Fenghou

Chapter 1070 Miangui
When he came to the guest room and sat down, Chen Qing smiled at the shopkeeper, "Is the store busy every day?"

The shopkeeper nodded, "They are all businessmen from all over the world, and they purchase a lot. If we hadn't stocked up enough, we really wouldn't be able to supply them."

"How much can you earn in one winter?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, I can make a net profit of [-] guan in one winter."

Chen Qing was taken aback, "Are there so many?"

"Yes! We can sell [-] pieces of goods in one winter, but it's not just our territory. Merchants from Jiangnan also come to buy them. Sheepskin, cashmere and woolen blankets are the most popular, followed by fine linen."

"What is fine linen?"

The shopkeeper laughed, and took a small bamboo basket from the outside. Inside was a pile of gray wool. Chen Qing touched it and said with a smile, "It's broken hemp!"

"It's thinner than broken hemp and rotten. It's fluffy with a bamboo bow. It's very cheap. It's very popular for making cotton clothes. Although it sells in large quantities, it doesn't make much profit. It's mainly cheap. , it’s only a hundred pennies a catty, and we only earn ten pennies for a catty.”

"What about the wood cotton and straw cotton? What's the price?" Chen Qing asked again.

The shopkeeper hurriedly said: "The price of these two is the same, three hundred yuan and one tael, which is about five pennies a catty, and the price is fifty times that of fine linen wool."

Chen Qing asked in confusion: "Is this because rare things are more expensive?"

"The main thing is that things are rare and expensive, but it also has its own advantages, such as its softness and warmth, which is far better than that of fine linen. The biggest problem with fine linen is that it is relatively hard, and it will always be very uncomfortable when you wear it. The thin thorns penetrate the clothes and pierce the skin, which is very uncomfortable and not very warm, but grass cotton and wood cotton do not have this problem, and it is normal that they are rare and ten times more expensive.”

"Did anyone buy it?"

"Of course there is. Grass cotton is selling very well this year, and big families are buying it. Moreover, we are the exclusive supplier of grass cotton, which makes a lot of money."

Chen Qing smiled and asked, "Is there any cotton cloth? A cloth woven from straw cotton."

"Yes! But the quantity is not much. We only have [-] horses in stock. We have already sold [-] horses, and there are [-] horses left. It is estimated that they will be sold out this month. Yesterday, a cloth merchant in Lin'an bought [-] horses in one go. match."

"How much is a horse?"

"There are two kinds, one is [-] guan for a horse, and the other is cheaper, [-] guan for a horse."

Chen Qing was really taken aback, "It's actually more expensive than silk and satin!"

"Your Highness, a catty of grass cotton costs five guan, and a piece of cloth is at least three catties, and it has to be woven into cloth by hand. It is really not expensive, especially thirty guan. The quality is really good, very Fine and white, we only have [-] horses in stock, and we are reluctant to sell them. All we sell are the ones with [-] strings. The main thing is to look fresh. Your Highness, don’t underestimate the purchasing power of Lin’an dignitaries. The Lin’an businessman bought [-] horses and said Not enough, maybe I will come to buy it in two days.”

It's just cotton cloth, and in the final analysis, rarity is more expensive.

Chen Qing laughed again: "See if the shopkeeper has time tomorrow, go to my house to set up a stall, and bring cotton products and cashmere and sheepskin products to my house. There may be many family members of high-ranking officials who will come to choose together. They don’t have to come here en masse to buy goods.”

The shopkeeper quickly agreed, "I will bring three guys there, and I will send another three guys to help here, and there will be no delay."

"Then trouble the shopkeeper, tomorrow morning, a little earlier."

"Dare not, it is our honor to serve His Highness, we will go there at dawn, if you go early, you can wait for a while."

When Chen Qing returned to the official office, he immediately sent someone to find Li Zhuangnong. Li Zhuangnong had originally served as the order of the Tianzhai Mine Administration.

Li Zhuangnong, who has outstanding ability, was promoted to the front yard Sima of the Left Secretary of Government Affairs.

