A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 604 Li Ji takes action
There was a lot of traffic in front of Duke Yi's mansion, and there was an endless stream of guests coming to visit.

Many people knew that Wu Huaiyu was appointed by the emperor as the deputy commander-in-chief of the Eastern Road of the Northern Expedition, so they came to visit one after another, hoping to get a ride, or arrange for the family members to join the Northern Expedition to gain gold or something.

Master Li sent another sea turtle, and he also carried two cages of pigeons. They were not ordinary pigeons, but pigeons he had carefully trained.

"Can you fly pigeons to deliver messages?"

Since the Han Dynasty, pigeons have been called auspicious birds. It is said that Xiang Yu led his troops to chase Liu Bang. Liu Bang hid in a well and searched everywhere. There were two pigeons standing on the well. When the pursuers saw the birds in the well, they thought there was no one in the well. Therefore, exempted.

During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, pigeons were not only used to deliver messages, but also fighting pigeons were used for fighting competitions. Li Keshi raised many pigeons.

He named the pigeons Feinu, and not only trained fighting pigeons, but also homing pigeons. Not only could he release the homing pigeons in his hometown of Miyuan and fly them back to his house in Chang'an, he even once sent the homing pigeons to Danyang, a fiefdom in the south of the Yangtze River. Can fly back to Chang'an.

Wu Huaiyu knew that pigeons had the characteristic of returning home, and they could prepare to return home no matter how far they were.

It is precisely by taking advantage of this characteristic that flying pigeons can pass messages. However, there are also conditions for flying pigeons to pass messages. Although carrier pigeons can fly hundreds of miles in an hour, they can only return home and cannot be said to be casual. Flying doves to deliver messages to people somewhere.

"Erlang takes these flying slaves, and I will attach pigeon slaves to Erlang. After arriving in Youzhou, they can feed them carefully. Then these pigeons will remember that their nest is in Youzhou. Even if the soldiers and horses take the pigeons to Mobei, they will be released after they fly. You can also prepare and quickly return to Youzhou,

Therefore, even if the soldiers and horses are on an expedition, as long as the pigeons are kept in cages with the army and released anytime and anywhere, they can quickly return to the location of the pigeon nest.

Not only can nests be built and raised in Youzhou, but they can also be raised in frontline military fortresses such as Guizhou and Yanzhou."

When going on an expedition, especially outside the Great Wall, the roads are difficult and there are no mature inns. The transmission of military information relies on fast horses. However, if one is behind enemy lines, there is also the risk of interception, so the transmission of military information often cannot be timely.

But this kind of homing pigeon is very powerful. If it is carried in the army and released day or night, it can fly back quickly. It can fly two hundred miles in an hour and easily reach a thousand miles in a day. No matter how fast the horse is, it cannot compare with it. , and is not restricted by terrain, roads, etc.

Of course, homing pigeons may also be intercepted by hawks, enemy troops, etc., so releasing a few at a time will provide greater assurance.

Bring pigeons with you when you go on an expedition. If there is military information that needs to be conveyed urgently, you will release a few pigeons, tie a small mailbox on your leg, put a letter in it and seal the mailbox, and you can quickly convey the military information back.

"Homing pigeons like one male and one female, and prefer to live together in groups. When training, we usually separate the male and female, so that one is in the nest and the other is outside. If we want to send a message, we release the outside one and it will return to the nest quickly. , the letter was sent back.”

Master Li said it is easy, but in fact training pigeons requires a lot of skills. Whether it is homing pigeons or fighting pigeons, it requires skills and a lot of money. You need to breed pigeons, train pigeons, and have enough training, especially stable routes. , in order to make the pigeons more adaptable.

Master Li's nickname is Bird Thief, and he is a true expert in this field.

He had many pigeon slaves and pigeons,

Wu Huaiyu was really satisfied with these carrier pigeons. From Youzhou to Chang'an, even if the weather was good, it would take at least seven days to send the message to Chang'an. However, if flying slaves were used, it would take at most two days or even one day to reach Chang'an.

Of course, it is more timely to use it in the military to convey military information when going on an expedition.

