Fenghou

Chapter 940 Cotton Cloth
Lu Wei went directly to Chen Qing's mansion, put the wooden box on the table, and gave his younger sister Lu Xiu a wink, and Lu Xiu said to the guard maids around: "You all stand down!"

Both the maid and the guard retreated to the hall. Of course, one of Lu Xiu's personal guards was still by her side. Unless she was with King Yong, the personal guard would not leave.

Lu Xiu smiled and said, "Xiao An is fine, what does brother want to show me?"

Lu Wei opened the box, and it was full of shining gold. Lu Xiu was surprised: "Where did you get so much gold?"

"It's five hundred taels in total, and it's still the other party's deposit. King Yong said it will be handed over to you, and you will keep the accounts for me. You should have told you about it!"

Lu Xiu suddenly remembered that her husband had told her that the elder brother would give all the benefits given to her brother by the spies of the Kingdom of Jin, and keep it by herself.

"I see, I put it away for you."

Lu Xiu asked the female guard to carry the box aside and asked, "Did you buy brother's new house?"

Lu Wei nodded, "This opportunity is too rare. The price of [-] guan is only [-] guan. I want to seize this opportunity. Thank you for lending me the money."

Lu Xiu asked with a smile: "Does it mean that you can earn [-] guan once you change hands?"

"No such thing!"

Lu Wei quickly waved his hand and denied: "I just want to buy an ancestral house for my descendants. I don't care about it myself. By the end of the year, I can normally be promoted to a fifth-rank official, and I can live in a five-acre house. After I retire in the future, I will You can move to your own residence."

"Didn't you allocate ten acres of land in the south?"

Lu Wei smiled wryly and said: "I have two sons. The eldest will inherit my mansion in the future. What about the second? I will definitely have children after me, so I have to prepare some for them too!"

Lu Wei bid farewell and left after a while. At this time, Chen Qingzheng and the counselors of the Internal Affairs Hall admired the wooden cotton cloth, and the fineness, whiteness and comfortable feel of the wooden cotton cloth were praised by everyone.

Zhang Miao said with a smile: "My wife seems to have bought this kind of cloth too. It came from Gaochang. The whiteness is similar, but not as delicate. The price is very expensive. A piece of cloth costs five pennies. The main reason is that it is very breathable. It's comfortable in summer."

Chen Qing smiled slightly and said: "Mr. Zhang is talking about Gaochang white stacked cloth, which is grass cotton cloth. This is wood cotton cloth, which grows on trees. The quality is better than grass cotton, but because of its short fiber, it is not good. Weaving, so it is necessary to mix some grass cotton in it. There are many such cotton trees in the southeast coast, especially on Ryukyu Island. It will gradually replace fine linen, what do you think will happen?"

Jiang Yanxian reacted quickly, and said with a smile: "The hemp field can be used to grow food."

Zhou Kuan slapped the table and said, "That's right! Ma Tian occupies [-]% of the land, liberating [-]% of the land, this is a huge change!"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "It won't be so fast. After all, there is a process of adaptation, one generation! I estimate that [-]% of Ma Tian will be liberated in about twenty years."

Zhao Kai asked from the side: "Your Highness, how about Mu Mian's capital?"

Chen Qing said slowly: "The cost is one hundred Wen per catty. This is the price after removing the cotton seeds. If the cotton seeds are not removed, it will be fifty Wen per catty. Then we will remove the cotton seeds ourselves. It is about [-] Wen per catty." Wen per catty, I guess they will choose fifty Wen per catty, the quantity is too much, one person can pick up hundreds of catties a day, and will not focus on removing seeds, which will take three or four days, which is a good deal for them I know it."

"Fifty Wen a catty!"

Everyone exclaimed, Guan Shigu laughed and said: "The imperial court used to give two catties to each of the high-ranking generals of the Western Army every year, worth sixteen guan qian, that is, eight guan qian per catty. Wen Yiliang, how many times the profit is this? It should be more than a hundred times! One hundred and sixty times!"

Chen Qing shook his head with a smile, "It can't be calculated like this, or else it won't be able to replace fine linen. Counselor Zhao, what is the market price of fine linen?"

