Yan Lide, the secretary of the Ministry of Industry, arrived first, and he was not very clear about the planting of cotton, but he did know better about the planting place of cotton. "Guazhou, Xizhou, and Liangzhou are all planted, but most of them are purchased by merchants from the Western Regions to weave white cloth, that is, cotton cloth, and the woven cloth is softer than linen cloth, but I have never seen anyone stuff cotton into clothes."

Yan Lide seems to be quite prepared, and can quote the history of cotton cultivation. “…… Moreover, it is recorded in the Book of the Later Han, the Book of Zhou, the Book of Sui, the Northern History, and the Southern History, and is also called 'white boil', that is, cotton or cotton cloth. ”

"It's just that because it is difficult to deseed, it is difficult to weave into cloth, but according to Weichen, what Master Fang said, it is a good note to stuff cotton into clothes to keep warm." Yan Lide looked at Uncle Li and said.

Uncle Lee turned his face to look at me. See what I'm doing? Deseeding? This was as simple as bragging to me, so I got up and said to Uncle Li in high spirits: "Father-in-law, the method of removing seeds can be solved by my son-in-law." ”

"Master Fang, don't talk nonsense, I have been planting cotton flowers in China for more than a thousand years, but no one can come up with a way, this is not ......" Yan Lide's words interrupted Uncle Li with his hand: "Wait, I'll see if I can keep warm by stuffing cotton in my clothes." ”

Soon five catties of snow-white cotton were spread out on the floor of Qifeng Pavilion, and after I explained in detail how to fill it to several of the invited Datang imperial tailors, they looked at the cotton, rubbed their fingers, pressed it and nodded: "The small one thinks it can be done well, even if there are more, it's no problem." ”

---------------------------------------------------- "five catties...... You, did I hear you right? "It's too powerful, I can see that my scalp is sweating, I raised my eyes to look at the sky, it's summer now, the temperature is at least 20 degrees, we are all wearing single clothes, if you really put five catties of cotton on your body, it is strange if you don't have prickly heat."

The eldest imperial tailor of the Tang Dynasty turned around when he heard my words, and glanced at me very curiously. "My lord, aren't you only five pounds?"

"Well, yes, it's just five pounds, okay, then let's do it." I glanced at Uncle Li, who was sitting on the low couch next to me and sipping tea and watching here, gritted my teeth, in order to increase the credibility of the items, I decided not to stop the fanatical energy of these royal tailors, but only instructed them how to spread the unseeded cotton evenly on the clothes, and then began to use needles and threads to fix them, and after a series of work, I sewed five catties of cotton into the clothes.

Zhao Kun became the first experimenter to try on a cotton cloth made of silk fabric, the time was too short, the distribution of cotton was a little uneven, and the needle angle was not sewn well, so Zhao Kun looked very strange after putting it on. The indoor temperature is also more than 20 degrees, and then wrapped in a thick layer of cotton, and there is no pillar of incense on it, Zhao Kun's head is already sweating: "Hot, Your Majesty, this thing is very hot, can your subordinates solve it first." ”

"Is it really that hot?" Uncle Li had already walked over, stretched out his hand to rub it, and walked around Zhao Kun twice before signaling him to take off the cotton clothes, and sure enough, Zhao Kun, who had taken off the cotton clothes, was already soaked with sweat on the front chest and back of his underwear.

Uncle Li nodded happily: "Yes, it seems that this thing can really keep warm, there are too few things such as fur to keep out the cold, if my soldiers in the northern Tang Dynasty can wear this thing, why not be afraid of the wind and snow in the northern region." ”

"Longyou and northern Guanzhong have always been sparsely populated, the area is arid, it is difficult to produce grain, and even some places cannot grow grain at all, but this thing is different, it is particularly drought-loving, if we can grow a large number of ...... in Longyou," I said to Uncle Li.

Uncle Li narrowed his eyes and didn't speak, but I clearly saw the greedy green light in Uncle Li's eyes, a very cute expression.

At the behest of Uncle Li, I came to Honglu Temple and met with my two negotiation assistants, one is Liu Hao of Honglu Temple, and the other is He Zheng of the Host and Guest Division. The institutions involved also exercised diplomatic management responsibilities from different angles and aspects, and for this important matter, Uncle Li gave instructions to have both Honglu Temple and the host and guest department send officials to serve as my escort.

