In the first year of Yuanxi (1), in February of the 10th year of Taiping in (Northern) Yan, Tallis followed the Qijia caravan into Longcheng, the capital of Northern Yan (today's Chaoyang, Liaoning).
Entering Dragon City and looking at the familiar streets, Talis felt a little dazed. Eleven years ago, Talis fled Dragon City with his grandfather, uncle, and others. Talis never returned to Dragon City. The scene before him suddenly became vivid in his memory.
Walk three miles forward along this Dongzhi Street, and then to the southwest is your former home. He heard from Qi Hui, the steward of the caravan, that his family's house was given to his close minister Yang Zhe by Lord Yan, and that the home that carried the memories of his youth had become someone else's residence.
Looking at the shop signs on both sides of the street, some of them still look like they were in the past. More than ten years have not left many traces on those signboards.
Talis sighed in his heart. More than ten years have passed. His grandfather Zongti has passed away, and his uncle Zhenaf is no longer alive. His father is running for Yonggong in Luoyang. He inherited his father's business and joined the Commercial Affairs Department and became a secret agent. .
After Wei Sujin made great achievements, Yonggong learned that Tallis was an old friend, and asked Huang Fu to give him three options. One was to leave the Department of Commercial Affairs and enter politics, and he could choose a county to be the magistrate; the other was to serve in the army. , be appointed as General Hengye; third, continue to serve in the Department of Commercial Affairs, and can be appointed as the right envoy to the Five Characters Fusi Department.
Talisi thought about it again and again, and felt that he still liked secret spies running around, not to mention that it was easy to get promoted in the Commercial Information Department. My family belongs to the Xianbei ethnic group, so they will inevitably be squeezed out by the Han people. If I have a firm foothold in the Department of Business and Information, my family will be able to settle down in Luoyang.
In the first month of the first month, Huang Fu, the envoy of Yousi, gave himself an order to go with the Qi family caravan to (Northern) Yan to find out the truth and wait for an opportunity to recruit people from Northern Yan to Northern Qingzhou.
Feng Ba came to the throne and still used Yan as the country's title and called him the King of Heaven. He revitalized the government, purged the officials, encouraged farmers to teach farmers and mulberry trees, and reduced business taxes. He also made good friends with Rouran, Khitan, and the Eastern Jin Dynasty. The Yan State was attacked by the Wei State. To be at peace.
Along the way, Tallis learned from Qi Hui that the people of Yan State were living and working in peace and contentment, and it would be difficult for him to recruit people to Northern Qingzhou.
However, Huang Fu, the chief envoy, negotiated with him and asked him to make good friends with the officials of the Yan State and recruit people in the name of cotton cultivation in the Qingzhou and Jizhou areas of Northern Yan (today's Jinzhou and Qinhuangdao areas). The navy of the Yong Army in Qingzhou crossed the sea to the Kingdom of Yan, and captured the people and returned to Northern Qingzhou on the ship.
Qijia Shop is located in the southwest of Longcheng, and Baizhen Shop is quite famous in the city. It sells colored porcelain, tea and other items from the Jin Kingdom. Since last year, it has also added colorful cotton cloth, which is very popular with the wealthy female relatives of the Yan Kingdom.
Someone saw the Qijia caravan as it entered the city. Before the caravan had finished unloading, someone came to inquire if there was any cotton for sale.
The price of Longcheng cotton cloth is 16,000 yuan per piece, and the supply is still in short supply. Qi Hui brought 400 pieces of cotton cloth this time, a hundred of which were ordered by the palace, and many of the rest had been ordered in advance. There are only seventy or eighty pieces of cloth that can be sold in the shop.
Last year, the quality of the cotton cloth brought by Qi Hui was significantly better than other cotton cloth on the market, and the color was more colorful, which was deeply loved by the women of Longcheng. Some officials in other places did not buy or sell Qijia's cotton cloth, so they told the shop to keep some after purchasing the goods and paid a deposit.
When doing business in Longcheng, you must first take care of General Zhengnan and Shangdang Gong Yao Zhao, because Yao Zhao also serves as the commander of the Sili School, the supervisor of the Sili School, and the inspector of the capital and the surrounding areas of Longcheng. He holds a high position. All the troubles and disturbances in Longcheng are controlled by this Shangdang Gong.
Yao Zhao was greedy by nature and used his power to demand bribes. He was greedy and greedy. If Jin merchants like the Qi family didn't take care of him, they could find any reason to confiscate their shops.
