Datang: What's wrong with my fief being a billion points larger?

Chapter 258 Cotton processing, government-arranged marriage?
The more Li Yuanji thought about what Wei Ting proposed, the more excited he became. He had indeed not thought of this point before.

Sending Yu Minghe over there can indeed solve a big problem, that is, the control over the grassland. As long as Yu Minghe can rise, the grassland will be under his control.

At least it is much better than supporting Tuli, and there is no need to worry about rebellion after he becomes powerful, or the problem of contacting the Tang Dynasty privately.

Li Yuanji looked at Wei Ting with interest.

"What Zhengping said is true. It is indeed better to let Yu Minghe go.

However, although Yu Minghe has such an identity, it would be difficult for him to act if he went there alone.

If we send a large army to assist, we will encounter the problem that Xuan Cheng mentioned.

Do you have any idea about this matter?"

Wei Ting was obviously confident about this and said with a smile: "My king, after Yu Minghe goes there, the army will need support, and only two to three thousand people will be enough.

At that time, these people can go through the caravan, carrying some supplies, and go through in the name of escort, and then report to Yu Minghe, but it will take some time.

Besides, Ning Chun is there and can help Yu Minghe with advice. Tuli also needs help, so Tuli can be used in the early stage, and Yu Minghe will take power later.

The only thing we need to pay attention to is whether Tuli will contact Datang, and this needs to be handled by Ning Chun."

Li Yuanji pondered for a moment and then agreed.

"This matter is settled!"

"Jingren, when you go down, sort these out and arrange for people to start coordination."

Cen Wenben stood up and agreed. Li Yuanji immediately asked everyone to leave and asked someone to find Yu Minghe.

"See you, Your Majesty."

Seeing Yu Minghe becoming more and more stable and his abilities improving substantially, Li Yuanji was very satisfied.

"No need, take a seat."

Li Yuanji also came and sat down, looking at Yu Minghe solemnly.

"Let me get down to business. I called you here because I have a mission for you, which is to go to the Turks."

Yu Minghe was confused for a moment, then his face was filled with excitement, and he felt a little agitated.

Li Yuanji was stunned when he saw Yu Minghe's expression. After a moment, he realized why Yu Minghe was like this.

"Don't get excited. We are not going to send troops to fight the Turks. How can we send troops when there are so many small countries and forces in between?"

Hearing this, Yu Minghe calmed down immediately. He really thought so. Li Yuanji had destroyed quite a few countries, and he was very familiar with that process.

After calming down, there was still some disappointment in Yu Minghe's eyes. He thought he was going to fight, but the result was like this. It would be a lie to say he was not disappointed.

After adjusting his mindset, Yu Minghe looked at Li Yuanji firmly.

"My lord, just give me your orders. I will complete whatever it is!"

Seeing Yu Minghe quickly adjust himself, Li Yuanji smiled and then told Yu Minghe what he was going to do in the Turks.

“So, when you go there, you must quickly take control of all the tribes on the grassland, especially the forces under Tuli, and then bring other small tribes over.

If you are undecided about anything, please discuss it with Ning Chun. I will not transfer him back. He will stay there to help you.

I can only give you about 3,000 troops, the rest is entirely up to you.

You have a very solid foundation and have gained a lot of experience. This is your chance to display your talents. Whether you can do well depends on your own abilities.

Just like Xie Shufang went to Tubo and Feng Li went to Gaoda, I hope you can achieve your goal on the grassland."

Yu Minghe felt a little confused for a moment. Yu Daorong had never told him about these relationships, and he had never thought about them. Now that he heard Li Yuanji talk about it, he found it hard to accept for a moment.

He thought he was Han Chinese, but he didn't expect that he also had Turkic and Xiongnu blood. This reality was somewhat beyond his previous understanding.

Li Yuanji didn't say anything else after he finished speaking. Now he knew that Yu Minghe needed some time to adapt. After all, these things happened suddenly and it was really difficult to adapt to them.

After a long time, Yu Minghe seemed to have adapted and then looked at Li Yuanji.

"Your Majesty, I know, but this time I am going to the Turks, will I still be a Han Chinese in the future?"

Li Yuanji said solemnly: "I can tell you that you are Yu Minghe, so you are naturally a Han Chinese!

This trip to Turkestan is a mission. It does not mean that you will stay in Turkestan forever. Don't let yourself get carried away.

