Snow.

It looks like it's going to be the New Year again.

This year's Liaodong is exceptionally cold, but it is also exceptionally peaceful. For the first time since the start of the Crusade, there had been no fighting.

Luo Cheng was dressed in a cotton jacket, wrapped like a zongzi, and went out of the city with Xiao Hei, accompanied by Kan Ling and several other righteous sons, carrying Longcheng Feijiang wine, carrying some pastries and grain and oil.

Kan Ling said, "Father-in-law, let's wear this mink brocade robe, I think your padded jacket is really not warm." ”

Luo Cheng smiled, "I don't lack mink brocade clothes, but ordinary government soldiers don't have these." Don't look ordinary at this padded jacket, but if it can be promoted, it is quite a remarkable thing, if everyone has him, this Liaodong will not be afraid of the cold in the future, and in winter, you don't have to stay in the house all day to tell the fire of the kang chinchilla winter. ”

Kan Ling looked at the padded jacket on Luo Cheng's body, "But the padded jacket on your father-in-law, but it is more expensive than ordinary mink brocade clothes, how can everyone have it." ”

At this time, cotton was planted in the Central Plains, and only the emperor's court and some nobles were planted in the back garden, which was seen as an ornamental flower.

There are very few cotton and cotton cloth in the Central Plains, all of which are produced in the Western Regions, and are called white stacked cloth.

According to the research of later generations, Gaochang in the Western Regions, that is, the Turpan area of later generations, planted a large number of cotton to weave cotton cloth in the Sui and Tang dynasties, and the cotton they planted was African cotton.

The set of cotton jackets on Luo Cheng's body was made of cotton and cotton cloth trafficked by merchants from Gaochang Kingdom in the Western Regions.

Gaochang people call cotton cloth white folded cloth or fine cloth, over there, a pound of cotton, the top grade of straight money seven yuan, but a foot of fine cotton cloth, the top grade straight money forty-five Wen, the second value of forty Wen, the next forty-three Wen. The second cotton cloth is worth 30 yuan for one foot straight, 25 yuan for the second time, and 20 yuan for the lower value.

The worst cotton cloth is called 麁緤, and the top grade is worth 12 wen for a foot, and the second is worth 10 wen.

Looking at it this way, it seems that cotton is not expensive, but it is cotton cloth that is expensive. The reason is that the cotton deseeding technology at this time is not mature, and it is extremely difficult to remove seeds, coupled with the short fiber of this Gaochang African cotton, which is not easy to spin, so it is in favor of the phenomenon that cotton is not expensive, but cotton cloth is extremely expensive.

At this time, the Central Plains had not yet begun to promote the cultivation of cotton, and after being trafficked from the Western Regions, this white cloth was scarce and precious, so it was more valuable than silk.

In these years, if you can wear a cotton coat, it is definitely not rich or expensive. If Luo Cheng is still wearing a padded jacket, it is definitely a symbol of status.

"Actually, cotton planting is not too difficult, and there are ways to improve efficiency by removing seeds and weaving."

Xiao Hei was surprised, "Can white stacked flowers really be planted in large quantities?" Then we also plant white stacked flowers in Liaodong, how to spin white stacked cloth, and everyone's income will increase greatly by then. ”

Luo Cheng smiled.

"Liaodong can't be planted, cotton needs plenty of sunshine, Liaodong is too cold to grow."

When Xiao Hei heard this, he was very disappointed, white cloth is so expensive, it is more expensive than silk, if the soldiers in Liaodong can grow cotton and weave cotton cloth, then everyone will have one more way to make money.

"Liaodong is not suitable for planting, but there are many places in the Central Plains that are suitable for planting cotton, such as the Western Regions, such as Longyou Guanzhong and many other places are suitable for planting, and cotton planting does not need particularly good land to be planted." Luo Chengdao, "If there is a way to promote cotton, in fact, we can engage in textile processing." Gaochang people don't know a good way to remove seeds from cotton, and there is no good textile technology, but Luo Cheng still knows that the spinning wheel and seed removal car far beyond the current technology, these manual machinery since the Song Dynasty, has become mature, the efficiency is still good, although it can not be compared with the steam age, can not be compared with the modern era, but it is already very remarkable.

