Destiny Only Han

To the south of the Wei River, Shanglin Garden.

Liu Ying's carriage, surrounded by dozens of armored riders, did not head towards the Dahan Public School in the west, but drove south along the road that was almost submerged in weeds.

As far as the eye can see, there is desolation everywhere.

Without the interference of human beings, nature returned the royal garden, which was once full of exotic flowers and plants, to wildness at an unreasonable speed.

It didn't take long to continue south along the road. Although there were desolate overgrowths everywhere and the chill left over from autumn and winter, the busy construction site in the distance still gave people a feeling of returning to human society.

Here is the cotton and wool textile factory built by Liu Ying.

After two years of unremitting efforts, the small bag of cotton seeds obtained at the beginning, like corn, has taken root and sprouted in the official fields of various counties in Guanzhong, occupying a lot of sowing area.

Most importantly, the warming effect of cotton has also been tested by the severe cold in winter.

Therefore, this year, many ordinary farmers and powerful landlords don't need Liu Ying to say anything, they just cut their heads and want to get more cotton seeds, and they also plant them in their own fields.

The attitude of the former is naturally easy to understand, not to mention that cotton cloth is more comfortable to the touch than linen cloth, so the price will naturally be higher, and the warmer experience of stuffing cotton into the winter jacket is enough to subvert their previous beliefs. Got it.

Well, if you wear thick clothes and keep warm, the consumption of firewood and food will be much smaller, and the quality of life will increase accordingly.

As for those powerful landlords, it is mainly for making money.

The hydraulic spinning wheel and hydraulic loom developed by Liu Ying have been built one after another, and the demand for raw materials can be said to be almost infinite.

Whether it's wool or cotton, if you have it, he wants it all!
Anyway, in the era when there was no excess production capacity, people's demand and consumption for cloth was far from being met by one or two textile factories. Even in the rural areas after the reform, they would still use fertilizer bags to make clothes...

Well, a country that was artificially divided, as it is today.

When Liu Ying was very satisfied with the progress of the construction, beside him, Xiao He, who had been preparing to move the capital in Chang'an these days, frowned and his face was full of worry.

Liu Ying escaped from Liyang Palace and happened to meet Xiao He when he passed the Weishui Bridge. The reason why the old man came here with Liu Ying was that he had not given up on tearing down the wall of Shanglin Garden and transforming it into a large farm. thoughts...

Just looking at the ditches dug here, the waterwheels erected, and the houses built here, Xiao He suddenly had a word in his heart.

Disaster for the country and the people!

Xiao He has seen things like water mills and water hammers before. If there is no flow of water, there will be no end to power.

Therefore, looking at the ditches and waterwheels in front of him, Xiao He immediately thought of the hydraulic spinning wheel that Liu Ying had mentioned before.

If the textile factory here is completed, with the efficiency of mechanical improvement, the ideal life of men farming and women weaving will no longer exist!

The point is, if there is no money for women to weave and sell, ordinary families will have no money left to pay head taxes such as mouth tax, which will lead them to either borrow money to pay the tax, and eventually become slaves from self-cultivating farmers, or simply flee their homes. become refugees.

So, Xiao He looked at Liu Ying who was looking around with great interest, and said without doubt: "Demolish it, immediately!"

"Huh?" Liu Ying was dumbfounded.

Xiao He frowned and said: "A gentleman loves money in a proper way, and this kind of money that will put the country in danger cannot be earned!"

Liu Ying scratched her head, her face full of doubts: "Huh?"

He is not pretending, his thinking at the moment is still on how to let Xiao He see the real thing, and then dispel his idea of ​​changing this place into a farm.

Xiao He said patiently, "Let me ask you, are you using the hydraulic loom you mentioned earlier?"

Liu Ying nodded slightly, and finally understood what Xiao He was going to say.

Xiao He flicked his sleeves and said: "When this place is built, the water will flow continuously day and night. Doesn't it mean that all the Weaver Girls in Guanzhong have nothing to do?"

Liu Ying asked back: "Does the teacher know how much a piece of silk is worth?"

Xiao He focused his gaze slightly, and replied: "Silk costs four hundred renminbi, silk (jiān) six hundred renminbi, plain one thousand renminbi, silk and brocade both ten thousand renminbi! As for the linen, it is roughly a hundred renminbi a piece."

Liu Ying gave a thumbs up and said: "The teacher said that it is not bad, but it is only the selling price of the merchant, not the cost of the weaving girl. As far as I know, the purchase price is mostly less than one-third of the retail price. .”

Xiao He nodded, but didn't express his opinion too much.

It is normal for a businessman to seek profit from capital, especially textiles such as silk, which are even more profitable. Otherwise, even though Guan Ying is a small merchant who sells cloth, how can he be so proficient in bowing horses?
Liu Ying continued: "Teacher, do you think the price of cloth sold in the market is expensive?"

