Han Hai Tang Ergui

Chapter 190 Cotton and cotton armor

In Shule City, this time the ostentation was even bigger. Li Shengtian personally led hundreds of civil and military officials to the suburbs for ten miles. The road was paved with loess, and a pavilion was specially built for the reception. In terms of scenery, it is second to none.

And when Zhang Zhao walked twenty miles, the canonization envoy sent by Li Shengtian arrived, and on the spot he canonized Zhang Zhao as the deputy king of the Dajin Kingdom in Khotan.

This honorary title and position existed in Khotan hundreds of years ago, and it is not uncommon in Anxi countries. The vice king and vice khan are very popular.

The reason is that Anxi has a large territory, many deserts, and the oases that can be inhabited are far apart from each other. A political center cannot guarantee the needs of the country's political activities.

But since the roads around Anxi have improved and the number of horses has increased, this has rarely happened.

The relatively well-developed transportation means that the rulers of various countries no longer need to set up a power structure with a deputy king, but today Li Shengtian moved it out again.

After Zhang Zhao received the decree, he had no choice but to give his uncle, the Son of Heaven, a dozen praises in his heart. This man is really good at breaking new ground, but he is definitely a good hand in domestic affairs and politics.

He appointed Zhang Zhao as deputy king today, which is equivalent to affirming Zhang Zhao's idea that Khan is the next and the emperor is the top.

The Khan of Suiye became the deputy king of the Kingdom of Khotan, so Suiye and Talas and other places under the jurisdiction of Suiyeliu also became the territory of the Kingdom of Khotan in name.

What's even better is that Guo Xuanqing's Suiye stayed behind for the post, which Zhang Zhao actually reported to Li Shengtian, and Li Shengtian agreed.

In this way, after Zhang Zhao left, the Kingdom of Khotan gained suzerainty over Suiye, and Guo Xuanqing had to obey in many ways, at least to cooperate with the arrangement of the Kingdom of Khotan.

Because after Zhang Zhaodong returned, he would definitely not intervene in Suiye's affairs after thousands of miles away.

And he is the deputy king of Khotan, so Li Shengtian can completely ask Zhang Zhao to entrust part of Suiye's government affairs power to the deputy king's staff who stay in Khotan.

In fact, Li Shengtian had already thought it over, this deputy king was not appointed to Zhang Zhao casually, without actual power, just for the sake of being nice.

Li Shengtian has made it clear that Zhang Zhao can open a mansion in Polu Prefecture and establish a bureaucracy belonging to Vice King Zhang.

This organization will be mainly used to manage Zhang Zhao's Polu Prefecture and Suiye, and Talas belongs to Zhang Zhao's industry. Li Shengtian even plans to give Zhang Zhao another piece of land after he conquers the Fergana Basin.

It looks very generous, right? But this will only happen after Zhang Zhaodong returns. As long as Zhang Zhaodong returns, this institution will start to operate.

But Shule is more than [-] miles away from Dunhuang, and most of them are vast deserts. The distance and traffic conditions dictated that Zhang Zhao could send a certain number of officials to serve, but most of the officials still had to be recruited from Khotan.

Moreover, for more than four thousand miles, no matter what officials Zhang Zhao sent, they would eventually follow Khotan's footsteps.

Because in this situation without telephones and other more developed media, Zhang Zhao could not get feedback from his staff at any time, nor could he supervise.

The final result is to send out a few confidantes to make a point, and then receive a not-so-small amount of tax income.

"Erlang! Hahaha! You are finally back, uncle Wuyou!"

When Zhang Zhao just appeared in the eyes of the crowd, Li Shengtian directly threw off the honorable officials from Khotan who were welcoming him, and rode out on a white horse.

"Uncle! Fortunately, my nephew did not disgrace his life, and has brought the east of Talas back to the dynasty!"

Zhang Zhao also immediately rode a white horse away from the crowd and galloped towards Li Shengtian.

What a picture of both sides rushing forward!

The Great Dynasty refers to the Great Tang Dynasty, and the Khotan Kingdom was renamed the Great Dynasty Dabao Dajin Kingdom at the beginning of this year.

