Red Mansion: Fuyao River and Mountain

Chapter 262: Winter Clothes Letter

The end of September in the thirteenth year of Jiazhao.

In two days it will be the Cold Clothes Festival on the first day of October. After this day, it means the year has entered autumn and winter and the weather is getting colder. Every household has to put away their summer clothes and change into autumn clothes.

This day is also known as the Ancestor Worship Festival. It is the traditional day for the Han people to worship their ancestors. Its importance is equal to that of Qingming Festival and Lantern Festival.

The production of porcelain mines in the firearms workshop is on track, and the number of assembled porcelain mines is increasing day by day.

Because Emperor Jiazhao added one thousand musketeers to the Five Armies Firearms Battalion, the demand for muskets also increased greatly.

New weapons purchased by the Ministry of War and those handed over to Rumitong from various places were also transported to the firearms workshop for modification and upgrading.

On the Cold Clothes Festival, except for the necessary personnel on duty, all other officials in the government offices will take a day off to attend family memorial services.

During the Cold Clothes Festival, the emperor in the palace would reward civil and military officials with cotton-padded clothes to show his imperial grace, courtesy and care.

On this day, every household will change into autumn clothes, worship their ancestors, burn funeral clothes, and express their grief.

Due to construction progress and confidentiality requirements, all craftsmen in the firearms workshop were not allowed to return home for the holidays.

Jia Cong arranged to purchase sufficient amounts of meat, vegetables, fruits and melons for the firearms workshop craftsmen to enjoy during the festival.

This move made the craftsmen who worked day and night feel flattered.

Although these craftsmen cannot return home for the holidays, this situation is not uncommon for them. They have been engaged in craftsmanship for half their lives just to make a living, so there is no need to be so particular.

Craftsmen have always been a lowly profession, but now, not only can they work in the government workshop and receive generous salaries, but their families are also moved to the capital. It is said that all this is due to the favor of the workshop supervisor.

Although the workshop management is a bit strict, it is nothing compared to the benefits they get.

Now that it is the Cold Clothes Festival, the workshop supervisor has sent them the best food. In the past, which employer would have treated them so well?

Jia Cong's actions, which were completely different from those of ordinary people, made the craftsmen in the workshop more convinced and impressed by this extremely young supervisor.

……

As early as the beginning of September, the Rongguo Mansion began to prepare for the Cold Clothes Festival to worship ancestors.

The reason why they prepared for the ancestor worship so long in advance was because the Ningguo Mansion was stripped of its title and all its possessions were confiscated.

Because Ningguo was the eldest son of the Jia family, the Jia clan ancestral hall was originally located in Ningguo Mansion.

Now the Ningguo Mansion has been raided, and Jia Zhen and Jia Rong, the eldest sons of the Ningguo family, have been convicted and exiled, meaning that the Ningguo family is effectively extinct.

The Rongguo Mansion was conferred the title of the legitimate heir, and the original Jia clan ancestral hall naturally had to be moved to the Rongguo Mansion.

However, the ancestor worship on the Cold Clothes Festival is not a large-scale sacrifice like the New Year and Spring Festival. The families in Nanjing’s hometown do not need to go to Beijing and can only worship at their own home.

At that time, only the descendants of each family in the capital would dress in their best clothes and go to the ancestral temple to perform the ceremony of worshiping their ancestors.

After the ceremony, each family returns to their own home, and the elders in the family give clothes and food to the younger generations, implying that in autumn and winter, the ancestors will protect them and their descendants will have warm clothes and plenty of food.

In the past month, Jia Lian and several of his clan members have been busy with the relocation of the ancestral hall.

When Jia Cong returned home, he saw Jia Lian and several of his family members directing a dozen servants to carry and place sacrificial items in the new ancestral temple.

……

When we entered Qingzhizhai, we saw Qingwen and Yinglian, with their little maid, hanging up the washed summer clothes in the yard to dry. This is also the custom before and after the Cold Clothes Festival.

These summer clothes will be packed up after they are dried and will not be taken out and worn until next summer.

The breeze blew, the sleeves of clothes fluttered, and a few little girls were laughing and running around among the skirts that were hung out to dry, which was quite interesting.

It was unknown what Qingwen had said to Yinglian, but her laughter was as loud as a silver bell, echoing in the small courtyard, adding to the charming and cheerful atmosphere.

Feng used Zhang Youpeng's prescription ointment, and now her injuries have fully recovered. She asked Yinglian, who had been taking care of her, to return to Qingzhizhai.

After Qu Hongxiu went to Jinling to promote the affairs of Xinchunhao, the old store on Xinchun Road in Shenjing was managed by Feng and Liu Ping.

Ever since Feng was severely injured, Jia Cong had worked tirelessly to find famous doctors for her and cured her almost crippled hands.

This made Feng see Jia Cong more clearly. He was an upright man who valued friendship and was worthy of trust. Moreover, his talents and abilities were amazing.

Although my daughter has lived a life of misfortune since childhood, she is fortunate to have met such a person. It is also her blessing that good things will come after bad luck. She will definitely live a much better life than herself in the future.

