Chapter 213: Lure
Li Xiaonan and Wan Jing returned to the inn. Yu Ting was standing at the courtyard gate, craning his neck to look left and right. Seeing the two of them, he hurried over, “Second Master is back, and the dishes are ready. We’re just waiting for you two. A Wu, have them bring the food over. What is this?”
Yu Ting took the bundle of silk from Wan Jing’s hand.
“Useless scraps,” Wan Jing replied.
As Yu Ting walked inside, he took out a piece of fabric from the paper wrapping and exclaimed in surprise, “This is good stuff! How much did it cost?”
“One bolt for a skirt, two pieces for small jackets, a total of one tael of silver, and they even gave us a big bundle of silk thread,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
“This fabric is so fine, and the color is so beautiful. Only one tael of silver? It truly is good stuff!” Yu Ting carefully rubbed the fabric, full of envy.
Wan Jing glared at Yu Ting and Li Xiaonan and let out a scoff.
Li Wenru came out from the room, “There are indeed many people at the real estate agency. They said that all the weaving workshops have released some workers…”
“Let’s eat first,” Li Xiaonan brushed past Li Wenru and rushed into the room to drink tea, as she was thirsty.
A Wu came in with the dishes. After they ate, they brewed tea and sat under the corridor talking.
“What did you say to those people? What did you find out? Why did you buy those useless pieces of fabric?” Wan Jing asked repeatedly while brewing tea.
“Let Second Uncle speak first,” Li Xiaonan put the tea leaves into the teapot.
“I asked carefully. All twelve weaving workshops in Huating County have released a few weavers to be transferred. Xiangyun Workshop has the most, releasing sixteen, Ruifu Workshop has nine, and the other workshops have one or two each.”
Li Wenru frowned.
“The real estate agents didn’t mention anything else, only that the youngest was twelve years old and the oldest was fifteen.”
“Twelve years old is just when they start at a weaving workshop!” Wan Jing exclaimed in surprise.
“They are all apprentices,” Li Wenru added.
“Not only are they all apprentices, but they are also all clumsy apprentices who are unlikely to succeed,” Li Xiaonan sighed.
“These can’t be considered weavers. These people are useless, we shouldn’t take them,” Wan Jing stated decisively.
“If we don’t take them, it will seem like we went back on our word after making a promise,” Li Xiaonan sighed again.
“Did you buy those pieces of silk to inquire about this as well?” Wan Jing turned to ask Li Xiaonan.
“I went to see if those weavers were living well and if the workshops were strictly managed,” Li Xiaonan replied.
“Selling these scraps doesn’t mean they aren’t strictly managed. If our household’s weaving workshop produced such scraps, we would let the weavers take them home to make clothes or sell them for extra income. The minor stewards would use these scraps to reward diligent or obedient weavers,” Wan Jing quickly explained.
“The families of those weavers are clearly separated, each living their own lives. In a large courtyard, there is a strong sense of human affection,” Li Xiaonan said, looking at Li Wenru.
Wan Jing frowned, listening. What did that mean?
Li Wenru didn’t quite understand either.
“Tomorrow, we’ll go to the real estate agency and summon all the weavers who are to be transferred. Let Wan Jing test them one by one to see their skill level. We’ll negotiate prices based on their craftsmanship. As for other matters, we’ll see tomorrow,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
“That’s well said. Doing business requires adapting to circumstances and responding to situations,” Li Wenru nodded in agreement.
Wan Jing glanced sideways at Li Wenru.
She couldn’t believe he said “adapting to circumstances.” A Nan was clearly in a difficult situation and had to push forward!
This Second Master Li’s ability to speak well was quite similar to Shi Gun. Shi Gun was just like that; no matter what whim the Young Lord had, Shi Gun could always find something to praise and offer a few flattering words with an admiring gaze.
The next day, Li Wenru first went to the real estate agency and delivered a message. After lunch, the weavers from various workshops who were to be transferred gathered at the agency.
Li Xiaonan didn’t avoid anyone. She borrowed harness boxes, looms, and other equipment from the woodworking shop and brought them into the agency. In the agency’s large courtyard, Wan Jing, as the examiner, tested dozens of young weavers one by one.
After Wan Jing finished testing one, Li Xiaonan would call them over and ask them quietly for a long time.
By the time all dozens of people had been tested, it was already dark. They could only discuss it tomorrow.
Back at the inn, Wan Jing frowned and complained, “Not a single one has ever truly operated a loom! These are all just general laborers, not weavers at all!”
