The Humble Family's Daughter Has A Spatial Pocket!-Chapter 1138 - 961, Knitting a Sweater

During the New Year period, Daozi fell in love with going out to play. As soon as he opened his eyes each day, he would drag Xiao Yeyang out of the residence.

Xiao Yeyang had nothing urgent to do, so he was happy to accompany his son. Every day, he would take Daozi out of the residence for a trip, either strolling the streets or listening to storytelling at teahouses.

As the highest official in Xiliang, Xiao Yeyang attracted attention wherever he went.

From the beginning of the Lunar New Year to the Lantern Festival, Xiao Yeyang, holding his son, had visited almost all the officials in Liangdu.

"Tomorrow, I have to go back to the office. Let me feed our son."

Daozi sat in his special children’s chair, being fed spoon by spoon by Daohua.

The little one was restless; ever since he learned to walk and run, he has been extremely uncooperative at mealtime, either running to play with this or to grab that.

Daohua had a children’s chair custom-made for him; at mealtimes, he would be seated securely in the chair, which slowly corrected his habit of running and fidgeting around.

Daohua handed Xiao Yeyang the bowl of rice, and then began to eat her own meal.

Daozi ate two spoonfuls of rice fed by Xiao Yeyang and then snatched the spoon, wanting to eat by himself.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t handle the spoon properly, either failing to scoop up the food or not being able to feed himself.

Xiao Yeyang watched anxiously from the side and was about to take the spoon from his son’s hand to feed him when Daohua stopped him.

Daohua passed another spoon to Xiao Yeyang: "You feed yourself, let our son learn by imitation."

Next, Xiao Yeyang continued to feed himself while Daozi frequently imitated him, and finally managed to successfully put the spoon in his mouth.

After the meal, Daohua led the child around the house to aid digestion, while Xiao Yeyang sat in a recliner, looking over the messages that came from all over.

"Now that Xiliao poses no immediate threat, Xiliang really needs to develop quickly."

"In the past, the people here suffered from wars for many years, severely hindering social development. Without the external threats, it’s time to solve those existing problems."

"Since I’m in charge of Xiliang, I must restore the livelihood of the people."

Daohua asked, "What are you planning to do?"

Xiao Yeyang thought for a while: "The most fundamental aspect of governing a land is ensuring the local people have enough to eat and wear. The promotion of high-yielding grain varieties is already underway, but economic development cannot rely solely on that."

"The roads in Xiliang are in poor condition. I want to repair and rebuild several main roads in Xiliang using cement from the Stone Factory."

"Also, the post stations need attention. Not only are there too few, but they’re also dilapidated and far apart, which is very inconvenient for traders to rest."

Daohua smiled upon hearing Xiao Yeyang’s words: "Your ideas are good. There’s a saying that if you want to get rich, build the roads first. I support you."

"Xiliang is vast, and only with good roads can it attract people from other places. When there’s more people moving around, the economy will naturally pick up."

"However, infrastructure requires a lot of manpower, resources, and money. Can the military governor’s office handle the turnover?"

Xiao Yeyang smiled: "The Wei Family left quite a bit of silver, which should support us for a while. Each of the guard stations also collects a batch of taxes every year. As for the people to build the roads... I plan to have the Border Army do it as part of their training."

Daohua, seeing that Xiao Yeyang had everything planned, did not ask further. But seeing him start to rub his forehead, she couldn’t help asking, "You’ve got it all arranged, what’s bothering you?"

Xiao Yeyang sighed: "I’m worried about the soldiers stationed at the border. A great many of them aren’t married, and many are not young anymore. Seeing them guard the borders without even a descendant to offer incense, it bothers me."

Daohua fell silent, as this was a problem she couldn’t solve.

Xiao Yeyang suddenly said: "Every year, the Imperial Court seizes the assets of some powerful families, and these officials’ families keep many maidservants. I might as well submit a proposal to my Imperial uncle and have the maidservants from those criminal families sent here to become wives for the soldiers of the Border Army."

