Having followed Commissioner Liu for many years, Vice Commander Niu knew he was eager to please those in the capital, hoping to be promoted back to the cabinet in Chang’an. When Commissioner Liu left, he might not have received a promotion.
As the Zhao family would soon be in-laws, he had no choice but to help. Vice Commander Niu said in a low voice: “Your Excellency if there are too many extraordinary brocades like the chrysanthemum one, they cease to be extraordinary. Don’t the palace ladies all love novelty?”
Commissioner Liu thought this was true. In the palace, only two or three consorts could help with his promotion. After some consideration, he changed his mind: “Let the Zhao family weave twenty pieces then.
Ten pieces following the Ten Famous Brocades pattern—perfect completeness, a good omen. The other ten pieces should use the chrysanthemum brocade as a model, featuring ten different flowers. What I want are extraordinary brocades, they must be as lifelike as this Brocade King-winning chrysanthemum piece.”
Ten Famous Brocades, ten types of flowers.
Zhao Binsong’s vision darkened; he nearly collapsed under the table.
This competition piece used thread colors matched by Ji Yingying, with the position of threads and patterns marked. The Zhao family had gathered their most skilled weavers, working day and night for a month to weave this three-foot brocade painting. To weave a hundred chrysanthemum brocades, they could follow this competition piece. The weavers would work hard for a year, and the Zhao family would just lose a hundred pieces of brocade.
But twenty pieces of new extraordinary brocade—each requiring new design drafts, individual color matching, and specific loom configurations for each pattern. During weaving, make the patterns come alive through different thread colors and lighting effects. One or two misplaced threads and the entire piece would fail to meet standards. Forget twenty pieces; even weaving one new pattern would take three years. Zhao Binsong would rather donate a hundred other Shu brocades to the Commissioner than weave those twenty pieces with living patterns.
He had initially declined because he didn’t want to share the chrysanthemum brocade’s color-matching method, hoping to keep it as the Zhao family’s signature piece. Now he wanted to slap himself. He looked helplessly toward Elder Master Zhao and his son. He had no confidence the Zhao family could develop color combinations for each new pattern.
The other brocade makers didn’t understand Zhao Binsong’s difficulties. They felt various degrees of jealousy and envy. The Zhao family had won the Brocade King title and gained Vice Commander Niu’s backing. With one word from Vice Commander Niu, the Zhao family’s quota dropped from a hundred pieces to just twenty. Except for the Yang family, all other households still had to submit at least fifty pieces of tribute brocade.
The Military Commissioner commanded troops; no one dared oppose him. The looks directed at the Zhao family members became rather peculiar.
Previously, when the Yang family was Brocade King, the Imperial Textile Bureau would come annually to purchase tribute brocades, always negotiating with the Yang family first. The Bureau had never defaulted on payment. In good years, tribute brocades sold for higher prices than the market rate. Everyone had hoped for tribute brocade quotas.
This year, the Commissioner’s demand for tribute brocades hadn’t gone through the capital’s Ministry of Works Textile Bureau. This was the private collection of extraordinary brocades to curry favor with capital nobles under his name. None of the brocade makers stood up to speak for the Zhao family. They all coldly observed how the Zhao family would handle this.
Yang Jingyuan noticed Zhao Xiuyuan’s brow furrow and then smooth out. He grew furious—could he be thinking of asking Ji Yingying for help again? He thought to himself that he needed to find a way to keep Ji Yingying away from this matter.
Commissioner Liu had already shown the Zhao family a great face for Vice Commander Niu’s sake. Brocade merchants? Brocade King? What were they? Even if the dynasty elevated merchants’ status, they were still merchants! After he finished speaking, the entire floor of the restaurant remained silent, with no brocade maker responding. Commissioner Liu’s beard trembled, his eyes flashing with killing intent.
Elder Master Yang remained composed, wearing a Buddha-like smile and an expression that said “You’re the new Brocade King, your family should take the lead in speaking.” If they waited for the Yang family to step forward again, the Zhao family would lose prestige among the brocade makers as the new Brocade King.
“Your Excellency!” Elder Master Zhao stood up.