You are Yu Minghe now, and you will be Yu Minghe in the future, with the last name Yu, not Ashina."

Pure Han people? Of course there are, but they are very few, and almost all of them are Han people who have merged.

Li Yuanji himself also has Hu blood.

This has been inevitable since the Five Barbarians Invaded China.

After hearing this, Yu Minghe stood up immediately.

"Don't worry, my king. I will definitely complete the mission!"

Li Yuanji stopped thinking about it and nodded.

"Okay, I believe you. Go down and make good preparations. Time is urgent. You will set out the day after tomorrow and take 500 people with you."

In the following period of time, Li Yuanji had a lot of free time. Originally, he had a lot of affairs to deal with, and sometimes he needed to handle them all at once, but with the addition of Wang Gui, Wei Ting, and Wei Zheng, Cen Wenben was able to handle the affairs in his hands.

Li Yuanji was bored and gradually began to want to go out and have a look.

Thinking about how long he had been in Lingnan, it had been several years, but he had never been out for a walk. He didn't know what the outside world had become like, nor what the situation of his new fiefdom was like. He had never seen it or experienced it, and Li Yuanji felt a little regretful.

On this day, Li Yuanji, who was in a bad mood, was resting when Cen Wenben hurried in.

"Your Majesty, good news! The rice and cotton planted in Luzhou and Songzhou have been harvested and shipped back."

When Li Yuanji heard this, he immediately became interested.

"where is it?"

"It has been stored in the warehouse."

"Come on, take me to see it."

Li Yuanji could not bear it any longer. Cotton was what he had always been thinking about. As long as cotton was planted, it would have great uses in military, civilian and industrial fields.

Raw cotton may not have much value, but after processing, it is a rare thing.

Arriving at the warehouse, Li Yuanji walked closer and saw that the entire warehouse was full of cotton, and the quality was pretty good. Li Yuanji then looked at Cen Wenben. "What is the yield per mu of this cotton? How much has been planted?"

Cen Wenben said with a smile: "My lord, the yield of cotton per mu has reached nearly 300 kilograms. This time, we planted 10 hectares of land directly, and all of them were harvested."

Cen Wenben was all smiles. Compared with the previous cotton harvest in Lingnan, the harvest this time was much better. How could he not be happy?

Li Yuanji frowned when he heard this. This output might be a lot in Cen Wenben's opinion, but in Li Yuanji's opinion, it was still a little too little.

He probably knew the cotton production in later generations. Compared with the current production, there was at least a difference of two to three hundred kilograms. That was at least.

Li Yuanji was also helpless. At this time, this output seemed acceptable. Except for the environment and light, other aspects were indeed quite lacking.

This output is only found in Luzhou Prefecture and Songzhou Prefecture. This output cannot be achieved anywhere else in the Tang Dynasty, even in the north.

The growth of cotton is closely related to soil, light, environment, and water. Luzhou Prefecture and Songzhou Prefecture are already extremely suitable places for growing cotton, but their output is so low. He dare not even think about other places in the Tang Dynasty.

After a long time, Li Yuanji walked out of the warehouse and spoke as he walked.

"The processing of cotton must be implemented quickly. Now we should focus on military use, and a small part should be used for civilian use, with textile use being the priority.

A portion of it was reserved for the princess, as she would need the cotton for her clothes, and the rest was given priority to the army, especially those stationed outside.

At the same time, we should expand the planting area next year. Cotton is only grown well in Luzhou and Songzhou, so we should increase the output."

At this moment, Li Yuanji wanted to go out and take a look even more. Although reports from all over the country were gathered to him, he had never seen it with his own eyes. The more Li Yuanji thought about it, the more excited he became.

Then they came to the hybrid rice warehouse. After Li Yuanji opened it, his eyes lit up.

The rice shipped back from Luzhou Prefecture and Songzhou Prefecture has grains that are no worse than those from Hainan, and are even slightly better.

"What is the rice yield? Are there many empty husks?"

While speaking, Li Yuanji peeled a grain of rice and tasted it. Although he tried very hard, he still couldn't taste any difference. The only thing he could see directly was the fullness of the grains.

Cen Wenben was also full of excitement. To be precise, Cen Wenben's smile never disappeared.

"My lord, the yield is slightly higher than the yield per mu here, and the fruit set rate is better, and the empty shells are less than those grown here.

