Fenghou

"Yes! We can sell 20 pieces of goods in one winter, but not only in our territory, merchants from the south of the Yangtze River also come to buy them. Sheepskin, cashmere and woolen blankets are the most popular, followed by fine linen."

"What is fine linen?"

The shopkeeper laughed, and took a small bamboo basket from the outside. Inside was a pile of gray wool. Chen Qing touched it and said with a smile, "It's broken hemp!"

"It's thinner than broken hemp and rotten. It's fluffy with a bamboo bow. It's very cheap. It's very popular for making cotton clothes. Although it sells in large quantities, it doesn't make much profit. It's mainly cheap. , it’s only a hundred pennies a catty, and we only earn ten pennies for a catty.”

"What about the wood cotton and straw cotton? What's the price?" Chen Qing asked again.

The shopkeeper hurriedly said: "The price of these two is the same, three hundred yuan and one tael, which is about five pennies a catty, and the price is fifty times that of fine linen wool."

Chen Qing asked in confusion: "Is this because rare things are more expensive?"

"The main thing is that things are rare and expensive, but it also has its own advantages, such as its softness and warmth, which is far better than that of fine linen. The biggest problem with fine linen is that it is relatively hard, and it will always be very uncomfortable when you wear it. The thin thorns penetrate the clothes and pierce the skin, which is very uncomfortable and not very warm, but grass cotton and wood cotton do not have this problem, and it is normal that they are rare and ten times more expensive.”

"Did anyone buy it?"

"Of course there is. Grass cotton is selling very well this year, and big families are buying it. Moreover, we are the exclusive supplier of grass cotton, which makes a lot of money."

Chen Qing smiled and asked, "Is there any cotton cloth? A cloth woven from straw cotton."

"Yes! But the quantity is not much. We only have [-] horses in stock. We have already sold [-] horses, and there are [-] horses left. It is estimated that they will be sold out this month. Yesterday, a cloth merchant in Lin'an bought [-] horses in one go. match."

"How much is a horse?"

"There are two kinds, one is [-] guan for a horse, and the other is cheaper, [-] guan for a horse."

Chen Qing was really taken aback, "It's actually more expensive than silk and satin!"

"Your Highness, a catty of grass cotton costs five guan, and a piece of cloth is at least three catties, and it has to be woven into cloth by hand. It is really not expensive, especially thirty guan. The quality is really good, very Fine and white, we only have [-] horses in stock, and we are reluctant to sell them. All we sell are the ones with [-] strings. The main thing is to look fresh. Your Highness, don’t underestimate the purchasing power of Lin’an dignitaries. The Lin’an businessman bought [-] horses and said Not enough, maybe I will come to buy it in two days.”

It's just cotton cloth, and in the final analysis, rarity is more expensive.

Chen Qing laughed again: "See if the shopkeeper has time tomorrow, go to my house to set up a stall, and bring cotton products and cashmere and sheepskin products to my house. There may be many family members of high-ranking officials who will come to choose together. They don’t have to come here en masse to buy goods.”

The shopkeeper quickly agreed, "I will bring three guys there, and I will send another three guys to help here, and there will be no delay."

"Then trouble the shopkeeper, tomorrow morning, a little earlier."

"Dare not, it is our honor to serve His Highness, we will go there at dawn, if you go early, you can wait for a while."

……

When Chen Qing returned to the official office, he immediately sent someone to find Li Zhuangnong. Li Zhuangnong had originally served as the order of the Tianzhai Mine Administration.

Li Zhuangnong, who has outstanding ability, was promoted to the front yard Sima of the Left Secretary of Government Affairs.

The left department of government affairs is mainly responsible for agriculture, animal husbandry, mining, smelting and casting, handicrafts and commerce, as well as transportation, warehouses, etc. The affairs are very complicated, so three more Sima were set up to assist in the management, called the front yard, the middle yard and the In the backyard, Sima in the front yard is in charge of agriculture and animal husbandry.

Li Zhuangnong walked into the official room quickly, bowed and saluted, "Please refer to Your Highness for humble positions!"

"Li Sima just came back from Fengtian County?"

"Exactly, I took officials from the Animal Husbandry Department to Fengtian County to inspect their agricultural and animal husbandry cooperatives, and planned to promote them in various places."

Chen Qing's visit to Fengtian is just an attitude, and the specific implementation will be completed by Li Zhuangnong and the staff of the Animal Husbandry Department.

Chen Qing said with a smile: "Have they re-established the rules and separated captive breeding from free-range breeding?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, we have already separated. We can raise up to [-] lambs in free-range, and we are only allowed to graze once a day, but there is no upper limit for captivity. It is said that a family bought [-] lambs at once and brought them back to captivity."