Qi Hui took ten pieces of cotton cloth, four sets of colored porcelain, tea and other items and went to Yao Mansion to give gifts. It happened that Yao Zhao was in bed, and after seeing the cotton cloth and colored porcelain that was brought to him, he ordered Qi Hui to be called into the hall for questioning. Tallis followed Qi Hui.
Yao Zhao stroked the colorful porcelain tea cup and said in a long voice: "Shopkeeper Qi, I haven't seen you for a year, so the money has been reduced a bit."
Qi Hui said with a smile: "I have a hard life. I spend most of my time traveling, so how can I gain weight? But the proprietor is merciful. This is my last trip to Dragon City. I can feel at ease after returning to Xinxi. at home."
"Oh", Yao Zhao raised his eyes and glanced at Qi Hui, and asked casually: "I wonder who will take over as shopkeeper Qi, why don't you bring it to let me see, the Jin Kingdom
You have a lot of good things, and I still need to rely on you. "
Qi Hui repeatedly said that he did not dare, and pointed to Tallis beside him and said: "Shang Dang Gong, he will replace me from now on."
Tanilisi stood up quickly and came to Yao Zhao. He stroked his chest and bent down and said, "Talisi has met Mr. Shangdang. May the God of Immortality bless him and bless Mr. Shangdang with good luck."
Yao Zhao raised the corners of his lips and said, "A Xianbei person? Nowadays, Duke Yong of Jin State and Wei State are at odds with each other, and the road is not smooth. It seems that you are powerful and powerful, and the Qi family is good at employing people."
Tallis smiled and said: "My original family is from Pingzhou, Yan State. The owner asked me to come here not for the safety of the road, but because I know how to grow cotton. The owner wants me to buy land to grow cotton in Yan State. In the future, I can directly Weaving and weaving in Yan."
Yao Zhao carefully put the tea cup in his hand back on the table, motioned to the maid next to him to accept it, and said to Tallis with great interest: "You know how to grow cotton? Can cotton survive in the Yan Kingdom? Please tell me. , how much manpower does it take to produce one acre of cotton, and how much cotton does it take to get one piece of cotton cloth?”
Seeing that Yao Zhao had taken the bait, Tali Si explained the process of growing cotton and weaving in detail. Yao Zhao listened attentively while stroking his beard, interjecting questions from time to time.
When he learned that the cost from cotton to cloth was only about 3,000 yuan, and most of it was labor cost, Yao Zhao immediately became greedy and said in a deep voice: "If you want to buy land to grow cotton in the Yan Kingdom, you can't do it without the permission of the King of Heaven." , The king of heaven attaches great importance to agriculture, and I am afraid he will not allow the fields to be planted with cotton."
Tallis smiled and said, "If Lord Dang is willing to speak for the servants, the proprietor promises to give 10% of the bonus."
Yao Zhao stroked his beard and laughed loudly: "If you get a 10% bonus, you want me to advise the King of Heaven on your behalf. How dare you make fun of me."
Tallis cursed in his heart, but the ultimate goal of this trip was to kidnap the people who grew cotton, so it didn't matter how much cotton he gave to Yao Zhao.
On the surface, he bent down to apologize in fear, and Tallis said: "I wonder how much bonus the Lord thinks is appropriate?"
Yao Zhao rolled his eyes and thought for a moment, then said: "You, a Jin man, came to Yan State to buy land and grow cotton, so it was a lot of inconvenience. I thought that Qijia Shop was still respectful to me, so I simply came to help you. "
"My guild came forward to make a request to the King of Heaven and asked him to prepare to grow cotton in the territory. I have nearly a thousand hectares of land in Jizhou, so I simply allocated 500 hectares to grow cotton." Yao Zhao said with a smile on his face: "The manpower to grow cotton is , I will send people to summon the spinners, weavers, and dyers to weave and sell each piece of cloth, and I will give you two hundred coins. Talis, you no longer have to work for the Qi family, you only need to run errands for me. Anyway, you are from Yan, so you can get two hundred yuan for free with just your words. This is a good deal."
Tallis cursed in his heart, no wonder Qi Hui told him that Yao Zhao was greedy and tyrannical, and would definitely take the bait whenever he saw "bait", but he underestimated Yao Zhao's greed and actually wanted to swallow up his entire cotton livelihood.
Seeing that Lisi lowered his head and said nothing, Yao Zhao slammed the table and shouted angrily: "What, you are still not happy? Lisi, I see that you have evil intentions. You are obviously a female cadre of the Jin Dynasty. Qijia Shop I’m afraid it’s also a Jin people’s den.”