The more Xiao Yeyang talked about it, the better he thought the idea was.

Daohua reminded him: "If you’re going to arrange marriages for the soldiers, shouldn’t you first build houses for their families?"

Xiao Yeyang nodded: "I’ll allocate land near the military towns to build houses." After saying that, he got up in a hurry and went straight to writing the proposal.

Such enthusiasm shows that he must have often worried about the soldiers’ matrimonial affairs.

...

After the Lantern Festival, Xiao Yeyang got busy again.

By February, as the spring farming activities began everywhere, Daohua also became busy.

The climate in Liangdu was somewhat better than in Ganzhou Guard, and by mid-February, the temperature was no longer so cold, making it suitable to start sowing.

Daohua had previously bought two estates and a pasture and had not yet visited them. Taking advantage of the spring farming season, she planned to take her son to visit them.

As for the tens of thousands of acres of wasteland, Daohua did not have any specific demands for the first year. She let the tenant farmers plant corn and potatoes to replenish the soil and to also dig out irrigation channels.

In early March, the temperature had noticeably warmed up, and Daohua, accompanied by Daozi, finally left the Prince Residence to head directly to the estates and pasture outside the city.

As the number one aristocratic family in Xiliang, the Wei Family naturally owned the best estates and pastures.

The fields of the two estates were all prime farmland. Seeing that the tenant farmers were working in an organized manner, Daohua didn’t stay longer and went straight to the pasture.

This pasture was not as large as the one Daohua bought in Ganzhou Guard, but it was well-located, and the pasture grass was growing lushly.

When Daohua bought the pasture, she also purchased all the cattle and sheep within it. As the carriage entered the pasture, she happened upon the herders shearing wool from the sheep.

Yan Shouhou saw Daohua watching intently and quickly explained: "The sheep raised in this pasture are of the merino breed. Their wool can be harvested twice a year, once in spring and once in autumn."

Daohua asked, "How do they use this wool?"

Yan Shouhou replied, "They sell the wool to merchants, who then spin it into yarn and weave it into woolen blankets and felt."

Daohua, recalling the woolen clothes from her past life, asked yet another question, "Hasn’t anyone made sweaters out of wool?"

Yan Shouhou was silent for a moment before replying, "Compared to cotton clothing, woolen garments are still too expensive. I haven’t really heard of it."

Daohua nodded, "Don’t sell this batch of wool. Have the people at the pasture wash the wool clean, then send it to the Prince Residence. I have another use for it."

Afterwards, Daohua and Daozi played in the pasture for a while before heading back to the Prince Residence. freēwēbηovel.c૦m

Back at the residence, Daohua drew a design for knitting needles for making sweaters and handed it to Guyu, instructing her to have the residence’s carpenters make several sets.

By mid-March, Yan Shouhou had delivered several cleaned frames of wool to the Prince Residence.

The residence had maids and old women skilled in spinning yarn. Daohua found a few people to spin several types of wool yarn of different thicknesses according to her specifications.

Then she bought dyes to color the yarn, and by the time all of the yarn had been dyed, it was already the end of March.

"What are you planning to do with these?"

Daohua’s activity attracted Guo Ruomei’s attention.

Daohua replied with a smile, "I want to use the wool yarn to knit clothes."

Guo Ruomei said, "Such tasks can be left to the servants. There’s no need for you to do it personally."

Daohua responded, "What I am making, they don’t know how to." Saying this, she took out two knitting needles and began knitting in front of Guo Ruomei.

"Wool blankets and felts produced by spinning machines are something ordinary people can’t afford. However, these knitted with bamboo needles like mine are affordable for many."

Watching Daohua knit out a piece in no time, Guo Ruomei was full of surprise: "I only knew that spinning machines could weave cloth; I never thought that two bamboo sticks could knit as well."

She continued, looking at Daohua in astonishment, "How do you know how to do this?"

Daohua replied, "...I read it in a storybook."

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l