In summer, the grasslands are full of lush weeds as far as the eye can see.

Flocks of cattle and sheep were leisurely eating grass there.

However, a concrete road divides this vast grassland into two.

At the bend of the concrete road, a river passes by.

In this area, a new town has sprung up.

Because this place is very close to Shuozhou, now Xue Yantuo has been wiped out by the Tang Dynasty, and the nearby tribes have either migrated or been wiped out.

So this town, even the city walls have not been erected.

"Lang Jun, the Chu Prince's Mansion invested at least 200,000 yuan in the construction of this iron-making workshop, and the city wall has not yet been built, which fully shows that they are full of confidence in the safety here. Last year, we have tried the benefits of cotton farming, and almost all the money invested in the previous one-time investment has paid off. If we continue to expand in the future, the risk should not be very large. ”

As the person in charge of Du Fu in Shuozhou, Li Shuguo's main job is the management and expansion of cotton fields.

However, after buying another 10,000 acres of land at the beginning of this year, Du Wei had some doubts about whether to continue to expand the scale of cotton planting in the future.

Turning a grassland overgrown with weeds into fertile land for growing cotton requires a lot of investment.

The relevant water conservancy facilities basically need to be done by themselves.

Crucially, a large number of people need to be recruited to help.

Especially when it comes to cotton picking, if you don't have enough people, you may miss the best time to pick.

"The handiwork of this ironmaking workshop is indeed very large. But I can't figure out why the cotton fields of the Chu Wangfu have not increased at all this year. It stands to reason that the profits of each link of cotton planting and subsequent processing are not low, and Li Kuan has no reason to give up. ”

"The owner, the Chu Wangfu has not given up the cotton industry. Although there are more than a dozen companies with a larger planting scale of cotton than Chu Wangfu, when it comes to follow-up cotton processing, especially cotton dyeing, Chu Wangfu's investment in this area is still very large. In my opinion, that Li Kuan felt that the processing and dyeing of cotton, and even the subsequent production of clothing, were more profitable than simply planting cotton, so he did not focus on it. This does not mean that the Chu Wangfu is not optimistic about the development of Shuozhou. ”

Li Shuguo's status in Du Mansion is now directly proportional to the Du family's investment in Shuozhou cotton.

If most of the Du family's income comes from the cotton industry, then as the person in charge of cotton planting, Li Shuguo's position will be very stable.

On the contrary, if the Du family's focus in the future is not cotton planting, then Li Shuguo's status in the Du family will decline.

"That Chu Suiliang, are you familiar with it?"

Du Wei did not deny Li Shuguo's words, but asked about Chu Suiliang's news.

As the person in charge of the Chu Wangfu in the Shuozhou region, Chu Suiliang's influence is still very large.

In particular, the equipment of each cotton deseeding workshop comes from the workshops under the Chu Wangfu; The equipment for cotton weaving also comes from the workshops under the Chu Palace.

But any family that wants to make a difference in the cotton industry will want to have a good relationship with Chu Suiliang.

In particular, the Chu Wangfu is now the largest cotton buyer in Datang, which determines the price of cotton to a certain extent.

And this cotton price, to some extent, is determined by Chu Suiliang.

That is, Li Kuan is very confident in Chu Suiliang, knowing that this is an aspiring talent, and he will not lose his future for the sake of small profits in front of him.

Otherwise, if another person is in charge of the business of Shuozhou, the palace of the king of Chu, he may not know how much money he will have to get into his pocket.

"I've visited a few times and eaten together twice, but it's not familiar. The owner, in fact, you don't have to worry about our relationship with that Chu Suiliang, I don't know if it's to avoid suspicion, that Chu Suiliang is not very close to the families, but he likes to mix with the Tian Shenu in the field. ”

Li Shuguo was worried that Du Gou blamed him for not having a good relationship with others, so he quickly explained.

"I heard that Shuozhou has recently received a new batch of prisoners, and you go back and buy a hundred slaves back. Then he went to buy 50,000 pieces of wasteland from Shuozhou's Thorn Mansion, the one next to our cotton field; We are preparing in advance, and when we plant next year, we will strive to bring our cotton planting area to a new level! ”

Looking at the chimney in the distance, Du Wei felt the generosity of the huge ironmaking workshop in front of him.

Since the Chu Wangfu is willing to put such an important industry as steelmaking here, the Du family's investment in expanding the scale of cotton cultivation should be controllable.

Anyway, a cotton field can earn back money with interest in a few years.

……

"Fu Jun, I have arranged for people to go to the grassland to buy more cattle and sheep to come back, and other supplies such as horse feed are also being prepared. However, the creation of weapons still needs to be arranged by you. ”

Shuozhou Thorn History Mansion, Chu Suiliang is reporting the latest situation to Zhang Jian, the Thorn History.

"Depositor Bo, are those rumors on the border of Liaodong true? Then Goguryeo is also a rare big country, and the Gao dynasty is really so easy to fall? ”

A few days ago, Chu Suiliang suddenly came to Zhang Jian, saying that the caravan had received news that Gao Jianwu in Goguryeo had been killed by Yuangai Suwen in the past, and the situation in Goguryeo had changed dramatically.

If it is such news, although it is a bit shocking, Zhang Jian can still accept it.

The most important thing is that Chu Suiliang judged that this time, after such a change occurred in Goguryeo, the Tang Dynasty would use troops against Goguryeo.

This is why Zhang Jian does not pay attention to it.

However, whenever troops were used against Goguryeo, the army would most likely pass through Shuozhou, then Youzhou, and then enter Liaodong.

Judging from the scale of the Sui Dynasty's three certificates of Goguryeo, the scale of that time is not small.

If the Tang Dynasty wants to deal with Goguryeo, even if there is turmoil in their country, the scale of the troops will not be small.

Along with it, supplies from the state capitals along the way were provided.

"Fujun, the Yuan family in Goguryeo was originally one of the five tribes left over during the founding of the country. Yuangai Suwen also held the military power of Goguryeo, and many orders from Gao Jianwu's father and son, after leaving Pyongyang City, did not have much effect. Although I don't know the cause of this incident yet, I still find the rumors of Yuangai Suwen's massacre of Gao Jianwu credible. As for whether the Gao dynasty will fall, I don't think it will be in the short term. After all, in order to hide people's eyes and ears and let everyone see that he was not usurping the throne in that dynasty, Yuangai Suwen was likely to choose an obedient one from among the children of the Gao family and support him to the throne. ”

"In other words, Yuangae Suwen will become the de facto controller of Goguryeo? And the king of the Gao family will turn into a puppet? ”

Chu Suiliang's meaning, Zhang Jian naturally understood.

"That's right, and judging from the situation of Yuangai Suwen, this puppet of the Gao family may not be able to do it for long."

"If that's the case, there's a real chance of war."