A Good Landlord in the Tang Dynasty: Emperor Yuan Cong

Chapter 697 I Heard

South bank of Dragon Bridge.

Although the emperor's hunting team was not overly ostentatious, there were still many people.

The battalions of Beiya are responsible for the escort task. In recent years, the camps of Beimen have continued to expand. Hundreds of cavalry, thousands of flying cavalry, and divine machines are divided into left and right. This year, a new left and right ten thousand cavalry battalions were built.

These Beiya Imperial Guards have bright armor and an elite look from afar. They are worthy of being personally selected and trained by the emperor.

The origins of the various camps were actually quite complicated. There were soldiers from the Supreme Emperor's father's and son's armies, as well as children from the original generals of the Prince of Qin's palace. However, the ones later selected were more likely to be the children of the peasant households, that is, the official slaves who had been released once and were still of low status. These peasants The children of the family are characterized by being young and strong. Of course, most of them are the children of criminal generals.
In addition to the children of the peasant households, there are also the beard brothers of the feudal lords. These are not only sent by barbarian leaders from various places to study in the capital, but they are also used as protons.
The emperor selected many young and capable men to join his own Beiya Forbidden Army camps and personally taught them. This is how the ten camps of Beiya came to be.

Looking at these high-spirited Beiya troops, Wu Huaiyu also smiled, remembering that he had commanded the Baiqi, Shenji and other battalions back then.
It seems that those are all veterans of the founding of the Bei Ya Army.

It's just that there are not many familiar people in the Beiya Army now.

General Yunhui Xu Luoren came over, "The saint called Erlang over."

Huaiyu knew that this man was a confidant of the emperor. Like Hou Junji, he had played with the emperor since childhood. Although his current official position did not seem to be high, and he was a lieutenant general in Zuo Weixun's palace, he still had a Bei The gate chief comes up and takes charge of the errands of the Hundred Cavalry Camp.

There is even a secret mission to inspect Baiqisi.

Baiqisi is one of the emperor's three major secret intelligence agencies, along with Liumen and Imperial City. They are the emperor's absolute confidants.

He and Hou Junji used to be good buddies.

However, when they met at this time, he was still polite to Wu Huaiyu. Huaiyu gave him a guqin, and he gave Huaiyu a BMW. The Wu and Xu families even collaborated to sell sheep and horses outside the Great Wall, opened mines in Shaozhou, and cooked green salt in Longyou.

We walked and chatted, passing through layers of imperial guards and arriving in front of the emperor.

The emperor's face was very good, and he could see that it was difficult to go hunting. The emperor was in a good mood.Li Shimin loved hunting very much. Even after he became the emperor and had many things to do, he often had to take some time to go hunting.

Most of the time, he hunted and raised game around Chang'an, even in the Royal Forbidden Garden outside the North Gate. Occasionally, he would go hunting in Lantian, Sanyuan, or even Qizhou and Longzhou, and inspect the local military garrison.

The emperor's addiction to hunting is quite big.

The nobles of the Tang Dynasty, especially the military nobles of Guanlong, all liked hunting, just like successful people in later generations liked to play golf to show their status.

Moreover, the Guanlong nobles also went hunting for the purpose of improving their martial arts and enhancing their military quality. Especially during large-scale hunting, they would bring their own children, tribes, and servants into battle to chase, intercept, flag, and bugle, and it would be like a battle. Just like a little drill.

This kind of hunting cannot be imitated by ordinary people or small powerful landowners. It is more expensive than playing polo.

"I feel that Sanyuan has changed a lot along the way," Li Shimin saw him coming, smiled and waved.

"There are so many big windmills on the Qinghe River. I heard they all belong to your family?"

"Back to the saint, these are windmill workshops that use wind power to drive milling. They can be used to grind rice and wheat, and to divert water for irrigation. They can also help a lot in papermaking, forging, oil extraction, etc. Correspondingly It is much easier to use than the hydraulic mill used to block rivers and build weirs, and there is no need to compete with the people for water."

