Fenghou

Chapter 942
After leaving the Great Craftsman's Workshop, Chen Qing led a group of officials to the third weaving workshop in the same city. He had already approved the high-end cotton cloth. At this time, he was more concerned about the production capacity of mid-range cotton cloth.

Gu Xin, the chief steward, heard that King Yong was coming again, so he hurried out to greet him.

"Are you resting today?" Chen Qing found that the workshop was very quiet, there was no sound of looms, and no one could be seen. The windows that were opened last time were all closed.

Gu Xin nodded, "We are going to stop fine linen weaving and switch to cotton weaving. We will take two days off today and tomorrow to make up for the vacation we owed before. The day after tomorrow everyone will start learning cotton weaving."

Chen Qing frowned slightly and said, "Didn't it mean that the cotton must be mixed with grass cotton to spin the thread? Do you have enough grass cotton?"

"A batch of grass cotton was just shipped from Gaochang yesterday, three thousand catties, it should be enough for learning weaving."

"Where is it, I want to take a look!"

"In the warehouse, Your Highness, please! Senior officials, please!"

Gu Xin led the crowd to the warehouse, and saw that the large warehouse was full of straw bales the size of wine jars, and more than a hundred young women were squatting on the ground to carefully select them.

When the young women suddenly saw a large group of officials walking in from outside, they stood up in fright.

"Gu Guanshi, what are they doing?"

Gu Xin smiled wryly and said: "We found that the three thousand catties of grass cotton are actually of different varieties, some are of high quality, some are of low quality, so we have to pick them out and try weaving again."

"What is the impact of different varieties?" Zhang Xiao asked from the side.

"this."

Gu Xin couldn't answer, he turned around and waved, "Xiaomei come up!"

A little lady came out, it was Yang Xiaomei, the most skillful weaving hand I saw last time, Chen Qing smiled and said: "Xiaomei, long time no see!"

Yang Xiaomei was a little embarrassed, and stepped forward to give Chen Qing a blessing, "Xiaomei sees Your Highness, thank you for your kindness!"

There is a reason why she is grateful for the love. She invented the mixed weaving method, which greatly reduced the weaving strength of wood cotton and made large-scale weaving of wood cotton a reality. Chen Qing rewarded her with a yard for supporting her parents.

Chen Qing smiled and introduced to everyone: "The two pieces of cotton cloth we saw were spun by this little lady. She is very skillful and smart."

Yang Xiaomei hurriedly bowed to everyone, and Chen Qing asked again: "We are all curious, what effect will the quality of grass cotton have?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, there is a big difference!"

Yang Xiaomei took three pieces of grass cotton and handed them to Chen Qing, "There are only three kinds at present, the middle one is definitely not good, the fiber is too short, it is not as good as wood cotton, the left one is also not good, the fiber is also short, the right one is better, But it is still worse than last time, I think the last batch is the best, the fiber is long, and it is easy to interweave with the cotton."

Gu Xin's face was a little ugly. Yang Xiaomei meant that this batch of straw cotton was not up to standard. To say it was a little better was an understatement, and she still said no.

Chen Qing asked, "Where did you buy the grass cotton last time?"

Gu Xin looked distressed and said: "Last spring, I purchased from a Sogdian. The problem is that it has been too long, and I can't find this person."

"Is there any cottonseed?" Chen Qing asked.

"Cottonseed?"

Gu Xin thought for a while, then nodded again and again, "There are cotton seeds, we peeled them for a long time, and finally put them in an urn. I also said that I will plant them myself in the future."

Gu Xin ran to the corner, rummaged for a long time, and finally came with an urn in his arms, "It's still there, well preserved, and there's a full urn!"

Chen Qing nodded and said to Zhang Xiao: "It seems that we are going to start planting grass cotton. This matter is under the leadership of the government. Ask the Sogdians more to see if anyone knows how to plant it. We can try it ourselves!"

Zhang Xiao nodded silently, "The humble job will make arrangements!"

Chen Qing said to Gu Xin again: "I don't blame you for the failure of this batch of straw cotton. Everyone has no experience. These straw cotton can be used to make cotton quilts, but you still have to find a way to buy the straw cotton from last time, otherwise Just have to wait until autumn, see what I mean?"

Gu Xin took a deep breath and said, "The villain will definitely get Cao Mian as soon as possible!"

On the way back to Jingzhao City, Zhang Xiaoxiao asked, "I found out that His Highness values ​​cotton cloth, so this is the second time I've come to the weaving workshop. What's the reason?"