The most important thing is that the rice there has been proven to be able to be grown for three seasons, and the two governments have already started planting the latest season of rice.

The only pity is that the population there is limited and there are not many oxen for plowing. Only some places can achieve three seasons, while many places cannot do so and there is not enough arable land.

I am already speeding up preparations to relocate more people to the two prefectures, and encouraging those who go there to have more children.

It happens that the king is here, and I have a suggestion for this matter."

Li Yuanji also felt heavy-hearted after hearing this. At this time, he was already thinking about whether he should exchange for some more oxen.

There is a real shortage of oxen. They are needed everywhere, but there are only so many of them now. By the time those young oxen grow up, I'm afraid they will be too late to use.

Li Yuanji felt distressed because this was a good place to grow rice for three seasons but could only grow rice for two seasons because of the slow cultivation process.

When Cen Wenben made the suggestion, Li Yuanji immediately looked at Cen Wenben.

"Any suggestions? Just say it, as long as it can solve these problems, use it!"

Li Yuanji was really impatient. The population problem was his pain point. If it could really be solved, it would undoubtedly be the best.

Cen Wenben pondered for a moment, then said: "Your Majesty, this is just my temporary thought, it has not been sorted out in detail, Your Majesty, please listen to it first.

I believe that within the King’s fiefdom, men and women who have reached marriageable age must get married within two years. If they fail to do so, they will face punishment.

Nowadays, there are more women than men in the population. If they really cannot get married, the government can step in and arrange marriages directly.

After marriage, they must have children within two years. If they do not have children, they must register the reason with the government, otherwise they will face punishment.

At the same time, for those who have concubines, even if they are concubines, they must give birth to children within two years. If it is not due to the woman's own reasons, those who have no children after two years will also face punishment.

As for those who already have children, I think they can be encouraged to have more. A limit can be set for this matter, for example, five people. If the number exceeds five, the government can provide appropriate subsidies to encourage people to have more children. This way, the population growth can be accelerated significantly.

These are my temporary thoughts, and they have not yet been perfected. Please correct me, Your Majesty."

Li Yuanji's face was heavy. He had thought about what Cen Wenben said, but this decision was not easy to make as there were too many aspects involved.

Based on what Cen Wenben had said now, Li Yuanji was able to point out several problems.

After a while, Li Yuanji did not delay any further. Now that Cen Wenben had brought up the matter, it was a good opportunity to discuss it and settle it.

If they want to increase the population now, they have to start from this aspect. He has almost fleeced all the wool of the Tang Dynasty, and the population that can be increased through the current method will only become less and less.

"Let's go back to the palace and talk about this in detail."

Then Li Yuanji stopped watching and took Cen Wenben back to the palace.

"Jingren, please take note of what I am going to say next. I won't let anyone else take notes. After you write it down, you can sort it out later."

Li Yuanji immediately asked someone to bring writing brushes, ink, paper and inkstone, and Li Yuanji personally ground the ink for Cen Wenben.

"What you just said, that people must get married within two years of reaching marriageable age, is a very good point. Regardless of whether they are men or women, if they fail to get married according to the regulations, they can be punished appropriately.

But punishment must be moderate. Just fine some money and grain, but it should not affect the lives of the people too much.

At the same time, we must prevent low-level officials from targeting this, punishing the people without reason, and putting the money and grain into their own pockets.

Therefore, once this policy is decided, it must first be communicated to all the people, and only after the people have a clear understanding of it can it be implemented.

The amount of the penalty must also be determined and announced to the public, so as to avoid leaving too many loopholes in this matter.”

Cen Wenben wrote quickly, and after taking note, he looked at Li Yuanji.

“Your Majesty is right. The original intention of this matter is actually for the good of the people. We should not let this discourage the people and allow those corrupt officials to benefit.

I suggest that Wei Zheng's Censorate and newspaper agencies can jointly supervise, and at the same time, the punishment for officials who have such thoughts should be increased.

No matter how much profit is made, even if it is only one ounce of silver, it must be severely punished. "

Li Yuanji nodded.

"Yes, that's right. Just follow what you said. This should be recorded. We should strengthen supervision and increase the punishment system for officials who make mistakes. We can't let the cost of making mistakes be lowered.

Only severe punishment can prevent those people from doing it easily.

All those involved in these matters must be punished more severely, and cannot be punished in the usual way."

(End of this chapter)