Every time Yinglian went back to Xinchun Street to visit her mother, she would be urged to come back by Feng after staying for a short time, asking her to take good care of Jia Cong.

...Seeing Jia Cong coming back, Qingwen and Yinglian greeted him with a smile, and then went into the house to help him take off his outer clothes and change into casual clothes and soft shoes.

Jia Cong saw a lot of things on the table, including a pair of silk-covered soft-soled warm boots, a fever gown with a dark bamboo-patterned blue silk lining, a letter and a package.

Curiously asked: "Where do these things come from?"

Qingwen spoke clearly and crisply as she said, "It will be the Cold Clothes Festival in a few days. This pair of silk boots was made by the Third Miss, and the blue silk gown was made by the Second Miss. They are given to the Third Master as a festival gift.

This letter and package were sent from Jinling. The servant outside the second gate brought them in this morning. Miss Lin also came just now, but she left again when she saw that the Third Master was not around.

Jia Cong picked up the blue silk gown and the pair of satin warm boots. The stitching on both of them was delicate and precise. Yingchun and Tanchun must have put a lot of thought into them.

He took it in his hand and rubbed it carefully for a few times, feeling a warm feeling in his heart. What he really cared about in this mansion was his sisters at home.

……

And the letters and packages from Jinling.

The letter was written by Qu Hongxiu, and in the package were two new winter clothes.

The letter said that Xinchunhao was having great success in establishing trade routes in Jinling and Ningbo.

After all, the title of imperial merchant is still useful, and with the cooperation of two officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are almost no obstacles when it comes to matters such as official checkpoints and permits.

With the assistance of officials from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, branches in Ningbo and Jinling are now open.

When Qu Hongxiu went to Jinling, he took away some of the stock from the perfume workshop in Shenjing, and the sales in Jinling and Ningbo branches were very good.

Xinchunhao also built a perfume workshop in Jinling, which was managed by Zhou Guangcheng, who had just arrived in Jinling and was familiar with the art of perfume making.

At Keqing's suggestion, Xinchunhao bought twenty helpless young maids from the displaced victims in the south of the Yangtze River to work as technicians for the Jinling perfume workshop.

The reason for buying young widowed girls is that such people have relatively simple thoughts, few worldly relationships, and are easier to do things and manage.

Under Jia Cong's instructions, Zhou Guangcheng divided the entire perfume-making process into several independent steps, keeping the creation techniques as confidential as possible.

It won't take long for the Jinling Perfume Workshop to develop considerable productivity, and it should be no problem for it to meet the short-term needs of several new Jiangnan shops.

According to Jia Cong's expectation, with the development of Xinchunhao, perfume workshops will be built in other places, and the perfume-making process will be divided into upstream and downstream according to the origin of raw materials.

It can improve efficiency and make it easier to control.

What surprised Jia Cong the most was Keqing.

According to Qu Hongxiu's description in the letter, this daughter of an official, the former young lady of Ningguo Mansion, now seems to have been reborn.

She quickly adapted to the business of Xinchunhao. She asked several newly opened shops to submit their account books for inventory every five days. Any mistakes or omissions in the accounts could not be concealed, which made several newly hired shopkeepers in Jiangnan respect her.

A newly established place is unfamiliar to the people who first move in and the situation is always unpredictable. As the owner and proprietor, you need to be able to handle things and think carefully so that you can control the situation as soon as possible.

When the Jinling Perfume Workshop opened, the first batch of female workers came to work, and Keqing personally screened and purchased them to ensure that the visiting female workers were reliable and employable.

Qu Hongxiu's courage and cleverness, and Qin Keqing's restraint and meticulousness seem to form the most perfect internal and external complement.

This was an unexpected surprise for Jia Cong.

In his reply, Jia Cong asked Qu Hongxiu to suspend the progress at the Sibo port after opening branches in Jinling and Ningbo, and to expand after gaining a firm foothold.

After all, these semicolons are all under the nose of the Ministry of Internal Affairs.

He would write a letter to Liu Hai, the captain of the Jinling Jinyiwei, asking him to take care of Xinchunhao's business in Jinling.

There is no hindrance for him to do these actions now, because both Emperor Jiazhao and the Ministry of Internal Affairs know who the real owner of Xinchun is.

While Jia Cong was in Jinling, the two became friends because Liu Hai was on duty at the construction site of Da Ci'en Temple.

Afterwards, Jia Cong, Yang Hongbin and Liu Hai worked together to wipe out the Japanese ronin, and they could be said to have shared hardships and fought together.

Liu Hai is an upright and honest person, otherwise he would not have been demoted by Zou Huaiyi to guard the construction site. Jia Cong still has some trust in him.

Moreover, Liu Hai is the confidant of Ge Zhicheng, a captain of the Jinling Jinyiwei. Through him, Jia Cong can connect to the entire Jinling Jinyiwei force, allowing Xinchunhao to have a protective force in Jinling.

However, Jia Cong did not stop Qu Hongxiu from building trade routes between Yangzhou and Suzhou, allowing him to move forward with the resources provided by Lin Ruhai.

(End of this chapter)