Chapter 907

In Great Ming, as long as the money is right, things get done quickly.

And Empress Wang not only had money but also power, so Pan Yun found a good location, drew up the design, and within less than a month, a textile workshop was built in the eastern suburbs of Jingcheng.

Palace maids released from the palace but with no home to return to, and unwilling to marry, could choose to work at the workshop, earning monthly wages ranging from eight qian to five taels.

Aside from palace maids with some savings, the vast majority chose to go.

"I found out—the workshop provides meals and lodging, with two days off every ten days, just like imperial court officials."

"Will they actually pay the wages?"

"I asked around—everyone says the workshop is directly overseen by the two empresses; the manager dares not cheat, so you should get all of it."

Palace maids do receive salaries, but they rarely save any money because of the palace's many rules.

Some must hand over their pay upon receipt; others have a portion deducted before it's given to them.

Add to that their daily expenses—sickness costs money, and palace maids with meager allowances never save a single tael in their lifetime.

If the workshop pays real silver, it's no worse than staying in the palace.

"Besides us, the workshop posted notices hiring additional spinners and weavers from outside—I think they won't withhold wages at all."

"Then… they won't pay in treasure notes, right?"

The palace maid who went to inquire fell silent.

The palace likes to pay in treasure notes; for the past few months, their salaries were issued in treasure notes—only this time, the resettlement allowance was silver.

But… treasure notes are worthless.

The palace maid groaned: "Sh-should be silver, not treasure notes, right?"

Compared to the anxious palace maids, the women outside the palace thought simply.

As soon as they heard about the hiring, they rushed to apply, confirmed the wages, learned it was run by the two empresses, and immediately pushed their way in.

As for whether they'd pay in treasure notes or silver—was there even a question?

Of course it's silver.

Treasure notes have no market among commoners—even a vegetable seller would refuse them for a single bunch of scallions.

Today, Pan Yun carried a handful of treasure notes and took the Empress and Emperor to inspect the workshop's official opening, then went shopping.

Today was a day off; the streets were bustling.

On days off, officials accompanied their families and socialized with colleagues; the Imperial Academy and other schools followed the court's schedule, and students poured out en masse; even the Five Armies outside the city had the same day off.

So every ten days, these two days in Jingcheng were especially lively—even beggars on the streets perked up.

The Brocade Uniform Guards were scattered around, following the Emperor and Empress at a respectful distance.

Only Yin Qingjun, the female official Chunxi, and the eunuch Chengjing accompanied Pan Yun and the Emperor and Empress.

Just as the six left the imperial palace, they encountered Yu Qian coming the opposite way.

Yu Qian: …

Yu Qian silently watched them.

The Emperor and Empress froze, instantly guilty, shrinking their necks like well-behaved students caught skipping class by the headmaster.

Beside them, Pan Yun, the brazen troublemaker, felt no guilt for luring the Emperor and Empress out—instead, she cheerfully waved at Yu Qian: "My lord Yu, working on your day off? How hardworking."

Yu Qian replied coolly: "There are still memorials unreviewed; to avoid emergencies, I must finish them early and submit them."

His gaze slid from Pan Yun to the Emperor and Empress, his eyes narrowing slightly: "Where are Your Majesty and Her Majesty going?"

The Emperor leaving the palace was one thing.

After all, Great Ming's emperors always sneaked out; Yu Qian didn't mind—as long as no assassins appeared, the Emperor mingling among the common folk helped him understand the people's conditions.

Even seeing just one drop from the ocean was better than being blindfolded inside the palace.

But why was the Empress leaving too?

Every Empress left the palace so rarely, you could count the total on one hand; some never left at all until death.

Yu Qian's eyes swept over the Empress quickly, then he frowned in silence.

Empress Wang was also nervous; she glanced at the Emperor, saw his flushed face and timid silence, and opened her mouth to explain—but Pan Yun stepped forward with a smile, standing slightly ahead of her side: "Her Majesty pities the poor and the weak; the textile workshop in the eastern suburbs is opening, so Your Majesty and Her Majesty came to see the new spinning and weaving machines."

Yu Qian's attention snapped immediately: "New spinning and weaving machines?"

"Yes," Pan Yun said casually, "I heard they're three times as efficient as the current ones."

Yu Qian perked up instantly and decided to go with them.

Pan Yun tilted her head: "My lord Yu, aren't you going to review the memorials?"

Yu Qian's expression remained calm: "I can review them this afternoon."

How pitiful—he wasn't just working half a day, but a full day, and voluntarily at that.

Pan Yun turned to the Emperor and praised: "Your Majesty has such diligent and capable ministers—how could the realm not be peaceful and prosperous?"

Seeing Yu Qian didn't blame him for leaving the palace, the Emperor immediately straightened up, nodding vigorously: "With Yu Qian here, I truly feel much lighter."

So they all headed eastward.

Before leaving the city, Yu Qian spotted Chen Xun in the crowd and called out loudly: "My lord Chen, the textile workshop in the eastern suburbs has new spinning and weaving machines—aren't you coming to see them?"

Chen Xun, who had been holding his son in one hand and his daughter in the other, waiting outside the silk shop for his wife to choose fabric, was dragged into the overtime crew.

He could only call his wife out to pay respects to the Emperor and Empress, hand his children over to her, and silently join the group.

When they reached the eastern suburbs, the crowd thinned, and the Brocade Uniform Guards gradually appeared, following the Emperor and Empress at a respectful distance.

But with Pan Yun around, the Emperor and Empress faced little danger—this was one reason the Emperor was willing to bring Empress Wang outside.

The workshop had three sections: one was the production area, with the weaving and spinning halls facing each other, the buildings rectangular, with a central road wide enough for three carts to pass side by side; one was the warehouse, located behind and to the left of the production area, also serving as the sorting zone—raw materials arriving were sorted at the warehouse's sorting area before being sent to the appropriate workshop, and the finished thread and cloth were returned to the warehouse;

and one was the living quarters.

The textile workshop employed mostly women, but not only women—transporting/moving work was done by men, and the managers were evenly split by gender, so the dormitories were divided into two sections, though the dining hall was shared.

All of this was built within a month—mud-brick houses with tiled roofs, each room uniformly fitted with spinning machines, weaving machines, and heated brick beds; crude, but clean and tidy.

But Yu Qian and Chen Xun paid no attention to that; they went straight to look at the looms and spinning machines.

The female workers had already learned to use the new looms and spinning machines beforehand. Today was the official start of work—those who knew how got right to it, those who didn't kept learning, and the workshop was in full swing.

Yu Qian and Chen Xun stood off to one side with their hands clasped behind their backs, watching a female worker spin thread.

The two of them—one was the Minister of Revenue, the other had helped his own Lady with thread before—were both no strangers to spinning machines.

Besides, both had served as local officials, so naturally they had seen plenty of spinning machines.

After watching for a while, the two of them discovered the ingenious part.