In the Gaochang Palace, Li Dongsheng was smiling and receiving two acquaintances, Hu Shangmu Zhonghai and his little partner Li Ting. Mu Zhonghai is now a well-known big family in the Western Regions, but he knows that he can have it today completely because Li Dongsheng has won it, as long as the supply of goods in his hands is cut off, his worth will shrink by at least more than fifty percent, so when he heard that Li Dongsheng was going to be an official in Gaochang, he immediately came all the way to meet him.

Li Ting is also more direct, he is Li Dongsheng's executor, a few years ago, he obeyed Li Dongsheng's orders to work in the Western Regions, and now he said to Li Dongsheng with admiration: "Are you a god operator?" I was arranged to come a few years ago, is it even if you want to come to the Western Regions to be an official? ”

"Where is it so mysterious as you say? I just know that there are good things in the Western Regions, and the main thing is to find a plant... Li Dongsheng sighed, and the sweet potatoes and potatoes he had been thinking about have no shadow until now.

Mu Zhonghai also felt embarrassed, Li Dongsheng said that he wanted this plant when he handed over the perfume agency to him a few years ago, but now that he has made money, Li Dongsheng has not made any progress in the matter. Embarrassed: "I also made a high bounty, and I have seen a lot, but it is really not the kind you said." ”

Li Dongsheng waved his hand and said, "That thing is more difficult to find, so let it be." ”

After a few people chatted for a while and talked about the recent developments, Li Dongsheng asked, "How about the white stacks I asked you to plant?" ”

Li Ting and Mu Zhonghai glanced at each other, and said in unison: "It has been expanded to hundreds of acres, what's the use of planting this thing?" and if you can't eat it, you have to serve it carefully. If you want to weave cloth, you can't weave much, the key is which flower has a boy, it's really difficult to get it. The cloth that comes out is too expensive, and you can't make much money. ”

When Li Dongsheng heard this, he immediately said, "Take me to see it immediately." "As a person of later generations, how can we not know the purpose of cotton? In ancient times, cotton was called Gubei, and finely woven cloth was called white shellfish. However, due to the long distance, China's southern, southeastern and northwestern frontiers are the earliest regions in the world to develop cotton planting and cotton textile technology. In the Tang Dynasty, cotton cloth was a precious commodity, from the Song Dynasty to the Ming Dynasty, cotton textiles have gradually become the main raw material for people's clothing, and the position of cotton textile industry in the national economy is second only to agriculture.

But Li Dongsheng knew how huge the cotton industry in Xinjiang was in later generations, and he had long been eyeing this thing. Why? Because he has long thought of retreating, that is, to flee overseas, but the navigation technology of this era is too poor, and he really doesn't know anything about navigation, so he has to use people to test the route again and again, and the cost of going to sea is huge, and every time he sticks it, the gods can't stand it, so there must be a stable profit from the sale of goods that can be welcomed by overseas people to maintain a huge fleet, and this thing is cotton.

A group of people stood on the slope outside Gaochang City, looking at the endless place in front of them, this piece of land was neatly growing three-foot-tall plants, because it was out of season, only the dead branches were swaying in the wind, Mu Zhonghai said: "Master Hou has collected this now, and it is all in the warehouse." At present, we have opened up so many places, and we are still waiting for your notice on how to do it. ”

Li Dongsheng imagined that in autumn, the white cotton field, the white flowers were not cotton, but copper plates. He laughed, "Okay, you're doing a great job. Whether I can take root in Gaochang depends on it. ”

The Tang army came from afar, wiped out tens of thousands of Turkic cavalry, and killed Ju Zhisheng, the king of Gaochang who surrendered, in public, and did not restrain his own army, and indulged them in the city of Gaochang to plunder, making the entire Western Regions Han and Hu countries and ethnic groups tremble, for fear that the Tang army would be so capable of fighting, and they would destroy themselves. But fortunately, the Tang army is about to retreat, and I heard that it is the amazing Li Tanhua, Lantian Hou, according to the grapevine, it is this Hou Ye who eliminated the Turkic cavalry.

This marquis has already issued a notice, inviting the major royal families, families, and big merchants in the Western Regions to send people to gather in Gaochang on the fifth day of the second month to discuss important matters. When Li Dongsheng issued the notice, he indicated that he would come and go voluntarily, but at this time, the Tang Army was powerful, and no one wanted to offend Li Dongsheng in this trivial matter, so the entire Western Regions took action and set off for Gaochang City. After all, it is not the kind of motor car or self-driving time of a thousand kilometers a day in later generations, at this time it takes a long time to walk on the road, and it is winter, and the wind and snow are simply scary to death.

Since Zhang Qian's mission to the Western Regions in the Han Dynasty, the Central Plains Dynasty has had a very conflicted attitude towards this land, and everyone does not know what kind of attitude should be used to treat these small countries. Because it is too far away from the Central Plains, and the roads are difficult, the environment is harsh, there are deserts everywhere, the water source is insufficient, and the entire Western Regions cannot be immigrated. When the Central Plains Dynasty was strong, everyone was very obedient and expressed their allegiance to the Central Plains Dynasty. But once the Central Plains Dynasty was in political turmoil, or when there was a war, they raised their butcher's knives to the Han people in the Western Regions...

Geostrategically, the countries of the Western Regions are a buffer zone between the East and the West, and a buffer zone on the western border of the Tang Dynasty. Now that I've been beaten, if you don't come to help, then your influence in this part of the Western Regions will slowly dissipate in the future.

So how can these guys stand on the side of Datang? Then there is only interests, and the strongest relationship in the world is the relationship of interests. Li Dongsheng was going to use cotton cloth and wool and other commodities to firmly tie these countries to the chariot of the Tang Dynasty. When the time comes, I will build a few more academies, and I will have to grasp both the economy and culture, and after a few decades, it is estimated that there will be many people who will be inseparable from Datang.

In fact, the most important thing is that the iron still has to be hard, as long as Datang does not have civil strife, no one has a chance. And Li Dongsheng also has a headache about the garrison in Gaochang, now he only has more than 1,000 people in the firearms battalion, they are all government troops, and they will be rotated after being stationed here for half a year, and then there will be a group of guys who don't know anything, and the road is far away, the conditions are bad, many people are complaining, it is better to recruit soldiers, let people with ideas sign up to come to the frontier to make contributions, anyway, all kinds of things make Li Dongsheng annoyed, but he has decided to build this place as a base, he wants to leave a deep imprint here, is also happy in the bitterness, and flies up every day.