It’s about [-] miles from Youzhou to Baidao. Although it’s not that far, it’s not easy to walk after leaving the Great Wall to Bashang, heading west, and finally reaching Baidao Pass in Daqing Mountain. , especially the desolation outside the Great Wall, basically the sphere of Turkic influence,
It is indeed good to use pigeons to convey military sentiments.

Li Keshi was very grateful to Wu Huaiyu for recommending him as the governor of Yanzhou and caught up with this group of Northern Expedition vehicles.

"We are all in-laws, so we won't say so polite words." Huaiyu said with a smile.

Wu Huaiyu's daughter has been promised to Li Keshi's grandson, not to mention that Huaiyu is still Li Jing's student.

"It would be best if we could get in touch with each other," Li Keshi said with a smile, "How is the relationship between Erlang and Sanniang recently?"

"I have been in the countryside of Fanchuan some time ago, and Sanniang once visited me," Huaiyu said.

"It's not easy for Sanniang. Now that she has come back from Emei, our whole family doesn't want her to come back again. I think you are also interested in concubine, so why not..."

Wu Huaiyu didn't know how to answer. This matter was indeed very awkward. Now that things have happened, the Li family has decided to let it go. They don't care about their reputation or the comments. They just hope that Li Sanniang can live a good life. As long as she is willing and doesn't mind, then the Li family Don't force it either.

But for Wu Huaiyu, the current situation is indeed quite embarrassing, so just let it go.

"Let Sanniang go back to Youzhou with you, and the two of you can spend more time together,"

Guest Master Li can be regarded as acting on behalf of the Li family.
"If Sanniang is willing to go to Youzhou for a walk, that's fine," Huaiyu said.

Master Li was very happy and even offered to give Wu Huaiyu some pigeons and pigeon slaves, and even generously expressed his willingness to teach him how to raise pigeons.

Wu Huaiyu was quite surprised. People in this era were still very secretive about technology and other things, treating them as family heirlooms. Even the doctor's prescriptions were often passed down only to his direct descendants.

"Actually, it's just a toy. It costs a lot of money and manpower, but there's no secret. It's the same as raising horses and a polo team."

After Li Keshi left, Li Ji's younger brother Li Bi came to visit and gave some gifts.

Li Bi was an official in Weiwei Temple, and his official position was not very high, but his father Li Gai was the Duke of Shu, and his brother Li Ji was the Duke of Cao. No matter how small his official position was, he was still the representative of the Li family in Caozhou.It's not that Li Bi also wanted to fight in Hebei. The Li family's current status didn't require it. Besides, his elder brother was the general manager, so there was no need to ask for help from Wu Huaiyu.

After some pleasantries.

Li Bi said that he heard that the Wu family was now growing cotton, and the Li family also wanted to learn from it, and wanted to ask for some cotton seeds, as well as the Wu family's cotton spinning technology.

The Wu family had actually started growing cotton three years ago and were improving cotton seed removal, embossing, spinning and weaving tools.

Up to now, it can be regarded as a small fortune. In terms of cotton spinning technology, it can be said that it has far surpassed Gaochang, a major cotton producer in the Western Regions, and is much better than the Li barbarians in Lingnan.

People in Gaochang still remove cotton seeds by hand, but the Wu family has begun to use roller gins to remove cotton seeds, use bows to strike and vibrate to remove the soil and knots in the cotton, use yarn rods and a spindle to spin the fibers into threads, and then use them to weave cloth. The machine weaves the yarn into cotton fabric.

Even now, the Wu family is still studying the beast-spindle spinning wheel. This is a relatively complex mechanical device. It consists of a large wheel, a small wheel, a long pole and multiple small spindles. The large wheel is pulled by cattle and horses and other livestock to drive the small wheel. Rotate, causing the long rod to swing up and down, driving the cotton on the small spindle to twist into thread.

If it can be developed successfully, this kind of animal spindle spinning wheel will be much more efficient than the human hand spinning wheel.

The four basic processes of Wu family cotton weaving are rolling, stretching, spinning and weaving. The division of labor is clear. Textile tools have been continuously developed and improved. Its efficiency can be said to be far superior to that of Gaochangguo, let alone the Fanyang Lu family who currently grows a small amount of cotton in China. The Hu Li family is waiting.

