According to the pre-prepared plan, after everyone entered the mountain, their gun-holding methods were changed to an alert state, and at the same time, spearheads were sent forward to investigate. The mountains are not steep. Along the road, you can see small patches of land in the mountains, where rice is being planted. There are also traces of planting on the gentler slopes - the green mountain forest is like a hairless blanket. , patches of yellow are exposed from time to time - this is the mountain fence planted by the people - this is a primitive agricultural method close to slash-and-burn farming. One or two scattered villages can be seen on the hillside in the distance. Because they had plenty of time, they were not in a hurry and watched the mountain scenery while walking. Although it is already autumn, Hainan feels like summer all the time, with the mountain flowers still blooming, the vegetation lush, and the scenery particularly beautiful. It has a different flavor compared to the desolate scene of smoke and grass outside the mountains. Walking up a hill, everyone stood and looked around. Wen Desi could not help but praise:
"What a great place."
"Compared to the two sides of the Wenlan River, the scenery is much more beautiful." Everyone said the same, wiping sweat and pointing at the surrounding scenery.
"What is this?" There is an extremely tall and straight tree on the hillside not far away. Among the lush trees, it has fallen leaves very conspicuously.
"This is kapok." Wen Desi said. As a person living in Guangzhou, it is impossible not to know the plant that is the city flower of Guangzhou.
"Kapok, I know! The flowers are beautiful. When I went to Panzhihua, I saw a lot of them," Mu Min said.
"Haha, that's right. Panzhihua is named after kapok."
"Why are all these trees losing their leaves? Trees in the south usually don't shed their leaves."
"It is originally a deciduous tree," Fashilu explained, "because its place of origin basically has two seasons, dry and wet. Before entering the dry season, all the leaves will be taken off to save water." Although he is An agronomist, he has also worked in plant protection. I know a lot about this.
"This tree is very useful," Fa Shilu continued. "It is a very good fiber material."
“It is good, but it cannot spin cloth.”
The fiber of kapok is much shorter than that of straw cotton, making it less suitable as a textile raw material. However, it grows quickly, the material is light and soft, the fibers are short and thin, without twisting, the hollowness is as high as 86% or more, it is not easily soaked by water, it has strong pressure resistance, strong warmth retention, natural antibacterial, no mold or mildew, and can be filled Pillows, life jackets.
Travelers have seen many kapok trees sporadically along the Wenlan River, but this is the first time they have seen such a forest. If it is opened, it should have great potential.
"Mr. Wen, I want to collect some samples." Fashilu asked for instructions.
"Dr. Gong, please tell Captain 6 about this -" Wen Desi said, "I am just a team member and have no command authority."
"Okay, I forgot again." The agronomist smiled sheepishly. The title of Generalissimo on Wen De's heir always made him forget this.
"Old Fa, you said this kapok can't be spun. Why did I hear that the Li people's cotton spinning technology was always leading in ancient times? Even Huang Daopo learned spinning from the Li people in Hainan." Accompany him It was Cui Yunhong who went to collect samples. He was carrying a lot of equipment on his back: a laptop, a transient electromagnetic meter, an anchor detector, a sonic detector... and even a small hand-crank motor of the African version for poverty alleviation - there was nothing anyone could do. All these things require electricity. While he was collecting samples, he also did some geological surveying.
"Not all kapok cannot be spun." Fashilu carefully avoided the thorns on the trunk and pulled the measuring tape. "Some kapok varieties are acceptable, but the quality cannot be compared with herbal cotton. There are also some so-called kapok that are actually It’s Sea Island cotton.”
"Sea Island Cotton?"
"This is a high-quality long-staple cotton. It is produced in Central and South America. Because it was widely distributed on the southeastern coast of the United States and its nearby islands, it is called island cotton." Fashilu explained, "Hainan Island has a similar The long-staple cotton is very close to this American island cotton.”
"I've seen cotton. It's very short and grows one species a year, just like grass. How can it be the same as kapok?"
"Haha, because cotton can be an annual or a perennial." Fashilu knew that in the original time and space, most people did not distinguish between grains and grains. There were many people who used wheat seedlings as leeks, so it was considered good to have seen cotton. , "Cotton can grow into a perennial woody plant in the natural environment. It may be mistakenly called kapok because it is the same as kapok, with cotton wadding on the seed coat. The raw material of the Li people in Hainan Island should be this kind of material. Perennial woody cotton." He continued, "I have seen some sporadic cotton trees like this. They are quite common on the island. Our department is considering how to deal with cotton issues."
"Is this kapok?"
"It's ordinary kapok." Fashilu was a little regretful. It would have been Chenglin's island cotton: this long-staple cotton can not only be used as worsted raw material to spin worsted high-count cotton with a texture and feel comparable to silk, but also The raw material for cords that will be indispensable for the future tire industry.
