Chapter 34: Spiritual mind, clever thinking and good planning
Everything will be peaceful in the next few days.
The fifth day of the Lunar New Year passed in a blink of an eye.
On this day, Liu Quan called Xue Hengzhao over alone.
Now he is here to take charge of the Needlework Bureau. It is nearby and convenient, and he has food and accommodation here.
Xue Hengzhao saw that his room was very simple, with nothing else except furniture.
And the things used are very ordinary, very different from Qian Sanchun, Deng Bao and others.
"Sit down and talk." Liu Quan pointed to the chair opposite him and said to Xue Hengzhao, "I called you here today because I have something to discuss with you."
Xue Heng told him to sit down and followed his words and asked, "I wonder what my father-in-law wants and orders me to do?"
"It's still about the auspicious purse." Liu Quan pressed the middle of his eyebrows with his right thumb, seeming to be very worried about this matter. "The Lantern Festival will be in ten days, and all the purses must be delivered by the 14th at the latest."
.
I estimated based on the quantity in previous years, and combined with what could have been produced in the past, there are still 500 purses that cannot be plugged."
The amount he mentioned is basically consistent with Xue Hengzhao's own estimate.
The reason why there was enough in previous years was because people have enough brothers.
The case of deposing the crown prince was so implicated that the palace officials lost nearly 30% of their money.
Although there are some family members like Xue Hengzhao and others who entered the palace as slaves, the number is too small.
According to the rules, women cannot be drafted into the palace until every spring, so there is always a shortage of manpower in these months.
In addition, something happened in the middle, which delayed it somewhat.
"Eunuch Liu, can't we increase the manpower?" Xue Hengzhao asked.
"If it can increase, why should I go through such trouble?" Liu Quan smiled bitterly this time, "Other places are busier and more important than us.
As you know, the canonization ceremony will be held in a few days, and those in Fengyi and Fengguan have been staying up all night since years ago.
Yesterday, I told Master that if it doesn’t work, I’ll have to transfer a few more people from you!”
"Since the manpower cannot be increased and may be reduced, we can only think of countermeasures from the practical point of view." Xue Hengzhao lowered his eyes slightly when thinking about things. When he thought clearly, he would raise his eyes. The brilliance flowed and captured people's soul.
"I can think of two for now, but they may not work."
When Liu Quan heard what she said, his brows suddenly relaxed a lot, and he urged: "Just say it, let's see what a good idea it is."
Xue Hengzhao then said: "I wanted to design a few patterns in total, and certain people would embroider certain patterns.
For example, for good fortune and longevity, the top is a bat and a longevity peach.
Then some people only embroider bats, while others only embroider longevity peaches.
In this way, you don't have to change the threads. Practice makes perfect, and over time, you will get faster and faster with your embroidery.
And they can cross each other without delaying each other."
Liu Quan thought for a while, nodded and said: "This is indeed a method. I think I can embroider dozens more every day."
"Another way to save trouble is to patch embroidery. I see that our embroidery workshop has many scraps and scraps, all of which are made of fine materials, including Yun Brocade, Sichuan Brocade, Hangzhou Silk, and Hu Satin.
To make appliqués, you only need to cut out the shape and embroider a circle along the edge, which saves time and effort and is also unique." Xue Hengzhao is not good at embroidery, but he is clever and can find solutions from what he sees and hears every day.
Come.
She had seen this patchwork before and thought it would be easier to use it now.
After hearing what she said, Liu Quan was so happy that he slammed the table and apologized: "I was right to choose you! You are really a female Zhuge!"
"My father-in-law deserves the award, but I think this appliqué method is just a trick after all. A total of two hundred is enough. I'm afraid it would be bad to make more." Xue Hengzhao added.
"Yes, yes, you are very thoughtful. These two hundred are scattered in various places, and there are only five or eight in each place." Liu Quan stood up with joy, paced and rubbed his hands and said, "There are these two.
There is no need to worry, this credit belongs to you, I will never take it by force.
Be sure to talk it over with the manager then, and the benefits will be yours."
Xue Hengzhao could not help but be humble.
Liu Quan said: "Then you go back and start doing these two things and see if it works.
If there is anything missing in the middle, just tell me and I will find a way to solve it for you as soon as possible."
Xue Hengzhao returned to the embroidery workshop, found some of the best embroidery workers, and discussed the matter with them.
Everyone had a heated discussion and finally settled on six patterns, plus four appliqué styles.
Then it’s time to draw the patterns. These patterns are finalized repeatedly on paper and then traced onto the fabric.
In this way, you can embroider one by one according to the painted pattern, each doing its own thing without any mess.
Appliqué embroidery is divided into separate people for cutting, and each person only embroiders one pattern. Practice makes perfect, and it is getting faster and faster.
Liu Quan came over in the second half of the day, and Xue Hengzhao asked Chi Su to show him the newly embroidered purse.
Liu Quan took the two bags in his hand and looked at them repeatedly, and praised: "It's really good! Let's do it like this."
He also praised Xue Hengzhao in public and said: "Hengzhao, you have such talent, you should show it.
If there is a reward this time, you will be the number one hero."
Xue Hengzhao said: "I just have an idea, and the person who actually implements it has the greatest credit.
These people came up with the pattern, and the cutting belonged to that person, and the final embroidery was a joint effort of everyone, not just my fault."
When everyone heard what Xue Hengzhao said, they felt a lot better.
Liu Quan just smiled and said: "Not bad, not bad, you all have contributed."
Liu Quan still used his own money to add food to everyone at every meal, and also sent people to deliver meals to Xue Hengzhao and Chi Su's room alone.
Therefore, everyone is quite energetic every day, and the method Xue Hengzhao thought of is indeed effective.
So when other places were staying up all night, they stayed up as usual and went back to sleep at the second watch.
As a result, people who had previously been prejudiced against Xue Hengzhao also had a slight change in their attitude towards her.
However, Xue Hengzhao doesn’t care at all what others think of her. She was how she was before and how she is now.
By noon on the 14th, all the bags were finished.
Liu Quan brought several eunuchs to count them and assigned them to various places one by one.
Everyone couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief after seeing that the errands were done. Although there were other tasks to be taken over next, the errands at hand were finally handed over.
After lunch, because the weather was really nice, Chi Su took Xue Hengzhao to bask in the sun under a willow tree.
The wind has softened, and the willow branches are faintly green.
Several eunuchs walked over pulling a cart, which was pulling pieces of earth and broken logs. They were leftover from the fire warehouse and were to be taken out and thrown away.
When spring comes, we will build a new house in the original place.
Chi Su looked at those people until he could no longer see them, and then he said leisurely: "Think about it, this was only half a month ago, it seems like a lifetime ago.
If Qu Linglong hadn't had the intention to harm others, she could have sat here and basked in the sun right now."
Xue Hengzhao didn't say anything. Perhaps in Chi Su's view, the matter had already been completely settled with the death of Qu Linglong and others.
