As soon as Zhu Ming put down Hu Anguo's article and read the materials on the reorganization of the New Army sent by Shandong, Li Hua, the eunuch who accompanied him, stood at the door and said: "Your Highness, the official family sent someone to summon you, saying that cotton is coming. ”

Cotton?

Zhu Ming stood up abruptly and walked out quickly.

Li Hua hurriedly followed, and Bai Sheng also led two guards to follow. They thought they were going to take a carriage, but who knew that Zhu Ming would run away on horseback, and everyone chased after him.

There is also arable land in the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, which has been found in the imperial palaces of all dynasties, showing that the Son of Heaven was very concerned about agriculture.

Zhu Guoxiang was directing the eunuch to take care of the crops, and when he saw his son coming, he said with a smile: "It's very fast." ”

"Where's the cotton?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhu Guoxiang pointed to the side: "It's on the ground." ”

"Two more?" Zhu Ming immediately looked down, but there were even cotton belt plants, one of which was obviously similar to a tree branch, "Is this a kapok?" ”

Zhu Guoxiang shook his head: "It should be tree cotton." ”

Zhu Ming didn't understand: "Kapok is different from tree cotton?" ”

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I asked people to look through the classics and check many ancient materials, and the longest history of kapok cultivation in China is mainly in Hainan Island and the southwest region. I asked the officials from the southwest again, and they said that kapok can grow more than 10 or 20 meters tall. ”

"What about the tree cotton?" Zhu Ming asked.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "There is no such name as tree cotton now, and it should be changed later. Tree cotton comes from India, also called soil cotton, middle cotton, Asian cotton, the Ming and Qing dynasties should be planted in a large area. It was originally a perennial shrub that could grow two or three meters tall, and this one was just a piece of plucking. ”

The more Zhu Ming listened, the more confused he became: "How can the cotton widely planted in the Ming and Qing dynasties be a perennial shrub?" I have read the information before, the top cotton planting technology in Jiangnan at the end of the Ming Dynasty is to plant cotton for three years and rice for one year, which can effectively solve pests and diseases. ”

Zhu Guoxiang guessed: "It can only be between the Song Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty, and the characteristics of perennial tree cotton have changed." It became annual, and the plant was shorter. ”

"Is it possible?" Zhu Ming pointed to another short, small cotton plant.

Zhu Guoxiang said: "This kind of grass cotton, also called African cotton, was transmitted to Turpan from Africa. I asked people to consult ancient books, and the cotton of African grass cotton is called white stacks, and the woven cotton is called white cloth. The cotton of Hainan kapok is called weaving shells, and the woven ones are called zebra. As for the tree cotton, which was widely cultivated in China during the Ming and Qing dynasties, there is no record of it. ”

"I know grass cotton, there is a record in "Heavenly Creation", saying that cotton is divided into kapok and grass cotton." Zhu Ming said, "By the way, how do you know so clearly? ”

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The world's four major cotton varieties belong to common sense knowledge. ”

"Uh......"

Zhu Ming was a little speechless, and asked: "What kind of cotton is widely planted in China in the 21st century?" ”

"Continental cotton comes from the Americas," Zhu Guoxiang explained simply, "Continental cotton from the Americas, as well as kapok from Hainan Island and southwest China, these two belong to tetraploid. The tree cotton from India and the grass cotton from Africa belong to diploid. ”

Zhu Ming frowned and said: "In other words, the cotton that Zhu Yuanzhang ordered to be planted is still a perennial shrub?" ”

Zhu Guoxiang said: "It is also possible that somewhere in the southwest, it has become a year-old, but it is not widely known." Or on the Indian side, it's become a year-on-year. ”

"No, how can a perennial become a year?" Zhu Ming felt incomprehensible.

Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "There is no strict boundary between annual and perennial plants. If you take an annual sweet potato and plant it in the tropics, it may also become perennial. ”

"Is it possible to quickly turn tree cotton into an annual through artificial means?" Zhu Ming asked.

"Yes," Zhu Guoxiang said, "in a specific environment, let it bloom bigger and faster, overdraw its own vitality, and its lifespan will become shorter." However, it is difficult to say the next generation, and I don't know how many generations it will have to be artificially bred before it can be hereditary. ”

Zhu Ming pointed to African grass cotton: "What about this thing?" ”

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Grass cotton is also divided into perennial and annual, and Turpan grass cotton is annual. The advantage is that the growth cycle is short, and it is drought resistant and operational, and the disadvantage is that the yield is very low, and the cotton fiber is also very poor. If you look closely, you will know that the cotton quality of grass cotton is far inferior to that of the tree cotton next to it. But this grass cotton is also useful and can be used for hybridization experiments. ”

Zhu Ming asked again: "Can the tree cotton grown in the past few years bloom within a year?" ”

"Yes, but for now, the growth cycle is not short enough. And this thing has to grow two or three meters tall, and it eats too much nutrients and water," Zhu Guoxiang said, "I need to cultivate it again." Or in the southwest, look for dwarf varieties that bloom earlier. ”

Zhu Ming asked, "Where did you get these two cottons?" ”

Zhu Guoxiang said: "The tree cotton comes from Huainan and should have been transmitted from the south. Grass cotton came from Shandong, and it was supposed to spread to Shandong along the Yellow River. However, the planting area is not large, and it is only flourishing in a few states and counties. ”

