I played as an assistant in ancient times

Shen Changsui neither admitted nor denied it, and he would not say anything even when Shen Xiaoye asked.

But after she was officially engaged to the Zhou family, whenever she went to Beijing, she would be sent by her fourth uncle to deliver gifts to her future fourth aunt. These gifts included fans, jade pendants, paper, and clay figurines, all bought on the street.

Seemingly ordinary but with a special meaning, the messenger Shen Xiaoye was quite diligent at the beginning, but after a while he was driven away by the sour smell of love.

She hid back in Linghe County and devoted herself to studying her own colorful jacquard, and even dismantled two looms with the craftsmen to try to improve it.

Unfortunately, Shen Xiaoye was not professional and her improvement efforts ultimately failed. It was not until October when she went to Suining again to buy cloth and saw several new looms in Hexi Village that she found out the reason.

She was delighted to see it, and asked the head of the village who had been hired to make it, and whether he could teach her cousin, and the price was negotiable.

"Well..." The village head of Hexi waved his hand and said to her behind her back, "Do you know Huangwadian in the north of the city?"

Shen Xiaoye nodded. He had bought cloth from there last year. He only heard him say, "This year, a few merchants from the northwest came there and bought all the cotton from several villages over there at once. They paid half of the money for the cotton that grew in the fields.

Then he partnered with Mr. Huang, the largest landlord in Huangwadian, and opened a weaving mill in the north of the county town. He did not want any people from Suining, but only used the weavers he brought with him.

My in-laws live there. Sometimes I go to help them carry bags and find that I can’t understand what they say, but they weave cloth faster and better than we do.

He said it was the problem with the loom, so I spent some money and pretended to be a cloth carrier to go in and see, and then I followed the prescription and took a carpenter with me, and he figured out the trick and imitated it."

She thought to herself, has Magistrate Tan really managed to attract cloth merchants from the Northwest?

The head of Hexi Village continued, "Shen's girl, this is not a glorious thing. The carpenter had his leg broken for stealing someone's skills. This time, it was only because of our close relationship that he was willing to learn and make three frames.

If it were someone else today, I would definitely not tell you this. If you really want to learn, you have to go to Master Huang to learn the true teachings."

"Thank you for telling me the truth, I will try it now and I will definitely not expose you.

And when it’s done, I’ll pay a craftsman to make five new looms for Hexi Village for free.” Shen Xiaoye promised.

The head of Hexi Village could not be happier, for he knew that the girl was a kind-hearted person. In the past, the villagers wove cloth every year but still could not wear new clothes. But after the girl came to collect the cloth, the villagers had a surplus in just half a year.

But even though Shen Xiaoye said this, if she really went to find Mr. Huang, he might not give her face. The main reason was that since she came to collect cloth last year, the price offered by local retail dealers had never been lower than one penny.

In fact, the wealthy families did not like her very much. This was clearly seen from the fact that their small weaving mills refused to cooperate when the cloth was collected in the spring.

On the way to other villages to collect cloth, my uncle said, "You and Magistrate Tan were too rough at the time, and you were bound to offend people inadvertently.

Even if you tell them the secret of weaving cloth in the cellar, they will still think that you are giving it away willingly in order to buy the cloth.

He is still in office now. When he gets promoted, you are not allowed to come here in person. Let Erniu be in charge of this place."

At that time, Shen Xiaoye felt that the wealthy gentry and the unscrupulous businessmen were exploiting the farmers too much, paying only half the price for a piece of cloth, and even after something happened, they still kept the price below one penny per piece of cloth, which was too much.

Then when Magistrate Tan asked her for help, she agreed.

She said, "Uncle, we also received the help of Magistrate Tan, who set up a high platform for public rating and pricing, separating the middlemen, big and small, so that buyers and sellers can meet face to face without being ripped off by the middlemen.

And with his name card, you can save some taxes along the way and also stay at the post station.

When he gets promoted, we will benefit even more.”

