With the interference of the local government, more than 60 percent of the cotton fields in the south of the Yangtze River this year have been replanted with drought-resistant crops such as millet, corn, and soybeans.

Because although cotton is drought-tolerant, it must not be affected by drought, otherwise the yield will be seriously reduced or even the harvest will be lost.

In the past few years, when there was a spring drought, the government also vigorously publicized it, but the farmers were not very cooperative.

After suffering a few more losses, the cotton farmers also learned to be obedient.

This year's work has been smoother, with local officials taking the lead and village and town peasant associations taking the lead, and a large number of cotton farmers taking the initiative to contact the government to buy or borrow seeds for drought-resistant crops such as millet on credit.

In June of the new calendar, the first batch of wool from Chahar was transported to Yangzhou by merchants for sale.

Jiangnan textile businessmen gathered in Yangzhou to grab goods.

The predictable reduction in cotton production has led to an increase in the price of wool, and even the worst felts have been sold skyrocketing.

"A piece of five, I'll make a piece of five!"

"Five dollars for two!"

"I'll pay a piece of five dollars three!"

“……”

The warehouse outside the Yangzhou capital, the northern wool merchants, actually held an auction here.

A piece of five, that is, one tael and a half of silver, can be wholesaled a load of medium-quality and rough-processed wool.

"A piece of six cents and one, this owner has a deal!"

Cao Fengji couldn't keep his mouth shut, and the Fan Jin merchants behind this goods were tortured by Li Zicheng. Cao Fengji was a blessing in disguise, the elders of the clan were paralyzed in bed, he took advantage of the prestige of Emperor Datong to take advantage of the situation to become independent from the Fan family to do business, and even the surname was simply changed to Cao.

Through Zuo Xiaocheng's relationship in Chahar, he obtained the right to purchase wool from several tribes in Chahar Mongolia.

The wool textile market in the south has been gradually cultivated.

It is rumored that both the emperor and the empress liked to wear woolen clothes. The wool coat (actually a windbreaker) designed by the emperor himself became fashionable in Nanjing. The queen also taught the concubine to knit sweaters, and the noblewomen in Beijing also learned to weave sweaters, and this kind of wool lining also became popular in Jiangnan.

"Owner, this year's wool is selling so well!" The guy said happily.

Cao Fengji said with a smile: "The emperor likes to wear sweaters, and this year's cotton production has decreased, and wool naturally sells very well." You go back quickly, don't be stingy with the road fee, go to the various departments of the grassland to talk, I will collect as much wool as they have! I have tea, iron pots, and salt bricks, and I can change them when I take the wool! ”

The severe drought in the south unexpectedly caused a shortage of wool, and the herdsmen in Inner Mongolia became more and more economically connected with the Datong court.

……

Shanghai.

The arrival of a Dutch merchant ship at the port was clearly an official order, otherwise it would have been traded in Batavia and would not have come all the way to Shanghai.

Several officials of the Ministry of Commerce, along with the technical officers of the livestock department, and some textile merchants, came to the Dutch merchant ship for handover.

The first is the weaver Jia, squatting in the flock to check.

You Jixian, an official of the Ministry of Commerce, asked: "How?" ”

Cui Dian, a textile merchant, stood up and said, "Yukezheng, there are two kinds of sheep here, one coarse wool and one fine wool. And what His Majesty wants are fine-wool sheep, and the Dutch barbarians are trying to make them shoddy. ”

You Jixian sneered: "What a gut! ”

The Dutch hurriedly explained: "Your Majesty the Emperor of China wants English sheep, and these are English sheep." We, the Dutch East India Company, did not try to deceive Your Majesty. ”

In fact, neither of the two sheep on board came from England.

Zhao Han was not familiar with the textile industry and did not know the history of sheep, and had a preconceived belief that English sheep were the best.

But the reality is that those excellent sheep breeds in Britain have not yet been bred in this era.

The best wool breed in Europe, mainly living on the Italian and Aegean coasts. The Spanish Merino sheep are the descendants of the Phoenician fine-wool sheep. In order to save trouble, the Dutch merchant bought a batch of Merino sheep and transported them as English sheep, just to meet Zhao Han's needs.

This batch of merino sheep was scattered and fed on two ships, and there were naturally other goods on board.

While passing the Cape of Good Hope, the Dutch fleet was caught in a storm. Although no ships sank, one of them was seriously flooded and drifted away from the sea for half a month, and all the Merino sheep on board died.

So what to do?

Halfway to Persia to buy black-faced sheep, continue to pass off as English sheep, and ship them to China for delivery.

You Jixian said to the animal husbandry officer again: "You check it." ”

The animal husbandry officials were very careful, slowly inspecting one end at a time, breaking open the teeth, mouths, hooves, hair, etc.

In the end, 36 Merino sheep were selected, and You Jixian said: "We only need these, and you can transport the rest of the sheep back by yourself." ”

The Dutchman knew that he was at a loss, and he still wanted to make money, so he smiled and said, "The rest of the sheep can be traded at half price." ”

"Half price deal, that's also the price of a Tianzhu horse!" You Jixian said angrily.

Transporting sheep from Europe, the normal price is definitely not done. In order to increase the motivation of the Dutch, the CIF price per sheep is twice that of the Indian Mawari horse.

The Dutch bargained: "A quarter price? ”

"One tenth!" You Jixian bargained fiercely.

Persian black-faced sheep are mainly used for food, and although the quality of wool is not particularly bad, it is not much better than China's native wool. Thousands of miles have come, China is unwilling to trade, and it is impossible for the Dutch to ship it back.

After some bargaining, the merino sheep were sold at the order price, and the remaining black-faced sheep were sold at one-eighth of the price.

Sheep from Spain and Persia were shipped to Jeju Island.