Chen Qing smiled and said: "The replacement of fine hemp with cotton cloth has two main meanings. One is the cancellation of hemp fields, which can increase the cultivated land by [-]%. We have mastered the source of wood cotton, just like salt, even if we only earn [-] Wen for a piece of cotton cloth, it will increase our financial revenue by more than millions of coins every year, so everyone is looking forward to it.”

Zhang Xiao was silent for a moment and said: "Actually, I have already learned about this from Counselor Jiang, but I still want to persuade Your Highness, be careful!"

"Why?" Chen Qing was stunned.

"Your Highness never thought about it. One day in the future, those in power will take advantage of the advantage of monopolizing cotton to exploit the people? It may be [-] Wen a catty now, but it will increase to [-] Wen a catty in the future. What will happen? The common people can’t afford it, so they can only destroy the land to plant hemp, and suddenly there is not enough food to eat, will it cause chaos in the world?”

Chen Qing pondered for a moment and said, "What about Zuo Si's opinion?"

Zhang Xiaowei smiled and said, "Keep the first item, just delete the second item."

"how to get to?"

"It's very simple. The south grows wood cotton, and the north grows grass cotton. Even if the people can't afford wood cotton cloth, they can exchange grass cotton for wood cotton and spin and weave cloth by themselves."

Chen Qing nodded: "I understand what you mean. The key is that the government should not monopolize cotton. Once the production of cotton cloth increases and gradually replaces linen, every household in the south will plant cotton trees in front of and behind their houses, just like planting cotton. Like mulberry trees, as long as the wood cotton is cheap enough in the market, it doesn’t matter whether we grow grass cotton or not in the north.”

"This is what I want to persuade Your Highness. Clothes are necessary for everyone. The government must not monopolize cotton, let alone rely on it in exchange for finances. There will be big troubles in the future."

"Thank you Zuo Si for reminding me, I will definitely think about it!"

In Daming City, two caravans approached the city gate one after the other. The caravan in front came from Jingzhao. The goods were a thousand sheepskins. The owner was Han Feng, a man in his thirties. Naturally, Wang Shuang's confidant, after half a month's trek, finally arrived at Daming City.

After entering Hebei Road from Fuyangxing, they were taxed a lot along the way. In Xiangzhou, a group of soldiers who did not know how to live or die wanted to inspect the goods, but they were frightened away by Han Feng showing Wan Yanchang's silver medal.

The caravan behind is a medicinal herb caravan. Han Feng met him in Hedong City, and he also went to Daming Mansion to sell medicinal materials. Wan Yanchang had a strict order that all medicinal merchants are exempt from tax, and the army is not allowed to harass them. Despite the order, return this medicinal herb The caravan still pays the same tax, but is not harassed.

The owner of this caravan, surnamed Qian, is a short and fat businessman in his fifties. He often goes to Yanshan Mansion, but this is the first time he has been to Daming Mansion, and the road conditions are not familiar, so the two caravans went together and entered Hebei. Finally, the officers and soldiers were like bandits along the way, but no real bandits were encountered.

You can only choose one of the two. You will not encounter officers and soldiers if you take the small road, but you will easily encounter bandits. If you follow the official path, you will not encounter bandits, but you will definitely encounter officers and soldiers.

Of course, as long as the money is given, basically there will be no fear of life.

"Brother Han!"

The short and fat proprietor Qian chased after him riding a donkey and said with a smile: "After entering the city, how about staying overnight together? We are not familiar with the famous city."

Han Feng hesitated and said, "Brother Qian can go to the Wanjia Inn in the west of the city. That store is not bad. It's not far from the city. I'm going to deliver goods to the owner, so I won't stay at the inn."

"Brother, go directly to the master's mansion?"

"Yes! I've been on the road for too long, and I have to deliver the goods immediately. We'll contact you later, and I'll buy my brother a drink."

"Okay! You can come to the inn to find me at any time. If my brother wants to go back to Jingzhao, maybe we can be together again."

"Brother Qian is going to Jingzhao?"

Owner Qian nodded, "I found that sheepskins are quite profitable on Hebei Road, and I want to go to Jingzhao to buy a batch of sheepskins. My brother has so many sheepskins, I'm jealous!"

Han Feng chuckled, "I'll come to the inn to find you later, maybe we can go back together."

The two entered the city, but this time they were not interrogated. Qian Dongzhu entered the Wanjia Inn not far from the city gate, while Han Feng led the caravan straight to the Marshal's Mansion.

Proprietor Qian looked at Han Feng's back as he walked away, and gave a wink to one of his subordinates, who understood and immediately followed him from a distance.

(End of this chapter)