"Of course it's not just cotton." Han Du quickly explained, "High-quality cotton will become collodion after some manufacturing processes."
This is why Han Du said that even if the secret recipe was placed in front of Bei Yuan, they would not be able to make it in large quantities.
Even though cotton seems not that rare, cotton was already being grown in Gaochang during the Tang Dynasty. However, it was only a very small amount of planting, and it did not form a large scale at all.
Even today, cotton cultivation in the Ming Dynasty is still small. This is why it was very inconvenient for Han Du to purchase cotton in the past.
Although it seems that cotton is grown in many places in the Ming Dynasty, in fact, these cottons are planted in corners such as wasteland or field edges. They are planting cotton with the mentality that it is a pity to waste and they can harvest a little bit.
All crops are grown in truly fertile fields. After all, food is the most important thing for the people. If you don't have cotton, you may not freeze to death, but if you don't have food to eat, you will definitely starve to death.
Which one is light and which one is serious, the people can still figure it out.
Many times everyone thinks that in ancient times, agricultural civilization was not as powerful as nomadic civilization. But on the contrary, most of the time, agricultural civilization suppressed nomadic civilization.
The reason is very simple. Throughout the ages, wars have been fought for money and resources. The accumulation of resource wealth of nomadic civilization is definitely not as fast as that of agricultural civilization. Some people may use the Southern Song Dynasty as an example, but in fact, seriously
Think about it, if the Southern Song Dynasty could spend some of its money on military affairs, the Yuan Dynasty might not necessarily be able to destroy the Southern Song Dynasty.
Moreover, agricultural civilization is also the basis for the birth of industrial civilization, because only agricultural civilization can provide the raw material foundation required by industrial civilization. Some people may think that industry is high-tech, and industrial raw materials are various minerals. In fact, minerals can only provide part of the industry.
A large part of the raw materials are actually provided by agriculture.
Take rubber, for example, even in modern civilization. Isn't rubber produced by planting rubber trees and then cutting it out bit by bit manually? There is also cotton. Cotton is also a very important industrial raw material.
Is it also grown?
"It's cotton again..." There was a bit of complaint in Lao Zhu's tone.
Indeed, Han Du told him for the first time that cotton could be used to make treasure banknotes. As a result, he was very satisfied with the treasure banknotes produced. The addition of cotton made the treasure banknotes impervious to water.
Now Han Du told him that the main raw material for making this kind of fire gun was cotton. This made Lao Zhu feel like cotton must be used in everything.
However, although the Ming Dynasty did not grow a lot of cotton, did it eventually happen? Thinking of ways to encourage people to plant it should still be able to solve the problem.
"Since cotton is so important, I will issue an order to encourage people to plant it. What do you think?"
In fact, Lao Zhu had already made up his mind, and asking Han Du was just a casual question.
Han Du thought for a moment and said, "I wonder how the emperor is going to encourage you?"
Lao Zhu pondered for a while and said: "People with five to ten acres of land must plant half an acre of cotton, and those with more than ten acres of land must plant twice as much. They will also be exempted from taxes for three years. What do you think?"
There are encouragements here and there, but this is simply enforcement. However, Lao Zhu still has some conscience, and at least he exempted the people from taxes for three years.
Han Du hesitated for a moment, glanced at Lao Zhu a few times, and sighed: "Wei Chen did not explain clearly to the emperor that the requirements for making collodion cotton are extremely high. Ordinary cotton has too many impurities, and the collodion produced is very powerful.
If it is not enough, it is not suitable for use at all. It must be made of high-quality cotton and collodion to be used in it."
When Lao Zhu heard this, he couldn't help but frown. Being familiar with farming, he naturally knew that cotton can be divided into high, medium and low grades, and that high-quality cotton is actually rare.
After all, farming now depends on the weather and is greatly affected by climate and rain. Before harvest time, no one can be sure whether the cotton produced in that land will be of high quality.
If you want high-quality cotton, you can only rely on people to plant it in large quantities and then select the best from the best.
"Furthermore, Wei Chen believes that if taxes are only exempted, people may not be very enthusiastic about planting cotton. After all, growing cotton is still somewhat risky. The emperor should know that the carefully planted crops and sown seeds will not be ignored.
The difference is huge."
Han Du looked at Lao Zhu tentatively.
Lao Zhu asked in a deep voice: "Then what do you think should be done?"
"Your Majesty, all the hustle and bustle in the world is for profit. If you want the people to grow cotton in large quantities, you must give them enough profits. As long as the profits are sufficient, there is no need to worry about the Ming Dynasty not having enough high-quality cotton to use."
Han Du is full of confidence.
But Lao Zhu was silent after hearing this. Although he became the emperor, it can be seen from his actions that what Lao Zhu fears most is spending money. And Han Du is the one who can spend the most, so Lao Zhu
As soon as I heard Han Du's words, I kept thinking about whether the money was worth it.
After hesitating for a moment, Lao Zhu asked: "You mean, just like grain, the palace also purchases cotton according to the price?"
Han Du nodded.
"Then at what price do you think we should buy cotton?" Lao Zhu's eyes wandered a little, and he was worried that Han Du would spit out a number that would make him feel distressed.
Han Du noticed that Lao Zhu's expression was a little uncomfortable, and said flatteringly: "This will naturally be decided by the emperor. However, if I have to let the minister say it, Wei Chen thinks that one hundred cents per pound is a way to encourage the people to actively grow cotton.
s price."
When Lao Zhu heard this, his face trembled involuntarily, and he said in a harsh voice: "Now the price of cotton during harvest is only forty or fifty cents per catty, but you opened your mouth and asked for a hundred cents. You are really... willing
!”
There is a saying that Lao Zhu didn't scold, "Relationships don't cost you money, right?"
"And this is just a low price. It would be best if we could offer different prices according to the grade of cotton. For example, the best ones can be given 150 cents per catty..."
Lao Zhu's angry nose suddenly came out with thick breath. Even the price just now made Lao Zhu feel that it was too expensive. He didn't expect that Han Du was not satisfied yet.
"Nonsense, how much does cotton cost per pound now? You raised the price so high all at once, aren't you crazy?" Lao Zhu couldn't bear it any longer and shouted.
Han Du touched his nose and thought, what is this? I have bought more expensive ones?
In the beginning, Han Du purchased cotton at a high price of 200 cents per catty. Although cotton was scarce at that time, part of the profit had to be given to merchants. Now that it can be purchased at a price of 150 cents, Han Du thinks it is worth it.