After using Zhang Hengqu's 'Four Sentences Teaching' to suppress a group of scholars, Yang Chuan took the opportunity to set a rule: teachers and students of Tai Academy must participate in farming.

In a word: up the mountain, down to the countryside.

Yang Chuan did not mean to be embarrassed, nor did he use his power to suppress the scholars, but just let them personally participate in some manual labor, sympathize with the suffering of agriculture and mulberry crops, and at the same time solve the dilemma of insufficient manpower on 300,000 mu of tuntian.

He is a cook, what bad intentions can he have......

……

Ah, it's finally quiet again.

In the fiefdom of Yang Chuan's family, it finally returned to its former tranquility; After the crops are harvested, they are quickly ploughed and then planted with another crop of vegetables to produce three or four times more harvest.

More than 200 acres of cotton have also entered the harvest season.

The weather is beautiful, and the sunny days for more than 20 days have allowed the first batch of seed cotton to be successfully picked, and the gray ones are piled up in several large warehouses, which looks inconspicuous at all.

Liu Che is here.

Princess Pingyang and Wei Qing also came; In addition, Prime Minister Sun Hong, Danong Ling Sang Hongyang, and Imperial Envoy Doctor Erkuan and other three princes and nine kings are almost all here.

Everyone wants to see, what kind of 'divine object' is Yang Chuan's cotton, and can it grow 'silk cotton'? And, what better than silk, wool, cashmere?

Yang Chuan couldn't laugh or cry, the advantage of cotton is that it can be planted in a steady stream, and its thermal performance is naturally excellent compared to linen, but compared with silk, wool and cashmere, there is still a big gap.

However, since someone says so, it's better to be casual.

To be honest, Yang Chuan didn't bother to pay attention to this kind of people and adding oil and vinegar.

"That's what you mean by cotton?" Grabbing a large handful of seed cotton, Liu Che gently stroked it, with a little doubt on his face.

It is actually unprocessed seed cotton, which looks inconspicuous at all, and is very different from the 'white as snow' described by Yang Chuan.

Gongsun Hong, Sang Hongyang, Er Kuan and other important ministers of the court also looked puzzled, and their eyes looking at Yang Chuan were also a little meaningful.

"Your Majesty, this thing is cotton," Yang Chuan grabbed a ball of unprocessed seed cotton casually, and said helplessly: "This thing still needs to be processed, and there are three or four processes involved, which involve confidential ......."

Liu Che smiled and said: "It's because I didn't think it through, so let's do it, let's live in your Zhuangzi for a few days, and you process it first?" ”

Yang Chuan thought about it, shook his head and said: "That's it, since it is a matter of farming and mulberry crops, it is beneficial to the country and the people, and Weichen doesn't want to or dare to hide his secrets, so he will process it on the spot." ”

Liu Che laughed and said, "I don't take advantage of you, as long as you can turn this cotton into clothes today, I will give you a gift." ”

Yang Chuan was silent.

Liu Che came over this time, it was nothing more than two or three things, one of which was to eat and drink, the second was to see the 'magic' of cotton with his own eyes, and the third thing was probably to give him an official title......

"Say it in advance, if you don't satisfy me, the reward will be gone." Liu Che lay down on Ma Zazi and added with a smile.

Princess Pingyang, Wei Qing, Gongsun Hong and others also sat down.

Yang Chuan looked around, and his heart was also quite moved, it seems that these emperors and nobles of the Han Empire are still very attentive in the matter of farming and mulberry crops, in order to witness the magic of 'cotton', they can also stand it in this extremely simple warehouse.

In that case, let's have to appear once before others.

"The first process of processing cotton is to find a way to peel out the cottonseeds, because the quantity is limited, so let's peel them by hand."

"When the planting area is expanded, this process needs to design a special machine, otherwise, it will be very delayed."

Under the guidance of Yang Chuan, more than a dozen little women, including Zhiniang, Liu Man, and Naren Tuoya, worked together to peel out the seeds in the cotton and put them into several wool bags.

Then, he personally stacked the stripped cottonseed tidbits on a desk, and tied a pre-made 'big bow' around his waist, and began to bounce 'Bang Dang Bang, Bang Dang Bang'.

A magical scene happened.

I saw that those gray and inconspicuous 'cotton dumplings' were raised under the vibration of the bowstring, and a mist was raised, but the impurities in the cotton were quickly removed, and the gray floated in the air;

In a rhythmic sound of 'Bang Dang Bang, Bang Bang Bang', visible to the naked eye, those cotton silks became as white as snow, like pieces of mysterious and beautiful snowflakes, fluttering up one after another, falling slowly, very fluffy.

Liu Che and the others stretched their necks, ignoring the dust in the air, and their eyes widened.

"This process is to play cotton," Yang Chuan gradually entered the state, with a tranquil look on his face and a smile on his face, "Of course, if we have a lot of cotton, we can design a barbed iron comb and comb the cotton silk neatly;

There aren't many of them right now, so let's play them with a bowstring first.

