At that moment, Chen Duzhong said: "When will this matter be implemented?" ”

"After Uncle Jiu returns to the Eastern Domain, you can first let out the wind and make a list, and at the same time I will write a note and a son to Shi Liyi, the head of the Nan'an Regiment, and you can allocate some money in advance to buy thousands of shovels, shovels, forks, rakes and other things, and also buy some prime-aged ploughing cattle, which will be transported to Taiwan one after another, and now it is the first day of the first month, and it is advisable to plant cotton in March, and there are still three months, enough to spread."

"I still have to discuss this matter with my brother and them." Chen Duzhong said excitedly: "I think they won't object." ”

Chen Dujing, Chen Duguang, Chen Durong and others are all people in charge of the Changwen Marquis Mansion, Chen Duzhong is young, and he can only be regarded as the periphery of the family, not the core.

If the Eastern Domain's work of opening up cotton fields can succeed, Chen Duzhong is afraid that he will also have the qualifications to speak in the affairs within the family, so he can't help but be excited.

"It's fine." Xu Zixian said with a smile: "Uncle Nine will start first, and I will follow up." ”

"Of course I'll follow suit." Chen Zhengbin said with a smile: "Penghu can't grow cotton, but we have a lot of manpower, if the Eastern Domain is done, the pressure on Penghu will be much less, and I am happy to see it." ”

……

Coming out of the Changwen Marquis Mansion, Chen Dujing and Chen Duguang, Chen Duzhong and Xu Zixian discussed together, and the people in the Changwen Marquis Mansion all felt that Xu Zixian's suggestion was quite good and worth following up.

Fuzhou is a rare large-scale plain area in Fujian, but no matter how big the territory is, there is no idle land for a long time, two royal mansions, dozens of princely mansions, family surnames, as well as civil and military officials, gentry and wealthy families, even if Da Weili is in industry and commerce, but which one does not have ten or eight estates?

Each of these estates has its own owner, and if they want to unify and replant cotton fields, how much effort will it take to negotiate, compromise, and sell benefits?

Fujian originally also had cotton fields, but the yield was smaller, and it could not be compared with Jiangnan at all, and the crops that the people were used to planting should be changed to give up the benefits of reality, even if it was Xu Zixian's own official village, if he wanted to ask the people to give up planting grain and change all to cotton fields, the price would not be small.

Previously, because of these concerns, it was regarded as trapping the big cotton merchants and cloth merchants including the Changwen Marquis Mansion.

Fujian's textile industry is also developed, the famous Zodiac Pofang machine is out of Fujian, nearly a hundred years but has been pressed down by the south of the Yangtze River, mainly because of the lack of cotton production, relying on people to breathe, how to let go of hands and feet?

Xu Zixian also saw business opportunities, there was no cotton in China, the ancients kept out the cold, and the poor people wore hemp and stuffed kapok. The rich wore silk, or stuffed kapok, or wore fur clothes in winter, which were luxuries that the poor could not imagine.

Later, during the Northern and Southern Dynasties, Indian cotton was introduced to China, and China began to grow cotton on a large scale.

At the end of the Tang Dynasty, cotton gradually spread in the north and south, and by this time of the Great Wei Dynasty, several cotton production bases such as Hedong, Shandong, Jiangnan and Fujian had been formed.

The largest cotton production is in Jiangnan and Shandong, which are more than 10 million catties a year.

Nowadays, ordinary people must still not be able to wear silk cotton jackets, but ordinary cloth cotton jackets are still prepared by every household, and the poorest Yungui places still can't afford to buy them...... This is, of course, the poorest of the families. Here in Fujian, there are always a few new clothes to be made a year, and the cotton jacket that has been worn for a long time will be stiffened and shrunk, and the cotton must be re-added and loosened, so as to keep warm.

Therefore, this piece of business has huge potential and has almost no bottom line at all.

And the Wa Kingdom, the East, the West, the Heavens, the demand for cotton cloth in China is not small, although this trade is not as profitable as raw silk and porcelain, but the victory is in the quantity is very large, take the spinning cloth as an example, is how much to sell, there is no surplus at all.

The matter of opening cotton fields in the Eastern Domain is decided, the early investment is of course huge, but the land that wins in the Eastern Domain is ownerless, the imperial court is in Renzong, Xuanzong has issued several edicts in a row, where the ownerless people go to the Eastern Domain to open up the fields, the national endowment is exempt from taxation for three years, and the acres of land are owned by the people, as long as they are reported to the government to record and enter the accounts.

Even with this kind of edict, there were still very few people who went to a wild place like the Eastern Domain, and there were no more than 10,000 residents in the Eastern Domain for so many years, which shows how difficult it is to go to reclaim the wasteland.

The Changwen Hou Mansion and the Nan'an Hou Mansion joined forces, and the manpower, material and financial resources were enough, and with the cooperation of Chen Duzhong, the defense envoy, this matter could be done.

Even so, the early expenses must be huge, and it takes a lot of money to recruit people, otherwise not many people will be willing to go.

Farming cattle, farm implements, cottonseeds, and all kinds of equipment have to be transported by sea, which is another big expense.

Chen Dujing and Xu Zixian discussed, it is expected that 100,000 mu of cotton fields will be opened, and a large number of ploughing cattle and horses need to be purchased from coastal areas.

For example, if there are two healthy cows used in cultivated land, and with the usual care, two families can plant 60 acres of cotton fields, which is still a small calculation.