Chen Qing nodded, "What's your opinion?"

"Officials from the Animal Husbandry Department believe that too many pens are easy to get sick, so there is an additional area requirement. How many sheep should be kept in any pen? You can raise more sheep if you want, but the area must be large."

"It makes sense. As expected of a professional animal husbandry, you are more thoughtful than me. You guys decide!"

After a pause, Chen Qing said again: "The main reason I asked you to come here is to ask how the grass cotton planting situation in Liangzhou is going this year?"

"I heard that the planting of grass cotton this year is not very satisfactory, but I haven't received the report yet. I don't know what went wrong. However, I have sent people to Liangzhou, and the report may come later."

"You don't know the reason, but I do. They picked the wrong seeds, planted them into linters, and sold them to shops at a high price."

Li Zhuangnong was stunned, "How does Your Highness know?"

"You can find out by going to Junuan Pavilion. All the cotton in Liangzhou is there. Li Sima, I'm worried that it's not the wrong choice. I'm worried that they will be driven by profit, deliberately grow short-staple cotton, and then sell it to shops at a high price. Sell ​​it to a weaving workshop to make money, you know what I mean?"

Li Zhuangnong nodded, "Understood, I understand that I will change the manager, and they are strictly prohibited from selling without authorization. They must be shipped to Jingzhao, and their cotton seed remover will also be shipped back, and the seed removal will be processed in Jingzhao. The profits this year will be paid by the employees. Chase it back."

Chen Qing pondered for a while and said: "I have two ideas. First, we need to purchase a large amount of cotton. There is a huge amount of cotton produced in Ryukyu Oshima and Fujian Road. We must make full use of it, and then gradually cancel the hemp fields and turn the hemp fields into Good land. Second, we need to gradually replace fine linen with cotton cloth. The main thing is quantity. When the quantity increases, the price will come down. This is a long-term process, so you must not rush it, but you must have a plan.”

"Understandable!"

Chen Qing smiled and said: "I want to plant a few acres of corn in the mansion, please ask Li Sima to find some high-quality seeds for me."

"Remember the humble job!"

……

[Maize is corn. According to the definition of Europe and the United States, it was introduced after Columbus discovered America.

But in fact, China has already had it. Yuan Li Dongyuan's "Food Materia Medica - Valley Department" Volume [-]: "Maize: a kind of jade sorghum, planted in Western soil. Its seedlings and leaves are all similar to sorghum and short, and also like coix. The seedlings are taller than corn. Three to four feet, in June and July, flowers and spikes, like wheat. There is a bud in the axil of the seedlings, like a brown fish, with white whiskers hanging from the bud. After a long time, the buds will be dismantled and the seeds will come out, clustered together. The seeds are also It is as big as a rice dumpling, yellow and white, and can be fried and eaten."

It can be seen that in the Yuan Dynasty 100 years before Columbus was born, China had corn.

In addition, corn and peanuts were found in the Yangling Mausoleum of Emperor Jing of the Han Dynasty. Please refer to the 1990 Shaanxi Archaeological Report, "Archaeological Discovery Determines that China Is One of the Origins of Corn and Peanuts"]

-------------Chapter Dividing Line---------------

In the morning of the next day, a special supply and marketing meeting was held in Yongwang Mansion. Dozens of female family members of high-ranking officials gathered in the outer hall of Yongwang Mansion to choose fabrics and fillings for winter clothes.

The treasurer of Junuange personally brought three staffs, and brought dozens of kinds of fabrics, satins, sheepskins, and high-quality furs, as well as various stuffing materials, such as cashmere, duck down, wood cotton, straw cotton, etc. Various samples were placed on display. Three tables were full.

"Amei, do you think I should choose blue satin noodles, or use this kind of fine cotton cloth?" Lu Xiu asked her friend Li Mei with a smile.

Li Mei glanced at the busiest table. There were more than a dozen people around there, all of whom were buying high-quality cotton cloth. She whispered: "If you want to make cotton clothes, I suggest using satin and cotton cores. The white cotton cloth The fabric is like filial piety, it’s too ugly, but the lining is not bad, and the bedding is the same, the fabric must be satin, and the lining should be cotton for breathability.”

Lu Xiu covered her mouth with a smile and said, "Keep your voice down, what kind of filial piety, others will be angry when they hear it."

"Let me tell the truth! That kind of quality looks good, but it is not practical, unless it is sent to a dyeing house for dyeing."

Lu Xiu nodded, "My husband said that there will be more and more cotton cloth of this kind in the future, and it will gradually replace linen cloth, and it will be very cheap, but this kind of top-quality cotton cloth has always been scarce, so he suggested that I buy some and store it properly. .”