Uncle Li didn't set any bottom line for me, which means that he is very relieved that these two adults and I will not betray the interests of the Tang Empire and turn to Xue Yantuo, a barbaric and uncivilized nation.

But since Uncle Lee trusts us so much, we must resolutely and satisfactorily fulfill this task entrusted to us by the state. First of all, anything, any living thing, is regarded by me as a commodity, yes, a commodity, and I have to make these officials of the Honglu Temple and the Host and Guest Division fully understand what diplomacy is, what it means that a weak country has no diplomacy, and what it means to negotiate between countries.

"First of all, there is no real sense of peace, and there is no morality in disputes between countries. I hope that all of you here will keep this firmly in mind. "I took a sip of tea, no way, I had to educate them diplomatically in advance, first of all, the vast majority of people here report a kind of arrogant, morality to convince people's mentality, they have no vital interests in it, they only know the books to convince people with virtue, they only know that the Tang Dynasty is strong, the military is unparalleled in the world, but they don't understand that diplomatic war is not easier than the real life-and-death struggle. To strive for the best interests of his own country, and to find ways to protect his vested and existing interests, these are the things that every diplomat should do.

"Do you think that if a subject country comes to pay us a rag, I should give back the same weight of gold, silver and jewelry, so that the strength and prosperity of the Tang Dynasty can be revealed? No, this is at all, do you think that those subject countries will think that our Datang is extremely powerful and invincible? In the same way, if you are a landlord and you give your possessions and land to the poor people around you, and you give them your house, and give them your wives and concubines to enjoy, then they will indeed be grateful to you, but are you still a landlord? What will happen to those who receive your alms? Think about it from the position of the landlord, and then think about it from the position of the people who are being given alms. Well, lo and behold, you all think it's incredible. Think my words are stupid, don't you? Yes, isn't that similar to your external strategy? …… Only derogatory terms can explain this kind of behavior: stupid, ignorant, stupid thoughts, to tell you that the strength of Datang is not said by others, but created by the efforts of the people of Datang themselves. I stood on the couch and roared, pointing my finger at the nerds, spitting stars.

---------------------------------------------------- yes, why shouldn't I get excited? Why am I not excited, after I saw the detailed list of tributes and gifts between the subject countries here, I have to be angry, I have to be excited, these idiots are simply traitorous acts, such as Gaochang back then, 100 good horses, 1,000 cattle, 10,000 sheep, 20 white cloth, these things add up to no more than 10,000 yuan, but what did our Datang give back? gave back the gold, silver and jade worth 10,000 guan of Gaochang Kingdom, silk worth more than 20,000 guan, and even exquisite porcelain, antiques, and books, the total value of which is as high as 100,000 guan? Can I not be angry? 100,000 yuan, enough for the people of a small county town to live a blessed life, you know, now the price of rice in the Tang Dynasty, a bucket of rice is only sold for five yuan, that is to say, consistent money can buy 20 stone of rice, Tang Dynasty one stone is about nearly 60 kilograms, equivalent to 1,200 kilograms, according to the later generations of my era of one pound of rice one yuan seven jiao five cents, consistent money is equivalent to more than 4,000 yuan of purchasing power.

If calculated in this way, how much is 100,000 guan? You don't have to count it, you can come to a conclusion just by thinking about it, this is a terrible astronomical figure, and those who have no conscience are simply losers, even worse than me. I have seen a loser, but I have never seen a loser more than this. Damn it!

I didn't scold them, I looked at them, they just suffered too much from Confucianism, I could see from their expressions, the disapproval of these nerds' expressions disappointed me, of course, there are some realizations, I don't expect all officials to understand my philosophy and implement my strategy, but I must first plant this small seed of national interest in their hearts.

"Let me tell you, since Your Majesty has put this official in charge of this negotiation, then, I hope that you officials can learn some lessons from it and understand some truths, we are a part of the Tang Dynasty, we should think about our country, instead of digging up the flesh and blood of our own country to feed those jackals roaming at the door! That's all for today, I hope everyone can go back and think about it, and have a good understanding of what this official said today. "I've made a summary, there's still time, three days, and after three days, I'm going to make them understand.

I will also prove my argument to them with clear examples, examples? Right in front of me, the messengers of the Xue Yantuo tribe, my opponent? No, I should say that I am the object of wanton abuse.

(To be continued)