Dabao is an adjective, describing the glory and prosperity of Khotan, and Dachao refers to the Tang Dynasty.

Historically, they have always added the word Dachao in front of the country title, which means that they regard Datang as their mother country and recognize themselves as part of the Central Plains Dynasty.

"Erlang did a good job. Suiye Town has been occupied for more than a hundred years, and it is being recovered today, which is enough to leave a name in history!" After the two met, they dismounted and walked back holding hands.

"However, it's too far from Shule to Suiye. We don't have the strength of Datang back then, so we can only do this. It's a pity!"

On Li Shengtian's side, Zhang Zhao didn't hide it anymore. It was indeed a pity that when he was sent, Li Shengtian actually hoped that Zhang Zhao would guard Suiye.

Li Shengtian patted Zhang Zhao's hand, feeling a little emotional for a while, it seems that his nephew's determination to return to the east is really firm!
The east of Talas, including Suiye, has a population of more than [-]. Although it is located in the west, it is no smaller than the family property of the Guiyi Army.

"Erlang doesn't need to be sorry. From my uncle's point of view, this is enough. We have stationed troops to gain suzerainty. No matter who stays in Suiye's future, it needs to be recognized by us. There are tens of thousands of tributes every year." Acceptable, very good!"

Zhang Zhao turned around and thought about it, and understood the reason why Li Shengtian said that, because it was very important whether he got Sui Ye's suzerainty or not.

With suzerainty, Khotan can justifiably garrison 200 troops in Suiye. Although there are only 200 people, under the condition of suzerainty, Khotan can intervene in Suiye because of the appointment by Khotan to lead the [-] people. government affairs.

Moreover, with the suzerainty, after Suiye stayed, when Guo Xuancheng made a detriment to the interests of Khotan, which made Li Shengtian unbearable, Li Shengtian used this as an excuse to cut off the trade route to Suiye.

This is very fatal, because after Khotan took Shule, it completely blocked all the passages leading to Suiye on the Silk Road, especially Zhang Zhao's Polu Prefecture, which happened to be stuck in the throat leading to Suiye place.

This made Guo Xuancheng actually only rely on the support of Khotan to rule, because they could not bear the loss of cutting off the trade route.

So Anxi is now pecking at each other. If Zhang Zhao takes the position of Saktu, how can there be a need for Laoshi Yuanzheng to smash Ye?

Directly block the business route of Suiye, and it will take half a year at the fastest, and about a year at the slowest, and there will inevitably be a coup in Suiye.

At that time, bring thousands of people to mediate and threaten, and Sui Ye will be taken down.

But Saktu was very short of money because of his militarism, so he was reluctant to use this 'stupid' method.

Then Zhang Zhao seized the opportunity to go directly to the land of Seven Rivers, watching Ge Luolu's expression with shame, and lived his life.

Having figured out this problem, Zhang Zhao was reluctant to part with Suiye for the last time, and threw it to the sky.

The two walked hand in hand to the pavilion specially built to welcome Zhang Zhao, and a large group of drummers also began to play gala music lively.

Zhang Zhao stretched out his finger and pointed to the teams in the distance, and began to explain to Li Shengtian one by one.

This time, in addition to the 500 troops he brought back, there are also [-] people captured by the Persian Samanid, as well as Ali Duraf, the governor of Tashkent, and Abdul Ahmed, the leader of the warlords. head.

These people are all going to be pulled back to the Khotan Ancestral Temple in the Khotan King City to hold a prisoner offering ceremony.

Complicated etiquette and grand banquets followed one after another, and it was not until the third day that Zhang Zhao had the opportunity to rush to his own territory, Polu Prefecture.

Here, there is what Zhang Zhao is most concerned about, and that is an endless cotton field, almost [-] mu.

This was planned before Zhang Zhao went to Suiye, and for this reason, Zhang Zhong was specially sent back six months ago to preside over this work.

Cotton was introduced to China as early as the Southern and Northern Dynasties, and a lot of it was actually planted in the Western Regions.