Li Shimin smiled. He had actually known about the windmills built by the Wu family in recent years. In fact, the Wu family also dedicated their technology to the royal family. Now, the royal family has built many such windmills on the Guanzhong Plain.

After knowing the many advantages of these windmill workshops over hydraulic ones, especially the fact that they did not compete with the people for water, Li Shimin had already intended to gradually dismantle most of the illegally built water mills on the Guanzhong [-]-mile Plain to increase the number of water mills. Hydraulic irrigation function of canals in Guanzhong Plain.

"I heard that your family has a bumper cotton harvest this year? You can produce more than [-] kilograms of cotton per acre, which is amazing."

Wang Gui, the Huangmen minister next to the emperor, couldn't help but said, "Although the weather in Guanzhong has been good in the past few years, there is still not much grain storage among the people. Even in good years, there is still a huge food shortage in Guanzhong that needs to be transported outside the customs every year.
Traveling thousands of miles to buy grain costs a lot of money in freight.

Guanzhong's grain fields should still be self-sufficient. If Wu Xianggong wanted to make money and wanted to grow a variety of cotton, he should plant it in Kuanxiang and border states where there were few people and vast land. He should not occupy the Guanzhong's cultivated land. "

Wang Gui's argument was so cliché that Wu Huaiyu didn't want to argue anymore.
"Your Majesty, one hundred kilograms of cotton per acre is actually just seed cotton. Ten kilograms of seed cotton only yields three kilograms of lint. Only by removing the seeds can we weave or stuff clothes and quilts."

Wang Gui came to answer again, "One hundred acres and one catty of seed cotton means thirty catties of lint cotton. I heard that three catties cost one piece of cotton. A piece of fine cotton in Chang'an costs eighteen hundred yuan. It's worth it." The price of nine pieces of silk is such a huge profit. No wonder the Wuxiang Guild planted a large amount of cotton in Guanzhong.
I heard that [-] acres were planted in Sanyuan, and even rice paddy fields like Fanchuan in Wannian County were dug into ditches to dry the fields and grow cotton.
One acre of cotton can be used to weave ten pieces of cotton cloth, which is worth ninety pieces of silk. Wu Xianggong calculated this carefully. "

Li Shimin did not interrupt Wang Gui, but looked at Huaiyu with a smile.

"Prince, how can you calculate the accounts like this? A pound of high-quality cotton only costs seven cents. Most of the cotton grown on dry land on the plateau can only get eighteen or nineteen pounds of lint."

What is valuable is the added value. For example, the same silk can also be processed into different satins, damasks, brocades, etc., and the price differs several times or dozens of times.

Wang Gui immediately said, "Seven cents per catty, and one acre of flowers is worth more than 100 dollars. Now a bushel of new millet only costs five cents. Your flowers per catty are much more expensive than a bushel of millet."

Huaiyu doesn't have a good attitude towards this old man, so what about the Taiyuan Wang family, and what about Zeng Bai, the prime minister. You are deliberately targeting and hostile, and Huaiyu is not polite.

"Your Majesty, this year I have planted [-] acres of cotton on three plateaus in Sanyuan County. These lands are water-scarce and drought-ridden plateaus. In the past, only millet and buckwheat could be grown, and the yield per mu was only about one stone. In the end, you can also grow crops and crops depending on the weather. Even if there is a good year in Guanzhong, the harvests on the plateau often fail due to drought.

These [-] acres of land are basically rented to local villagers for farming, and the harvest is divided half and half. If the harvest is good, the Wu family can get at most [-] shi of millet for rent. However, in fact, the plateau has always been relatively poor, so the Wu family rents the land. The villagers will always owe some rent in the end, and it is a good year if they can actually receive [-]% of the rent.