The left department of government affairs is mainly responsible for agriculture, animal husbandry, mining, smelting and casting, handicrafts and commerce, as well as transportation, warehouses, etc. The affairs are very complicated, so three more Sima were set up to assist in the management, called the front yard, the middle yard and the In the backyard, Sima in the front yard is in charge of agriculture and animal husbandry.

Li Zhuangnong walked into the official room quickly, bowed and saluted, "Please refer to Your Highness for humble positions!"

"Li Sima just came back from Fengtian County?"

"Exactly, I took officials from the Animal Husbandry Department to Fengtian County to inspect their agricultural and animal husbandry cooperatives, and planned to promote them in various places."

Chen Qing's visit to Fengtian is just an attitude, and the specific implementation will be completed by Li Zhuangnong and the staff of the Animal Husbandry Department.

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Have they re-established the rules and separated captive breeding from free-range breeding?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, we have already separated. We can raise up to [-] lambs in free-range, and we are only allowed to graze once a day, but there is no upper limit for captivity. It is said that a family bought [-] lambs at once and brought them back to captivity."

Chen Qing nodded, "What's your opinion?"

"Officials from the Animal Husbandry Department believe that too many pens are easy to get sick, so there is an additional area requirement. How many sheep should be kept in any pen? You can raise more sheep if you want, but the area must be large."

"It makes sense. As expected of a professional animal husbandry, you are more thoughtful than me. You guys decide!"

After a pause, Chen Qing said again: "The main reason I asked you to come here is to ask how the grass cotton planting situation in Liangzhou is going this year?"

"I heard that the planting of grass cotton this year is not very satisfactory, but I haven't received the report yet. I don't know what went wrong. However, I have sent people to Liangzhou, and the report may come later."

"You don't know the reason, but I do. They picked the wrong seeds, planted them into linters, and sold them to shops at a high price."

Li Zhuangnong was stunned, "How does Your Highness know?"

"You can find out by going to Junuan Pavilion. All the cotton in Liangzhou is there. Li Sima, I'm worried that it's not the wrong choice. I'm worried that they will be driven by profit, deliberately grow short-staple cotton, and then sell it to shops at a high price. Sell ​​it to a weaving workshop to make money, you know what I mean?"

Li Zhuangnong nodded, "Understood, I understand that I will change the manager, and they are strictly prohibited from selling without authorization. They must be shipped to Jingzhao, and their cotton seed remover will also be shipped back, and the seed removal will be processed in Jingzhao. The profits this year will be paid by the employees. Chase it back."

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "I have two ideas. First, we need to purchase a large amount of cotton. There is a huge amount of cotton produced in Ryukyu Oshima and Fujian Road. We must make full use of it, and then gradually cancel the hemp fields and turn the hemp fields into Good land. Second, we need to gradually replace fine linen with cotton cloth. The main thing is quantity. When the quantity increases, the price will come down. This is a long-term process, so you must not rush it, but you must have a plan.”

"Understandable!"

Chen Qing smiled and said: "I want to plant a few acres of corn in the mansion, please ask Li Sima to find some high-quality seeds for me."

"Remember the humble job!"

======
[Maize is corn. According to the definition of Europe and the United States, it was introduced after Columbus discovered America.

But in fact, China has already had it. Yuan Li Dongyuan's "Food Materia Medica - Valley Department" Volume [-]: "Maize: a kind of jade sorghum, planted in Western soil. Its seedlings and leaves are all similar to sorghum and short, and also like coix. The seedlings are taller than corn. Three to four feet, in June and July, flowers and spikes, like wheat. There is a bud in the axil of the seedlings, like a brown fish, with white whiskers hanging from the bud. After a long time, the buds will be dismantled and the seeds will come out, clustered together. The seeds are also It is as big as a rice dumpling, yellow and white, and can be fried and eaten."

It can be seen that in the Yuan Dynasty, a hundred years before the birth of Columbus, there was corn in China.

In addition, corn and peanuts were found in the Yangling Mausoleum of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty. Please refer to the 1990 Shaanxi Archaeological Report, "Archaeological Discovery Determines that China Is One of the Origins of Corn and Peanuts"]

(End of this chapter)