But such a good thing has never been popular. The biggest reason is that the method of removing cotton and making cotton soft and suitable by plucking cotton has not been invented.

But Zhang Zhao couldn't be bothered. He closed his eyes and recalled for a while, wondering if his father in another time and space had aggravated the silicosis caused by years of cotton picking.

Thinking about it, the hundreds of thousands of cash left by him should be enough for him and his mother to support him and his mother. Although the house that has not paid off the loan will be taken back by the bank for auction, there is always a little left.

If my father was smart enough, he might be able to sell the house before the bank took it back for auction, and he could still make some money, which would be more than one million yuan in cash.

The old couple are still young, and they are not yet 50 years old. If they want to have one, there should be time.

"Erlang, what's wrong with you?" A timid voice sounded, Zhang Zhao opened his eyes and saw that Guo Wan'er was looking at him worriedly.

Ayiguli and Cao Shi beside her were also shocked, while Zhang Zhong and Fanshun who were a little further away lowered their heads, pretending they didn't see anything.

It turned out that Zhang Zhao was so absorbed in his thoughts just now that a few tears fell from the corners of his eyes.

It was a bit embarrassing, but Zhang Zhao had already put on a thick skin in his training over the past two years. He gently wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes and smiled.

"If my father can see today's grand occasion and know what a great career XX is going to do, he will be very happy in his heart."

Zhang Zhao was right, he was able to produce the big weapon of cotton, but it was because his father beat him with a stick in an attempt to make him give up his studies and learn the Zhang family's ancestral craft of cotton plucking, so that he would not die of hunger. craftsman.

Everyone was silent for a while, Cao Shi and Ayiguli nodded, and Fanshun couldn't help sniffling, probably thinking of those hard days in Qixiahu Village more than two years ago.

Guo Wan'er, who liked Zhang Zhao the most, even wiped her eyes distressedly, and leaned her head towards Zhang Zhao's chest.

Only old Zhang Zhong didn't believe it, he looked at Zhang Zhao's face in doubt, did Mr. Erlang think of his father?Can he remember his father?

When the emperor in white passed away, Zhang Zhao was only over one year old, and the emperor locked himself in the deep palace at that time, and the father and son had never seen each other many times.

Moreover, he has served Zhang Zhao for more than [-] years, and he has never seen Zhang Zhao mention his father at all.

This old man really has no eyesight!Zhang Zhao couldn't help but rolled his eyes.

For this old servant who was his father Zhang Chengfeng's bodyguard back then, and worked so hard to raise him, Zhang Zhao was a little speechless.

This old man's IQ is always up and down, always in a state of Schrödinger.

Still watching!Don't you feel embarrassed?

At this moment, a slender figure walked over with an earthenware jug and a basket, which seemed to contain steamed cakes.

Uh!Zhang Zhao stared dumbfounded at the little girl who came over. She was wearing a cotton dress made of fine Gaochang fine cloth, with golden golden hairpins on her head.

How come the more you look at it, the more familiar it becomes?

Fuck!Isn't this the Uighur girl flower cloth who was rescued by Zhang Zhao on the battlefield?

Moreover, it seemed that this girl was pregnant, with a slightly round belly on her slender waist, probably because she was too thin to show her pregnancy.

"Nunu has met the Duke! Nunu made some steamed cakes and brought some wine. Let the Duke taste it!"

Calico's well-behaved salute has long since lost the aggressiveness and boldness of the past, but instead appears to be very polite, and the person is much quieter, with a bit of shyness on his face.

Moreover, she is really pretty, a typical Xinjiang Zha'aba beauty.

"Don't call yourself Nunu, I have to call you Auntie! Auntie is already married? It seems that XX will have a younger brother soon."

Zhang Zhao saluted solemnly, but glanced at Zhang Zhong next to him from the corner of his eyes. My good guy, this calico has just turned 15 years old this year!

You old Zhang Zhong, who is in his forties, can also attack a teenage girl. It will be in later generations, wait until he is put in prison.

Zhang Zhong immediately didn't dare to look at Zhang Zhao. Although the 15 years old girl had reached the age of marriage at this time, the age gap between the two was too great.

