The Sewing Machine
If she marries a newly appointed scholar, as long as her musical skills reach a master level, she will lack neither prestige nor wealth.
She could become a teacher at the Capital Women's Academy, she could have normal interactions with Zhao Ruxi, and she could do many, many things. She could even invest in the businesses that Zhao Ruxi, He Yuqi, and Xu Xue were involved in.
Her husband, being the brother-in-law of the Crown Prince, would receive preferential treatment and promotions from others even without special favors from the Crown Prince and Zhao Ruxi.
At that time, who would dare to look down on her? What level of banquet wouldn't she be qualified to attend? Her in-laws and husband wouldn't dare to mistreat her, nor would they even dare to consider taking a concubine; on the contrary, they would have to fawn over her.
She's living a wonderful life.
Thinking about this, she was filled with deep regret.
"Do you think anyone would still want to marry me now that I've left the Prince Jingping's Estate?" she asked.
"I don't know." Zhao Ruxi was such a perceptive person; she immediately knew what Zhao Ruyu was thinking.
She said, "There might be some, but I'd guess they're all sycophants."
She gave Zhao Ruyu a meaningful look. "I suppose you know that the Crown Prince would never help your future husband get promoted because of you. He'll only suppress him. Back when you became beautiful, you deliberately showed up in front of the Crown Prince, and he told me everything. Because you stole my life and then treated me badly, the Crown Prince doesn't have a very good impression of you."
So, let's not bring up the issue of fake sisterhood at this time.
Zhao Ruyu: "..."
She recalled how she had thought herself beautiful and flaunted Xiao Lingyan in front of Xiao Lingyan, only to be completely ignored, which filled her with shame. She never imagined that Xiao Lingyan would tell Zhao Ruxi about it; she wished she could disappear into the ground.
"I... I..." She lowered her head, biting her lip, "I'm sorry."
"My son is waiting for me to return to the manor, so I won't say any more to you. Finally, let me give you some advice: although you are now a concubine, the fact that you were able to leave the manor today means your personal freedom is not restricted. If you want to learn something or do business, that's perfectly fine."
"A woman's existence is not for men, but for herself. Learn, make yourself smarter and more capable; you don't need to wait until after death. You have so much time left; you can use it to learn in this life, making your second chance worthwhile. If you have money, talent, and ability, even as a concubine, others will respect you."
At this point, Zhao Ruxi stood up. "That's all I have to say. If you've taken it to heart, then think carefully about what I just said."
As she spoke, she glanced at Zhao Ruyu, then stepped outside.
"Wait," Zhao Ruyu called out to her from behind, "I have one last question for you. If... I mean, if one day the Crown Prince takes a concubine and favors other women, what will you do? Will you be heartbroken and distressed, and will you stand up for him and deal with those women?"
This was Zhao Ruyu's biggest question.
Zhao Ruxi seems quite formidable now. But if she were to fight to the death with other women for a man, Zhao Ruyu would think she's nothing special. Zhao Ruxi's earlier statement, "It's not for a man," was a lie, because she herself couldn't do it.
Zhao Ruxi turned around, looked at Zhao Ruyu, and smiled, "No. If you are heartless, I will leave. This is what I told the Crown Prince before our marriage. If he takes a concubine and favors another woman, I will no longer consider him my husband."
"I have my own hobbies, my own career, and my own pursuits. I can be beautiful on my own without him. He knows this, and he also knows that I mean what I say, that I would rather break than bend. So as long as he doesn't want to lose me, he will restrain himself."
With that, she turned and left without lingering.
Zhao Ruyu stared at Zhao Ruxi's retreating figure, remaining silent for a long time.
Back at the East Palace, Zhao Ruxi went to check on her son and found him awake. She played with him for a while until the little guy fell asleep again. Only then did she return to her room, sit down at the table, and start drawing.
Today, she visited the Women's Technical College and discovered that this was just the beginning—because the Women's Technical College had only been established for a short time and had few graduates, employment was relatively easy to arrange. Even if they couldn't get jobs in workshops or textile factories, the students could find work on their own.
However, as the school's operating time increases and more students graduate, market competition intensifies, and contradictions will become more prominent, inevitably affecting the enrollment situation of the Women's Technical College.
Once people realize that they've spent money learning skills but still can't find work, fewer people will come to learn those skills. Gradually, the schools will have to close down, and their plans will fall through.
Therefore, establishing more factories will provide more job opportunities for students, allowing women to discover that as long as they enter Women's Technical College and learn certain skills, they can find a job. This will encourage more women to leave their homes, embark on the path of self-reliance, and improve their social status.
Watching the students in the garment manufacturing department sew clothes stitch by stitch today, she decided to make a sewing machine herself. Although a foot-operated sewing machine is delicate, it is entirely possible to make one based on Xiao Lingyan's improvements to the steel.
With the advent of textile machines, and then sewing and embroidery machines, women could leave their homes and go to factories to earn wages through their labor. This better reflected the value of their work and earned them more respect from their families than having them stay home making clothes for their loved ones.
The advent of machines can reduce the cost of textiles, sewing, and embroidery, thereby significantly lowering the price of ready-made clothing, making clothes affordable for people, so they no longer have to wear coarse linen or patch up their clothes again and again.
After Zhao Ruxi finished drawing the blueprints for the sewing machine, she also drew the blueprints for a handheld harvester. When Xiao Lingyan returned home, she handed the blueprints to him.
The handheld harvester is still powered by a hand crank. However, it eliminates the need to bend over and is twice as efficient as harvesting with a sickle.
Xiao Lingyan glanced at the blueprints and asked Zhao Ruxi, "How do you plan to operate these two businesses?"
Zhao Ruxi initially donated the large harvester to the Great Jin free of charge. However, given that the main buyers of the harvester were powerful families and landowners, Xiao Ge did not want to release the blueprints for free.
At Xiao Lingyan's suggestion, Xiao Ge established an Agricultural Implements Office within the Ministry of Works, and set up a harvester factory under the Agricultural Implements Office to manufacture and sell harvesters in a standardized manner. Half of the profits were collected into the national treasury, and the other half were used to reward those who made contributions to the manufacture of machinery.
"Personal handheld harvesters, like hoes, will have their blueprints published directly to benefit the public."
"As for sewing machines, I plan to establish a garment factory in partnership with Grand Princess Shangde, just like with textile machines. Once they're manufactured, I'll improve them and turn them into embroidery machines. The textile machines, sewing machines, and embroidery machines will work together to form the garment factory's production line. We'll recruit a large number of female workers to produce garments."