Chapter 455: The First Winter (II)

When Gu Xin brought his men and left, he did not just take the tea sets of glassware, a batch of accessories and hair decorations. He also left with a gift Jiang Pengji had prepared for Liu She. The gift wasn’t expensive, but won in its heart-felt significance. For instance, there were a few sets of woollen sweaters and trousers to weather the winter, a powerful set of steamboat, a set of two in one tools for barbecue and roasting, and the recipes she copied for the soup base and sauces.

Upon seeing these items, Gu Xin’s expression became somewhat passive.

If it weren’t for troubled times, the young master would probably supersede the old master in becoming a successful businessman.

Not only would she rise to be Dongqing’s richest, perhaps even become the head of five nations, expanding her businesses across the entire nine prefectures and four seas.

What a pity, that the current times were not optimal for this.

Thinking along those lines, Gu Xin was moved to pity Jiang Pengji much more.

Before leaving, he asked a question he’d been burning to ask.

“That Feng Langjun… is he young master’s lover?”

Jiang Pengji observed Gu Xin’s mysterious look, and she almost failed to swallow her saliva.

“No, Huaiyu and I have a gentlemanly agreement. We are best friends without that layer of relationship.”

Jiang Pengji replied decisively, to prevent Gu Xin’s mind from running wild.

“Then… then earlier is that little girl young master’s child?” Gu Xin asked curiously.

She said it once and for all, “No, she has nothing to do with me.”

It was unclear if Gu Xin left regretful or relieved, but he left Xiangyang district with confused feelings.

As Gu Xin brought a load of goods, the entire construction in Xiangyang district reached new heights, and the entire landscape could be envisioned in its new prosperous form. It was rare for Jiang Pengji to curb her desires to engage in “non work-related businesses” and settle her duties in the government house.

In recent times, the busiest aspect was distributing seeds to plant crops, and collecting rent for the fertile ground the following year. Fortunately, Qiguan Rang already organised the registrations into a household register. The workload wasn’t very heavy. After working overtime for a short time, they would be free.

“The weather is becoming chilly —”

The leaves in the courtyard were dyed with a sunset yellow colour, and Feng Jin was briefly filled with emotion.

“Every year it repeats itself. This year is considered alright, at least we have prepared sufficiently.”

Qiguan Rang was adapted to seeing a variety of devastation since his youth; Xiangyang district to him was akin to the heavens. It was calming and still, while everywhere was bustling with energy. It was a rare sight in his life. How he wished such a sight would persist throughout the heavenly prefectures.

“Don’t worry about this, Jin is worried about something else. When it becomes winter, the laborers cannot work in the snow… the people of Xiangyang district rely heavily on their labor to obtain food, and if they are jobless during winter…”

She intended to conquer Tsing Yi army in Fengyi county, Feng Jin and the rest were in the loop.

The recruited soldiers combined with imperial guards and troops she had from the start totalled 8000 men.

As the building of Xiangyang district was of utmost importance, the span of time from the previous summer until deep into autumn, they had been busy working hard. Being busy all year round, they almost had no time to rest. When winter came, the military training would be strictly enforced.

Feng Jin felt somewhat frustrated. What kind of army didn’t train during good weather, and instead their lord delayed their most important training to the winter season?

Upon thinking from a logical point of view, he understood her choice.

Tumultuous training would increase resilience, and the cold snow would mold their military spirits.

Only under dire circumstances would their maximal potential be unleashed.

Regarding this issue, Qiguan Rang had spoken to Jiang Pengji privately, and she gave a solution that left one speechless.

Qiguan Rang remarked, “My lord spoke to Rang about this a few days ago, she said… during the cold winter, stay at home to knit sweaters.”

His expression became stiff and he imitated Jiang Pengji’s indifferent tone.

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Feng Jin was dumbfounded.

There was nothing wrong with those words.

Before the start of autumn, the building project for residential sites would be completed.

By the middle of September, the people could move into their homes in batches.

The surface area of the houses was about fifty meters squared in one unit and household. One in every ten households had a courtyard.

Of course, those houses were rented to people for one hundred and fifty coins per month, affordable to even the poorest household.

At the beginning of October, the district headquarters would recruit female workers at a large scale to establish a knitting factory. In totality, the number of female workers would expand to number a hundred and fifty.

The main job scope of the knitting factory was to process the wool, and then spin it into yarn.

Other than that, the knitting factory permitted women with minimal skill sets to learn the ways of knitting sweaters. When they succeed in knitting a rather precise size of woollen sweater and trousers, the district headquarters would compensate them with 25 to 45 coins.

If the sweater had designs and was well knitted, they would be rewarded with five to ten coins.

Naturally, if males wanted to attempt this job, the district headquarters would gladly accept them.

With regards to the raw materials required for knitting the sweater and trousers, the yarn ball and knitting needle, this required the people to report their true address, use their real name and the names of their family members to register and sign the contract at the knitting factory. Additionally, they were to pay a deposit of 50 coins.

Surely, it was good news to the people. Knitting sweaters was different from more physically intense jobs. They could easily work from home, even amidst the coldest winters, which meant they did not need to worry about going the winter without work. Saving the coins they earned would tide them through the following year and bring relief and joy.

Ladies who were competent with their hands took three days on average to knit two sets.

They did nothing else but squat at home knitting their sweaters.

In order to earn more income, many males secretly learnt the skills from their wives.

The quality of houses built by the district headquarters was guaranteed, and was comparably better than the houses of many, where air escaped from all corners.

The people were very confident about the first day of snow after the earthquake.

Entering November, the cold wind that blew brought a deep chilly feeling. It swept by and stung one’s skin.

The wool sweaters and trousers were officially for sale, and a set for children cost 40 coins, while it cost 100 coins a set for adults.

Though the cost really wasn’t high, the people were pensive about purchasing and only looked on. Most of the early buyers were the same people who contributed to knitting the sweaters and pants.

Despite all else, wearing them was honestly warm and comfortable, and one’s whole body was kept cosy.

On the exterior, any overcoat could be worn. One could be fearless of the cold wind.

In less than two weeks, the woollen trousers and sweaters, the weapons against the cold, became a trend in the whole of Xiangyang district.

More and more woollen sweaters were sold. Xu Ke, the overseer, browsed through the accounts and almost cried.

“…Woollen sweaters and trousers are destined to make a loss…”

Carefully doing the accounts, for every set they sold, they would lose 30 to 40 coins.

“Xiaoyu, it’s incorrect to calculate in this manner.”

Feng Jin pulled the circular scarf that encircled his neck, then laughed saying, “you should also factor in how much loss the district headquarters will incur if the people die from the cold. Taking this into account, we’ve already made a profit. The winter is hard to bear, and many that die from snow disasters and the severe cold even in Shangjing.”

It was essentially a business doomed to incur a loss. Jiang Pengji’s sole purpose was to keep people alive.

Entering the government office, Feng Jin quickly shut the windows, blocking the wind from outside, and then removed the circular scarf from his neck.

In the past, he would have ensured he was fully covered and looked more like a tumour than a person, and then he would drape a coat made from fox skin across his back.

But now it was different. He wore a layer of inner wear, topped by the wool sweater and pants. Over that, he wrapped a thick, wide garment, and over all of it he’d don an overcoat. In just a few steps, one’s whole body would radiate with heat. It was very comfortable.