It is also difficult for village tenant farmers. After a year of hard work on the tenant land, they have to deduct seeds, pay rent, and even other expenses. The grain they receive is not even enough for rations.Fortunately, in recent years, there have been auspicious seeds, potatoes, sweet potatoes and other whole grains that can be used to provide some rations and barely satisfy the hunger, but it is too difficult to think about it.

After all, the land is barren and can only produce so much, and food is so worthless now,"

"The minister introduced cotton to plant on the plateau, which is mutually beneficial to the tenants. For example, this year, the Wu family asked the tenants to grow cotton. The Wu family not only provided seeds, but also sent the village leader to guide how to plant and manage the cotton, and promised not to care about the cotton. How was the harvest? After we harvested it, we gave them six bushels of grain per acre, and rent was waived.

They are helping us plant this year, and the harvest is guaranteed despite droughts and floods. Even when the harvest is better than in previous years, we can harvest an extra bushel of millet.

For cotton picking, seed removal, cotton bombing, and subsequent processing such as spinning, weaving, printing and dyeing, we also give priority to hiring the tenant farmers, and they can also get another salary,"

"Shilang Wang said that I make money by growing cotton and weaving cotton cloth. This minister admits it, but from cotton planting to picking to seed removal, spinning and weaving, jacquard printing and dyeing, etc., there are many links in between, and each link is There are also many labor, material and other cost expenses.
Let’s just say that the best quality cotton costs seven cents a pound, but picking and removing the seeds is also very labor-intensive, time-consuming and labor-intensive. Not to mention that one acre of land can produce [-] to [-] pounds of lint cotton, and not many of them can reach the fine quality. , other grades are not that valuable. "

Wu Huaiyu was not settling accounts with the emperor, but told the emperor that the Wu family's cotton cultivation had driven the people in the countryside to make money in all aspects of planting and processing. Even the cotton cloth produced had paid taxes to the court.

The court gets taxes, the villagers get a living, and the Wu family benefits. There is nothing to criticize about such a good thing. How can one acre of land produce hundreds or thousands of dollars without doing it, but it has to grow a few buckets of grain?
Is it not good to allow the villagers to increase their income without having to make everyone have enough to eat?
Adapt to local conditions,

It develops in multiple directions, and it is true that everyone will have a better life in the end.

As for the food shortage, Guanzhong is not self-sufficient in food, not only in Jianghuai, Shannan and even Henan, Hebei, Hedong and other places. Food itself is also a commodity. It is not that Chang'an cannot transport this food, it just increases the cost.

So Chang'an is actually not short of food.

There is no shortage in Guanzhong, so there is no need to worry so much. If food from outside the Guanzhong cannot be transported into Guanzhong, then the issue of self-sufficiency in food will not be considered at that time, but that the empire has reached the stage of collapse, and other things should be considered. More important issues of life and death.

"You gave your land to tenants and then leased it to the tenants to help you grow cotton, but you paid six bushels of millet per acre?"

"Well, they don't need to provide seeds or fertilizer. Even when picking, the wages are calculated on a per mu basis. After the cotton is picked, the workshops process it and they are hired to make money," Huaiyu said.

Li Shimin's eyes were bright when he heard this. Not only did the tenants maintain harvests despite droughts and floods, but they were also able to get one bushel more millet per acre than in the best times. They had more opportunities to make money by picking cotton, removing cotton seeds, and even spinning, weaving, and plucking cotton. There will also be opportunities to participate and make money. Inside and outside, the actual income of the people on the three plateaus who helped the Wu family grow cotton this year was much higher than last year.
"The people not only have more food in their hands, but also have more ways to make money. In the end, they can have more living money in their hands. This is all a fact."

As for how much the Wu family made from growing cotton and spinning and processing it, Wu Huaiyu didn't say, but it must be a lot. After all, Wang Gui just gave a rough estimate. One acre of cotton on real estate can process almost ten pieces of cotton cloth, and this can Worth more than 1 yuan.

An acre of land can only produce one stone of millet. No matter how it is processed into millet porridge, corn cakes, etc., it will not be worth much.