Li Wenru frowned and looked at Li Xiaonan.
Li Xiaonan, biting a rice cake, mumbled, “Among these forty-odd people, thirteen are not from weaving families but were newly bought from outside.”
“How can there be so many!” Wan Jing exclaimed in surprise.
Most apprentices in weaving workshops were children of weavers; it was rare to buy them from outside.
“Yes, they said they brought all the ones bought from outside,” Li Xiaonan took another bite of the rice cake.
“Selling them off is like tearing flesh from bone. No family wants their flesh and bone torn away. It’s understandable that they would pick the ones bought from outside first,” Li Wenru sighed.
“Yes, second, they said they picked the ones with the slowest hands and minds. However, there are quite a few who are even slower than these people, but they weren’t picked because their parents or relatives are stewards or something,” Li Xiaonan continued.
“That’s also human nature,” Li Wenru gave a dry laugh.
“Third, they said a few young girls can weave silk but pretended they couldn’t, fearing we would pick them.”
“Did those little girls even tell you that?” Wan Jing leaned forward to look at Li Xiaonan.
Li Xiaonan pushed Wan Jing’s face back, “Fourth, a few young girls said they overheard the stewards talking, saying the weaving workshops didn’t originally plan to sell them, but they had no choice but to sell a few.”
“What does that mean?” Wan Jing’s eyebrows shot up.
“Could it be that the Young Lord’s side applied pressure?” Li Wenru stretched his neck, holding his breath.
“How could it be the Young Lord? It wasn’t him!” Li Xiaonan rolled her eyes speechlessly at her Second Uncle.
“You continue! You haven’t finished speaking! Then who is pressuring them to sell weavers?” Seeing Li Xiaonan pause, Wan Jing urged her on.
“The one who can pressure these weaving workshops to do this and that, first is the Silk Guild, followed by the government. It’s definitely not the government, so it must be the Silk Guild. Do you even need to ask?” Li Xiaonan looked at Wan Jing.
Wan Jing blinked continuously.
Indeed, it was one or the other. Did she really not think of it?
“Do we want these young apprentices?” Li Wenru asked.
“Let’s pick the three best from Ruifu Workshop and Xiangyun Workshop each, and four best from the other ten workshops. We don’t want the rest. We said we wanted weavers, and these people don’t qualify as weavers at all. The real estate agents know this better than us. Ten people are enough for us,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
Wan Jing quickly flipped open the roster and glanced at it, “Among these ten people, seven are children of the weaving workshop families, meaning they are tearing flesh from bone.”
“Yes, we want the children of the families. Second Uncle, we need to discuss how to write these contracts,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
“You explain! You explain!” Li Wenru quickly stood up and brought over the writing brushes, ink, paper, and inkstones.
Wan Jing took the inkstone and ink, added water, and ground the ink.
“First, allow them to buy their freedom at the original price,” Li Xiaonan said, holding up one finger.
“Second, for warping, sizing, heddle threading, harness setting, shuttle insertion, heddle pulling, cloth tying, etc., how many steps are there in total?”
Li Xiaonan looked at Wan Jing and asked.
“It depends on what is being woven. Harness lifting and kesi silk have the most steps, while plain silk has much fewer.”
“Plain silk.”
“Sixty-four steps in total.”
“Let’s calculate based on plain silk. Each skill is ten copper coins. If they master all sixty-four skills, their monthly allowance will be six hundred and forty copper coins. In addition, for every person they teach to master one skill, they will receive another ten large coins.”
“These will be written into the contracts together. We will have one copy, and they will have one copy. We will also get it stamped by the government as a witness,” Li Xiaonan said with a smile.
Wan Jing stared, counted on her fingers, and took a breath, “If you teach them like you did in Guo Xiang Town, teaching twenty people at a time, they could buy their freedom in a month or two! You’ll be out of business!”
“They haven’t even mastered all sixty-four skills themselves,” Li Xiaonan patted Wan Jing, “I wish they could buy their freedom in a month or two. It would be best if I were out of business.”
“That’s good! Let them go learn from their parents. These people must stay in Huating.”
“If that’s the case, it’s best not to buy all ten people at once. Let’s buy two or three first, and have them go back to spread the word. We’ll come back in a few days to buy the next batch!” Li Wenru rubbed his fingers happily.
“Yes, yes, Second Uncle thinks more thoroughly. Then let’s buy three first. After buying them, we’ll head to Jiaxing. We’ll replicate the success, and then we’ll come back to see how the next batch of people are doing,” Li Xiaonan said, her eyes curving into smiles.
