Guide to traveling through the Northern Song Dynasty

Chapter 117: All the woolen coats are available?

The next day, Daiyu and Baochai's parents came.

The two parties signed a five-year employment contract. From the middle and late Northern Song Dynasty to the present Ming Dynasty, "five years" has always been the longest employment period. It is OK to renew the contract after the expiration, and the single contract shall not exceed this period.

Generally speaking, maids sign contracts at the age of thirteen or fourteen, and get married when the contract expires at the age of seventeen or eighteen.

For girls from poor families, this is not only a job, but also a way to gild themselves. They learn the rules and increase their knowledge in wealthy families, and they are very popular when they find a husband's family.

At this time in the Ming Dynasty, there was no Cheng-Zhu Neo-Confucianism, nor were there many low-class people, so employers did not have strong personal constraints on servants.

Moreover, with the development of the commodity economy, employers did not need so many "house-born slaves" because that would greatly increase the cost of employment. Just like capitalists recruit workers, they will directly dismiss them when they are disabled or old. Do I have to provide for your old age?

Therefore, it is rare for generations to be servants in one family. On the contrary, such servants are absolute confidants.

Most of them are dismissed after working for five or ten years, and very few can renew their contracts for fifteen years.

Consumables!

Li Minqiu is responsible for drafting the contract, and he is also the guarantor, that is, he plays three roles: the scribe, the middleman, and the guarantor.

The middleman is the middleman, including matchmakers and brokers. If it is a professional middleman, he often charges a commission of 5% of the transaction amount.

The guarantor is just as the name suggests, and there is no need to elaborate.

Different eras have different focuses.

In the Song and Yuan dynasties in history, due to the extremely strong official brokers, various contracts were mainly based on middlemen because they had official backgrounds as guarantors. In the Ming and Qing dynasties, guarantors were mainly used, and if there was a problem, the guarantor was responsible.

In addition, the sales contract is often based on the middleman, while the loan contract is mainly based on the guarantor.

Contracts have become very formal since the Song Dynasty, and there are even very detailed legal clauses. For example, in a house transaction, if the seller maliciously conceals information (the house has been mortgaged, sold for the second time, etc.), the government can directly declare the contract invalid, and the losses caused will be borne by the middleman.

The three parties signed and sealed the contract in duplicate.

The families of the two girls were very happy and bowed to Xie Yan again and again, just begging him to treat their daughters well.

Xie Yan also prepared some small gifts, which were cakes bought in the streets outside the city, and gave them to the girls' families as a gift. This move made the other party completely relieved and felt that Xie Yan was a good employer.

"Is Xie Xueshi going to the Imperial College?" Li Dunshi asked.

Xie Yan said, "Wait until the academic conference is over."

Various academic conferences will end in three days, and Luoyang Imperial College will be on holiday during this period.

But there is nothing worth listening to. Those real great scientists have already lined up in groups privately waiting to do experiments.

Li Dunshi asked again: "Xie Xueshi is in Luoyang for the first time. You haven't visited many places, right? I am very familiar with Luoyang."

Xie Yan was a little moved and wanted to experience listening to music in a brothel.

Alas, forget it.

I am now a Furong Xueshi, and I have to cherish my reputation.

Xie Yan asked in a low voice: "Will it be a bad influence for scholars to go to the brothels to listen to music?"

Li Dunshi said: "How could it be? If students go to listen to music, they may be reprimanded by their elders for neglecting their studies. If successful scholars go to listen to music, it must be a romantic and elegant thing."

Xie Yan felt itchy.

Before the epidemic, he worked as a construction worker for a period of time and often heard the seniors on the construction site bragging. They said that in the glorious era of civil engineering, those who studied civil engineering were not dogs. At that time, they were often invited to the business K to be cool, and they didn't have to pay for it.

Xie Yan only regretted that he was born a few years later.

"My dear!"

The two girls sent their families away and came back to stand there in unison waiting for instructions.

Xie Yan was in a good mood when he saw them. He had two beautiful maids and was also rumored to be having an affair with a real princess. Why would he go to the business K to find a fake princess?

Humph, I, Xie Yan, am not that kind of vulgar person!

Seeing that they were still dressed like country girls, Xie Yan asked, "Is there a ready-made clothing store in Luoyang?"

Li Dunshi said, "There is a ready-made clothing store, and they also make custom clothes."

Xie Yan bowed and said, "Please lead the way, I will buy them a set of clothes."

Li Dunshi immediately asked the servants to prepare the carriage, and the two girls cheered and jumped for joy.

This place is in the suburbs of Luoyang, and it is also next to the Longmen Grottoes. There are often noble ladies coming here to worship Buddha. Daiyu and Baochai naturally dare not compare with noble ladies. They just envy the maids of wealthy families who can wear colorful and beautiful clothes.

The floral skirts on them are the cheapest printed fabrics, and they are usually reluctant to wear them.

Li Dunshi believes that with Xie Xueshi's status, even maids should have class. So he asked the driver to go directly into the city instead of going to the shops in the suburbs outside the city.

The carriage came to a street in the southwest city, where all kinds of textiles were sold. There were even wool felt and cashmere cloth from the grassland area, as well as various furs from the northeast and overseas.

Li Dunshi jumped off the carriage and pointed to a shop and said, "This is Zhong's Clothing Store, a first-class store in Luoyang City." He pointed to another shop and said, "That's Zijinfang, it has an elegant name, but it's actually not as good as Zhong's Clothing Store."