Well, one stone of corn (sixty catties) costs 150 yuan.

Xiao He thought for a while, nodded and said, "You."

Although the price of cloth is expensive, there is no way to do it. A catty of better raw silk costs more than 300 yuan, and the price of woven cloth naturally remains high.

Linen is cheap, mainly because the raw material of linen is ramie. Although the subsequent processing is very cumbersome, it is a plant after all, and it is much easier to obtain than silk.

It's just that the processing method of hemp thread at this time is relatively primitive, and it is not as comfortable to wear as silk fabrics.

Liu Ying raised the corner of her mouth and said with a smile, "Master, do you know what kind of cloth I weave here?"

Now, it was Xiao He's turn to shake his head.

"The students weaving here are cotton cloth or wool thread." Liu Ying said, and led Xiao He to the warehouse on the other side of the wall, pointing to the sacks piled up into a hill inside and said: "Cotton still has to wait." It was planted, but thousands of sacks of wool have already been accumulated!"

Opposite him, Xiao He didn't speak, but frequently fanned his nose with his hands.

Without him, it's choking.

The wool here is unprocessed. Not only does it have a strong smell of sheep, but many sheep feces are rolled in it. Although the weather is not hot at this time, the smell of piles makes people feel like standing in an aqua toilet. feeling in...

Liu Ying herself was too choked, she dragged Xiao He to the open space outside with an embarrassing face, and forcefully pulled her respect:

"Teacher, don't look at the stinky smell of these wool, but it will lose its smell after processing, and if it is woven into sweaters and wool trousers, it will be many times warmer than ordinary jackets! Really, believe me!"

Xiao Hezai had some blind faith in Liu Ying, so he nodded and said, "Okay, I believe it. So your textile factory is only used to weave wool?"

If it is really only used to process wool, then he will not ask any more questions.

After all, at this time, people in the Central Plains used fur except for some scarves, gloves, hats, cloaks and other accessories, and silk fabrics for the rest of their robes.

So if it is only spinning wool here, it will not affect the work of Weaver Girl.

Liu Ying shook her head: "Students have said that not only wool thread is spun here, but also cotton, which is the kind of flocculent plant that is very similar to silk..."

Xiao He nodded: "Very good, let's take it apart."

Liu Ying didn't know whether to laugh or cry: "Teacher, listen to me. Cotton cloth is made of linen instead of silk, and it will not affect ordinary people's silk reeling and silkworm breeding, so as to subsidize their households!"

"And our trade with the Western Regions and the Xiongnu Donghu has gradually started. Even if the cotton cloth hits part of the cloth market, the silk that cannot be sold in China can be sold to foreigners elsewhere!"

Well, Liu Ying's hydraulic spinning machine can't process silk, mainly because the quality of silk is not good, and the silk thread is too thin, so more silk can only be twisted into one thread and then spun.

But in this way, not only will the thickness of the silk gown increase, but it will not look beautiful, and it will not be light and elegant enough, and the price of the finished product will naturally not be able to compete with other products on the market.

Xiao He thought for a while, and what Liu Ying said made sense, but it was really unreliable to guarantee the sales of silk fabrics through foreign trade, and thus ensure that the lives of ordinary people would not be affected.

Liu Ying explained again: "To protect Guanzhong from possible raids by the Huns, we need to take back the land lost at the end of the Qin Dynasty, build the Great Wall on the Yinshan line again, and settle in the fields. But the north is bitterly cold. It's starting to snow."

"At this time, with only linen clothes, how can we defend the frontier when the snow is falling? So this kind of warmer cotton cloth and cotton-filled robes come in handy!"

"After the students' textile factory is built, there will be orders from the northern frontier army, and the demand for cotton will be infinite. Then farmers can grow more cotton and sell it to the students in exchange for money. In this way, they have money to pay taxes and improve their lives. After the students make money here, they will expand their business and collect a lot of cotton..."

"The guards on the northern border will not suffer from the cold, and the farmers who grow cotton can also get rich and get rid of poverty..."

Xiao He suddenly sneered: "I just don't know that you don't care if you're full with this cotton tube!"

Liu Ying raised her head: "Huh? What does the teacher mean by this?"

Xiao He sneered and said, "The farmers are all planting cotton, who will plant grain?"

Liu Ying laughed and said, "Teacher, you are a bit unfounded. We plant cotton as a crop once a year, and we will replant another season of grain after the cotton bolls are picked, so that at least the farmers' food will not be affected."

"Besides, not all farmland is suitable for growing cotton. In order to maintain soil fertility and curb pests, many times the land needs to be planted with different crops. After all, wheat, rice, and soybeans will attract different pests."

"The most important thing is that with the reclamation of the Kanto counties, the abandoned land is turning into fertile land again, and the total grain output is increasing year by year. As long as you have money, you don't have to worry about running out of food. After all, we are the Han Empire. It wasn't the Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period, there was no food embargo..."