A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 598 Platinum
In the evening, Cheng Qian wrote a report to the emperor under an oil lamp.

This was the homework assigned to him by Huaiyu. He had to write a diary every day to record his experiences in the countryside. He also had to write a report to the emperor about some of the things he learned in the countryside. It could be regarded as a peasant investigation report.

No investigation, no right to speak.

If you don't understand the real situation, then there will be problems with the decisions you make.

"Teacher, I really didn't expect that ordinary people's lives would be so difficult," Cheng Qian sighed. "The candles I used in the East Palace, the most common ordinary candles cost 150 Wen each, and the candles cost [-] Wen each. text, while scented candles are more expensive,

Even an ordinary candle is equivalent to the current price of five stones of wheat. Burning a candle is equivalent to burning the output of two or three acres of land. "

Wu Huaiyu said, "Your Highness has been harvesting rice in the countryside recently. He knows that farming is not easy and every grain is hard, but producing candles is also not easy.

There are three main types of candles today. One is made of beeswax, also known as yellow wax. The output is limited and the price is precious. In the Han and Jin Dynasties, only the royal family or Shi Chong, a wealthy person, could afford this luxury product.

The candles we use now are mainly white wax. We raise white wax insects and leave white feces between the branches and stems, which is white wax."

Nowadays, many people raise white wax insects in the Jianghuai area, and the benefits are comparable to raising silkworms. Compared with yellow wax, white wax has a higher melting point, is more flexible, can be made into longer candles, and is brighter when lit.

Because white wax insects can be artificially cultivated in large quantities, the production of white wax has increased. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, candles were no longer as luxurious and expensive as they were during the Wei and Jin Dynasties, but they were still not something ordinary people could afford.

An ordinary candle in the palace costs 150 yuan. Although it is used by the palace, it is definitely much more expensive than the private candle.

Ordinary scholars and landlords still used oil lamps at home, but lamp oil was not cheap.

For one pound of lamp oil, you can buy at least ten pounds of grain. Even if prices are low now, lamp oil consumption is still very high, so ordinary people are reluctant to even light oil lamps. Even the scholars in Chang'an City will deliberately buy oil-saving lamps invented by merchants. .

The brothel in Pingkangfang, Chang'an, asked a singer to come out and sing a song for three hundred yuan.

If you want to show off your wealth, you can add a candle, which will cost you three hundred dollars.

So if a rich person goes to Pingkangfang and lights ten candles at a time and asks the maids to hold them and stand in a row, it will definitely be very impressive. After all, the cost of the candles will cost [-] yuan. If the candles are burned out, then If you want to renew the candle, it will cost you three hundred coins.

Three hundred cents, the current price of grain, can buy ten shi of rice and wheat, which is the output of ten acres.

"I heard that the teacher seems to have a candle workshop at home?"

"Well, there are a few, but none of them have much output. One is a paraffin workshop located in Shuofang, which uses paraffin to make wax. The effect is not very good, and the smoke and smell are strong. There is also a workshop in Hebei, Wax is made from the fat of large fish in the sea, or from animal fat such as cattle and sheep.
But it’s not a success yet,”

Although the fat from cow and sheep skins scraped by leather makers can also be used to make soap and wax, making candles is more time-consuming and labor-intensive, and has disadvantages such as odor.

Wu Huaiyu is actually more interested in whaling wax. China has used whale oil to make wax a long time ago, but it has many shortcomings. First, it has an unpleasant smell, and second, the output is limited.

Raising ash insects to make wax is more stable.

"Teacher, I think the sweat of the common people is really worthless." Cheng Qian sighed. Recently, his hands had blisters and blood blisters, and finally calluses.

"A pound of Tongzhou mutton costs [-] cents, and a stone of wheat only costs [-] cents. If you grow wheat on dry land in the plains, you can only harvest about [-] stone per acre. That's how much sweat is spilled on the ground."

Huaiyu nodded, "So, you can't just grow grain, and farmers can't just farm. Just grow grain to ensure rations and royal grain. The rest should be planted with some cash crops, such as mulberry, hemp, and cotton. Or it can be about growing medicinal materials, or taking advantage of geographical conditions to grow tea and fruit trees."

The two were discussing under the lamp.

Wu Huaiyu plans to try growing cotton in Shangwubao in Fanchuan River next year. However, now the thousand acres of land in Shangwubao are all leased to the villagers of Shangwu and Xiaozhuang. Wu Huaiyu cannot make the decision if he wants to grow cotton.

The people here are accustomed to growing rice, relying on water for irrigation. The harvest of rice is good and cost-effective.