Li Mei thought for a while and said, "Then I'll buy some, too. It costs thirty pennies a piece. It's so expensive!"

"Thirty guan is the market price, and it is the cost price if you sell it to us. We only need [-] guan for one horse. Our family has a large population and we plan to buy a hundred horses."

"Then I'll buy a little less, thirty horses will be enough."

When the two came to the counter, the shopkeeper was recording the orders. Basically everyone bought them, most of them bought ten or twenty horses. He smiled bitterly in his heart. There were only [-] horses in the warehouse, and they were all sold out.

But the shopkeeper is very smart, Princess Yong hasn't spoken yet!He couldn't sell all of them to other wives. He cleverly kept a hundred horses, and only distributed two hundred horses to other wives, and they were sold out in a blink of an eye.

"Shopkeeper, do you still have the high-quality cotton cloth?" Lu Xiu stepped forward and asked.

The shopkeeper hurriedly laughed and said: "The current inventory has been bought out by them, but if the princess wants it, the villain will think of a way, but he can only get a hundred horses at most."

Lu Xiu glanced at Li Mei and said with a smile, "Give us all one hundred horses! I want seventy horses, and Mrs. Lu Sima wants thirty!"

The shopkeeper quickly wrote it down, and said with a smile: "Princess, don't worry! The goods will be available tomorrow."

"We also want to buy some thermal insulation materials, please tell the shopkeeper about it."

"Yes! Yes! I don't know if Wang Hao and Mrs. Lu want cashmere, or wood cotton or grass cotton?"

Lu Xiu smiled and said: "I have cashmere quilts at home. I mainly want to buy a set of cotton quilts and pillows for my family. I want to ask the shopkeeper, is it better to use wood cotton or straw cotton?"

The shopkeeper hurriedly came to another table, took two small bamboo baskets, and introduced them to Lu Xiu and several wives: "These two baskets contain the best grass cotton and the best kapok. If you want to choose, I recommend choosing kapok, kapok is warmer and more breathable, while grass cotton is a little bit worse, but because of the small amount of forage, the price is high, and the quality is actually not as good as kapok.”

Lu Xiu nodded, "How much kapok do you have in stock?"

"Princess, don't worry, the stock of kapok is sufficient."

"Well, I want to buy a thousand catties of kapok, no problem!"

The shopkeeper was startled, he actually wanted a thousand catties of kapok, but after a second thought, he realized that this is the princess, not an ordinary person, not only the family, but also the servants and King Yong's personal soldiers were all taken into consideration.

"No problem, we have enough goods and we can deliver them tomorrow morning."

Lu Xiu glanced again, and saw that several sisters were standing in front of the fur table to choose by themselves. There were all high-quality fox fur and mink fur, not only them, but also a large group of noble ladies gathered together to choose, Lu Xiu sighed in her heart, it seems that fur is the most popular.

……

Lin'an also had its first light snowfall since the beginning of winter. Thin and dense snowflakes were flying in the sky. There were people walking on the street, but the restaurants and teahouses were buzzing with people.

In the afternoon, the Changfeng Teahouse was also full of guests. Everyone drank tea and chatted, and the teahouse was very lively.

In an elegant room on the second floor, Hu Yun, Zheng Tongquan and Wang Mu also sat drinking tea together.

"I invited Master Zheng out for tea today. The main reason is that I have something to discuss with Master Zheng. Of course, it's His Royal Highness Yong's intention. I'm just conveying it!"

Zheng Tongquan heard that His Royal Highness King Yong was looking for him, so he hurriedly said: "Brother Hu, just speak out!"

Hu Yun smiled and asked: "How many large ships are there in the hands of the proprietor?"

"There are still about 150 ships!"

"Are you still running overseas?"

"Mainly go to Korea and Japan, and Luzon. The price of sugar in Luzon is very low, and it can be sold at a good price when it is shipped back."

Hu Yun hesitated for a moment and said: "His Royal Highness Yong wants to ask the proprietor to rent a hundred sea ships, is it convenient for the proprietor not to be the proprietor?"

"Of course, I don't know how long His Highness will rent it for?"

"Lease for three years, pay the rent according to the market price."

Zheng Tongquan said with a slight smile: "I know why Your Highness only leased for three years. The Western Army also built large ships in Quanzhou and Fuzhou, and delivered a hundred large ships in succession after three years. But I know in my heart that the shipbuilding period is very long. If you can’t pay it, it will take at least five years, so let’s do it! I will rent it to His Royal Highness King Yong for five years, and I will be given a rent of one hundred guan per year.”

