

Yang Yuan and his party's trip to Xiaoshan ended successfully, and it was almost evening when they returned to Lin'an.

Li Shishi was in the same car with Fei Yuye and said with a smile, “It’s getting late and there are so many tourists in the city that we can’t travel fast.

If you go back to 'Moshanghua', you still have to cross half of Lin'an, and I don't know when you can get home. Do you want to stay at your godmother's place for a night?"

Fat Yuye quickly glanced at Yang Yuan who was riding on the horse, and said to Li Shishi with a smile: "Okay, Yuye was just thinking about going to play with Sheng'er."

Li Shishi smiled and said, "It's good that you don't mind him being noisy. But the child is getting older. He only wakes up once at night to feed. He won't disturb your rest."

Fei Yuye thought, since you are traveling with your godmother today, there is no reason why you should not come to her place tonight? I wonder what I will see tonight.

Thinking of this, Fei Yuye suddenly felt distracted and her face became hot. She could not help but turned her face away, letting the evening breeze blow on her face, and then she felt a little cooler.

When the carriage entered the city and passed the Imperial Street, Yang Yuan reined in his horse and said to Li Shishi and Fei Yuye in a serious tone, "It's getting late. Let's say goodbye here."

Li Shishi glanced at Yang Yuan mischievously, or to be more precise, twice.

One glance at his face, the other at his position on the saddle.

He was probably teasing him whether he could get himself on his knees and call him dada tonight.

Fei Yuye pretended to look at Yang Yuan, but she was glancing at Li Shishi out of the corner of her eye.

She had already seen the exchange of glances between the two, and Fei Yuye sneered secretly, "What a pretentious couple, you two are going to say goodbye here, are you putting on a show for me?"

After the two parties parted at the intersection, Li Shishi's carriage continued to move forward and went to Renmeifang.

Yang Yuan went to Qingshi Lane first.

Yang Yuan met Old Man Song at Fengwei Building and reminded him of the silk workshop that they had overlooked when the "Tongzhou Club" was investigating the whereabouts of the ink.

Yang Yuan asked him to arrange for Uncle Lao Gou and others to conduct a focused investigation on the silk workshops in Xiaoshan, especially the silk reeling workshops.

After hearing what his son-in-law said, Father Song could not help but say, "That's right! This silk reeling workshop is a perfect place to cover up the smell of ink.

"Little Gouzi is such an idiot. He actually overlooked such a suspicious place!"

Yang Yuan smiled and said, "Uncle Gou is originally from the Beiwei Army, so he is naturally not as good as you in terms of reconnaissance and spying.

Father-in-law, please tell Uncle Gou to be careful and not to be discovered. Because..."

Yang Yuan's eyes suddenly turned deep, and he said, "Once I confirm where they print the fake Huizi and Jiaozi, I will use it to fish out a loach hidden deep in the ditch!"

(End of this chapter)