It is actually possible to grow cotton in rice fields, but you need to dig ditches and dry the fields in advance to dry and loosen the land. Although growing cotton in rice fields may not be the most suitable, the economic value of cotton is now high, especially when it is processed into cotton cloth and cotton clothes. Silk is much more expensive.

"If you plant cotton, you will not only earn more from the field than by growing rice, but there will also be a lot of work such as seed removal, spinning, weaving, and dyeing. The villagers will have more profitable work, and our Wu family produces more If the cotton cloth is sold in Chang'an, we can also get more profits, which is a win-win situation."

But I'm afraid the tenants won't understand. After all, drawing cakes may not be something everyone can believe.

"Does the teacher want to take back the land?"

"No need. In fact, it is very simple to let them grow cotton. First, make a contract with them to give them a guarantee. For example, they only need to sign a contract to grow cotton, accept the guidance of my Wujiabao for planting, agree on the cotton purchase price, and promise For one season of cotton cultivation, the Wu family guarantees two stones of rice per acre. They should be willing to do so if they have this guarantee."

Fanchuan's summer rice yield is only about two shi per mu. Now the Wu family is willing to promise a guaranteed income of two shi of grain. If the money from cotton planting and selling is less than two shi of rice, the Wu family will supply them with the shortage, and the excess will be theirs.

"The teacher is so kind to them. What they make is theirs, but what they lose is the teacher's."

"Loss, it is impossible to lose," Huaiyu smiled and calculated the details for Cheng Qian. Nowadays, white folded cloth is very popular in the Chang'an market. It is a high-end luxury product, mainly imported from Gaochang Kingdom in the Western Regions. It was Sogdian merchants who trafficked it to Beijing and sold it for much more than silk.

But white folded cloth is cotton cloth, but the most expensive one is fine cotton cloth. Wu Huaiyu has studied that although today's Gaochang cotton is not the variety of later generations, the main limitation on its output is the processing technology, especially the seed removal in Gaochang. The technology is relatively primitive and purely manual, and the textile technology is also relatively backward.

After all, Gaochang State is still small to begin with. Even though they have a tradition of cotton spinning, they are too small to promote iterative upgrades in technology, and cotton cloth has become a very niche handmade product.

But the technical difficulty is not too high.

The Lingnan area, especially the raccoon natives of Hainan Island, have a tradition of spinning kapok, and their technology is better than that of Gaochang.

The Central Plains is now unified, and the market for cotton cloth has broad prospects. If the Wu family can have more cotton in hand, the profits from processing and selling it will be considerable.

In terms of raw materials, even if there is a small subsidy, it is still very profitable.

Food has fallen to the bottom now, and one stone only costs twenty or thirty dollars. To be honest, this is a very low price. The cotton in Gaochang State is actually not expensive. They call it Zhihua.A kilogram of top-grade flowers only costs seven cents, and one acre can produce at least twenty kilograms.

But white folded cloth is more expensive. One foot of fine folded cloth costs 45 coins for the top grade, 44 coins for the second grade, and 43 coins for the bottom grade.Even if the cloth is folded for the first time, it will cost thirty cents for the top grade, 25 cents for the second time, and twenty cents for the bottom grade. If it is one foot for the coarse cloth, it will cost eleven cents for the top grade, and ten cents for the second time.

One end of the cloth is fifty feet, and the top grade fine white folded cloth is worth two thousand and two hundred and fifty cents at one end. This is the price of Gaochang domestically produced. The Sogdians can even pay several times more for it when it is shipped to Chang'an.
Ten pounds of cotton can weave one end of cloth, and one acre of cotton can weave two ends of cloth.

Therefore, cotton in Chang'an was sold at the price of Jinxiu.

There are very few cottons planted in the mainland of the Tang Dynasty. For example, in Hebei, the Lu family of Fan Yang grew some cotton. Wu Huaiyu learned about their cotton planting output. One acre can produce about [-] to [-] kilograms of seed cotton and about [-] kilograms of lint cotton.

Cotton cultivation requires sufficient sunshine and little rain. The amount of cotton grown by the Lu family is small, and the technology is still somewhat insufficient. The cotton produced by Gaochangguo can produce [-] kilograms of lint per mu.

However, even if an acre produces 140 kilograms of cotton at a low yield of 75 cents per catty, it can still be sold for [-] cents.Nowadays, one stone of rice only costs [-] yuan. Even if an acre yields two dan, it only costs [-] yuan. Two stones per acre costs only [-] yuan.