In addition, I also found that the toughness of this cotton silk is not enough, and the length is not ideal, so we can mix some wool, cashmere, etc., and it is also possible to mix and spin threads......"

Yang Chuan explained casually while playing cotton, and half an hour passed quickly.

On that rather wide table, there was a large piece of snow-white and fluffy cotton silk, like some summer clouds, which was very eye-catching.

"This is the second process," Yang Chuan untied the 'big bow', put it aside, grabbed a ball of cotton silk and handed it to Liu Che, "Your Majesty, please take a look." ”

Liu Che pinched the ball of cotton silk, his face was very fascinated, and he was amazed: "Tut, it's really as fine as wool and cashmere, but I don't know how tough it is?" ”

"This is the second year of planting, and the cultivation of the seeds has just begun, and the tenacity is average," Yang Chuan said with a smile, "but it is almost enough for spinning and weaving." ”

Liu Che laughed: "Okay, well, then spin and weave cloth, so that I can also open my eyes." ”

Yang Chuan bowed his hand slightly, said 'don't dare', and smiled at the weaver on the side: "I promised to teach you how to spin and weave, but come to learn?" ”

Weaver Niang first gave Liu Che a salute, and then walked over, leaned down to carefully check the newly popped cotton silk, and gently stroked it with her hand, showing a hint of eagerness on her beautiful face.

"Uncle Tangyi, move our family's spinning machine over." Yang Chuan turned his head and commanded.

Not long after, Tangyi's father led several women to move two 'machines' designed by Yang Chuan into the warehouse, but they were a 'textile machine' for spinning and a 'loom' for weaving.

Everyone's eyes were immediately attracted.

You must know that the textile technology of the Han Empire has actually been relatively mature, the so-called textile machines, looms are very advanced, just spinning wheels, there are several kinds of cars, weft cars or sui years of car; In addition to the different names of various places, this is mainly related to the different uses of spinning wheels, some are used for twisting threads, some are used for weft winding, and some are used for twisting and drafting.

Among them, the most advanced and popular is the hand-spinning wheel.

Yang Chuan's design is also a hand-spinning wheel, but on an iron shaft, eight sets of wooden frames, spindles, and rope wheels are connected; In other words, only one person needs to shake the handle to spin eight cotton threads at the same time.

"This frame is a spinning machine, specially used for spinning," Yang Chuan rolled up the elastic cotton and placed it on eight wooden pallets, "Come over eight women who can spin threads." ”

Without waiting for Zhiniang to walk over, Liu Man had already rushed over in three or two steps, and said with a smile: "This concubine is counted as one!" ”

When Liu Che heard the words 'this concubine', his face darkened, but he didn't dare to say anything.

So, in a 'squeak' sound, Yang Chuan shook the handle with his own hands, and the eight little women began to spin......

Visible to the naked eye, eight thin cotton threads are quickly wound on the eight spindles under the winding and pulling of the rope wheel, which is very eye-catching.

The design of this textile machine is actually very simple, it is nothing more than a slight improvement of the common 'hand spinning wheel' at present, which improves the utilization rate of power, and there is nothing new, but it also makes Liu Che, Gongsun Hong, Sang Hongyang and others shine, and they can't help but look at Yang Chuan a few more times.

About half an hour later, sixteen spindles were formed.

It's time to weave.

Everyone turned their attention to the 'Yang's loom', but they showed strange expressions one by one: it was not that this loom was too advanced, but that it was ...... Nothing new.

You must know that the looms of the Han Empire are also very advanced, and the most popular one at the moment is the pedal inclined Luo loom, a woman, a day can weave about three feet of linen.

Yang Chuan's loom is not new, and it is also pedal......

Feeling the strange gaze of everyone, Yang Chuan sighed in his heart: "There are only two hundred acres of cotton, can you use a shuttle loom?" ’

This is the result of careful consideration, not that he does not want to take too big a step and design a shuttle loom at once, but that there is really no need to come up with something too advanced;

Cheap food hurts the people, and in the same way, cheap cloth hurts the people even more......

……

Early the next morning, Liu Che and his entourage returned to Chang'an City.

Facts have proved that cotton can indeed weave cloth, and the clothes made are much softer and warmer than linen, although its warmth is not as good as wool and cashmere, but it is light, clean, and does not have any peculiar smell.

In particular, the quilt sewn with cotton wool and cotton cloth is warm and comfortable, and it is simply superb.

After seeing the magic of cotton with his own eyes, and inquiring in detail about the 'natural conditions' of cotton planting on soil and rain, Liu Che groaned slightly, waved his hand, and appointed Yang Chuan a new official position: Da Nong Ling Youcheng, who is in charge of the promotion, planting and processing of cotton in the world.

And made it clear that as long as Yang Chuan felt that cotton was suitable for planting, he would plant it wherever he could, without going through the Prime Minister's Office and the Great Agricultural Order.

At the same time, Yang Chuan's title of 'Marquis of Changning' has finally settled.