Shen Changshou didn't think so: "You wishful thinking, if he were to be like your fourth uncle's father-in-law whom you have never met, and be sent to a remote place to be a prefect, what benefit would that bring to you?

Hundreds of years ago, this place was the front line against the Northern Liao, and the people are as tough as those in the northwest. During the two trips last year and this winter, nothing went wrong thanks to the familiar faces and sufficient manpower of the old escort leader Chang. "

It was because the old man in the family fell ill in the early spring that he had no time to accompany the little girl. Sui Ge'er and his classmate Jiansheng were sent by the emperor to inspect the river and were not at home.

It was only when he came this time that he found out about the reckless things she had done last year.

You said that if you bought it privately at a high price, wouldn't it be spread all over the place? You have to cooperate with County Magistrate Tan to take on the task.

"Uncle, actually I know someone who has the new type of loom." Shen Xiaoye felt a little uncomfortable with being stared at, so he quickly clasped his hands together and begged to be let go.

People in front and behind the convoy have already glanced at her. As the young manager of the Shen family, how could she not care about her face?

Shen Changshou also lowered his voice: "Who?"

"Wu Fang Wu Qiye."

"They say Derun Cloth Shop has withdrawn from here."

"But the private property he bought in the name of his wife is still there." This is the advantage of making friends with the county magistrate. The accomplished Baili Hou knows the people under his jurisdiction very well, at least he knows most of them.

Shen Xiaoye added: “When foreign cloth merchants come in, they will definitely build good relationships with the local situation.

Mr. Chu, the owner of the largest cloth shop in the west of the city, is considered to be a man of Magistrate Tan."

She had not originally planned to use the connections with Magistrate Tan to modify the loom, but her eldest uncle was already questioning her, so she took the opportunity to speak up and avoid being scolded.

"Oh?" After Shen Changshou heard her excuse, he thought for a long time before saying, "Don't look for him for now, let's see who is in charge of things at Master Wu Qi's place first.

If you can't find it, pay some money to dismantle a loom from Heli Village and bring it back to learn from it."

There are now thirty looms in the house, all of which were built last year, and the new models do not need to be installed immediately.

He sighed: "In the past two years, looms have been improved frequently."

Shen Xiaoye responded immediately: "It means that life is peaceful and people are living better.

There are many people who grow cotton and buy cloth. In order to increase the quantity, there must be some people who are willing to spend time and effort to study.

Like Brother Erniu, he would tinker with various wooden tools when he had free time. "

"You!" Shen Changshou rubbed her head and didn't lecture her anymore.

A few days later, when 50,000 pieces of cloth had been collected, the uncle and nephew went to Wu Qiye's cotton field.

At this time, the cotton has been uprooted to make way for winter wheat, and the cotton bolls are left to dry in the fields, waiting to dry and burst.

It is impossible not to see Master Wu Qiye himself sitting on a stool picking cotton in the field, and he was wearing tortoise shell glasses due to his eyesight problems.

The father and son laughed when they approached. This man didn't even pick all the broken dry leaves off every cotton flower. He was really making things worse.

"Why aren't you in Tongzhou or Jizhou?" Shen Xiaoye squatted down and helped him pick them quickly.

Master Wu Qi thought it was one of his family members who came over. He went down to Daimao and said with a smile, "What a rare guest! Come on, let's talk in the manor."

The few of them moved to a nearby farm, which was a large courtyard and very bright.

The sun was still quite warm at noon in October, so they sat down at the wooden table under the wall where the sun was shining.

The Wu family brought over a bowl of steaming white fungus and red dates soup. Shen Xiaoye held it in her hands and listened to her uncle and Master Wu Qi chatting.

However, they got down to business after a while. Master Wu Qi said, "I know about the loom. It came from Qiongzhou. It's fast, but it wears out too much. It's not worth it.

I suggest you try out three or two first to see the effect before buying more. I have a sketch here and I’ll give you a copy.”

Shen Xiaoye raised her eyebrows and waited for his next words.