"Around a hundred words!" Zhao Kai replied.

"The market price of the cotton can't be higher than [-] Wen, because its quality is much higher than that of hemp, so everyone can accept [-] Wen, and it can't be accepted any higher. Our net profit is about three cents a catty. About ten cents, so that businessmen can also profit."

"But merchants will also go to the southeast coast to purchase wood cotton, and they may not buy from us, unless it is a monopoly."

Chen Qing said indifferently: "There is no need for a monopoly, let them go to purchase, and they will soon find that selling [-] yuan, not only will they not make money, but they will also lose money, and the transportation fee alone is beyond their ability."

At this time, Zhou Kuan asked: "Your Highness said just now that this kind of cotton cloth is mixed with grass cotton, but where does the grass cotton come from?"

Chen Qing said with a smile: "This is one of the main things I discussed with you. Wood cotton can get raw materials from Quanzhou and Ryukyu Island, which is within our control, but grass cotton is mainly produced in Gaochang, and the output is not large, so We must introduce grass cotton planting, and I consider planting grass cotton specifically in Lanzhou, where the light and heat conditions are more suitable."

"Your Highness, why don't you consider Fengzhou? Over there is the North Yellow River Plain, which can be developed by taking advantage of this opportunity." Guan Shigu suggested.

Chen Qing smiled and said: "Actually, I have considered Fengzhou. There are many plains, fertile land, convenient irrigation, and sufficient light and heat. It can completely become a large granary and grow grass and cotton. But the problem now is the population. Insufficient, planting cotton and picking cotton requires a lot of labor, followed by safety issues, before we completely clean up the grassland nomads, we cannot migrate a large number of people to Fengzhou, so Fengzhou can be considered after ten years."

"But the population of Lanzhou is not large!"

"There are miners and their families in Lanzhou. I consider using them to grow cotton."

The miners near Lanzhou are mainly [-] Xixia soldiers and their families, a total of [-] people. They have all been changed to mining status. They have been mining for generations, and their families live together. Of course, they have income and can support their families. Food and clothing are warm, and children can study for free. At the same time, several temples have been built there to guide and appease them spiritually.

It is a good idea to use miners and their families to grow grass cotton, which can increase the income of miners and at the same time get a lot of grass cotton.

Chen Qing's plan was unanimously agreed by everyone.

Everyone dispersed with excitement, Chen Qing called to stop Jiang Yanxian.

"The year before last, I asked for alfalfa to be planted in large quantities on all riversides, fields and creeks."

Jiang Yanxian smiled slightly and said, "It's already being implemented. When the spring begins next month, your Highness will go to inspect the spring plowing, and there will be surprises."

Chen Qing smiled happily: "Then I look forward to seeing you!"

Back in the official room, Chen Qing let Lu Wei and Zhong Huan who had been waiting for a long time come in.

When it comes to reporting specific situations, Wang Hao usually asks Zhong Huan to face King Yong by himself, which also gives him a chance.

"His Royal Highness, our people followed Wang Shuang to Xianyang. He just got the news from Xianyang. He carried a wooden box into the yard. In addition, Wang Shuang bought a batch of goods from Xianyang's men a few days ago. Thousands of sheepskins, Tie Huolei will probably be hidden in the sheepskins and transported away."

"Very well, let the inner guards monitor all the way. If conditions do not permit, they would rather give up monitoring than be discovered by the other party."

"We are also planning to arrange a caravan to wait in Hedong City and start from Hedong Road to Daming Mansion in Hebei. It is estimated that they are more likely to go to Fuyang Xing."

"It's not spring yet, can they pass the Taihang Mountains?"

"It should be possible. This year's East Road is the same as ours. There was a heavy snowfall. I saw other businessmen who came from Hebei a few days ago. They said that the heavy snow did not block the road."

Chen Qing nodded, "Be considerate in selecting businessmen. You must choose local people, and you can't have a Chinese accent. In a word, you need to monitor, but you can't make the other party suspect."

"Humble job will definitely make careful arrangements!"

After Chong Huan saluted and left, Chen Qing smiled at Lu Wei again: "Tell me about your transaction today in detail! I'm very interested."

(End of this chapter)