Nominally, he was the 'Marquis of Changning' with 3,900 households, and belonged to the Marquis of Guannei who was second only to the 'Liehou' in the Han Empire.

And actually.

Well, the other fiefdoms of the Marquis of Guannei are all in the area of Guanzhong, or, at least, in the land of the six counties, when they arrive at Yang Chuan, the Marquis of Changning, they have become Shuofang County, which is still a barren area.

Hearing this result, whether it was Prime Minister Gongsun Hong or Da Nong Ling Sang Hongyang, they all laughed secretly in their hearts, feeling that the emperor's breath was not very smooth, and this was punishing Yang Chuan.

Only Yang Chuan knew in his heart that Liu Che was going to make trouble......

"Go sick, the training of the Yulin Army has to hurry up," After sending Liu Che and the others away, Yang Chuan immediately summoned Huo Quzhi and Cao Xiang, "By next autumn at the latest, the emperor may have to launch a big war against the Huns, we have to prepare in advance." ”

"Only next autumn before we can go to war?"

Huo Quzhi scolded with a depressed face: "As long as our Yulin Army is equipped with enough war horses, armor, bows, crossbows, and feather arrows, you can go directly to the battlefield, why wait until next autumn?" ”

Yang Chuan naturally pretended not to hear the complaints about this goods, but turned his head to look at Cao Xiang: "Cao Xiang, how big is the sugarcane and sugar beet planting area over there in Chudi?" ”

Cao Xiang stretched out two fingers and said with a smug smile: "Our own plantation has 20,000 mu, in addition, Liu Ling promised that as long as she was given 20% of the profit, she could let the King of Chu, the King of Huainan and even the area of Nanyue plant more than 200,000 mu." ”

Yang Chuan nodded, groaned a few times, and said, "Tell Liu Ling that as long as she can promote the large-scale cultivation of sugarcane and sugar beets, she can give her a profit of thirty percent." ”

"Of course, we don't have to worry, anyway, as long as there is a steady stream of sugar and rock sugar, we are not afraid that they will not take the bait."

"At present, there are two most urgent things, one is to seize the time to equip and train the Yulin Army, and strive to build the Yulin Army into a first-class team in the world before next autumn; The second is to find a way to ...... Tuntian"

Cao Xiang sat up straight, frowned and asked, "Wait, you said Tuntian?" ”

Yang Chuan sighed and said, "Yes, Tuntian." ”

Cao Xiang asked with some confusion: "Aren't we already 300,000 acres of tuntian?" Why, do you want to continue to reclaim barren fields in Shanglin Yuan? ”

Yang Chuan shook his head: "No, it should be to Shuo Fang......"

Cao Xiang scolded a dirty word, and couldn't help jumping up and shouting: "It's still hard to live, that ghost place in Shuofang, it's almost the same as herding sheep and horses, right?" My uncle is so wise! ”

Yang Chuan smiled and said, "Okay, okay, anyway, everywhere is clearing wasteland and farming, what are you yelling about?" Do you know where my fiefdom of the Marquis of Changning is? ”

Cao Xiang shook his head.

"My fiefdom is in Shuofang," Yang Chuan said indifferently, "I can roughly guess what the emperor is thinking." ”

Cao Xiang and Huo Qubing asked, "What are you thinking?" ”

Yang Chuan muttered: "If I guessed correctly, the emperor has been planning three major events recently. ”

"The first thing is nothing more than to start a war with the Huns next autumn, and to beat the Huns down with a decisive blow; The second thing should be that I want the three of us to go to Shuofang Tuntian; As for the third thing...... It should be a cutting of the domain, that is to say, the emperor wants to do something to those princes surnamed Liu. ”

Huo Quzhi said with a disdainful face: "War with the Huns is a big deal, as for Tuntian and cutting the domain, isn't that a matter of one sentence?" ”

Cao Xiang glanced at Huo Quai, and scolded: "You guy, you know a fart except for fighting!" For Ben Hou, the most dangerous thing is to cut the domain. ”

Huo Qu was not convinced, but he just kept his neck silent.

After all, he grew up in Weiyang Palace, and he knew a lot about some of the hidden things of the Han Empire, so he naturally knew that once the imperial court began to cut the feudal domain, the world would probably be chaotic for a while.

The lessons of the Rebellion of the Seven Kingdoms gave the emperor and the Manchu civil and military a headache when they thought about it.

Yang Chuan took out a roll of sheepskin from his bosom and threw it to Cao Xiang: "Before the imperial court cuts the domain, we must first improve the combat power of the Yulin Army, just in case, this is a list I have made, you can find a way to purchase all the items you need as soon as possible." ”

Cao Xiang lamented that he was going to put money in it again, and opened the roll of sheepskin casually.

After just one glance, he froze: "Yang Chuan, so many things, you just want a million gold, where do you let me get so much money and food?" ”

Yang Chuan said indifferently: "Isn't it just a million gold?" Rest assured, this money, Ben Hou will find a way to solve it. ”

(End of chapter)