Hard work paid off, and Zhao Kuo failed to find the coal mine in the end. Helan Mountain is tens of miles wide from east to west and hundreds of miles long from north to south. There are not coal mines everywhere. How could he find it just as soon as he said he found it? He could only arrange for personnel to investigate a little bit afterwards.
.
But Zhao Kuo saw something ten times more important than the coal mine at the foot of the mountain. He saw a cluster of blue flower bones growing at the foot of the mountain, only the size of a thumb, swaying gently in the mountain wind. It looked so inconspicuous, but
However, Zhao Kuo's whole body trembled with excitement - Cotton!
It’s cotton!
The flowers have basically withered and grown into buds, with only a few small green flowers still blooming.
He was extremely convinced that this was definitely cotton, but why was there cotton here?
"Immediately send an order to protect this place, and arrange for people to explore nearby to see if there are any such plants." Zhao Kuo ordered, even if the Huns were destroyed, cotton would not be as important.
Everyone, please go and try it soon.】
With cotton, Zhao State was able to completely occupy the territory of the Xiongnu, instead of being forced to give up and let other Rongdi occupy it due to the severe cold environment.
Although Zhao State had other cold-proof items before, the output was completely incomparable with cotton, and the cold-proof effects varied. Cotton was one of the few items that could be popularized by ordinary people and had very good thermal insulation properties.
"Go and call some Quyan people over and ask where this came from." Zhao Kuo said quickly.
"This is the cotton that the king mentioned before, which can protect the people of the world from the cold?" Liu Ping stretched out his hand tremblingly, wanting to touch it, but was afraid of hurting it.
"It's exactly the same as what I saw in an ancient book." Zhao Kuo said with great confirmation. Although the cotton flower was much smaller than what he saw in later generations, the appearance had not changed, so he would not admit his mistake.
Not long after, the soldiers came over with several Quyan people. When they saw Zhao Kuo, the Quyan people immediately yelled and cursed all the vicious words they could think of in their hearts.
However, Zhao Kuo was in a good mood now and did not argue with them. He pointed at the cotton and asked, "Tell me, where does this come from?"
The Quyan people said a lot of words that Zhao Kuo didn't understand. A soldier who understood Quyan's words clasped his fists and said: "Your Majesty, they don't know for sure. It may be brought by caravans from the west. Quyan brings it every year."
There are caravans coming from the west to do business here and exchange goods with them, and they will also send caravans to the west."
"Caravan? Which way did they take?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"They said that they used to go west from Yuezhi. Later, Yuezhi was occupied by the Qin State, so they took a detour to Yanze, which can lead to the far west, and the people there are very rich, and every household has a very beautiful
Jade, some businessmen have made a lot of money using it," the soldier said.
"Ask if anyone in their tribe has passed through Ju Yanze." Zhao Kuo said.
"Does your Majesty want to open a trade route with the far west?" Huang Shigong asked.
"That's right." Zhao Kuo nodded, "Last year, the State of Qin sent businessmen to the west to look for the Queen Mother of the West. Looking for the Queen Mother of the West is false, but the development path is true. Even the State of Qin, which emphasizes agriculture and restrains business, is looking for a breakthrough, let alone
My country, Zhao? We have learned that there is still an extremely vast land in the west, where people from other countries live, and there is endless wealth. As long as our silk, tea, and ceramics can be sent there, the wealth there will be ours."
The Central Plains is so big, and business is already very prosperous, but it will be saturated in a short time. If we want to develop rapidly, we can only open up new markets.
During this period, in addition to the Central Plains civilization, there were ancient Indian civilization and Seleucid civilization. As for other places, they were basically uncivilized savages and had no conditions for opening up trade.
It's just that the two are far away from the Central Plains. I don't know how long it will take to open up trade routes.
"The land in the far west... is probably tens of thousands of miles away from my country of Zhao..." Huang Shigong murmured. Even with his wisdom, it is difficult to imagine what the scene is thousands of miles away.
"Don't you want to see what is west of the desert in your lifetime?" Zhao Kuo asked with a smile.
"The general is getting old, and I'm afraid he may be weak-minded." Le Yi sighed.
Lian Po, on the other hand, patted the armor on his body and said with high spirits: "The general feels that he can fight for another fifty years."
"Hahaha, I also think that General Lian Po can fight for another fifty years." Zhao Kuo laughed.
In fact, with the strength of the two of them, as long as there is no accident, there is no problem in living for a few more decades. As for the accident... As the two of them are extraordinary generals, if they do not seek death, there is basically no such possibility.
After a while, several soldiers came over with three people. These three people were obviously very aware of the current affairs. They did not yell or say unpleasant words, but politely bowed and said hello.
"What are your names?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Your Majesty, the younger one's name is Huai. This is the younger brother's name is Ci. This is the younger cousin's name is Mo." said the man standing in the middle, with his upper body exposed and a piece of clothing tied around his waist.
The whitish animal skin didn't have a hair on it, so it was hard to tell what kind of animal skin it was.
His skin was dark, and his arms were peeled off by the harsh sun. There was also a wound on his shoulder. I wonder if it was injured by Zhao Jun during the battle.
"Have you walked through the Juyan Ancient Road?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"Your Majesty, the young ones have indeed passed by," Huai said.
"The king plans to reopen the Juyan Ancient Road and hire you as guides. Are you willing?" Zhao Kuo asked.
"One lila wuhu..." At this time, the man named Mo next to him suddenly shouted.
"What did he say?" Zhao Kuo asked, pointing at Mo.
"Your Majesty, he said that the Juyan Ancient Road is very dangerous. Only one out of ten people can come back alive. Along the way, you will not only encounter wolves, big insects, snakes, sandstorms, but also bandits. Some countries even pretend to be bandits and rob people.
Skimming the passing merchants," Huai said.
"Are there other countries near Ju Yanze?" Zhao Kuo said with a frown.
Back then, when he read "If you want to ask for directions on a bicycle, the country you belong to is Juyan", he also understood a little bit. Although Juyanze is far away from Hetao, it has not yet reached the Western Regions, and there should not be other countries.
"There are several small countries without names, and... from here to Juyanze, it is only the first half of the Juyan Ancient Road, and the second half is more dangerous." Huai said.
"I will send soldiers to protect you. Your task is to take my king's caravan out safely and then bring it back safely. As long as you can do it, I will be rewarded heavily." Zhao Kuo said.
"Thank you, Your Majesty. Thank you, Your Majesty." When the three of them heard that they were rewarded, they quickly knelt on the ground and worshiped, "Your Majesty, when will we set off?"
"This matter is not urgent. I am not ready yet. I will come to you when I am ready." Zhao Kuo said.
"Then the young ones will wait for the king's order," Huai said.