Xie Yan walked in and saw all kinds of ready-made clothes hanging inside, and there were also various fabric samples on the upper counter.

Here you can choose the fabric and style, ask the tailor to make it for you, and it will be ready in a few days, and there is also door-to-door delivery service.

"Invite your distinguished guests!" The shopkeeper came over to greet him personally.

The shopkeeper of the ready-made clothing store was obviously more knowledgeable than the students from Huangzhou Prefecture. He glanced at the hibiscus jade pendant on Xie Yan's waist and immediately became more enthusiastic: "But Bachelor Xie, who is known for his green hair?"

Xie Yan smiled awkwardly.

Li Dunshi said: "The shopkeeper has good eyesight. This is Bachelor Xie. Bachelor Xie will live in Luoyang permanently and has hired two new maids. Could you please help me select ready-made clothes."

Except for the shopkeeper and tailor, who are men, all the shop assistants here are women.

A female clerk was ordered by the shopkeeper to make tea, while another female clerk was smiling beside her.

The shopkeeper said: "My shop is on the first and second floors. It's early summer now, and the first floor is full of summer clothes. There are more ready-to-wear styles upstairs. Bachelor Xie might as well go upstairs and have a look."

Xie Yan carefully looked at the ready-made clothes. Different from the ones worn by the Hanfu girls in the short video, there were no wide robes or big sleeves in these clothes on the first floor. Maybe it’s because summer is here, and all the clothes are narrow-sleeved or short-sleeved.

Clothes have become more convenient to put on and take off for work, which is a mainstream development trend.

In the early years of the Northern Song Dynasty, there was still a clear boundary between the clothing of noble women and common women. By the middle of the Northern Song Dynasty, this boundary had become blurred. Noble ladies also like to wear civilian women's clothing. The sleeves are becoming narrower and narrower, but the materials and details are more exquisite.

"What kind of skirt is this?" Xie Yan was like a curious baby.

The shopkeeper's introduction said: "This is a spiral skirt, worn by women when riding horses and donkeys. The noble ladies in the capital like to play polo, so this kind of skirt is the most convenient to wear."

Xie Yan studied it carefully and found that it was indeed very suitable for riding horses.

This thing actually existed as early as the Northern Song Dynasty. It was invented by Kaifeng prostitutes. The front and rear hips were opened for easy riding. At that time, the ladies of Bianliang competed to imitate it, and moral people sighed, saying that the world was declining and they even imitated prostitutes.

Today's Ming Dynasty people are so accustomed to it that they have long forgotten the origin of the spiral skirt. They are all wearing it on the polo field.

"How much?" Xie Yan asked.

The shopkeeper said: "Twenty strings."

Xie Yan thought to himself: This shabby skirt doesn’t use much fabric, it’s just like a black shop!

Daiyu moved a step and quietly tugged on Xie Yan's sleeve, implying that this place was too expensive and she wanted to find another one.

Baochai's attention was on those beautiful clothes. She was dazzled by the dazzling array of clothes, and she didn't even hear what the shopkeeper was saying.

Xie Yan was not afraid of embarrassment and said directly: "I didn't bring much money with me to Beijing. I can't afford the clothes here. I'll come back later when I have money."

The shopkeeper was startled when he heard this. He had never seen such an honest person before. He smiled and said without changing his smile: "It is already a great honor for Bachelor Xie to come to our store. Whether you want to buy it or not, you can take a look again. Being able to get to know Xie Bachelor, this is a great honor for me."

Thanks to the shopkeeper's kind invitation, Xie Yan visited the first floor and was invited to the second floor.

There are more styles on the second floor, and there are even many Hufu, from Japan to Egypt. But most of them have been improved and become more in line with Chinese aesthetics.

Xie Yan's eyes fell on a coat, which was similar in style to a modern windbreaker. He wore it when he met his parents in Huangzhou last winter.

This thing was first called a coat and was very popular in the Tang Dynasty. Noble people don't dress well and like to wear their windbreakers on the outside, just like those in later generations who wore their windbreakers without wearing them.

During Ju Ming's reign, the coat was modified and became the regular uniform of the Musketeers, and is now worn by many officials and civilians.

The one in front of me is made of different materials.

Woolen coat!

"What kind of material is this?" Xie Yan asked.

The shopkeeper's answer: "Hu Rong."

Xie Yan asked again: "Did it come from overseas?"

"It was originally made by Lanzhou craftsmen and improved by Jiangnan craftsmen," the shopkeeper introduced in detail. "Agriculturists have cross-bred sheep from Monan, Tubo, Anxi, Qihe, Dawan, and Tianfang. In the past few years, A kind of sheep with fine and long hair is bred. Craftsmen use the sheep's wool and cashmere, and then mix it with silk and other materials to finally weave this velvet fabric."

Xie Yan said: "I haven't seen it in Huangzhou."

The shopkeeper said: "Hu velvet was originally a fabric worn by poor people. At that time, it was only made of wool. Although it was warm, it was not delicate, thick and heavy, and would prick the skin. Later, craftsmen from Lanzhou added cashmere, and craftsmen from Jiangnan added it. Silk wool has only become popular among the nobles in Beijing in the past two years. It is estimated that in a few years, it will spread in the southern provinces. I heard that more and more herdsmen are raising this kind of sheep. "

Xie Yan's expression became a little strange, and he suddenly imagined a scene.

The background of the picture is factory chimneys, and the people walking on the street are wearing woolen coats, but each of them has their hair tied up in a bun or a Chinese-style hat.

How steampunky!