The people's income increased, the Wu family benefited, and the court also received tax revenue. There is really nothing to say.

"Your family grows so much cotton, and will not be able to weave a lot of cotton cloth by then. Cotton cloth is so expensive, will it be sold?" the emperor asked with a smile.

In the past, white folded cloth was imported from Gaochang through the Silk Road. It was extremely valuable. One piece of fine white cotton cloth was worth nine pieces of silk.

Now that the Wu family's output is so large, just [-] acres of cotton in Sanyuan County can weave [-] pieces of cotton cloth. Even if it is folded in half, it is still [-] pieces, not counting the cotton grown in other places in the Wu family. This is more than From the moment Gaochang Yun arrived, it was really a lot of trouble.

"Your Majesty, now that the world is unified and the world is stable, there are still many people who like good things like cotton. Moreover, the cotton cloth I plan to weave this year will mainly be used for trade, just like sugar, porcelain, silk, tea, etc. "

Li Shimin immediately thought of the Wu family's white sugar and rock sugar. In the past, it was a good product monopolized by Tianzhu merchants. They could sell it as expensive as they wanted. No one could negotiate the price, and the quantity was still limited.

But since Wu Huaiyu came up with whiter frosting sugar and rock sugar, the Tang Dynasty immediately no longer wanted the yellow frosting sugar of the Tianzhu people. Instead, it began to sell the Tang Dynasty's good sugar to the merchants on the sea and land Silk Road. The Tianzhu merchants all grabbed it. They even transport raw sugar from Tianzhu, then increase the price in exchange for frosted sugar and rock sugar, and then sell it back to Tianzhu.

In the past, white folded cloth was produced and sold in Gaochang. Now that Wu Huaiyu wants to trade with foreign countries, he must still deal with white sugar.

"Can your Wu family's white cloth be woven better?"

"Your Majesty, the textile technology of our Tang Dynasty is much more advanced than that of Gaochang. We just didn't grow cotton before,"

No matter in terms of technology, output, or price, Datang Cotton Spinning, now headed by the Wu family, can cause a dimensionality reduction blow to Gaochang’s backward traditional cotton textile industry.

After all, the Wu family now has more quantity and higher technology, so it has real pricing power, and can even sell better and cheaper cotton cloth to Gaochang State and other countries in the Western Regions. countries, and even sold to Persia, Rome, Franks, Gothic Kingdom, and Tianzhu countries.

Of course, what Wu Huaiyu did not tell the emperor was that the three major cotton-growing households in the Tang Dynasty are the Wu family, the Fanyang Lu family and the Li Ji family. The three major planting areas of Hebei, Henan and Guanlongshan South are not large, but they have truly mastered advanced textiles. The only ones with technology now are the Wu family.

Therefore, the Wu family has now seized the high ground, and the Li family and the Lu family will soon become the Wu family's cotton raw material suppliers. They have the same backward seed rolling and textile technology as Gaochang, and they are simply unable to compete with the current Wu family.

"I really hope that the Wu family's cotton cloth can pass through the Silk Road and be sold all over the world,"

The emperor did not mention the occupation of grain fields. If the Wu family's cotton cloth could be as good as his family's sugar, the tax revenue that could be contributed to the court would be astonishing. Now among the foreign trade commodities of the Tang Dynasty, white sugar is as good as silk. As popular as porcelain, it accounts for the bulk of trade tax revenue.

"Will we continue to grow cotton in this way next year?"

"Next year, we plan to open businesses in the border areas to stock up on various types of cotton. As for the Sanyuan Plains, it will be up to everyone to choose whether to plant or not to plant next year. The military families who plant will make a contract to place an order, and part of the cotton purchase price will be offset by grain. Give money to the rest, so that we can ensure everyone’s food rations..."

"You are indeed very thoughtful," the emperor nodded, "The weather is bright today, just suitable for hunting. Come on, accompany me to hunt well, and see if you can meet another white deer today!"

(End of this chapter)