One stone of cotton can be sold for 840 yuan, and one stone of rice can be sold for [-] yuan, a gap of nearly [-] times. Therefore, even if the cotton output is as low as [-] pounds per acre, the income from cotton is still more than twice that of rice.

If the output can be increased, the benefits will be more than tripled.

The Wu family processes cotton and is more profitable.

One acre of cotton is worth more than 4000 yuan when woven into fine cloth. After removing the cost of cotton and labor costs, the profit is still very high.

Cheng Qian was a little stunned after hearing this, "Is white folded cloth so expensive? Two or three pieces of high-quality fine white folded cloth are made per piece?"

"It's not a luxury product, it's not expensive. The fine white folded tailoring is even more expensive,"

Cheng Qian thought about the prices of gold brocade, Shu brocade, embroidery, Dake silk and other precious silk products, and then stopped talking.

The price of a piece of plain silk or a piece of cloth is indeed only three hundred yuan, but the price of Jinxiu is not comparable to that of plain silk.

"When cotton is grown, women from nearby villages can come to Wu's house to get cotton processed, or they can work directly in the factory."

Wu Huaiyu told the prince that nearby villagers could come to the Wu family to learn to spin cotton yarn and weave cotton cloth, or go directly to work in the Wu family's textile factory. They could also learn how to take cotton or cotton yarn to their homes for processing.

You can also get an opportunity to make money.
The villagers earned one level of income from growing cotton and another level from textile processing. For the Wu family, they earned one level from rent collection, another level from textile processing and sales, and another level from selling cloth or even cutting and custom-made garments. Win-win cooperation for everyone.

The Wu family uses villagers to grow cotton and process textiles to ensure their own output and supply.

Compared with simply growing rice, not only the land income of the tenants increased, but also the income from processing, the landlord Wu Huaiyu earned more.

Even if the supply of cotton cloth gradually increases and the price drops in the future, there is no need to worry, the prospects are still very bright.

In the Ming Dynasty, a skilled weaver woman could weave more than a hundred pieces of cloth a year, and her reward was usually one piece of cloth, three pounds of cotton, or a bucket of rice.

A piece of cloth uses ten pounds of cotton, which is about the same as linen.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the income of women in Jiangnan from weaving was often much higher than that from farming.

If the Wu family's textile factory is opened and cotton gins are built, the income of the Wu family and nearby village women will be greatly increased. Compared with the traditional family planting of mulberry, hemp, silkworms and silk weaving, the income will be higher.

The next day, Wu Huaiyu called Old Man Zheng and other tenants.

When Wu Huaiyu mentioned that he planned to let everyone grow cotton next year, everyone was stunned. They had never even heard of cotton.

"Mr. Sir, the land in Fanchuan is a good rice field. It is good land that can guarantee harvests despite droughts and floods. It would be a pity not to grow food but to plant other crops."

"Yes, mulberry and hemp are planted on the plateau slopes, and the irrigated fields only grow rice."

The tenants all care about the land and feel that good land must be used to grow good grains. Mulberries, sweet potatoes, potatoes, etc. are grown on the corners or dry land on the plateau.

"If you grow cotton for one season, I can guarantee you a guaranteed profit of two stones of rice per mu. In other words, this first year, the Wu family can directly give you two stones of rice per mu for one season. If you plant cotton according to the Wu family's requirements, the cotton you harvest will be Go back to the Wu family and plant for one season first, and when you get the results, if you think it’s a good deal, you can plant it yourself next year, how about it?”

Many tenants thought to themselves that this was equivalent to the Wu family renting the land back. They were equivalent to farming the land for the Wu family. No matter how good or bad the cotton cultivation was, the Wu family still gave them two stones of rice in the end.

Well, according to the lease, they still have to pay one stone in rent. In fact, they help the Wu family grow cotton for one season. Regardless of whether the output is good or bad, they can guarantee one stone of rice per acre.

Sounds pretty good.

"This season, the seeds, fertilizers, and even cattle in the cotton fields are all provided by the Wu family, and you only provide labor.

You also save on rice seeds and fertilizers, and you can directly harvest one stone of rice at a guaranteed cost, which is still very cost-effective."

Wu Huaiyu then said that after the cotton is harvested, it will be time to spin the seeds and weave cloth. You can also come to work to make money, weaving a piece of cotton to earn a bucket of rice, and even taking care of a meal.

After three days of proficiency, you can weave one piece.

All the tenants who heard this couldn't help but feel excited.

It sounds really good.

Weaving ten pieces of work per month earns one kilogram of rice. This is what a young and strong man earns as a long-term laborer.

(End of this chapter)