An hour later, the streets and alleys of Shangjing were covered with notices, attracting people from all over the city to watch.
"Let me take a look, let's take a look. What's written?" People on the periphery squeezed in curiously.
The person standing in front said loudly: "The imperial court is looking for embroidery girls. As long as you can make clothes, you will be paid one hundred wages a day. You can sign up there."
Not far below the notice, a table and chairs were set up, and an official was waiting with a pen book.
"Hey, my mother-in-law can make clothes, I'll go back and ask her."
"Can't a man earn such a high salary? I can also make clothes."
An acquaintance glanced at the man and said disdainfully: "Come on, your stitches can be exposed through the dense and uneven cotton. Don't cause trouble to the court."
"Besides, you're a single man, why do you want to join a crowd of girls?"
The man's face turned red when he was told this, and everyone burst into laughter.
The girl and woman who went out to buy groceries held hands and whispered: "Let's go too, it's a hundred yuan a day."
For ordinary people, the salary of one hundred cents a day is extremely high, especially for women who are trapped at home. On weekdays, they can only do laundry and sewing, and only earn one hundred cents in a few days.
The current job can not only contribute to the court, but also make money. It is a good job that kills two birds with one stone.
"My mother and sister-in-law can do it too. I'll call them when I go back..."
People who heard the news rushed to tell each other, and the news quickly spread throughout the city.
In just one morning, nearly ten thousand people were recruited.
These people were assigned to various silk shops and cloth shops to sew winter clothes under the leadership of embroiderers.
The maids in the families of high-ranking officials sewed in various mansions and were counted as servants of the mansion, and no additional wages were paid. The same was true for the embroiderers in the clothes bureau in the palace.
Suddenly, the whole city was in a state of excitement, and the number of women shopping for groceries on the street disappeared by less than half. All the silk shops and cloth shops were almost out of business. The clerks and workers were all busy transporting cloth and cotton and gathering the sewn winter clothes.
Even so, there were not enough manpower, so the court sent additional soldiers to assist.
The streets were cleared, and all traffic was transporting carriages and horses.
The Secretary of the Ministry of War took the money and went to Jiangji in person to buy grain and load it into the truck for departure.
The production of winter clothes was faster than expected. It took only seven days to produce the first batch of winter clothes.
At the same time, food and grass are also well prepared.
On October 23rd, when the first ray of sunshine broke through the sky, the baggage general led an army of 30,000 people, escorting carts of grain, grass and winter clothes, and left Beijing in a mighty and exciting manner, heading for the border pass.
The embroiderers and the common people worked from dawn to dusk for seven days. They all had red eyes and were so tired that their backs and shoulders ached.
Jiang Shu asked them to rest for a day before continuing to make the next batch.
The winter sun shines warmly on the body, the smell of roasted chestnuts floats in the air, and various shouts and cries can be heard in the ears, which is peaceful and reassuring.
Jiang Shu bought two kilograms of sugar-roasted chestnuts and a few bunches of candied haws, and took them back to the house to share with Chu Yu and others.
The weather was fine, and the master and servants were chatting in the yard while eating.
Jiang Shu hugged Yu Ziyou and basked in the sun. Chuyu peeled the chestnuts and put them on a plate for her.
"Sweet and glutinous, this year's roasted chestnuts are so delicious." Tanyu couldn't stop eating.
Chu Yu teased her with a smile: "Do you think the roasted chestnuts that year were not delicious?"
In the eyes of foodies, everything tastes delicious, every year.
Tanyu's face turned red from being teased, she picked up a bunch of candied haws and bit off a whole one angrily.
Chu Yu reminded: "Eat less. We will get married in a few days. Be careful that you gain weight and can't fit into the wedding dress."
"No way." Tan Yu bit off a whole piece again, her cheeks bulging.
She was eating happily when she suddenly heard the sound of saluting from behind her.
Tan Yu suddenly turned around and saw Yu Zheng striding over with Zhui Yun and Zhu Feng.