Originally, he didn't plan to marry a wife and have children, because he had sworn in front of the emperor in white and Princess Fengtian that he would guard Erlangjun and protect him for the rest of his life.

But these years, Mr. Erlang has become more and more powerful, and Zhang Zhong's heart has come alive without the protection of his stupid old servant.

The idea of ​​finding a woman to carry on the family line became more and more intense. I was seduced by this scheming cloth who was eager to find a backer, so I couldn't bear it.

Under Zhang Zhao's molesting gaze, old Zhang Zhong covered his face with a howl, staggered and ran away pulling the cloth, not even caring about the wine and steamed cakes that fell on the ground.

Seeing Zhang Zhong running away, Zhang Zhao laughed loudly, the reluctance to miss his relatives just now subsided a lot.

Guo Wan'er glanced enviously at the floral cloth running away, it's been almost a year, Ayigul, a vixen, was pregnant last month, why hasn't she moved yet?
The warehouse was filled with snow-white cotton, and Zhang Zhao came to the warehouse in person after eating the steamed cakes sent by Huabu.

Here, dozens of apprentices of different ages were gathered together. They were ingenious people Wu Yuan'er had recruited from various places.

Although Li Shengtian, the deputy king's bureaucracy, has not said that Zhang Zhao should be established, but Zhang Zhao has already started to form a civil service system according to the scale of the Central Plains Jiedushi.

Wu Yuan'er took up the post of Jiedu Yamen Tui in Polu Prefecture, and established a Yamen specializing in cotton and iron.

After seeing that everyone had arrived, Zhang Zhao began to demonstrate cotton seed removal and cotton picking for everyone.

The deseeding tool is relatively simple and easy to master, and only needs a pressing roller.

Zhang Zhao spread the seed cotton on the pallet, rubbed it with a pressing roller, so that the fibers were pressed between the roller and the pallet, and then began to rub and roll from slow to fast until the cotton seeds were completely removed from the cotton. until it gets out.

In fact, there is already a similar process now, but it is not as easy to use and efficient as Zhang Zhao's pressure roller, which is summed up from the experience of later generations.

But although there is a pressure roller, this is still an extremely tedious and laborious work, but it is better to master.

From the perspective of the cumbersomeness of seed removal, it is not an easy task to spread cotton to the general public, and the labor cost is too high.

And picking cotton is even more difficult. Not only is it tedious, tedious and laborious, but it is not something that can be done in a while.

At the same time, a large wooden bow made of beef tendon is used to play cotton. The cost of this bow alone is not cheap.

When playing, you must hit the strings frequently with a wooden stick first, so that the cotton spread on the wooden board will gradually loosen.

Then two people will use yarn or other things to form a net on both sides of the cotton wool, so as to fix the cotton wool.

After the gauze is ready, it is pressed with a wooden disc to make it flat, firm and firm, and the cotton is considered complete.

Zhang Zhao also only learned it when he was a teenager, and he had to grope for it while recalling it. He had not finished playing a quilt, and his back was sore.

The people around were stunned by the wooden benches. Amidst the puffing sounds, they watched the honorable Vice King of the Kingdom of Jin and Governor of Polu Prefecture sweating profusely and covered in white catkins.

This is completely beyond the imagination of people at this time. No one thought that a great king would actually work himself and invent this whole set of tools for picking cotton.

Among them, Cao, the former queen of Karakhan, was the most stunned. Seeing Zhang Zhao's more proficient movements and tireless explanation, she suddenly felt that this man was really so special.

Although he is cruel and murderous without blinking an eye, sometimes he is so benevolent. It is unimaginable that he can condescend to such an extent to improve people's livelihood.

Uh!Cao thought too much, and Zhang Zhao had the idea of ​​using cotton to improve people's livelihood, but more, he wanted to use cotton to make a big killer-cotton armor, that is, cloth-covered iron armor.

　Yesterday, I was dragged to play mahjong by my colleagues. I lost more than [-] words without codes. In the morning, I coded nearly [-] words and everyone will just download them. I will add more codes on weekends and make up next week.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)