Elder Master Zhao rose to address the Commissioner, and after introducing himself, immediately agreed: “Your Excellency, please allow me to explain. The Zhao family spent several years gathering skilled craftsmen to develop this living Riverside Immortal for this year’s Brocade King competition. Weaving ten animated chrysanthemum brocades will be no problem for the Zhao family. However, the Ten Famous Brocades and nine other flower brocades cannot be completed within a year. The Zhao family is willing to offer a hundred other high-quality Shu brocades. Once we succeed in developing them, we will weave them then. What does Your Excellency think?”
“Please reconsider, Your Excellency!” Zhao Binsong also pleaded with clasped hands.
Getting ten chrysanthemum brocades and unexpectedly receiving an additional hundred high-quality Shu brocades satisfied Commissioner Liu. But he still said: “In that case, I’ll give the Zhao family time. However, from now on, the Zhao family must produce one new extraordinary brocade pattern each year.”
Delaying year by year was better than having their necks squeezed next year. Elder Master Zhao had offered an additional hundred brocades to change the Commissioner’s mind, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
“The Zhao family has agreed to my terms. What about the rest of you?”
Among the brocade makers, the household with the fewest looms had three hundred. Producing three to four hundred pieces annually, and giving up fifty pieces at a low price to the Commissioner meant losing a year’s profit. If the Commissioner continued this the following year, everyone would lose their capital trying to fill this hole. The brocade makers didn’t dare agree and all looked toward the Yang family.
Seeing no one at the banquet step forward to respond, Commissioner Liu inwardly snorted coldly, looking around: “Where is the Yang family head? Can you promise me a hundred pieces of new brocade?”
His voice contained a trace of coldness.
Yang Jingshan saw the cold expression on Vice Commander Niu’s face and recalled his father’s previous rejection of the marriage between Third Brother and Fifth Lady Niu. Now that the Niu family was allying with the Zhao family through marriage, Vice Commander Niu had already helped reduce the Zhao family’s quota from a hundred pieces to twenty. How could the Yang family dare refuse? He quickly responded: “The Yang family has no problem. I will soon invite everyone to our mansion to learn the new brocade technique.”
With the Yang family’s new technique, each household providing five pieces of new brocade as payment would significantly reduce the Yang family’s losses.
The Yang family had been Brocade King for many years; the industry followed their lead. If the Yang family agreed despite having double the quota, others calculated inwardly and, not daring to offend the Commissioner, could only reluctantly agree first and discuss ways to deal with the Commissioner later.
Having achieved his goal, Commissioner Liu happily took his leave.
The government officials followed suit.
The lively banquet instantly left only the brocade makers.
“Everyone, please hear this old man out.” Elder Master Zhao walked to the head of the room and pointed to the chrysanthemum brocade, saying, “The Zhao family is willing to share this chrysanthemum brocade’s color-matching technique and weaving method for everyone’s reference. Whichever household can weave the Ten Famous Brocades or flower brocades—we don’t want the technique, just one piece of brocade. We will reward it with fifty pieces of high-quality brocade. Everyone knows how difficult it is to develop an extraordinary brocade. Our Zhao family also struggles to fulfill the Commissioner’s demands. We thank everyone in advance for their help.”
Except for the Yang family, the brocade makers’ eyes lit up. With the Brocade King’s color-matching and weaving techniques, one new extraordinary brocade could be exchanged for fifty pieces of high-quality brocade, avoiding losses. They also began to see the Zhao family as generous and righteous. The atmosphere became lively again.
On the way back to Sandaoyan, Zhao Binsong was puzzled: “Father, won’t our family lose this way?”
“Don’t worry. Except for Ji Yingying, no one can match such animated thread colors,” Elder Master Zhao chuckled. “The extraordinary brocades will come from our Zhao family. I’ve already set the price at one piece for fifty pieces of high-quality brocade. How could the Zhao family lose?”
Zhao Binsong suddenly understood, then said softly: “If Second Brother can’t marry Ji Yingying, how can we convince her to help our family match colors for new extraordinary brocades?”
Elder Master Zhao said meaningfully: “She will agree.”