Chu Yushuanghua Lengxing hurriedly greeted him: "Your Majesty."
Tan Yu also followed suit, but she had a candied haws stuffed in her mouth and her speech was unclear.
Fortunately, Yu Zheng didn't pay attention, walked by, picked up Yu Ziyou and Jiang Shu and entered the house.
Tan Yu breathed a sigh of relief, and when she looked up, she saw Zhui Yun staring at her with burning eyes.
With their eyes facing each other, Tanyu's face instantly turned red. She couldn't swallow the candied haws in her mouth and couldn't spit it out. It was so embarrassing.
When Chu Yu and others saw this, they found an excuse and left.
Leng Xing took two steps and saw that Zhufeng was not moving, so he went back and stepped on him.
"Ouch——" Zhufeng was in pain and stared at Leng Xing with a confused look on his face.
Leng Xing said nothing and walked straight out of the courtyard.
You stepped on him for no reason and ran away?
Zhufeng chased after him unconvinced.
Finally there were only two people left in the courtyard.
Tanyu relaxed slightly and quickly chewed the candied haws in his mouth.
She ate in a hurry and accidentally swallowed a hawthorn core, which made her cover her neck with her hands.
"Eat slowly." Zhuiyun smiled helplessly.
Tan Yu felt so embarrassed that she couldn't see anyone, and she wished she could find a crack in the ground to crawl in.
But the courtyard was made of bluestone slabs, which were extremely hard. Even if she broke her head, she couldn't get in.
After Tanyu finished eating, Zhuiyun whispered: "I have free time today. Go and see if there are any items missing. I will buy them."
Tan Yu responded inaudibly and followed Zhuiyun towards their yard.
When passing by the back garden, he saw Zhufeng following Leng Xing from a distance and saying something. Leng Xing looked impatient.
These two people were afraid that they would start fighting again if they couldn't say a few words.
Along the bluestone path, the two of them walked to a courtyard in the northwest corner of the palace where red silk was hung and a big red word "happy" was posted.
The courtyard door was closed, Zhuiyun reached out and pushed it open, and walked in with Tanyu.
There is an apricot tree in the courtyard, which you can see at a glance. Tanyu likes it very much.
There are no apricots at this time of year, and all the leaves have fallen. The bare branches are covered with small red lanterns, which looks particularly festive.
The two of them entered the house, Zhuiyun followed Tan Yu, and carefully wrote down what she said.
After saying a few things, Zhuiyun asked her: "Is there any more?"
Tan Yu shook his head, wrung his hands and whispered: "Actually, it's not that important. It doesn't matter whether you have it or not."
Zhuiyun said warmly: "It doesn't matter, I have nothing to do this afternoon, I will buy it."
The wind blew in through the open window and blew up the red bed curtain. Tan Yu glanced up and saw two mandarin duck pillows and a pair of fat porcelain dolls placed side by side on the bed.
Zhuiyun also saw it, and his eyes stayed on the pair of porcelain dolls for a long time.
Tan Yu was so ashamed that she hurried out of the house.
The yard is not big, and you can walk under the apricot tree in a few steps.
Tan Yu looked up at the red lanterns swaying in the wind on the tree, thinking about what it would look like next year when it was hung with apricots.
Zhuiyun stood beside her and looked up following her line of sight.
"Want to eat apricots?"
"Yeah." Tan Yu swallowed and thought: "This tree is so big, it will definitely bear a lot of flowers next year."
Zhuiyun turned to look at her and said with a warm smile: "I will pick them for you next year."
"Okay." Tan Yu was full of expectations.
Her parents died young, so she and Chu Yu sold themselves into the Jiang family and worked as maids for many years.
Although Jiang Shu treated them well, during the New Year holidays, other servants could go home to reunite with their families, but she and Chu Yu had nowhere to go.
And now, she will have her own little family soon.
In the coming New Year's Day, she would also have a family to return to and be reunited with others.
This kind of ordinary and simple life is what she dreams of.
