The wicked mother-in-law doesn't try to whitewash herself; she only abuses her awful children.

Chapter 580 The Weaving Workshop Triggers Involution
Prefect Yao asked, "How can your weaving workshop produce such light and soft cotton cloth?"

Tong Huaqiong pointed to the loom and said, "I have improved both my cotton ginning machine and loom, and they can weave light and soft cotton cloth."

She was pointing to the loom in front of Gu Xiaoxue.

Gu Xiaoxue stopped weaving.

Prefect Yao stepped forward to take a look, and then touched the unfinished cloth on Gu Xiaoxue's loom; it felt exactly the same as the cloth in his hand.

He didn't understand looms, but that didn't dampen his excitement.

"Aunt Tong, how did you improve the cotton spinning machine?" Prefect Yao asked excitedly.

There are many hidden talents among ordinary people.

Tong Huaqiong said, “I used to grow cotton and found that the cotton in Qinghe Bay grew very well, but at most I could only grow half an acre to make cotton clothes and quilts, because most of the cotton could not be used to realize its value. Our looms are not good at weaving cotton. Not only do they ruin the looms, but the cloth they produce is also very coarse. Later, I met a merchant from Huating in the prefectural city. His wife was wearing cotton cloth. I realized that cotton cloth could be light and soft. When I asked, he said that people in his hometown of Huating all wore this kind of cotton cloth. The key is that it is very cheap.”

“I had the idea of ​​weaving cotton cloth. It just so happened that Magistrate Liu’s classmate was an official in Huating County, so I asked Magistrate Liu to inquire about cotton spinning machines in Huating County. Huating County gave me blueprints for cotton carding machines and cotton spinning machines. My nephew, Gu Daqiao, studied them for several months and improved the machine, which can weave cotton cloth finely and softly.”

"So in the end, the greatest credit goes to Magistrate Liu and Gu Daqiao. Magistrate Liu put the people's demands to heart. If he hadn't swallowed his pride and asked Huating County to borrow a loom, they wouldn't have given us the blueprints." Tong Huaqiong pointed to Gu Daqiao, who was debugging a new loom, and said, "If it weren't for Gu Daqiao's resourcefulness, having the loom blueprints would have been useless."

Magistrate Liu puffed out his chest and praised him again.

Prefect Yao strode over to Gu Daqiao's side.

Gu Daqiao was about to kowtow when Prefect Yao stopped him.

Prefect Yao asked Gu Daqiao, "How many kilograms of cotton are needed for one bolt of cloth?"

Gu Daqiao looked at Tong Huaqiong, who smiled and encouraged him to answer Lord Yao's question himself.

Gu Daqiao said with slight nervousness, "Twelve catties of deseed cotton can be woven into one bolt of cloth. Now, the wasted cotton is being added in as well. It's really heartbreaking to see that cotton is wasted. I'm trying to find a way to improve it and see if we can reduce it to ten catties of cotton per bolt of cloth."

Prefect Yao was very satisfied with Gu Daqiao's accurate and humble answer.

He then turned to Tong Huaqiong and said, "One mu of cotton field can produce 300 jin of cotton, so your 30 mu of land will yield 9,000 jin. This is seed cotton and lint cotton."

Magistrate Liu quickly added, "The yield of dried and hulled cotton is 100 jin per mu, so 3000 jin for 30 mu. Aunt Tong, am I right?"

Tong Huaqiong nodded and said, "You two are wise."

Magistrate Liu came from a rural background, while Prefect Yao came from a distinguished family and was able to know the produce of the land very well, which shows that their visits to the fields were not in vain.

Prefect Yao smiled and said, "According to the rule of twelve catties of cotton per bolt of cloth, then three thousand catties would be two hundred and fifty bolts of cloth."

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself, "This number is quite auspicious."

Then Prefect Yao became excited: "Just as Aunt Tong said, not only is Qinghe Bay suitable for growing cotton, but the entire Ningcheng is suitable for growing cotton. Cotton yields higher and is easier to grow than hemp. The reason why cotton was not grown on a large scale in the past was that cotton could not be woven into easy-to-wear cloth. Now that your weaving workshop can weave fine and soft cloth, then cotton cloth, which is cheap and has a good feel, can benefit the people."