"One hundred guan?" Hu Yun suspected that he had heard it wrong.

"That's right, one hundred guan. In addition, the crew's salaries will still be borne by me."

"That won't work!"

Hu Yun shook his head like a rattle, "His Royal Highness King Yong will definitely not agree."

"Please Brother Hu convince His Highness, if you don't agree, I can only give the ship to His Highness!"

Next to him, Wang Mu smiled and said, "Old Hu, with Mr. Zheng's current wealth, money is meaningless. Give His Highness a suggestion, let's change the form!"

Hu Yun nodded, "I see, it shouldn't be a big problem!"

Zheng Tongquan smiled and said nothing, but Wang Mu understood his intentions!

At this time, Wang Mu said again: "In the past two days, there have been many public appeals on the streets of Lin'an, demanding that Lin'an be officially designated as the capital city, and the newspaper office has also received hundreds of letters from the people, asking the "Beijing News" to publish their appeals, and Lin'an Settle down as the capital."

Hu Yun was surprised and said, "Didn't it be said a few days ago that many people called on the emperor to move his capital back to Bianliang?"

"Yes, our newspaper office has also received many letters from the common people, requesting to move the capital back to Bianliang. Now there is another group of people. I feel that there are two groups of people in the imperial court. One group wants to return to Bianliang, and the other The gang wants to stay in Lin'an, but as for the letter to the newspaper, I think it's to test King Yong's attitude."

Hu Yun pondered for a moment and said: "King Yong's attitude has always been very clear. He does not want the court to return to Bianliang. "Beijing News" can publish letters from readers who have settled in Lin'an."

Zheng Tongquan said from the side: "I know that I should not randomly participate in the military decision-making of the Western Army, but I still want to make a suggestion."

Hu Yun nodded, "Master Zheng, please tell me!"

Zheng Tongquan said slowly: "Whether Qin Hui or Empress Dowager Wei, they are all speaking for the interests of the Kingdom of Jin. Starting from the interests of the Kingdom of Jin, the emperor also wants to take back Bianliang. I just advise the Western Army to be careful of the imperial army's sudden northward march."

Hu Yun smiled and said, "I will definitely pass on Master Zheng's suggestion to His Royal Highness King Yong!"

Chapter 71 Agitation

At noon the next day, the "Beijing News" published a letter from a reader saying, "Lin'an should be regarded as your hometown." The diversion, the population loss in the Central Plains, the sharp drop in food, the land is barren, and there are no villages for hundreds of miles.

The letter also emphasized that both Hebei Road and Shandong Road are in the hands of Jin Bing. Once the Yellow River freezes, Jurchen cavalry can come to the city overnight. Safety cannot be guaranteed. The capital is restless and the world is not peaceful.

The "Beijing News" published this letter, which aroused a great discussion among the people of Lin'an. They opposed the move of the capital to Bianliang, and supported Lin'an's transfer to the capital. For property, everyone bought real estate in Lin'an. If the capital is moved to Bianliang, and the real estate in Bianliang is gone, what about the real estate in Lin'an?

In the afternoon, Qin Hui and Zhu Shengfei came to the imperial study, but saw Xu Xiantu trying to persuade the emperor to officially recognize Lin'an as the capital.

"Your Majesty, I know the current situation of the Central Plains. It is poor and weak. The prosperity of the past has long been wiped out by the golden soldiers. Now it is true that there is only devastation left. It is really impossible to support the various materials needed for Bianliang as the capital. The newspaper is right. , safety is a big issue. If we return to Bianliang, the Jurchen cavalry suddenly arrives, and the Western Army looks on, does your majesty think that our army can stop the Jurchen cavalry? If we can't stop it and Bianliang falls, wouldn't it be another Is an……"

Zhao Gou interrupted Xu Xiantu's persuasion with extreme dissatisfaction, and said angrily, "I didn't say that I would move the capital to Bianliang, I just said that Bianliang should be in the hands of our army, not the Western Army. I understand what I mean. ?"

"Your Majesty is right!"

Qin Hui walked in, Zhu Shengfei hurriedly followed, and the two saluted together, "See Your Majesty!"

"Two prime ministers, please sit down!"

"Thank you, Your Majesty!"

The two of them sat down, Qin Hui bowed slightly and said: "My minister also read today's "Beijing News". The reader who wrote the letter is not unreasonable. We are unable to solve a financial problem or a security problem, but the "Beijing News" The publication of this letter from readers in the Beijing News itself shows their attitude. Chen Qing does not want His Majesty to go north, he wants to monopolize the Central Plains, how can this be? Your Majesty, Chen Qing is no longer a separatist regime, but is eating away at the Song Dynasty , we must be vigilant!"