On the seventh day of the ninth lunar month, as soon as the gate of the new courtyard opened, a crowd was seen gathered outside. When they saw Li Jingyun coming out, they quickly knelt down and said, "Greetings to the princess!"
"All rise!"
Li Jingyun was startled. She guessed, "You all want to work in my new villa, right?"
"Exactly, Princess. We've finished all the farm work at home. We'll let our husbands handle the rest. We can do anything!"
"Yes, Princess! Just give us your orders! We'll surely do the job perfectly!"
Li Jingyun raised her hand, and they immediately fell silent. Then she said, "Okay. Those who want to work, go and register your names over there. The salary is 185 wen per month. Those who do well will be rewarded. Of course, those who do poorly will be punished."
After hearing this, the crowd swarmed towards Su Gui.
A voice came from the crowd, "Don't worry, Princess! If anyone does a bad job and ruins the princess's important matter, we'll teach her a lesson on behalf of the princess first!"
This was 185 wen! At this time, a dou of rice only cost 5 wen!
In other words, this monthly salary could support their whole family for a long time.
So many people came that they disrupted Li Jingyun's plan. She had found several skillful and smart female workers to make the first sweater. She originally thought that by the time they finished the first sweater, she should have recruited enough workers, and then they could teach others.
Who would have thought that as soon as the gate opened, a large crowd swarmed in, all shouting that they wanted to work. The line for registration stretched from the courtyard to the big elm tree outside.
Blacksmith Song also brought over 300 pairs of brushes he had made, as well as countless knitting needles and crochet hooks.
Knowing that this was a secret order from Princess Chengyang, all the blacksmiths put down their current jobs and rushed to finish this batch of small items first.
Su Gui was also stunned. He had just said a few words casually. Had the news spread that fast? He was so tired from registering names that his hand was about to go numb.
There were at least thirty people named Daniu or Erniu. What could he do? There was also a group of people from the same village with the same surname. It would be difficult to distribute the salary later.
"Everyone, I see that many of you have the same name. How about asking the princess to give you new names?" Su Gui knew how to handle things. Knowing that his status was not high enough, he simply invited Li Jingyun over.
Getting a name bestowed by the princess was considered an honor in ancient times.
A group of people looked at her eagerly and were about to kneel down again. Li Jingyun quickly asked someone to take out a copy of The Book of Songs from the house to name them.
This was the book she used to learn characters. It was recommended to her by Wei Tong, the secretary supervisor. He said that there were some rare characters in it and the verses were beautiful, so she had endured the boredom and read it. Now that it came to naming, she might as well pick a few names from it. Su Gui still followed Li Jingyun with paper and pen in hand.
"I'll read out a name, and Su Gui will write it down. He'll write it one more time for you. You should sew the name on a piece of cloth according to the strokes and then sew the cloth on your clothes so that I can tell who you are."
Li Jingyun's clear eyes swept across the crowd. After she finished speaking, she let out a sigh of relief.
She could now handle things independently!
"Nan Le"
"Ying Fu"
"..."
The female workers who received their new names were all extremely grateful. They had lived with names like Daniu and Erniu for half their lives, and finally they had decent new names.
Sure enough, the princess was so knowledgeable at such a young age. The names she gave were so nice.
Li Jingyun read out more than a hundred names in one breath and was so hoarse.
The female workers who had registered first were led inside to learn the processes of collecting wool, washing it, spinning it into thread, and knitting it into sweaters.
Only then did they finally understand what they were going to do here and why only female workers were recruited. Men farmed and women weaved. Generally, it was taken for granted that women did the work of making clothes.
The female workers got their new names and new tools and took up their positions. Everything was in good order.
Li Jingyun sat under the big elm tree in front of the new villa, sipping the freshly brewed milk tea and looking into the distance. She didn't know when her father would arrive. She had told her father yesterday that two sweaters should be ready today. She planned to give one to her father and the other to her mother.
Su Gui followed her and said, "Princess, Su Gui has fulfilled his mission. How about it? Did I do a good job?"
"Indeed very well. What reward do you want?"
This was the most ingrained idea in Li Jingyun's mind. If someone did a good job for her, of course she should reward him with gold and silver.
Otherwise, how could she live up to his hard work?
"Reward?" Su Gui's first thought was whether he could ask the princess to order that he didn't have to go to Shuren Academy anymore.
But this thought quickly dissipated. With his own ability, he might even pass some imperial examinations during the breaks when he was working for the princess. When he was free, it was also good to listen to Wang Ji's lectures.
Besides, he didn't lack food, clothing, or gold and silver. His sister had married the current crown prince. Many people wanted to curry favor with their family.
He really couldn't think of what reward he wanted for a moment.
"Princess, how about we talk about it later?" Su Gui said.
"Okay!"
Li Jingyun replied and then got up to greet a carriage.
"Father!" Li Jingyun called out first. Then she saw her father carefully helping her mother out of the carriage. Behind them were her elder sister Mingda and her ninth brother Li Zhi.
"Mother? Why did you come too?"
"Daoist Sun said that my health has recovered well and told me to go out more. Since you said the sweaters were ready, of course I had to come and take a look." Empress Zhangsun smiled brightly and tightly held Li Shimin's hand.
"Greetings to Your Majesty, Your Highness, and the two princes." Su Gui saluted according to the rules.
"You're the younger brother of Su Rui, right? Her only younger brother. She has high hopes for you. Unexpectedly..."
Empress Zhangsun's words were really full of meaning.
"Mother, if it weren't for Su Gui, many things would have been inconvenient." Li Jingyun said. At this time, a young female worker brought out two sweaters. One was a bright and gorgeous crimson, and the other was apricot yellow.
The apricot - yellow one was for Li Shimin, and the crimson one was for Empress Zhangsun.
The sweaters were in the style of Tang - style clothing, a bit more form - fitting to prevent the wind from getting in, and were completely different from those of later generations.
As soon as Empress Zhangsun saw the sweater, her eyes lit up. She compared it on herself again and again. If it weren't for the inappropriate occasion, she might have changed into it on the spot.
Li Shimin was very considerate and praised, "This dress, with its workmanship and color, suits you extremely well."
"This one on you is also good. It's getting colder and colder. You should take better care of yourself." Empress Zhangsun was smiling from ear to ear.
Although she said so, her mind was all on the sweater.
Li Shimin had already made up his mind that he would wear this sweater to the court meeting tomorrow. How many court officials would envy him! This was made by his little daughter's order and was currently a unique thing in the world.
Not to mention anything else, just this thoughtfulness was extremely precious.