Tong Huaqiong thought to herself, "As expected of a local official, he saw through the key point immediately."

"Aunt Tong, you've done a great service, and so has Gu Daqiao! I must reward you both!" Prefect Yao exclaimed excitedly. As an official, what more could one hope for than for the people under one's jurisdiction to have a place to live, enough to eat, and warm clothes? Now that Aunt Tong's cotton spinning machine had solved the problem of keeping warm, how could he, the local official, not be thrilled?

Tong Huaqiong didn't care about the honors bestowed upon her; she was already a county princess, so what if she was granted a title of county princess or princess?

She wants to get business at the border.

Su Chengmin said that the soldiers in the northern desert needed winter clothes, and the old cotton clothes were heavy and not warm enough, so she wanted to take over the business.

The business involves 100,000 soldiers on the border.

She can't rely on herself alone; she needs official support. Prefect Yao has the backing of the Yao family in the capital, which might be able to help her.

However, this request could not be made in front of everyone, so Tong Huaqiong said to Prefect Yao, "Prefect Yao, I am just a down-to-earth businessman. A clean and honest government and a stable society are enough for me to do business with peace of mind. As for the bridge, it certainly deserves a reward."

Tong Huaqiong looked at Gu Daqiao: "Daqiao, Lord Yao wants to reward you. Our Lord Yao is the most generous. Just tell Lord Yao what you want as a reward."

Gu Daqiao was already stunned, not knowing what reward to offer.

Seeing Gu Daqiao sweating profusely, Prefect Yao said with a regretful expression, "Daqiao is the first scholar in our Gu family. The teacher praised him for his intelligence and diligence, but unfortunately, he injured his leg and had to go home to farm before even taking the exam. Prefect Yao, why don't you bestow upon him the title of Righteous Citizen?"

Prefect Yao said, "Very well. Not only will Feng Gu Daqiao be recognized as a righteous citizen, but his family's land tax and military service will also be waived."

Gu Daqiao excitedly kowtowed to express his gratitude.

This was the last time he would kowtow to an official, aside from when he met the emperor.

While Gu Daqiao expressed his gratitude to Prefect Yao, the person he was most grateful to in his heart was Tong Huaqiong. Only Tong Huaqiong knew the regret in his heart.

A scholar who passed the county-level examination could refuse to kneel before an official; Gu Daqiao would never be able to pass the county-level examination.

In addition to scholars who did not kneel before officials, commoners who were granted the title of Righteous People were also not required to kneel before officials.

Tong Huaqiong understood Gu Daqiao's thoughts, which is why she asked Prefect Yao to give him a reward as a righteous citizen.

Although this reward wasn't as tangible as gold or silver, it was exactly what Gu Daqiao wanted.

The exemption from land tax and military service surprised Tani Ohashi even more.

In addition to land tax, farmers in Dasheng also had to pay military service. During times of war, they had to fight or serve as laborers in the army. In times of peace, the service would be paid in the form of grain or silver.

The military service rate in this dynasty is already considered low, but Gu Daqiao has a bad leg, which makes it inconvenient for him to farm and earn money. Even though the taxes and silver taxes are low for others, they are still a considerable burden for him.

Now that Prefect Yao has exempted him from land tax and military service, not only has Gu Daqiao's burden been reduced, but even if war breaks out in the future, he will not be forced to send his son to serve in the military because of his leg problems.

Song Qiaoniang was instructing the weavers on how to weave when she heard the news that her husband had been favored and rewarded by the prefect. Overwhelmed with emotion, she burst into tears.

When the other weaver girls saw this, they didn't envy Song Qiaoniang; they were just glad that they had managed to latch onto Tong Huaqiong's coattails.

Some of the weavers even secretly thought, "We're all human, so how could Daqiao possibly improve the loom?"
Why can't they?
Tong Huaqiong never expected that bringing Gu Daqiao into the sights of Prefect Yao would actually cause internal strife in her own weaving workshop.