"It can be used to make fire sponge." Zhang Bolin, who was warning them from the side, interjected, "All it takes is fiber to make fire sponge."
"You can't say that -" Fa Shilu was talking when he suddenly saw two or three people coming from a distance. They were dressed and dressed and it looked like they were not Han people. Knowing that they were Li people, he quickly packed up his things and returned to the group.
Two soldiers came over and asked loudly from a distance. They all wore cloth shirts, but their lower bodies were wrapped in briefs-like cloth strips, a bit like the Japanese crotch cloth (this was a kind of clothing often worn by Li men in the past. There was a hook knife across the waist - this was the past Every Li man carries both production tools and weapons - crossbows on his back. Lu Rong talked to them in Qiongzhou dialect for a while and found out that this place is already a cave, and the cave owner lives in front of it. A place called Nanancun (this village is purely fabricated.
While they were talking here, the prisoners behind them started to stir up a commotion. Regardless of the weight of their salt bags, they all hurried over. When the two sides met, they hugged each other excitedly and cried - it turned out that these two soldiers were from their village. Early this morning, a hunter reported that a strange-looking team had arrived. They were not many in number and were not official troops. It is not a single or small group of Han traders. The owner of the cave was also the general manager of the land house appointed by the Ming Dynasty government. He had the obligation to maintain local security, so he sent someone to check.
From the conversation, we learned that five of the thirty soldiers sent by Bendong escaped. Now everyone in Li District is saying that a powerful pirate team has come to the sea with powerful firearms. The vendors from the Han District further elaborated on the story of the Bairentan War. Now almost everyone knows how terrifying the time-travelers are.
Knowing that the people coming were the "pirates" with the power of ghosts and gods, the two soldiers showed a look of fear. Lu Rong hurriedly explained that he was not a pirate, but a businessman, fighting with the official army at Bairentan. It was also out of necessity. This time I came to Li District, firstly to return these eight prisoners, and secondly to do business. With that said, Lu Rong opened a salt bag - the snow-white salt shone in the sun. The power of salt is indeed very powerful. After taking a lick to confirm that it was really salt, the two soldiers seemed to run away.
Lu Rong told everyone to wait where they were. If the information obtained by the security team from the Li prisoners was accurate, the power of salt would be enough. Even so, everyone is still a little nervous, fearing that the other party will take revenge if they come. The firepower of more than twenty SKS rifles is not a problem even if one or two hundred people come. However, once the conflict occurs, it will be difficult to deal with the aftermath. If there are a few more casualties on our side, it will be irreparable losses.
Not long after, I saw more than ten Li soldiers coming, surrounded by a middle-aged man. He was dressed much better than the nearly half-naked soldiers. He looked like a traditional Li brocade, with pheasant feathers on his head. It seemed that It's a leader or something. According to the prisoners, this was an "Oya" (Note: Li language means "old man") in their cave. Before the liberation, the general Li people used this to call the upper-class leaders of the Li people. He was second only to Master Tushe. Big shot.
This "Oya" could speak Qiongzhou dialect very well. He came alone and walked to the open space on both sides, and first chopped the hook knife on the ground.
"What does this mean?" Lu Rong was a little nervous.
"It seems to mean there is no hostility." Wen Desi remembered that when he watched an Amazon rainforest adventure movie, the expedition team met the indigenous people in the forest and put the machete on the ground first to show friendship. "Just do the same thing. .” (Note: This is purely made up.
So Lu Rong also walked out and put the machete on the ground. Not only was he extremely nervous, but everyone in the team was also sweating - he was only fifty meters away from the soldiers, and the crossbow arrows. If they hit a place without the protection of stab-resistant clothing, the curare on the crossbow arrows would No one will see blood seal his throat.
The two sides stood there talking for more than ten minutes, and then he came back and said somewhat helplessly: "He refuses to let us go to the village. They are willing to buy the salt, and they are willing to use whatever we want as a ransom for the captives."
Wen Desi wanted to go back like this, what's the point. However, the captain is Liu Rong, and his involvement in decision-making seems to violate the command policy established by the executive committee.
So he still asked tentatively: "Let's talk some more? Let's give some gifts -"
"Gift!" Lu Rong laughed, "It has been more than a year since I resigned, and I have forgotten all about my job." So he went back, and the two talked for a while. After a while, Lu Rong came back with a smile on his face:
"It's done. He promised to take us outside the village, but we can't enter the village. We can only trade outside the village. But he promised to let us see the owner of the cave."
The cost of this transformation is a small fruit knife. Although the fruit knife is not made of high-grade steel such as tool steel, it is still a steel knife, and it is completely incomparable with the rough iron hook knife in their hands.
It seems that commercial bribery can be used anywhere.
