Twenty, tailor clothes

  This era had no clothing stores, only fabric shops that didn't sell clothes. Ordinary families would buy a few meters of fabric and sew their own clothes at home. Unmarried men without wives were particularly troubled in this regard; when they needed to make clothes, they could only ask someone else's wife for help, accompanied by insincere flattery and smiles. The leftover scraps of fabric after making clothes would be given as a thank-you gift to others, who could use them to make things like tablecloths or handkerchiefs.

  Zhu Yuanzhang never cared about dressing up, so even after becoming the manager, he didn't think in that direction. However, others unexpectedly thought of it for him, and it was Miss San from the Ma family who came up with the idea, which left him somewhat surprised. He still remembered last night when Second Young Master looked at Qi's corpse with a cold gaze, as if looking at a dog. For rich young masters and misses, there was no difference between servants and dogs. Now, Third Miss actually wanted to get him such a servant to make clothes for him, which was truly rare.

  Zhu Yuanzhang's heart softened, and he thought of someone - his original wife, Empress Ma. She was also a kind-hearted and gentle woman. Once when Zhu Yuanzhang was attacking Xu Shouhui, the frontline battle was intense, and he couldn't take care of the logistics and military supplies. However, Empress Ma helped him think of it, leading the family members of the soldiers to make shoes and clothes, sending them to the front line for the generals to wear. Now that those things are in the past, and the beauty has passed away, what's the use of thinking about these things now? If only Empress Ma could also be reborn like him...

  He couldn't help but bow to the little maid, Zi Xincui, and said in a low voice: "Trouble Miss to tell Third Miss for me, thank you!"

  Zixincan smiled and said: "There are so many people here, what's the point of me measuring you back and forth on your body? Let's go to your house to measure." ?? Late Ming Zhu Chongba 20

  Zhu Yuanzhang nodded and walked with him into the house where Guan lived.

  Zixincan was obviously visiting this room for the first time, she widened her eyes and looked around left and right, laughing: "Zhubaige, you're really something, at such a young age you've already become a manager, with three rooms all to yourself..."

  Zhu Yuanzhang smiled faintly and didn't say much more. In his previous life, he joined the army at 25 and conquered the world at 40, achieving a lifetime of shocking accomplishments that would be remembered for centuries to come. Now, in this life, earning three rooms was really nothing worth boasting about! He stretched out his arms, gesturing for Zixincai to hurry up and take his measurements.

  Zixincan's face turned red as she pulled out the tape measure and began to take his measurements, from head to toe. She couldn't help but giggle as she asked, "Is Zhu Ba Ge nineteen this year?"

  Zhu Yuanzhang nodded.

  "How come you're so old and still haven't found a daughter-in-law?" Zixin Cai, although only thirteen or fourteen years old, actually understood this kind of thing.

  "No money!" Zhu Yuanzhang replied casually.

  "In the past, I didn't have money, but now that I'm in a position of power, I do. Every month, I receive a monthly allowance." Zixincai plucked at her pipa and smiled softly: "Several sisters in our inner courtyard have taken an interest in you, let me help them speak on their behalf."

  Originally, Zhu Ba's management in the past few days not only made him a good reputation in the outer courtyard, but also spread to the inner courtyard, making a group of young maidservants there develop romantic feelings for him. The maidservants in the Marquis' inner courtyard were both old and young, with some like Zixin being 13 or 14 years old, while others were older maidservants who were already 24 or 25 years old but still hadn't been married off yet.

  The maids are also a pitiful group of people. Those who are good-looking or can please the master will likely be taken in by the male owner as a concubine or secondary wife. But this is already extremely fortunate, and most maids end up marrying the family's house guards or stewards. Some are not even looked at by these men and slowly become old maidens, passing twenty-five years of age. Perhaps the master will take pity on them and marry them off to some Zhang Butcher, Li Hunchback, or Wang Dimwit - a kind of man who can't find a wife - and that's it for their whole life.

  In this life where tomorrow is not visible, the maids' courage has also increased. If there is a young and handsome unmarried housekeeper in the family, they will quickly think of ways to hook up with him and marry themselves out. Women in the Ming Dynasty were far from being as conservative as people imagine them to be in later generations. Many of them were extremely bold and open-minded. For example, Pan Jinlian in "Water Margin" used a bamboo pole on the second floor to throw things at Ximen Qing to attract his attention... Although "Water Margin" is written about the Song Dynasty, Pan Jinlian's prototype was actually a girl from the Ming Dynasty.

  This example may not be very appropriate here, but it can illustrate the social atmosphere at that time.

  Zixincan came to take Zhu Yuanchang's measurements and make clothes for him. The group of older maids in the inner courtyard were like celebrating a festival, all coming to ask her to help them build a bridge.

  Zhu Yuanzhang did not expect that the previous affair would bring him this kind of trouble. He had no desire for women and was not interested in them, and he was about to open his mouth to refuse when he suddenly thought again, why should I refuse? Although I am not interested in women, I also need a son to inherit my career, if I become the emperor again in this life, I will have to establish a crown prince.

