The group of them walked down the hills to the official road, and happened to be following the Tang army escorting the grain. The safety factor was improved a bit.
At nightfall, Li Siye and the others sent the Abbas brothers and sisters to Shule Town. He did not ask any questions about the brothers and sisters' purpose of coming to the Tang Dynasty. Certain secrets of others cannot be pried into.
There was a large food merchant's guild in Shule Town. After the brother and sister entered the city, they immediately defected to the merchant's guild.
The two parties said goodbye outside the Chamber of Commerce. No matter whether these two big cannibals are enemies or friends in the future, at least they can still be friends now.
Mansour asked sincerely: "Li Shijun, I wonder where you live now. Where should I send someone to deliver the gold tomorrow?"
Li Siye felt a little excited, I bet you still remember it, you don't need me to remind you.
"I am currently serving as the Shouchu of Congling. Of course I live in Shouchou City. Do you know where the Shouchou City is? Walk south along Shule Town, pass through Yanduzhou, and pass through Muztage Mountain.
Between Qingling and Qingling, there is Congling Shouchuo, the original capital of Pantuo. The location is easy to find. You don’t have to be in such a hurry. I can afford to wait."
Suman'er just put his hands behind his back and smiled. This little officer of the Tang Army didn't have a big appetite. He could still afford it. It was only five hundred kilograms of gold. His family could also afford another thousand kilograms of gold.
Li Siye said goodbye with satisfaction. He still felt that the five hundred taels of gold were worth saving. If he knew who he saved in the future, he would probably regret it to death.
They were preparing to return to Congling to guard the city. They passed by Yanduzhou City. After resting in the city for a night, they finally returned to Congling to guard the city on the afternoon of the second day.
…
Walking along the banks of the Udo River, you can see pieces of reddish-brown soil that have been dug up, and entire grasslands have been destroyed and turned into cultivated land. It seems a bit regretful now. But for his plan, he sacrificed a little
Pasture is worth it.
There are a lot of vast pastures in the green mountains. There are only a few dozen horses in the stables guarding the city, which seems like a waste of resources. Even if they also store winter pasture, it will not be a problem to feed thousands of good horses. When the funds are sufficient in the future,
Now, raising horses can be put on the agenda.
After they entered the city, Lord Bo Yugou came to report the accounts. He said that in the past two days, some military households had reclaimed more land while he was away. Now they suddenly came to ask for money. He wanted to ask the governor what happened to the newly reclaimed land.
Do you recognize it or not.
"Yes, why not? Since they dare to cultivate the land, I dare to give them money."
Li Siye felt that he was now speaking with a lot of money. This was the confidence brought by the five hundred kilograms of gold that had not yet arrived.
He immediately patted Yu Gou on the shoulder and introduced Suhrab: "This is the cotton planting expert I invited from Qiuci. He also bought a large amount of seeds. Later, you will call everyone to the grass hall."
Come, I will distribute the seeds and call on them to plant cotton."
"Also, arrange a house for this Su He, and don't neglect this distinguished guest."
In fact, Su He started to regret it as soon as he entered Shouzhuo City. It was such a remote and remote place, and it was qualified to have the word "city"? The earth city walls made of rammed brown soil, and the houses with thatched roofs were really hard to see.
, I was shocked when I saw it. This was probably the shabbiest and poorest Shouchuo City in Anxi and even in the Tang Dynasty.
"Well, my white camel needs to eat barley. Don't feed it messy things."
The soldiers feeding fodder turned a deaf ear. In a place like Congling, people can't eat barley. How valuable can a beast be?
Suhrabu followed Yu Gou and pushed the door in. The door made of broken boards made a rattling sound, and dust fell in the air. He looked down at the uneven floor of the room, which also exuded a damp and musty smell. He
I have the urge to turn around and leave.
However, he still chose to take it as he came and just endure it for a while. He unloaded all the things he brought on the camel and piled them into the room.
Four or five expensive carpets with rich colors are spread on the damp soil. Goldware is placed against the wall. Celadon jars are inlaid with blue field jade. There are small stoves made of black pottery and tea utensils. All of them are exquisite and luxurious.