It is not impossible to engage in cotton textile processing, just like Hunan in later generations did not produce betel nut, but it does not prevent Hunan from becoming an important processing area of betel nut.

Liaodong does not produce cotton, but it needs cotton more than other places. After all, Liaodong is cold, Luo Cheng and a few of them went out of the city, and they felt that after leaving the fire kang dragon in the house, the whole person was a little stiff.

The roads outside the city were covered with snow.

If you don't ride a horse, you can get half up from this foot.

Now the soldiers and soldiers under Luo Cheng, as well as those immigrants who came here, rely on fur in winter, all kinds of mink, dog skin, wolf skin, sheepskin, and all kinds of wool, everyone is dressed in fur, and they can't go out without this thing. Then most of the time I can only stay at home in the winter, prepare the firewood in the morning, and stay in the house every day.

There is still a fire kang here, otherwise it will be more difficult to hold on.

But ordinary people don't have such good conditions as the government soldiers, after all, no matter how the government soldiers say, they are at least a homesteaders, often participating in wars or something, and they can also have spoils of war rewards or something, and the standard of living is at the middle and upper level in these years.

But how can ordinary people have this condition, everyone is dressed in fur, so they can only make a sandwich of clothes, which is filled with more cotton, wool and grass, and most of the time they can't go out in winter.

"Father-in-law, in this winter, just tell the people below to go and visit, why do you want to go there yourself." Wang Xiongdan rubbed his hands, although he was wearing deerskin gloves on his hands, the cold wind was pervasive, and his hands were as stiff.

"You can't be out of touch with the bottom, no matter how high you stand, if you are out of touch with the bottom, then you will be close to falling."

Luo Cheng and their line went to a tunzi with Xiao Hei today to offer condolences, that tunzi is a military tun, also called the local regiment in the Central Plains, the government soldiers live around the military government, they also divide the land and grant land, the location of these government soldiers is called the local regiment, that is, it is subordinate to the military government, and it is also under the jurisdiction of the county.

In the heavy snow, Tunzi is very quiet.

When the centaurs approached, they heard the sound of dogs barking.

Then someone climbed onto Tuen Mun and shouted.

Xiao Hei shouted, "Ma Da stick, you have a loud voice, hurry up and open the door to see who is coming, the big handsome man has come to visit everyone." ”

Luo Cheng's arrival made this little tunzi suddenly lively.

This tunzi is actually not big, it was originally housed fifty government soldiers, but they did not live here at first, but stationed in each city and fort, and this is the place where they placed Goguryeo concubines or homeless concubines, and then the families of their concubines lived outside the tunpu and lived separately.

Last time, more than 50,000 government soldiers were withdrawn, and more than 20 government soldiers also walked in this tun, so there are still more than 20 government soldiers left. When some of the soldiers returned to the Central Plains, they took their Goguryeo concubines and left, but some directly left people here.

Sometimes it's not too clear why, anyway, someone just didn't take them away.

And some people's concubines were exiled because their relatives rebelled in the Central Plains, and those government soldiers couldn't take them away if they wanted to, and the imperial court stipulated that these people could not return to the Central Plains.

And some of these remaining concubines found out that they were pregnant after their husbands left, and it was impossible for anyone to ask for them right away, so they are in a miserable situation now.

Luo Cheng also deliberately came down with Xiao Hei today to take a look, after all, whether it is these government soldiers and these government soldiers and concubines, they are the foundation and foundation of Liaodong.

There are still more than 20 government soldiers in Tunzi, but some of them are now on duty in other cities and towns, and there are only eight government soldiers in Tunzi.

Xiao Hei led Luo Cheng to Ma Da Stick's house who opened the door for them, he was Xiao Hei's old subordinate of the spear team before, and now he is also a team deputy, and now he happens to be at home in turn.