The horse farm of the Datong Imperial Court is no longer on Jeju Island, and there is a large Fuzhou horse farm in Liaodong.

Today, Jeju Island has become a research base for animal husbandry, mainly conducting breeding experiments on horses, cattle and sheep.

The experimental method is very primitive and bold, that is, to let different varieties cross, and make a lot of strange things. Of course, the main thing is to optimize the evolutionary direction of crossbreeding and artificial correction of livestock.

This batch of sheep was brought to Jeju Island, and it was definitely the preferred breeding of Merino sheep.

However, it will also allow Spanish merino sheep, Persian black-faced sheep, and East Asian native sheep to be cross-bred with each other. If you can hybridize something, it's all up to providence. Even if he fails, he can pick a few outrageous ones and send them to Nanjing for the emperor to see.

Jeju Island, which has long been renamed Jeju County, was originally part of Jiangsu and is now part of Shandong.

The county's registered population has rapidly risen to more than 50,000, about a quarter of whom are Han Chinese immigrants, and many are North Koreans who have fled by rowing boats in recent years. Three primary schools and one middle school have been built, all of which teach Chinese.

……

"You're knitting yarn again?" Zhao Han asked with a smile.

"Your Majesty!"

Liu Ru and Tian Xiuying hurriedly got up to greet him.

"Sit down." Zhao Han nodded.

The bamboo skewer for knitting sweaters was "invented" by Zhao Han himself, but how to weave it had to be handed over to skilled craftsmen for study.

The craftsmen invented one, and after it spread, the folk women gave birth to six.

Tian Xiuying is ingenious, and has renovated gardens for the Beijing Imperial Palace and various ornaments for the Beijing Harem. She had nothing to do, studied knitting sweaters in the harem, and even invented a crochet method, which can be used to crochet many patterns with wool.

Tian Xiuying held her big belly, and with the support of the palace maid, she sat down carefully and said, "These are the baby's wool shoes, which can be worn in winter." ”

Zhao Han picked up the half-knitted shoes, which were woven with fine cashmere thread and would not irritate the baby's skin. He looked at it for a while and smiled, "Is this a bat?" ”

"Knit a pair of bat shoes and pray for your child." Tian Xiuying already has a shadow in her heart, she gave Chongzhen's son to die in succession, and only the last one was saved. Now that she is pregnant with Zhao Han's child again, she really doesn't want to go through it again.

Ranwen

Liu Ru smiled and said: "The husband is blessed, the prince and the princess, and naturally he is also a blessed person." ”

Compared with the slender and slender in previous years, Liu Ruye's figure is much plump, and her relationship with Tian Xiuying is still the best.

Zhao Han suddenly said, "Your father has found it." ”

Tian Xiuying was suddenly surprised: "Is my father okay?" ”

Zhao Han said: "When Li Zicheng was tortured in Beijing, he was beaten half to death, and with the help of his old friends, he hid in the mountains to become a monk. The Datong army recovered Hebei, checked the monks, confirmed his identity, and could be sent to Nanjing in a few days. ”

"Congratulations sister!" Liu Ru said happily.

Tian Xiuying also pursed her lips and laughed, the child in her belly was about to be born, and her lost father also had a whereabouts, God was too kind to herself.

Zhao Han said to Liu Rushi: "Your family has not been found for the time being. ”

Liu Ru smiled reluctantly: "It's okay not to look for it." ”

Zhao Han reminded Tian Xiuying: "The title of Datong is only rewarded for merit." Your father came to Nanjing, and at most he gave him a house and silver. There is no title, and the land is only available if you live in the countryside, and you can't divide the land if you live in the city. ”

"Your Majesty rest assured," Tian Xiuying said, "the concubine will remind her father that he will never dare to make a mistake." ”

In the past few years, Zhao Han has not only been looking for the concubine's family, but also his former benefactor. The Tianjin officer who let him cross the bridge, the Tianjin woman who gave him water to drink, gave his physiognomy and posted notices, and there were many people who came to ask for merit, but unfortunately all of them did not match the number.

Liu Ru asked the palace maid to bring paper, pens and paints, and unfolded the drawing paper to teach Zhao Han to paint.

Emperor Zhao is also a cultural person now, and his hobbies are rich and colorful. In addition to reading, music is learning, painting is learning, and I have learned to play Go, and even occasionally make pastries with Pan Qimei.

Under Liu Ru's hand-in-hand teaching, Emperor Zhao painted a picture of flowers and birds today, which is quite at the level of young children in the Chinese painting training class in later generations.

"Husband, this parrot, the more you look at it, the more it looks like an owl." Liu Ru couldn't help laughing.

"Hahahaha!"

Zhao Han laughed and said to Tian Xiuying: "Concubine Tian also paints a picture, you can't let Mr. Liu have no one in her eyes!" ”

Tian Xiuying smiled and picked up the paintbrush, and a picture of flowers and birds quickly took shape, crushing the emperor's graffiti.

As for the thing painted by Zhao Han, it was put away by Liu Ruye's personal palace maid. When her five-year contract expires, she can go out of the palace to marry, and when the time comes, she can collect it or sell it quietly, anyway, the emperor's imperial pen is very valuable.

The waste that came out of the emperor's hands was generally not strictly managed.

Emperor Hongzhi of the Ming Dynasty also wiped his buttocks with a coarse silk cloth. One day, he found that the coarse silk cloth he used to wipe his buttocks was actually washed by the eunuch and sewn up to make a door curtain, so he felt that he was too extravagant. Therefore, he ordered Sichuan not to pay tribute to this thing anymore, and to wipe his butt with straw paper in the future.

Zhao Han continued to practice painting, and the Tianjin officer who had helped him in Xuzhou finally found it!

(Weakly, only one more.) ）