, ingenious workmanship. It feels like these things are piled up in a cramped room, which seems like a waste of natural resources.
Yu Gou couldn't help but pursed his lips and smiled. Li Shijun was indeed capable. It was not easy to force such a Persian tycoon to come to Congling.
After he settled in Suhrabu, he quickly went back to find Li Siye. There were some things he didn't like to say today, which he regarded as a subordinate's advice to the superior.
Li Siye knelt down in front of the banzu table in the middle of the thatched hall and was checking the account book for the cultivated land area of each household. It was about five to ten acres. With the labor force of these people, they should be able to afford it. As long as they have enough money, he
The plan can be implemented for a long time.
Yu Gou walked into the thatched hall and stood with his hands tied below, lowering his head and waiting. Li Siye looked over the accounts, raised his head and asked him: "Have you summoned everyone here?"
Yu Gouchashou: "No."
"What's going on?" Li Siye frowned.
"Li Shijun, I have something to say in my humble position. I hope you can listen attentively. It is extremely unwise for you to plant kapok, a species introduced from outside, in Congling. The Persians like to plant it because
Carpets can be woven, so what is the use of growing them? Although this kind of thing can be made into threads and spun cloth, the fabric is rough, far less beautiful than silk, and nowhere near as cheap as kudzu. Other than that,
Does it have any other effect?"
Li Siye raised his head and glanced at him. What he said made sense. He could not laugh at the narrow-mindedness of the Tang people. Compared with other periods, this era was already tolerant and open enough. People were allowed to wear Hu costumes, dance exotic dances, and grow old.
You should cry when singing, sing poems in public, people who can speak Liubo language can be reused, and you can accept strong women as emperors.
Compared with other feudal dynasties, when making reforms in the open Datang Dynasty, they encountered the least resistance. Thousand-year-old families fell into the dust in this dynasty, the promotion of imperial examinations was mature, the languishing soldiers of the government could be replaced by recruitment, and the mediocrity of renting could be changed.
Because of the Two Taxes Law, many legal systems that influenced later generations came from the Tang Dynasty.
Ahem, that’s too far off topic.
He waved to Yu Gou: "Come with me."
Yu Gou didn't know what was going on, so he had to follow him into the partitioned room. There were square quilts folded on straw mats and sheep felts on the ground.
He stretched out his hand and pointed to it: "Go and touch it to see if it feels comfortable and warm."
Yu Gou looked at Li Siye with a strange expression, but he still squatted down and touched the quilt.
"What did the people of the Central Plains use to fill their quilts during the autumn and winter?"
"Feel for yourself, how does cotton compare with them?"
"Reed catkins cannot keep you warm, so the effect is better than nothing. As for animal hair, wool and duck down-filled quilts may be better."
"Wool can indeed keep people warm, but not everyone can afford it. Gebu linen clothes cannot keep out the cold, so people can only wear animal skins close to their bodies. Despite this, how many poor people cannot bear the cold winter and die in the wilderness.
If our cotton is fully promoted, its price and cost will be far lower than silk and animal fur."
Yu Gou obviously had not thought about this problem. He nodded convincingly and said, "Li Shijun's thoughts are far beyond those of ordinary people like us. Yu Gou is sincerely convinced."
"Are you convinced? If you are convinced, why don't you hurry up and call someone!"
Not long after, everyone who was guarding the city had gathered in the open space in front of the thatched hall. People looked at Li Siye eagerly, waiting for him to issue a new order to cultivate the land. They only cared about profit, no matter what the purpose of the land reclamation was, as long as
Just give money.
Li Siye put his hands behind his hands and said loudly: "Now I have decided to plant cotton on the newly reclaimed land. The seeds have been bought for you. Whichever of you digs out the land will sow it, take care of it, and weed it until it matures."
A minister in the crowd raised his hand and asked, "How much does it cost for me to sow an acre?"
"No money."
As soon as Li Siye finished speaking, people started chirping and quarreling.
"If we don't have money, what are we going to do with cotton? Can it be eaten?"
Li Siye smiled handsomely and said: "Of course there is no money for sowing, and there is no money for tending and weeding. But when it matures, you pick the cotton and sell it to me, and I buy it all for eight yuan per catty."