Zhu Ming muttered: "The Yuan Dynasty specially set up a kapok lifting department and ordered the people of the whole country to plant kapok extensively. In the past, I was still very puzzled, the kapok tree is so high, did the Yuan Dynasty let the whole country plant trees and harvest cotton? Now that I think about it, the kapok promoted in the Yuan Dynasty should be the tree cotton. And at that time, the tree cotton was still very tall, at least more than two meters, and it had not yet been dwarfed. Moreover, Zhu Yuanzhang also ordered the promotion of kapok, and this kapok is not the other kapok! ”

"If this is the case," Zhu speculated, "then it is possible that in the Yuan and early Ming dynasties, the tree cotton was not dwarfed." Under the vigorous promotion of the imperial court, the people constantly preferred early flowering and large flowers to make seeds when they kept seeds. From generation to generation, the best of the best are selected, and the tree cotton blooms earlier and earlier, and the flowers are getting bigger and bigger. This, in turn, increases the burden on the growth of the cotton, so that the plants become shorter and shorter, so as to ensure the supply of nutrients. ”

Zhu Ming said with a smile: "Then it will be promoted on a large scale, and it will be planted by the whole people, which is much faster than cultivating it alone." ”

"That's right, but you can't give an order immediately, otherwise it will cost the people and money," Zhu Guoxiang said, "We should first get cotton seeds, select one or two prefectures and counties in each province, and send agricultural officials to try planting in a small area." According to the local climate conditions, the specific planting methods are constantly adjusted, and high-quality cotton seeds are selected as much as possible. After a few years, we will summarize the situation in various places, select the most suitable area for planting, and carry out targeted promotion and planting. In areas that are not suitable for growing cotton, don't promote it indiscriminately, otherwise I don't know how many people will suffer. ”

Zhu Ming laughed: "The Yuan Dynasty and Zhu Yuanzhang, as you said, carried out rough promotion throughout the country, making the people in some provinces miserable. As far as I know, there were three places in the Ming Dynasty where cotton was planted the largest. One is Shandong, the second is Jiangnan, and the third is Huguang. As for Huguang, whether it is Hunan or Hubei, I don't know this. ”

Zhu Guoxiang said: "I also asked about cotton textile technology, which is very primitive and rough, and related spinning machines and looms also need to be invented and improved. ”

Zhu Ming was very happy in his heart, and said sincerely: "It's still Dean Zhu's awesome." Replaced by ordinary traversers, in the face of cotton two or three meters high, it is estimated that they have found the wrong one, and most of them will build a fleet and go to India to find it. ”

That's what Zhu Ming has thought about all these years, and he has always wanted to go to India to find cotton.

"In the tropics, when the conditions are met, and then carefully cared for, this cotton can grow five or six meters tall." Zhu Guoxiang suddenly said.

"I'm convinced." Zhu Ming said it was unimaginable.

Both father and son are in a good mood, whether it is the agricultural era or the beginning of the industrial age, the textile industry is an extremely important industry.

The Industrial Revolution, in particular, was first born out of the textile industry.

But without the intervention of the traverser, there must be a large enough market demand for the industrial revolution to naturally occur.

Britain was able to break out in the Industrial Revolution, and Portugal and Spain helped a lot.

This pair of wrongdoers who were the first to engage in overseas colonization not only collapsed their own local handicraft industry, but also suppressed the development of colonial handicraft industry, and brought back a large amount of raw materials and capital. In this way, capital, raw materials, and markets are all available, and the British textile industry cannot meet the huge market, and there is an urgent need to improve textile machinery.

When Britain satisfied the European market, it deliberately killed the Indian textile industry and continued to gain a larger market. The Indian market is also satisfied, that is, to drive an ocean giant ship and bombard the Chinese market with cannons.

If the promotion of cotton is completed, the father and son will suddenly build a steam engine one day, and bring the textile machinery with them. I am afraid that what is coming is not the industrial revolution, but the large-scale bankruptcy of the traditional textile industry, which will lead to a series of social contradictions.

It is necessary to improve the manual machinery first, such as the Jenny spinning machine or something, so that the society has an adaptation period.

Then we have to open up overseas markets, with North Korea and Japan being the first choice, followed by Southeast Asia and India.

Zhu Ming said his thoughts again and asked, "Am I thinking a little too far?" ”

Zhu Guoxiang said with a smile: "Let's wait until the Jin Kingdom and Western Xia are destroyed." At that time, comparing history is the early years of the Southern Song Dynasty, and it is indeed too early for you to engage in the industrial revolution. Moreover, the Industrial Revolution will increase land annexation, right? ”

"Not to mention the aggravation," Zhu Ming said, "the industrial revolution in Britain, the capitalists almost occupied the land. The king tried desperately to stop the enclosure movement, because much of the enclosure was commons, and the people who were driven away were all the king's tax base. But the fart didn't work, and the King of England couldn't stop it at all. Before crossing over, I looked at a set of data, in the 21st century, less than 5% of the land in Britain is in the hands of ordinary people. If this had been placed in ancient China, I don't know how many times there had been peasant uprisings. ”

Zhu Guoxiang said: "Therefore, the most important thing in China's industrial revolution is to curb land annexation, but this is contrary to industrial production and capital development. Unless, you can still invent fertilizer! ”

"We'll talk about it later." Zhu Ming was a little dazed.

(End of chapter)