  After a moment of hesitation, Zhu Yuanzhang said in a low voice: "Let these few girls who are interested in me come to see me another day. If I find one that suits my eye, I will marry her."

  Zixincai got his approval and helped the sisters fulfill a wish, suddenly becoming happy and smiling as she helped him take his measurements, then put away the tape measure and ran off. Zhu Yuanzhang didn't take this matter to heart either, turning around and forgetting it in the distant clouds of Jiuyuan.

  That noon, the news came back from the government office that Yang Chao's case had been settled. The county magistrate had a conflict with the Ma family because of the Zhang family in Cheng City, but for such an obvious murder case, he didn't need to manipulate anything inside, so he directly put Yang Chao in prison and sentenced him to death. He wrote Yang Chao's name on the list of prisoners to be executed and sent it to the capital city to wait for the emperor's approval.

  Some people think that in ancient times, those who were sentenced to death would be taken directly to the market and beheaded with one knife. This idea is wrong. In fact, all death row inmates in the Ming Dynasty had to be approved by the emperor before they could be executed. Every autumn, officials would present a list of people from all over the country who had committed capital crimes, and the emperor would use a red pen to cross out names on the list. Those whose names were crossed out would definitely die - this was called "autumn after questioning". Those whose names were not crossed out would have to wait quietly in prison for their next chance to be selected. This was called "hook decision". As for who would be hooked and who would not, it all depended on the emperor's mood. If you gave a large sum of money to the officials and they intentionally left your name off the list when writing the death sentence, then congratulations, the emperor would never hook your name, and you wouldn't have to die. You could wait for the next amnesty after the change of dynasty, and you could come out of prison unscathed.

  In short, Yang Chao is finished, Qi Guan Shi is also finished, and Zhu Yuanzhang now firmly occupies the position of Director of the Imperial Household Department. ?? Late Ming Zhu Chongba 20

  At night, Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the cook to add more food for the long and short workers. In fact, the grain allocated by the Ma family to the side house could have allowed them to eat a little better, but Qiguan had intercepted a large portion of it to fill his own pockets, making everyone unable to eat their fill. Now that Zhu Yuanzhang, who was not greedy or corrupt, had taken over, the food level in the side house suddenly rose by one grade. The long workers, who originally only got one bun, now got two, and the short workers, who originally only got one bowl of thin porridge, also got an extra bowl.

  The laborers' belly problems were solved, and their attitude towards Zhu Yuanzhang became more respectful. The simple farmers only hoped that such good days could continue indefinitely. They would spend the rest of their lives working here, and Zhu Ba would be in charge for the rest of his life, which was enough to make them happy.

  But Zhu Yuanzhang knew that these good days wouldn't last long... Next year, there would be a great drought! The year after, it would still be a great drought, and the year after that, and the year after that, and the year after that... All would be great droughts! More frightening than the great drought was the impending peasant uprising. The day when Wang Baishui would raise his banner, and heroes from all over the country would rise up in response, was not far off!

  What method should be used to save the Great Ming? He still has no clue for the time being.

  Another few days of peaceful life passed, Zhu Yuanzhang got up every morning to practice boxing, then called on the workers to work, arranged meals, and practiced boxing again at night before going to sleep. Zixincui helped him make a set of clothes, a cyan linen long shirt, which fit perfectly on his body, it seemed that the little maid's needlework was not bad, after changing into the new clothes, Zhu Yuanzhang looked even more spirited and outstanding.

  In these days, occasionally there would be a maid from the inner courtyard who would come up with some inexplicable excuse to visit the side courtyard, chit-chatting and making small talk with Zhu Yuanzhang. He also knew what these maids were after, and had already thought about casually marrying one of them to have children, but none of the few faces that came and went were satisfactory. Perhaps it was his experiences in his past life that made him jaded to all the beauty in the world, and these ordinary girls simply couldn't catch his eye.

  The maids also felt his coldness and retreated. Two days later, some unfavorable remarks about him spread quietly in the inner courtyard. It is said that after the maids returned, they cried bitterly, startling Third Miss, who became furious. So many good girls voluntarily sent themselves to Zhu Ba's door, but he didn't want them... Who does Zhu Ba think he is? Just because he's a manager of a side house, he thinks he's superior? He doesn't want our maids, and our maids don't want him either!

  Third Miss gave a strict order: All maids are not allowed to find Zhu Ba, see where this big rough man goes to find his wife.

  After hearing the order of Third Miss, Zhu Yuanzhang was not angry but delighted. This is also good, and it's better to be carefree. Anyway, in his previous life when he married Empress Ma, he was already an older youth, and this time he was only 19 years old, why rush?

  On the eighth day of February, Zhu Yuanzhang was chatting with several long workers at the edge of the field when he suddenly saw Li Chunjiu rushing over from the far end of the field. He rubbed his eyes, feeling that this scene seemed familiar. Just a few days ago, Yang Chao also rushed over in a hurry and shouted loudly, which led to the series of events that followed.

  "Something's happened! Something's happened in Xigou Village... All the villagers have been taken away by County Master!"