Li Ji is not only a famous figure in the Tang Dynasty military, but his family was a famous powerful family in Caozhou during the Sui Dynasty.

The Li Ji family was born in Shangfang, the northern ancestor of the Xu family in Gaoping. He moved to Huazhou in the late Sui Dynasty. His ancestors were also officials for generations. However, when the Northern Qi Dynasty fell, the Xu family was also affected. The family was weakened, but it was still the richest man in the area.

Nowadays, although the national surname and registered surname are Li, Li Ji's family has grown rapidly, far exceeding the prosperity of his ancestors.

Although Li Ji has not moved much in officialdom in recent years, the Li family's wealth is still expanding rapidly.

The Li family owns a large number of fields in Henan, Shandong, Hedong, and Hebei. They also grow a lot of cotton and weave cotton cloth. They occupy a place in the white folded cloth market of the Tang Dynasty.It should be said that the Wu family currently grows very little cotton, but this technology is already the most advanced. Li Bi came to want the latest cotton spinning technology from the Wu family, which was very abrupt.

But Li Bi is not that kind of playboy bully.
No matter how stupid you are, you are not stupid enough to dare to snatch something from Emperor Xinwu Shaobao. Besides, everyone is from the Wagang family. Although Li Ji and Qin Qiong represent the two hills of Wagang, they are all from Wagang after all. , Wu Huaiyu is the adopted son of Qin Qiong and the young leader of his line.

Li Bi showed his sincerity. Each of Henan, Hebei, Hedong and Huainan had [-] acres of land, and he was willing to exchange [-] acres of land for the latest new technology of elastic textile in the hands of the Wu family.

Eight thousand acres of land, very sincere.

The Wu family's cotton spinning technology is very good, but if there is not much cotton grown, then this technology will not be of much value. Of course, in Wu Huaiyu's eyes, this technology is very precious and valuable. After all, the Wu family is planning to plant a large amount of cotton. Increase cotton production and produce more cotton products or quilts.

"How about adding another thousand acres of land to each of Guanlong?"

Seeing that he did not respond immediately, Li Bi took the initiative to add another two thousand acres, and even one thousand acres were Guanzhong land. Even if it was not from Yongzhou, as long as it was from the Guanzhong Plain, a thousand acres of land was still rare.

"Actually, although my family has done some research on cotton ginning and textiles and made some tools, it's not worth that much." Huaiyu said.

He now believed that Li Bi didn't really want to buy the Wu family's textile technology, but just used it as a reason to build relations with the Wu family.

Li Ji's family is very rich and powerful. However, in recent years, Li Ji has lost his temper due to many historical reasons. For example, he is the only remaining representative of the Shantou warlords in the late Sui Dynasty. Although Li Mi, the Shantou of Wagang, died early, However, Li Ji was the founder of Wagang who still occupied most of Wagang's old land and troops after Li Mi was defeated and surrendered to Guanzhong.

Furthermore, in the Xuanwu Gate Incident, Li Ji failed to stand in line in time, which was also critical.

Due to these many reasons, Li Ji's current position is quite embarrassing. Although he has always been cautious and cautious, which puts him in a good situation, but seeing Qin Qiong, Cheng Yaojin, even Li Daliang, Huang Junhan, etc. getting better and better, Li Ji is also a little uneasy. Even reluctantly.

But he was very young, only a few years older than the emperor. He didn't want to end up like Luo Yi, Du Fuwei and others, so he had to find a way to actively get closer, and even get closer to Qin Qiong, Wu Huaiyu, Li Jing and the others.

Purchasing the Wu family's cotton spinning technology with [-] acres of land was actually just a pretense. Although the Li family grew cotton, it was only a small industry.

Compared with the more direct method of marriage, Li Ji chose to exchange [-] acres of land for the Wu family's "advanced cotton spinning skills", which also showed his ambivalence. He wanted to marry an upstart like Wu Huaiyu, but he also wanted to marry an upstart like Wu Huaiyu. Worried about arousing the emperor's suspicion and dissatisfaction,

"Actually, the cotton spinning machines made by my family are nothing unusual."