Qi Hui hurriedly called out and said: "Talisi, Mr. Shang has been kindly cultivating you, but you don't know what to do and why don't you agree quickly? The proprietor will explain to you that you have Mr. Shang taking care of you in Yan State. I will definitely prosper in the future.”
Talis had no choice but to look aggrieved and said in a solemn voice, "Thank you, Mr. Shangdang."
Yao Zhao laughed proudly and said: "Just now you said that the cotton yield per mu is about forty or fifty kilograms. Since the fields owned by me are fertile, we will calculate it as fifty kilograms. If the cotton yield is lower than the cotton yield per mu, we will have to pay the same amount." Every family makes up for it, and the shortfall is offset by cotton cloth.”
Qi Hui's face twitched. He had never seen such a greedy person before. Tallis worked exclusively for him and had nothing to do with the Qi family. Why did the Qi family have to make up for the shortage of cotton? He was obviously greedy.
Motivated by money, Yao Zhao quickly asked Feng Ba to plant cotton in Jizhou (Northern Yan). Yao Zhao made an impassioned speech, claiming that cotton-padded clothes could protect against wind and cold and ensure that the soldiers would still have the ability to fight in the winter. force.
Feng Ba heard from his brother Feng Sufu, the general of chariots and cavalry, and the official of Lu Shangshu, that Yang Anxuan, the Yonggong of Jin Dynasty, planted cotton in the territory. This cotton could be put into clothes to protect against the cold in winter.
Years ago, Feng Ba specially ordered someone to buy some cotton-padded clothes from Jin Guoguo City. After trying them on himself, he felt that the cotton-padded clothes could really keep people warm and comfortable.
Feng Ba just heard that it was difficult to grow this plant, and Feng Ba was worried that cotton fields would encroach on farmland, so he hesitated whether to order a trial planting.
Yao Zhao's memorial made Feng Ba determined to plant 300 hectares in Jizhou and asked Feiru County to cooperate.
"Your Majesty, the cotton farmers I recruited claim that growing cotton is more difficult than growing grain. To ensure sufficient moisture, it requires more labor than growing grain." Yao Zhao said: "In addition to recruiting labor in Jizhou, Send criminals and prisoners of war to the fields where they can grow cotton. If there is a good harvest in the cotton fields, it will not only provide the soldiers with additional winter clothing, but also can be woven into cotton cloth, and the national treasury can also receive multiple taxes."
Feng Bajia said with approval: "It's accurate. It's commendable that Shang Danggong is devoted to the pursuit of the country. I will leave this matter to Yao Qing. After the cotton clothes are made, I will reward him."
After receiving the decree, the Shangdang Gong, who was "devoted to the pursuit of the country," turned his private affairs into public matters, and he could get money from both ends.
As for King Feng Tian’s decree to plant 300 hectares on a trial basis, he might as well mix in some of his own private goods. Since cotton is so profitable, he might as well plant 300 hectares on his own fiefdom, and the required labor might be supplemented by conscription.
Yao Zhao appointed his eldest son Yao Zhao as the cotton planting envoy, and took Tanlis to Jizhou to mobilize the people to grow cotton. Tallis chose a field near the sea to facilitate the Yong army's navy to come and pull people.
In late March, the temperature in Beiyan Jizhou had risen. Talis led the farmers to plant cotton seeds. Seven or eight days later, the cotton seeds began to sprout. Talis began to ask the farmers to level the fields and add knotted poles and fertilizers. In one month, the cotton seeds have grown to a foot high, and you can see a lush green scene. .
Tallis followed Yao Zhao on horseback and inspected the cotton fields. The fields were full of farmers loosening soil, applying fertilizer, and catching insects. Yao Zhao attached great importance to the cotton fields and asked his son to report the production status of the cotton fields every ten days.
Knowing that cotton fields require a lot of labor to fertilize and drink water, Yao Zhao not only conscripted prisoners with relatively minor crimes in the territory to serve as free labor in the cotton fields, but also asked Jizhou to conscript 5,000 people. At least tens of thousands of people were working in the 600 hectares of fields.
In order to guard the prisoners, Yao Zhao asked Feng Ba to issue an order to order Huangfu Gui, the governor of Jizhou, to build thatched houses near the farmland and send 600 soldiers to maintain order. Tallis also suggested to Yao Zhao that weaving and spinning fields should be built near the cotton fields first, so that they could weave directly after the cotton was harvested.
Feiru County in Yanji Prefecture has become extremely lively because of cotton field planting.
"Note (1): One year ahead of real history."