For 100,000 acres of cotton fields, those who were willing to plant cotton fields among the original people of the Eastern Domain had to recruit at least more than 1,000 households from the coastal areas of Fujian to the Eastern Domain.

Xu Zixian proposed to move the displaced people from Zhangzhou, and in Minqing, Houguan, and Nanping, there are at least several thousand households of displaced people in these counties, and they can move 1,000 households over first, and if the cotton fields produce more than 400 catties in the first year, another 200,000 mu will be opened in the second year, and about 3,000 displaced households will be levied to the Eastern Domain.

In this way, not only will the Eastern Domain have enough manpower, but it is also expected that the problem of displaced people in Zhangzhou will be completely solved.

The breaking of Zhangzhou is the biggest hidden pain of Fujian Road more than ten years ago, the five thieves gathered more than 100,000 troops, plus the Qishan thieves as the guide, the forbidden army could not resist and led to the destruction of Zhangzhou City, Zhangzhou Zhangpu, Longyan, Changtai, including the state city of Longxi counties were conquered, and the displaced people who fled at that time were more than 200,000 people.

In the past ten years, Zhangzhou has gradually recovered its vitality, and the displaced people have returned to their hometowns one after another, but there are still three or four thousand households, and more than 10,000 displaced people are unable to return to their hometowns, so they are displaced on both sides of the Min River.

This is also the most troublesome thing on Fujian Road, Xu Zixian has already digested and used thousands of displaced people in Nan'an, if another thousand households are moved, and another two or three thousand households will be moved next year, basically the problem of Zhangzhou displaced people will be solved.

Of course, Chen Dujing strongly agreed with this proposal.

If the two families are not in-laws, the Chen family may have reservations and suspicions, or they may oppose it, or the Chen family can mobilize half of the people plus the displaced people.

In this way, the two sides can restrain each other, and Xu Zixian cannot be asked to control it alone.

You must know that thousands of homeless households have entered the Eastern Domain, and the money is from both families, but Xu Zixian's reputation among the homeless people, who doesn't know? If this is done, Xu Zixian is equivalent to the rebirth parents of the displaced people in Zhangzhou, and he really saves their suffering, Xu Zixian's reputation will rise again and again, and the Marquis of Changwen's mansion will be grateful for its money and efforts, but among the displaced people, who has the final say?

It goes without saying that Xu Zi must have said it first.

The Changwen Marquis Mansion on this matter, such an approach, from the public heart, the Zhangzhou displaced people can settle down, it is a good thing for the country and the people, plus cotton planting, not only for the Changwen Marquis Mansion, but also for Fujian Road, Chen Dujing, a big official who is more than half a hundred years old, it is impossible not to be unmoved by this.

Staying in the eternal world is one of the important choices in the so-called meritorious service, morality, and speech, as long as there is an opportunity, Chen Dujing will not give up the opportunity to make meritorious contributions.

Again, it is Xu Zixian who is a rising star after all, and it is conceivable that he will be prosperous for decades in the future, and even his status in the future will not be under the current King of Qi.

The two families have become good in-laws, and considering that Xu Zixian's future pattern is huge, here in the Eastern Domain, Chen Dujing and them are of course letting go.

It is impossible for Chen Dujing to make a decision on this matter alone, and Chen Duzhong, Chen Duguang and others present did not object.

At this point, it is a decision, how to start, manpower, financial resources, and materials can be slowly planned and prepared.

"How much do you want to invest in the early stage?"

There is only one Chen Zuocai next to Xu Zixian for the time being, Jin Jian, and a few people sat on the side when he was high and only listened to it, Chen Zuocai asked Xu Zixian with big eyes under the lamp.

"How many do we have now?" In terms of finance, Kong He has always been specifically responsible, Li Yi is in charge, and Chen Zuocai will also assist on the side, and the approximate number is still known.

"Counting the public, from November to December, the merchants gradually decreased in these two months, and of course the group training donations were also less, only less than 30,000 yuan. After removing all kinds of expenses, there are still about 6,000 yuan left, but fortunately, the war is over, and a lot of money is donated from all over the place, otherwise, even the annual reward is not very good. After the beginning of spring, I don't know if the wharf can be built in February or March, the port wharf is opened in the name of Nan'an group training, the income is considered a group training, how much can be earned, there is no plan yet......"

Xu Zixian nodded slightly, the bulk income of the group training is currently only the group training donation, the first battle of the river beach has a great harvest, and the loss is also very large, more than 30,000 yuan donated by the commercial banks in various towns, plus the essence of several thousand guan given by Yang Shiwei.

After the second year, the group training donation can only be restored to the level of more than 15,000 yuan per month, and before that, it can only barely cover the expenses.

The expenses for going north, including repairing the lucky boat, and of course Xu Zixian's bride price of 30,000 yuan, were all taken out of the private treasury of the Hou Mansion Courtyard, and had nothing to do with the group training donation.

Then, the wharf warehouse area is put into operation, because it is opened in the name of group training, so the income of the wharf storage area is counted in the public account, not the income of the Hou government, and the accounting is also recorded from the public account.

This is Xu Zixian's insistence, the public and private accounts are clearly distinguished, and there is no chaos.

Going down, the ducks, sheep, pig pens, chicken coops, and vegetable fields of the Hou Mansion will also be supplied to the camp at the current price, and the regiment will pay for the purchase, because the cost of vegetable fields and breeding is Xu Zixian's own pocket, and these lands are also the land of the Hou Mansion.

In fact, the land in the regimental training camp area is also the land of the Hou Mansion, and this will be discussed in the future.