"No, it's great. It's definitely a good thing. Our Li family also plans to have a variety of cotton, but the efficiency of ginning, removing seeds, and spinning has been too low. Now the Wu family has such a good thing. , if we are lucky enough to buy it, then there will be no restrictions on growing cotton and spinning in the future, it will be quite cost-effective."

In any case, Li Bi was very sincere and eager for the Wu family's cotton spinning technology.

The core of this technology is still a few tools, including cotton gins, slingshots, spinning wheels, and looms.

Hand-operated and foot-operated cotton seed gins, four-foot long bows, foot-operated four-spun spinning wheels, foot-operated looms, and even animal-spun spinning wheels under research, etc.

In terms of efficiency, these machines are more than ten times more efficient than before.

The Li family still cut the seeds by hand, used a hand-operated single-split spinning wheel, and used a linen loom to weave cotton, which was very inefficient.

The Wu family's spinning wheels all have three or even four spindles, and they have even been changed to pedals. They are still researching beast-spun spinning wheels and even hydraulic spinning wheels.

If more cotton is used, cotton spinning is vigorously carried out, and the Wu family's new machines are available, the Li family's cotton industry will indeed have great potential. After all, the Li family is a big landowner and has much more fields than Wu Huaiyu, covering an area of ​​several thousand hectares and [-] hectares. Wu Huaiyu was unable to catch up with him.

The Wu family has begun to study the cotton weaving jacquard technology, and the technology of staggered yarn color matching and heddle thread pulling.

Li Bi said that the Li family really wanted the Wu family's new technology, which was worth ten thousand acres of land, and they sincerely wanted to buy it.

I hope Wu Erlang can give him some face.

Speaking of which, it is obvious that the Li family has a good relationship.

Ever since, Wu Huaiyu began to bargain with Li Bi.

"A thousand acres of land, actually. There's nothing unusual about those machines. It's just a layer of window paper. You can understand it at a glance."

"The window paper is not punctured and cannot be broken. Ten thousand acres of land, I hope Shaobao will not be too little."

"How about I harvest [-] acres, and I can't harvest more."

"Ten thousand acres cannot be less than one acre. If it is too little, I will add another two thousand acres."

"No, no, it's not worth it."

"It's worth it, very worth it."

During the bargaining, the buyer Li Bi kept increasing the price, but the seller Wu Huaiyu took the initiative to decrease the price.

The two sides were trying to pull each other off, and they didn't reach an agreement for a long time.

Finally Li Bi said, "Don't refuse, Shaobao. Let's start with the same number. Eight thousand acres of land, one thousand acres in Guanzhong, one thousand acres in Longyou, one thousand acres each in Shuofang and Hedong, and one thousand acres each in Henan, Hebei, Huainan and Jiangnan." A thousand acres, how about eight large farms, it is convenient for farming,"

"If it's too spread out, we'll give it four thousand acres each in Henan and Hebei."

"It's really not worth that much, and it doesn't have any skills."

"Then, when Wu Shaobao's family improves their cotton spinning technology in the future, they will also teach it to my family, even if our Li family takes advantage of Shaobao."

"If we can get the skills of the Wu family, my family plans to plant [-] acres of cotton next year,"

Wu Huaiyu was very surprised when he heard this. The Wu family has been planting cotton and studying cotton spinning for three years. So far, they have only planted about a thousand acres. Even if there is a breakthrough in technology now, they only plan to plant about [-] acres next year.
But the Li Ji family is very wealthy and powerful, and they will plant [-] acres.

If this is done, it will be difficult for cotton to maintain its luxury status.

Wu Huaiyu put down his tea cup.
"Okay, it's a deal."

Eight thousand acres of land in Hebei and Henan, eight thousand acres of Zhuangzi, in exchange for the continuous sharing of Wu family's cotton spinning technology.

Wu Huaiyu was not at a loss anyway. Of course, this transaction was not just as simple as it seemed. Behind it, there was also a good relationship between the Miyuan Wu family and the Li family of Lihu.

No wonder Li Ji is so awesome. Such a generous move and this way of doing things are naturally unfavorable.

(End of this chapter)